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CFTC: CFTC awarded ERC Synergy Grant as part of the RODIN project

The Center for Theoretical and Computational Physics (CFTC) at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon is part of the team awarded an ERC Synergy Grant for the project RODIN - Cell-mediated Sculptable Living Platforms, a 10M€ initiative funded by the European Research Council (ERC). Led by João Mano (University of Aveiro), Tom Ellis (Imperial College London), and Nuno Araújo (CFTC-ULisboa), RODIN proposes a transformative idea: to learn from how living cells sculpt their own environments and use that knowledge to design a new generation of dynamic, adaptive biomaterials. 

At CFTC, the team will lead the theoretical, computational, and AI-based components of the project. Using advanced simulations and data-driven models, researchers will identify the key mechanisms that govern the feedback between cells and their surrounding materials, bridging geometry, mechanics, and biochemistry. Just as the sculptor Auguste Rodin sought to capture the realism of the human form, the project draws inspiration from the "architectural wisdom" of cells to understand how they push, pull, and reshape their microenvironments, and how this shapes their collective behaviour and differentiation.

"This project embodies the essence of CFTC", says Prof. Nuno Araújo. “It combines physics, biology, and computation to reveal how living matter builds and transforms itself, and how we can learn from it.” Running for six years, RODIN brings together theoretical physics, biomaterials, and synthetic biology, marking a milestone in interdisciplinary research at the interface between the physical and life sciences.