Project acronym ACMO
Project Systematic dissection of molecular machines and neural circuits coordinating C. elegans aggregation behaviour
Researcher (PI) Mario De Bono
Host Institution (HI) MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS5, ERC-2010-AdG_20100317
Summary Elucidating how neural circuits coordinate behaviour, and how molecules underpin the properties of individual neurons are major goals of neuroscience. Optogenetics and neural imaging combined with the powerful genetics and well-described nervous system of C. elegans offer special opportunities to address these questions. Previously, we identified a series of sensory neurons that modulate aggregation of C. elegans. These include neurons that respond to O2, CO2, noxious cues, satiety state, and pheromones. We propose to take our analysis to the next level by dissecting how, in mechanistic molecular terms, these distributed inputs modify the activity of populations of interneurons and motoneurons to coordinate group formation. Our strategy is to develop new, highly parallel approaches to replace the traditional piecemeal analysis.
We propose to:
1) Harness next generation sequencing (NGS) to forward genetics, rapidly to identify a molecular ¿parts list¿ for aggregation. Much of the genetics has been done: we have identified almost 200 mutations that inhibit or enhance aggregation but otherwise show no overt phenotype. A pilot study of 50 of these mutations suggests they identify dozens of genes not previously implicated in aggregation. NGS will allow us to molecularly identify these genes in a few months, providing multiple entry points to study molecular and circuitry mechanisms for behaviour.
2) Develop new methods to image the activity of populations of neurons in immobilized and freely moving animals, using genetically encoded indicators such as the calcium sensor cameleon and the voltage indicator mermaid.
This will be the first time a complex behaviour has been dissected in this way. We expect to identify novel conserved molecular and circuitry mechanisms.
Summary
Elucidating how neural circuits coordinate behaviour, and how molecules underpin the properties of individual neurons are major goals of neuroscience. Optogenetics and neural imaging combined with the powerful genetics and well-described nervous system of C. elegans offer special opportunities to address these questions. Previously, we identified a series of sensory neurons that modulate aggregation of C. elegans. These include neurons that respond to O2, CO2, noxious cues, satiety state, and pheromones. We propose to take our analysis to the next level by dissecting how, in mechanistic molecular terms, these distributed inputs modify the activity of populations of interneurons and motoneurons to coordinate group formation. Our strategy is to develop new, highly parallel approaches to replace the traditional piecemeal analysis.
We propose to:
1) Harness next generation sequencing (NGS) to forward genetics, rapidly to identify a molecular ¿parts list¿ for aggregation. Much of the genetics has been done: we have identified almost 200 mutations that inhibit or enhance aggregation but otherwise show no overt phenotype. A pilot study of 50 of these mutations suggests they identify dozens of genes not previously implicated in aggregation. NGS will allow us to molecularly identify these genes in a few months, providing multiple entry points to study molecular and circuitry mechanisms for behaviour.
2) Develop new methods to image the activity of populations of neurons in immobilized and freely moving animals, using genetically encoded indicators such as the calcium sensor cameleon and the voltage indicator mermaid.
This will be the first time a complex behaviour has been dissected in this way. We expect to identify novel conserved molecular and circuitry mechanisms.
Max ERC Funding
2 439 996 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-04-01, End date: 2017-03-31
Project acronym ACRCC
Project Understanding the atmospheric circulation response to climate change
Researcher (PI) Theodore Shepherd
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY OF READING
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2013-ADG
Summary Computer models based on known physical laws are our primary tool for predicting climate change. Yet the state-of-the-art models exhibit a disturbingly wide range of predictions of future climate change, especially when examined at the regional scale, which has not decreased as the models have become more comprehensive. The reasons for this are not understood. This represents a basic challenge to our fundamental understanding of climate.
The divergence of model projections is presumably related to systematic model errors in the large-scale fluxes of heat, moisture and momentum that control regional aspects of climate. That these errors stubbornly persist in spite of increases in the spatial resolution of the models suggests that they are associated with errors in the representation of unresolved processes, whose effects must be parameterised.
