Das Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaftliche Komitee der Österreichischen und Ungarischen Akademien der Wissenschaften und das Institut…
Ramlau Ronny
High-Performance Computer in Computational and Applied Mathematics
Johann Radon Institute for Computational and Applied Mathematics
In 2013, RICAM applied for a „High-Performance Computer in Computational and Applied Mathematics“ within the „New Frontiers Research Infrastructure (NFRI) Programm“ with the aim to develop, implement and test highly efficient numerical and symbolic methods for solving complex mathematical problems on the basis of a solid mathematical theory. The major part of the RICAM research activities is devoted to the development of new theory-based, efficient and robust computational methods for solving
and their experimental, numerical and symbolic analysis. Modern computational algorithms have to be scalable on massively parallel machines. A successful work on our most challenging network research projects like BiDomain, ESO and G+SMO, that are more elaborately described in the proposal, heavily depends on direct access to massively parallel computers. In Computational Mathematics and numerical and symbolic Scientific Computing, the people developing and testing the algorithms and the corresponding software must have permanent access and sometimes exclusive access to medium-size distributed memory computer of more than thousand processors for developing purposes. The supercomputer RADON 1 turned into operation at the end of Februar 2016. RADON1 is a distributed memory Cluster with 1088 CPU Cores and 8,7TB Memory. 64 Nodes with 2x Xeon E5-2630v3 "Haswell" CPU (2x 8Core 2,4Ghz), 128 GB Memory. Additional 4 Nodes with two Nvidia Tesla K40 GPU. All connected together with 40Gbit Infiniband network.
Brukner Caslav
Mobile Optical Terminal
Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information - Vienna
The Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Vienna has taken an international leading position in the field of long-distance and space-based quantum communication, being the first who initiated experimental and theoretical feasibility studies for bringing quantum technologies into a space environment. The future goal of these studies is to perform quantum communication experiments in space or between space and ground. Thereby, the primary scientific objective is the exploration of quantum mechanical principles over large, or even cosmic distances, at relativistic velocities and in presence of gravitational field differences. Additionally, scientific demonstrations of quantum key distribution experiments between space and ground shall demonstrate the feasibility to provide unconditional security in a future global quantum communication network. Our work has resulted in a number of well-received publications about experiments performed on a 144km long optical free-space link between the Canary Islands of La Palma and Tenerife. The gotten expertise within these activities put our institute at the forefront in this specific research field and today, the IQOQI Vienna is highly distinguished for its achievements.
Quantum communication and quantum information became a very active domain in physics and a number of international research groups are struggling to be the first implementing quantum communication experiments between space and ground. We decided to apply for a grant within the “New Frontiers Research Infrastructure Program” of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, to maintain our leading position within this international “space-race” and to improve the infrastructure of our institution to be forearmed for upcoming challenges within the exploration of nature on a cosmic scale. The requested infrastructure is a mobile optical terminal that would provide the essential experimental flexibility in our intended future projects, investigating the transmission of quantum systems through optical free-space channels. The mobile terminal will perfectly complement our localized optical ground station installed at the rooftop of the IQOQI building. The combined infrastructures will allow pushing forward new and innovative research fields and hence increase the attractiveness of our institute for international scientists and potential collaboration partners from academia and industry. It will directly support ongoing research activities like our outstanding international collaboration project with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Vienna, which will potentially be the first to demonstrate quantum communication between a satellite and ground. Additionally, it will provide the basis to conduct a whole new range of experiments, investigating fundamental questions relevant for the foundations of physics, but also to work at the forefront in the development of commercial applications of quantum physical principles.
Details about the requested infrastructure, its innovation potential and its beneficial effects onto recent and intended research projects of our institute are outlined in the main part of our proposal.
