Funding secured for the PEPR LUMA’s SUNRISE moonshot!
As follow-ups to the national 'France 2030' programs, ANR-operated 'Research Programs and Equipment' (PEPR) aim to build or consolidate French leadership in scientific fields of national and European priority levels, linked to technological, economic, societal, health, or environmental transformation. The Exploratory PEPR LUMA - Promoting Light-Matter Interactions - considers light as an omnipresent element in our natural and technological environment. It aims to study, understand and develop this unique tool as a means of exploring and controlling physico-chemical and biological systems, at the interfaces between physics, chemistry, engineering, life sciences, health and environmental/climate sciences.
The ANR recently published the results of the PEPR LUMA’s CEI for Thematic Research. Out of 13 submissions, four projects were selected for funding, each representing a different thematic axis:
- Axis 1 – Chirality: TORNADO, led by CNRS
- Axis 2 – Photochemistry & Materials: SUNRISE, led by the University of Bordeaux
- Axis 3 – Energy & Environment: SYNFLUX-LUMICALS, led by CEA
- Axis 4 – Health: PDT-PDAC, led by CNRS.
The SUNRISE project, led by Dario Bassani (ISM Bordeaux) assisted by member of our Functional Materials & Surfaces team Nathalie Destouches, aims at “Surpassing Normal Resolution and Intrinsic Shortcomings of Excited States”.
The objective of this research is to harness plasmonic interactions to enhance the efficiency of nanoscale photochemical transformations such as photopolymerizations, surpass the diffraction limit of light to improve photolithography resolution, and flexibly fabricate large nanostructured surfaces for integration into innovative photochemical flow reactors and microfluidic devices.
The project involves 7 research units, including the Institut des Sciences Moléculaires (Université de Bordeaux), the Laboratoire NIMBE (CEA), Laboratoire de Chimie (ENS Lyon), Laboratoire Hubert Curien (Université Jean Monnet), Laboratoire de Photophysique et Photochimie Supramoléculaires et Macromoléculaires (CNRS DR4), the Institut de la Vision (Sorbonne Université) and Institut de Sciences des Matériaux de Mulhouse (CNRS DR10). The geographical and thematic diversity of this consortium makes it unique in the field, gathering leading French research teams in both chemistry and physics domains.
The expected groundbreaking advancements could find potential applications in a variety of strategic industrial sectors, including gases, recycling, eco-design, sustainable materials, urban mining, and energy materials.
We wish the team great success in their endeavours!