Project acronym GRASSROOTSMOBILISE
Project Directions in Religious Pluralism in Europe: Examining Grassroots Mobilisations in Europe in the Shadow of European Court of Human Rights Religious Freedom Jurisprudence
Researcher (PI) Efterpe Fokas
Host Institution (HI) Elliniko Idryma Evropaikis kai Exoterikis Politikis (HELLENIC FOUNDATION FOR EUROPEAN AND FOREIGN POLICY)
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH2, ERC-2013-StG
Summary The European public square has, in the last twenty years and increasingly so, been inundated with controversies around the place of religion in the public sphere. Issues such as freedom of religious expression, freedom of speech v. blasphemy, and the public display of religious symbols loom large in the workplace, in schools, in media coverage etc., at the local, national, and supranational level. The presence of Islam has been a catalyst for many debates on religion in Europe, but these have now grown to encompass much broader assumptions about the nature of religious communities, their relationship to state institutions, and the place of minority religious communities in society. Against this backdrop the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) adds its own voice and significantly influences the terms of the debates. This project examines the domestic impact of the ECtHR religion case law: it explores the mobilisation of local and national level actors in the wake of a number of high-profile ECtHR religious freedom cases in order to determine the nature and extent of European juridical influence on religious pluralism. In light of scholarly debates questioning the direct effects of courts, the project probes developments that take place ‘in the shadow’ of the Court. It engages especially with the extent to which court decisions define the ‘political opportunity structures’ and the discursive frameworks within which citizens act. What is the aftermath of the Court’s religion jurisprudence in terms of its applications at the grassroots level? The question is important because ECtHR case law will shape, to a large extent, both local and national level case law and – less conspicuously but no less importantly – grassroots developments in the promotion of or resistance to religious pluralism. Both the latter will, in turn, influence the future of the ECtHR caseload. The project will thus impart rare insight into directions being taken in religious pluralism in Europe.
Summary
The European public square has, in the last twenty years and increasingly so, been inundated with controversies around the place of religion in the public sphere. Issues such as freedom of religious expression, freedom of speech v. blasphemy, and the public display of religious symbols loom large in the workplace, in schools, in media coverage etc., at the local, national, and supranational level. The presence of Islam has been a catalyst for many debates on religion in Europe, but these have now grown to encompass much broader assumptions about the nature of religious communities, their relationship to state institutions, and the place of minority religious communities in society. Against this backdrop the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) adds its own voice and significantly influences the terms of the debates. This project examines the domestic impact of the ECtHR religion case law: it explores the mobilisation of local and national level actors in the wake of a number of high-profile ECtHR religious freedom cases in order to determine the nature and extent of European juridical influence on religious pluralism. In light of scholarly debates questioning the direct effects of courts, the project probes developments that take place ‘in the shadow’ of the Court. It engages especially with the extent to which court decisions define the ‘political opportunity structures’ and the discursive frameworks within which citizens act. What is the aftermath of the Court’s religion jurisprudence in terms of its applications at the grassroots level? The question is important because ECtHR case law will shape, to a large extent, both local and national level case law and – less conspicuously but no less importantly – grassroots developments in the promotion of or resistance to religious pluralism. Both the latter will, in turn, influence the future of the ECtHR caseload. The project will thus impart rare insight into directions being taken in religious pluralism in Europe.
Max ERC Funding
1 184 568 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-01-01, End date: 2018-12-31
Project acronym HIVBIOCHIP
Project A POINT-OF-CARE BIOCHIP FOR HIV MONITORING IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD
Researcher (PI) Nikolaos Chronis
Host Institution (HI) "NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ""DEMOKRITOS"""
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), LS7, ERC-2011-StG_20101109
Summary HIV/AIDS is one of the most destructive pandemics in human history, responsible for more than 25 million deaths. More than 30 million people live with limited or no access to therapeutic treatments, mainly due to the high cost of highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART) and current diagnostic tests as well as due to the lack of basic infrastructure (e.g. lack of electricity, no trained personnel) that can support these tests. The need for innovative, inexpensive diagnostic instrumentation technology that can be used in resource-limited settings is immediate.
