Project acronym DROSOPHILASIGNALING
Project Signaling Pathways Controlling Patterning, Growth and Final Size of Drosophila Limbs
Researcher (PI) Konrad Basler
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT ZURICH
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS3, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary Developmental biology seeks not only to learn more about the fundamental processes of growth and pattern per se, but to understand how they synergize to enable the morphogenesis of multicellular organisms. Our goal is to perform real-time analyses of these developmental processes in an intact developing organ. By applying a vital imaging approach, we can circumvent the normal limitations of inferring cellular dynamics from static images or molecular data, and obtain the real dynamic view of growth and patterning. The wing imaginal disc of Drosophila, which starts out as a simple epithelial structure and gives rise to a precisely structured adult limb, will serve as an ideal model system. This system has the combined advantages of relative simplicity and genetic tractability. We will create several innovations that expand the current toolkit and thus facilitate the detailed dissection of growth and patterning. A key early step will be to develop novel reporters to dynamically and faithfully monitor signaling cascades involved in growth and patterning, such as the Dpp and Hippo pathways. We will also implement quantification techniques that are currently being set up in collaboration with an experimental physicist, to deduce, and alter, the mechanical forces that develop in the cells of a growing tissue. The large amount of quantitative data that will be generated allow us derive computational models of the individual pathways and their interaction. The focus of the study will be to answer the following questions: 1) Is the Hippo pathway regulated spatially and temporally, and by what signaling pathways? 2) Do mechanical forces play a pivotal controlling role in organ morphogenesis? 3) What are the global effects on growth, when pathways controlling patterning, cell competition or compensatory proliferation are perturbed? The proposed project will bring the approaches taken to define the mechanisms underlying and controlling growth and patterning to the next level.
Summary
Developmental biology seeks not only to learn more about the fundamental processes of growth and pattern per se, but to understand how they synergize to enable the morphogenesis of multicellular organisms. Our goal is to perform real-time analyses of these developmental processes in an intact developing organ. By applying a vital imaging approach, we can circumvent the normal limitations of inferring cellular dynamics from static images or molecular data, and obtain the real dynamic view of growth and patterning. The wing imaginal disc of Drosophila, which starts out as a simple epithelial structure and gives rise to a precisely structured adult limb, will serve as an ideal model system. This system has the combined advantages of relative simplicity and genetic tractability. We will create several innovations that expand the current toolkit and thus facilitate the detailed dissection of growth and patterning. A key early step will be to develop novel reporters to dynamically and faithfully monitor signaling cascades involved in growth and patterning, such as the Dpp and Hippo pathways. We will also implement quantification techniques that are currently being set up in collaboration with an experimental physicist, to deduce, and alter, the mechanical forces that develop in the cells of a growing tissue. The large amount of quantitative data that will be generated allow us derive computational models of the individual pathways and their interaction. The focus of the study will be to answer the following questions: 1) Is the Hippo pathway regulated spatially and temporally, and by what signaling pathways? 2) Do mechanical forces play a pivotal controlling role in organ morphogenesis? 3) What are the global effects on growth, when pathways controlling patterning, cell competition or compensatory proliferation are perturbed? The proposed project will bring the approaches taken to define the mechanisms underlying and controlling growth and patterning to the next level.
