Project acronym COULOMBUS
Project Electric Currents in Sediment and Soil
Researcher (PI) Lars Peter Nielsen
Host Institution (HI) AARHUS UNIVERSITET
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2011-ADG_20110209
Summary "With COULOMBUS I will explore the new electronic world I recently found in marine sediment; a living world featuring transmission of coulombs of electrons over long distances through a grid of unknown origin and composition. This is a great challenge to science, and I will specifically
- Unravel function, expansion, resilience, and microbial engineering of the conductive grid
- Identify microbial and geological processes related to long distance electron transfer today and in the past
- Introduce the electron as a new element in biogeochemical and ecological models.
- Map the range of sediment and soil habitats featuring biogeoelectric currents
Incubations of marine sediment will serve as the “base camp” for the surveys. Here I consistently observe that current sources extending centimetres down deliver electrons for most of the oxygen consumption, and here my array of advanced microsensors and biogeochemical methods works well. My team will record electric currents and biogeochemical changes as we manipulate mechanical, chemical, and biological conditions, thereby getting to an understanding of the interplay between conductors, microorganisms, electron donors, electron acceptors, and minerals. Next we take the methods out in the sea to evaluate biogeoelectricity in situ using robots. Other aquatic environments will also be screened. The ultimate outdoor challenge will come as I lead the team into soils where surface potentials suggest biogeoelectric currents deep down. All observations, experiments, and models will be directed to answer the groundbreaking questions: What physics and microbial engineering can explain long distance electron conductance in nature? How do electric microbial communities evolve and how do they shape element cycling? What signatures of biogeoelectricity are left in the geological record of earth history? If I succeed I will have opened up many new exciting research routes for the followers."
Summary
"With COULOMBUS I will explore the new electronic world I recently found in marine sediment; a living world featuring transmission of coulombs of electrons over long distances through a grid of unknown origin and composition. This is a great challenge to science, and I will specifically
- Unravel function, expansion, resilience, and microbial engineering of the conductive grid
- Identify microbial and geological processes related to long distance electron transfer today and in the past
- Introduce the electron as a new element in biogeochemical and ecological models.
- Map the range of sediment and soil habitats featuring biogeoelectric currents
Incubations of marine sediment will serve as the “base camp” for the surveys. Here I consistently observe that current sources extending centimetres down deliver electrons for most of the oxygen consumption, and here my array of advanced microsensors and biogeochemical methods works well. My team will record electric currents and biogeochemical changes as we manipulate mechanical, chemical, and biological conditions, thereby getting to an understanding of the interplay between conductors, microorganisms, electron donors, electron acceptors, and minerals. Next we take the methods out in the sea to evaluate biogeoelectricity in situ using robots. Other aquatic environments will also be screened. The ultimate outdoor challenge will come as I lead the team into soils where surface potentials suggest biogeoelectric currents deep down. All observations, experiments, and models will be directed to answer the groundbreaking questions: What physics and microbial engineering can explain long distance electron conductance in nature? How do electric microbial communities evolve and how do they shape element cycling? What signatures of biogeoelectricity are left in the geological record of earth history? If I succeed I will have opened up many new exciting research routes for the followers."
