The European Spallation Source being constructed in Lund, Sweden will provide the user community with a neutron source of unprecedented brightness. By 2025, a suite of 15 instruments will be served by a high-brightness moderator system placed above the spallation target. The… Read more ESS infrastructure, consisting of the proton linac, the target station, and the instrument halls, allows for implementation of a second source below the spallation target. We propose to develop a second neutron source with a high-intensity moderator able to (1) deliver a larger total cold neutron flux, (2) provide high intensities at longer wavelengths in the spectral regions of Cold (4-10 Å), Very Cold (10-40 Å), and Ultra Cold (several 100 Å) neutrons, as opposed to Thermal and Cold neutrons delivered by the top moderator. Offering both unprecedented brilliance, flux, and spectral range in a single facility, this upgrade will make ESS the most versatile neutron source in the world and will further strengthen the leadership of Europe in neutron science. The new source will boost several areas of condensed matter research such as imaging and spin-echo, and will provide outstanding opportunities in fundamental physics investigations of the laws of nature at a precision unattainable anywhere else. At the heart of the proposed system is a volumetric liquid deuterium moderator. Based on proven technology, its performance will be optimized in a detailed engineering study. This moderator will be complemented by secondary sources to provide intense beams of Very- and Ultra-Cold Neutrons. To perform the required development of advanced moderator and reflector materials, and find the best solutions for their implementation at ESS, the HighNESS consortium pursues an integrated approach, combining complementary expertise of its partners in simulations, neutronic design and engineering, material characterization using neutron scattering techniques, and the targeted scientific applications of slow neutrons

The LHCb experiment has shown an excellent performance in precision measurements of beauty- and charm-hadron decays during the LHC runs 1 and 2. Now, it is undertaking its first major upgrade, to face the challenges of a large increase in instantaneous luminosity,… Read more that implies augmented event complexity and background levels. This impacts the trigger, which needs to quickly and efficiently identify signals, while facing limits on the disk storage capacity. The proposed project aims at fighting these limitations in a new way for LHCb: performing a Deep Full Event Interpretation (DFEI) during trigger, where a deep neural network processes the low-level information from the detector and infers the heavy-hadron decays that occurred in the event. This allows to quickly identify different types of background and provides enhanced information on the mother particles. As a first application of DFEI, the first angular analysis of semitauonic decays at LHCb is proposed. Semitauonic decays are partially reconstructed in LHCb, due to the presence of neutrinos in the final state. This leads to high levels of backgrounds, hard to separate from the signal, which makes them a perfect validation bench for the power of DFEI. From a physics perspective, the recently-observed flavour anomalies defy the concept of Lepton Universality of the Standard Model (SM), and point towards potential beyond-the-SM effects in semitauonic B decays. The complementary aim of this project is to perform the first LHCb angular analysis of both B0 -> D+ tau- nu and B0 -> D*+ tau- nu decays, where D*+ -> D+ pi0 and tau- -> mu- nu nu. This analysis will provide crucial information to discriminate between different new models proposed to explain the anomalies. The ambitious projects in this proposal are solidly based on my experience with semitauonic decays, angular analyses and the creation of new software tools, as well as the broad experience of the host group in event reconstruction and data analysis.

My project will enable unprecedented measurements for cosmology and fundamental physics, thanks to a prototype calibrator for a novel method to measure the angle of the polarization plane of the Cosmic Microwave Background. Polarization orientation systematics currently limit our ability to constrain… Read more cosmological parameters. PROTOCALC will provide a prototype calibration source to overcome this limit, dramatically improving instrumental accuracy. This experimental method will also enable us to discover (or place extremely tight limits on) paradigm shifting phenomena through Cosmic Birefringence, a departure from Standard Model. During the 2-year program I will develop, build and deploy a prototype for a novel precision calibrator making use of microwave sources between 40 and 150 GHz coupled to precise polarizing filters. The orientation of the source polarization plane will be measured by star cameras and gyroscopes with arcsecond accuracy. POLOCALC will take advantage of my and the supervisor's ongoing participation in the Simons Observatory which already includes the AdvACTPol and Simons Array projects, and will operate from the same site in the Atacama desert in Chile. Our project will operate from from a drone flying in sight of the telescope, allowing high elevation, far field measurements. This project will show the feasibility for polarization angle and beam calibrators for future CMB polarimeters.

ARCH is a network of highly qualified experts in experimental hematology created to decipher the causal relationship between the physiological changes in the hematopoietic system during lifespan and the parallel occurrence of specific agerelated hematological diseases (pediatric, adult, elderly), with… Read more the aim to develop novel targeted therapeutic treatments. ARCH research will integrate the results from complementary model systems (cell lines, mouse models, cells from leukemia patients) and it will deploy a large panel of cutting-edge technologies, such as single cells genomics, epigenomics, genome editing and organoid cultures, in a multi-faceted effort. The ARCH ambitious goal requires scientific and financial resources beyond the capability of a single group. To reach this goal, the ARCH network brings together 15 beneficiaries (12 academic, 2 SMEs and 1 private research institute) and 4 Partner organisations (2 academic, 1 SME and 1 patients’ association). Two European Consortia are present through their italian nodes. ARCH will recruit 15 ESRs that will be all enrolled in PhD programmes. Besides research laboratory work, the ARCH training programme includes scientific, technical and transferable skills courses that will provide ESRs with a solid scientific culture and with awareness of responsible research and innovation issues. This broad portfolio will enable ESRs to become leading academic, clinic or industrial players in the field. The unique combination of scientific excellence, quality of the educational programme and experience in translating basic research into exploitable results will provide ARCH with the real possibility of positively contributing to the enhancement of European competitiveness in the development of innovative, targeted drugs/treatments for hematological diseases, which currently represent a serious socio-economical problem for the European health care system.

Massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) are the most extreme, fascinating yet elusive astrophysical objects in the Universe. Establishing observationally their existence will be a milestone for contemporary astronomy, providing a fundamental missing piece in the puzzle of galaxy formation, piercing through the… Read more (hydro)dynamical physical processes shaping dense galactic nuclei from parsec scales down to the event horizon, and probing gravity in extreme conditions. We can both see and listen to MBHBs. Remarkably, besides arguably being among the brightest variable objects shining in the Cosmos, MBHBs are also the loudest gravitational wave (GW) sources in the Universe. As such, we shall take advantage of both the type of messengers – photons and gravitons – they are sending to us, which can now be probed by all-sky time-domain surveys and radio pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) respectively. B MASSIVE leverages on a unique comprehensive approach combining theoretical astrophysics, radio and gravitationalwave astronomy and time-domain surveys, with state of the art data analysis techniques to: i) observationally prove the existence of MBHBs, ii) understand and constrain their astrophysics and dynamics, iii) enable and bring closer in time the direct detection of GWs with PTA. As European PTA (EPTA) executive committee member and former I International PTA (IPTA) chair, I am a driving force in the development of pulsar timing science world-wide, and the project will build on the profound knowledge, broad vision and wide collaboration network that established me as a world leader in the field of MBHB and GW astrophysics. B MASSIVE is extremely timely; a pulsar timing data set of unprecedented quality is being assembled by EPTA/IPTA, and Time-Domain astronomy surveys are at their dawn. In the long term, B MASSIVE will be a fundamental milestone establishing European leadership in the cutting-edge field of MBHB astrophysics in the era of LSST, SKA and LISA.