ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

Our project proposes a fragmentary account of the art histories produced in present-day Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia between 1850 and 1950, from an entangled histories perspective. We will look at the relationships between the art histories produced in these countries and the art histories produced in Western Europe. But, more importantly, we will investigate how the art histories written in the countries mentioned above resonate with each other, either proposing conflicting interpretations of the past, or ignoring uncomfortable competing discourses. We will investigate the art histories written between 1850 and 1950 because we are interested in how art history contributed to nation building discourses. Therefore, we will focus on those art histories that concur to nationalising the past. Our project is articulated around three crucial concepts – periodisation, style and influence – set in the context of relevant contemporary historiographies produced in Western Europe, and analysing the entanglements with competing historiographies in each of the countries considered. We will focus on two main issues: 1. How did Central and Eastern European art historians adopt, adapt and respond to theoretical and methodological issues developed elsewhere, and 2. What are the periodisations of art produced on the territory of Central and Eastern European countries; what are the theoretical and methodological strategies for conceptualising local styles; and how was the concept of influence used in establishing hierarchical relationships. Researching the conceptualisation of a theoretical framework that would accommodate the artistic production of the past will show the difficulties in dealing with a complex reality without simplifying and essentializing it along ideological lines. The research will also show that the three concepts that we focus on are not neutral or strictly descriptive, and that their use in art history needs to be reconsidered.

1 192 250 €

Start date: 2018-10-01, End date: 2023-09-30

Plastics are essential to virtually any modern technology and therefore ubiquitious. However, when released to the environment they can persist for centuries. One pillar of a responsible future economy is therefore to endow important plastics with a non-persistent nature. Polyethylene (PE) is the largest scale synthetic material, used in transportation, energy storage, water cleaning, clothing and many other fields. However, it is most problematic concerning degradability. This proposal addresses this major challenge by introducing photo- and hydrolytically degradable groups in the PE chain. Directly during catalytic PE synthesis, isolated keto groups will be generated by incorporation of small amounts of carbon monoxide. This yet unachieved goal is targeted via catalysts with extreme shielding and rigid ligand environments in heterobimetallic Ni(II) / main group metal complexes. A compartmentalized aqueous polymerization with precise control of high ethylene/CO ratios will yield the in-chain functionalized PE as nano- and microscale particle dispersions. Living catalytic polymerization in nanoparticles is pursued to achieve ultra high molecular weights and gradient PE chains forming nanodomains varying in ketone density. Aqueous heterophase oxidation with benign oxidants on all these nanoparticle will yield in-chain ester groups. Further types of hydrolytically cleavable groups are targeted via the complementary synthetic approach of step growth from seed- or microalgae-oil derived PE-telechelics. This yields linear PE with in-chain carbonate, acetal and anhydride groups. Basic materials properties of all polymers are determined by tensile tests. Degradation studies reflecting a marine environment will indicate the persistency behaviour and fate of microfragments, using macroscopic specimens and the above particles as models. Knowledge of the particle and bulk morphologies will be instrumental to understand the materials and degradation properties.

2 494 829 €

Start date: 2019-10-01, End date: 2024-09-30

Nature has evolved astonishingly diverse structures where the nanoscale assembly of components is key to their functionality. Such nanostructures self-assemble at massive scales and at spatial resolutions surpassing top-down production techniques. The leaves of a single tree, e.g., can cover the area of 10.000 m^2 while every mm^2 contains more than 10^8 highly efficient light-harvesting complexes. For future photovoltaic devices, light-managing surfaces and photonic devices it will thus be beneficial to adopt principles of self-assembly. Advances in design and low-cost production of DNA nanostructures allow us to challenge nature. By combining the assembly power of bottom-up DNA origami with top-down lithography it will be possible to fabricate functional nanostructured materials designed on the molecular level while reaching macroscopic dimensions. With the goal to boost energy conversion rates, I will design DNA structures that grow from pre-patterned surfaces and assemble into interpenetrating 3D networks that exhibit the highest possible contact area for electron donor and acceptor molecules in organic photovoltaic devices. Spectral tuning through carefully designed dye arrangements will complement these efforts. Custom-tailored photonic crystals built from lattices of DNA origami structures will control the flow of light. By incorporating dynamic DNA reconfigurability and colloidal nanoparticles at freely chosen positions, intelligent materials that respond to external cues such as light or heat are projected. Positioning accuracy of 1 nm renders possible the emergence of so-called “Dirac plasmons” in DNA-assembled particle lattices. Such topologically protected states are sought after for the coherent and loss-less propagation of energy and information in next-generation all-optical circuits. These approaches have the potential to reduce production costs and increase efficiencies of light-harvesting devices, intelligent surfaces and future computing devices.

1 997 500 €

Start date: 2019-04-01, End date: 2024-03-31

The implementation of viable practices for the ecologically cognizant production and consumption of energy and renewable resources rank among the most pressing societal challenges of the 21st century. Against this background, the design and development of innovative concepts for the sustainable use of energy and energy-rich compounds from regenerative sources becomes a matter of profound technological and scientific pertinence. A promising approach that has been put forward in the context of chemical synthesis is the application of visible light as an inexpensive source of energy and air as an abundant and gratuitous oxidant for the derivatization of certain hydrocarbons. Despite the enormous economic and ecological benefits associated with the use of light and air as integral components of redox reactions, the realization of such processes is strikingly limited to very isolated applications. Consequently, this methodological deficit represents a momentous opportunity for modern chemical sciences to lastingly transform the routine lines of action for the oxidative manipulation of organic molecules. A key issue that needs to be taken into consideration for the design of efficient light-driven aerobic oxidation protocols is the identification of proper catalyst systems that allow for the site- and chemoselective activation of individual bonds within polyatomic frameworks. In this regard, the prime objective of the proposed research program is the rational design of non-metallic and in part cooperative catalysis regimes as enabling technologies for the electrophilic activation of non-aromatic carbon–carbon multiple- and carbon-chalcogen single bonds to facilitate a wide and diverse array of heretofore unprecedented oxidative coupling-, addition-, and rearrangement reactions. To demonstrate its utility in a superordinate context, this methodological concept will be applied in highly modular enantioselective syntheses of biologically relevant polyketide natural products.

1 499 954 €

Start date: 2019-08-01, End date: 2024-07-31