Pülz Andreas und Horejs Barbara
Digital Archaeological Documentation and Interpretation of Cultural Heritage
Institute for the Study of Ancient Culture and Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology
Modern documentation and evaluation procedures are increasingly becoming part of the daily scientific routine in archaeological research. Both the Institute for the Study of Ancient Culture (IKAnt) and the Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology (OREA) have always worked at the cusp of archaeology and technology; as such the further development of subject-specific methods in various projects is considered extremely important. The cultural and historical exploration of myriad archaeological sources - be they Paleolithic fire pits, Neolithic artefacts, Chalcolithic figurines, antique or Mycenaean pottery, Roman land use structures or early Christian catacomb paintings – absolutely requires the use of the most current infrastructure and advanced technology. IKAnt and OREA have, through numerous projects, taken past developments into account and have developed a broad spectrum of competencies in the field of innovative archaeological finds and analysis.
For the future, both institutes intend to conduct new projects in "problem areas" such as Uzbekistan, Algeria, or the Sinai and will to continue focusing on its existing research areas (Greece, Turkey, Romania, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria) as well. Such newly envisaged projects cannot be conducted using customary planning and management criteria. Due to the sometimes uncertain political environment in these countries, an optimized project strategy is necessary; a rapid and comprehensive best-possible on-site recording procedure is essential.
The development of a concise documentation workflow for the enhanced implementation of archaeological field activities is of crucial importance for the successful completion of projects. Currently, numerous scientifically attractive research initiatives must be avoided because the traditional documentation method does not enable the swift action with short planning phases needed for focused, concise yet complete data collection in field operations. The present application has been developed by the two institutes and in close cooperation with one another so that the utilization of the requested hardware and software can be ensured, thereby guaranteeing the sustainable development of both IKAnt and OREA. The applicants propose a coordinated investment in technical equipment, like terrestrial 3D laser scanning and photogrammetry technology, to offer new fields of activity concerning digital archaeological documentation and interpretation of cultural heritage in the field and in museums, both in Europe as well as in Asia and North-Africa.
Pippan Reinhard
Femtosecond laser micromachining unit
Erich Schmid Institute of Materials Science
Femtosecond laser is a very new tool for material removal. It is used since few years in medicine for eye surgery and in the electronic industry. In the material science community the focused ion beam (FIB) has become the standard tool for material removal on the microscale. It is used for structural characterization by microtomographic analyses and since about 10 years for sample machining for micro- and nanomechanical analyses. Femtosecond lasers were until now not used in this area. Only at the University of Santa Barbara the group of Prof. T. Pollock shows recently the power of this new technique in material microanalyses, which allows microtomography on large a scale, which is impossible by FIB, but the results are comparable in quality and resolution.
The ESI applies for a femtosecond laser machining system for both
The main objective of this improvement of the infrastructure of ESI is:
This system will push the ESI in a unique position within the scientific community in the area of micromechanics (after implementation the competitors in this area will follow these ideas) and it is also of interest to collaborating industries of ESI (Infineon, AT&S, AMS, etc.) and would keep ESI in the forefront of technology and development.
Grimm Rudolf
ACQME-Advance Qubit Control Microwave Equipment
Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information - Innsbruck
Research at IQOQI Innsbruck and the University of Innsbruck has been, until recently, focused on quantum optical systems of atoms, molecules, ions and photons and how to manipulate these systems on the single quantum level. With G. Kirchmair beginning his double appointment as a University Professor of Experimental Quantum Physics at the University of Innsbruck and Junior Research Director at IQOQI, both institutions have expanded their research portfolio and strengthened their collaboration by including superconducting solid state quantum optics systems.
The field of superconducting qubits is being led so far by a few high ranking universities e.g. Yale University, ETH Zürich, Berkeley, University of Santa Barbara and Delft, publishing several papers a year in high ranking journals. The University of Innsbruck and IQOQI now have the chance to extend their scientific output in this rapidly expanding field.
The success of this recently established research group critically hinges upon the availability of the research infrastructure in microwave equipment (1-20 GHz range) to conduct internationally competitive research on superconducting quantum circuits. So far, equipment in this frequency range and with the necessary highly developed phase and amplitude control is neither available at the IQOQI nor at the Institute for Experimental Physics at the University of Innsbruck.
