Project acronym ARISTOTLE
Project Aristotle in the Italian Vernacular: Rethinking Renaissance and Early-Modern Intellectual History (c. 1400–c. 1650)
Researcher (PI) Marco Sgarbi
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA CA' FOSCARI VENEZIA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH5, ERC-2013-StG
Summary From the twelfth to the seventeenth century, Aristotle’s writings lay at the foundation of Western culture, providing a body of knowledge and a set of analytical tools applicable to all areas of human investigation. Scholars of the Renaissance have emphasized the remarkable longevity and versatility of Aristotelianism, but their attention has remained firmly, and almost exclusively, fixed on the transmission of Aristotle’s works in Latin. Scarce attention has gone to works in the vernacular. Nonetheless, several important Renaissance figures wished to make Aristotle’s works accessible and available outside the narrow circle of professional philosophers and university professors. They believed that his works could provide essential knowledge to a broad set of readers, and embarked on an intense programme of translation and commentary to see this happen. It is the argument of this project that vernacular Aristotelianism made fundamental contributions to the thought of the period, anticipating many of the features of early modern philosophy and contributing to a new encyclopaedia of knowledge. Our project aims to offer the first detailed and comprehensive study of the vernacular diffusion of Aristotle through a series of analyses of its main texts. We will thus study works that fall within the two main Renaissance divisions of speculative philosophy (metaphysics, natural philosophy, mathematics, and logic) and civil philosophy (ethics, politics, rhetoric, and poetics). We will give strong attention to the contextualization of the texts they examine, as is standard practice in the best kind of intellectual history, focusing on institutional contexts, reading publics, the value of the vernacular, new visions of knowledge and eclecticism. With the work of the PI, two professors, 5 post-docs and two PhD students we aim to make considerable advances in the understanding of both speculative and civil philosophy within vernacular Aristotelianism.
Summary
From the twelfth to the seventeenth century, Aristotle’s writings lay at the foundation of Western culture, providing a body of knowledge and a set of analytical tools applicable to all areas of human investigation. Scholars of the Renaissance have emphasized the remarkable longevity and versatility of Aristotelianism, but their attention has remained firmly, and almost exclusively, fixed on the transmission of Aristotle’s works in Latin. Scarce attention has gone to works in the vernacular. Nonetheless, several important Renaissance figures wished to make Aristotle’s works accessible and available outside the narrow circle of professional philosophers and university professors. They believed that his works could provide essential knowledge to a broad set of readers, and embarked on an intense programme of translation and commentary to see this happen. It is the argument of this project that vernacular Aristotelianism made fundamental contributions to the thought of the period, anticipating many of the features of early modern philosophy and contributing to a new encyclopaedia of knowledge. Our project aims to offer the first detailed and comprehensive study of the vernacular diffusion of Aristotle through a series of analyses of its main texts. We will thus study works that fall within the two main Renaissance divisions of speculative philosophy (metaphysics, natural philosophy, mathematics, and logic) and civil philosophy (ethics, politics, rhetoric, and poetics). We will give strong attention to the contextualization of the texts they examine, as is standard practice in the best kind of intellectual history, focusing on institutional contexts, reading publics, the value of the vernacular, new visions of knowledge and eclecticism. With the work of the PI, two professors, 5 post-docs and two PhD students we aim to make considerable advances in the understanding of both speculative and civil philosophy within vernacular Aristotelianism.
Max ERC Funding
1 483 180 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-05-01, End date: 2019-04-30
Project acronym BIFLOW
Project Bilingualism in Florentine and Tuscan Works (ca. 1260 - ca. 1416)
Researcher (PI) Antonio Montefusco
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA CA' FOSCARI VENEZIA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH5, ERC-2014-STG
Summary This project will undertake the first systematic investigation of the various literary documents that circulated simultaneously in more than one language in Tuscany, and especially Florence, between the mid-13th Century and the beginning of 15th Century.
During that period, Florence was both a prominent literary centre in the vernacular, and home to a renewal of classical Latin eloquence. While both fields are well studied, their interaction remains largely unexplored. This research, at the convergence of several disciplines (literature, philology, linguistics and medieval history), has a strong pioneering character. It aims at changing the perception of medieval Italian culture and interpretation of the break between medieval Culture and Humanism.