Most attention in climate science has hitherto focused on the thermodynamic aspects of climate. Dynamical aspects, which involve the atmospheric circulation, have received much less attention. However regional climate, including persistent climate regimes and extremes, is strongly controlled by atmospheric circulation patterns, which exhibit chaotic variability and whose representation in climate models depends sensitively on parameterised processes. Moreover the dynamical aspects of model projections are much less robust than the thermodynamic ones. There are good reasons to believe that model bias, the divergence of model projections, and chaotic variability are somehow related, although the relationships are not well understood. This calls for studying them together.
My proposed research will focus on this problem, addressing these three aspects of the atmospheric circulation response to climate change in parallel: (i) diagnosing the sources of model error; (ii) elucidating the relationship between model error and the spread in model projections; (iii) understanding the physical mechanisms of atmospheric variability.
Summary
Computer models based on known physical laws are our primary tool for predicting climate change. Yet the state-of-the-art models exhibit a disturbingly wide range of predictions of future climate change, especially when examined at the regional scale, which has not decreased as the models have become more comprehensive. The reasons for this are not understood. This represents a basic challenge to our fundamental understanding of climate.
The divergence of model projections is presumably related to systematic model errors in the large-scale fluxes of heat, moisture and momentum that control regional aspects of climate. That these errors stubbornly persist in spite of increases in the spatial resolution of the models suggests that they are associated with errors in the representation of unresolved processes, whose effects must be parameterised.
Most attention in climate science has hitherto focused on the thermodynamic aspects of climate. Dynamical aspects, which involve the atmospheric circulation, have received much less attention. However regional climate, including persistent climate regimes and extremes, is strongly controlled by atmospheric circulation patterns, which exhibit chaotic variability and whose representation in climate models depends sensitively on parameterised processes. Moreover the dynamical aspects of model projections are much less robust than the thermodynamic ones. There are good reasons to believe that model bias, the divergence of model projections, and chaotic variability are somehow related, although the relationships are not well understood. This calls for studying them together.
My proposed research will focus on this problem, addressing these three aspects of the atmospheric circulation response to climate change in parallel: (i) diagnosing the sources of model error; (ii) elucidating the relationship between model error and the spread in model projections; (iii) understanding the physical mechanisms of atmospheric variability.
Max ERC Funding
2 489 151 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-03-01, End date: 2020-02-29
Project acronym ACROSS
Project 3D Reconstruction and Modeling across Different Levels of Abstraction
Researcher (PI) Leif Kobbelt
Host Institution (HI) RHEINISCH-WESTFAELISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE AACHEN
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE6, ERC-2013-ADG
Summary "Digital 3D models are gaining more and more importance in diverse application fields ranging from computer graphics, multimedia and simulation sciences to engineering, architecture, and medicine. Powerful technologies to digitize the 3D shape of real objects and scenes are becoming available even to consumers. However, the raw geometric data emerging from, e.g., 3D scanning or multi-view stereo often lacks a consistent structure and meta-information which are necessary for the effective deployment of such models in sophisticated down-stream applications like animation, simulation, or CAD/CAM that go beyond mere visualization. Our goal is to develop new fundamental algorithms which transform raw geometric input data into augmented 3D models that are equipped with structural meta information such as feature aligned meshes, patch segmentations, local and global geometric constraints, statistical shape variation data, or even procedural descriptions. Our methodological approach is inspired by the human perceptual system that integrates bottom-up (data-driven) and top-down (model-driven) mechanisms in its hierarchical processing. Similarly we combine algorithms operating on different levels of abstraction into reconstruction and modeling networks. Instead of developing an individual solution for each specific application scenario, we create an eco-system of algorithms for automatic processing and interactive design of highly complex 3D models. A key concept is the information flow across all levels of abstraction in a bottom-up as well as top-down fashion. We not only aim at optimizing geometric representations but in fact at bridging the gap between reconstruction and recognition of geometric objects. The results from this project will make it possible to bring 3D models of real world objects into many highly relevant applications in science, industry, and entertainment, greatly reducing the excessive manual effort that is still necessary today."