The microwave equipment that is requested in this grant proposal will be used for the following purposes:
1. It will allow to quickly establish basic control and measurement procedures of superconducting quantum circuits. These first experiments will pave the way for more complex quantum simulation and information experiments.
2. It will serve as a test bench to develop custom made microwave equipment, which is necessary for future, more complicated, schemes to control superconducting qubits.
3. It will be used to characterize and develop new microwave/radio frequency equipment which is used in experiments located at the University of Innsbruck and IQOQI. These capabilities are needed e.g. for microwave spectroscopy in cold atoms (Group of R.Grimm), the generation of ultrafast pulses for novel quantum gates with trapped ions (Group of R.Blatt) and for collaborative efforts to further develop and enhance hybrid devices.
The requested components for extending the research capabilities in superconducting quantum circuits and establishing a test bench for microwave equipment at IQOQI-Innsbruck amount to 405.000€.
Superti-Furga Giulio
PacBio RS II sequencer“ und eines „Fluidigm C1 single-cell auto prep system
CeMM - Research Center for Molecular Medicine
CeMM is establishing itself at the forefront of genome and epigenome research applied to biomedical questions. For example, scientists at CeMM successfully used next generation sequencing to define the genetic basis of myeloproliferative neoplasms (NEJM 2013), to establish a large collection of human knock-out cell lines (Nature Methods 2013) and to diagnose previously unknown hematological diseases (Blood 2013). They are also significant contributors of the European BLUEPRINT project and the International Human Epigenome Consortium, which pursues the characterization of the epigenomes of all human cell types (Nature Biotechnology 2012).
In 2012, the Biomedical Sequencing Facility (BSF) was created as the joint technology platform for next generation sequencing of CeMM and the Medical University of Vienna. As of November 2013, the BSF was equipped with two Illumina HiSeq 2000 sequencers and with a 96-well robotics platform that supports automated library preparation for genomes, epigenomes and transcriptomes. The BSF is run by highly qualified staff scientists and is led by a CeMM principal investigator who trained at one of the world’s leading institutes for genomics research (the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard).
After careful consideration of all options and approval of the final plan by the reviewers and the ÖAW, the following equipment was purchased: One Illumina HiSeq 3000, one Illumina MiSeq, one Fluidigm C1 Single-Cell Auto Prep System and one Silicon Biosystems DEP Array System. As of February 2016, all equipment has been successfully installed, is managed by dedicated scientific support staff at CeMM’s Biomedical Sequencing Facility and is contributing to cutting-edge science at CeMM and its national and international collaboration partners.
Cordill Megan
Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy and Digital Image Correlation
Erich Schmid Institute of Materials Science
Of great interest to many scientists and engineers is how materials, metals, ceramics and polymers, deform and fail when subjected to load. In the case of the Erich Schmid Institute of Materials Science of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the dedicated staff and students study the mechanical behavior of different material systems at the macroscale (large scale, visible with the eye), microscale (small scale, visible with light microscopes) and nanoscales (very small scale, several atoms), using highly advanced and sophisticated testing instruments. For the micro and nanoscales, many of the experiments utilized to study the mechanical properties are performed inside electron microscopes so that the behavior can be instantly observed. However, the use of electron microscopes limits the size of the sample, the environments that they can be tested in and, most importantly, information about the third dimension is lost. Having the deformation information in three dimensions would allow for a more complete quantification of the observed mechanical behavior. For example, features at or near propagating cracks could be measured and related to important mechanical phenomena, thus giving support for the discovery of new theories. Similar experiments that are currently performed inside electron microscopes could be performed with the addition of a confocal laser scanning microscope, and the third dimension of failure could be accessed. A confocal laser scanning microscope can generate high resolution, three dimensional quantitative images of surfaces and this technique is well suited for such innovative experiments. The digital images from the confocal laser scanning microscope could be further analyzed with digital image correlation software that would have the ability to calculate the local strain fields from the small changes in pixel movement. In order to link the local deformation to the global macroscopic strain, a laser speckle extensometer will be combined with the confocal laser scanning microscope. The laser speckle extensometer is the best solution for specimens that are very stiff (ceramics) or mechanically compliant (foils or sheets) because the application of traditional clip-on gauges or the use of the cross-head displacement is problematic or impossible. This novel combination of information is valuable for the further and improved understanding of how materials deform and fail and would be of interest to all engineers. In addition, the confocal laser scanning microscope could also be utilized to image the fracture surfaces, biological materials in-vitro and other phenomena, such as buckling events, where the incorporation of the third dimension is necessary. The combination of laser speckle extensometer and confocal laser scanning microscope with digital image correlation would benefit all current research fields at the Erich Schmid Institute, attract young researchers and provide the necessary infrastructure for future collaborations.
