Project acronym BIZEB
Project Bio-Imaging of Zoonotic and Emerging Bunyaviruses
Researcher (PI) Juha Huiskonen
Host Institution (HI) HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), LS1, ERC-2014-CoG
Summary We aim to understand host cell entry of enveloped viruses at molecular level. A crucial step in this process is when the viral membrane fuses with the cell membrane. Similarly to cell–cell fusion, this step is mediated by fusion proteins (classes I–III). Several medically important viruses, notably dengue and many bunyaviruses, harbour a class II fusion protein. Class II fusion protein structures have been solved in pre- and post-fusion conformation and in some cases different factors promoting fusion have been determined. However, questions about the most important steps of this key process remain unanswered. I will focus on the entry mechanism of bunyaviruses by using cutting-edge, high spatial and temporal resolution bio-imaging techniques. These viruses have been chosen as a model system to maximise the significance of the project: they form an emerging viral threat to humans and animals, no approved vaccines or antivirals exist for human use and they are less studied than other class II fusion protein systems. Cryo-electron microscopy and tomography will be used to solve high-resolution structures (up to ~3 Å) of viruses, in addition to virus–receptor and virus–membrane complexes. Advanced fluorescence microscopy techniques will be used to probe the dynamics of virus entry and fusion in vivo and in vitro. Deciphering key steps in virus entry is expected to contribute to rational vaccine and drug design. During this project I aim to establish a world-class laboratory in structural and cellular biology of emerging viruses. The project greatly benefits from our unique biosafety level 3 laboratory offering advanced bio-imaging techniques. Furthermore it will also pave way for similar projects on other infectious viruses. Finally the novel computational image processing methods developed in this project will be broadly applicable for the analysis of flexible biological structures, which often pose the most challenging yet interesting questions in structural biology.
Summary
We aim to understand host cell entry of enveloped viruses at molecular level. A crucial step in this process is when the viral membrane fuses with the cell membrane. Similarly to cell–cell fusion, this step is mediated by fusion proteins (classes I–III). Several medically important viruses, notably dengue and many bunyaviruses, harbour a class II fusion protein. Class II fusion protein structures have been solved in pre- and post-fusion conformation and in some cases different factors promoting fusion have been determined. However, questions about the most important steps of this key process remain unanswered. I will focus on the entry mechanism of bunyaviruses by using cutting-edge, high spatial and temporal resolution bio-imaging techniques. These viruses have been chosen as a model system to maximise the significance of the project: they form an emerging viral threat to humans and animals, no approved vaccines or antivirals exist for human use and they are less studied than other class II fusion protein systems. Cryo-electron microscopy and tomography will be used to solve high-resolution structures (up to ~3 Å) of viruses, in addition to virus–receptor and virus–membrane complexes. Advanced fluorescence microscopy techniques will be used to probe the dynamics of virus entry and fusion in vivo and in vitro. Deciphering key steps in virus entry is expected to contribute to rational vaccine and drug design. During this project I aim to establish a world-class laboratory in structural and cellular biology of emerging viruses. The project greatly benefits from our unique biosafety level 3 laboratory offering advanced bio-imaging techniques. Furthermore it will also pave way for similar projects on other infectious viruses. Finally the novel computational image processing methods developed in this project will be broadly applicable for the analysis of flexible biological structures, which often pose the most challenging yet interesting questions in structural biology.
