Thesis Directors: Prof. G. Boero, Dr H. Furci
\r\nMicrosystems and Microelectronics doctoral program
\r\nThesis Nr. 11256
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\r\nTo take part in the public defense, please contact directly the speaker
Thesis Director: Prof. P. D. Barth,
\r\nBiotechnology and Bioengineering doctoral program
\r\nThesis Nr. 11393
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\r\nTo take part in the public defense, please contact directly the speaker
Curious about entrepreneurship beyond the typical AI startup path?
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\r\nJoin us for an evening exploring how founders are building ventures at the intersection of technology, innovation, and sustainability-related challenges. Through firsthand stories and discussion, you’ll gain insights into what it’s like to launch and grow a startup in evolving sectors where impact, tech, and business meet.
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\r\nWhat to expect:\r\n
The ultrafast motion of electrons is a frontier problem for photochemical processes, as electron motion is a key ingredient of all chemical reactions. Electronic rearrangement is also the means by which light energy is harnessed in photochemistry. The timescale for coherent electron dynamics is set by the energetic splitting of the electronic states, which in small molecular systems, is on the scale of an electron volt (eV). This sets the natural timescale for electronic motion to be few-to-sub femtosecond (fs).
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\r\nTo approach these extreme timescales, we can use short pulses of light to excite small quantum systems. For instance, the impulsive interactions between a light field and a quantum system can induce time-dependent oscillations in the charge density. Such electronic wavepacket motion (in the absence of nuclear motion) has come to be referred to as charge migration [1]. While the initial charge dynamics following impulsive excitation (or ionization) begins as purely electronic motion, this wavepacket will couple to other degrees of freedom in the system (i.e. nuclear motion or chemical dynamics) and lead to localization of the charge. The transfer of electronic charge across molecular bonds is fundamental to an understanding of charge transfer phenomena.
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\r\nThe study of these fundamental phenomena requires state-of-the-art light sources, such as the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), an X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) facility which produces high-brightness, ultrashort pulses, with wavelength continuously tunable across the x-ray regime. Schemes to provide isolated, sub-femtosecond pulses from an FEL are being explored at facilities world-wide, and recently we have demonstrated such pulses at the LCLS [2]; opening the door for time-resolved measurements of ultrafast electron dynamics on their natural timescale. In my talk, I will highlight our recent developments in probing electronic motion in small molecular systems. We have employed sub-femtosecond pulses from the XFEL to study ultrafast charge dynamics in both core-excited [3,4,5] and low-lying cationic systems [6]. We are also developing nonlinear x-ray spectroscopies [7,8] to initiate and control electron dynamics. The control of coherent electron motion represents a significant step towards achieving charge-directed reactivity [9], a grand challenge for the field of attosecond science.
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\r\n[1] Cederbaum and Zobeley 1999 Chemical Physics Letters 307 205–210
\r\n[2] Duris and Li et al. 2020 Nature Photonics 14 30-36
\r\n[3] Li and Driver et al. 2022 Science 375 285-290
\r\n[4] Driver et al. 2024 Nature 632 762-767 (2024)
\r\n[5] Wang and Driver et al. Phys. Rev. X 15 011008 (2005)
\r\n[6] Driver et al. ArXiv:2411.01700
\r\n[7] O’Neal et al. 2020 Phys. Rev. Lett. 125 073203
\r\n[8] Biggs et al. 2023 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 110 15597-15601
\r\n[9] F. Remacle, R. D. Levine, and M. A. Ratner 1998 Chem. Phys. Lett. 285, 25
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Hosted by Frédéric Grouiller, CIBM MRI HUG-UNIGE Section head, we are pleased to invite you to attend the CIBM 7T MRI Seminar on April 21st at 10:00 CEST by Caroline Le Ster from the CEA Neurospin, Paris who will be sharing on “Leveraging the potential of UHF scanners for fMRI studies”.
\r\nAbstract
\r\nThere is a growing availability of 7T scanners, with approximately 100 systems currently installed worldwide. These ultra-high-filed (UHF) scanners are particularly relevant for neuroimaging, where anatomical and functional images can be acquired with higher spatial and temporal resolution than on conventional scanners. However, UHF scanners remain difficult to operate, and understanding their specific limitations is essential. These systems indeed face several challenges arising from MR physics and biological effects that must be addressed within engineering constraints. Leverage the potential of UHF scanners, for instance through field monitoring, is therefore important to make the most of these scanners and benefit from the intrinsic SNR gain.
\r\nfMRI particularly benefits from the increase in magnetic field strength, enabling studies to be performed at higher resolution than at lower fields. In order to maintain reasonable acquisition times despite larger imaging matrices, several acceleration strategies have been developed, e.g. multi-slice EPI (SMS-EPI), three-dimensional EPI (3D-EPI) and non-Cartesian sampling schemes. In addition, functional contrasts also benefit from the field increase, including improved spatial localization of the BOLD contrast and the possibility to exploit VASO contrast.
Hosted by Solange Denervaud, CIBM Flagship Project Officer, we are pleased to invite you to attend the CIBM Visitors Talk on April 24th at 13:00 CEST by Mary Helen Immordino-Yang from the University of Southern California who will be sharing on “Longitudinal neurodevelopmental correlates of mid-adolescents’ psychosocial processing: A path to young adult wellbeing?”.
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\r\nAbstract
\r\nCombining open-ended interviews (outside the scanner) with structural, trial-by-trial, and resting-state functional MRI neuroimaging, we examined real-time functional neural dynamics underlying diverse urban mid-adolescents’ cognitive and emotional engagement with compelling social stories at two time-points, two years apart. We found that the patterns of longitudinal change in neural network dynamics predicted psychosocial outcomes five years later in young adulthood.
\r\nWe found that “transcendent thinking” – seeing situations not just in terms of X happened to person A, which makes me feel thusly, but in terms of the larger societal and contextual forces that shaped how Person A was treated and how Person A reacted, the broader implications and lessons one can draw from that situation, and the larger issues it exemplifies or reveals—correlated with a particular set of neural activity dynamics and predicted future structural and functional neural development across the subsequent two years, controlling for the starting state of neural development, and independent of IQ and SES. Transcendent thinking also countered negative effects of exposure to community violence on structural brain development.
\r\nThe neural development predicted by transcendent thinking (the changes in the brain across the 2-year period) in turn predicted young adult identity strength, self-liking, relationship satisfaction, and achievement 5 years later.
\r\nThese findings reveal a novel predictor of neural development across mid-adolescence, and underscore the active role adolescents play in their own brain development through the meaning they make of the social world. Implications for secondary education and pedagogy will be discussed.
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Hosted by Meritxell Bach Cuadra, Head of CIBM Signal Processing CHUV UNIL Trustworthy Medical Image Analysis Section, we are pleased to invite you to attend the 57th CIBM Breakfast & Science Seminar on April 28th at 09:30 CET by Delphine Ribes from EPFL and ECAL LAB who will be sharing on “Beyond Innovation: Design Research Methods for Adoption and Acceptance”.
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\r\nMore information : https://www.dem.eco/