Project acronym WALKINGMOLS
Project Synthetic Molecules that Walk Down Tracks: The First Small-Molecule Linear Motors
Researcher (PI) David Alan Leigh
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE5, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary The goal of this research project is to make the first synthetic small-molecule structures that can walk down tracks, mimicking the types of movement exhibited by the biological motor proteins myosin, kinesin and dynein. We propose to construct the first synthetic, mechanically processive, chemical systems from first principles; i.e. to design, synthesize, operate and characterize wholly synthetic small molecule structures that progressively advance directionally along a molecular track in response to stimuli. Different principles ( passing leg and inchworm mechanisms) for processive mechanical molecular-level motion will be developed and experimentally explored. With some designs it is envisaged that the walker units will be able to change direction or switch between pathways as a result of external signaling or the nature of the environment and, ultimately, be able to transport a cargo from one place to another on a surface. Sequential processive movement is unprecedented for wholly synthetic molecular structures and is the key requirement for making translational/linear motors that can perform tasks (transport cargoes from place to place or progressively exert a force) at the molecular level. Its successful demonstration would be a landmark accomplishment and mark a major new direction for synthetic supramolecular chemistry and molecular nanotechnology.
Summary
The goal of this research project is to make the first synthetic small-molecule structures that can walk down tracks, mimicking the types of movement exhibited by the biological motor proteins myosin, kinesin and dynein. We propose to construct the first synthetic, mechanically processive, chemical systems from first principles; i.e. to design, synthesize, operate and characterize wholly synthetic small molecule structures that progressively advance directionally along a molecular track in response to stimuli. Different principles ( passing leg and inchworm mechanisms) for processive mechanical molecular-level motion will be developed and experimentally explored. With some designs it is envisaged that the walker units will be able to change direction or switch between pathways as a result of external signaling or the nature of the environment and, ultimately, be able to transport a cargo from one place to another on a surface. Sequential processive movement is unprecedented for wholly synthetic molecular structures and is the key requirement for making translational/linear motors that can perform tasks (transport cargoes from place to place or progressively exert a force) at the molecular level. Its successful demonstration would be a landmark accomplishment and mark a major new direction for synthetic supramolecular chemistry and molecular nanotechnology.
Max ERC Funding
2 256 401 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-01-01, End date: 2013-12-31
Project acronym WATERWORLDS
Project Waterworlds: Natural environmental disasters and social resilience in anthropological perspective
Researcher (PI) Kirsten Hastrup
Host Institution (HI) KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH2, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary The present times are haunted by a sense of vulnerability in the face of major environmental disasters and global climate change. Whatever course and speed the current changes may accrue, their effects on the human world are already manifest. People suffer from a loss of habitual natural resources, from fear of an increasingly unpredictable nature, and from social disruptions as natural habitats are destroyed. Water is the most vital natural resource; it is the sine qua non of human life, and the idea of the present project is to study local, social responses to environmental disasters related to water. They are the melting of ice in the Arctic and in other glacier areas, the rising of seas that flood islands and coastal communities, and the drying of lands accelerating desertification in large parts of Africa and elsewhere. The ambition is to contribute to a renewed theory of social resilience that builds on the actualities of social life in distinct localities, and on human agency as the basis for people s quest for certainty. The proposed research is groundbreaking empirically as well as theoretically. Empirically it contributes a substantial ethnographic supplement to the sweeping diagnoses of the global malaises captured in notions like global warming . Theoretically, the project will allow for a new, general understanding of the effects of environmental disaster on social life, and of the responsibility that people take locally to ensure the survival of their community. New concepts will be developed to facilitate interdisciplinary research and worldwide dialogue. The larger vision is to rethink the human implications of climate change in the wider world, including Europe, by way of an explication of what is and what can be done on the ground. Technologies are useful, but the human and social potential is vital in long-term adaptation to new environmental realities. Frontier research as proposed here will show how.