Scheidl, Thomas
High-speed adaptive optics system for long-distance quantum communication
Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information - Vienna
The Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Vienna has taken an international leading position in the field of long-distance and space-based quantum communication, being the first who initiated experimental and theoretical feasibility studies for bringing quantum technologies into a space environment. The future goal of these studies is to perform quantum communication experiments in space or between space and ground. Thereby, the primary scientific objective is the exploration of quantum mechanical principles over large, or even cosmic distances, at relativistic velocities and in presence of gravitational field differences. Additionally, scientific demonstrations of quantum key distribution experiments between space and ground shall demonstrate the feasibility to provide unconditional security in a future global quantum communication network. Our work has resulted in a number of well-received publications about experiments performed on an optical free-space link between the Canary Islands of La Palma and Tenerife. The gotten expertise within these activities put our institute at the forefront in this specific research field and today, the IQOQI Vienna is highly distinguished for its achievements. To further pursue our innovative research goals and strengthen our leading position in the specific research field, we need to overcome current experimental limitations. This intention will be strongly supported with the infrastructure our institute applies for in the current “New Frontiers Research Infrastructure” Program of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The requested infrastructure would allow significantly increasing the distance and quality in our earth-based experiments, would support the feasibility of the intended space-based experiments due to a reduction of the required integration times and would enable a whole new bunch of experiments, where phase disturbances on the optical beam are to be avoided.
In quantum communication experiments, an optical signal is usually transmitted through a long-distance atmospheric path. Due to optical turbulence, the beam propagation is disturbed resulting in fast beam hopping and scintillation. For example, these effects also cause the blinking and flickering of stars, when they are observed close to the horizon – the image of a star taken with a camera will be fuzzy. In optical quantum communication experiments, these effects cause strong signal fluctuations, high transmission loss and a disturbance of the beam profile. As a result, the distance and the quality of all quantum communication experiments are limited and certain experiments are essentially prevented. However, the effects of the turbulent atmosphere on the transmitted signal can be counteracted with the help of adaptive optics. Simply speaking, utilizing a segmented mirror, where the individual segments can be positioned with ultra-high precision, the disturbance on the transmitted beam can be minimized – the image of a star will become sharp.
Superti-Furga Giulio
High-Throughput Metabolomics in Homeostasis and Disease
CeMM - Research Center for Molecular Medicine
The Research Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences is an institute focusing on the understanding of molecular processes that are deregulated in human disorders such as cancer, infection or inflammatory diseases. Metabolism, i.e. the sum of chemical transformations of matter in the body, is an important system that allows the cells to generate energy or to synthesize biomolecules such as DNA, RNA or proteins. It is becoming increasingly clear that many components of normal metabolism are de-regulated in diseases, such as those studied at CeMM, and that the metabolic state of a cell is altered in the course of disease progression.
The proposed new infrastructure at our institute will allow researchers to measure and quantify many metabolic parameters in their diverse experimental systems. This will help understanding, at unprecedented clarity, how individual metabolic processes function in normal cells and how these are deregulated in disease. The gained information will also be an invaluable component in the identification of novel therapeutic approaches.