Max ERC Funding
2 155 300 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-03-01, End date: 2017-02-28
Project acronym EMIS
Project An Intense Summer Monsoon in a Cool World, Climate and East Asian Monsoon during Interglacials with a special emphasis on the Interglacials 500,000 years ago and before
Researcher (PI) André, Léon Berger
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary Asian monsoon is a spectacular occurrence in the climate system. What make it so powerful are the combination of thermal contrast between the World s largest landmass (Eurasian continent) and ocean basin (the Indo-Pacific Ocean) and the presence of the World s largest ridge, the Tibetan Plateau. Climatologically, monsoon regions are the most convectively active areas and account for the majority of global atmospheric heat and moisture transport. Moreover, the economy, culture and rhythms of life of 60% of humanity are critically influenced by the evolution and variability of the Asian monsoon. The need to better understand the monsoon leads inevitably to the close inspection of its activity during the geological times to provide a long-term perspective from which any future change may be more effectively assessed. Our research proposal aims to understand the seeming paradox of the exceptionally intense East Asian summer monsoon (actually the strongest over the last one million years) which occurred during the relatively cool interglacial (MIS-13), 500,000 years ago. This will be done using first a model of intermediate complexity (LOVECLIM) to achieve a number of sensitivity experiments to the astronomical forcing, the Eurasian and North American ice sheets, the Tibetan Plateau and the Ocean. Ocean-atmosphere coupled general circulation models will then be used to confirm the main processes underlined by LOVECLIM, in particular those related to the wave train topographically induced by the Eurasian ice sheet, to the Tibetan Plateau, to the sea-surface temperature and to their role in reinforcing the East Asian summer monsoon. This monsoon of MIS-13 will be compared with the monsoon which occurred during the other interglacials of the upper Pleistocene and Holocene (about the last 700,000 years). All simulation results will be compared with the available proxy records, in particular-but not exclusively-those coming from the loess-soil sequences in China.
Summary
Asian monsoon is a spectacular occurrence in the climate system. What make it so powerful are the combination of thermal contrast between the World s largest landmass (Eurasian continent) and ocean basin (the Indo-Pacific Ocean) and the presence of the World s largest ridge, the Tibetan Plateau. Climatologically, monsoon regions are the most convectively active areas and account for the majority of global atmospheric heat and moisture transport. Moreover, the economy, culture and rhythms of life of 60% of humanity are critically influenced by the evolution and variability of the Asian monsoon. The need to better understand the monsoon leads inevitably to the close inspection of its activity during the geological times to provide a long-term perspective from which any future change may be more effectively assessed. Our research proposal aims to understand the seeming paradox of the exceptionally intense East Asian summer monsoon (actually the strongest over the last one million years) which occurred during the relatively cool interglacial (MIS-13), 500,000 years ago. This will be done using first a model of intermediate complexity (LOVECLIM) to achieve a number of sensitivity experiments to the astronomical forcing, the Eurasian and North American ice sheets, the Tibetan Plateau and the Ocean. Ocean-atmosphere coupled general circulation models will then be used to confirm the main processes underlined by LOVECLIM, in particular those related to the wave train topographically induced by the Eurasian ice sheet, to the Tibetan Plateau, to the sea-surface temperature and to their role in reinforcing the East Asian summer monsoon. This monsoon of MIS-13 will be compared with the monsoon which occurred during the other interglacials of the upper Pleistocene and Holocene (about the last 700,000 years). All simulation results will be compared with the available proxy records, in particular-but not exclusively-those coming from the loess-soil sequences in China.
Max ERC Funding
893 880 €
Duration
Start date: 2008-11-01, End date: 2013-10-31
Project acronym ENVNANO
Project Environmental Effects and Risk Evaluation of Engineered Nanoparticles
Researcher (PI) Anders Baun
Host Institution (HI) DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), LS9, ERC-2011-StG_20101109
Summary The objective of the project Environmental Effects and Risk Evaluation of Engineered Nanoparticles (EnvNano) is to elucidate the particle specific properties that govern the ecotoxicological effects of engineered nanoparticles and in this way shift the paradigm for environmental risk assessment of nanomaterials.
While current activities in the emerging field of nano-ecotoxicology and environmental risk assessment of nanomaterials are based on the assumption that the methodologies developed for chemicals can be adapted to be applicable for nanomaterials, EnvNano has a completely different starting point: The behaviour of nanoparticles in suspension is fundamentally different from that of chemicals in on solution.
Therefore, all modifications of existing techniques that do not take this fact into account are bound to have a limited sphere of application or in the worst case to be invalid. By replacing the assumption of dissolved chemicals with a particle behaviour assumption, the traditional risk assessment paradigm will be so seriously impaired that a shift of paradigm will be needed.
