Harnessing the potential of Archaea - Training Europe's next visionaries for an innovative and sustainable future

微生物是生命的三大领域之一，仅次于细菌和真核生物。海蛞蝓具有独特的细胞特征，使它们能够在极端环境中茁壮成长，例如在高压，盐浓度或温度下。虽然它们的生物化学和代谢特性显示出广泛的生物技术应用的巨大潜力，但我们对古细菌细胞表面的结构和功能及其在形成群落（如生物膜）中的作用缺乏了解，目前阻碍了这些生物体的大规模工业应用。事实上，由于在该领域工作的科学界规模很小，以及缺乏在极端条件下进行研究的方法和技术，一些突出的问题仍然没有答案。ARCTECH提出了关于古菌的第一个培训计划，旨在培养下一代欧洲有远见的“基础古菌研究及其在生物技术中的应用”。11名博士候选人将解决关键的知识差距，并开发古细菌研究的方法和技术，这是释放古细菌所拥有的工业潜力所必需的。ARCTECH的科学成果将适用于几个生物技术领域，如绿色能源生产，可持续生物材料，生物腐蚀，酶生产和药物输送。该项目将直接影响欧洲高等教育部门，作为第一个进入古菌未知世界的研究培训计划。发展中国家将接受来自欧洲学术和工业机构的世界专家的培训，受益于强有力的跨学科接触（例如微生物学、生物成像、沼气生产）。这些具有创业精神、创新能力和适应能力的发展中国家将对学术和非学术部门都具有巨大价值，为欧洲工业带来独特的创新能力。

Archaea form one of the three domains of life, next to bacteria and eukaryotes. Archaea have unique cellular characteristics that allow them to thrive in extreme environments, for example at high pressures, salt concentrations or temperatures. Although their biochemical and metabolic properties show great potential for a wide range of biotechnological applications, our lack of knowledge about the structure and function of the archaeal cell surface and its role in formation of communities, such as biofilms, is currently hampering the large-scale industrial use of these organisms. Indeed, several prominent questions remain unanswered due to the small scientific community working in the field, and the lack of methods and technologies enabling research under extreme conditions. ARCTECH proposes the first training initiative on archaea, aiming to foster the next generation of European visionaries in 'fundamental archaeal research and their application in biotechnology'. The 11 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) will address key knowledge gaps and develop methods and technologies for archaeal research, which are needed to unleash the industrial potential that archaea hold. The scientific outcomes of ARCTECH will be applicable to several biotech areas, such as Green Energy production, Sustainable Biomaterials, Biocorrosion, Enzyme production and Drug Delivery. This project will directly impact the European Higher Education Sector as the first research training initiative embarking into the unchartered world of archaea. The DCs will be trained by world experts from European academic and industrial institutions, benefiting from strong interdisciplinary exposure (e.g. microbiology, bioimaging, biogas production). These entrepreneurial, innovative, and resilient DCs will be of great value both to the academic and non-academic sectors, bringing unique capacity to inspire/spawn new fields of innovation in European industries.