Summary
The present times are haunted by a sense of vulnerability in the face of major environmental disasters and global climate change. Whatever course and speed the current changes may accrue, their effects on the human world are already manifest. People suffer from a loss of habitual natural resources, from fear of an increasingly unpredictable nature, and from social disruptions as natural habitats are destroyed. Water is the most vital natural resource; it is the sine qua non of human life, and the idea of the present project is to study local, social responses to environmental disasters related to water. They are the melting of ice in the Arctic and in other glacier areas, the rising of seas that flood islands and coastal communities, and the drying of lands accelerating desertification in large parts of Africa and elsewhere. The ambition is to contribute to a renewed theory of social resilience that builds on the actualities of social life in distinct localities, and on human agency as the basis for people s quest for certainty. The proposed research is groundbreaking empirically as well as theoretically. Empirically it contributes a substantial ethnographic supplement to the sweeping diagnoses of the global malaises captured in notions like global warming . Theoretically, the project will allow for a new, general understanding of the effects of environmental disaster on social life, and of the responsibility that people take locally to ensure the survival of their community. New concepts will be developed to facilitate interdisciplinary research and worldwide dialogue. The larger vision is to rethink the human implications of climate change in the wider world, including Europe, by way of an explication of what is and what can be done on the ground. Technologies are useful, but the human and social potential is vital in long-term adaptation to new environmental realities. Frontier research as proposed here will show how.
Max ERC Funding
2 979 882 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-01-01, End date: 2014-06-30
Project acronym WEBDAM
Project Foundations of Web Data Management
Researcher (PI) Serge Abiteboul
Host Institution (HI) INSTITUT NATIONAL DE RECHERCHE ENINFORMATIQUE ET AUTOMATIQUE
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE6, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary We propose to develop a formal model for Web data management. This model will open new horizons for the development of the Web in a well-principled way, enhancing its functionality, performance, and reliability. Specifically, the goal is to develop a universally accepted formal framework for describing complex and flexible interacting Web applications featuring notably data exchange, sharing, integration, querying and updating. We also propose to develop formal foundations that will enable peers to concurrently reason about global data management activities and cooperate in solving specific tasks and support services with desired quality of service. Although the proposal addresses fundamental issues, its goal is to serve as the basis for ground-breaking future software development for Web data management.
Summary
We propose to develop a formal model for Web data management. This model will open new horizons for the development of the Web in a well-principled way, enhancing its functionality, performance, and reliability. Specifically, the goal is to develop a universally accepted formal framework for describing complex and flexible interacting Web applications featuring notably data exchange, sharing, integration, querying and updating. We also propose to develop formal foundations that will enable peers to concurrently reason about global data management activities and cooperate in solving specific tasks and support services with desired quality of service. Although the proposal addresses fundamental issues, its goal is to serve as the basis for ground-breaking future software development for Web data management.
Max ERC Funding
2 415 620 €
Duration
Start date: 2008-12-01, End date: 2013-11-30
Project acronym WHISPER
Project Towards continuous monitoring of the continuously changing Earth
Researcher (PI) Michel Campillo
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITE JOSEPH FOURIER GRENOBLE 1
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary This project is focused on the use of the seismic ambient noise to monitor slight changes of properties in the solid Earth. Processing of noise records allow s to mimic a situation in which a perfectly repeatable source is activated at the location of a passive recorder. The implication is the detection of changes of strain at depth with applications in different contexts. A major field of application is the monitoring of potentially dangerous structures like volcanoes or active fault zones prone to damaging earthquakes. The project includes new methodological developments and field experiments. Applications in regions where changes are induced by human activity are important both for the quantitative refinement of the method and for the important economic and social implications of these problems.
Summary
This project is focused on the use of the seismic ambient noise to monitor slight changes of properties in the solid Earth. Processing of noise records allow s to mimic a situation in which a perfectly repeatable source is activated at the location of a passive recorder. The implication is the detection of changes of strain at depth with applications in different contexts. A major field of application is the monitoring of potentially dangerous structures like volcanoes or active fault zones prone to damaging earthquakes. The project includes new methodological developments and field experiments. Applications in regions where changes are induced by human activity are important both for the quantitative refinement of the method and for the important economic and social implications of these problems.
Max ERC Funding
1 700 736 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-07-01, End date: 2015-06-30
