Project acronym AMI
Project Animals Make identities. The Social Bioarchaeology of Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic Cemeteries in North-East Europe
Researcher (PI) Kristiina MANNERMAA
Host Institution (HI) HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
Country Finland
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH6, ERC-2019-COG
Summary AMI aims to provide a novel interpretation of social links between humans and animals in hunter-gatherer cemeteries in North-East Europe, c. 9000–7500 years ago. AMI brings together cutting-edge developments in bioarchaeological science and the latest understanding of how people’s identities form in order to study the relationships between humans and animals. Grave materials and human remains will be studied from the viewpoint of process rather than as isolated objects, and will be interpreted through their histories.
The main objectives are
1) Synthesize the animal related bioarchaeological materials in mortuary contexts in North-East Europe,
2) Conduct a systematic multimethodological analysis of the animal-derived artefacts and to study them as actors in human social identity construction,
3) Reconstruct the individual life histories of humans, animals, and animal-derived artefacts in the cemeteries, and
4) Produce models for the reconstruction of social identities based on the data from the bioanalyses, literature, and GIS.
Various contextual, qualitative and quantitative biodata from animals and humans will be analysed and compared. Correlations and differences will be explored. Intra-site spatial analyses and data already published on cemeteries will contribute significantly to the research. Ethnographic information about recent hunter-gatherers from circumpolar regions gathered from literature will support the interpretation of the results from these analyses.
The research material derives from almost 300 burials from eight sites in North-East Europe and includes, for example, unique materials from Russia that have not previously been available for modern multidisciplinary research. The project will make a significant contribution to our understanding of how humans living in the forests of North-East Europe adapted the animals they shared their environment with into their social and ideological realities and practices.
Summary
AMI aims to provide a novel interpretation of social links between humans and animals in hunter-gatherer cemeteries in North-East Europe, c. 9000–7500 years ago. AMI brings together cutting-edge developments in bioarchaeological science and the latest understanding of how people’s identities form in order to study the relationships between humans and animals. Grave materials and human remains will be studied from the viewpoint of process rather than as isolated objects, and will be interpreted through their histories.
The main objectives are
1) Synthesize the animal related bioarchaeological materials in mortuary contexts in North-East Europe,
2) Conduct a systematic multimethodological analysis of the animal-derived artefacts and to study them as actors in human social identity construction,
3) Reconstruct the individual life histories of humans, animals, and animal-derived artefacts in the cemeteries, and
4) Produce models for the reconstruction of social identities based on the data from the bioanalyses, literature, and GIS.
Various contextual, qualitative and quantitative biodata from animals and humans will be analysed and compared. Correlations and differences will be explored. Intra-site spatial analyses and data already published on cemeteries will contribute significantly to the research. Ethnographic information about recent hunter-gatherers from circumpolar regions gathered from literature will support the interpretation of the results from these analyses.
The research material derives from almost 300 burials from eight sites in North-East Europe and includes, for example, unique materials from Russia that have not previously been available for modern multidisciplinary research. The project will make a significant contribution to our understanding of how humans living in the forests of North-East Europe adapted the animals they shared their environment with into their social and ideological realities and practices.
Max ERC Funding
1 992 839 €
Duration
Start date: 2020-04-01, End date: 2025-03-31
Project acronym ArmEn
Project Armenia Entangled: Connectivity and Cultural Encounters in Medieval Eurasia
Researcher (PI) Zaroui POGOSSIAN
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZE
Country Italy
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH6, ERC-2019-COG
Summary ArmEn seeks to establish a new framework for studying the southern Caucasus, eastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia (CAM) as a space of cultural entanglements between the 9th to 14th centuries. It argues that this region is key to understanding the history of medieval Eurasia but has so far been completely neglected by the burgeoning field of Global Middle Ages. The CAM was on the crossroads of expanding Eurasian empires and population movements, but was removed from major hubs of power. Poly-centrism; political, ethno-linguistic, and religious heterogeneity; frequently shifting hegemonic hierarchies were key aspects of its, nevertheless, inter-connected landscape. This fluidity and complexity left its mark on the cultural products – textual and material – created in the CAM. ArmEn aims to trace shared features in the multi-lingual textual and artistic production of CAM and correlate them to the circulation of ideas and concepts, as well as to real-life interactions, between multiple groups, identifying the locations and agents of entanglements. The large but under-utilised body of Armenian sources to be explored together with those in Arabic, Georgian, Greek, Persian, Syriac, and Turkish, will illuminate cultural entanglements between Muslim and Christian Arabs, Byzantines, Syriac Christians, Georgians, Caucasian Albanians, Turko-Muslim dynasties, Kurds, Iranians, Western Europeans, and Mongols, that inhabited, conquered, or passed through and produced cultural goods in CAM. Evidence from manuscript illuminations and numismatics will provide a material cultural dimension to the analysis. ArmEn will create a trans-cultural vision of the CAM, bridging area studies into a unifying framework, bringing together various disciplinary approaches (philology, literary criticism, religious studies, art history, numismatics, etc.), to build a narrative synthesis in which the dynamics of cross-cultural entanglements in the CAM emerge in their spatial and temporal dimensions.
