Participating countries and international organizations:
Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Egypt, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine. 

Issues addressed and main goals of research:
Modern trends in Raman-based microspectroscopy providing ultrasensitive, highly-contrast and chemically selective tools for condensed matter studies of extremely low concentrations of analyte molecules are in the focus of the present research programme. Detection and identification of a single molecule represent the ultimate sensitivity limit in chemical analysis. 
Tracking and counting of single molecules, characterizing their chemical structures offer far-reaching opportunities in basic and applied research. Therefore, vibrational spectroscopy, such as Raman spectroscopy, as a non-invasive, label-free technique, is a powerful and preferred tool for rareorganic/biological molecule studies. To achieve this goal, two enhanced options of Raman scattering, namely CARS (coherent antiStokes Raman spectroscopy) and SERS (surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy) will be combined to attain such an ultrasensitive level of detectior poorly studied and known as SECARS surface-enhanced CARS.
The other modern component of the theme is the study of photo- and upconversion luminescence based on promising core-shell nanostructures. In recent years, core-shell nanoparticles are at the leading edge of hot research topics and offer a wide range of applications in biomedicine, optics, environmental science, materials, and so forth, due to their excellent properties such as versatility, tunability and stability. The core-shell nanomaterials containing noble metals are plasmonic nanomaterials. They can be employed for contrast imaging, several biomedical applications, etc. 

Expected major results in the current year:

• Development of the wavelength scanning mode for picosecond coherent anti-Stokes Raman microspectrometry. 
  
  
• Continuation of the tests of various configurations of SERS-active substrates to ensure optimal selection for the effective SECARS spectroscopy. 
  
  
• Comparison of SERS and SECARS spectra and intensity maps of light scattered from organic reporter molecules. 
  
  
• Synthesis of core-shell nanostructure: NaYF₄:Yb ³⁺, Er ³⁺,Tm ³⁺@SiO₂ and tests on their toxicity. 
  
  
• Realization of a contrast and selective imaging method on model samples by Raman and upconversion luminescence.