Project acronym A-LIFE
Project Absorbing aerosol layers in a changing climate: aging, lifetime and dynamics
Researcher (PI) Bernadett Barbara Weinzierl
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT WIEN
Country Austria
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE10, ERC-2014-STG
Summary Aerosols (i.e. tiny particles suspended in the air) are regularly transported in huge amounts over long distances impacting air quality, health, weather and climate thousands of kilometers downwind of the source. Aerosols affect the atmospheric radiation budget through scattering and absorption of solar radiation and through their role as cloud/ice nuclei.
In particular, light absorption by aerosol particles such as mineral dust and black carbon (BC; thought to be the second strongest contribution to current global warming after CO2) is of fundamental importance from a climate perspective because the presence of absorbing particles (1) contributes to solar radiative forcing, (2) heats absorbing aerosol layers, (3) can evaporate clouds and (4) change atmospheric dynamics.
Considering this prominent role of aerosols, vertically-resolved in-situ data on absorbing aerosols are surprisingly scarce and aerosol-dynamic interactions are poorly understood in general. This is, as recognized in the last IPCC report, a serious barrier for taking the accuracy of climate models and predictions to the next level. To overcome this barrier, I propose to investigate aging, lifetime and dynamics of absorbing aerosol layers with a holistic end-to-end approach including laboratory studies, airborne field experiments and numerical model simulations.
Building on the internationally recognized results of my aerosol research group and my long-term experience with airborne aerosol measurements, the time seems ripe to systematically bridge the gap between in-situ measurements of aerosol microphysical and optical properties and the assessment of dynamical interactions of absorbing particles with aerosol layer lifetime through model simulations.
The outcomes of this project will provide fundamental new understanding of absorbing aerosol layers in the climate system and important information for addressing the benefits of BC emission controls for mitigating climate change.
Summary
Aerosols (i.e. tiny particles suspended in the air) are regularly transported in huge amounts over long distances impacting air quality, health, weather and climate thousands of kilometers downwind of the source. Aerosols affect the atmospheric radiation budget through scattering and absorption of solar radiation and through their role as cloud/ice nuclei.
In particular, light absorption by aerosol particles such as mineral dust and black carbon (BC; thought to be the second strongest contribution to current global warming after CO2) is of fundamental importance from a climate perspective because the presence of absorbing particles (1) contributes to solar radiative forcing, (2) heats absorbing aerosol layers, (3) can evaporate clouds and (4) change atmospheric dynamics.
Considering this prominent role of aerosols, vertically-resolved in-situ data on absorbing aerosols are surprisingly scarce and aerosol-dynamic interactions are poorly understood in general. This is, as recognized in the last IPCC report, a serious barrier for taking the accuracy of climate models and predictions to the next level. To overcome this barrier, I propose to investigate aging, lifetime and dynamics of absorbing aerosol layers with a holistic end-to-end approach including laboratory studies, airborne field experiments and numerical model simulations.
Building on the internationally recognized results of my aerosol research group and my long-term experience with airborne aerosol measurements, the time seems ripe to systematically bridge the gap between in-situ measurements of aerosol microphysical and optical properties and the assessment of dynamical interactions of absorbing particles with aerosol layer lifetime through model simulations.
The outcomes of this project will provide fundamental new understanding of absorbing aerosol layers in the climate system and important information for addressing the benefits of BC emission controls for mitigating climate change.