For this reason, the project will develop research in varying degrees of depth. First, it will provide the first catalogue of bilingual texts and manuscripts of medieval Tuscany. Organized as a database, this tool of analysis will stir innovative research in this field, some of which will be immediately promoted during the project.
Secondly, two case studies, considered as important and methodologically exemplary, will be researched in detail, through the publication of two important set of texts, of secular and religious nature : 1. The vernacular translation of the Latin Epistles of Dante Alighieri; 2. A collection of polemical, historiographical, devotional and prophetical documents produced by the Tuscan dissident Franciscans in last decades of the 14th Century.
Finally, the entire team, led by the PI, will be involved in the preparation of a synthesis volume on Tuscan culture in the fourteenth century viewed through bilingualism, entitled Cartography of bilingual culture in Fourteenth-Century Tuscany. From this general map of the Italian culture of the time, no literary genre nor field (be it religious or lay) shall be excluded.
Summary
This project will undertake the first systematic investigation of the various literary documents that circulated simultaneously in more than one language in Tuscany, and especially Florence, between the mid-13th Century and the beginning of 15th Century.
During that period, Florence was both a prominent literary centre in the vernacular, and home to a renewal of classical Latin eloquence. While both fields are well studied, their interaction remains largely unexplored. This research, at the convergence of several disciplines (literature, philology, linguistics and medieval history), has a strong pioneering character. It aims at changing the perception of medieval Italian culture and interpretation of the break between medieval Culture and Humanism.
For this reason, the project will develop research in varying degrees of depth. First, it will provide the first catalogue of bilingual texts and manuscripts of medieval Tuscany. Organized as a database, this tool of analysis will stir innovative research in this field, some of which will be immediately promoted during the project.
Secondly, two case studies, considered as important and methodologically exemplary, will be researched in detail, through the publication of two important set of texts, of secular and religious nature : 1. The vernacular translation of the Latin Epistles of Dante Alighieri; 2. A collection of polemical, historiographical, devotional and prophetical documents produced by the Tuscan dissident Franciscans in last decades of the 14th Century.
Finally, the entire team, led by the PI, will be involved in the preparation of a synthesis volume on Tuscan culture in the fourteenth century viewed through bilingualism, entitled Cartography of bilingual culture in Fourteenth-Century Tuscany. From this general map of the Italian culture of the time, no literary genre nor field (be it religious or lay) shall be excluded.
Max ERC Funding
1 480 625 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-10-01, End date: 2020-09-30
Project acronym BIHSNAM
Project Bio-inspired Hierarchical Super Nanomaterials
Researcher (PI) Nicola Pugno
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TRENTO
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE8, ERC-2011-StG_20101014
Summary "Nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes or graphene sheets represent the future of material science, due to their potentially exceptional mechanical properties. One great drawback of all artificial materials, however, is the decrease of strength with increasing toughness, and viceversa. This problem is not encountered in many biological nanomaterials (e.g. spider silk, bone, nacre). Other biological materials display exceptional adhesion or damping properties, and can be self-cleaning or self-healing. The “secret” of biomaterials seems to lie in “hierarchy”: several levels can often be identified (2 in nacre, up to 7 in bone and dentine), from nano- to micro-scale.
The idea of this project is to combine Nature and Nanotechnology to design hierarchical composites with tailor made characteristics, optimized with respect to both strength and toughness, as well as materials with strong adhesion/easy detachment, smart damping, self-healing/-cleaning properties or controlled energy dissipation. For example, one possible objective is to design the “world’s toughest composite material”. The potential impact and importance of these goals on materials science, the high-tech industry and ultimately the quality of human life could be considerable.
In order to tackle such a challenging design process, the PI proposes to adopt ultimate nanomechanics theoretical tools corroborated by continuum or atomistic simulations, multi-scale numerical parametric simulations and Finite Element optimization procedures, starting from characterization experiments on biological- or nano-materials, from the macroscale to the nanoscale. Results from theoretical, numerical and experimental work packages will be applied to a specific case study in an engineering field of particular interest to demonstrate importance and feasibility, e.g. an airplane wing with a considerably enhanced fatigue resistance and reduced ice-layer adhesion, leading to a 10 fold reduction in wasted fuel."
