ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

Computer systems today are power limited. As a result, efficiency gains can be translated into performance. Over the past decade we have been so effective at making computation more efficient that we are now at the point where we spend as much energy moving data (from memory to cache to processor) as we do computing the results. And this trend is only becoming worse as we demand more bandwidth for more powerful processors. To improve performance we need to revisit the way we design memory systems from an energy-first perspective, both at the hardware level and by coordinating data movement between hardware and software. CC-MEM will address memory system efficiency by redesigning low-level hardware and high-level hardware/software integration for energy efficiency. The key novelty is in developing a framework for creating efficient memory systems. This framework will enable researchers and designers to compose solutions to different memory system problems (through a shared exchange of metadata) and coordinate them towards high-level system efficiency goals (through a shared policy framework). Central to this framework is a bilateral exchange of metadata and policy between hardware and software components. This novel communication will open new challenges and opportunities for fine-grained optimizations, system-level efficiency metrics, and more effective divisions of responsibility between hardware and software components. CC-MEM will change how researchers and designers approach memory system design from today’s ad hoc development of local solutions to one wherein disparate components can be integrated (composed) and driven (coordinated) by system-level metrics. As a result, we will be able to more intelligently manage data, leading to dramatically lower memory system energy and increased performance, and open new possibilities for hardware and software optimizations.

1 610 000 €

Start date: 2017-03-01, End date: 2022-02-28

In CIO, common interactive objects are developed and explored to extend human control over the technological environment by human beings, both individually and together. CIO leads to a coherent framework of user interfaces to be applied in interaction design. Common interactive objects will provide a useful frame for furthering human computer interaction (HCI) theory, development of interaction design methods and the underlying technical platforms. Common interactive objects will empower users to better understand and develop the technologies they use. When carried through, the project offers new ways for people to construct and configure human physical and virtual environments, together, over time and within communities. The main objectives of CIO are to 1. develop the conception of common interactive objects in order to offer a new understanding of human-computer interaction, focusing on human control. 2. develop support for building user interfaces in a coherent and unified framework. 3. make common interactive objects that will empower users to better understand and develop the technologies they use. 4. carry out ground-breaking research regarding the technological basis of common interactive objects with focus on malleability, control and shareability over time. CIO is methodologically rooted in HCI. CIO’s research methods combine empirical, analytical, theoretical, and design approaches, all with focus on the relationship between common interactive objects and their human users. CIO presents the idea that common interactive objects may radically innovate our understanding of use and building user interfaces. The gains of CIO will be a coherent new, high-impact way of understanding and building HCI across physical and virtual structures, bringing control back to the users. The risks are in delivering this alternative in a manner that is able to confront the current strong commercial interests in the Internet-of-Things and the 'new' Artificial Intelligence

2 398 993 €

Start date: 2017-12-01, End date: 2022-11-30

Eco-immunology targets one of the great challenges in biology and medicine - how the immune system has evolved to optimize protection and minimize immunopathology (incl. autoimmune) costs. A primary target of my proposal is to study low-virulent pathogens causing mild infections, which for long have been considered harmless. Recent research suggests that this notion is false and that seemingly harmless pathogens entail delayed (‘hidden’) fitness costs. However, the mechanisms mediating these costs are still unknown. I will experimentally test if accelerated telomere degradation is a causative mechanism through which small immune costs can accumulate and be translated into senescence and reduced Darwinian fitness. Another key target is immune costs, which may be ‘hidden’ because of sexually antagonistic effects, and I will study how this may affect immune gene variation, immune costs and Darwinian fitness. These aspects are central for advancing our understanding of the evolution of disease resistance and immune function, incl. immune over-reactions (autoimmunity). My project exploits a comprehensive 32-year study of great reed warblers to analyze selection patterns in the wild (Fig. 1a), and uses established captive songbird set-ups to conduct carefully designed experiments. The exceptional quality of the long-term data set, together with cutting-edge techniques to measure and manipulate parasite infection, telomere length, oxidative stress and immune gene diversity, provides exciting opportunities to conduct research that previously was unfeasible, pushing the rapidly growing field of eco-immunology (Fig. 1b) to new frontiers. The work integrates theory and methods of evolutionary ecology, immunology and molecular biology, and has broad significance including for e.g. epidemiology and ageing research. I envision my research to change how we look upon causes, consequences (and precautions) of mild infectious, autoimmune and degenerative diseases.

2 500 000 €

Start date: 2017-08-01, End date: 2022-07-31

Despite technological advances, industry struggles to develop new pharmaceuticals and therefore novel strategies for drug discovery are urgently needed. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) play important roles in numerous physiological processes and are important drug targets for neurological diseases. My research focuses on modelling of GPCR-ligand interactions at the atomic level, with the goal to increase knowledge of receptor function and develop new methods for drug discovery. Breakthroughs in GPCR structural biology and access to sensitive screening assays provide opportunities to utilize fragment-based lead discovery (FBLD), a powerful approach for drug design. The objective of the project is to create a computational platform for FBLD, with a vision to transform the early drug discovery process for GPCRs. As structural information for these targets is limited, predictive models of receptor-fragment complexes will be crucial for the successful use of FBLD. In this project, computational structure-based methods for discovery of fragment ligands and further optimization of these to potent leads will be developed. These techniques will be applied to address two difficult problems in drug discovery. The first of these is to design ligands of peptide-binding GPCRs that have been challenging for existing methods. One of the promises of FBLD is to provide access to difficult targets, which will be explored by combining molecular docking and biophysical screening against peptide-GPCRs to identify novel lead candidates. A second challenge is that efficient treatment of neurological disorders often requires modulation of multiple targets, which also will be the focus of the project.

1 467 500 €

Start date: 2017-11-01, End date: 2022-10-31