TACSY: Training Alliance for Computational Systems Chemistry

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Many important questions and grand challenges in research, industry, and society involve large and complex networks of chemical reactions. Some examples are: studying metabolic networks in humans; planning and optimizing chemical synthesis in industry and research labs; modeling the fragmentation process in mass spectrometry; developing personalized medicine; probing hypotheses of the origins of life; monitoring environmental pollution in air, water, and soil. In project TACsy, we will develop ground-breaking new computational methods for analyzing such networks of chemical reactions and we will train a new generation of excellent and innovative early stage researchers (ESRs) capable of evolving and applying these methods in research and industry. Combined, these efforts carry very strong potential for impact on the grand challenges mentioned above, on the EU commission priority on jobs, growth, investment, and competitiveness, and on the well-being of EU citizens. The research methodology of TACsy arises from the novel application of formalisms, algorithms, and computational methods from computer science to questions in systems chemistry. The first steps demonstrating the strong capabilities of this approach have recently been made. In TACsy, the ESRs will vastly expand these methods and their formal foundations, they will create efficient algorithms and implementations of them, and they will use these implementations for research in complex chemical systems in three flagship application areas. TACsy is a consortium of world-class, experienced scientists which will ensure excellent research training conditions for the ESRs in this highly interdisciplinary field. Through a carefully designed training programme and secondments at leading industry partners, the ESR will acquire a broad career perspective and a strong set of transferable skills. Their unique blend of competences from computer science and chemistry will further increase their high employment.