Max ERC Funding
2 310 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-02-01, End date: 2014-01-31
Project acronym DRYLIFE
Project Surviving the dry state: engineering a desiccation-tolerant mammalian cell
Researcher (PI) Alan Tunnacliffe
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARSOF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS9, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary Certain plants, animals and micro-organisms are able to dry out completely and yet remain viable, a phenomenon known as anhydrobiosis ( life without water ), or desiccation tolerance. This proposal addresses the molecular mechanisms responsible for desiccation tolerance and aims to confer these mechanisms on desiccation-sensitive mammalian cells, establishing a new field in biotechnology: a form of synthetic biology we have called anhydrobiotic engineering. One feature of anhydrobiotic organisms is the production of many examples of highly hydrophilic proteins (or hydrophilins ) in preparation for severe dehydration. Although data are limited, these hydrophilins are suggested to fulfil various roles in preserving homeostasis of the desiccating cell, including the maintenance of protein, nucleic acid and membrane structure. The proposed project will investigate the function of hydrophilins, engineer these and other elements as desiccation protection modules, and introduce modules into mammalian cell lines. By combining protection modules and using an iterative deployment strategy, we aim to achieve an engineered mammalian cell with high viability in the dried state. Anhydrobiotic engineering will find applications in cell banking, e.g. of hybridoma collections, and cell-based technologies including tissue engineering. Principles established should be applicable to agriculture, where drought-resistant crops, or desiccation-tolerant biopesticides are envisaged. The PI has a distinguished record of achievement in several disciplines in the life sciences and biotechnology, in both academia and industry. Publications in Nature, Science and other leading journals include contributions in human genomics, the molecular genetics of the immune system and inherited disease, the molecular cell biology and biochemistry of desiccation tolerance, and invertebrate genetics. The PI is also an inventor on licensed patents and patent applications in two different fields.
Summary
Certain plants, animals and micro-organisms are able to dry out completely and yet remain viable, a phenomenon known as anhydrobiosis ( life without water ), or desiccation tolerance. This proposal addresses the molecular mechanisms responsible for desiccation tolerance and aims to confer these mechanisms on desiccation-sensitive mammalian cells, establishing a new field in biotechnology: a form of synthetic biology we have called anhydrobiotic engineering. One feature of anhydrobiotic organisms is the production of many examples of highly hydrophilic proteins (or hydrophilins ) in preparation for severe dehydration. Although data are limited, these hydrophilins are suggested to fulfil various roles in preserving homeostasis of the desiccating cell, including the maintenance of protein, nucleic acid and membrane structure. The proposed project will investigate the function of hydrophilins, engineer these and other elements as desiccation protection modules, and introduce modules into mammalian cell lines. By combining protection modules and using an iterative deployment strategy, we aim to achieve an engineered mammalian cell with high viability in the dried state. Anhydrobiotic engineering will find applications in cell banking, e.g. of hybridoma collections, and cell-based technologies including tissue engineering. Principles established should be applicable to agriculture, where drought-resistant crops, or desiccation-tolerant biopesticides are envisaged. The PI has a distinguished record of achievement in several disciplines in the life sciences and biotechnology, in both academia and industry. Publications in Nature, Science and other leading journals include contributions in human genomics, the molecular genetics of the immune system and inherited disease, the molecular cell biology and biochemistry of desiccation tolerance, and invertebrate genetics. The PI is also an inventor on licensed patents and patent applications in two different fields.
Max ERC Funding
2 494 963 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-01-01, End date: 2014-09-30
Project acronym ECC SCIENG
Project Error-correcting codes and their applications in Science and Engineering
Researcher (PI) Mohammad Amin Shokrollahi
Host Institution (HI) ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE6, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary Error correcting codes are combinatorial objects which have traditionally been used to enhance the transmission of data on unreliable media. They have experienced a phenomenal growth since their birth some fifty years ago. Today, everyday tasks such as listening to a CD, accessing the hard disk of an electronic device, talking on a wireless phone, or downloading files from the Internet are impossible without the use of error-correcting codes. Though traditional communication still occupies centerstage in the realm of applied coding theory, emerging applications are changing the rules of the game, and calling for a new type of coding theory capable of addressing future needs. These are not limited to physical applications, however. In fact, coding theory is an integral part of solutions offered by researchers outside traditional physical communication to solve fundamental problems of interest, such as the complexity of computation, reliable transfer of bulk data, cryptographic protocols, self correcting software, signal processing, or even computational biology.While research in the past fifty years has put traditional coding theory on firm theoretical grounds, emerging applications are in need of new tools and methods to design, analyze, and implement coding technologies capable of dealing with future needs. This is the main concern of the present proposal. To strike the right balance between length and impact we have identified five areas of research that span the full spectrum of coding theory ranging from fundamental theoretical aspects to practical applications. We set out to develop new theoretical and practical models for the design and analysis of codes, and explore new application areas hitherto untouched. A unique feature of this proposal is our choice of the tools, ranging from classical areas of algebra, combinatorics, and probability theory, to ideas and methods from theoretical computer science.
