ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

Naturally occurring optical phenomena attract great attention and transform our ability to study biological processes, with “the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein (GFP)” (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2008) being a particularly successful example. Although found only in very few species in nature, most organisms can be genetically programmed to produce the brightly fluorescent GFP molecules. Combined with modern fluorescence detection schemes, this has led to entirely new ways of monitoring biological processes. The applicant now demonstrated a biological laser – a completely novel, living source of coherent light based on a single biological cell bioengineered to produce GFP. Such a laser is intrinsically biocompatible, thus offering unique properties not shared by any existing laser. However, the physical processes involved in lasing from GFP remain poorly understood and so far biological lasers rely on bulky, impractical external resonators for optical feedback. Within this project, the applicant and his team will develop for the first time an understanding of stimulated emission in GFP and related proteins and create an unprecedented stand-alone single-cell biolaser based on intracellular optical feedback. These lasers will be deployed as microscopic and biocompatible imaging probes, thus opening in vivo microscopy to dense wavelength-multiplexing and enabling unmatched sensing of biomolecules and mechanical pressure. The evolutionarily evolved nano-structure of GFP will also enable novel ways of studying strong light-matter coupling and will bio-inspire advances of synthetic emitters. The proposed project is inter-disciplinary by its very nature, bridging photonics, genetic engineering and material science. The applicant’s previous pioneering work and synergies with work on other lasers developed at the applicant’s host institution provide an exclusive competitive edge. ERC support would transform this into a truly novel field of research.

1 499 875 €

Start date: 2015-06-01, End date: 2021-05-31

I propose to establish a research group to develop completely new tools in order to solve three important problems on the relationships between automorphic forms and Galois representations, which lie at the heart of the Langlands program. The first is to prove Serre’s conjecture for real quadratic fields. I will use automorphic induction to transfer the problem to U(4) over the rational numbers, where I will use automorphy lifting theorems and results on the weight part of Serre's conjecture that I established in my earlier work to reduce the problem to proving results in small weight and level. I will prove these base cases via integral p-adic Hodge theory and discriminant bounds. The second is to develop a geometric theory of moduli spaces of mod p and p-adic Galois representations, and to use it to establish the Breuil–Mézard conjecture in arbitrary dimension, by reinterpreting the conjecture in geometric terms. This will transform the subject by building the first connections between the p-adic Langlands program and the geometric Langlands program, providing an entirely new world of techniques for number theorists. As a consequence of the Breuil-Mézard conjecture, I will be able to deduce far stronger automorphy lifting theorems (in arbitrary dimension) than those currently available. The third is to completely determine the reduction mod p of certain two-dimensional crystalline representations, and as an application prove a strengthened version of the Gouvêa–Mazur conjecture. I will do this by means of explicit computations with the p-adic local Langlands correspondence for GL_2(Q_p), as well as by improving existing arguments which prove multiplicity one theorems via automorphy lifting theorems. This work will show that the existence of counterexamples to the Gouvêa-Mazur conjecture is due to a purely local phenomenon, and that when this local obstruction vanishes, far stronger conjectures of Buzzard on the slopes of the U_p operator hold.

1 131 339 €

Start date: 2012-10-01, End date: 2017-09-30

The goal of crystal engineering is the design of functional crystalline materials in which the arrangement of basic structural building blocks imparts desired properties. The engineering of organic molecular crystals has, to date, relied largely on empirical rules governing the intermolecular association of functional groups in the solid state. However, many materials properties depend intricately on the complete crystal structure, i.e. the unit cell, space group and atomic positions, which cannot be predicted solely using such rules. Therefore, the development of computational methods for crystal structure prediction (CSP) from first principles has been a goal of computational chemistry that could significantly accelerate the design of new materials. It is only recently that the necessary advances in the modelling of intermolecular interactions and developments in algorithms for identifying all relevant crystal structures have come together to provide predictive methods that are becoming reliable and affordable on a timescale that could usefully complement an experimental research programme. The principle aim of the proposed work is to establish the use of state-of-the-art crystal structure prediction methods as a means of guiding the discovery and design of novel molecular materials. This research proposal both continues the development of the computational methods for CSP and, by developing a computational framework for screening of potential molecules, develops the application of these methods for materials design. The areas on which we will focus are organic molecular semiconductors with high charge carrier mobilities and, building on our recently published results in Nature [1], the development of porous organic molecular materials. The project will both deliver novel materials, as well as improvements in the reliability of computational methods that will find widespread applications in materials chemistry. [1] Nature 2011, 474, 367-371.

1 499 906 €

Start date: 2012-10-01, End date: 2017-09-30

The property of spin has been harnessed in an array of revolutionary technologies, from nuclear spins in magnetic resonance imaging to spintronics in magnetic recording media. Nature at its deepest level is quantum mechanical and spins are capable of demonstrating superposition and entanglement, yet such coherent properties have not yet been fully exploited. The exquisite control over materials fabrication and spin control techniques has reached a maturity where spintronics can go beyond purely classical effects and begin to fully exploit these quantum properties. Potential applications range from quantum information processors, including the transmission of quantum information via itinerant electron spins, single microwave photon storage within spin ensembles, and a new generation of sensors exploiting entanglement to yield fundamentally enhanced precision. The aim of ASCENT is to develop materials and devices in which electron and nuclear spins exhibit long-lived coherent quantum behaviour and interactions which can be harnessed for technological purposes. Specifically, ASCENT will exploit in range of condensed matter systems from molecular materials to silicon-based structures, the possibility of transiently generating and removing electron spins in the vicinity of nuclear spins. The project represents a new and promising direction for the development of coherent interactions between spins in materials, and one which builds upon foundations I have established in my earlier work, often supported by preliminary investigations. Strong interactions with theory throughout this project will provide insights to refine and improve the experiments. In addition to direct applications in quantum technologies, the insights and methodology gained will be fed back into the wider field of spin resonance, including dynamic nuclear polarisation, structural biology and medical imaging.

1 875 550 €

Start date: 2011-12-01, End date: 2017-06-30