The technology of RF communications systems has experienced a phenomenal progress in the last decades. Gallium nitride (GaN) has been identified as the semiconductor that will take over after silicon (Si) to meet the needs of the increasingly market requests. This is explained by the physical parameters of this new material, which highly exceed those of Si. The objective of this project is the development of an enhancement and depletion modes HEMT-GaN based technologies suitable for the manufacturing of MMIC circuits operating at high frequency. This project is divided in 3 research axes: 1) GaN based MMIC fabrication process, including epitaxy, 2) device characterization and modeling, 3) circuit design and characterization. The consortium gathers 3 research laboratories and 1 industrial company covering a very wide range of skills and applied knowledge. The different partners are complementary and expert in the field of GaN activities, which is a major key that will lead to the success of this project. In Sky-GaN project, the development of short gate length GaN-HEMT process will be used to fabricate a prototype Power Amplifier (PA) MMIC circuits to validate these new developed technologies. Indeed, the optimized micro-fabrication process that will be developed will allow the production of new custom PA circuit with higher performance in frequency band covering the E-band [71-76] GHz and [81-86] GHz for both technologies. These fabricated prototypes will also be used as demonstration samples to support the development of new business opportunities for the industrial partner, creating new job opportunities for young researchers and highly qualifier professional. On the other hand, for the academic laboratories participating to Sky-dream project, the research and development work will produce important scientific impact and economic value, which is in complete agreement with the mission of CNRS.

In the framework of reducing energy losses and of improving eco-efficiency, the Lumiere project aims to better understand and model the mechanisms governing the mixed lubrication regime with the objective of a more accurate estimate of the lifetime and friction losses of the lubricated components. Among the many facets of this problem, the impact of wear particles and their interactions with the lubricating fluid and the surfaces will be more particularly studied: by in situ observations on dedicated test benches and by the method of discrete elements (DEM) coupled with a lubrication model. The results will then be integrated into a multiscale tool allowing simulations at the component level. The work will be carried out by the Pprime Institute, specialized in the study and simulation of lubrication in collaboration with the LaMCoS, recognized for its skills in the experimental study of tribology and the LMGC, expert in the simulation of contact and wear by DEM.

The ANR MEDSALT project aims to consolidate and expand a scientific network recently formed with the purpose to use scientific drilling to address the causes, timing, emplacement mechanisms and consequences of the largest and most recent 'salt giant' on Earth: the late Miocene (Messinian) salt deposit in the Mediterranean basin. After obtaining the endorsement of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) on a Multiplatform Drilling Proposal (umbrella proposal) in early 2015, the network is planning to submit a site-specific drilling proposal to drill a transect of holes with the R/V Joides Resolution in the evaporite-bearing southern margin of the Balearic promontory in the Western Mediterranean - the aim is to submit the full proposal before the IODP dealine of April 1st 2017, following the submission of a pre-proposal on October 1st 2015. Four key issues will be addressed: 1) What are the causes, timing and emplacement mechanisms of the Mediterranean salt giant ? 2) What are the factors responsible for early salt deformation and fluid flow across and out of the halite layer ? 3) Do salt giants promote the development of a phylogenetically diverse and exceptionally active deep biosphere ? 4) What are the mechanisms underlying the spectacular vertical motions inside basins and their margins ? Our nascent scientific network will consit of a core group of 22 scientists from 10 countries (7 European + USA + Japan + Israel) of which three french scientists (G. Aloisi, J. Lofi and M. Rabineau) play a leading role as PIs of Mediterranean drilling proposals developed within our initiative. Support to this core group will be provided by a supplementary group of 21 scientists that will provide critical knowledge in key areas of our project. The ANR MEDSALT network will finance key actions that include: organising a 43 participants workshops to strengthen and consolidate the Mediterranean drilling community, supporting the participation of network scientists to seismic well site-survey cruises, organising meetings in smaller groups to work on site survey data and finance trips to the US to defend our drilling proposal in front of the IODP Environmental Protection and Safety Panel (EPSP). The MEDSALT drilling initiative will impact the understanding of issues as diverse as submarine geohazards, sub-salt hydrocarbon reservoirs and life in the deep subsurface. This is a unique opportunity for the French scientific community to play a leading role, next to our international partners, in tackling one of the most intellectually challenging open problems in the history of our planet.

One of the central aims of synthetic biology is to use our growing understanding of gene expression to `rewire' bacterial cells so that they exhibit designed behaviour under specific conditions. Supercoiling, a structural transition in the DNA, is a key process in gene expression that has yet to be incorporated into synthetic biology's computational design tools. We have identified a series of exemplar bacterial switches that are controlled by supercoiling, which will be used to guide and validate physical and computational models. Our overarching vision is to develop a synthetic biology toolkit, which we call TORC, that includes the information processing capabilities of DNA supercoiling, and its programmatic modulation. The TORC toolkit will be based on a physical model that captures the mechanism of information processing through DNA supercoiling, and an abstract computational model that will provide both an engineering development approach for advanced synthetic biology applications, and a scientific language for modelling biological genetic processes. This cross-disciplinary project brings together Physics, Biology, and Computer Science to implement the initial steps towards this vision: TORC1.0, a new computational language developed through physical simulations and wet-lab experiments. Our programme has three stages: (i) We will place well-characterised bacterial switches within a single, controllable plasmid, where they will be expressed in bacteria. (ii) We will use well-established statistical physics models of DNA transcription to construct a model of each switch, predict how the output will change with varying biological conditions, and validate it against the wet-lab results. (iii) We will use the validated physical model and wet-lab results to derive a novel computational model of supercoiling, supporting a new computational language for programming synthetic biology designs and applications.

One of the central aims of synthetic biology is to use our growing understanding of gene expression to `rewire' bacterial cells so that they exhibit designed behaviour under specific conditions. Supercoiling, a structural transition in the DNA, is a key process in gene expression that has yet to be incorporated into synthetic biology's computational design tools. We have identified a series of exemplar bacterial switches that are controlled by supercoiling, which will be used to guide and validate physical and computational models. Our overarching vision is to develop a synthetic biology toolkit, which we call TORC, that includes the information processing capabilities of DNA supercoiling, and its programmatic modulation. The TORC toolkit will be based on a physical model that captures the mechanism of information processing through DNA supercoiling, and an abstract computational model that will provide both an engineering development approach for advanced synthetic biology applications, and a scientific language for modelling biological genetic processes. This cross-disciplinary project brings together Physics, Biology, and Computer Science to implement the initial steps towards this vision: TORC1.0, a new computational language developed through physical simulations and wet-lab experiments. Our programme has three stages: (i) We will place well-characterised bacterial switches within a single, controllable plasmid, where they will be expressed in bacteria. (ii) We will use well-established statistical physics models of DNA transcription to construct a model of each switch, predict how the output will change with varying biological conditions, and validate it against the wet-lab results. (iii) We will use the validated physical model and wet-lab results to derive a novel computational model of supercoiling, supporting a new computational language for programming synthetic biology designs and applications.