Summary
Error correcting codes are combinatorial objects which have traditionally been used to enhance the transmission of data on unreliable media. They have experienced a phenomenal growth since their birth some fifty years ago. Today, everyday tasks such as listening to a CD, accessing the hard disk of an electronic device, talking on a wireless phone, or downloading files from the Internet are impossible without the use of error-correcting codes. Though traditional communication still occupies centerstage in the realm of applied coding theory, emerging applications are changing the rules of the game, and calling for a new type of coding theory capable of addressing future needs. These are not limited to physical applications, however. In fact, coding theory is an integral part of solutions offered by researchers outside traditional physical communication to solve fundamental problems of interest, such as the complexity of computation, reliable transfer of bulk data, cryptographic protocols, self correcting software, signal processing, or even computational biology.While research in the past fifty years has put traditional coding theory on firm theoretical grounds, emerging applications are in need of new tools and methods to design, analyze, and implement coding technologies capable of dealing with future needs. This is the main concern of the present proposal. To strike the right balance between length and impact we have identified five areas of research that span the full spectrum of coding theory ranging from fundamental theoretical aspects to practical applications. We set out to develop new theoretical and practical models for the design and analysis of codes, and explore new application areas hitherto untouched. A unique feature of this proposal is our choice of the tools, ranging from classical areas of algebra, combinatorics, and probability theory, to ideas and methods from theoretical computer science.
Max ERC Funding
1 959 998 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-04-01, End date: 2013-03-31
Project acronym EDIP
Project Evolution of Development In Plants
Researcher (PI) Jane Alison Langdale
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS3, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary Different morphologies evolve in different organisms in response to changing environments. As land plants evolved, developmental mechanisms were either generated de novo, or were recruited from existing toolkits and adapted to facilitate changes in form. Some of these changes occurred once, others on multiple occasions, and others were gained and then subsequently lost in a subset of lineages. Why have certain forms survived and others not? Why does a fern look different from a flowering plant, and why should developmental biologists care? By determining how many different ways there are to generate a particular morphology, we gain an understanding of whether a particular transition is constrained. This basic information allows an assessment of the extent to which genetic variation can modify developmental mechanisms and an indication of the degree of developmental plasticity that is possible and/or tolerated both within and between species. This proposal aims to characterize the developmental mechanisms that underpin the diverse shoot forms seen in extant plant species. The main goal is to compare developmental mechanisms that operate in vegetative shoots of bryophytes, lycophytes, ferns and angiosperms, with a view to understanding the constraints that limit morphological variation. Specifically, we will investigate the developmental basis of three major innovations that altered the morphology of vegetative shoots during land plant evolution: 1) formation of a multi-cellular embryo; 2) organization of apical growth centres and 3) patterning of leaves in distinct spatial arrangements along the shoot. To facilitate progress we also aim to develop transgenic methods, create mutant populations and generate digital transcriptomes for model species at key phylogenetic nodes. The proposed work will generate scenarios to explain how land plant form evolved and perhaps more importantly, how it could change in the future.