Summary
"Digital 3D models are gaining more and more importance in diverse application fields ranging from computer graphics, multimedia and simulation sciences to engineering, architecture, and medicine. Powerful technologies to digitize the 3D shape of real objects and scenes are becoming available even to consumers. However, the raw geometric data emerging from, e.g., 3D scanning or multi-view stereo often lacks a consistent structure and meta-information which are necessary for the effective deployment of such models in sophisticated down-stream applications like animation, simulation, or CAD/CAM that go beyond mere visualization. Our goal is to develop new fundamental algorithms which transform raw geometric input data into augmented 3D models that are equipped with structural meta information such as feature aligned meshes, patch segmentations, local and global geometric constraints, statistical shape variation data, or even procedural descriptions. Our methodological approach is inspired by the human perceptual system that integrates bottom-up (data-driven) and top-down (model-driven) mechanisms in its hierarchical processing. Similarly we combine algorithms operating on different levels of abstraction into reconstruction and modeling networks. Instead of developing an individual solution for each specific application scenario, we create an eco-system of algorithms for automatic processing and interactive design of highly complex 3D models. A key concept is the information flow across all levels of abstraction in a bottom-up as well as top-down fashion. We not only aim at optimizing geometric representations but in fact at bridging the gap between reconstruction and recognition of geometric objects. The results from this project will make it possible to bring 3D models of real world objects into many highly relevant applications in science, industry, and entertainment, greatly reducing the excessive manual effort that is still necessary today."
Max ERC Funding
2 482 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-03-01, End date: 2019-02-28
Project acronym ACTINONSRF
Project MAL: an actin-regulated SRF transcriptional coactivator
Researcher (PI) Richard Treisman
Host Institution (HI) THE FRANCIS CRICK INSTITUTE LIMITED
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS1, ERC-2010-AdG_20100317
Summary MAL: an actin-regulated SRF transcriptional coactivator
Recent years have seen a revitalised interest in the role of actin in nuclear processes, but the molecular mechanisms involved remain largely unexplored. We will elucidate the molecular basis for the actin-based control of the SRF transcriptional coactivator, MAL. SRF controls transcription through two families of coactivators, the actin-binding MRTFs (MAL, Mkl2), which couple its activity to cytoskeletal dynamics, and the ERK-regulated TCFs (Elk-1, SAP-1, Net). MAL subcellular localisation and transcriptional activity responds to signal-induced changes in G-actin concentration, which are sensed by its actin-binding N-terminal RPEL domain. Members of a second family of RPEL proteins, the Phactrs, also exhibit actin-regulated nucleocytoplasmic shuttling. The proposal addresses the following novel features of actin biology:
¿ Actin as a transcriptional regulator
¿ Actin as a signalling molecule
¿ Actin-binding proteins as targets for regulation by actin, rather than regulators of actin function
We will analyse the sequences and proteins involved in actin-regulated nucleocytoplasmic shuttling, using structural biology and biochemistry to analyse its control by changes in actin-RPEL domain interactions. We will characterise the dynamics of shuttling, and develop reporters for changes in actin-MAL interaction for analysis of pathway activation in vivo. We will identify genes controlling MAL itself, and the balance between the nuclear and cytoplasmic actin pools. The mechanism by which actin represses transcriptional activation by MAL in the nucleus, and its relation to MAL phosphorylation, will be elucidated. Finally, we will map MRTF and TCF cofactor recruitment to SRF targets on a genome-wide scale, and identify the steps in transcription controlled by actin-MAL interaction.