Max ERC Funding
1 987 980 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-10-01, End date: 2021-09-30
Project acronym ABIONYS
Project Artificial Enzyme Modules as Tools in a Tailor-made Biosynthesis
Researcher (PI) Jan DESKA
Host Institution (HI) AALTO KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SR
Country Finland
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE5, ERC-2019-COG
Summary In order to tackle some of the prime societal challenges of this century, science has to urgently provide effective tools addressing the redesign of chemical value chains through the exploitation of novel, bio-based raw materials, and the discovery and implementation of more resource-efficient production platforms. Nature will inevitably play a pivotal role in the imminent transformation of industrial strategies, and the recent bioeconomy approaches can only be regarded as initial step towards a sustainable future. Operating at the interface between chemistry and life sciences, my ABIONYS will fundamentally challenge the widely held distinction separating chemical from biosynthesis, and will deliver the first proof-of-concept where abiotic reactions act as productive puzzle pieces in biosynthetic arrangements. On the basis of our previous ground-breaking discoveries on artificial enzyme functions, I will create a significantly extended toolbox of biocatalysis modules by applying protein-based interpretations of synthetically crucial but non-natural reactions i.e. transformations that are in no way biosynthetically encoded in living organisms. My research will exploit these tools in multi-enzyme cascades for the preparation of complex organic target structures, not only to highlight the great synthetic potential of these approaches, but also to lay the groundwork for in vivo implementations. Eventually, the knowledge gathered from enzyme discovery and cascade design will enable to create an unprecedented class of bioproduction systems, where the genetic incorporation of artificial enzyme functions into recombinant microbial host organisms will yield tailor-made cellular factories. Combining classical organic synthesis strategies with the power of modern biotechnology, ABIONYS is going to transform the way we synthesize complex and functional building blocks by allowing us to encode organic chemistry thinking into living production platforms.
Summary
In order to tackle some of the prime societal challenges of this century, science has to urgently provide effective tools addressing the redesign of chemical value chains through the exploitation of novel, bio-based raw materials, and the discovery and implementation of more resource-efficient production platforms. Nature will inevitably play a pivotal role in the imminent transformation of industrial strategies, and the recent bioeconomy approaches can only be regarded as initial step towards a sustainable future. Operating at the interface between chemistry and life sciences, my ABIONYS will fundamentally challenge the widely held distinction separating chemical from biosynthesis, and will deliver the first proof-of-concept where abiotic reactions act as productive puzzle pieces in biosynthetic arrangements. On the basis of our previous ground-breaking discoveries on artificial enzyme functions, I will create a significantly extended toolbox of biocatalysis modules by applying protein-based interpretations of synthetically crucial but non-natural reactions i.e. transformations that are in no way biosynthetically encoded in living organisms. My research will exploit these tools in multi-enzyme cascades for the preparation of complex organic target structures, not only to highlight the great synthetic potential of these approaches, but also to lay the groundwork for in vivo implementations. Eventually, the knowledge gathered from enzyme discovery and cascade design will enable to create an unprecedented class of bioproduction systems, where the genetic incorporation of artificial enzyme functions into recombinant microbial host organisms will yield tailor-made cellular factories. Combining classical organic synthesis strategies with the power of modern biotechnology, ABIONYS is going to transform the way we synthesize complex and functional building blocks by allowing us to encode organic chemistry thinking into living production platforms.
Max ERC Funding
1 995 707 €
Duration
Start date: 2020-11-01, End date: 2025-10-31
Project acronym ADAPT
Project Autoxidation of Anthropogenic Volatile Organic Compounds (AVOC) as a Source of Urban Air Pollution
Researcher (PI) Matti Rissanen
Host Institution (HI) TAMPEREEN KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SR
Country Finland
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE10, ERC-2020-COG
Summary Previous efforts to raise living standards have been based on relentlessly increasing combustion, causing environmental destruction at all scales. In addition to climate-warming CO2, fossil fuel combustion also produces a large number of organic compounds and particulate matter, which deteriorate air quality.
The atmosphere is cleansed from such pollutants by gas-phase oxidation reactions, which are invariably mediated by peroxy radicals (RO2). Oxidation transforms initially volatile and water-insoluble hydrocarbons into water-soluble forms (ultimately CO2), enabling scavenging by liquid droplets. A minor but crucially important alternative oxidation pathway leads to oxidative molecular growth, and formation of atmospheric aerosols. Aerosols impart a huge influence on the atmosphere, from local air quality issues to global climate forcing, yet their formation mechanisms and structures of organic aerosol precursors remains elusive.