Summary
Different morphologies evolve in different organisms in response to changing environments. As land plants evolved, developmental mechanisms were either generated de novo, or were recruited from existing toolkits and adapted to facilitate changes in form. Some of these changes occurred once, others on multiple occasions, and others were gained and then subsequently lost in a subset of lineages. Why have certain forms survived and others not? Why does a fern look different from a flowering plant, and why should developmental biologists care? By determining how many different ways there are to generate a particular morphology, we gain an understanding of whether a particular transition is constrained. This basic information allows an assessment of the extent to which genetic variation can modify developmental mechanisms and an indication of the degree of developmental plasticity that is possible and/or tolerated both within and between species. This proposal aims to characterize the developmental mechanisms that underpin the diverse shoot forms seen in extant plant species. The main goal is to compare developmental mechanisms that operate in vegetative shoots of bryophytes, lycophytes, ferns and angiosperms, with a view to understanding the constraints that limit morphological variation. Specifically, we will investigate the developmental basis of three major innovations that altered the morphology of vegetative shoots during land plant evolution: 1) formation of a multi-cellular embryo; 2) organization of apical growth centres and 3) patterning of leaves in distinct spatial arrangements along the shoot. To facilitate progress we also aim to develop transgenic methods, create mutant populations and generate digital transcriptomes for model species at key phylogenetic nodes. The proposed work will generate scenarios to explain how land plant form evolved and perhaps more importantly, how it could change in the future.
Max ERC Funding
2 230 732 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-07-01, End date: 2015-06-30
Project acronym ELAB4LIFE
Project eLab4Life: Electr(ochem)ical Labs-on-a-Chip for Life Sciences
Researcher (PI) Albert Van Den Berg
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITEIT TWENTE
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE7, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary We propose the development of new electrochemical techniques for health and life sciences applications in Lab-on-a-Chip devices. A Scanning ElectroChemical Microscope (SECM) will be used to study surface properties, such as local consumption and/or release of electroactive chemical compounds by (single) cells by electrochemical sensing, new detection methods for proteins using redox cycling, and new separation methods for DNA exploiting nanoscale electrical field gradients. The ability to generate and control electrical fields (and gradients) at the scale of the size of biomolecules using nanostructures, and the simple translation of novel electrical methods into practical Lab-on-a-Chip devices will create a breakthrough in bioanalytical methods. The knowledge and expertise obtained from SECM experimentation will be used to design and realize Labs-on-a-Chip that can be used for efficient production of drugs by electrofused cells, for early biomarker detection using nanowires and nano-spaced electrodes (Point-of-Care application), and rapid DNA analysis using nanofluidic structures. Besides this, the results can have great benefits for study of embryonic cell growth and for advanced tissue engineering. The results will be translated into devices and systems that can be used in Point-of-Care (POC) applications and will bring this area a big step closer to successful commercialization.
Summary
We propose the development of new electrochemical techniques for health and life sciences applications in Lab-on-a-Chip devices. A Scanning ElectroChemical Microscope (SECM) will be used to study surface properties, such as local consumption and/or release of electroactive chemical compounds by (single) cells by electrochemical sensing, new detection methods for proteins using redox cycling, and new separation methods for DNA exploiting nanoscale electrical field gradients. The ability to generate and control electrical fields (and gradients) at the scale of the size of biomolecules using nanostructures, and the simple translation of novel electrical methods into practical Lab-on-a-Chip devices will create a breakthrough in bioanalytical methods. The knowledge and expertise obtained from SECM experimentation will be used to design and realize Labs-on-a-Chip that can be used for efficient production of drugs by electrofused cells, for early biomarker detection using nanowires and nano-spaced electrodes (Point-of-Care application), and rapid DNA analysis using nanofluidic structures. Besides this, the results can have great benefits for study of embryonic cell growth and for advanced tissue engineering. The results will be translated into devices and systems that can be used in Point-of-Care (POC) applications and will bring this area a big step closer to successful commercialization.
