MULTISMART, Multi-component Soft Materials Advanced Research Training Network, is a Doctoral Network of six Universities, one private nonprofit Research Institute, two large Companies and an SME, involving training, fundamental research and applications in the field of molecular soft materials. These have substantial societal and economic impact, but require innovation to ensure sustainable development. The primary research objectives are defined as (i) the innovation in soft materials through multicomponentself-assemblies; (ii) the application of these materials in the formulation of actives with elevated performance in the largescale industries of personal care and home care, as well as high-added value regenerative therapies. Multi-component systems based on low molecular weight gelators have considerable potential to achieve these goals with the key advantages of programmability and responsiveness. However, their development hinges upon the formation of an inter-disciplinary network with well-trained researchers.

MultiSMART proposes: (1) the training of the future generation of researchers; (2) the tight integration between academic projects and private sector needs; (3) a network-wide, seamless multidisciplinary, international and inter-sectoral training that is not available at any one institution. MultiSMART Ph students (DRs) will have the opportunity to become scientists employable in both the industrial and academic sectors. In an integrated approach, the ESR will be trained to bridge the gap between chemistry, physics, biology and formulation technology, as well as to acquire transferable skills through their research and specifically designed network-wide schools and workshops. The participation of three industrial participants in research and training programmes will guarantee extensive inter-sectoral experience for the trainees and maximise the impact of the network.

In particular, DR6 will be trained under the guidance of Dr. Maria J. Vicent (Polymer Therapeutics Lab) and Dr Victoria Moreno Manzano (Neuronal and Tissue Regeneration Lab) at CIPF on the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of Functional star-shaped tripeptides with a fibrillar organization for the treatment of Spinal Cord Injury-SCI. The main objective of this PhD thesis is to develop multifunctional fibers for the treatment of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) by self-assembly of 1,3,5- benzeneetricarboxamide(BTA)-core star-shaped peptides in combination with Stem Cell Therapy. The DR will work on star-shaped-peptides that self-assemble into complex hierarchical nanostructures and networks, as well as in derivatising them with adequate functionalities to modulate rheological properties, or with bioactives. Selected star-shaped peptides will be deeply explored to be formulated as fibers by modulating amino-acid content, counterions and doping elements to also obtain  growth media/guidance support with structures required for neuron regeneration. Thus fibers will be biologically evaluated to allow neural precursor stem cells to settle,  grow and differentiate adequately into neurons in order to yield SCI regeneration. The

selected materials will be evaluated in vivo and -ex vivo in combination with neural precursor stem cells in an acute as well as chronic SCI model.

The selected DR will also perform secondments in different institution including Univ Bordeaux with Dr Del Guerzo to study the structure of these fibers with high-resolution microscopy and transfer knowledge about live cells manipulation, Also in the company Poietis, Viellerobe to perform bio-printing of MultiMat-cell systems (model organoids and/or neural precursor cells).