While programs that offer free HAART are being implemented in resource-limited settings, no diagnostic tests are available for evaluating the efficacy of HAART provided for the reasons mentioned above. Efficient management of HAART requires monitoring the course of HIV infection over time. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the CD4 T-cell count test for monitoring the clinical status of HIV individuals in resource-limited settings.
We propose to develop a portable, inexpensive, MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems)-based, imaging system for counting the absolute number of CD4 cells from 1 l of whole blood. We use the term ‘imaging system’ to denote the different approach we follow for counting CD4 cells: rather the reading one by one singles cells (as it is done with flow cytometry), our system can image simultaneously thousands of individual cells, pre-assembled on the surface of a biochip. Although the proposed imaging system can replace current expensive cell counting instrumentation, our goal is to develop a system that can reach the end-user wherever limited infrastructure is present and no access to a hospital or clinic is possible. Such technology will not only enable to monitor the efficacy of an individual’s HAART in the developing world, but it will make more medicines available by identifying patients who need a treatment from patients who do not need it.
Summary
HIV/AIDS is one of the most destructive pandemics in human history, responsible for more than 25 million deaths. More than 30 million people live with limited or no access to therapeutic treatments, mainly due to the high cost of highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART) and current diagnostic tests as well as due to the lack of basic infrastructure (e.g. lack of electricity, no trained personnel) that can support these tests. The need for innovative, inexpensive diagnostic instrumentation technology that can be used in resource-limited settings is immediate.
While programs that offer free HAART are being implemented in resource-limited settings, no diagnostic tests are available for evaluating the efficacy of HAART provided for the reasons mentioned above. Efficient management of HAART requires monitoring the course of HIV infection over time. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the CD4 T-cell count test for monitoring the clinical status of HIV individuals in resource-limited settings.
We propose to develop a portable, inexpensive, MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems)-based, imaging system for counting the absolute number of CD4 cells from 1 l of whole blood. We use the term ‘imaging system’ to denote the different approach we follow for counting CD4 cells: rather the reading one by one singles cells (as it is done with flow cytometry), our system can image simultaneously thousands of individual cells, pre-assembled on the surface of a biochip. Although the proposed imaging system can replace current expensive cell counting instrumentation, our goal is to develop a system that can reach the end-user wherever limited infrastructure is present and no access to a hospital or clinic is possible. Such technology will not only enable to monitor the efficacy of an individual’s HAART in the developing world, but it will make more medicines available by identifying patients who need a treatment from patients who do not need it.
Max ERC Funding
1 986 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-06-01, End date: 2017-05-31
Project acronym IMMA
Project Integrating the Multiple Meta-Analysis: a framework for evaluating and ranking multiple health care technologies
Researcher (PI) Georgia Salanti
Host Institution (HI) PANEPISTIMIO IOANNINON
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), LS7, ERC-2010-StG_20091118
Summary Health care practitioners face daily questions and make choices regarding the effectiveness and quality of several health technologies (e.g. alternative interventions). On this regard they usually consider meta-analysis; the statistical synthesis of results from relevant experiments. The main drawback of the current state of the art is that meta-analysis focuses on comparing only two alternatives. However, clinicians and scientists need to know the relative ranking of a set of alternative options and not only whether option A is better than B. There is an urgent need to establish and disseminate a robust framework for selecting among many treatment options, possibly after taking into account environmental and genetic interactions. The goal of the proposed project is to provide this by establishing and disseminating a revolutionary evidence synthesis toolkit. Its main methodological vehicle is a flexible statistical framework using Bayesian techniques for multiple-treatments meta-analysis. This will enable the relative ranking of all alternative health care options, will allow comprehensive use of all available data, will improve precision and confidence in the conclusions and will answer methodological questions related to bias. Once established in clinical epidemiology, the tool will be extended to genetic epidemiology to account for multiple genetic markers, environmental factors and effects of treatments. Based on ongoing collaborations with teams undertaking applied health care research I plan to evaluate the new tool empirically in real-life health care problems such as ranking the pharmacological treatments for osteoarthritis, indicating the best treatments for multiple sclerosis and ranking the vaccines for influenza.