Summary
"Nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes or graphene sheets represent the future of material science, due to their potentially exceptional mechanical properties. One great drawback of all artificial materials, however, is the decrease of strength with increasing toughness, and viceversa. This problem is not encountered in many biological nanomaterials (e.g. spider silk, bone, nacre). Other biological materials display exceptional adhesion or damping properties, and can be self-cleaning or self-healing. The “secret” of biomaterials seems to lie in “hierarchy”: several levels can often be identified (2 in nacre, up to 7 in bone and dentine), from nano- to micro-scale.
The idea of this project is to combine Nature and Nanotechnology to design hierarchical composites with tailor made characteristics, optimized with respect to both strength and toughness, as well as materials with strong adhesion/easy detachment, smart damping, self-healing/-cleaning properties or controlled energy dissipation. For example, one possible objective is to design the “world’s toughest composite material”. The potential impact and importance of these goals on materials science, the high-tech industry and ultimately the quality of human life could be considerable.
In order to tackle such a challenging design process, the PI proposes to adopt ultimate nanomechanics theoretical tools corroborated by continuum or atomistic simulations, multi-scale numerical parametric simulations and Finite Element optimization procedures, starting from characterization experiments on biological- or nano-materials, from the macroscale to the nanoscale. Results from theoretical, numerical and experimental work packages will be applied to a specific case study in an engineering field of particular interest to demonstrate importance and feasibility, e.g. an airplane wing with a considerably enhanced fatigue resistance and reduced ice-layer adhesion, leading to a 10 fold reduction in wasted fuel."
Max ERC Funding
1 004 400 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-01-01, End date: 2016-12-31
Project acronym BIOSMA
Project Mathematics for Shape Memory Technologies in Biomechanics
Researcher (PI) Ulisse Stefanelli
Host Institution (HI) CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE1, ERC-2007-StG
Summary Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) are nowadays widely exploited for the realization of innovative devices and have a great impact on the development of a variety of biomedical applications ranging from orthodontic archwires to vascular stents. The design, realization, and optimization of such devices are quite demanding tasks. Mathematics is involved in this process as a major tool in order to let the modeling more accurate, the numerical simulations more reliable, and the design more effective. Many material properties of SMAs such as martensitic reorientation, training, and ferromagnetic behavior, are still to be properly and efficiently addressed. Therefore, new modeling ideas, along with original analytical and numerical techniques, are required. This project is aimed at addressing novel mathematical issues in order to move from experimental materials results toward the solution of real-scale biomechanical Engineering problems. The research focus will be multidisciplinary and include modeling, analytic, numerical, and computational issues. A progress in the macroscopic description of SMAs, the computational simulation of real-scale SMA devices, and the optimization of the production processes will contribute to advance in the direction of innovative applications.
Summary
Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) are nowadays widely exploited for the realization of innovative devices and have a great impact on the development of a variety of biomedical applications ranging from orthodontic archwires to vascular stents. The design, realization, and optimization of such devices are quite demanding tasks. Mathematics is involved in this process as a major tool in order to let the modeling more accurate, the numerical simulations more reliable, and the design more effective. Many material properties of SMAs such as martensitic reorientation, training, and ferromagnetic behavior, are still to be properly and efficiently addressed. Therefore, new modeling ideas, along with original analytical and numerical techniques, are required. This project is aimed at addressing novel mathematical issues in order to move from experimental materials results toward the solution of real-scale biomechanical Engineering problems. The research focus will be multidisciplinary and include modeling, analytic, numerical, and computational issues. A progress in the macroscopic description of SMAs, the computational simulation of real-scale SMA devices, and the optimization of the production processes will contribute to advance in the direction of innovative applications.