Max ERC Funding
1 998 375 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-04-01, End date: 2020-03-31
Project acronym CGCglasmaQGP
Project The nonlinear high energy regime of Quantum Chromodynamics
Researcher (PI) Tuomas Veli Valtteri Lappi
Host Institution (HI) JYVASKYLAN YLIOPISTO
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE2, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary "This proposal concentrates on Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) in its least well understood "final frontier": the high energy limit. The aim is to treat the formation of quark gluon plasma in relativistic nuclear collisions together with other high energy processes in a consistent QCD framework. This project is topical now in order to fully understand the results from the maturing LHC heavy ion program. The high energy regime is characterized by a high density of gluons, whose nonlinear interactions are beyond the reach of simple perturbative calculations. High energy particles also propagate nearly on the light cone, unaccessible to Euclidean lattice calculations. The nonlinear interactions at high density lead to the phenomenon of gluon saturation. The emergence of the "saturation scale", a semihard typical transverse momentum, enables a weak coupling expansion around a nonperturbatively large color field. This project aims to make progress both in collider phenomenology and in more conceptual aspects of nonabelian gauge field dynamics at high energy density:
1. Significant advances towards higher order accuracy will be made in cross section calculations for processes where a dilute probe collides with the strong color field of a high energy nucleus.
2. The quantum fluctuations around the strong color fields in the initial stages of a relativistic heavy ion collision will be analyzed with a new numerical method based on an explicit linearization of the equations of motion, maintaining a well defined weak coupling limit.
3. Initial conditions for fluid dynamical descriptions of the quark gluon plasma phase in heavy ion collisions will be obtained from a constrained QCD calculation.
We propose to achieve these goals with modern analytical and numerical methods, on which the P.I. is a leading expert. This project would represent a leap in the field towards better quantitative first principles understanding of QCD in a new kinematical domain."
Summary
"This proposal concentrates on Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) in its least well understood "final frontier": the high energy limit. The aim is to treat the formation of quark gluon plasma in relativistic nuclear collisions together with other high energy processes in a consistent QCD framework. This project is topical now in order to fully understand the results from the maturing LHC heavy ion program. The high energy regime is characterized by a high density of gluons, whose nonlinear interactions are beyond the reach of simple perturbative calculations. High energy particles also propagate nearly on the light cone, unaccessible to Euclidean lattice calculations. The nonlinear interactions at high density lead to the phenomenon of gluon saturation. The emergence of the "saturation scale", a semihard typical transverse momentum, enables a weak coupling expansion around a nonperturbatively large color field. This project aims to make progress both in collider phenomenology and in more conceptual aspects of nonabelian gauge field dynamics at high energy density:
1. Significant advances towards higher order accuracy will be made in cross section calculations for processes where a dilute probe collides with the strong color field of a high energy nucleus.
2. The quantum fluctuations around the strong color fields in the initial stages of a relativistic heavy ion collision will be analyzed with a new numerical method based on an explicit linearization of the equations of motion, maintaining a well defined weak coupling limit.
3. Initial conditions for fluid dynamical descriptions of the quark gluon plasma phase in heavy ion collisions will be obtained from a constrained QCD calculation.
We propose to achieve these goals with modern analytical and numerical methods, on which the P.I. is a leading expert. This project would represent a leap in the field towards better quantitative first principles understanding of QCD in a new kinematical domain."
Max ERC Funding
1 935 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-10-01, End date: 2021-09-30
Project acronym DenseMatter
Project High-density QCD matter from first principles
Researcher (PI) Aleksi VUORINEN
Host Institution (HI) HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE2, ERC-2016-COG
Summary Predicting the collective properties of strongly interacting matter at the highest densities reached within the present-day Universe is one of the most prominent challenges in modern nuclear theory. It is motivated by the desire to map out the complicated phase diagram of the theory, and perhaps even more importantly by the mystery surrounding the inner structure of neutron stars. The task is, however, severely complicated by the notorious Sign Problem of lattice QCD, due to which no nonperturbative first principles methods are available for tackling it.
The proposal at hand approaches the strong interaction challenge using a first principles toolbox containing most importantly the machinery of modern resummed perturbation theory and effective field theory. Our main technical goal is to determine three new orders in the weak coupling expansion of the Equation of State (EoS) of unpaired zero-temperature quark matter. Alongside this effort, we will investigate the derivation of a new type of effective description for cold and dense QCD, allowing us to include to the EoS contributions from quark pairing more accurately than what is possible at present.
