Project acronym ELWar
Project Electoral Legacies of War: Political Competition in Postwar Southeast Europe
Researcher (PI) Josip GLAURDIC
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITE DU LUXEMBOURG
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH2, ERC-2016-STG
Summary We know remarkably little about the impact of war on political competition in postwar societies in spite of the fact that postwar elections have garnered tremendous interest from researchers in a variety of fields. That interest, however, has been limited to establishing the relationship between electoral democratization and the incidence of conflict. Voters’ and parties’ electoral behaviour after the immediate post‐conflict period have remained largely neglected by researchers. The proposed project will fill this gap in our understanding of electoral legacies of war by analysing the evolution of political competition over the course of more than two decades in the six postwar states of Southeast Europe: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. Organised around three thematic areas/levels of analysis – voters, parties, communities – the project will lead to a series of important contributions. Through a combination of public opinion research, oral histories, and the innovative method of matching of individual census entries, the project will answer to which extent postwar elections are decided by voters’ experiences and perceptions of the ended conflict, as opposed to their considerations of the parties’ peacetime economic platforms and performance in office. In-depth study of party documents and platforms, party relations with the organisations of the postwar civil sector, as well as interviews with party officials and activists will shed light on the influence of war on electoral strategies, policy preferences, and recruitment methods of postwar political parties. And a combination of large-N research on the level of the region’s municipalities and a set of paired comparisons of several communities in the different postwar communities in the region will help expose the mechanisms through which war becomes embedded into postwar political competition and thus continues to exert its influence even decades after the violence has ended.
Summary
We know remarkably little about the impact of war on political competition in postwar societies in spite of the fact that postwar elections have garnered tremendous interest from researchers in a variety of fields. That interest, however, has been limited to establishing the relationship between electoral democratization and the incidence of conflict. Voters’ and parties’ electoral behaviour after the immediate post‐conflict period have remained largely neglected by researchers. The proposed project will fill this gap in our understanding of electoral legacies of war by analysing the evolution of political competition over the course of more than two decades in the six postwar states of Southeast Europe: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. Organised around three thematic areas/levels of analysis – voters, parties, communities – the project will lead to a series of important contributions. Through a combination of public opinion research, oral histories, and the innovative method of matching of individual census entries, the project will answer to which extent postwar elections are decided by voters’ experiences and perceptions of the ended conflict, as opposed to their considerations of the parties’ peacetime economic platforms and performance in office. In-depth study of party documents and platforms, party relations with the organisations of the postwar civil sector, as well as interviews with party officials and activists will shed light on the influence of war on electoral strategies, policy preferences, and recruitment methods of postwar political parties. And a combination of large-N research on the level of the region’s municipalities and a set of paired comparisons of several communities in the different postwar communities in the region will help expose the mechanisms through which war becomes embedded into postwar political competition and thus continues to exert its influence even decades after the violence has ended.
Max ERC Funding
1 499 788 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-04-01, End date: 2022-03-31
Project acronym GLIOMADDS
Project Development of tumor penetrating peptides for glioma targeting
Researcher (PI) Tambet Teesalu
Host Institution (HI) TARTU ULIKOOL
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), LS7, ERC-2011-StG_20101109
Summary This application addresses a major problem in therapy of solid tumors: poor penetration of anti-cancer drugs into tumor tissue and to infiltrating tumor cells. Recently, we have identified tumor penetrating peptides (TPP) that trigger specific penetration of co-administered un-conjugated drugs deep into tumor and increase their therapeutic index. Current TPP target angiogenic tumor vessels and may not be suitable for targeting slow-growing tumors and invasive tumor cells. TPP are composed of functional modules (tumor recruitment motif, cryptic tissue penetrating C-end Rule element, and a protease cleavage site), which can be rearranged to yield peptides of novel specificities.
Our goal is to develop TPP platform for delivery of co-administered drugs to the deadliest brain tumor – glioblastoma (GBM). High-grade glioma is a target that is particularly evasive and well-suited for tissue penetrative drug delivery. We will develop glioma-specific TPP (gTPP) by combination of in vivo and ex vivo phage display of constrained peptide libraries on state-of-the-art glioma animal models. These gTPP will be able to penetrate gliomas (and potentially other tumors) independent of their angiogenic status, and to deliver drugs to infiltrating malignant cells far from the bulk glioma lesion. We will characterize, validate, and optimize the gTPP platform for enhanced glioma delivery of co-injected drugs. These studies will provide the preclinical data needed to advance the gTPP combination therapy of glioma to GLP toxicology and subsequent IND filing.