Summary
ArmEn seeks to establish a new framework for studying the southern Caucasus, eastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia (CAM) as a space of cultural entanglements between the 9th to 14th centuries. It argues that this region is key to understanding the history of medieval Eurasia but has so far been completely neglected by the burgeoning field of Global Middle Ages. The CAM was on the crossroads of expanding Eurasian empires and population movements, but was removed from major hubs of power. Poly-centrism; political, ethno-linguistic, and religious heterogeneity; frequently shifting hegemonic hierarchies were key aspects of its, nevertheless, inter-connected landscape. This fluidity and complexity left its mark on the cultural products – textual and material – created in the CAM. ArmEn aims to trace shared features in the multi-lingual textual and artistic production of CAM and correlate them to the circulation of ideas and concepts, as well as to real-life interactions, between multiple groups, identifying the locations and agents of entanglements. The large but under-utilised body of Armenian sources to be explored together with those in Arabic, Georgian, Greek, Persian, Syriac, and Turkish, will illuminate cultural entanglements between Muslim and Christian Arabs, Byzantines, Syriac Christians, Georgians, Caucasian Albanians, Turko-Muslim dynasties, Kurds, Iranians, Western Europeans, and Mongols, that inhabited, conquered, or passed through and produced cultural goods in CAM. Evidence from manuscript illuminations and numismatics will provide a material cultural dimension to the analysis. ArmEn will create a trans-cultural vision of the CAM, bridging area studies into a unifying framework, bringing together various disciplinary approaches (philology, literary criticism, religious studies, art history, numismatics, etc.), to build a narrative synthesis in which the dynamics of cross-cultural entanglements in the CAM emerge in their spatial and temporal dimensions.
Max ERC Funding
1 999 994 €
Duration
Start date: 2020-10-01, End date: 2025-09-30
Project acronym BHIVE
Project Bio-derived HIgh Value polymers through novel Enzyme function
Researcher (PI) Emma Rusi Master
Host Institution (HI) AALTO KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SR
Country Finland
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), LS9, ERC-2014-CoG
Summary Recent advances in systems-level study of cells and organisms have revealed the enormous potential to live more sustainably through better use of biological processes. Plants sustainably synthesize the most abundant and diverse materials on Earth. By applying recent advances in life science technology, we can better harness renewable plant resources and bioconversion processes, to develop environmentally and politically sustainable human enterprise and lifestyles. At the same time, the global market for high-value biochemicals and bioplastics from forest and agricultural sources is rapidly increasing, which presents new opportunities for forest and agricultural sectors.
The overall aim of BHIVE is to illuminate uncharted regions of genome and metagenome sequences to discover entirely new protein families that can be used to sustainably synthesize novel, high-value biomaterials from renewable plant resources. The approach will include three parallel research thrusts: 1) strategic analysis of transcriptome and metagenome sequences to identify proteins with entirely unknown function relevant to biomass (lignocellulose) transformation, 2) mapping of uncharted regions within phylogenetic trees of poorly characterized enzyme families with recognized potential to modify the chemistry and biophysical properties of plant polysaccharides, and 3) the design and development of novel enzyme screens to directly address the increasing limitations of existing assays to uncover entirely new protein functions. BHIVE will be unique in its undivided focus on characterizing lignocellulose-active proteins encoded by the 30-40% of un-annotated sequence, or genomic “dark matter”, typical of nearly all genome sequences. In this way, BHIVE tackles a key constraint to fully realizing the societal and environmental benefits of the genomics era.