Max ERC Funding
700 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2008-09-01, End date: 2013-08-31
Project acronym CA2PVM
Project Multi-field and multi-scale Computational Approach to design and durability of PhotoVoltaic Modules
Researcher (PI) Marco Paggi
Host Institution (HI) SCUOLA IMT (ISTITUZIONI, MERCATI, TECNOLOGIE) ALTI STUDI DI LUCCA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE8, ERC-2012-StG_20111012
Summary "Photovoltaics (PV) based on Silicon (Si) semiconductors is one the most growing technology in the World for renewable, sustainable, non-polluting, widely available clean energy sources. Theoretical and applied research aims at increasing the conversion efficiency of PV modules and their lifetime. The Si crystalline microstructure has an important role on both issues. Grain boundaries introduce additional resistance and reduce the conversion efficiency. Moreover, they are prone to microcracking, thus influencing the lifetime. At present, the existing standard qualification tests are not sufficient to provide a quantitative definition of lifetime, since all the possible failure mechanisms are not accounted for. In this proposal, an innovative computational approach to design and durability assessment of PV modules is put forward. The aim is to complement real tests by virtual (numerical) simulations. To achieve a predictive stage, a challenging multi-field (multi-physics) computational approach is proposed, coupling the nonlinear elastic field, the thermal field and the electric field. To model real PV modules, an adaptive multi-scale and multi-field strategy will be proposed by introducing error indicators based on the gradients of the involved fields. This numerical approach will be applied to determine the upper bound to the probability of failure of the system. This statistical assessment will involve an optimization analysis that will be efficiently handled by a Mathematica-based hybrid symbolic-numerical framework. Standard and non-standard experimental testing on Si cells and PV modules will also be performed to complement and validate the numerical approach. The new methodology based on the challenging integration of advanced physical and mathematical modelling, innovative computational methods and non-standard experimental techniques is expected to have a significant impact on the design, qualification and lifetime assessment of complex PV systems."
Summary
"Photovoltaics (PV) based on Silicon (Si) semiconductors is one the most growing technology in the World for renewable, sustainable, non-polluting, widely available clean energy sources. Theoretical and applied research aims at increasing the conversion efficiency of PV modules and their lifetime. The Si crystalline microstructure has an important role on both issues. Grain boundaries introduce additional resistance and reduce the conversion efficiency. Moreover, they are prone to microcracking, thus influencing the lifetime. At present, the existing standard qualification tests are not sufficient to provide a quantitative definition of lifetime, since all the possible failure mechanisms are not accounted for. In this proposal, an innovative computational approach to design and durability assessment of PV modules is put forward. The aim is to complement real tests by virtual (numerical) simulations. To achieve a predictive stage, a challenging multi-field (multi-physics) computational approach is proposed, coupling the nonlinear elastic field, the thermal field and the electric field. To model real PV modules, an adaptive multi-scale and multi-field strategy will be proposed by introducing error indicators based on the gradients of the involved fields. This numerical approach will be applied to determine the upper bound to the probability of failure of the system. This statistical assessment will involve an optimization analysis that will be efficiently handled by a Mathematica-based hybrid symbolic-numerical framework. Standard and non-standard experimental testing on Si cells and PV modules will also be performed to complement and validate the numerical approach. The new methodology based on the challenging integration of advanced physical and mathematical modelling, innovative computational methods and non-standard experimental techniques is expected to have a significant impact on the design, qualification and lifetime assessment of complex PV systems."
Max ERC Funding
1 483 980 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-12-01, End date: 2017-11-30
Project acronym COMBOS
Project Collective phenomena in quantum and classical many body systems
Researcher (PI) Alessandro Giuliani
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI ROMA TRE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE1, ERC-2009-StG
Summary The collective behavior of quantum and classical many body systems such as ultracold atomic gases, nanowires, cuprates and micromagnets are currently subject of an intense experimental and theoretical research worldwide. Understanding the fascinating phenomena of Bose-Einstein condensation, Luttinger liquid vs non-Luttinger liquid behavior, high temperature superconductivity, and spontaneous formation of periodic patterns in magnetic systems, is an exciting challenge for theoreticians. Most of these phenomena are still far from being fully understood, even from a heuristic point of view. Unveiling the exotic properties of such systems by rigorous mathematical analysis is an important and difficult challenge for mathematical physics. In the last two decades, substantial progress has been made on various aspects of many-body theory, including Fermi liquids, Luttinger liquids, perturbed Ising models at criticality, bosonization, trapped Bose gases and spontaneous formation of periodic patterns. The techniques successfully employed in this field are diverse, and range from constructive renormalization group to functional variational estimates. In this research project we propose to investigate a number of statistical mechanics models by a combination of different mathematical methods. The objective is, on the one hand, to understand crossover phenomena, phase transitions and low-temperature states with broken symmetry, which are of interest in the theory of condensed matter and that we believe to be accessible to the currently available methods; on the other, to develop new techiques combining different and complementary methods, such as multiscale analysis and localization bounds, or reflection positivity and cluster expansion, which may be useful to further progress on important open problems, such as Bose-Einstein condensation, conformal invariance in non-integrable models, existence of magnetic or superconducting long range order.