Summary
This application addresses a major problem in therapy of solid tumors: poor penetration of anti-cancer drugs into tumor tissue and to infiltrating tumor cells. Recently, we have identified tumor penetrating peptides (TPP) that trigger specific penetration of co-administered un-conjugated drugs deep into tumor and increase their therapeutic index. Current TPP target angiogenic tumor vessels and may not be suitable for targeting slow-growing tumors and invasive tumor cells. TPP are composed of functional modules (tumor recruitment motif, cryptic tissue penetrating C-end Rule element, and a protease cleavage site), which can be rearranged to yield peptides of novel specificities.
Our goal is to develop TPP platform for delivery of co-administered drugs to the deadliest brain tumor – glioblastoma (GBM). High-grade glioma is a target that is particularly evasive and well-suited for tissue penetrative drug delivery. We will develop glioma-specific TPP (gTPP) by combination of in vivo and ex vivo phage display of constrained peptide libraries on state-of-the-art glioma animal models. These gTPP will be able to penetrate gliomas (and potentially other tumors) independent of their angiogenic status, and to deliver drugs to infiltrating malignant cells far from the bulk glioma lesion. We will characterize, validate, and optimize the gTPP platform for enhanced glioma delivery of co-injected drugs. These studies will provide the preclinical data needed to advance the gTPP combination therapy of glioma to GLP toxicology and subsequent IND filing.
Max ERC Funding
1 499 931 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-01-01, End date: 2016-12-31
Project acronym INATTENTION
Project Behavioral and Policy Implications of Rational Inattention
Researcher (PI) Filip Matejka
Host Institution (HI) NARODOHOSPODARSKY USTAV AKADEMIE VED CESKE REPUBLIKY VEREJNA VYZKUMNA INSTITUCE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH1, ERC-2015-STG
Summary This proposal outlines agenda which aims to improve our understanding of policies in environments with cognitively limited agents. It seeks to extend and apply the theory of rational inattention developed in macroeconomics. Citizens are inattentive to details of tax codes, government bureaucrats cannot inspect all data about people in need, and voters are highly uninformed about politicians’ campaign platforms. The agenda is specifically targeted at applications where human inability to digest all available information has strong implications for public policy formation. It falls into three broad parts.
First (macroeconomics), the proposed research will develop a new model of risk-sharing in a typical modern-macro setting with heterogeneous agents. Instead of incentive constraints, the imperfections will be driven by the government’s or citizens’ inability to process all available information. What are the properties of the resulting system of redistribution? Why do taxes often take a simple form? Can minorities be left behind because they attract less of the government’s attention?
Second (behavioral economics), it will extend the rational inattention theory to model how agents simplify multidimensional features of the environment. Among many applications, the theory is likely to provide an alternative explanation for mental accounting, when people have separate budgets for different types of expenditures (critical to consumption decisions, especially of the poor), and for salience of different elements of the tax code.
Third (political economy), it will develop a unified framework to study implications of voters’ rational inattention (selective ignorance) for the outcomes of political processes, such as for popular demand for misguided policies, public good provision, and the complexity of announced platforms. Voters’ information acquisition and fragmented information processing will be studied in a field experiment.
Summary
This proposal outlines agenda which aims to improve our understanding of policies in environments with cognitively limited agents. It seeks to extend and apply the theory of rational inattention developed in macroeconomics. Citizens are inattentive to details of tax codes, government bureaucrats cannot inspect all data about people in need, and voters are highly uninformed about politicians’ campaign platforms. The agenda is specifically targeted at applications where human inability to digest all available information has strong implications for public policy formation. It falls into three broad parts.
First (macroeconomics), the proposed research will develop a new model of risk-sharing in a typical modern-macro setting with heterogeneous agents. Instead of incentive constraints, the imperfections will be driven by the government’s or citizens’ inability to process all available information. What are the properties of the resulting system of redistribution? Why do taxes often take a simple form? Can minorities be left behind because they attract less of the government’s attention?