The highlight result of our work will be the derivation of the most accurate neutron star matter EoS to date, which will be obtained by combining insights from our work with those originating from the Chiral Effective Theory of nuclear interactions. We anticipate being able to reduce the current uncertainty in the EoS by nearly a factor of two, which will convert into a precise prediction for the Mass-Radius relation of the stars. This will be a milestone result in nuclear astrophysics, and in combination with emerging observational data on stellar masses and radii will contribute to solving one of the most intriguing puzzles in the field – the nature of the most compact stars in the Universe.
Summary
Predicting the collective properties of strongly interacting matter at the highest densities reached within the present-day Universe is one of the most prominent challenges in modern nuclear theory. It is motivated by the desire to map out the complicated phase diagram of the theory, and perhaps even more importantly by the mystery surrounding the inner structure of neutron stars. The task is, however, severely complicated by the notorious Sign Problem of lattice QCD, due to which no nonperturbative first principles methods are available for tackling it.
The proposal at hand approaches the strong interaction challenge using a first principles toolbox containing most importantly the machinery of modern resummed perturbation theory and effective field theory. Our main technical goal is to determine three new orders in the weak coupling expansion of the Equation of State (EoS) of unpaired zero-temperature quark matter. Alongside this effort, we will investigate the derivation of a new type of effective description for cold and dense QCD, allowing us to include to the EoS contributions from quark pairing more accurately than what is possible at present.
The highlight result of our work will be the derivation of the most accurate neutron star matter EoS to date, which will be obtained by combining insights from our work with those originating from the Chiral Effective Theory of nuclear interactions. We anticipate being able to reduce the current uncertainty in the EoS by nearly a factor of two, which will convert into a precise prediction for the Mass-Radius relation of the stars. This will be a milestone result in nuclear astrophysics, and in combination with emerging observational data on stellar masses and radii will contribute to solving one of the most intriguing puzzles in the field – the nature of the most compact stars in the Universe.
Max ERC Funding
1 342 133 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-07-01, End date: 2022-06-30
Project acronym EUGenDem
Project Gender, party politics and democracy in Europe: A study of European Parliament's party groups
Researcher (PI) Johanna KANTOLA
Host Institution (HI) TAMPEREEN KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SR
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH2, ERC-2017-COG
Summary Given the crucial importance of European Parliament’s party groups to democratic representation in the European Union, it is surprising that there is limited empirical and theoretical understanding that relates to how they conceive of gender, gender hierarchies and gendered relations, or how they seek to address gender inequalities. Nor do we know what the conditions are for increasing a gender equal democracy in the EU in the face of the current political context shaped by political crises. This project aims to provide a systematic analysis of the gendered policies and practices of European party politics. The research comprises a comparative study of the eight European Parliament (EP) party groups and generates empirical findings about the significance of gender in the current party political transformations in Europe.
Further potential lies in the key methodological innovation whereby the proposed project links informal institutions and discourses to affects and emotions, generating research designs with which the persistence of gender inequalities can be analysed more thoroughly than current gender and politics research allows. More nuanced conceptualizations, and theories about inclusive representation, gender justice and democracy at the transnational level, are a likely consequence of adopting an innovative methodological approach where empirical findings inform the theoretical level. Therefore, the project may have a high societal impact as it speaks directly to the current political crises in Europe, and provides an understanding of their gendered underpinnings.
Thus, the key ambition of this research project is: based on a thorough empirical understanding of gender and party politics at the European Parliament to build novel methodologies, concepts and theories about inclusive representation, gender justice and democracy.
Summary
Given the crucial importance of European Parliament’s party groups to democratic representation in the European Union, it is surprising that there is limited empirical and theoretical understanding that relates to how they conceive of gender, gender hierarchies and gendered relations, or how they seek to address gender inequalities. Nor do we know what the conditions are for increasing a gender equal democracy in the EU in the face of the current political context shaped by political crises. This project aims to provide a systematic analysis of the gendered policies and practices of European party politics. The research comprises a comparative study of the eight European Parliament (EP) party groups and generates empirical findings about the significance of gender in the current party political transformations in Europe.