Summary
The collective behavior of quantum and classical many body systems such as ultracold atomic gases, nanowires, cuprates and micromagnets are currently subject of an intense experimental and theoretical research worldwide. Understanding the fascinating phenomena of Bose-Einstein condensation, Luttinger liquid vs non-Luttinger liquid behavior, high temperature superconductivity, and spontaneous formation of periodic patterns in magnetic systems, is an exciting challenge for theoreticians. Most of these phenomena are still far from being fully understood, even from a heuristic point of view. Unveiling the exotic properties of such systems by rigorous mathematical analysis is an important and difficult challenge for mathematical physics. In the last two decades, substantial progress has been made on various aspects of many-body theory, including Fermi liquids, Luttinger liquids, perturbed Ising models at criticality, bosonization, trapped Bose gases and spontaneous formation of periodic patterns. The techniques successfully employed in this field are diverse, and range from constructive renormalization group to functional variational estimates. In this research project we propose to investigate a number of statistical mechanics models by a combination of different mathematical methods. The objective is, on the one hand, to understand crossover phenomena, phase transitions and low-temperature states with broken symmetry, which are of interest in the theory of condensed matter and that we believe to be accessible to the currently available methods; on the other, to develop new techiques combining different and complementary methods, such as multiscale analysis and localization bounds, or reflection positivity and cluster expansion, which may be useful to further progress on important open problems, such as Bose-Einstein condensation, conformal invariance in non-integrable models, existence of magnetic or superconducting long range order.
Max ERC Funding
650 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-01-01, End date: 2014-12-31
Project acronym COMPASS
Project Control for Orbit Manoeuvring through Perturbations for Application to Space Systems
Researcher (PI) Camilla Colombo
Host Institution (HI) POLITECNICO DI MILANO
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE8, ERC-2015-STG
Summary Space benefits mankind through the services it provides to Earth. Future space activities progress thanks to space transfer and are safeguarded by space situation awareness. Natural orbit perturbations are responsible for the trajectory divergence from the nominal two-body problem, increasing the requirements for orbit control; whereas, in space situation awareness, they influence the orbit evolution of space debris that could cause hazard to operational spacecraft and near Earth objects that may intersect the Earth. However, this project proposes to leverage the dynamics of natural orbit perturbations to significantly reduce current extreme high mission cost and create new opportunities for space exploration and exploitation.
The COMPASS project will bridge over the disciplines of orbital dynamics, dynamical systems theory, optimisation and space mission design by developing novel techniques for orbit manoeuvring by “surfing” through orbit perturbations. The use of semi-analytical techniques and tools of dynamical systems theory will lay the foundation for a new understanding of the dynamics of orbit perturbations. We will develop an optimiser that progressively explores the phase space and, though spacecraft parameters and propulsion manoeuvres, governs the effect of perturbations to reach the desired orbit. It is the ambition of COMPASS to radically change the current space mission design philosophy: from counteracting disturbances, to exploiting natural and artificial perturbations.
COMPASS will benefit from the extensive international network of the PI, including the ESA, NASA, JAXA, CNES, and the UK space agency. Indeed, the proposed idea of optimal navigation through orbit perturbations will address various major engineering challenges in space situation awareness, for application to space debris evolution and mitigation, missions to asteroids for their detection, exploration and deflection, and in space transfers, for perturbation-enhanced trajectory design.
Summary
Space benefits mankind through the services it provides to Earth. Future space activities progress thanks to space transfer and are safeguarded by space situation awareness. Natural orbit perturbations are responsible for the trajectory divergence from the nominal two-body problem, increasing the requirements for orbit control; whereas, in space situation awareness, they influence the orbit evolution of space debris that could cause hazard to operational spacecraft and near Earth objects that may intersect the Earth. However, this project proposes to leverage the dynamics of natural orbit perturbations to significantly reduce current extreme high mission cost and create new opportunities for space exploration and exploitation.
