An initial project to kick-start the program successfully ended in November at the Johannes Kepler University Linz.

The program aims to create a pool of European researchers and generally make Europe more attractive to top researchers and scientists. The researchers are free to choose their field and topic, the most important feature of the funding program is mobility. The goal is for participants to go abroad and deepen their skills, exchange expertise, and form a strong research network.

There are currently seven active MarieSkłodowska Curie projects at the JKU. Jan Legersky was the first to complete his project as part of a workshop held between November 27 - 29.

Czech computer scientist Jan Legersky joined the JKU three years ago as part of the ARCADES project. The name says it all: ARCADES is an acronym for Algebraic Representation in Computer-Aided Desing for complEx Shapes.

Legersky's supervisor Prof. Josef Schicho (Institute for Symbolic Computing, JKU) explained: "Legersky specifically worked on kinematics here at the JKU. This part of mathematics is dedicated to the geometric description of the motion of bodies."  Kinematics, in turn, is a theoretical basis for applications in robotics, such automating assembly line production.

Cooperation with the Upper Austrian Government
The Czech researcher presented his findings at the Final Open Workshop between November 27 - 29 together with the Symposium for Geometry and Computational Design at the TU Vienna. In summary, Legersky's newly developed methods allow mathematical problems to be solved in a matter of seconds. As to the relation, Legersky remarked: "Previous calculations using conventional methods would not produce results, even after several hours because the previous systems of equations are too complicated."

Legersky describes his stay here at the JKU as a strong learning experience. "It was incredibly inspiring to be here. There was always someone with whom I could discuss my ideas and I learned so much from my colleagues. The JKU is a great place to be able to concentrate on research."

In regards to the conclusion of the first Marie-Sklodowska Curie project at the JKU, Markus Achleitner, Minister of Economy and Research for Upper Austria, added: "Marie Curie stands for what constitutes cutting-edge research and what the Marie-Skłodowska-Curie funding program is all about: overcoming geographical and academic/scientific boundaries to enable high quality research. For Upper Austria and with the Johannes Kepler University as its central research institution, it is essential to actively involved in top international research. This is why it is so important for the Upper Austrian government to support these projects."

The second project focuses on organic chemistry and will conclude in spring 2020. Each project is being co-financed by Upper Austrian government’s Department of Economics and Research with € 12,000 per project. Topics range from symbolic computing to biophysics, organic chemistry, computational perception, industrial mathematics, digital business, and software engineering.