The ATTRACT Phase-1(B) project delivers an important new angle to the already established and highly regarded ATTRACT Model which created an European eco-system for breakthrough detection & imaging (D&I) technology development based on co-innovation. The precursor H2020 ATTRACT Phase-1(A) and Phase-2 projects have already proven that - in principle - the development of breakthrough innovation from basic science towards market applications does not need to be a matter of chance. It can lead to much faster results if managed and supported consistently through the creation of an trusted ecosystem between research, academia, industry and public/private investment communities. In neither precursor projects, however, the ATTRACT Consortium specified topics to be funded and opted for a bottom up approach. In light of the societal challenges that Europe faces, the ATTRACT Consortium now feels compelled to explore whether such approach remains valid, or whether ATTRACT - as an instrument - can work equally well when an element of research pre-determination is introduced. In the ATTRACT Phase-1(B) project, the pre-determining factor is 'D&I for Earth observation and monitoring', as such technologies directly contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of nature-human interaction, environmental changes and Climate Change. The ATTRACT Consortium will fund 30 breakthrough D&I concepts at €100.000 each. Third Party Open Call applicant consortia will have 12 months to investigate the scientific merits, technical feasibility, and potential game-changing applicability potential of their concept up to TRL level 3-5. Technologies should be capable of collecting data (physical, chemical, biological, etc, characteristics) with high specificity and extreme sensitivity whilst offering high spatial and temporal resolution and massive parallelism. They should be suitable for seamless integration into pervasive, low cost, and low-power ICT systems (incl. portable, wearable, IoT).

Batteries are attractive candidates for lightweight, high capacity, mobile energy storage solutions. Despite decades of research, a persistent fundamental knowledge gap prevents batteries from fulfilling their potential, because the atomistic mechanisms of charge and ion transfer across interfaces in batteries remain largely unexplored by experimental techniques. When charges move, the local arrangement of atoms changes in response to the new electronic configuration. How these changes occur has a significant impact on how efficiently and how far the charges can move, yet the time and length scales are still poorly understood. Conventional experimental probes used in battery research cannot provide the needed ultrafast time and atomic length scale resolution, nor sensitivity to changes in electronic configuration around specific atomic species. Hence, it is currently challenging to unravel the dynamic rearrangement of atoms and ions which accompany electron transfer, and in turn govern the charge transfer processes. UltraBat will close this knowledge gap by pushing further the latest development of ultra-bright and ultra-fast X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) scattering and spectroscopy techniques together with visible ultrafast spectroscopy to study charge transfer between different redox centres in Li-rich layered intercalation compounds and at the solid/liquid interface. Advances in NMR spectroscopy will reveal local ordering and lithium interfacial dynamics on the nanometer scale. Coupled with predictions of experimental observables from a new framework for atomic-scale simulations of the electrochemical interface and transport mechanisms, we will reveal phenomena driving diffusion of ions in complex electrode materials. This will provide the insight required for transformational approaches to control the redox reactions (e.g. electron transfer) that are common to many energy-related processes, including batteries, photovoltaics, and water-splitting systems.