The COMPASS project will bridge over the disciplines of orbital dynamics, dynamical systems theory, optimisation and space mission design by developing novel techniques for orbit manoeuvring by “surfing” through orbit perturbations. The use of semi-analytical techniques and tools of dynamical systems theory will lay the foundation for a new understanding of the dynamics of orbit perturbations. We will develop an optimiser that progressively explores the phase space and, though spacecraft parameters and propulsion manoeuvres, governs the effect of perturbations to reach the desired orbit. It is the ambition of COMPASS to radically change the current space mission design philosophy: from counteracting disturbances, to exploiting natural and artificial perturbations.
COMPASS will benefit from the extensive international network of the PI, including the ESA, NASA, JAXA, CNES, and the UK space agency. Indeed, the proposed idea of optimal navigation through orbit perturbations will address various major engineering challenges in space situation awareness, for application to space debris evolution and mitigation, missions to asteroids for their detection, exploration and deflection, and in space transfers, for perturbation-enhanced trajectory design.
Max ERC Funding
1 499 021 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-08-01, End date: 2021-07-31
Project acronym CONLAWS
Project Hyperbolic Systems of Conservation Laws: singular limits, properties of solutions and control problems
Researcher (PI) Stefano Bianchini
Host Institution (HI) SCUOLA INTERNAZIONALE SUPERIORE DI STUDI AVANZATI DI TRIESTE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE1, ERC-2009-StG
Summary The research program concerns various theoretic aspects of hyperbolic conservation laws. In first place we plan to study the existence and uniqueness of solutions to systems of equations of mathematical physics with physic viscosity. This is one of the main open problems within the theory of conservation laws in one space dimension, which cannot be tackled relying on the techniques developed in the case where the viscosity matrix is the identity. Furthermore, this represents a first step toward the analysis of more complex relaxation and kinetic models with a finite number of velocities as for Broadwell equation, or with a continuous distribution of velocities as for Boltzmann equation. A second research topic concerns the study of conservation laws with large data. Even in this case the basic model is provided by fluidodynamic equations. We wish to extend the results of existence, uniqueness and continuous dependence of solutions to the case of large (in BV or in L^infty) data, at least for the simplest systems of mathematical physics such as the isentropic gas dynamics. A third research topic that we wish to pursue concerns the analysis of fine properties of solutions to conservation laws. Many of such properties depend on the existence of one or more entropies of the system. In particular, we have in mind to study the regularity and the concentration of the dissipativity measure for an entropic solution of a system of conservation laws. Finally, we wish to continue the study of hyperbolic equations from the control theory point of view along two directions: (i) the analysis of controllability and asymptotic stabilizability properties; (ii) the study of optimal control problems related to hyperbolic systems.
Summary
The research program concerns various theoretic aspects of hyperbolic conservation laws. In first place we plan to study the existence and uniqueness of solutions to systems of equations of mathematical physics with physic viscosity. This is one of the main open problems within the theory of conservation laws in one space dimension, which cannot be tackled relying on the techniques developed in the case where the viscosity matrix is the identity. Furthermore, this represents a first step toward the analysis of more complex relaxation and kinetic models with a finite number of velocities as for Broadwell equation, or with a continuous distribution of velocities as for Boltzmann equation. A second research topic concerns the study of conservation laws with large data. Even in this case the basic model is provided by fluidodynamic equations. We wish to extend the results of existence, uniqueness and continuous dependence of solutions to the case of large (in BV or in L^infty) data, at least for the simplest systems of mathematical physics such as the isentropic gas dynamics. A third research topic that we wish to pursue concerns the analysis of fine properties of solutions to conservation laws. Many of such properties depend on the existence of one or more entropies of the system. In particular, we have in mind to study the regularity and the concentration of the dissipativity measure for an entropic solution of a system of conservation laws. Finally, we wish to continue the study of hyperbolic equations from the control theory point of view along two directions: (i) the analysis of controllability and asymptotic stabilizability properties; (ii) the study of optimal control problems related to hyperbolic systems.
Max ERC Funding
422 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-11-01, End date: 2013-10-31
Project acronym DASTCO
Project Developing and Applying Structural Techniques for Combinatorial Objects
Researcher (PI) Paul Joseph Wollan
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA LA SAPIENZA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE1, ERC-2011-StG_20101014
Summary The proposed project will tackle a series of fundamental problems in discrete mathematics by studying labeled graphs, a generalization of graphs which readily apply to problems beyond graph theory. To achieve these goals will require both developing new graph theoretic tools and techniques as well as further expounding upon known methodologies.
