More about the programme
The main emphasis of this programme will be on the development of fundamental understanding at the molecular level of the processes leading to the formation of spatiotemporal structure (patterns evolving in time) in chemical and biological systems.
The project will be developed through a linked series of "strands": spatiotemporal pattern formation and control in novel open reactors; nonlinear kinetics of complex chemical and biochemical processes; nonlinear processes at interfaces in heterogeneous catalysis and electrochemistry.
The main goals are to develop the fundamental understanding of complex systems and to indicate the longer-term exploitation their properties to develop new reactors appropriate to such systems. This is a necessary first step to the future application of such systems, e.g. for new routes to high-value industrial products. Stochastic features (noise) will be considered explicitly.
The research will involve both experiment and theory (including computation) and is genuinely interdisciplinary - based firmly in chemical kinetics but with immediate applications ranging from combustion and the atmosphere to biology and physiology.
The REACTOR Programme has its own web site go to website
News/current status
The REACTOR Steering Committee has decided to support the following activities:
Programme workshops, the first of which, on Nonlinear Chemistry in Complex Reactors: Models and Experiments, was held on 19-20 January 2001 in Palermo, Sicily, followed by a second workshop in Leeds, UK, on 7-9 September 2001.
A Theme School on Methods for realistic modelling of large and complex chemical systems was held in Dalum, Denmark on 30 May to 2 June 2002.
Short visits and exchange visits - The REACTOR Steering Committee proposes to support two types of visit:
- short visits (more appropriate to senior researchers) which are expected to be of up to 7 days duration and
- longer exchange visits (more appropriate to junior researchers such as graduate students or postdoctoral workers without a permanent position) which are expected to be of up to 1 month.
The Programme expects to offer a total of approximately 20 grants per annum shared between these two categories.