Summary
Health care practitioners face daily questions and make choices regarding the effectiveness and quality of several health technologies (e.g. alternative interventions). On this regard they usually consider meta-analysis; the statistical synthesis of results from relevant experiments. The main drawback of the current state of the art is that meta-analysis focuses on comparing only two alternatives. However, clinicians and scientists need to know the relative ranking of a set of alternative options and not only whether option A is better than B. There is an urgent need to establish and disseminate a robust framework for selecting among many treatment options, possibly after taking into account environmental and genetic interactions. The goal of the proposed project is to provide this by establishing and disseminating a revolutionary evidence synthesis toolkit. Its main methodological vehicle is a flexible statistical framework using Bayesian techniques for multiple-treatments meta-analysis. This will enable the relative ranking of all alternative health care options, will allow comprehensive use of all available data, will improve precision and confidence in the conclusions and will answer methodological questions related to bias. Once established in clinical epidemiology, the tool will be extended to genetic epidemiology to account for multiple genetic markers, environmental factors and effects of treatments. Based on ongoing collaborations with teams undertaking applied health care research I plan to evaluate the new tool empirically in real-life health care problems such as ranking the pharmacological treatments for osteoarthritis, indicating the best treatments for multiple sclerosis and ranking the vaccines for influenza.
Max ERC Funding
592 500 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-10-01, End date: 2015-12-31
Project acronym MGUS screening RCT
Project Screening for monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance: A population-based randomized clinical trial
Researcher (PI) Sigurdur Yngvi KRISTINSSON
Host Institution (HI) HASKOLI ISLANDS
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), LS7, ERC-2016-STG
Summary Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) is a very common precursor condition to multiple myeloma (MM), and related diseases, and can be found in approximately 4-5% of individuals over the age of 50 years. MM is always preceded by MGUS. Current risk stratification schemes, designed to predict those that will progress, are based on retrospective data and rely almost solely on serum protein markers. While they can differentiate high and low-risk patients, they cannot predict outcome for individual patients, are not integrated with one another, and have limited biological correlation. Based on retrospective data, it is recommended that individuals with MGUS are followed indefinitely; however no prospective study has ever been performed to evaluate this or identify optimal monitoring in MGUS individuals. We recently showed that MM patients with a prior knowledge of MGUS had superior survival compared to MM patients without, which raises the question whether routine screening for MGUS in the population might improve survival. To evaluate the impact of screening for MGUS on overall survival, to provide evidence for the optimal MGUS follow-up, and to integrate biological, imaging, and germline genetic markers in evaluating individual risk of progression, we propose to invite all individuals >50 years in Iceland (N=104,000) to participate in a screening study for MGUS. This will be done by utilizing already present infrastructure for screening in Iceland and the fact that most individuals >50 years have their blood drawn for various reasons during 3 years. We plan to perform electrophoresis and free light chain analyses in these individuals to diagnose MGUS. Individuals with MGUS will be invited to be included in a randomized clinical trial with 3 different arms to identify the optimal work-up and follow-up strategy and to build a new risk model for progression. Our large, unique, population-based study has major clinical and scientific implications.