Summary
MAL: an actin-regulated SRF transcriptional coactivator
Recent years have seen a revitalised interest in the role of actin in nuclear processes, but the molecular mechanisms involved remain largely unexplored. We will elucidate the molecular basis for the actin-based control of the SRF transcriptional coactivator, MAL. SRF controls transcription through two families of coactivators, the actin-binding MRTFs (MAL, Mkl2), which couple its activity to cytoskeletal dynamics, and the ERK-regulated TCFs (Elk-1, SAP-1, Net). MAL subcellular localisation and transcriptional activity responds to signal-induced changes in G-actin concentration, which are sensed by its actin-binding N-terminal RPEL domain. Members of a second family of RPEL proteins, the Phactrs, also exhibit actin-regulated nucleocytoplasmic shuttling. The proposal addresses the following novel features of actin biology:
¿ Actin as a transcriptional regulator
¿ Actin as a signalling molecule
¿ Actin-binding proteins as targets for regulation by actin, rather than regulators of actin function
We will analyse the sequences and proteins involved in actin-regulated nucleocytoplasmic shuttling, using structural biology and biochemistry to analyse its control by changes in actin-RPEL domain interactions. We will characterise the dynamics of shuttling, and develop reporters for changes in actin-MAL interaction for analysis of pathway activation in vivo. We will identify genes controlling MAL itself, and the balance between the nuclear and cytoplasmic actin pools. The mechanism by which actin represses transcriptional activation by MAL in the nucleus, and its relation to MAL phosphorylation, will be elucidated. Finally, we will map MRTF and TCF cofactor recruitment to SRF targets on a genome-wide scale, and identify the steps in transcription controlled by actin-MAL interaction.
Max ERC Funding
1 889 995 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-10-01, End date: 2017-09-30
Project acronym ActiveCortex
Project Active dendrites and cortical associations
Researcher (PI) Matthew Larkum
Host Institution (HI) HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITAET ZU BERLIN
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS5, ERC-2014-ADG
Summary Converging studies from psychophysics in humans to single-cell recordings in monkeys and rodents indicate that most important cognitive processes depend on both feed-forward and feedback information interacting in the brain. Intriguingly, feedback to early cortical processing stages appears to play a causal role in these processes. Despite the central nature of this fact to understanding brain cognition, there is still no mechanistic explanation as to how this information could be so pivotal and what events take place that might be decisive. In this research program, we will test the hypothesis that the extraordinary performance of the cortex derives from an associative mechanism built into the basic neuronal unit: the pyramidal cell. The hypothesis is based on two important facts: (1) feedback information is conveyed predominantly to layer 1 and (2) the apical tuft dendrites that are the major recipient of this feedback information are highly electrogenic.
The research program is divided in to several workpackages to systematically investigate the hypothesis at every level. As a whole, we will investigate the causal link between intrinsic cellular activity and behaviour. To do this we will use eletrophysiological and optical techniques to record and influence cell the intrinsic properties of cells (in particular dendritic activity) in vivo and in vitro in rodents. In vivo experiments will have a specific focus on context driven behaviour and in vitro experiments on the impact of long-range (feedback-carrying) fibers on cell activity. The study will also focus on synaptic plasticity at the interface of feedback information and dendritic electrogenesis, namely synapses on to the tuft dendrite of pyramidal neurons. The proposed program will not only address a long-standing and important hypothesis but also provide a transformational contribution towards understanding the operation of the cerebral cortex.
Summary
Converging studies from psychophysics in humans to single-cell recordings in monkeys and rodents indicate that most important cognitive processes depend on both feed-forward and feedback information interacting in the brain. Intriguingly, feedback to early cortical processing stages appears to play a causal role in these processes. Despite the central nature of this fact to understanding brain cognition, there is still no mechanistic explanation as to how this information could be so pivotal and what events take place that might be decisive. In this research program, we will test the hypothesis that the extraordinary performance of the cortex derives from an associative mechanism built into the basic neuronal unit: the pyramidal cell. The hypothesis is based on two important facts: (1) feedback information is conveyed predominantly to layer 1 and (2) the apical tuft dendrites that are the major recipient of this feedback information are highly electrogenic.
The research program is divided in to several workpackages to systematically investigate the hypothesis at every level. As a whole, we will investigate the causal link between intrinsic cellular activity and behaviour. To do this we will use eletrophysiological and optical techniques to record and influence cell the intrinsic properties of cells (in particular dendritic activity) in vivo and in vitro in rodents. In vivo experiments will have a specific focus on context driven behaviour and in vitro experiments on the impact of long-range (feedback-carrying) fibers on cell activity. The study will also focus on synaptic plasticity at the interface of feedback information and dendritic electrogenesis, namely synapses on to the tuft dendrite of pyramidal neurons. The proposed program will not only address a long-standing and important hypothesis but also provide a transformational contribution towards understanding the operation of the cerebral cortex.