EnvNano is based on the following hypotheses: 1. The ecotoxicity and bioaccumulation of engineered nanoparticles will be a function of specific physical and chemical characteristics of the nanoparticles; 2. The environmental hazards of engineered nanoparticles cannot be derived from hazard identifications of the material in other forms; 3. Existing regulatory risk assessment procedures for chemicals will not be appropriate to assess the behaviour and potential harmful effects of engineered nanoparticles on the environment.
These research hypotheses will be addressed in the four interacting research topics of EnvNano: Particle Characterization, Ecotoxicty, Bioaccumulation, and Framework for Risk Evaluation of Nanoparticles aimed to form the foundation for a movement from coefficient-based to kinetic-based environmental nanotoxicology and risk assessment.
Summary
The objective of the project Environmental Effects and Risk Evaluation of Engineered Nanoparticles (EnvNano) is to elucidate the particle specific properties that govern the ecotoxicological effects of engineered nanoparticles and in this way shift the paradigm for environmental risk assessment of nanomaterials.
While current activities in the emerging field of nano-ecotoxicology and environmental risk assessment of nanomaterials are based on the assumption that the methodologies developed for chemicals can be adapted to be applicable for nanomaterials, EnvNano has a completely different starting point: The behaviour of nanoparticles in suspension is fundamentally different from that of chemicals in on solution.
Therefore, all modifications of existing techniques that do not take this fact into account are bound to have a limited sphere of application or in the worst case to be invalid. By replacing the assumption of dissolved chemicals with a particle behaviour assumption, the traditional risk assessment paradigm will be so seriously impaired that a shift of paradigm will be needed.
EnvNano is based on the following hypotheses: 1. The ecotoxicity and bioaccumulation of engineered nanoparticles will be a function of specific physical and chemical characteristics of the nanoparticles; 2. The environmental hazards of engineered nanoparticles cannot be derived from hazard identifications of the material in other forms; 3. Existing regulatory risk assessment procedures for chemicals will not be appropriate to assess the behaviour and potential harmful effects of engineered nanoparticles on the environment.
These research hypotheses will be addressed in the four interacting research topics of EnvNano: Particle Characterization, Ecotoxicty, Bioaccumulation, and Framework for Risk Evaluation of Nanoparticles aimed to form the foundation for a movement from coefficient-based to kinetic-based environmental nanotoxicology and risk assessment.
Max ERC Funding
1 196 260 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-12-01, End date: 2016-03-31
Project acronym KONGOKING
Project Political centralization, economic integration and language evolution in Central Africa: An interdisciplinary approach to the early history of the Kongo kingdom
Researcher (PI) Koen André Georges Bostoen
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITEIT GENT
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH6, ERC-2011-StG_20101124
Summary The magnificent Kongo kingdom, which arose in the Atlantic Coast region of Equatorial Africa, is a famous emblem of Africa’s past. It is an important cultural landmark for Africans and the African Diaspora. Thanks to its early introduction to literacy and involvement in the Trans- Atlantic trade, the history of this part of sub-Saharan Africa from 1500 onwards is better known than most other parts. Nevertheless, very little is known about the origins and earlier history of the kingdom. Hence, this grant application proposes an interdisciplinary approach to this question. Archaeology and historical linguistics, two key disciplines for early history reconstruction in Africa, will play the most prominent role in this approach. Paradoxically, if the wider region of the Kongo kingdom is one of the best documented areas of Central Africa from a historical and ethnographic point of view, it is virtually unknown archaeologically. The proposed research team will therefore undertake pioneer excavations in several capital sites of the old kingdom. Similarly, no comprehensive historical study has covered the languages of the Kongo and closely affiliated kingdoms. Nonetheless, the earliest documents with Bantu data, going back to the early 16th century, originate from this region. The proposed research team will therefore undertake a historical-comparative study of the Kikongo dialect cluster and surrounding language groups, such as Kimbundu, Teke and Punu-Shira, systematically comparing current-day data with data from the old documents. Special attention will be given to cultural vocabulary related to politics, religion, social organization, trade and crafts, which in conjunction with the archaeological discoveries, will shed new light on th
Summary
