The Project
Dynamics of Molecules on Organic Transistors (DYMOT).
Winner
Dr. Massimiliano Cavallini Ph.D.
Research Scientist
CNR-ISMN Bologna
Research Section on Nanotechnology of Multifunctional Materials
Via P. Gobetti 101
I-40129 Bologna
Italy
Massimiliano Cavallini, aged 39, comes from a physical-chemistry background, but has developed into a true multidisciplinary scientist, with a strong grounding in the methods required to investigate nanoscience. After gaining a Ph.D from the University of Florence in 1999, Cavallini took a post doctoral position at CNR-ISMN-Bologna, Research Division on Nanotechnology of Multifunctional Materials headed by Dr. Fabio Biscarini, where he still works as a research scientist in the field of Nanotechnology.
However in 2005 Cavallini’s career acquired a second dimension when he co-founded a spin-off company called SCRIBA Nanotecnologie.
Cavallini is author of more than 50 papers in international journals with high impact factor (Science (2003), Nature Materials (2003), Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2005,2006), Nano Letters (2001-2005), Applied Physics Letters (2003), Journal of American Chemical Society (2002-2005)) and 6 international patents.
Cavallini has been involved in several European and Italian projects: SCRIBA, SELOA, ENBAC, DRUM, MONA-LISA, EMMMA, LAMINATE, FUNSMART, COST19, CHEXTAN, CANAPE and NAIMO.
He said: “We are all thrilled with this award, which shows we were right to be ambitious with our project proposal. It is now up to us to show this faith in our work is justified.”
Provisional Award
€ 1,229,200
Project Description
Field of application: Nanotechnology and Bio-nano technology
DYMOT is a bold, high-risk multidisciplinary project aiming to develop and demonstrate working devices as a foundation for new diagnostic tools in pathology, biology, and analytical assays, based on the integration between recognition arrays and electronic devices capable of giving direct readings. The project will achieve this by developing a new integrated approach suitable for investigating the dynamics of nanostructures, low-dimensional systems, aggregates and single molecules, including biomolecules, on a surface in real time. The dynamics of interactions at surfaces is relevant for a wide variety of soft matter problems in nanotechnology, biology and pathology assays. Objectives are:
Development of new fabrication/manipulation methods for multifunctional and biological materials with nanometer scale resolution.
Design and fabrication of new devices with enhanced sensing and recognition capabilities.
Integration of materials, devices, and technologies across length scales.
Use of the devices to study dynamics of relevant systems at interfaces with electrical transduction; and assessment or calibration of the new approach using observations of single molecule phenomena made with existing methods.
In its first half of the project, the aim is to set the ground for the new integrated technology and demonstrate the device response from chemical-physical phenomena. Then in the second half, the emphasis will settle on developing and demonstrating devices based on hybridization events relevant for medical diagnostics and bioassays, as well as data analysis of increasingly complex systems. This would provide the foundation for a breakthrough in medicine with a new generation of electronic diagnostic devices capable of mass-screening for a wide variety of diseases.
DYMOT will open new position for three researchers and three Ph.D. student in chemistry, physics and engineering.
