ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

It has long been understood that genes contribute to phenotypes that are then the basis of selection. However, the nature and process of this relationship remains largely theoretical, and the relative contribution of change in gene expression and coding sequence to phenotypic diversification is unclear. The aim of this proposal is to fuse information about sexually dimorphic phenotypes, the mating systems and sexually antagonistic selective agents that shape sexual dimorphism, and the sex-biased gene expression patterns that encode sexual dimorphisms, in order to create a cohesive integrated understanding of the relationship between evolution, the genome, and the animal form. The primary approach of this project is to harnesses emergent DNA sequencing technologies in order to measure evolutionary change in gene expression and coding sequence in response to different sex-specific selection regimes in a clade of birds with divergent mating systems. Sex-specific selection pressures arise in large part as a consequence of mating system, however males and females share nearly identical genomes, especially in the vertebrates where the sex chromosomes house very small proportions of the overall transcriptome. This single shared genome creates sex-specific phenotypes via different gene expression levels in females and males, and these sex-biased genes connect sexual dimorphisms, and the sexually antagonistic selection pressures that shape them, with the regions of the genome that encode them. The Galloanserae (fowl and waterfowl) will be used to in the proposed project, as this clade combines the necessary requirements of both variation in mating systems and a well-conserved reference genome (chicken). The study species selected from within the Galloanserae for the proposal exhibit a range of sexual dimorphism and sperm competition, and this will be exploited with next generation (454 and Illumina) genomic and transcriptomic data to study the gene expression patterns that underlie sexual dimorphisms, and the evolutionary pressures acting on them. This work will be complemented by the development of mathematical models of sex-specific evolution that will be tested against the gene expression and gene sequence data in order to understand the mechanisms by which sex-specific selection regimes, arising largely from mating systems, shape the phenotype via the genome.

1 350 804 €

Start date: 2011-01-01, End date: 2016-07-31

Learning from others is fundamental to ecological success across the animal kingdom, but a key theme to emerge from recent research is that individuals respond differently to social information. Understanding this diversity is an imposing challenge, because it is hard to replicate the overwhelming complexity of free-living groups within controlled laboratory conditions. Yet here I propose that one of the most complex social models that we know of— the sophisticated eusocial societies of honeybees— offer unrivaled and yet unrecognized potential to study social information flow through a natural group. The honeybee “dance language” is one of the most celebrated communication systems in the animal world, and central to a powerful information network that drives our most high-profile pollinator to food, but bee colonies are uniquely tractable for two reasons. Firstly, next-generation transcriptomics could allow us to delve deep into this complexity at the molecular level, on a scale that is simply not available in vertebrate social systems. I propose to track information flow through a natural group using brain gene expression profiles, to understand how dances elicit learning in the bee brain. Secondly, although bee foraging ranges are vast and diverse, social learning takes place in one centralized location (the hive). The social sciences now offer powerful new tools to analyze social networks, and I will use a cutting-edge network-based modelling approach to understand how the importance of social learning mechanisms shifts with ecology. In the face of global pollinator decline, understanding the contribution of foraging drivers to colony success has never been more pressing, but the importance of the dance language reaches far beyond food security concerns. This research integrates proximate and ultimate perspectives to produce a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary program; a high-risk, high-gain journey into new territory for understanding animal communication.

1 422 010 €

Start date: 2016-02-01, End date: 2021-01-31

According to the European Commission, to design effective policies for ensuring a “more dynamic, innovative and competitive” economy, it is essential to understand the decision-making process of firms as they differ a lot in terms of their capacities and policy responses (EC 2007). The objective of my future research is to provide such an analysis. BIGlobal will examine the sources of firm growth and market power to provide new insights into welfare and policy in a globalized world. Much of analysis of the global economy is set in the paradigm of markets that allocate resources efficiently and there is little role for policy. But big firms dominate economic activity, especially across borders. How do firms grow and what is the effect of their market power on the welfare impact of globalization? This project will determine how firm decisions matter for the aggregate gains from globalization, the division of these gains across different individuals and their implications for policy design. Over the next five years, I will incorporate richer firms behaviour in models of international trade to understand how trade and industrial policies impact the growth process, especially in less developed markets. The specific questions I will address include: how can trade and competition policy ensure consumers benefit from globalization when firms engaged in international trade have market power, how do domestic policies to encourage agribusiness firms affect the extent to which small farmers gain from trade, how do industrial policies affect firm growth through input linkages, and what is the impact of banking globalization on the growth of firms in the real sector. Each project will combine theoretical work with rich data from developing economies to expand the frontier of knowledge on trade and industrial policy, and to provide a basis for informed policymaking.

1 313 103 €

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

The developing world has been plagued by many civil conflicts in the past thirty years. Understanding the roots and the consequences of these conflicts is crucial to fight poverty. This project will take an economic approach to investigate the interplay between cultural, political and economic determinants of conflict in poor countries. I will assess the role of domestic and international factors. Domestic factors include variables such as cultural identity, income inequality, resource endowments and geography. I will re-examine the role of ethnic diversity using original multi-dimensional indicators. These take into account that the salience of ethnic identity may depend on how much it overlaps with categories based on income, education, etc. I will also re-assess the role of natural resource abundance from a theoretical and empirical standpoint. I will develop a theory of how rebel groups are organized drawing on the theory of incentives and test it using detailed geographic information on the location of mineral deposits in Africa. I will also analyze the role of international players using a methodology based on financial markets’ reactions to news. This methodology will allow me to address questions such as: Which companies gain or lose from violent conflict? How can we detect violations of international embargoes? What are the private incentives of complying with international norms, i.e. can reputation costs be quantified? These are questions of paramount importance from a policy perspective and on which almost no academic research exists in economics. Overall, the project should help integrate economic, social and political explanations for the occurrence of conflict in developing countries. I expect that its outcome should comprise the creation of new datasets, propose new methodological tools and offer some insights for designing economic policies to prevent conflict and fight poverty.

429 480 €

Start date: 2008-06-01, End date: 2013-05-31