Eight teams, comprising leading mathematicians, mechanists and materials scientists from six European countries, join their strengths in the interdisciplinary effort to study phase transitions in crystalline solids and their application to the design of new materials and devices.

Technological advances in the new electronic, biomedical, environmental, transportation, and energy production systems increasingly rely on the development of new materials that can actively respond to environmental changes, and provide functions of sensing, processing, actuation and feed- back ('active' or 'smart' materials). Crystalline materials undergoing phase transitions, which cause significant changes of shape in response to changes of temperature, applied stresses or electromagnetic fields, are particularly important in this respect and have great innovation potential. However, the impact of much recent research about 'smart materials' technology has been somewhat dampened by traditional national and disciplinary boundaries. The participating teams, which have a strong previous experience of autonomous research, will join their activity across such boundaries, in order to enhance the European research activity in this area.

The scientific objectives of the network, both theoretical and experimental, include:

• the investigation of the kinematics and symmetry of crystals and of their defects;
• the development of appropriate constitutive relations for multiphase crystals;
• the study of the equations governing the equilibria and evolution of phase transitions and of defects in a variety of imposed external conditions;
• the consequent investigation of metastability, of hysteresis, of phase diagrams, and of coherent and incoherent interfaces and microstructures;
• the investigation of the role of interfacial energy;
• the development of effective criteria for the design and synthesis of new materials;
• the development of efficient numerical simulations and control codes for devices, based on the results of the mathematical modelling;
• the development of experimental work on new materials and the close comparison of theoretical and experimental results;
• the development of an adaptive shape memory aircraft wing and of a miniaturized tentacle with shape-memory actuator wires.

Network Coordinator: Prof. Mario Pitteri DMMMSA Università di Padova Via Belzoni, 7 35131 PADOVA ITALIA Tel +39+(0)49+827-5901, -5928, -5925 Fax +39+(0)49+827-5995 email pitteri@dmsa.unipd.it email tmr@dmsa.unipd.it

A number of doctoral and post-doctoral positions are being offered, and will be offered in the next four years, as an essential part of the Network activity (see details below). PLEASE NOTE: the candidates to these positions must be not more than 35 years of age (except for compulsory military service or child care), citizens of a Member Country of the European Union or one of the associated Countries (check http://www.cordis.lu/tmr/ for an updated list). Furthermore, an applicant to a position offered by a research team cannot be a citizen of that team's Country. For general information on the TMR programme check http://www.cordis.lu/improving/src/hp_rtn.htm

Last Updated: Sep 26, 2000