Max ERC Funding
2 382 442 €
Duration
Start date: 2008-12-01, End date: 2013-10-31
Project acronym ELITES08
Project Culturally Composite Elites, Regime Changes and Social Crises in Multi-Ethnic and Multi-Confessional Eastern Europe. (The Carpathian Basin and the Baltics in Comparison - cc. 1900-1950)
Researcher (PI) Gyozo István Karády
Host Institution (HI) KOZEP-EUROPAI EGYETEM
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH6, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary The project is multi-disciplinary by character. It focuses upon socio-historical processes of the transformation and 'circulation' of educated and ruling elites in several uniquely composite (both multi-ethnic and multi-confessional) East European regional or national societies, having experienced a number of radical changes of social and political regime as well as state souvereignty in the first half of the 20th century. The historical scope of the study extends from post-feudalism to communism. Societies involved comprise Hungary, Slovakia, Transylvania, Voivodina in the Carpathian Basin, Latvia and Estonia in the Baltics. The study draws upon sociological survey methods applied to historically successive elite brackets in form of exhaustive or quasi-exhaustive computerized prosopographical data banks, based on standardized individual biographies of elite members (as permitted by mostly archival sources to be exploited). The main targets would include secondary school graduates, students and graduates of higher education, the main intellectual professions (like doctors and lawyers.), the political power elites as well as 'reputational elites' - those cited in biographical dictionaries. The information fed into our data banks help to clarify thanks to various procedures of multi-variate statistical schemes the contrasting socio-cultural selection and recruitment of elite members, their educational path from primary to higher education, their professional career, intellectual creativity as well as socio-political standing and orientation. This is the first time that large region- or country-wide elite clusters are submitted to systematic socio-historical analyses, covering simultaneously all or most markets of activity and self-assertion of educated clusters in a vast international and comparative perspective related to culturally composite societal formations.
Summary
The project is multi-disciplinary by character. It focuses upon socio-historical processes of the transformation and 'circulation' of educated and ruling elites in several uniquely composite (both multi-ethnic and multi-confessional) East European regional or national societies, having experienced a number of radical changes of social and political regime as well as state souvereignty in the first half of the 20th century. The historical scope of the study extends from post-feudalism to communism. Societies involved comprise Hungary, Slovakia, Transylvania, Voivodina in the Carpathian Basin, Latvia and Estonia in the Baltics. The study draws upon sociological survey methods applied to historically successive elite brackets in form of exhaustive or quasi-exhaustive computerized prosopographical data banks, based on standardized individual biographies of elite members (as permitted by mostly archival sources to be exploited). The main targets would include secondary school graduates, students and graduates of higher education, the main intellectual professions (like doctors and lawyers.), the political power elites as well as 'reputational elites' - those cited in biographical dictionaries. The information fed into our data banks help to clarify thanks to various procedures of multi-variate statistical schemes the contrasting socio-cultural selection and recruitment of elite members, their educational path from primary to higher education, their professional career, intellectual creativity as well as socio-political standing and orientation. This is the first time that large region- or country-wide elite clusters are submitted to systematic socio-historical analyses, covering simultaneously all or most markets of activity and self-assertion of educated clusters in a vast international and comparative perspective related to culturally composite societal formations.
Max ERC Funding
771 628 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-01-01, End date: 2012-03-31
Project acronym ELYCHE
Project Electron-scale dynamics in chemistry
Researcher (PI) Mauro Nisoli
Host Institution (HI) POLITECNICO DI MILANO
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE2, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary The target of the proposal is the first experimental demonstration of attosecond coherent control of electron motion in many-particle systems. The past decade has seen remarkable advances in the field of coherent control of chemical reactions thanks to the application of femtosecond technology; I propose to use the emerging attosecond technology to achieve coherent control of photodissociation reactions on a purely electronic scale. I will mainly concentrate on molecules with biological interest. The success of the project will be based on the possibility to initiate and control the sub-femtosecond electronic motion in large molecules, by using high-intensity isolated attosecond pulses. Such electron motion precedes and determines the subsequent nuclear rearrangement, which ultimately leads to the chemical change. In this way it will be possible to control in a direct way the outcome of a chemical reaction, which is one of the central problems in modern chemistry. A crucial benchmark of the project, substantially beyond the current state-of-the-art in Attosecond Science, will be the experimental demonstration of attosecond pump / attosecond-probe measurements, which for the present are not technically feasible. Electron dynamics will be measured, with attosecond resolution, in many-particle systems, ranging from simple molecules to complex bio-molecules.