Second (behavioral economics), it will extend the rational inattention theory to model how agents simplify multidimensional features of the environment. Among many applications, the theory is likely to provide an alternative explanation for mental accounting, when people have separate budgets for different types of expenditures (critical to consumption decisions, especially of the poor), and for salience of different elements of the tax code.
Third (political economy), it will develop a unified framework to study implications of voters’ rational inattention (selective ignorance) for the outcomes of political processes, such as for popular demand for misguided policies, public good provision, and the complexity of announced platforms. Voters’ information acquisition and fragmented information processing will be studied in a field experiment.
Max ERC Funding
950 424 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-04-01, End date: 2021-03-31
Project acronym JUDI-ARCH
Project The Rise of Judicial Self-Government: Changing the Architecture of Separation of Powers without an Architect
Researcher (PI) David Kosar
Host Institution (HI) Masarykova univerzita
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH2, ERC-2015-STG
Summary Many European states have transferred decision-making powers regarding court administration and the career of a judge from political bodies to special organs in which judges have a major say. Judicial councils and other bodies of judicial self-government (JSG) spread particularly quickly during the European Union (EU) Accession Process. However, the effects of these bodies are not fully understood, as the traditional descriptive and normative scholarship is not able to capture them. JUDI-ARCH will fill this gap and address the implications of this phenomenon for the “new” as well as “old” EU member states.
The central research question of JUDI-ARCH is: how the rise of JSG has changed the concept of separation of powers? More specifically, the JUDI-ARCH proposal consists of three interrelated research aims. The first is to assess the impact of JSG on public confidence in and the independence, accountability, transparency and legitimacy of the domestic judiciaries of 14 European states and the two European supranational courts, both the actual and the perceived. The second aim is to examine what impact the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) have had on domestic judicial design and, vice versa, how has domestic judicial design affected the selection of judges of the ECtHR and the CJEU. The third overarching aim is to analyse the impact of JSG on the concept of separation of powers.
A major innovation in our approach will be the integration of comparative legal perspective with sociological and political science approaches. We will conduct in-depth conceptual, qualitative and quantitative case studies on the impact of different models of JSG in both “new” and “old” EU Member States, including longitudinal quantitative analysis of the use of mechanisms of judicial independence and accountability before and after the creation of a JSG body and in-depth elite interviews.
Summary
Many European states have transferred decision-making powers regarding court administration and the career of a judge from political bodies to special organs in which judges have a major say. Judicial councils and other bodies of judicial self-government (JSG) spread particularly quickly during the European Union (EU) Accession Process. However, the effects of these bodies are not fully understood, as the traditional descriptive and normative scholarship is not able to capture them. JUDI-ARCH will fill this gap and address the implications of this phenomenon for the “new” as well as “old” EU member states.
The central research question of JUDI-ARCH is: how the rise of JSG has changed the concept of separation of powers? More specifically, the JUDI-ARCH proposal consists of three interrelated research aims. The first is to assess the impact of JSG on public confidence in and the independence, accountability, transparency and legitimacy of the domestic judiciaries of 14 European states and the two European supranational courts, both the actual and the perceived. The second aim is to examine what impact the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) have had on domestic judicial design and, vice versa, how has domestic judicial design affected the selection of judges of the ECtHR and the CJEU. The third overarching aim is to analyse the impact of JSG on the concept of separation of powers.
A major innovation in our approach will be the integration of comparative legal perspective with sociological and political science approaches. We will conduct in-depth conceptual, qualitative and quantitative case studies on the impact of different models of JSG in both “new” and “old” EU Member States, including longitudinal quantitative analysis of the use of mechanisms of judicial independence and accountability before and after the creation of a JSG body and in-depth elite interviews.
Max ERC Funding
1 499 625 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-09-01, End date: 2021-08-31
Project acronym LONGWOOD
Project Long-term woodland dynamics in Central Europe: from estimations to a realistic model
Researcher (PI) Péter Szabó
Host Institution (HI) BOTANICKY USTAV AV CR, V.V.I.