The magnificent Kongo kingdom, which arose in the Atlantic Coast region of Equatorial Africa, is a famous emblem of Africa’s past. It is an important cultural landmark for Africans and the African Diaspora. Thanks to its early introduction to literacy and involvement in the Trans- Atlantic trade, the history of this part of sub-Saharan Africa from 1500 onwards is better known than most other parts. Nevertheless, very little is known about the origins and earlier history of the kingdom. Hence, this grant application proposes an interdisciplinary approach to this question. Archaeology and historical linguistics, two key disciplines for early history reconstruction in Africa, will play the most prominent role in this approach. Paradoxically, if the wider region of the Kongo kingdom is one of the best documented areas of Central Africa from a historical and ethnographic point of view, it is virtually unknown archaeologically. The proposed research team will therefore undertake pioneer excavations in several capital sites of the old kingdom. Similarly, no comprehensive historical study has covered the languages of the Kongo and closely affiliated kingdoms. Nonetheless, the earliest documents with Bantu data, going back to the early 16th century, originate from this region. The proposed research team will therefore undertake a historical-comparative study of the Kikongo dialect cluster and surrounding language groups, such as Kimbundu, Teke and Punu-Shira, systematically comparing current-day data with data from the old documents. Special attention will be given to cultural vocabulary related to politics, religion, social organization, trade and crafts, which in conjunction with the archaeological discoveries, will shed new light on th
Max ERC Funding
1 400 760 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-01-01, End date: 2016-12-31
Project acronym NANOSYM
Project Symbiotic bacteria as a delivery system for Nanobodies that target the insect-parasite interplay
Researcher (PI) Jan Van Den Abbeele
Host Institution (HI) PRINS LEOPOLD INSTITUUT VOOR TROPISCHE GENEESKUNDE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), LS9, ERC-2011-StG_20101109
Summary The tsetse fly (Glossina spp.) salivary gland is the final micro-environment where the Trypanosoma brucei parasites adhere and undergo a complex re-programming cycle resulting in an end stage that is re-programmed to continue its life cycle in a new mammalian host. The molecular parasite-vector communications that orchestrate this trypanosome development in tsetse fly salivary glands remain unknown mainly due to the limited availability of experimental tools for functional research. We hypothesize that an innovative paratransgenic approach using the Sodalis glossinidius endosymbiont to deliver Nanobodies that target the trypanosome-tsetse fly crosstalk will open a new avenue to unravel the molecular determinants of this specific parasite-vector association. In this project I will develop an innovative Sodalis-based internal delivery system for Nanobodies to target the tsetse fly – trypanosome interplay and, as final outcome, will generate a trypanosome-resistant tsetse fly. In addition, I will explore the completely ‘unknown’ of the molecular nature of trypanosome adherence to the salivary gland epithelium. This will be addressed by a challenging proteomic-based approach on the tsetse salivary gland - trypanosome membrane complex and by the newly developed paratransgenic approach using the S. glossinidius endosymbiont as an internal delivery system for salivary gland epithelium-targeting Nanobodies. The application of this innovative concept of using pathogen-targeting Nanobodies delivered by insect symbiotic bacteria could be extended to other vector-pathogen systems such as Anopheles gambiae – Plasmodium falciparum and Aedes aegypti – dengue virus.
Summary
The tsetse fly (Glossina spp.) salivary gland is the final micro-environment where the Trypanosoma brucei parasites adhere and undergo a complex re-programming cycle resulting in an end stage that is re-programmed to continue its life cycle in a new mammalian host. The molecular parasite-vector communications that orchestrate this trypanosome development in tsetse fly salivary glands remain unknown mainly due to the limited availability of experimental tools for functional research. We hypothesize that an innovative paratransgenic approach using the Sodalis glossinidius endosymbiont to deliver Nanobodies that target the trypanosome-tsetse fly crosstalk will open a new avenue to unravel the molecular determinants of this specific parasite-vector association. In this project I will develop an innovative Sodalis-based internal delivery system for Nanobodies to target the tsetse fly – trypanosome interplay and, as final outcome, will generate a trypanosome-resistant tsetse fly. In addition, I will explore the completely ‘unknown’ of the molecular nature of trypanosome adherence to the salivary gland epithelium. This will be addressed by a challenging proteomic-based approach on the tsetse salivary gland - trypanosome membrane complex and by the newly developed paratransgenic approach using the S. glossinidius endosymbiont as an internal delivery system for salivary gland epithelium-targeting Nanobodies. The application of this innovative concept of using pathogen-targeting Nanobodies delivered by insect symbiotic bacteria could be extended to other vector-pathogen systems such as Anopheles gambiae – Plasmodium falciparum and Aedes aegypti – dengue virus.