The application of attosecond pulses and the development of attochemistry techniques for the investigation of the primary electronic steps of chemical processes, is a completely new and challenging research field, with tremendous prospects for both fundamental research and technology. In particular, the attosecond coherent control of charge localization in bio-molecules can offer unique information on the mechanisms at the basis of biological signal transmission or on the processes leading to damaging of complex biological molecules (from polypeptides to proteins and DNA).
Summary
The target of the proposal is the first experimental demonstration of attosecond coherent control of electron motion in many-particle systems. The past decade has seen remarkable advances in the field of coherent control of chemical reactions thanks to the application of femtosecond technology; I propose to use the emerging attosecond technology to achieve coherent control of photodissociation reactions on a purely electronic scale. I will mainly concentrate on molecules with biological interest. The success of the project will be based on the possibility to initiate and control the sub-femtosecond electronic motion in large molecules, by using high-intensity isolated attosecond pulses. Such electron motion precedes and determines the subsequent nuclear rearrangement, which ultimately leads to the chemical change. In this way it will be possible to control in a direct way the outcome of a chemical reaction, which is one of the central problems in modern chemistry. A crucial benchmark of the project, substantially beyond the current state-of-the-art in Attosecond Science, will be the experimental demonstration of attosecond pump / attosecond-probe measurements, which for the present are not technically feasible. Electron dynamics will be measured, with attosecond resolution, in many-particle systems, ranging from simple molecules to complex bio-molecules.
The application of attosecond pulses and the development of attochemistry techniques for the investigation of the primary electronic steps of chemical processes, is a completely new and challenging research field, with tremendous prospects for both fundamental research and technology. In particular, the attosecond coherent control of charge localization in bio-molecules can offer unique information on the mechanisms at the basis of biological signal transmission or on the processes leading to damaging of complex biological molecules (from polypeptides to proteins and DNA).
Max ERC Funding
2 446 200 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-04-01, End date: 2014-03-31
Project acronym EMIS
Project An Intense Summer Monsoon in a Cool World, Climate and East Asian Monsoon during Interglacials with a special emphasis on the Interglacials 500,000 years ago and before
Researcher (PI) André, Léon Berger
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary Asian monsoon is a spectacular occurrence in the climate system. What make it so powerful are the combination of thermal contrast between the World s largest landmass (Eurasian continent) and ocean basin (the Indo-Pacific Ocean) and the presence of the World s largest ridge, the Tibetan Plateau. Climatologically, monsoon regions are the most convectively active areas and account for the majority of global atmospheric heat and moisture transport. Moreover, the economy, culture and rhythms of life of 60% of humanity are critically influenced by the evolution and variability of the Asian monsoon. The need to better understand the monsoon leads inevitably to the close inspection of its activity during the geological times to provide a long-term perspective from which any future change may be more effectively assessed. Our research proposal aims to understand the seeming paradox of the exceptionally intense East Asian summer monsoon (actually the strongest over the last one million years) which occurred during the relatively cool interglacial (MIS-13), 500,000 years ago. This will be done using first a model of intermediate complexity (LOVECLIM) to achieve a number of sensitivity experiments to the astronomical forcing, the Eurasian and North American ice sheets, the Tibetan Plateau and the Ocean. Ocean-atmosphere coupled general circulation models will then be used to confirm the main processes underlined by LOVECLIM, in particular those related to the wave train topographically induced by the Eurasian ice sheet, to the Tibetan Plateau, to the sea-surface temperature and to their role in reinforcing the East Asian summer monsoon. This monsoon of MIS-13 will be compared with the monsoon which occurred during the other interglacials of the upper Pleistocene and Holocene (about the last 700,000 years). All simulation results will be compared with the available proxy records, in particular-but not exclusively-those coming from the loess-soil sequences in China.