Summary
Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) is a very common precursor condition to multiple myeloma (MM), and related diseases, and can be found in approximately 4-5% of individuals over the age of 50 years. MM is always preceded by MGUS. Current risk stratification schemes, designed to predict those that will progress, are based on retrospective data and rely almost solely on serum protein markers. While they can differentiate high and low-risk patients, they cannot predict outcome for individual patients, are not integrated with one another, and have limited biological correlation. Based on retrospective data, it is recommended that individuals with MGUS are followed indefinitely; however no prospective study has ever been performed to evaluate this or identify optimal monitoring in MGUS individuals. We recently showed that MM patients with a prior knowledge of MGUS had superior survival compared to MM patients without, which raises the question whether routine screening for MGUS in the population might improve survival. To evaluate the impact of screening for MGUS on overall survival, to provide evidence for the optimal MGUS follow-up, and to integrate biological, imaging, and germline genetic markers in evaluating individual risk of progression, we propose to invite all individuals >50 years in Iceland (N=104,000) to participate in a screening study for MGUS. This will be done by utilizing already present infrastructure for screening in Iceland and the fact that most individuals >50 years have their blood drawn for various reasons during 3 years. We plan to perform electrophoresis and free light chain analyses in these individuals to diagnose MGUS. Individuals with MGUS will be invited to be included in a randomized clinical trial with 3 different arms to identify the optimal work-up and follow-up strategy and to build a new risk model for progression. Our large, unique, population-based study has major clinical and scientific implications.
Max ERC Funding
1 474 304 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-02-01, End date: 2022-01-31
Project acronym SeaLiT
Project Seafaring Lives in Transition. Mediterranean Maritime Labour and Shipping during Globalization, 1850s-1920s.
Researcher (PI) Apostolos Delis
Host Institution (HI) IDRYMA TECHNOLOGIAS KAI EREVNAS
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH6, ERC-2016-STG
Summary SeaLiT explores the transition from sail to steam navigation and its effects on seafaring populations in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea between the 1850s and the 1920s. In the core of the project lie the effects of technological innovation on seafaring people and maritime communities, whose lives were drastically altered by the advent of steam. The project addresses the changes through the actors, seafarers, shipowners and their families, focusing on the adjustment of seafaring lives to a novel socio-economic reality. It investigates the maritime labour market, the evolving relations among shipowner, captain, crew and their local societies, life on board and ashore, as well as the development of new business strategies, trade routes and navigation patterns.
Maritime labour and shipping remains an understudied case of the transition from the premodern working environment of the sailing ship to that of the steamer, in a period of rapid technological improvements, economic growth and market integration. Therefore, the project will address a major gap in maritime historiography: on the one hand, the transition from sail to steam, and on the other, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, “the extended Mediterranean” according to F. Braudel.
The project examines in a comparative approach seven maritime regions: the Ionian, Aegean, Tyrrhenian, Adriatic and Black Seas, Spain and southern France. The research team composed of the PI, three postdoctoral fellows, four senior researchers and four Ph.D. candidates from Greece, Italy, Spain, France and Ukraine will study unpublished sources: ship logbooks, crew lists, business records, and private correspondence. They will produce a collective volume, several articles, a final synthesis by the PI, four Ph.D. dissertations, three workshops, one international conference and a website with an online open access database, an archival and bibliographical corpus and reconstruction of ship voyages on a web G.I.S. application.
Summary
SeaLiT explores the transition from sail to steam navigation and its effects on seafaring populations in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea between the 1850s and the 1920s. In the core of the project lie the effects of technological innovation on seafaring people and maritime communities, whose lives were drastically altered by the advent of steam. The project addresses the changes through the actors, seafarers, shipowners and their families, focusing on the adjustment of seafaring lives to a novel socio-economic reality. It investigates the maritime labour market, the evolving relations among shipowner, captain, crew and their local societies, life on board and ashore, as well as the development of new business strategies, trade routes and navigation patterns.
Maritime labour and shipping remains an understudied case of the transition from the premodern working environment of the sailing ship to that of the steamer, in a period of rapid technological improvements, economic growth and market integration. Therefore, the project will address a major gap in maritime historiography: on the one hand, the transition from sail to steam, and on the other, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, “the extended Mediterranean” according to F. Braudel.
The project examines in a comparative approach seven maritime regions: the Ionian, Aegean, Tyrrhenian, Adriatic and Black Seas, Spain and southern France. The research team composed of the PI, three postdoctoral fellows, four senior researchers and four Ph.D. candidates from Greece, Italy, Spain, France and Ukraine will study unpublished sources: ship logbooks, crew lists, business records, and private correspondence. They will produce a collective volume, several articles, a final synthesis by the PI, four Ph.D. dissertations, three workshops, one international conference and a website with an online open access database, an archival and bibliographical corpus and reconstruction of ship voyages on a web G.I.S. application.