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE10, ERC-2011-StG_20101014
Summary The vegetation of Central Europe has been directly influenced by humans for at least eight millennia; the original forests have been gradually transformed into today’s agricultural landscape. However, there is more to this landscape change than the simple disappearance of woodland. Forests have been brought under various management regimes, which profoundly altered their structure and species composition. The details of this process are little known for two main reasons. The greatest obstacle is the lack of cooperation among the disciplines dealing with the subject. The second major problem is the differences in spatio-temporal scaling and resolution used by the individual disciplines. Existing studies either concern smaller territories, or cover large areas (continental to global) with the help of modelling-based generalizations rather than primary data from the past. Using an extensive range of primary sources from history, historical geography, palaeoecology, archaeology and ecology, this interdisciplinary project aims to reconstruct the long-term (Neolithic to present) patterns of woodland cover, structure, composition and management in a larger study region (Moravia, the Czech Republic, ca. 27,000 km2) with the highest spatio-temporal resolution possible. Causes for the patterns observed will be analyzed in terms of qualitative and quantitative factors, both natural and human-driven, and the patterns in the tree layer will be related to those in the herb layer, which constitutes the most important part of plant biodiversity in Europe. This project will introduce woodland management as an equal driving force into long-term woodland dynamics, thus fostering a paradigm shift in ecology towards construing humans as an internal, constitutive element of ecosystems. By integrating sources and methods from the natural sciences and the humanities, the project will provide a more reliable basis for woodland management and conservation in Central Europe.
Summary
The vegetation of Central Europe has been directly influenced by humans for at least eight millennia; the original forests have been gradually transformed into today’s agricultural landscape. However, there is more to this landscape change than the simple disappearance of woodland. Forests have been brought under various management regimes, which profoundly altered their structure and species composition. The details of this process are little known for two main reasons. The greatest obstacle is the lack of cooperation among the disciplines dealing with the subject. The second major problem is the differences in spatio-temporal scaling and resolution used by the individual disciplines. Existing studies either concern smaller territories, or cover large areas (continental to global) with the help of modelling-based generalizations rather than primary data from the past. Using an extensive range of primary sources from history, historical geography, palaeoecology, archaeology and ecology, this interdisciplinary project aims to reconstruct the long-term (Neolithic to present) patterns of woodland cover, structure, composition and management in a larger study region (Moravia, the Czech Republic, ca. 27,000 km2) with the highest spatio-temporal resolution possible. Causes for the patterns observed will be analyzed in terms of qualitative and quantitative factors, both natural and human-driven, and the patterns in the tree layer will be related to those in the herb layer, which constitutes the most important part of plant biodiversity in Europe. This project will introduce woodland management as an equal driving force into long-term woodland dynamics, thus fostering a paradigm shift in ecology towards construing humans as an internal, constitutive element of ecosystems. By integrating sources and methods from the natural sciences and the humanities, the project will provide a more reliable basis for woodland management and conservation in Central Europe.
Max ERC Funding
1 413 474 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-01-01, End date: 2016-12-31
Project acronym RealTCut
Project Towards real time multiscale simulation of cutting in non-linear materials
with applications to surgical simulation and computer guided surgery
Researcher (PI) Stéphane Pierre Alain Bordas
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITE DU LUXEMBOURG
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE8, ERC-2011-StG_20101014
Summary "Surgeons are trained as apprentices. Some conditions are rarely encountered and surgeons will only be trained in the specific skills associated with a given situation if they come across it. At the end of their residency, it is hoped that they will have faced sufficiently many cases to be competent. This can be dangerous to the patients.
If we were able to reproduce faithfully, in a virtual environment, the audio, visual and haptic experience of a surgeon as they prod, pull and incise tissue, then, surgeons would not have to train on cadavers, phantoms, or on the patients themselves.
Only a few researchers in the Computational Mechanics community have attacked the mechanical problems related to surgical simulation, so that mechanical faithfulness is not on par with audiovisual. This lack of fidelity in the reproduction of surgical acts such as cutting may explain why most surgeons who tested existing simulators report that the ""sensation"" fed back to them remains unrealistic. To date, the proposers are not aware of Computational Mechanics solutions addressing, at the same time, geometrical faithfulness, material realism, evolving cuts and quality control of the solution.