Summary
Asian monsoon is a spectacular occurrence in the climate system. What make it so powerful are the combination of thermal contrast between the World s largest landmass (Eurasian continent) and ocean basin (the Indo-Pacific Ocean) and the presence of the World s largest ridge, the Tibetan Plateau. Climatologically, monsoon regions are the most convectively active areas and account for the majority of global atmospheric heat and moisture transport. Moreover, the economy, culture and rhythms of life of 60% of humanity are critically influenced by the evolution and variability of the Asian monsoon. The need to better understand the monsoon leads inevitably to the close inspection of its activity during the geological times to provide a long-term perspective from which any future change may be more effectively assessed. Our research proposal aims to understand the seeming paradox of the exceptionally intense East Asian summer monsoon (actually the strongest over the last one million years) which occurred during the relatively cool interglacial (MIS-13), 500,000 years ago. This will be done using first a model of intermediate complexity (LOVECLIM) to achieve a number of sensitivity experiments to the astronomical forcing, the Eurasian and North American ice sheets, the Tibetan Plateau and the Ocean. Ocean-atmosphere coupled general circulation models will then be used to confirm the main processes underlined by LOVECLIM, in particular those related to the wave train topographically induced by the Eurasian ice sheet, to the Tibetan Plateau, to the sea-surface temperature and to their role in reinforcing the East Asian summer monsoon. This monsoon of MIS-13 will be compared with the monsoon which occurred during the other interglacials of the upper Pleistocene and Holocene (about the last 700,000 years). All simulation results will be compared with the available proxy records, in particular-but not exclusively-those coming from the loess-soil sequences in China.
Max ERC Funding
893 880 €
Duration
Start date: 2008-11-01, End date: 2013-10-31
Project acronym EMOTIONS
Project The social and cultural construction of emotions: The Greek paradigm
Researcher (PI) Angelos Chaniotis
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH6, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary Emotions influence social relations; consequently, they are socially relevant, subject to scrutiny, judgment, and normative intervention. The manifestation, perception and treatment of emotions are subject to social interventions and to the influence of cultural change. Emotions in the Classical world have been primarily studied in the light of their representation in literature and art. Such studies have provided important insights; yet, they are based on works primarily created in a few major urban centres, almost exclusively by educated men of a higher status. This project is based on an analysis of documentary sources (inscriptions and papyri, c. 800 BC-c. 500 AD). Although they provide abundant, diverse, and representative evidence, they have never been studied in connection with this subject. As compared to literature and art, these sources represent a wide range of social strata and age-classes, originate in both genders, and are widely disseminated over time and space. These sources will be analysed both diachronically (history of particular emotions) and synchronically (manifestations of emotions in defined historical contexts). Selected literary sources and archaeological material will also be taken into consideration. The project pursues the following objectives: to contribute to a more reliable, nuanced, and comprehensive history of emotions in the Greek world; to increase awareness of the importance of emotions in Classical studies; to contribute to the transdisciplinary study of emotions through the presentation of paradigms from Classical antiquity; to enhance the dialogue between historical, social, and natural sciences; and to make documentary sources accessible to scholars working on the history of emotions and, more generally, on the history of mentality.