The specific problems to be studied can be grouped into a series of semi-independent projects. The first focuses on signed graphs with applications to a conjecture of Seymour concerning 1-flowing binary matroids and a related conjecture on the intregality of polyhedra defined by a class of binary matrices. The second proposes to develop a theory of minors for directed graphs. Finally, the project looks at topological questions arising from graphs embedding in a surface and the classic problem of efficiently identifying the trivial knot. The range of topics considered will lead to the development of tools and techniques applicable to questions in discrete mathematics beyond those under direct study.
The project will create a research group incorporating graduate students and post doctoral researchers lead by the PI. Each area to be studied offers the potential for ground-breaking results at the same time offering numerous intermediate opportunities for scientific progress.
Summary
The proposed project will tackle a series of fundamental problems in discrete mathematics by studying labeled graphs, a generalization of graphs which readily apply to problems beyond graph theory. To achieve these goals will require both developing new graph theoretic tools and techniques as well as further expounding upon known methodologies.
The specific problems to be studied can be grouped into a series of semi-independent projects. The first focuses on signed graphs with applications to a conjecture of Seymour concerning 1-flowing binary matroids and a related conjecture on the intregality of polyhedra defined by a class of binary matrices. The second proposes to develop a theory of minors for directed graphs. Finally, the project looks at topological questions arising from graphs embedding in a surface and the classic problem of efficiently identifying the trivial knot. The range of topics considered will lead to the development of tools and techniques applicable to questions in discrete mathematics beyond those under direct study.
The project will create a research group incorporating graduate students and post doctoral researchers lead by the PI. Each area to be studied offers the potential for ground-breaking results at the same time offering numerous intermediate opportunities for scientific progress.
Max ERC Funding
850 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-12-01, End date: 2017-09-30
Project acronym DiGe
Project Ethnobotany of divided generations in the context of centralization
Researcher (PI) Renata SÕUKAND
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA CA' FOSCARI VENEZIA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH5, ERC-2016-STG
Summary Understanding the logics of obtaining, managing and perceiving of local natural resources, particularly plants, is crucial for ensuring sustainability of human life, as the use of plants is a key for survival of humans. The proposed research will create an advanced understanding of the mechanisms of changes in ethnobotanical knowledge experienced by traditional societies/minor ethnic groups when dominating group try to unify and/or erode this practical knowledge. It will also evaluate the effects of the sudden cease to existence of such centralization and following impact of the trial of revival of discontinued traditional etnobotanical knowledge. Research will evaluate the effect of several social and cultural factors on the evolution of ethnobotanical knowledge of four compact, but divided ethnic minorities that had experienced for shorter (25 years) or longer (70 years) period different influences affecting their plant use and very different social conditions (including welfare and economy). As a long-term outcome, based on the result of present and consequent studies scientists will be able to predict the extent and depth of the changes occurring in the ethnobotanical knowledge and as a applied outcome learn to direct and educate people in the way that the knowledge necessary for sustainable maintenance and utilization of local plant resources will be constantly evolving in the way supporting health and well-being of different populations.
Summary
Understanding the logics of obtaining, managing and perceiving of local natural resources, particularly plants, is crucial for ensuring sustainability of human life, as the use of plants is a key for survival of humans. The proposed research will create an advanced understanding of the mechanisms of changes in ethnobotanical knowledge experienced by traditional societies/minor ethnic groups when dominating group try to unify and/or erode this practical knowledge. It will also evaluate the effects of the sudden cease to existence of such centralization and following impact of the trial of revival of discontinued traditional etnobotanical knowledge. Research will evaluate the effect of several social and cultural factors on the evolution of ethnobotanical knowledge of four compact, but divided ethnic minorities that had experienced for shorter (25 years) or longer (70 years) period different influences affecting their plant use and very different social conditions (including welfare and economy). As a long-term outcome, based on the result of present and consequent studies scientists will be able to predict the extent and depth of the changes occurring in the ethnobotanical knowledge and as a applied outcome learn to direct and educate people in the way that the knowledge necessary for sustainable maintenance and utilization of local plant resources will be constantly evolving in the way supporting health and well-being of different populations.
Max ERC Funding
1 496 675 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-06-01, End date: 2022-07-31
