ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

This proposal seeks support for a research group led by James Heckman of the Geary Institute at University College Dublin to produce an integrated developmental approach to health that studies the origins and the evolution of health inequalities over the lifecourse and across generations, and the role played by cognition, personality, genes, and environments. Major experimental and nonexperimental international datasets will be analyzed. A practical guide to implementing related policy will be produced. We will build a science of human development that draws on, extends, and unites research on the biology and epidemiology of health disparities with medical economics and the economics of skill formation. The goal is to develop an integrated framework to jointly model the economic, social and biological mechanisms that produce the evolution and the intergenerational transmission of health and of the capabilities that foster health. The following tasks will be undertaken: (1) We will quantify the importance of early-life conditions in explaining the existence of health disparities across the lifecourse. (2) We will understand how health inequalities are transmitted across generations. (3) We will assess the health benefits from early childhood interventions. (4) We will examine the role of genes and environments in the aetiology and evolution of disease. (5) We will analyze how health inequalities emerge and evolve across the lifecourse. (6) We will give biological foundations to both our models and the health measures we will use. The proposed research will investigate causal channels for promoting health. It will compare the relative effectiveness of interventions at various stages of the life cycle and the benefits and costs of later remediation if early adversity is not adequately eliminated. It will guide the design of current and prospective experimental and longitudinal studies and policy formulation, and will train young scholars in frontier methods of research

2 505 222 €

Start date: 2011-05-01, End date: 2016-04-30

In the future, even the most mundane objects will contain electronic circuitry allowing them to gather, process, display and transmit information. The resulting vast network, often called the Internet of Things, will revolutionise society. To realise this will require the ability to produce electronic circuitry extremely cheaply, often on unconventional substrates. This will be achieved through printed electronics, by the assembly of devices from solution (i.e. ink) using methods adapted from printing technology. However, while printed electronics has been advancing rapidly, the development of new, nano-materials-based inks is required for this area to meet its true potential. We believe recent developments in liquid exfoliation of 2D nanosheets have given us the ideal family of materials to revolutionise electronic ink production. Liquid exfoliation can transform layered crystals into suspensions of nanosheets in very large quantities. In this way we can produce liquid-dispersed nanosheets of a wide range of types including conducting (e.g. graphene, MXenes, TiB2 etc), semiconducting (e.g. MoS2, WSe2, GaS, Black phosphorous etc), insulating (e.g. BN, talc) or electrochemically active (e.g. MoO3, Ni(OH)2, MnO2 etc). These nanosheets can be deposited from liquid to form porous networks of defined electronic type. While these networks have huge applications potential, a large amount of work must be done to translate them into working printed devices. In this project, we will develop methods to transform large volume suspensions of exfoliated nanosheets into bespoke 2D inks with properties engineered for a range of specific printed device applications. We will learn to use this 2D ink to print patterned or large area 2D nanosheet networks with controlled structure, allowing us to tune the electrical properties of the network during printing. We will combine networks of different nanosheet types into complex heterostructures. This will allow us to print all device components (electrodes, active layers, dielectrics, energy storage layers) from one contiguous, multi-component network. In this way we will produce 2D network transistors, solar cells, displays and energy storage systems. FUTURE-PRINT will revolutionise electronic inks and will offer a new path forward for printed electronics.

2 213 317 €

Start date: 2016-11-01, End date: 2022-07-31

The last few years have seen significant advances in the discovery and development of integrable models in probability, especially in the context of random polymers and the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation. Among these are the semi-discrete (O'Connell-Yor) and log-gamma (Seppalainen) random polymer models. Both of these models can be understood via a remarkable connection between the geometric RSK correspondence (a geometric lifting, or de-tropicalization, of the classical RSK correspondence) and the quantum Toda lattice, the eigenfunctions of which are known as Whittaker functions. This connection was discovered by the PI and further developed in collaboration with Corwin, Seppalainen and Zygouras. In particular, we have recently introduced a powerful combinatorial framework which underpins this connection. I have also explored this connection from an integrable systems point of view, revealing a very precise relation between classical, quantum and stochastic integrability in the context of the Toda lattice and some other integrable systems. The main objectives of this proposal are (1) to further develop the combinatorial framework in several directions which, in particular, will yield a wider family of integrable models, (2) to clarify and extend the relation between classical, quantum and stochastic integrability to a wider setting, and (3) to study thermodynamic and KPZ scaling limits of Whittaker functions (and associated measures) and their applications. The proposed research, which lies at the interface of probability, integrable systems, random matrices, statistical physics, automorphic forms, algebraic combinatorics and representation theory, will make novel contributions in all of these areas.

1 579 299 €

Start date: 2015-10-01, End date: 2021-09-30

Adult articular cartilage has a limited capacity for repair and when damaged or injured, experiences a loss of function which leads to joint degeneration and ultimately osteoarthritis. Biomaterials-based treatments have had very limited success due to the complex zonal structure of the articular joint, problems with biomaterial retention at the joint surface and achieving integration with the host tissue while also maintaining load bearing capacity. Stem cell therapies have also failed to live up to significant hype for a number of reasons including the challenges with achieving formation of stable hyaline cartilage which does not undergo hypertrophy. Building on a wealth of experience in the area, we propose a solution. ReCaP will initially overcome the problems with traditional biomaterials approaches by utilising recent advances in the area of advanced manufacturing and 3D printing to develop a 3D printed multi-layered scaffold with pore architecture, mechanical properties and bioactive composition tailored to regenerate articular cartilage, intermediate calcified cartilage and subchondral bone. Following this, and building on internationally recognised pioneering research in the applicant’s lab on scaffold-mediated nanomedicine delivery, this system will be functionalised for the controlled non-viral delivery of nucleic acids (including plasmid DNA and microRNAs) to direct host stem cells to produce stable hyaline cartilage at the joint surface and encourage the rapid formation of vascularised bone in the subchondral region. A new paradigm-shifting surgical procedure will then be applied to allow this system to be anchored to the joint surface while directing host cell infiltration and tissue repair, thus promoting restoration of even large regions of the damaged joint through a joint surfacing approach. The proposed ReCaP platform is thus a paradigm shifting disruptive technology that will revolutionise the way joint injuries are treated.

2 999 410 €

Start date: 2018-08-01, End date: 2023-07-31