Further potential lies in the key methodological innovation whereby the proposed project links informal institutions and discourses to affects and emotions, generating research designs with which the persistence of gender inequalities can be analysed more thoroughly than current gender and politics research allows. More nuanced conceptualizations, and theories about inclusive representation, gender justice and democracy at the transnational level, are a likely consequence of adopting an innovative methodological approach where empirical findings inform the theoretical level. Therefore, the project may have a high societal impact as it speaks directly to the current political crises in Europe, and provides an understanding of their gendered underpinnings.
Thus, the key ambition of this research project is: based on a thorough empirical understanding of gender and party politics at the European Parliament to build novel methodologies, concepts and theories about inclusive representation, gender justice and democracy.
Max ERC Funding
1 976 482 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-08-01, End date: 2023-07-31
Project acronym INDIRECT
Project Intergenerational Cumulative Disadvantage and Resource Compensation
Researcher (PI) Jani Petteri Erola
Host Institution (HI) TURUN YLIOPISTO
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH2, ERC-2013-CoG
Summary "The previous literature has not been able to successfully explain why the loss of the certain family resources does not show as a weaker attainment. Neither the country differences in socioeconomic inheritance seem to reflect the institutional differences between them. We argue that these problems have followed from ignoring resource compensation. The lost capital (economic, human/cultural or social) may be replaced with the other types or with the resources of someone else (the new or extended family members or neighbors). European and other developed societies can be distinguished by their abilities to influence the compensation of the loss of the parental resources rather than by their direct impact on inheritance.
We study compensation in three analytic contexts:
1) Life-course changes followed by the loss of parental resources. The specific events to be considered are parental bereavement, separation, unemployment and geographical mobility.
2) Period changes in society reducing resources in many families approximately at the same time. The examples to be analyzed are economic recession, the inflation of educational credentials due to increasing overall level of education and changing family structures and family formation processes.
3) Structural disadvantage associated with lower level of parental resources. The forms of inequality to be analyzed include the number of siblings sharing the parental resources and childhood neighborhood and the compensation of low resources with the resources of the parents of the spouse.
We use high level Finnish register panel data to analyze the loss compensation after specific life course events. The results are compared to those acquired from German SOEP data and US-based PSID data. Multiple country comparisons are conducted using ESS. The project combines three novel analytic approaches: sibling correlation methods, conditional multinomial (event history) models and sequence analysis."
Summary
"The previous literature has not been able to successfully explain why the loss of the certain family resources does not show as a weaker attainment. Neither the country differences in socioeconomic inheritance seem to reflect the institutional differences between them. We argue that these problems have followed from ignoring resource compensation. The lost capital (economic, human/cultural or social) may be replaced with the other types or with the resources of someone else (the new or extended family members or neighbors). European and other developed societies can be distinguished by their abilities to influence the compensation of the loss of the parental resources rather than by their direct impact on inheritance.
We study compensation in three analytic contexts:
1) Life-course changes followed by the loss of parental resources. The specific events to be considered are parental bereavement, separation, unemployment and geographical mobility.
2) Period changes in society reducing resources in many families approximately at the same time. The examples to be analyzed are economic recession, the inflation of educational credentials due to increasing overall level of education and changing family structures and family formation processes.
3) Structural disadvantage associated with lower level of parental resources. The forms of inequality to be analyzed include the number of siblings sharing the parental resources and childhood neighborhood and the compensation of low resources with the resources of the parents of the spouse.
We use high level Finnish register panel data to analyze the loss compensation after specific life course events. The results are compared to those acquired from German SOEP data and US-based PSID data. Multiple country comparisons are conducted using ESS. The project combines three novel analytic approaches: sibling correlation methods, conditional multinomial (event history) models and sequence analysis."