Max ERC Funding
2 386 304 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-01-01, End date: 2020-12-31
Project acronym ACTOMYOSIN RING
Project Understanding Cytokinetic Actomyosin Ring Assembly Through Genetic Code Expansion, Click Chemistry, DNA origami, and in vitro Reconstitution
Researcher (PI) Mohan Balasubramanian
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS3, ERC-2014-ADG
Summary The mechanism of cell division is conserved in many eukaryotes, from yeast to man. A contractile ring of filamentous actin and myosin II motors generates the force to bisect a mother cell into two daughters. The actomyosin ring is among the most complex cellular machines, comprising over 150 proteins. Understanding how these proteins organize themselves into a functional ring with appropriate contractile properties remains one of the great challenges in cell biology. Efforts to generate a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism of actomyosin ring assembly have been hampered by the lack of structural information on the arrangement of actin, myosin II, and actin modulators in the ring in its native state. Fundamental questions such as how actin filaments are assembled and organized into a ring remain actively debated. This project will investigate key issues pertaining to cytokinesis in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, which divides employing an actomyosin based contractile ring, using the methods of genetics, biochemistry, cellular imaging, DNA origami, genetic code expansion, and click chemistry. Specifically, we will (1) attempt to visualize actin filament assembly in live cells expressing fluorescent actin generated through synthetic biological approaches, including genetic code expansion and click chemistry (2) decipher actin filament polarity in the actomyosin ring using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy of labelled dimeric and multimeric myosins V and VI generated through DNA origami approaches (3) address when, where, and how actin filaments for cytokinesis are assembled and organized into a ring and (4) reconstitute actin filament and functional actomyosin ring assembly in permeabilized spheroplasts and in supported bilayers. Success in the project will provide major insight into the mechanism of actomyosin ring assembly and illuminate principles behind cytoskeletal self-organization.
Summary
The mechanism of cell division is conserved in many eukaryotes, from yeast to man. A contractile ring of filamentous actin and myosin II motors generates the force to bisect a mother cell into two daughters. The actomyosin ring is among the most complex cellular machines, comprising over 150 proteins. Understanding how these proteins organize themselves into a functional ring with appropriate contractile properties remains one of the great challenges in cell biology. Efforts to generate a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism of actomyosin ring assembly have been hampered by the lack of structural information on the arrangement of actin, myosin II, and actin modulators in the ring in its native state. Fundamental questions such as how actin filaments are assembled and organized into a ring remain actively debated. This project will investigate key issues pertaining to cytokinesis in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, which divides employing an actomyosin based contractile ring, using the methods of genetics, biochemistry, cellular imaging, DNA origami, genetic code expansion, and click chemistry. Specifically, we will (1) attempt to visualize actin filament assembly in live cells expressing fluorescent actin generated through synthetic biological approaches, including genetic code expansion and click chemistry (2) decipher actin filament polarity in the actomyosin ring using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy of labelled dimeric and multimeric myosins V and VI generated through DNA origami approaches (3) address when, where, and how actin filaments for cytokinesis are assembled and organized into a ring and (4) reconstitute actin filament and functional actomyosin ring assembly in permeabilized spheroplasts and in supported bilayers. Success in the project will provide major insight into the mechanism of actomyosin ring assembly and illuminate principles behind cytoskeletal self-organization.