The measurable objectives for this research are as follows:
O1:Significantly alleviate the mesh generation and regeneration burden to represent organs’ geometries, underlying tissue microstructure and cuts with sufficient accuracy but minimal user intervention
O2:Move away from simplistic coarse-scale material models by deducing tissue rupture at the organ level from constitutive (e.g. damage) and contact models designed at the meso and micro scales
O3:Ensure real-time results through model order reduction coupled with the multi-scale fracture tools of O2
O4:Control solution accuracy and validate against a range of biomechanics problems including real-life brain surgery interventions with the available at our collaborators’"
Summary
"Surgeons are trained as apprentices. Some conditions are rarely encountered and surgeons will only be trained in the specific skills associated with a given situation if they come across it. At the end of their residency, it is hoped that they will have faced sufficiently many cases to be competent. This can be dangerous to the patients.
If we were able to reproduce faithfully, in a virtual environment, the audio, visual and haptic experience of a surgeon as they prod, pull and incise tissue, then, surgeons would not have to train on cadavers, phantoms, or on the patients themselves.
Only a few researchers in the Computational Mechanics community have attacked the mechanical problems related to surgical simulation, so that mechanical faithfulness is not on par with audiovisual. This lack of fidelity in the reproduction of surgical acts such as cutting may explain why most surgeons who tested existing simulators report that the ""sensation"" fed back to them remains unrealistic. To date, the proposers are not aware of Computational Mechanics solutions addressing, at the same time, geometrical faithfulness, material realism, evolving cuts and quality control of the solution.
The measurable objectives for this research are as follows:
O1:Significantly alleviate the mesh generation and regeneration burden to represent organs’ geometries, underlying tissue microstructure and cuts with sufficient accuracy but minimal user intervention
O2:Move away from simplistic coarse-scale material models by deducing tissue rupture at the organ level from constitutive (e.g. damage) and contact models designed at the meso and micro scales
O3:Ensure real-time results through model order reduction coupled with the multi-scale fracture tools of O2
O4:Control solution accuracy and validate against a range of biomechanics problems including real-life brain surgery interventions with the available at our collaborators’"
Max ERC Funding
1 343 955 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-01-01, End date: 2016-12-31
Project acronym SWEETOOLS
Project Smart Biologics: Developing New Tools in Glycobiology
Researcher (PI) Milan Vrabel
Host Institution (HI) USTAV ORGANICKE CHEMIE A BIOCHEMIE, AV CR, V.V.I.
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), LS9, ERC-2015-STG
Summary Glycans are ubiquitous biomolecules found throughout all kingdoms of life. Early studies contributed considerably to our appreciation of glycan functions by showing that abnormalities in the glycosylation can develop into pathogenesis and severe dysfunctions. Despite the crucial role of sugars in many biological events we still do not have adequate tools to decipher their complexity. To unveil the mysteries in the rapidly emerging field of glycobiology we aim in this proposal to develop new tools that will help us to study and understand these important biomolecules. To realize this, we plan to combine the unique targeting capability of biologics with the inhibitory effect of small molecules into robust constructs with advanced properties. The biological part of the construct will be evolved using synthetic peptide libraries ensuring high selectivity toward particular sugar processing enzymes. The second part of the construct will consist of small molecular inhibitor warhead that will be designed and synthesized based on crystal structure-aided analyses. To merge these two moieties we aim to develop a new target enzyme–templated fluorogenic in situ click chemistry methodology that will enable us to easily monitor and screen whole peptide–small molecule bioconjugate libraries as highly selective inhibitors and manipulators of sugar processing enzymes. In addition, we aim to create new multivalent heteroglycosystems by using bioorthogonal reactions on peptide library scaffold. These structures will enable us to study polyvalent carbohydrate–protein interactions and to generate novel therapeutics such as influenza virus entry blockers. Our goal is to develop a new class of smart bioconjugate probes that will help us to answer fundamental questions in glycobiology. The outcomes of this project will significantly deepen our knowledge of glycoconjugates and in the long term, will allow for the design of efficient vaccines and for the development of selective therapeutics.