Summary
Recent advances in systems-level study of cells and organisms have revealed the enormous potential to live more sustainably through better use of biological processes. Plants sustainably synthesize the most abundant and diverse materials on Earth. By applying recent advances in life science technology, we can better harness renewable plant resources and bioconversion processes, to develop environmentally and politically sustainable human enterprise and lifestyles. At the same time, the global market for high-value biochemicals and bioplastics from forest and agricultural sources is rapidly increasing, which presents new opportunities for forest and agricultural sectors.
The overall aim of BHIVE is to illuminate uncharted regions of genome and metagenome sequences to discover entirely new protein families that can be used to sustainably synthesize novel, high-value biomaterials from renewable plant resources. The approach will include three parallel research thrusts: 1) strategic analysis of transcriptome and metagenome sequences to identify proteins with entirely unknown function relevant to biomass (lignocellulose) transformation, 2) mapping of uncharted regions within phylogenetic trees of poorly characterized enzyme families with recognized potential to modify the chemistry and biophysical properties of plant polysaccharides, and 3) the design and development of novel enzyme screens to directly address the increasing limitations of existing assays to uncover entirely new protein functions. BHIVE will be unique in its undivided focus on characterizing lignocellulose-active proteins encoded by the 30-40% of un-annotated sequence, or genomic “dark matter”, typical of nearly all genome sequences. In this way, BHIVE tackles a key constraint to fully realizing the societal and environmental benefits of the genomics era.
Max ERC Funding
1 977 781 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-09-01, End date: 2020-12-31
Project acronym BioDisOrder
Project Order and Disorder at the Surface of Biological Membranes.
Researcher (PI) Alfonso DE SIMONE
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI FEDERICO II
Country Italy
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE4, ERC-2018-COG
Summary Heterogeneous biomolecular mechanisms at the surface of cellular membranes are often fundamental to generate function and dysfunction in living systems. These processes are governed by transient and dynamical macromolecular interactions that pose tremendous challenges to current analytical tools, as the majority of these methods perform best in the study of well-defined and poorly dynamical systems. This proposal aims at a radical innovation in the characterisation of complex processes that are dominated by structural order and disorder, including those occurring at the surface of biological membranes such as cellular signalling, the assembly of molecular machinery, or the regulation vesicular trafficking.
I outline a programme to realise a vision where the combination of experiments and theory can delineate a new analytical platform to study complex biochemical mechanisms at a multiscale level, and to elucidate their role in physiological and pathological contexts. To achieve this ambitious goal, my research team will develop tools based on the combination of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and molecular simulations, which will enable probing the structure, dynamics, thermodynamics and kinetics of complex protein-protein and protein-membrane interactions occurring at the surface of cellular membranes. The ability to advance both the experimental and theoretical sides, and their combination, is fundamental to define the next generation of methods to achieve our transformative aims. We will provide evidence of the innovative nature of the proposed multiscale approach by addressing some of the great questions in neuroscience and elucidate the details of how functional and aberrant biological complexity is achieved via the fine tuning between structural order and disorder at the neuronal synapse.
Summary
Heterogeneous biomolecular mechanisms at the surface of cellular membranes are often fundamental to generate function and dysfunction in living systems. These processes are governed by transient and dynamical macromolecular interactions that pose tremendous challenges to current analytical tools, as the majority of these methods perform best in the study of well-defined and poorly dynamical systems. This proposal aims at a radical innovation in the characterisation of complex processes that are dominated by structural order and disorder, including those occurring at the surface of biological membranes such as cellular signalling, the assembly of molecular machinery, or the regulation vesicular trafficking.
I outline a programme to realise a vision where the combination of experiments and theory can delineate a new analytical platform to study complex biochemical mechanisms at a multiscale level, and to elucidate their role in physiological and pathological contexts. To achieve this ambitious goal, my research team will develop tools based on the combination of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and molecular simulations, which will enable probing the structure, dynamics, thermodynamics and kinetics of complex protein-protein and protein-membrane interactions occurring at the surface of cellular membranes. The ability to advance both the experimental and theoretical sides, and their combination, is fundamental to define the next generation of methods to achieve our transformative aims. We will provide evidence of the innovative nature of the proposed multiscale approach by addressing some of the great questions in neuroscience and elucidate the details of how functional and aberrant biological complexity is achieved via the fine tuning between structural order and disorder at the neuronal synapse.