Max ERC Funding
1 444 370 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-11-01, End date: 2016-10-31
Project acronym POPFULL
Project System analysis of a bio-energy plantation: full greenhouse gas balance and energy accounting
Researcher (PI) Reinhart J.M. Ceulemans
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPEN
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS9, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary One of the strategies for mitigation of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions that is receiving a lot of attention in this post-Kyoto era, is the use of bio-energy as a replacement for fossil fuels. Among the different alternatives of bio-energy production the use of biomass crops such as fast-growing woody crops under short rotation coppice (SRC) regimes - is probably the most suited, in particular in the EU. Two issues need to be addressed before the efficacy of bio-energy for carbon mitigation can be conclusively assessed, i.e. (i) a full life cycle analysis (LCA) of the global warming contribution of SRC, and (ii) and an assessment of the energy efficiency of the system. The objectives of this project are: (i) to make a full LCA balance of the most important greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, H2O and O3) and of the volatile organic compounds (VOC s), and (ii) to make a full energy accounting of a SRC plantation with fast-growing trees. The project will involve both an experimental approach at a representative field site in Belgium and a modelling part. For the experimental approach a SRC of poplar (Populus) will be monitored during the course of 1+3 years, harvested and transformed into bio-energy. Eddy covariance techniques will be used to monitor net fluxes of all greenhouse gases and VOC's, in combination with common assessments of biomass pools (incl. soil) and fluxes. For the energy accounting we will use life cycle analysis and energy efficiency assessments over the entire life cycle of the SRC plantation until the production of electricity and heat. A significant process based modeling component will integrate the collected knowledge on the greenhouse gas and energy balances toward predictions and simulations of the net reduction of fossil greenhouse gas emissions (avoided emissions) of SRC over different rotation cycles, global warming scenarios, and management strategies.
Summary
One of the strategies for mitigation of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions that is receiving a lot of attention in this post-Kyoto era, is the use of bio-energy as a replacement for fossil fuels. Among the different alternatives of bio-energy production the use of biomass crops such as fast-growing woody crops under short rotation coppice (SRC) regimes - is probably the most suited, in particular in the EU. Two issues need to be addressed before the efficacy of bio-energy for carbon mitigation can be conclusively assessed, i.e. (i) a full life cycle analysis (LCA) of the global warming contribution of SRC, and (ii) and an assessment of the energy efficiency of the system. The objectives of this project are: (i) to make a full LCA balance of the most important greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, H2O and O3) and of the volatile organic compounds (VOC s), and (ii) to make a full energy accounting of a SRC plantation with fast-growing trees. The project will involve both an experimental approach at a representative field site in Belgium and a modelling part. For the experimental approach a SRC of poplar (Populus) will be monitored during the course of 1+3 years, harvested and transformed into bio-energy. Eddy covariance techniques will be used to monitor net fluxes of all greenhouse gases and VOC's, in combination with common assessments of biomass pools (incl. soil) and fluxes. For the energy accounting we will use life cycle analysis and energy efficiency assessments over the entire life cycle of the SRC plantation until the production of electricity and heat. A significant process based modeling component will integrate the collected knowledge on the greenhouse gas and energy balances toward predictions and simulations of the net reduction of fossil greenhouse gas emissions (avoided emissions) of SRC over different rotation cycles, global warming scenarios, and management strategies.
Max ERC Funding
2 500 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-03-01, End date: 2014-10-31