In a paradigm change, RO2 was recently found to undergo autoxidation, enabling rapid aerosol precursor formation even at sub-second time-scales – in stark contrast to the long processing times (days - weeks) previously assumed to be necessary. We have shown how abundant biogenic hydrocarbons (BVOC) autoxidize, but due to key structural differences, the same pathways are not available for anthropogenic hydrocarbons (AVOC), and thus they were not expected to autoxidize. My preliminary experiments reveal that AVOCs do autoxidize, but the mechanism enabling this remain unknown. Crucially, the co-reactants shown to inhibit BVOC seem to enforce AVOC autoxidation – potentially explaining the recent mysterious discovery of new-particle formation in polluted megacities. In ADAPT, I will use a combination of novel mass spectrometric detection methods fortified by theoretical calculations, to solve the mechanism of AVOC autoxidation. This will directly assist both air quality management, and the design of cleaner fuels and engines.
Summary
Previous efforts to raise living standards have been based on relentlessly increasing combustion, causing environmental destruction at all scales. In addition to climate-warming CO2, fossil fuel combustion also produces a large number of organic compounds and particulate matter, which deteriorate air quality.
The atmosphere is cleansed from such pollutants by gas-phase oxidation reactions, which are invariably mediated by peroxy radicals (RO2). Oxidation transforms initially volatile and water-insoluble hydrocarbons into water-soluble forms (ultimately CO2), enabling scavenging by liquid droplets. A minor but crucially important alternative oxidation pathway leads to oxidative molecular growth, and formation of atmospheric aerosols. Aerosols impart a huge influence on the atmosphere, from local air quality issues to global climate forcing, yet their formation mechanisms and structures of organic aerosol precursors remains elusive.
In a paradigm change, RO2 was recently found to undergo autoxidation, enabling rapid aerosol precursor formation even at sub-second time-scales – in stark contrast to the long processing times (days - weeks) previously assumed to be necessary. We have shown how abundant biogenic hydrocarbons (BVOC) autoxidize, but due to key structural differences, the same pathways are not available for anthropogenic hydrocarbons (AVOC), and thus they were not expected to autoxidize. My preliminary experiments reveal that AVOCs do autoxidize, but the mechanism enabling this remain unknown. Crucially, the co-reactants shown to inhibit BVOC seem to enforce AVOC autoxidation – potentially explaining the recent mysterious discovery of new-particle formation in polluted megacities. In ADAPT, I will use a combination of novel mass spectrometric detection methods fortified by theoretical calculations, to solve the mechanism of AVOC autoxidation. This will directly assist both air quality management, and the design of cleaner fuels and engines.
Max ERC Funding
2 689 147 €
Duration
Start date: 2021-02-01, End date: 2026-01-31
Project acronym AGNES
Project ACTIVE AGEING – RESILIENCE AND EXTERNAL SUPPORT AS MODIFIERS OF THE DISABLEMENT OUTCOME
Researcher (PI) Taina Tuulikki RANTANEN
Host Institution (HI) JYVASKYLAN YLIOPISTO
Country Finland
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH3, ERC-2015-AdG
Summary The goals are 1. To develop a scale assessing the diversity of active ageing with four dimensions that are ability (what people can do), activity (what people do do), ambition (what are the valued activities that people want to do), and autonomy (how satisfied people are with the opportunity to do valued activities); 2. To examine health and physical and psychological functioning as the determinants and social and build environment, resilience and personal skills as modifiers of active ageing; 3. To develop a multicomponent sustainable intervention aiming to promote active ageing (methods: counselling, information technology, help from volunteers); 4. To test the feasibility and effectiveness on the intervention; and 5. To study cohort effects on the phenotypes on the pathway to active ageing.
