Ultralight membrane structures towards a sustainable environment
LIGHTEN is a European Industrial Doctorates (EID) project, within the framework of the H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (MSCA-ITNs)
It aims to educate and train a new generation of highly qualified scientists and engineers to become experts in advanced design methods for sustainable construction
The LIGHTEN project
LIGHTEN is the first tailored and integrated doctoral programme that offers specialised training to 5 Early Stage Researchers to become world experts in lightweight structures and lead the European revolution in sustainable buildings through the use of novel fully recyclable and low-carbon structural membranes.
The LIGHTEN network comprises 3 universities: University College London (UK), University of Trento (Italy) and TU Delft (Netherlands) and 3 industries: Tensys ltd (UK), CAEmate srl (Italy) and Schlaich Bergermann Partner (Germany).
The project at a glance
- Call: H2020-MSCA-ITN-2020
- Type of Action: MSCA-ITN-EID
- Acronym: LIGHTEN
- GA Number: 956547
- Duration: 54 months
- Start Date: 01/11/2020
- CORDIS
The team
- 3 international research groups expert in solid and structural mechanics
- 3 world-leading companies in the design and analysis of membrane structures
The European Industrial Doctorate
LIGHTEN aims to train five Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) in the experimental, analytical and computationally data-driven methods necessary to design and analyse the next-generation of lightweight and sustainable membrane structures.
Each ESR has a unique individual research project, is jointly supervised by industrial and academic partners across two countries, and spend at least 18 months in industry.
Project description
Building construction industry is the largest anthropogenic source of pollution with massive energy consumption and vast CO2 emission. Novel fully recyclable and low-carbon structural membranes offer a green alternative to glass and other transparent cladding materials used in lightweight buildings, resulting in significant weight savings in the structures and drastically reducing the environmental impact.
The remarkably incomplete scientific and technological understanding of the thermomechanical behaviour of such innovative structural membranes requires the development of engineering models capable of predicting their performances and allowing their rational use in ultralightweight buildings with enhanced energy efficiency and resilience
Project partners