Max ERC Funding
2 863 705 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-11-01, End date: 2020-10-31
Project acronym ADAPT
Project The Adoption of New Technological Arrays in the Production of Broadcast Television
Researcher (PI) John Cyril Paget Ellis
Host Institution (HI) ROYAL HOLLOWAY AND BEDFORD NEW COLLEGE
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH5, ERC-2012-ADG_20120411
Summary "Since 1960, the television industry has undergone successive waves of technological change. Both the methods of programme making and the programmes themselves have changed substantially. The current opening of TV’s vast archives to public and academic use has emphasised the need to explain old programming to new users. Why particular programmes are like they are is not obvious to the contemporary viewer: the prevailing technologies imposed limits and enabled forms that have fallen into disuse. The project will examine the processes of change which gave rise to the particular dominant configurations of technologies for sound and image capture and processing, and some idea of the national and regional variants that existed. It will emphasise the capabilities of the machines in use rather than the process of their invention. The project therefore studies how the technologies of film and tape were implemented; how both broadcasters and individual filmers coped with the conflicting demands of the different machines at their disposal; how new ‘standard ways of doing things’ gradually emerged; and how all of this enabled desired changes in the resultant programmes. The project will produce an overall written account of the principal changes in the technologies in use in broadcast TV since 1960 to the near present. It will offer a theory of technological innovation, and a major case study in the adoption of digital workflow management in production for broadcasting: the so-called ‘tapeless environment’ which is currently being implemented in major organisations. It will offer two historical case studies: a longditudinal study of the evolution of tape-based sound recording and one of the rapid change from 16mm film cutting to digital editing, a process that took less than five years. Reconstructions of the process of working with particular technological arrays will be filmed and will be made available as explanatory material for any online archive of TV material ."
Summary
"Since 1960, the television industry has undergone successive waves of technological change. Both the methods of programme making and the programmes themselves have changed substantially. The current opening of TV’s vast archives to public and academic use has emphasised the need to explain old programming to new users. Why particular programmes are like they are is not obvious to the contemporary viewer: the prevailing technologies imposed limits and enabled forms that have fallen into disuse. The project will examine the processes of change which gave rise to the particular dominant configurations of technologies for sound and image capture and processing, and some idea of the national and regional variants that existed. It will emphasise the capabilities of the machines in use rather than the process of their invention. The project therefore studies how the technologies of film and tape were implemented; how both broadcasters and individual filmers coped with the conflicting demands of the different machines at their disposal; how new ‘standard ways of doing things’ gradually emerged; and how all of this enabled desired changes in the resultant programmes. The project will produce an overall written account of the principal changes in the technologies in use in broadcast TV since 1960 to the near present. It will offer a theory of technological innovation, and a major case study in the adoption of digital workflow management in production for broadcasting: the so-called ‘tapeless environment’ which is currently being implemented in major organisations. It will offer two historical case studies: a longditudinal study of the evolution of tape-based sound recording and one of the rapid change from 16mm film cutting to digital editing, a process that took less than five years. Reconstructions of the process of working with particular technological arrays will be filmed and will be made available as explanatory material for any online archive of TV material ."
Max ERC Funding
1 680 121 €
Duration
Start date: 2013-08-01, End date: 2018-07-31
Project acronym ADAPT
Project Life in a cold climate: the adaptation of cereals to new environments and the establishment of agriculture in Europe
Researcher (PI) Terence Austen Brown
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH6, ERC-2013-ADG
Summary "This project explores the concept of agricultural spread as analogous to enforced climate change and asks how cereals adapted to new environments when agriculture was introduced into Europe. Archaeologists have long recognized that the ecological pressures placed on crops would have had an impact on the spread and subsequent development of agriculture, but previously there has been no means of directly assessing the scale and nature of this impact. Recent work that I have directed has shown how such a study could be carried out, and the purpose of this project is to exploit these breakthroughs with the goal of assessing the influence of environmental adaptation on the spread of agriculture, its adoption as the primary subsistence strategy, and the subsequent establishment of farming in different parts of Europe. This will correct the current imbalance between our understanding of the human and environmental dimensions to the domestication of Europe. I will use methods from population genomics to identify loci within the barley and wheat genomes that have undergone selection since the beginning of cereal cultivation in Europe. I will then use ecological modelling to identify those loci whose patterns of selection are associated with ecogeographical variables and hence represent adaptations to local environmental conditions. I will assign dates to the periods when adaptations occurred by sequencing ancient DNA from archaeobotanical assemblages and by computer methods that enable the temporal order of adaptations to be deduced. I will then synthesise the information on environmental adaptations with dating evidence for the spread of agriculture in Europe, which reveals pauses that might be linked to environmental adaptation, with demographic data that indicate regions where Neolithic populations declined, possibly due to inadequate crop productivity, and with an archaeobotanical database showing changes in the prevalence of individual cereals in different regions."