In detail, the two proposed instruments are perfectly suited to measure complementary aspects of metabolism in a high-throughput fashion. A state-of-the-art extracellular flux analyzer will be used to determine different parameters of cellular energy production and consumption. In parallel, a modern mass spectrometry-based system will allow the quantification of individual building blocks of life, including amino acids, sugars and lipids. The equipment was selected to synergize in an elegant way with already established technologies at the institute, including a chemical screening platform, next generation sequencing and proteomics functionalities.
The new cutting-edge technology will promote collaborative efforts with our sister institutes from the Austrian Academy of Sciences as well as other Austrian Universities, and thereby make the research landscape of the country more competitive on an international level.
Ferlaino Francesca
MIRARE- Quantum gas MIcroscope for RARE-earth atoms
Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information - Innsbruck
In the mid of 2014, the ÖAW Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Innsbruck has substantially broadened its research portfolio by founding a new experimental group, which aims to explore the quantum behavior of exotic and rather unexplored atomic species. The newly established group, led by Univ. Prof. Francesca Ferlaino, uses ultracold rare-earth atoms as a resource to study quantum gases with unconventional interaction properties.
The field of ultracold quantum gases explores the behavior of matter close to the absolute zero temperature. In this ultralow temperature regime, reached using laser light and magnetic fields, the quantum nature of particles becomes dominant. The Bose-Einstein condensate, predicted by Satyendranath Bose and Albert Einstein in 1924 and experimentally realized in 1995, is a paradigm example of fascinating new phenomena predicted by quantum mechanics.
Until recently, the production of ultracold atomic quantum gases mainly focused on alkali atoms, because of their relatively simple atomic properties. Our group is one of the three groups worldwide that have reached ultracold quantum gases with strongly-magnetic rare-earth atoms. This atomic species have very complex and rich properties in terms of interactions or optical transitions, but surprisingly we found a very simple approach to reach quantum degeneracy.
One special property, coming from the large magnetic moment of the atoms, is that the atoms interact via the so-called dipole-dipole interaction (DDI), which is responsible of a plethora of fascinating quantum phenomena because of its long-range and anisotropic character.
The new laboratory at the IQOQI aims to accomplish now an additional leap in understanding such exotic quantum matter by creating an ultracold-gas machine operating simultaneously on two rare-earth atomic species, Erbium and Dysprosium, and to observe the quantum behavior at the single-atom level by implementing a “Quantum-gas microscope for rare earth atoms“.
Reaching single-atom detection is already a challenge by itself and combining this advanced technology with strongly-magnetic species promise to open new frontier of investigation. In particular, we plan to realize a double-species quantum gas microscope operating both with erbium and dysprosium. Thanks to the richness of their energy level, we will explore different optical schemes to reach the high resolution required to study magnetic forces and unconventional interaction mechanisms in the quantum regime.
Pülz Andreas und Horejs Barbara
From 3D data acquisition to 3D data distribution
Institute for the Study of Ancient Culture and Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology
During the last years the Institute for the Study of Ancient Culture (IKAnt) and the Institute of Oriental and European Archaeology (OREA) became competence centers concerning the digital documentation of archaeological sites and artefacts. Both institutes have been working on archaeological projects in which up-to-date documentation techniques and evaluation processes became part of the daily scientific routine. In the meantime, trainees from European universities are interested to work at these institutes in Vienna, because they can offer education, experiences and practice in 3D data processing using modern technological equipment which most university institutes can’t provide.
The proposed infrastructure investments not only promote these competences, but definitely will open up new visions concerning archaeological data capture and computing. They are highly innovative in three different areas: In archaeology it is necessary to develop workflows to scan a large number of small and medium-sized objects, so optimizing 3D data acquisition is of great importance. Therefore, there is a need for an optimized object recording using latest photogrammetry or laser scanning techniques which allow to speed up documentation procedures. Portable scanning solutions like the FARO Laser ScanArm and newest photometric stereo recoding techniques are powerful non-contact portable measurement systems ideal for challenging archaeological requirements.