Max ERC Funding
1 999 945 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-06-01, End date: 2024-05-31
Project acronym BIORECAR
Project Direct cell reprogramming therapy in myocardial regeneration through an engineered multifunctional platform integrating biochemical instructive cues
Researcher (PI) Valeria CHIONO
Host Institution (HI) POLITECNICO DI TORINO
Country Italy
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE8, ERC-2017-COG
Summary In BIORECAR I will develop a new breakthrough multifunctional biomaterial-based platform for myocardial regeneration after myocardial infarction, provided with biochemical cues able to enhance the direct reprogramming of human cardiac fibroblasts into functional cardiomyocytes.
My expertise in bioartificial materials and biomimetic scaffolds and the versatile chemistry of polyurethanes will be the key elements to achieve a significant knowledge and technological advancement in cell reprogramming therapy, opening the way to the future translation of the therapy into the clinics.
I will implement this advanced approach through the design of a novel 3D in vitro tissue-engineered model of human cardiac fibrotic tissue, as a tool for testing and validation, to maximise research efforts and reduce animal tests.
I will adapt novel nanomedicine approaches I have recently developed for drug release to design innovative cell-friendly and efficient polyurethane nanoparticles for targeted reprogramming of cardiac fibroblasts.
I will design an injectable bioartificial hydrogel based on a blend of a thermosensitive polyurethane and a natural component selected among a novel cell-secreted natural polymer mixture (“biomatrix”) recapitulating the complexity of cardiac extracellular matrix or one of its main protein constituents. Such multifunctional hydrogel will deliver in situ agents stimulating recruitment of cardiac fibroblasts together with the nanoparticles loaded with reprogramming therapeutics, and will provide biochemical signalling to stimulate efficient conversion of fibroblasts into mature cardiomyocytes.
First-in-field biomaterials-based innovations introduced by BIORECAR will enable more effective regeneration of functional myocardial tissue respect to state-of-the art approaches. BIORECAR innovation is multidisciplinary in nature and will be accelerated towards future clinical translation through my clinical, scientific and industrial collaborations.
Summary
In BIORECAR I will develop a new breakthrough multifunctional biomaterial-based platform for myocardial regeneration after myocardial infarction, provided with biochemical cues able to enhance the direct reprogramming of human cardiac fibroblasts into functional cardiomyocytes.
My expertise in bioartificial materials and biomimetic scaffolds and the versatile chemistry of polyurethanes will be the key elements to achieve a significant knowledge and technological advancement in cell reprogramming therapy, opening the way to the future translation of the therapy into the clinics.
I will implement this advanced approach through the design of a novel 3D in vitro tissue-engineered model of human cardiac fibrotic tissue, as a tool for testing and validation, to maximise research efforts and reduce animal tests.
I will adapt novel nanomedicine approaches I have recently developed for drug release to design innovative cell-friendly and efficient polyurethane nanoparticles for targeted reprogramming of cardiac fibroblasts.
I will design an injectable bioartificial hydrogel based on a blend of a thermosensitive polyurethane and a natural component selected among a novel cell-secreted natural polymer mixture (“biomatrix”) recapitulating the complexity of cardiac extracellular matrix or one of its main protein constituents. Such multifunctional hydrogel will deliver in situ agents stimulating recruitment of cardiac fibroblasts together with the nanoparticles loaded with reprogramming therapeutics, and will provide biochemical signalling to stimulate efficient conversion of fibroblasts into mature cardiomyocytes.
First-in-field biomaterials-based innovations introduced by BIORECAR will enable more effective regeneration of functional myocardial tissue respect to state-of-the art approaches. BIORECAR innovation is multidisciplinary in nature and will be accelerated towards future clinical translation through my clinical, scientific and industrial collaborations.