Max ERC Funding
1 880 328 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-04-01, End date: 2019-03-31
Project acronym MAIDEN
Project Masses, isomers and decay studies for elemental nucleosynthesis
Researcher (PI) Anu KANKAINEN
Host Institution (HI) JYVASKYLAN YLIOPISTO
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE2, ERC-2017-COG
Summary About half of the elements heavier than iron have been produced via the rapid neutron capture process, the r process. Its astrophysical site has been one of the biggest outstanding questions in physics. Neutrino-driven winds from proto-neutron stars created in core-collapse supernovae were long considered as the most favourable site for the r process. Recently, neutron-star mergers have become the most promising candidates, and new exciting observations from these compact objects, such as gravitational waves, are expected in the coming years. In order to constrain the astrophysical site for the r process, nuclear binding energies (i.e. masses) of exotic neutron-rich nuclei are needed because they determine the path for the process and therefore have a direct effect on the final isotopic abundances. In this project, high-precision mass measurements will be performed in three regions relevant for the r process, employing novel production and measurement techniques at the IGISOL facility in JYFL-ACCLAB. Long-living isomeric states, which also play a role in the r process, will be resolved from the ground states to obtain accurate mass values. Post-trap decay spectroscopy will be performed to confirm which state has been measured in order to avoid systematic uncertainties in the mass values. The new data will be compared with theoretical mass models and included in r-process calculations performed for various astrophysical sites. MAIDEN will advance our knowledge of nuclear structure far from stability and reduce nuclear data uncertainties in the r-process calculations, which can potentially constrain the astrophysical site for the r process and lead to a scientific breakthrough in our understanding of the origin of elements heavier than iron in the universe.
Summary
About half of the elements heavier than iron have been produced via the rapid neutron capture process, the r process. Its astrophysical site has been one of the biggest outstanding questions in physics. Neutrino-driven winds from proto-neutron stars created in core-collapse supernovae were long considered as the most favourable site for the r process. Recently, neutron-star mergers have become the most promising candidates, and new exciting observations from these compact objects, such as gravitational waves, are expected in the coming years. In order to constrain the astrophysical site for the r process, nuclear binding energies (i.e. masses) of exotic neutron-rich nuclei are needed because they determine the path for the process and therefore have a direct effect on the final isotopic abundances. In this project, high-precision mass measurements will be performed in three regions relevant for the r process, employing novel production and measurement techniques at the IGISOL facility in JYFL-ACCLAB. Long-living isomeric states, which also play a role in the r process, will be resolved from the ground states to obtain accurate mass values. Post-trap decay spectroscopy will be performed to confirm which state has been measured in order to avoid systematic uncertainties in the mass values. The new data will be compared with theoretical mass models and included in r-process calculations performed for various astrophysical sites. MAIDEN will advance our knowledge of nuclear structure far from stability and reduce nuclear data uncertainties in the r-process calculations, which can potentially constrain the astrophysical site for the r process and lead to a scientific breakthrough in our understanding of the origin of elements heavier than iron in the universe.
Max ERC Funding
1 999 575 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-06-01, End date: 2023-05-31
Project acronym Phosphoprocessors
Project Biological signal processing via multisite phosphorylation networks
Researcher (PI) Mart Loog
Host Institution (HI) TARTU ULIKOOL
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), LS1, ERC-2014-CoG
Summary Multisite phosphorylation of proteins is a powerful signal processing mechanism playing crucial roles in cell division and differentiation as well as in disease. Our goal in this application is to elucidate the molecular basis of this important mechanism. We recently demonstrated a novel phenomenon of multisite phosphorylation in cell cycle regulation. We showed that cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)-dependent multisite phosphorylation of a crucial substrate is performed semiprocessively in the N-to-C terminal direction along the disordered protein. The process is controlled by key parameters including the distance between phosphorylation sites, the distribution of serines and threonines in sites, and the position of docking motifs. According to our model, linear patterns of phosphorylation networks along the disordered protein segments determine the net phosphorylation rate of the protein. This concept provides a new interpretation of CDK signal processing, and it can explain how the temporal order of cell cycle events is achieved. The goals of this study are: 1) We will seek proof of the model by rewiring the patterns of budding yeast Cdk1 multisite networks according to the rules we have identified, so to change the order of cell cycle events. Next, we will restore the order by alternative wiring of the same switches; 2) To apply the proposed model in the context of different kinases and complex substrate arrangements, we will study the Cdk1-dependent multisite phosphorylation of kinetochore components, to understand the phospho-regulation of kinetochore formation, microtubule attachment and error correction; 3) We will apply multisite phosphorylation to design circuits for synthetic biology. A toolbox of synthetic parts based on multisite phosphorylation would revolutionize the field since the fast time scales and wide combinatorial possibilities.
