ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

COUNTING ATOMS IN NANOMATERIALS Advanced electron microscopy for solid state materials has evolved from a qualitative imaging setup to a quantitative scientific technique. This will allow us not only to probe and better understand the fundamental behaviour of (nano) materials at an atomic level but also to guide technology towards new horizons. The installation in 2009 of a new and unique electron microscope with a real space resolution of 50 pm and an energy resolution of 100 meV will make it possible to perform unique experiments. We believe that the position of atoms at an interface or at a surface can be determined with a precision of 1 pm; this precision is essential as input for modelling the materials properties. It will be first applied to explain the fascinating behaviour of multilayer ceramic materials. The new experimental limits will also allow us to literally count the number of atoms within an atomic columns; particularly counting the number of foreign atoms. This will not only require experimental skills, but also theoretical support. A real challenge is probing the magnetic and electronic information of a single atom column. According to theory this would be possible using ultra high resolution. This new probing technique will be of extreme importance for e.g. spintronics. Modern (nano) technology more and more requires information in 3 dimensions (3D), rather than in 2D. This is possible through electron tomography; this technique will be optimised in order to obtain sub nanometer precision. A final challenge is the study of the interface between soft matter (bio- or organic materials) and hard matter. This was hitherto impossible because of the radiation damage of the electron beam. With the possibility to lower the voltage to 80 kV and possibly 50 kV, maintaining more or less the resolution, we will hopefully be able to probe the active sites for catalysis.

2 000 160 €

Start date: 2010-01-01, End date: 2014-12-31

Proposal summary: The present project will investigate the main principles of development and neuroplasticity in humans in the domain of multisensory processes (the interplay between sensory systems). It will be tested how learning plasticity of the human brain changes from childhood to adulthood and how early experience constraints neuroplasticity at later developmental stages as well as in adults. The project is based upon animal findings in sensory development and plasticity. Both a prospective (studies in children) and a retrospective (studies in people with a history of visual or auditory deprivation) approach are employed. Behavioural paradigms from experimental psychology addressing multisensory processes are combined with electroencephalographic recordings (EEG). First, we investigate the functional principles and neural correlates of multisensory development. Second, we investigate multisensory processes in people who suffered from a transient phase of sensory deprivation after birth: (a) in people who were born with bilateral dense cataracts that were removed later, and (b) in congenitally deaf individuals, who were equipped with a cochlear implant to restore hearing. This line of research will reveal the critical contribution of single sensory systems as well as the synchronized input across modalities with regard to the emergence of successful multisensory binding. Third, we will investigate whether it is possible to alleviate neural changes demarcating the end of sensitive phases or critical periods by implementing an incremental training procedure. Last, we will look at whether experimentally induced transient sensory deprivation increases neuroplasticity loss during a sensitive phase or critical period. We are convinced that basic research, such as the present, will reveal important principles of development and neuroplasticity which will be useful in applied setting to improve education, the rehabilitation of individuals with sensory defects and the treatment of developmental disorders.

2 396 640 €

Start date: 2010-12-01, End date: 2016-11-30

An intense debate is raging within evolutionary anthropology as to whether the evolution of human behaviour is driven by selection pressure on the individual or on the group. Until recently there was consensus amongst evolutionary biologists and evolutionary anthropologists that natural selection caused behaviours to evolve that benefit the individual or close kin. However the idea that cultural behaviours that favour the group can evolve, even at the expense of individual well-being, is now being supported by some evolutionary anthropologists and economists. Models of cultural group selection rely on patterns of cultural transmission that maintain differences between cultural groups, because either decisions are based on what most others in the group do, or non-conformists are punished in some way. If such biased transmission occurs, then humans may be following a unique evolutionary trajectory towards extreme sociality; such models potentially explain behaviours such as altruism towards non-relatives or limiting your reproductive rate. However, relevant empirical evidence from real world populations, concerning behaviour that potentially influences reproductive success, is almost entirely lacking. The projects proposed here are designed to help fill that gap. In micro-evolutionary studies we will seek evidence for the patterns cultural transmission or social learning that enable cultural group selection to act, and ask how these processes depend on properties of the community, and thus how robust are they to the demographic and societal changes that accompany modernisation. These include studies of the spread of modern contraception through communities; and studies of punishment of selfish players in economic games. In macro-evolutionary studies, we will use phylogenetic cross-cultural comparative methods to show how different cultural traits change over the long term, and ask whether social or ecological variables are driving that cultural change.

1 801 978 €

Start date: 2010-05-01, End date: 2016-04-30

Much light has been shed on the number, mechanisms and functions of protein-coding genes in the human genome. In comparison, we know almost nothing about the origins and mechanisms of the functional dark matter , including sequence that is transcribed outside of protein-coding gene loci. This interdisciplinary proposal will capitalize on new theoretical and experimental opportunities to establish the extent by which long non-coding RNAs contribute to mammalian and fruit fly biology. Since 2001, the Ponting group has pioneered the comparative analysis of protein-coding genes across the amniotes and Drosophilids within many international genome sequencing consortia. This Advanced Grant will break new ground by applying these approaches to long intergenic non-coding RNA (lincRNA) genes from mammals to birds and to flies. The Grant will allow Ponting to free himself of the constraints normally associated with in silico analyses by analysing lincRNAs in vitro and in vivo. The integration of computational and experimental approaches for lincRNAs from across the metazoan tree provides a powerful new toolkit for elucidating the origins and biological roles of these enigmatic molecules. Catalogues of lincRNA loci will be built for human, mouse, fruit fly, zebrafinch, chicken and Aplysia by exploiting data from next-generation sequencing technologies. This will immediately provide a new perspective on how these loci arise, evolve and function, including whether their orthologues are apparent across diverse species. Using new evidence that lincRNA loci act in cis with neighbouring protein-coding loci, we will determine lincRNA mechanisms and will establish the consequences of lincRNA knock-down, knock-out and over-expression in mouse, chick and fruitfly.

2 400 000 €

Start date: 2010-05-01, End date: 2015-04-30