Max ERC Funding
2 000 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-07-01, End date: 2023-06-30
Project acronym BOOST
Project Biomimetic trick to re-balance Osteblast-Osteoclast loop in osteoporoSis treatment: a Topological and materials driven approach
Researcher (PI) Chiara Silvia Vitale Brovarone
Host Institution (HI) POLITECNICO DI TORINO
Country Italy
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE8, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary One out of 5 people in their fifties will experience a bone fracture due to osteoporosis (OP)-induced fragility in their lifetime. The OP socio-economic burden is dramatic and involves tens of millions of people in the EU, with a steadily increasing number due to population ageing. Current treatments entail drug-therapy coupled with a healthy lifestyle but OP fractures need mechanical fixation to rapidly achieve union: the contribution of biomaterial scientists in this field is still far from taking its expected leading role in cutting-edge research. Bone remodelling is a well-coordinated process of bone resorption by osteoclasts followed by the production of new bone by osteoblasts. This process occurs continuously throughout life in a coupling with a positive balance during growth and negative with ageing, which can result in OP. We believe that an architecture driven stimulation of the osteoclast/osteoblast coupling, with an avant-garde focus on osteoclasts activity, is the key to success in treating unbalanced bone remodelling. We aim to manufacture a scaffold that mimics healthy bone features which will establish a new microenvironment favoring a properly stimulated and active population of osteoclasts and osteoblasts, i.e. a well-balanced bone cooperation. After 5 years we will be able to prove the efficacy of this approach. A benchmark will be set up for OP fracture treatment and for the realization of smart bone substitutes that will be able to locally “trick” aged bone cells stimulating them to act as healthy ones. BOOST results will have an unprecedented impact on the scientific research community, opening a new approach to set up smart, biomimetic strategies to treat aged, unbalanced bone tissues and to reduce OP-associated disabilities and financial burdens.
Summary
One out of 5 people in their fifties will experience a bone fracture due to osteoporosis (OP)-induced fragility in their lifetime. The OP socio-economic burden is dramatic and involves tens of millions of people in the EU, with a steadily increasing number due to population ageing. Current treatments entail drug-therapy coupled with a healthy lifestyle but OP fractures need mechanical fixation to rapidly achieve union: the contribution of biomaterial scientists in this field is still far from taking its expected leading role in cutting-edge research. Bone remodelling is a well-coordinated process of bone resorption by osteoclasts followed by the production of new bone by osteoblasts. This process occurs continuously throughout life in a coupling with a positive balance during growth and negative with ageing, which can result in OP. We believe that an architecture driven stimulation of the osteoclast/osteoblast coupling, with an avant-garde focus on osteoclasts activity, is the key to success in treating unbalanced bone remodelling. We aim to manufacture a scaffold that mimics healthy bone features which will establish a new microenvironment favoring a properly stimulated and active population of osteoclasts and osteoblasts, i.e. a well-balanced bone cooperation. After 5 years we will be able to prove the efficacy of this approach. A benchmark will be set up for OP fracture treatment and for the realization of smart bone substitutes that will be able to locally “trick” aged bone cells stimulating them to act as healthy ones. BOOST results will have an unprecedented impact on the scientific research community, opening a new approach to set up smart, biomimetic strategies to treat aged, unbalanced bone tissues and to reduce OP-associated disabilities and financial burdens.
Max ERC Funding
1 977 500 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-05-01, End date: 2022-06-30
Project acronym CapTherPV
Project Integration of Capacitor, Thermoelectric and PhotoVoltaic thin films for efficient energy conversion and storage
Researcher (PI) Isabel Maria Das Merces Ferreira
Host Institution (HI) NOVA ID FCT - ASSOCIACAO PARA A INOVACAO E DESENVOLVIMENTO DA FCT
Country Portugal
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE8, ERC-2014-CoG
Summary The possibility of having a unique device that converts thermal and photonics energy into electrical energy and simultaneously stores it, is something dreamed by the PI since the beginning of her research career. To achieve that goal, this project aims to gather, in a single substrate, solar cells with up-conversion nanoparticles, thermoelectrics and graphene super-capacitor, all made of thin films. These three main components will be developed separately and integrated sequentially. The innovation proposed is not limited to the integration of components, but rely in ground-breaking concepts: 1) thermoelectric elements based on thin film (TE-TF) oxides; 2) plasmonic nanoparticles for up conversion of near infrared radiation to visible emission in solar cells; 3) graphene super-capacitors; 4) integration and optimization of all components in a single CapTherPV device. This ambitious project will bring new insights at large area, low cost and flexible energy harvesting and comes from an old idea of combining energy conversion and storage that has been pursued by the PI. She started her career in amorphous silicon thin film solar cells, later she started the development of thin film batteries and more recently started a research line in thermoelectric films. If approved, this project will give financial support to consolidate the research being carried out and will give independence to the PI in terms of resources and creative think. More importantly, will facilitate the concretization of the dream that has been pursued with hard work.