Summary
Multisite phosphorylation of proteins is a powerful signal processing mechanism playing crucial roles in cell division and differentiation as well as in disease. Our goal in this application is to elucidate the molecular basis of this important mechanism. We recently demonstrated a novel phenomenon of multisite phosphorylation in cell cycle regulation. We showed that cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)-dependent multisite phosphorylation of a crucial substrate is performed semiprocessively in the N-to-C terminal direction along the disordered protein. The process is controlled by key parameters including the distance between phosphorylation sites, the distribution of serines and threonines in sites, and the position of docking motifs. According to our model, linear patterns of phosphorylation networks along the disordered protein segments determine the net phosphorylation rate of the protein. This concept provides a new interpretation of CDK signal processing, and it can explain how the temporal order of cell cycle events is achieved. The goals of this study are: 1) We will seek proof of the model by rewiring the patterns of budding yeast Cdk1 multisite networks according to the rules we have identified, so to change the order of cell cycle events. Next, we will restore the order by alternative wiring of the same switches; 2) To apply the proposed model in the context of different kinases and complex substrate arrangements, we will study the Cdk1-dependent multisite phosphorylation of kinetochore components, to understand the phospho-regulation of kinetochore formation, microtubule attachment and error correction; 3) We will apply multisite phosphorylation to design circuits for synthetic biology. A toolbox of synthetic parts based on multisite phosphorylation would revolutionize the field since the fast time scales and wide combinatorial possibilities.
Max ERC Funding
1 999 289 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-05-01, End date: 2020-04-30
Project acronym QGP tomography
Project A novel Quark-Gluon Plasma tomography tool: from jet quenching to exploring the extreme medium properties
Researcher (PI) Magdalena DJORDJEVIC
Host Institution (HI) INSTITUT ZA FIZIKU
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE2, ERC-2016-COG
Summary Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) is a primordial state of matter, which consists of interacting free quarks and gluons. QGP likely existed immediately after the Big-Bang, and this extreme form of matter is today created in Little Bangs, which are ultra-relativistic collisions of heavy nuclei at the LHC and RHIC experiments. Based on the deconfinement ideas, a gas-like behaviour of QGP was anticipated. Unexpectedly, predictions of relativistic hydrodynamics - applicable to low momentum hadron data - indicated that QGP behaves as nearly perfect fluid, thus bringing exciting connections between the hottest (QGP) and the coldest (perfect Fermi gas) matter on Earth. However, predictions of hydrodynamical simulations are often weakly sensitive to changes of the bulk QGP parameters. In particular, even a large increase of viscosity not far from the phase transition does not notably change the low momentum predictions; in addition, the origin of the surprisingly low viscosity remains unclear. To understand the QGP properties, and to challenge the perfect fluid paradigm, we will develop a novel precision tomographic tool based on: i) state of the art, no free parameters, energy loss model of high momentum parton interactions with evolving QGP, ii) simulations of QGP evolution, in which the medium parameters will be systematically varied, and the resulting temperature profiles used as inputs for the energy loss model. In a substantially novel approach, this will allow using the data of rare high momentum particles to constrain the properties of the bulk medium. We will use this tool to: i) test our “soft-to-hard” medium hypothesis, i.e. if the bulk behaves as a nearly perfect fluid near critical temperature Tc, and as a weakly coupled system at higher temperatures, ii) map “soft-to-hard” boundary for QGP, iii) understand the origin of the low viscosity near Tc, and iv) test if QGP is formed in small (p+p or p(d)+A) systems.
