AMON is an organizational structure of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (UAIC) from Iasi, at which professors, postdocs, master and Ph.D. students, students and technical staff from the Faculties of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Informatics are participating.
The AMON Platform has educational goals, organizational and integration objectives, research and dissemination objectives and the goal of development of internal and international relations.
The Platform is a complex structure which will concentrate human and material resources from UAIC to perform educational and research interdisciplinary activities in recent topics from science, especially in nanotechnology area up to the molecular level. The fundamental idea of the project is to use and develop the platform member’s experience in the mentioned domains by organizing of a cooperation structure for the specialists from various scientific areas by and by updating of a number of laboratories with equipments of high value which will be used by all the members of the platform.
UAIC is partner in a Network of Excellence in the domain of molecular magnetism (MAGMANet) financed until 2009 by the European Union within the FP6 program. MAGMANet will organize in the next period the European Institute of Molecular Magnetism in which UAIC will be co-founder. In this context one observes that the research topics are gradually changing from the already classic nanotechnologies towards a more fundamental level, that of the molecular studies. At this analysis level the differences between the physical and chemical approaches are more difficult to define, interdisciplinary being an essential condition to obtain international level results. To be successful in this domain, of this complexity, one should impose the implementation of special techniques of modeling and simulation, based on fundamental principles of quantum physics. These models gives however computational problems which can be solved with difficulty, which requires a high performance computer, from the supercomputer category.
The study in the molecular nanotechnology, of which we are discussing here can found applications in various domains, from which of interest for the Platform are those from biology and biophysics (characterization methods at the molecular level) and in a new direction in informatics, that of non-standard computation (quantum calculation, ADM computation). In the educational area, the Platform will continue the master programs which are actually running and shall propose new master and doctoral degrees in interdisciplinary topics. These master degrees will be offered to both students from the country and from abroad, being assisted by the use of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) and eLearning modern technologies in which some of the members of the Platform have an excellent experience as graduates of training courses abroad. As a medium and long term goal, the Platform propose to become a high quality training centre in the domain of molecular nanotechnologies, recognized internationally and integrated in prestigious international structures, like the European Institute of Molecular Magnetism.
The Platform will have high quality equipments. By this Project, the Platform will consolidate the technical basis of a number of Laboratories by the acquisition of a supercomputer, of equipment for physical characterization of materials at nanometric scale and of equipment to be used for the development of techniques of biophsics and molecular genetics with applications in the testing of non-standard informatics like the quantum and DNA computation which can be used in information security and cryptography. An essential aspect of the project is that of the development of an experimental basis to allow the integration and increased cooperation with similar entities from the country and abroad.
The group which propose this project has an extensive international recognition proven by the number of published papers in the domain of research and by the significant number of citations. The group has already significant resources (laboratories, equipment, financial resources) which can assure the co-financing with a value which is higher than the one requested here. These resources have been created during many years through a policy of investments of the resources received from grants and from other resources provided by the University. Another important aspect is that of the capacity to sustain very complex research programs, proven by the large number of grants coordinated by the members of the Platform. These grants are assuring now about 300.000 EURO annually which gives a degree of certitude for the continuation with success of the activities after the final of this project which is however essential for the major investments for the groups associated in this project from the various domains of science.
The Platform has a flexibleand well structured organization which will assure a easier adaptation to the new descoveries in science and which can provide help for the members to have fruitfull cooperation with the regional, national and international economic representatives. We are estimating that this project will increase significantly the international competivity of the group this will give the possibility to obtain supplementary resources from international grants (NATO, FP7, others). The Coordination Team of the grant is formed from professors with a reach educational activity and highly recognized in the reseach activity, experienced in the coordination of research grants. The financing the AMON Platform project is the starting point for an important Center of Excellence in Romanian scientific research.