Summary
The possibility of having a unique device that converts thermal and photonics energy into electrical energy and simultaneously stores it, is something dreamed by the PI since the beginning of her research career. To achieve that goal, this project aims to gather, in a single substrate, solar cells with up-conversion nanoparticles, thermoelectrics and graphene super-capacitor, all made of thin films. These three main components will be developed separately and integrated sequentially. The innovation proposed is not limited to the integration of components, but rely in ground-breaking concepts: 1) thermoelectric elements based on thin film (TE-TF) oxides; 2) plasmonic nanoparticles for up conversion of near infrared radiation to visible emission in solar cells; 3) graphene super-capacitors; 4) integration and optimization of all components in a single CapTherPV device. This ambitious project will bring new insights at large area, low cost and flexible energy harvesting and comes from an old idea of combining energy conversion and storage that has been pursued by the PI. She started her career in amorphous silicon thin film solar cells, later she started the development of thin film batteries and more recently started a research line in thermoelectric films. If approved, this project will give financial support to consolidate the research being carried out and will give independence to the PI in terms of resources and creative think. More importantly, will facilitate the concretization of the dream that has been pursued with hard work.
Max ERC Funding
1 999 375 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-07-01, End date: 2021-09-30
Project acronym CAPTUR3D
Project CAPTURING THE PHYSICS OF LIFE ON 3D-TRAFFICKING SUBCELLULAR NANOSYSTEMS
Researcher (PI) Francesco CARDARELLI
Host Institution (HI) SCUOLA NORMALE SUPERIORE
Country Italy
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE3, ERC-2019-COG
Summary Which physical principles govern life regulation at the level of subcellular, membrane-enclosed nanosystems, such as transport vesicles and organelles? How do they achieve controlled movements across the crowded intracellular world? Which is the structural and functional organization of their surface and their lumen? This is only a small subset of key open questions that the biophysical approach envisaged here will allow to answer directly within living matter, for the first time.
Thus far, state-of-the-art optical microscopy tools for delivering quantitative information in living matter failed to subtract the natural 3D movement of subcellular nanosystems while preserving the spatial and temporal resolution required to probe their structure and function at the molecular level.
CAPTUR3D will tackle this bottleneck. An excitation light-beam will be focused in a periodic orbit around the nanosystem of interest and used to localize its position with unprecedented spatial (~10 nm) and temporal (~1000 Hz frequency response) resolution. Such privileged observation point will push biophysical investigations to a new level. For the first time, state-of-the-art imaging technologies and analytical tools (e.g. fluorescence correlation spectroscopy), will be used to perform molecular investigations on a moving, nanoscopic reference system.
The insulin secretory granule (ISG) is selected as a paradigmatic case study. Key open issues at the ISG level are selected, namely: (i) ISG-environment interactions and their role in directing ISG trafficking, (ii) ISG-membrane spatiotemporal organization, (iii) ISG-lumen structural and functional organization, (iv) ISG alterations in type-2 diabetes (T2D). These issues will be tackled directly within human-derived Langherans islets.
CAPTUR3D is envisioned not only to foster our knowledge on T2D physiopathology but also to concomitantly drive an unprecedented revolution in the way we address living matter at the subcellular scale.
Summary
Which physical principles govern life regulation at the level of subcellular, membrane-enclosed nanosystems, such as transport vesicles and organelles? How do they achieve controlled movements across the crowded intracellular world? Which is the structural and functional organization of their surface and their lumen? This is only a small subset of key open questions that the biophysical approach envisaged here will allow to answer directly within living matter, for the first time.
Thus far, state-of-the-art optical microscopy tools for delivering quantitative information in living matter failed to subtract the natural 3D movement of subcellular nanosystems while preserving the spatial and temporal resolution required to probe their structure and function at the molecular level.