Summary
Glycans are ubiquitous biomolecules found throughout all kingdoms of life. Early studies contributed considerably to our appreciation of glycan functions by showing that abnormalities in the glycosylation can develop into pathogenesis and severe dysfunctions. Despite the crucial role of sugars in many biological events we still do not have adequate tools to decipher their complexity. To unveil the mysteries in the rapidly emerging field of glycobiology we aim in this proposal to develop new tools that will help us to study and understand these important biomolecules. To realize this, we plan to combine the unique targeting capability of biologics with the inhibitory effect of small molecules into robust constructs with advanced properties. The biological part of the construct will be evolved using synthetic peptide libraries ensuring high selectivity toward particular sugar processing enzymes. The second part of the construct will consist of small molecular inhibitor warhead that will be designed and synthesized based on crystal structure-aided analyses. To merge these two moieties we aim to develop a new target enzyme–templated fluorogenic in situ click chemistry methodology that will enable us to easily monitor and screen whole peptide–small molecule bioconjugate libraries as highly selective inhibitors and manipulators of sugar processing enzymes. In addition, we aim to create new multivalent heteroglycosystems by using bioorthogonal reactions on peptide library scaffold. These structures will enable us to study polyvalent carbohydrate–protein interactions and to generate novel therapeutics such as influenza virus entry blockers. Our goal is to develop a new class of smart bioconjugate probes that will help us to answer fundamental questions in glycobiology. The outcomes of this project will significantly deepen our knowledge of glycoconjugates and in the long term, will allow for the design of efficient vaccines and for the development of selective therapeutics.
Max ERC Funding
1 405 625 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-02-01, End date: 2021-01-31
Project acronym THz-FRaScan-ESR
Project THz Frequency Rapid Scan – Electron Spin Resonance spectroscopy for spin dynamics investigations of bulk and surface materials (THz-FRaScan-ESR)
Researcher (PI) Petr NEUGEBAUER
Host Institution (HI) VYSOKE UCENI TECHNICKE V BRNE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE4, ERC-2016-STG
Summary Current high frequency electron spin resonance (HFESR) instruments suffer from the disadvantages of being limited to a single frequency and to tiny sample volumes. The study of spin dynamics at frequencies beyond a few hundred gigahertz is currently prohibitively difficult. These limitations are now preventing progress in dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) and preclude the implementation of zero-field quantum computing. In order to revolutionize sensitivity in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by means of DNP techniques allowing to watch in real time molecular interactions or even to monitor how sophisticated systems (ribosomes) work, the HFESR methods have to be substantially improved. I will develop a novel and worldwide unique technique called broadband terahertz frequency rapid scan (FRaScan) ESR. I intend to implement this method into a working prototype, which will seamlessly span the entire frequency range from 100 GHz to 1 THz, and allow spin dynamics investigation of large samples. This revolutionary new concept based on rapid frequency sweeps will remove all the restrictions and limitations of conventional HFESR methods used nowadays. It will enable for the first time multi-frequency studies of quantum coherence also in zero magnetic field. It will lead to substantial increases in sensitivity and concurrent decrease of measurement time, thus allowing more efficient use of resources. Finally, the method will allow identification of novel DNP signal enhancement agents, ultimately leading to a step change improvement of the MRI method. It will drastically shorten MRI scan times in hospitals, greatly enhancing patient comfort together with significantly better and precise diagnoses. The method will lead to zero field quantum computers with computation power which will be never reached with conventional technology. In summary it will lead to impacts far beyond the scientific community.
Summary
Current high frequency electron spin resonance (HFESR) instruments suffer from the disadvantages of being limited to a single frequency and to tiny sample volumes. The study of spin dynamics at frequencies beyond a few hundred gigahertz is currently prohibitively difficult. These limitations are now preventing progress in dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) and preclude the implementation of zero-field quantum computing. In order to revolutionize sensitivity in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by means of DNP techniques allowing to watch in real time molecular interactions or even to monitor how sophisticated systems (ribosomes) work, the HFESR methods have to be substantially improved. I will develop a novel and worldwide unique technique called broadband terahertz frequency rapid scan (FRaScan) ESR. I intend to implement this method into a working prototype, which will seamlessly span the entire frequency range from 100 GHz to 1 THz, and allow spin dynamics investigation of large samples. This revolutionary new concept based on rapid frequency sweeps will remove all the restrictions and limitations of conventional HFESR methods used nowadays. It will enable for the first time multi-frequency studies of quantum coherence also in zero magnetic field. It will lead to substantial increases in sensitivity and concurrent decrease of measurement time, thus allowing more efficient use of resources. Finally, the method will allow identification of novel DNP signal enhancement agents, ultimately leading to a step change improvement of the MRI method. It will drastically shorten MRI scan times in hospitals, greatly enhancing patient comfort together with significantly better and precise diagnoses. The method will lead to zero field quantum computers with computation power which will be never reached with conventional technology. In summary it will lead to impacts far beyond the scientific community.