Summary
Emotions influence social relations; consequently, they are socially relevant, subject to scrutiny, judgment, and normative intervention. The manifestation, perception and treatment of emotions are subject to social interventions and to the influence of cultural change. Emotions in the Classical world have been primarily studied in the light of their representation in literature and art. Such studies have provided important insights; yet, they are based on works primarily created in a few major urban centres, almost exclusively by educated men of a higher status. This project is based on an analysis of documentary sources (inscriptions and papyri, c. 800 BC-c. 500 AD). Although they provide abundant, diverse, and representative evidence, they have never been studied in connection with this subject. As compared to literature and art, these sources represent a wide range of social strata and age-classes, originate in both genders, and are widely disseminated over time and space. These sources will be analysed both diachronically (history of particular emotions) and synchronically (manifestations of emotions in defined historical contexts). Selected literary sources and archaeological material will also be taken into consideration. The project pursues the following objectives: to contribute to a more reliable, nuanced, and comprehensive history of emotions in the Greek world; to increase awareness of the importance of emotions in Classical studies; to contribute to the transdisciplinary study of emotions through the presentation of paradigms from Classical antiquity; to enhance the dialogue between historical, social, and natural sciences; and to make documentary sources accessible to scholars working on the history of emotions and, more generally, on the history of mentality.
Max ERC Funding
1 593 945 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-01-01, End date: 2013-12-31
Project acronym ENTANGLED BALKANS
Project Balkan Histories: Shared, Connected, Entangled
Researcher (PI) Roumen Daskalov
Host Institution (HI) NEW BULGARIAN UNIVERSITY
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH6, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary THE OBJECTIVE of this project is to explore the various ways in which the histories of the Balkan peoples were shared, connected and entangled, and in some cases became structurally inter-dependent in the course of the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries; also to explore transfers and crossings within the region and from Western Europe and Russia. What is offered is a provisional open-ended and long-term research program guided by a general paradigm , frame of reference and key concepts. I would rather keep the project open and flexible with regard to substantial issues, though with a clear vision of the general (transnational) perspective. A list of topics includes national and social movements, disputed territories, minorities and refugees, cultural and political transfers. The variegated topics demand expertise in different areas and a trans-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary treatment without regard to established disciplinary boundaries. Systematically applying the transnational and relational perspective to the study of a region as complex as the Balkans has huge cognitive potential and innovative power. The new perspective and cutting-edge methodologies will reveal fresh vistas and bring insights to a number of topics that cannot be restricted in advance. Older research objects will look different and acquire new meanings in the new context and entirely new historical objects will be constituted. The national paradigm of self-contained national histories will be challenged. Such a project may well have wider social and political relevance. There is a positive and integrative value in showing how entangled the histories of the present-day Balkan nations and states were and still are. I would like to imagine such research as promoting good relations rather than fostering divisiveness and separation. This project will also be an input to the European integration of the region, which will hopefully involve the rest of the Balkans in the near future.
Summary
THE OBJECTIVE of this project is to explore the various ways in which the histories of the Balkan peoples were shared, connected and entangled, and in some cases became structurally inter-dependent in the course of the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries; also to explore transfers and crossings within the region and from Western Europe and Russia. What is offered is a provisional open-ended and long-term research program guided by a general paradigm , frame of reference and key concepts. I would rather keep the project open and flexible with regard to substantial issues, though with a clear vision of the general (transnational) perspective. A list of topics includes national and social movements, disputed territories, minorities and refugees, cultural and political transfers. The variegated topics demand expertise in different areas and a trans-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary treatment without regard to established disciplinary boundaries. Systematically applying the transnational and relational perspective to the study of a region as complex as the Balkans has huge cognitive potential and innovative power. The new perspective and cutting-edge methodologies will reveal fresh vistas and bring insights to a number of topics that cannot be restricted in advance. Older research objects will look different and acquire new meanings in the new context and entirely new historical objects will be constituted. The national paradigm of self-contained national histories will be challenged. Such a project may well have wider social and political relevance. There is a positive and integrative value in showing how entangled the histories of the present-day Balkan nations and states were and still are. I would like to imagine such research as promoting good relations rather than fostering divisiveness and separation. This project will also be an input to the European integration of the region, which will hopefully involve the rest of the Balkans in the near future.
Max ERC Funding
1 560 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-01-01, End date: 2014-06-30