CAPTUR3D will tackle this bottleneck. An excitation light-beam will be focused in a periodic orbit around the nanosystem of interest and used to localize its position with unprecedented spatial (~10 nm) and temporal (~1000 Hz frequency response) resolution. Such privileged observation point will push biophysical investigations to a new level. For the first time, state-of-the-art imaging technologies and analytical tools (e.g. fluorescence correlation spectroscopy), will be used to perform molecular investigations on a moving, nanoscopic reference system.
The insulin secretory granule (ISG) is selected as a paradigmatic case study. Key open issues at the ISG level are selected, namely: (i) ISG-environment interactions and their role in directing ISG trafficking, (ii) ISG-membrane spatiotemporal organization, (iii) ISG-lumen structural and functional organization, (iv) ISG alterations in type-2 diabetes (T2D). These issues will be tackled directly within human-derived Langherans islets.
CAPTUR3D is envisioned not only to foster our knowledge on T2D physiopathology but also to concomitantly drive an unprecedented revolution in the way we address living matter at the subcellular scale.
Max ERC Funding
1 985 750 €
Duration
Start date: 2021-03-01, End date: 2026-02-28
Project acronym CATCH
Project Cross-dimensional Activation of Two-Dimensional Semiconductors for Photocatalytic Heterojunctions
Researcher (PI) Wei CAO
Host Institution (HI) OULUN YLIOPISTO
Country Finland
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE8, ERC-2020-COG
Summary Spacetime defines existence and evolution of materials. A key path to human’s sustainability through materials innovation can hardly circumvent materials dimensionalities. Despite numerous studies in electrically distinct 2D semiconductors, the route to engage them in high-performance photocatalysts remains elusive. Herein, CATCH proposes a cross-dimensional activation strategy of 2D semiconductors to implement practical photocatalysis. It operates electronic structures of dimensionally paradoxical 2D semiconductors and spatially limited nD (n=0-2) guests, directs charge migration processes, mass-produces advanced catalysts and elucidates time-evolved catalysis. Synergic impacts crossing 2D-nD will lead to > 95%/hour rates for pollutant removal and >20% quantum efficiencies for H2 evolution under visible light. CATCH enumerates chemical coordination and writes reaction equations with sub-nanosecond precision.
CATCH employs density functional theory optimization and data mining prediction to select most probable heterojunctional peers from hetero/homo- dimensions. Through facile but efficient wet and dry synthesis, nanostructures will be bonded to basal planes or brinks of 2D slabs. CATCH benefits in-house techniques for product characterizations and refinements and emphasizes on cutting-edge in situ studies to unveil photocatalysis at advanced photon sources. Assisted with theoretical modelling, ambient and time-evolved experiments will illustrate photocatalytic dynamics and kinetics in mixed spacetime.
CATCH unites low-dimensional materials designs by counting physical and electronic merits from spacetime confinements. It metrologically elaborates photocatalysis in an elevated 2D+nD+t, alters passages of materials combinations crossing dimensions, and directs future photocatalyst designs. Standing on cross-dimensional materials innovation and photocatalysis study, CATCH breaks the deadlock of practical photocatalysis that eventually leads to sustainability.
Summary
Spacetime defines existence and evolution of materials. A key path to human’s sustainability through materials innovation can hardly circumvent materials dimensionalities. Despite numerous studies in electrically distinct 2D semiconductors, the route to engage them in high-performance photocatalysts remains elusive. Herein, CATCH proposes a cross-dimensional activation strategy of 2D semiconductors to implement practical photocatalysis. It operates electronic structures of dimensionally paradoxical 2D semiconductors and spatially limited nD (n=0-2) guests, directs charge migration processes, mass-produces advanced catalysts and elucidates time-evolved catalysis. Synergic impacts crossing 2D-nD will lead to > 95%/hour rates for pollutant removal and >20% quantum efficiencies for H2 evolution under visible light. CATCH enumerates chemical coordination and writes reaction equations with sub-nanosecond precision.
CATCH employs density functional theory optimization and data mining prediction to select most probable heterojunctional peers from hetero/homo- dimensions. Through facile but efficient wet and dry synthesis, nanostructures will be bonded to basal planes or brinks of 2D slabs. CATCH benefits in-house techniques for product characterizations and refinements and emphasizes on cutting-edge in situ studies to unveil photocatalysis at advanced photon sources. Assisted with theoretical modelling, ambient and time-evolved experiments will illustrate photocatalytic dynamics and kinetics in mixed spacetime.