Summary
Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) is a primordial state of matter, which consists of interacting free quarks and gluons. QGP likely existed immediately after the Big-Bang, and this extreme form of matter is today created in Little Bangs, which are ultra-relativistic collisions of heavy nuclei at the LHC and RHIC experiments. Based on the deconfinement ideas, a gas-like behaviour of QGP was anticipated. Unexpectedly, predictions of relativistic hydrodynamics - applicable to low momentum hadron data - indicated that QGP behaves as nearly perfect fluid, thus bringing exciting connections between the hottest (QGP) and the coldest (perfect Fermi gas) matter on Earth. However, predictions of hydrodynamical simulations are often weakly sensitive to changes of the bulk QGP parameters. In particular, even a large increase of viscosity not far from the phase transition does not notably change the low momentum predictions; in addition, the origin of the surprisingly low viscosity remains unclear. To understand the QGP properties, and to challenge the perfect fluid paradigm, we will develop a novel precision tomographic tool based on: i) state of the art, no free parameters, energy loss model of high momentum parton interactions with evolving QGP, ii) simulations of QGP evolution, in which the medium parameters will be systematically varied, and the resulting temperature profiles used as inputs for the energy loss model. In a substantially novel approach, this will allow using the data of rare high momentum particles to constrain the properties of the bulk medium. We will use this tool to: i) test our “soft-to-hard” medium hypothesis, i.e. if the bulk behaves as a nearly perfect fluid near critical temperature Tc, and as a weakly coupled system at higher temperatures, ii) map “soft-to-hard” boundary for QGP, iii) understand the origin of the low viscosity near Tc, and iv) test if QGP is formed in small (p+p or p(d)+A) systems.
Max ERC Funding
1 356 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-09-01, End date: 2022-08-31
Project acronym SOS.aquaterra
Project Respecting safe operating spaces: opportunities to meet future food demand with sustainable use of water and land resources
Researcher (PI) Matti Kummu
Host Institution (HI) AALTO KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SR
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH2, ERC-2018-COG
Summary Although the human population has quadrupled over the past century, per capita food availability is globally higher than ever - at the expense of environment: scarcity of water and land as well as exceedance of several planetary boundaries. Projected population growth and climate change will further increase the pressure on feeding the planet with sustainably managed natural resources.
SOS.aquaterra takes up this challenge by identifying feasible measures to meet future food demand while staying below water and land scarcity thresholds. The project develops novel integrated modelling and data analysis methods to fully exploit the rapidly increasing global open spatio-temporal datasets together with outputs from global agrological and hydrological models.
In the proposal, instead of assessing water and land scarcity separately, which is the current practice, the assessments are integrated. The second novelty in SOS.aquaterra is developing an integrated model that combines for the first time the potential of conventional and innovative measures -e.g. yield gap closure, alternative protein sources- towards increased food availability. The feasibility of these measures, within the safe operating space resulting from scarcity assessment, is explored by analogical problem solving and clustering methods.
The innovative integration of measures using the latest datasets and modelling tools holds high risks, yet it significantly advances the scientific and technological state of the art to meet food demand with sustainably managed natural resources.
Summary
Although the human population has quadrupled over the past century, per capita food availability is globally higher than ever - at the expense of environment: scarcity of water and land as well as exceedance of several planetary boundaries. Projected population growth and climate change will further increase the pressure on feeding the planet with sustainably managed natural resources.