Max ERC Funding
1 372 350 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-02-01, End date: 2022-01-31
Project acronym TRICEPS
Project Time-resolved Ring-Cavity-Enhanced Polarization Spectroscopy: Breakthroughs in measurements of a) Atomic Parity Violation, b) Protein conformation and biosensing and c) surface and thin film dynamics
Researcher (PI) Theodore Peter Rakitzis
Host Institution (HI) FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY HELLAS
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE2, ERC-2007-StG
Summary Polarimetry is a crucial tool in both fundamental and applied physics, ranging from the measurement of parity nonconservation (PNC) in atoms, to the determination of biomolecule structure, and the probing of interfaces. These measurements tend to be extremely challenging as the change of the polarization of light is usually extremely small; typical differences in polarization states are of the order of 10^-5 to 10^-8. Current experimental techniques often require acquisition times of the order of seconds or, in the case of PNC, even many days, limiting the possibilities of time-resolved measurements. Here, I propose to develop optical-cavity-based techniques which will enhance measurements of the polarization sensitivity and/or the time-resolution by 3-6 orders of magnitude. Preliminary data from prototypes and feasibility studies are presented. I propose to demonstrate how these breakthroughs will revolutionize polarimetry, by addressing some of the most important multidisciplinary problems in fundamental physics, biophysics, and material science: a) Testing the limits of the Standard Model with atomic PNC measurements. Current PNC experiments, and more importantly theory, for cesium atoms are limited to precision of about 0.5%. The novel and robust experimental technique I am proposing here affords 4 orders-of-magnitude higher sensitivity, thus giving access to lighter atoms, where the theory can be better than 0.1%, for the most stringent test of the Standard Model, while seeking new physics. b) The measurement of protein folding dynamics. Highly sensitive time-resolved spectroscopic ellipsometry, providing novel dynamical information on protein folding: nanosecond resolved, position measurements of functional groups of surface proteins, which map out the time-dependent protein structure. c) Determination of thin film thickness and surface density with nanosecond resolution, for the study of processes such as laser ablation and polymer growth.
Summary
Polarimetry is a crucial tool in both fundamental and applied physics, ranging from the measurement of parity nonconservation (PNC) in atoms, to the determination of biomolecule structure, and the probing of interfaces. These measurements tend to be extremely challenging as the change of the polarization of light is usually extremely small; typical differences in polarization states are of the order of 10^-5 to 10^-8. Current experimental techniques often require acquisition times of the order of seconds or, in the case of PNC, even many days, limiting the possibilities of time-resolved measurements. Here, I propose to develop optical-cavity-based techniques which will enhance measurements of the polarization sensitivity and/or the time-resolution by 3-6 orders of magnitude. Preliminary data from prototypes and feasibility studies are presented. I propose to demonstrate how these breakthroughs will revolutionize polarimetry, by addressing some of the most important multidisciplinary problems in fundamental physics, biophysics, and material science: a) Testing the limits of the Standard Model with atomic PNC measurements. Current PNC experiments, and more importantly theory, for cesium atoms are limited to precision of about 0.5%. The novel and robust experimental technique I am proposing here affords 4 orders-of-magnitude higher sensitivity, thus giving access to lighter atoms, where the theory can be better than 0.1%, for the most stringent test of the Standard Model, while seeking new physics. b) The measurement of protein folding dynamics. Highly sensitive time-resolved spectroscopic ellipsometry, providing novel dynamical information on protein folding: nanosecond resolved, position measurements of functional groups of surface proteins, which map out the time-dependent protein structure. c) Determination of thin film thickness and surface density with nanosecond resolution, for the study of processes such as laser ablation and polymer growth.
Max ERC Funding
909 999 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-01-01, End date: 2014-12-31
