ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

With this project, called HADES, we aim to provide the first detailed, combined analysis of benthic diagenesis and microbial ecology of some of the deepest oceanic trenches on Earth. We argue that deep trenches, some of the most remote, extreme, and scantly explored habitats on Earth, are hotspots of deposition and mineralization of organic material. With the development of novel autonomous in situ instrumentation to overcome large sampling artifacts from decompression, we will i) determine rates of benthic metabolism and the importance of the deep trenches for the marine carbon and nitrogen cycles, ii) explore the unique benthic microbial communities driving these processes, and iii) investigate the proposed great role of virus in regulating microbial performance and carbon cycling in hadal sediments. By comparing trenches from contrasting oceanic settings the project provides a completely novel general analysis of hadal biogeochemistry and the role of deep trenches in the oceans, as well as fundamental new insights into the composition and functioning of microbial communities at extreme pressure.

3 185 000 €

Start date: 2016-01-01, End date: 2020-12-31

How do we make reliable decisions given sensory information that is often weak or ambiguous? Current theories center on a brain mechanism whereby sensory evidence is integrated over time into a “decision variable” which triggers the appropriate action upon reaching a criterion. Neural signals fitting this role have been identified in monkey electrophysiology but efforts to study the neural dynamics underpinning human decision making have been hampered by technical challenges associated with non-invasive recording. This proposal builds on a recent paradigm breakthrough made by the applicant that enables parallel tracking of discrete neural signals that can be unambiguously linked to the three key information processing stages necessary for simple perceptual decisions: sensory encoding, decision formation and motor preparation. Chief among these is a freely-evolving decision variable signal which builds at an evidence-dependent rate up to an action-triggering threshold and precisely determines the timing and accuracy of perceptual reports at the single-trial level. This provides an unprecedented neurophysiological window onto the distinct parameters of the human decision process such that the underlying mechanisms of several major behavioral phenomena can finally be investigated. This proposal seeks to develop a systems-level understanding of perceptual decision making in the human brain by tackling three core questions: 1) what are the neural adaptations that allow us to deal with speed pressure and variations in the reliability of the physically presented evidence? 2) What neural mechanism determines our subjective confidence in a decision? and 3) How does aging impact on the distinct neural components underpinning perceptual decision making? Each of the experiments described in this proposal will definitively test key predictions from prominent theoretical models using a combination of temporally precise neurophysiological measurement and psychophysical modelling.

1 382 643 €

Start date: 2015-05-01, End date: 2020-04-30

State-of-the-art simulations and observations highlight the self-organization of convective clouds. Our recent work shows two aspects: these clouds are capable of unexpected increase in extreme precipitation when temperature rises; interactions between clouds produce the extremes. As clouds interact, they organize in space and carry a memory of past interaction and precipitation events. This evidence reveals a severe shortcoming of the conventional separation into "forcing" and "feedback" in climate model parameterizations, namely that the "feedback" develops a dynamics of its own, thus driving the extremes. The major scientific challenge tackled in INTERACTION is to make a ground-breaking departure from the established paradigm of "quasi-equilibrium" and instantaneous convective adjustment, traditionally used for parameterization of "sub-grid-scale processes" in general circulation models. To capture convective self-organization and extremes, the out-of-equilibrium cloud field must be described. In INTERACTION, I will produce a conceptual model for the out-of-equilibrium system of interacting clouds. Once triggered, clouds precipitate on a short timescale, but then relax in a "recovery" state where further precipitation is suppressed. Interaction with the surroundings occurs through cold pool outflow,facilitating the onset of new events in the wake. I will perform tailored numerical experiments using cutting-edge large-eddy simulations and very-high-resolution observational analysis to determine the effective interactions in the cloud system. Going beyond traditional forcing-and-feedback descriptions, I emphasize gradual self-organization with explicit temperature dependence. The list of key variables of atmospheric water vapor, temperature and precipitation must therefore be amended by variables describing organization. Capturing the self-organization of convection is essential for understanding of the risk of precipitation extremes today and in a future climate.

1 314 800 €

Start date: 2018-07-01, End date: 2023-06-30

Quantum mechanics provides the key to the understanding of the molecular world. Many years of theoretical research have made coupled cluster calculations the state-of-the-art method for small molecules, where calculations have reached an accuracy often challenging experimental results. To describe large molecular systems with coupled cluster methods, the computational scaling with the system size of existing methods represents a roadblock to progress. The ultimate goal is to obtain coupled cluster methods that scale linearly with system size and where the calculations are embarrassingly parallel, such that calculations for small and large molecular systems require the same computational wall time. This proposal describes how this goal may be accomplished. The key is to express the coupled cluster wave function in a basis of local Hartree-Fock (HF) orbitals. We have recently shown how such a local HF basis may be obtained and described how linear-scaling, embarrassingly parallel coupled cluster energies may be obtained. Here we present proof-of-concept calculations for the energy and the molecular gradient for the simple model MP2 (second order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory) and propose to use the same technology for higher level coupled cluster methods to yield not only the energy of a large molecule, but also molecular properties as the equilibrium geometry, harmonic frequencies, excitation energies and transition moments, nuclear shieldings, polarizabilities and electronic and vibrational circular dichroism. This proposal will open a new era of accurate quantum calculations on large molecular systems such as nanoparticles and proteins. The presented developments will accelerate research, not only in chemistry and physics, but in molecular science and engineering in general.

1 738 432 €

Start date: 2012-05-01, End date: 2017-04-30