Summary
"This project explores the concept of agricultural spread as analogous to enforced climate change and asks how cereals adapted to new environments when agriculture was introduced into Europe. Archaeologists have long recognized that the ecological pressures placed on crops would have had an impact on the spread and subsequent development of agriculture, but previously there has been no means of directly assessing the scale and nature of this impact. Recent work that I have directed has shown how such a study could be carried out, and the purpose of this project is to exploit these breakthroughs with the goal of assessing the influence of environmental adaptation on the spread of agriculture, its adoption as the primary subsistence strategy, and the subsequent establishment of farming in different parts of Europe. This will correct the current imbalance between our understanding of the human and environmental dimensions to the domestication of Europe. I will use methods from population genomics to identify loci within the barley and wheat genomes that have undergone selection since the beginning of cereal cultivation in Europe. I will then use ecological modelling to identify those loci whose patterns of selection are associated with ecogeographical variables and hence represent adaptations to local environmental conditions. I will assign dates to the periods when adaptations occurred by sequencing ancient DNA from archaeobotanical assemblages and by computer methods that enable the temporal order of adaptations to be deduced. I will then synthesise the information on environmental adaptations with dating evidence for the spread of agriculture in Europe, which reveals pauses that might be linked to environmental adaptation, with demographic data that indicate regions where Neolithic populations declined, possibly due to inadequate crop productivity, and with an archaeobotanical database showing changes in the prevalence of individual cereals in different regions."
Max ERC Funding
2 492 964 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-02-01, End date: 2019-01-31
Project acronym ADMIRE
Project Atomic-scale Design of Majorana states and their Innovative Real-space Exploration
Researcher (PI) Roland WIESENDANGER
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAET HAMBURG
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE3, ERC-2017-ADG
Summary Fault-tolerant topological quantum computation has become one of the most exciting research directions in modern condensed matter physics. As a key operation the braiding of non-Abelian anyons has been proposed theoretically. Such exotic quasiparticles can be realized as zero-energy Majorana bound states at the ends of one-dimensional magnetic nanowires in proximity to s-wave superconductors in the presence of high spin-orbit coupling. In contrast to previous attempts to realize such systems experimentally, based on the growth of semiconducting nanowires or the self-assembly of ferromagnetic nanowires on s-wave superconductors, we propose to design Majorana bound states in artificially constructed single-atom chains with non-collinear spin-textures on elemental superconducting substrates using scanning tunnelling microscope (STM)-based atom manipulation techniques. We would like to study at the atomic level the formation of Shiba bands as a result of hybridization of individual Shiba impurity states as well as the emergence of zero-energy Majorana bound states as a function of chain structure, length, and composition. Moreover, we will construct model-type platforms, such as T-junctions, rings, and more complex network structures with atomic-scale precision as a basis for demonstrating the manipulation and braiding of Majorana bound states. We will make use of sophisticated experimental techniques, such as spin-resolved scanning tunnelling spectroscopy (STS) at micro-eV energy resolution, scanning Josephson tunnelling spectroscopy, and multi-probe STS under well-defined ultra-high vacuum conditions, in order to directly probe the nature of the magnetic state of the atomic wires, the spin-polarization of the emergent Majorana states, as well as the spatial nature of the superconducting order parameter in real space. Finally, we will try to directly probe the quantum exchange statistics of non-Abelian anyons in these atomically precise fabricated model-type systems.
