ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

The project aims to systematically explore an entire field of current forms of theatre, which despite its outstanding cultural and political significance has so far largely been ignored by theatre studies. Over the past two decades, notwithstanding intense competition from television and electronic media, theatre has been able to reassert and even reinforce its relevance in many different parts of the world and in widely diverse cultural fields (politics, business, social work, development aid, health care, and education). This renewed relevance originates not in traditional, experimental, or commercial theatre but rather among the many different types of applied theatre, which set in motion constructive social processes while upholding theatre’s aesthetic claim. Theatre with clear social, political, or economic aims is experiencing an unprecedented boom. The study will analyse this cross-cultural trend against the background of new theories of the aesthetics of performances and rehearsal processes. This theatre studies approach promises precise insights into the aesthetic forms of applied theatre, which constitute the (hitherto barely researched) foundation of its political effects. It will furthermore bring to light the ethical issues of applied theatre: intense aesthetic experiences – often linked with risks when it comes to performances – do not readily fit in with the claim to restore children, youngsters, patients, and other target groups to health, integrity, and self-confidence through theatrical practice. The project aims to show how aesthetic, political, and ethical aspects interact in the practice of applied theatre. Investigations will focus on carefully selected case studies in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America, whose comparison will make it possible for the first time to capture the worldwide landscape of applied theatre in its full diversity, but also in its overarching structures and interrelations.

2 285 295 €

Start date: 2012-12-01, End date: 2017-11-30

"I propose a structured multidisciplinary research programme that seeks to combine advanced materials, such as metal oxides and organics, with novel fabrication methods to develop devices for application in: (1) large area electronics, (2) integrated nanoelectronics and (3) sensors. At the heart of this programme lies the development of novel oxide semiconductors. These will be synthesised from solution using precursors. Chemical doping via physical blending will be explored for the tuning of the electronic properties of these compounds. This simple approach will enable the rapid development of a library of materials far beyond those accessible by traditional methods. Oxides will then be combined with inorganic/organic dielectrics to demonstrate low power transistors. Ultimate target for application area (1) is the development of transistors with hole/electron mobilities exceeding 20/200 cm^2/Vs respectively. For application area (2) I will combine the precursor formulations with advanced scanning thermochemical nanolithography. A heated atomic force microscope tip will be used for the local chemical conversion of the precursor to oxide with sub-50 nm resolution. This will enable patterning of nanostructures with desirable shape and size. Sequential patterning of semi/conductive layers combined with SAM dielectrics would enable fabrication of nano-sized devices and circuits. For application area (3), research effort will focus on novel hybrid phototransistors. Use of different light absorbing organic dyes functionalised onto the oxide channel will be explored as a mean for developing high sensitivity phototransistors and full colour sensing arrays. Organic dyes will also be combined with nano-sized transistors to demonstrate integrated nano-scale optoelectronics. The unique combination of bottom-up and top-down strategies adopted in this project will lead to the development of novel high performance devices with a host of existing and new applications."

1 497 798 €

Start date: 2012-01-01, End date: 2016-12-31

The proposal is built on the core idea to use an ensemble of multiple level self-organization processes to create a next generation photocatalytic platform that provides unprecedented property and reactivity control. As a main output, the project will yield a novel highly precise combined catalyst/photocatalyst assembly to: 1) provide a massive step ahead in photocatalytic applications such as direct solar hydrogen generation, pollution degradation (incl. CO2 decomposition), N2 fixation, or photocatalytic organic synthesis. It will drastically enhance efficiency and selectivity of photocatalytic reactions, and enable a high number of organic synthetic reactions to be carried out economically (and ecologically) via combined catalytic/photocatalytic pathways. Even more, it will establish an entirely new generation of “100% depoisoning”, anti-aggregation catalysts with substantially enhanced catalyst life-time. For this, a series of self-assembly processes on the mesoscale will be used to create highly uniform arrays of single-catalyst-particle-in-a-single-TiO2-cavity; target is a 100% reliable placement of a single <10 nm particle in a 10 nm cavity. Thus catalytic features of, for example Pt nanoparticles, can ideally interact with the photocatalytic properties of a TiO2 cavity. The cavity will be optimized for optical and electronic properties by doping and band-gap engineering; the geometry will be tuned to the range of a few nm.. This nanoscopic design yields to a radical change in the controllability of length and time-scales (reactant, charge carrier and ionic transport in the substrate) in combined photocatalytic/catalytic reactions. It is of key importance that all nanoscale assembly principles used in this work are scalable and allow to create square meters of nanoscopically ordered catalyst surfaces. We target to demonstrate the feasibility of the implementation of the nanoscale principles in a prototype macroscopic reactor.

2 427 000 €

Start date: 2014-03-01, End date: 2019-02-28

"The deregulation of transcription is an important driver of leukemia development. Typically, transcription in leukemia cells is altered by the ectopic expression of transcription factors, by modulation of signaling pathways or by epigenetic changes. In addition to these factors that affect the production of RNAs, also changes in the processing of RNA (its splicing, transport and decay) may contribute to determine steady-state RNA levels in leukemia cells. Indeed, acquired mutations in various genes encoding RNA splice factors have recently been identified in myeloid leukemias and in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. In our study of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), we have identified mutations in RNA decay factors, including mutations in CNOT3, a protein believed to function in deadenylation of mRNA. It remains, however, unclear how mutations in RNA processing can contribute to the development of leukemia. In this project, we aim to further characterize the mechanisms of RNA regulation in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) to obtain insight in the interplay between RNA generation and RNA decay and its role in leukemia development. We will study RNA decay in human T-ALL cells and mouse models of T-ALL, with the aim to identify the molecular consequences that contribute to leukemia development. We will use new technologies such as RNA-sequencing in combination with bromouridine labeling of RNA to measure RNA transcription and decay rates in a transcriptome wide manner allowing unbiased discoveries. These studies will be complemented with screens in Drosophila melanogaster using an established eye cancer model, previously also successfully used for the studies of T-ALL oncogenes. This study will contribute to our understanding of the pathogenesis of T-ALL and may identify new targets for therapy of this leukemia. In addition, our study will provide a better understanding of how RNA processing is implicated in cancer development in general."

1 998 300 €

Start date: 2014-05-01, End date: 2019-04-30