SOS.aquaterra takes up this challenge by identifying feasible measures to meet future food demand while staying below water and land scarcity thresholds. The project develops novel integrated modelling and data analysis methods to fully exploit the rapidly increasing global open spatio-temporal datasets together with outputs from global agrological and hydrological models.
In the proposal, instead of assessing water and land scarcity separately, which is the current practice, the assessments are integrated. The second novelty in SOS.aquaterra is developing an integrated model that combines for the first time the potential of conventional and innovative measures -e.g. yield gap closure, alternative protein sources- towards increased food availability. The feasibility of these measures, within the safe operating space resulting from scarcity assessment, is explored by analogical problem solving and clustering methods.
The innovative integration of measures using the latest datasets and modelling tools holds high risks, yet it significantly advances the scientific and technological state of the art to meet food demand with sustainably managed natural resources.
Max ERC Funding
1 982 113 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-06-01, End date: 2024-05-31
Project acronym SpaceLaw
Project Law, Governance and Space: Questioning the Foundations of the Republican Tradition
Researcher (PI) Kaius Tapani TUORI
Host Institution (HI) HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH2, ERC-2017-COG
Summary Administrative professionalization is the hallmark of a modern state, but its origins contain a dilemma. Why there were no offices in ancient Rome? How is it possible that it nevertheless formed the model for the Western administrative state? The purpose of this project is to challenge earlier research and to propose a new model of the Roman Republican governance that integrates domestic and private space and to reinterpret its links with the Republican tradition.
The significance of these issues extends much beyond this: the development of administrative space in the European context amounts to nothing less than the emergence of the concept of public. Ever since Weber, the conceptual separation of the office and its holder has defined the European way of governance. The origin of this separation of public and private has often been seen in the Roman Republican state with its strict responsibilities, term limits and defined powers of its magistracies, who operated in open public spaces.
Using unconventional methodological tools to challenge the conventional view, the project explores the social and cultural dimensions of legal and administrative space, transcending modern assumptions of public and private. Two main research questions explore the confrontation of ideas and their contexts from the Roman Republic to modern Republicanism:
1) How the conflict between Republican ideals, political power and administrative practices transformed the spaces of administration?
2) How this conflict changed the social topography of Rome, the public and private spheres of governance?
While much of the earlier research on Republican administration has been constitutional, focused on sovereignty or the individual magistrates, this project advances a radical new interpretation through spatial and topographical analysis. It is a comprehensive re-evaluation of the Roman administrative tradition and its links with the European heritage through the lens of administrative space.
Summary
Administrative professionalization is the hallmark of a modern state, but its origins contain a dilemma. Why there were no offices in ancient Rome? How is it possible that it nevertheless formed the model for the Western administrative state? The purpose of this project is to challenge earlier research and to propose a new model of the Roman Republican governance that integrates domestic and private space and to reinterpret its links with the Republican tradition.
The significance of these issues extends much beyond this: the development of administrative space in the European context amounts to nothing less than the emergence of the concept of public. Ever since Weber, the conceptual separation of the office and its holder has defined the European way of governance. The origin of this separation of public and private has often been seen in the Roman Republican state with its strict responsibilities, term limits and defined powers of its magistracies, who operated in open public spaces.
Using unconventional methodological tools to challenge the conventional view, the project explores the social and cultural dimensions of legal and administrative space, transcending modern assumptions of public and private. Two main research questions explore the confrontation of ideas and their contexts from the Roman Republic to modern Republicanism:
1) How the conflict between Republican ideals, political power and administrative practices transformed the spaces of administration?
2) How this conflict changed the social topography of Rome, the public and private spheres of governance?
While much of the earlier research on Republican administration has been constitutional, focused on sovereignty or the individual magistrates, this project advances a radical new interpretation through spatial and topographical analysis. It is a comprehensive re-evaluation of the Roman administrative tradition and its links with the European heritage through the lens of administrative space.
Max ERC Funding
1 994 326 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-05-01, End date: 2023-04-30