Max ERC Funding
1 999 874 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-01-01, End date: 2022-12-31
Project acronym TSuNAMI
Project Trans-Spin NanoArchitectures: from birth to functionalities in magnetic field
Researcher (PI) Jana KALBACOVA VEJPRAVOVA
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERZITA KARLOVA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE4, ERC-2016-STG
Summary Control over electrons in molecules and periodic solids can be reached via manipulation of their internal quantum degrees of freedom. The most prominent and exploited case is the electronic spin accommodated in standalone spin units composed of 1 – 10^5 of spins. A challenging alternative to the spin is the binary quantum degree of freedom, termed pseudospin existing e.g. in two-dimensional semiconductors. The aim of the proposed research is to build prototypes of trans-spin nano-architectures composed of at least two divergent spin entities, the TSuNAMIes. The spin entities of interest correspond to single atomic spin embedded in spin crossover complexes (SCO), molecular spin of molecular magnets (SMM), superspins of single-domain magnetic nanoparticles (SuperS) and pseudospins in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (PseudoS). Ultimate goal of the project is to identify a profit from trans-spin cooperation between the different spin entities coexisting in a single TSuNAMI. Influence of external static and alternating magnetic fields on the elementary spin state, unit cell magnetic structure, long-range magnetic order, mesoscopic spin order, spin relaxations and pseudospin state mirrored in essential fingerprints of the spin units and their ensembles will be explored using macroscopic and microscopic in situ and ex situ probes, including Raman and Mössbauer spectroscopies in magnetic field. Within the proposed high-risk/high-gain trans-spin strategy, we thus expect: 1. Enhancement of magnetic anisotropy in SMM-SuperS with enormous impact on cancer therapy using magnetic fluid hyperthermia, 2. Control over SCO via coupling to giant classical spin giving rise to miniature ‘on-particle’ sensors, 3. Mutual visualization of electronic states in SCO-PseudoS pushing frontiers of nowadays pseudospintronics, and 4. Control over electronic states with nanometer resolution in SuperS-PseudoS giving rise to novel functionalization strategies of graphene successor.
Summary
Control over electrons in molecules and periodic solids can be reached via manipulation of their internal quantum degrees of freedom. The most prominent and exploited case is the electronic spin accommodated in standalone spin units composed of 1 – 10^5 of spins. A challenging alternative to the spin is the binary quantum degree of freedom, termed pseudospin existing e.g. in two-dimensional semiconductors. The aim of the proposed research is to build prototypes of trans-spin nano-architectures composed of at least two divergent spin entities, the TSuNAMIes. The spin entities of interest correspond to single atomic spin embedded in spin crossover complexes (SCO), molecular spin of molecular magnets (SMM), superspins of single-domain magnetic nanoparticles (SuperS) and pseudospins in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (PseudoS). Ultimate goal of the project is to identify a profit from trans-spin cooperation between the different spin entities coexisting in a single TSuNAMI. Influence of external static and alternating magnetic fields on the elementary spin state, unit cell magnetic structure, long-range magnetic order, mesoscopic spin order, spin relaxations and pseudospin state mirrored in essential fingerprints of the spin units and their ensembles will be explored using macroscopic and microscopic in situ and ex situ probes, including Raman and Mössbauer spectroscopies in magnetic field. Within the proposed high-risk/high-gain trans-spin strategy, we thus expect: 1. Enhancement of magnetic anisotropy in SMM-SuperS with enormous impact on cancer therapy using magnetic fluid hyperthermia, 2. Control over SCO via coupling to giant classical spin giving rise to miniature ‘on-particle’ sensors, 3. Mutual visualization of electronic states in SCO-PseudoS pushing frontiers of nowadays pseudospintronics, and 4. Control over electronic states with nanometer resolution in SuperS-PseudoS giving rise to novel functionalization strategies of graphene successor.
Max ERC Funding
1 500 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-02-01, End date: 2022-01-31
