Theoretical and experimental investigations of light scattering
      by heterogeneous non-spherical cosmic dust grains

Dust is ubiquitous in the Universe. It can be found in the Solar system,
in the interstellar medium in our and other galaxies, but also in
distant quasars. Despite the fact that only 1 per cent of interstellar
material is in the form of dust, the very efficient absorption of
radiation by dust particles causes it  to play an important role in the
energy balance of the interstellar medium. Since it provides a surface,
it is also important for the chemistry of the interstellar medium and of
star forming regions: indeed, dust is a key ingredient in the formation
process of new generations of stars and planets. It is therefore
essential to constrain the properties of interstellar dust, by means of
the study of the interaction of radiation with dust. The purpose of the
project is to study this interaction of radiation with small dust
particles in astrophysical environments. We will use three main
approaches:
(i)   the development of realistic numerical models to treat scattering of
      light by small dust particles (tasks 1, 3 and 4);
(ii)  the experimental verification of these numerical models by
      laboratory measurements of cosmic dust analogues (tasks 2 and 3);
(iii) the application of these numerical techniques and laboratory
      measurements for the interpretation of astronomical observations
      of dust (task 5).
The tasks refer to those given in the original proposal.