CATCH unites low-dimensional materials designs by counting physical and electronic merits from spacetime confinements. It metrologically elaborates photocatalysis in an elevated 2D+nD+t, alters passages of materials combinations crossing dimensions, and directs future photocatalyst designs. Standing on cross-dimensional materials innovation and photocatalysis study, CATCH breaks the deadlock of practical photocatalysis that eventually leads to sustainability.
Max ERC Funding
1 999 946 €
Duration
Start date: 2021-05-01, End date: 2026-04-30
Project acronym CAVITYQPD
Project Cavity quantum phonon dynamics
Researcher (PI) Mika Antero Sillanpaeae
Host Institution (HI) AALTO KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SR
Country Finland
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE3, ERC-2013-CoG
Summary "Large bodies usually follow the classical equations of motion. Deviations from this can be called
macroscopic quantum behavior. These phenomena have been experimentally verified with cavity Quantum
Electro Dynamics (QED), trapped ions, and superconducting Josephson junction systems. Recently, evidence
was obtained that also moving objects can display such behavior. These objects are micromechanical
resonators (MR), which can measure tens of microns in size and are hence quite macroscopic. The degree of
freedom is their vibrations: phonons.
I propose experimental research in order to push quantum mechanics closer to the classical world than ever
before. I will try find quantum behavior in the most classical objects, that is, slowly moving bodies. I will use
MR's, accessed via electrical resonators. Part of it will be in analogy to the previously studied macroscopic
systems, but with photons replaced by phonons. The experiments are done in a cryogenic temperature mostly
in dilution refrigerator. The work will open up new perspectives on how nature works, and can have
technological implications.
The first basic setup is the coupling of MR to microwave cavity resonators. This is a direct analogy to
optomechanics, and can be called circuit optomechanics. The goals will be phonon state transfer via a cavity
bus, construction of squeezed states and of phonon-cavity entanglement. The second setup is to boost the
optomechanical coupling with a Josephson junction system, and reach the single-phonon strong-coupling for
the first time. The third setup is the coupling of MR to a Josephson junction artificial atom. Here we will
access the MR same way as the motion of a trapped ions is coupled to their internal transitions. In this setup,
I am proposing to construct exotic quantum states of motion, and finally entangle and transfer phonons over
mm-distance via cavity-coupled qubits. I believe within the project it is possible to perform rudimentary Bell
measurement with phonons."
Summary
"Large bodies usually follow the classical equations of motion. Deviations from this can be called
macroscopic quantum behavior. These phenomena have been experimentally verified with cavity Quantum
Electro Dynamics (QED), trapped ions, and superconducting Josephson junction systems. Recently, evidence
was obtained that also moving objects can display such behavior. These objects are micromechanical
resonators (MR), which can measure tens of microns in size and are hence quite macroscopic. The degree of
freedom is their vibrations: phonons.
I propose experimental research in order to push quantum mechanics closer to the classical world than ever
before. I will try find quantum behavior in the most classical objects, that is, slowly moving bodies. I will use
MR's, accessed via electrical resonators. Part of it will be in analogy to the previously studied macroscopic
systems, but with photons replaced by phonons. The experiments are done in a cryogenic temperature mostly
in dilution refrigerator. The work will open up new perspectives on how nature works, and can have
technological implications.
The first basic setup is the coupling of MR to microwave cavity resonators. This is a direct analogy to
optomechanics, and can be called circuit optomechanics. The goals will be phonon state transfer via a cavity
bus, construction of squeezed states and of phonon-cavity entanglement. The second setup is to boost the
optomechanical coupling with a Josephson junction system, and reach the single-phonon strong-coupling for
the first time. The third setup is the coupling of MR to a Josephson junction artificial atom. Here we will
access the MR same way as the motion of a trapped ions is coupled to their internal transitions. In this setup,
I am proposing to construct exotic quantum states of motion, and finally entangle and transfer phonons over
mm-distance via cavity-coupled qubits. I believe within the project it is possible to perform rudimentary Bell
measurement with phonons."
Max ERC Funding
2 004 283 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-01-01, End date: 2019-12-31