Summary
Fault-tolerant topological quantum computation has become one of the most exciting research directions in modern condensed matter physics. As a key operation the braiding of non-Abelian anyons has been proposed theoretically. Such exotic quasiparticles can be realized as zero-energy Majorana bound states at the ends of one-dimensional magnetic nanowires in proximity to s-wave superconductors in the presence of high spin-orbit coupling. In contrast to previous attempts to realize such systems experimentally, based on the growth of semiconducting nanowires or the self-assembly of ferromagnetic nanowires on s-wave superconductors, we propose to design Majorana bound states in artificially constructed single-atom chains with non-collinear spin-textures on elemental superconducting substrates using scanning tunnelling microscope (STM)-based atom manipulation techniques. We would like to study at the atomic level the formation of Shiba bands as a result of hybridization of individual Shiba impurity states as well as the emergence of zero-energy Majorana bound states as a function of chain structure, length, and composition. Moreover, we will construct model-type platforms, such as T-junctions, rings, and more complex network structures with atomic-scale precision as a basis for demonstrating the manipulation and braiding of Majorana bound states. We will make use of sophisticated experimental techniques, such as spin-resolved scanning tunnelling spectroscopy (STS) at micro-eV energy resolution, scanning Josephson tunnelling spectroscopy, and multi-probe STS under well-defined ultra-high vacuum conditions, in order to directly probe the nature of the magnetic state of the atomic wires, the spin-polarization of the emergent Majorana states, as well as the spatial nature of the superconducting order parameter in real space. Finally, we will try to directly probe the quantum exchange statistics of non-Abelian anyons in these atomically precise fabricated model-type systems.
Max ERC Funding
2 499 750 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31
Project acronym AdOMiS
Project Adaptive Optical Microscopy Systems: Unifying theory, practice and applications
Researcher (PI) Martin BOOTH
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE7, ERC-2015-AdG
Summary Recent technological advances in optical microscopy have vastly broadened the possibilities for applications in the biomedical sciences. Fluorescence microscopy is the central tool for investigation of molecular structures and dynamics that take place in the cellular and tissue environment. Coupled with progress in labeling methods, these microscopes permit observation of biological structures and processes with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution. This work has been enabled by the engineering development of diverse optical systems that provide different capabilities for the imaging toolkit. All such methods rely upon high fidelity optics to provide optimal resolution and efficiency, but they all suffer from aberrations caused by refractive index variations within the specimen. It is widely accepted that in many applications this fundamental problem prevents optimum operation and limits capability. Adaptive optics (AO) has been introduced to overcome these limitations by correcting aberrations and a range of demonstrations has shown clearly its potential. Indeed, it shows great promise to improve virtually all types of research or commercial microscopes, but significant challenges must still be met before AO can be widely implemented in routine imaging. Current advances are being made through development of bespoke AO solutions to individual imaging tasks. However, the diversity of microscopy methods means that individual solutions are often not translatable to other systems. This proposal is directed towards the creation of theoretical and practical frameworks that tie together AO concepts and provide a suite of scientific tools with broad application. This will be achieved through a systems approach that encompasses theoretical modelling, optical engineering and the requirements of biological applications. Additional outputs will include practical designs, operating protocols and software algorithms that will support next generation AO microscope systems.
Summary
Recent technological advances in optical microscopy have vastly broadened the possibilities for applications in the biomedical sciences. Fluorescence microscopy is the central tool for investigation of molecular structures and dynamics that take place in the cellular and tissue environment. Coupled with progress in labeling methods, these microscopes permit observation of biological structures and processes with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution. This work has been enabled by the engineering development of diverse optical systems that provide different capabilities for the imaging toolkit. All such methods rely upon high fidelity optics to provide optimal resolution and efficiency, but they all suffer from aberrations caused by refractive index variations within the specimen. It is widely accepted that in many applications this fundamental problem prevents optimum operation and limits capability. Adaptive optics (AO) has been introduced to overcome these limitations by correcting aberrations and a range of demonstrations has shown clearly its potential. Indeed, it shows great promise to improve virtually all types of research or commercial microscopes, but significant challenges must still be met before AO can be widely implemented in routine imaging. Current advances are being made through development of bespoke AO solutions to individual imaging tasks. However, the diversity of microscopy methods means that individual solutions are often not translatable to other systems. This proposal is directed towards the creation of theoretical and practical frameworks that tie together AO concepts and provide a suite of scientific tools with broad application. This will be achieved through a systems approach that encompasses theoretical modelling, optical engineering and the requirements of biological applications. Additional outputs will include practical designs, operating protocols and software algorithms that will support next generation AO microscope systems.
Max ERC Funding
3 234 789 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-09-01, End date: 2021-08-31