Furthermore, in the case of various field projects the bottleneck in the workflow is the data processing. A computer cluster consisting of a number of computers connected via a network and configured for parallel computing would process the huge datasets in the quality necessary and within a suitable timeframe. Unfortunately, there is no way to provide such a cluster with the required power in the field. Therefore, a powerful computer cluster will be installed in Vienna.
Finally, the need increases to administer and distribute these 3D models with professional tools. The proposed framework focuses on cataloging and organizing 3D data produced by different scanning methods. Additionally, the stored models can be inspected in a browser based viewing tool. The combination of these applications open up new perspectives in the handling of archaeological artefacts. Archaeological drawings are becoming less and less important, in favor of highly accurate 3D models which offer new possibilities of analyzing, distributing and discussing archaeological findings.
Laback Bernhard und Moosmüller Sylvia
Objective Measures in Speech Production and Realistic Sound Perception
Acoustics Research Institute
The Acoustics Research Institute (ARI) combines application-motivated basic research in different areas of acoustics, including phonetics, psychoacoustics, physical acoustics, as well as mathematics and signal processing in acoustics. Projects conducted at ARI are characterized by their high degree of multidisciplinarity. For example, innovative concepts from basic mathematics are integrated into speech analysis and speaker identification methods or physics-based simulation methods in acoustics are combined with auditory experiments in order to improve spatial hearing with cochlear implants. Although the experimental infrastructure available at ARI has led to a multitude of – internationally recognized – scientific achievements, recent results from phonetics, psychoacoustics and virtual acoustics raised fundamentally new questions, which can only be tackled with state-of-the-art experimental devices. With the devices requested in this NFRI application, we plan to combine objective/physical measurements of speech articulation with measurements of brain activity by means of EEG under realistic presentation of acoustic scenarios, e.g., a conversation in an acoustically simulated cafeteria. Such new experimental infrastructure allows to address exciting and – partially also commercially relevant - open questions in acoustic communication. Which neuronal mechanisms allow to adapt the articulation of the speaker, on the one hand, and the processing of acoustic information within the listener, on the other hand, to the acoustic environment? How can such knowledge be applied in hearing devices for people suffering from hearing loss or in cochlear implantees in order to improve their articulation and speech understanding as well as their sound localization ability?
The multidisciplinary and synergistic use of the proposed state-of-the art infrastructure is expected to further enhance the international connection of ARI and to lead to pioneering discoveries about acoustic communication in complex environments. Such a unique combination of infrastructure in a research environment like ARI and the resulting appeal to the international scientific community is expected to result in an enhanced inclusion of women in science and to encourage young scientists working at ARI.
Knoblich Jürgen
Infrastructure for human pluripotent stem cell research
IMBA - Institute of Molecular Biotechnology
Stem cell technology holds tremendous potential for disease research and regenerative medicine. For the first time, scientists can grow human tissues starting from stem cells and this allows them to test drugs directly on human tissues without the need for animal experiments. Stem cells can be generated from any human individual – healthy or suffering from a disease. Therefore, the tissues have the potential to display characteristics of the disease, allowing for drugs to be tested directly for their curing effect.
This proposal is aimed at establishing research infrastructure that will allow for top-notch stem cell science to be carried out at IMBA in Vienna. IMBA scientists have already been successful in growing human brain tissue or generating embryonic stem cells with only one set of chromosomes. The new facility will allow scientists to explore the potential of stem cell disease modeling by establishing tools to directly address specific DNA alterations for their role in a given disease. The facility will maintain stem cell lines and provide them to researchers within the Austrian research community. It will provide tools to generate stem cells from individual patients and provide them to the researchers to analyze aspects of disease. We expect that establishing this important new infrastructure will boost stem cell research in Austria to generate models for human disease for the benefit of patients. Remaining competitive within this important new area of biological research is a prime requirement for medical innovation.