“If You Can Measure It, You Can Change It.” Active ageing assessment needs conceptual progress, which I propose to do. A quantifiable scale will be developed that captures the diversity of active ageing stemming from the WHO definition of active ageing as the process of optimizing opportunities for health and participation in the society for all people in line with their needs, goals and capacities as they age. I will collect cross-sectional data (N=1000, ages 75, 80 and 85 years) and model the pathway to active ageing with state-of-the art statistical methods. By doing this I will create novel knowledge on preconditions for active ageing. The collected cohort data will be compared to a pre-existing cohort data that was collected 25 years ago to obtain knowledge about changes over time in functioning of older people. A randomized controlled trial (N=200) will be conducted to assess the effectiveness of the envisioned intervention promoting active ageing through participation. The project will regenerate ageing research by launching a novel scale, by training young scientists, by creating new concepts and theory development and by producing evidence for active ageing promotion
Summary
The goals are 1. To develop a scale assessing the diversity of active ageing with four dimensions that are ability (what people can do), activity (what people do do), ambition (what are the valued activities that people want to do), and autonomy (how satisfied people are with the opportunity to do valued activities); 2. To examine health and physical and psychological functioning as the determinants and social and build environment, resilience and personal skills as modifiers of active ageing; 3. To develop a multicomponent sustainable intervention aiming to promote active ageing (methods: counselling, information technology, help from volunteers); 4. To test the feasibility and effectiveness on the intervention; and 5. To study cohort effects on the phenotypes on the pathway to active ageing.
“If You Can Measure It, You Can Change It.” Active ageing assessment needs conceptual progress, which I propose to do. A quantifiable scale will be developed that captures the diversity of active ageing stemming from the WHO definition of active ageing as the process of optimizing opportunities for health and participation in the society for all people in line with their needs, goals and capacities as they age. I will collect cross-sectional data (N=1000, ages 75, 80 and 85 years) and model the pathway to active ageing with state-of-the art statistical methods. By doing this I will create novel knowledge on preconditions for active ageing. The collected cohort data will be compared to a pre-existing cohort data that was collected 25 years ago to obtain knowledge about changes over time in functioning of older people. A randomized controlled trial (N=200) will be conducted to assess the effectiveness of the envisioned intervention promoting active ageing through participation. The project will regenerate ageing research by launching a novel scale, by training young scientists, by creating new concepts and theory development and by producing evidence for active ageing promotion
Max ERC Funding
2 044 364 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-09-01, End date: 2021-08-31
Project acronym ALEM
Project ADDITIONAL LOSSES IN ELECTRICAL MACHINES
Researcher (PI) Matti Antero Arkkio
Host Institution (HI) AALTO KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SR
Country Finland
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE8, ERC-2013-ADG
Summary "Electrical motors consume about 40 % of the electrical energy produced in the European Union. About 90 % of this energy is converted to mechanical work. However, 0.5-2.5 % of it goes to so called additional load losses whose exact origins are unknown. Our ambitious aim is to reveal the origins of these losses, build up numerical tools for modeling them and optimize electrical motors to minimize the losses.
As the hypothesis of the research, we assume that the additional losses mainly result from the deterioration of the core materials during the manufacturing process of the machine. By calorimetric measurements, we have found that the core losses of electrical machines may be twice as large as comprehensive loss models predict. The electrical steel sheets are punched, welded together and shrink fit to the frame. This causes residual strains in the core sheets deteriorating their magnetic characteristics. The cutting burrs make galvanic contacts between the sheets and form paths for inter-lamination currents. Another potential source of additional losses are the circulating currents between the parallel strands of random-wound armature windings. The stochastic nature of these potential sources of additional losses puts more challenge on the research.
We shall develop a physical loss model that couples the mechanical strains and electromagnetic losses in electrical steel sheets and apply the new model for comprehensive loss analysis of electrical machines. The stochastic variables related to the core losses and circulating-current losses will be discretized together with the temporal and spatial discretization of the electromechanical field variables. The numerical stochastic loss model will be used to search for such machine constructions that are insensitive to the manufacturing defects. We shall validate the new numerical loss models by electromechanical and calorimetric measurements."
Summary
"Electrical motors consume about 40 % of the electrical energy produced in the European Union. About 90 % of this energy is converted to mechanical work. However, 0.5-2.5 % of it goes to so called additional load losses whose exact origins are unknown. Our ambitious aim is to reveal the origins of these losses, build up numerical tools for modeling them and optimize electrical motors to minimize the losses.
As the hypothesis of the research, we assume that the additional losses mainly result from the deterioration of the core materials during the manufacturing process of the machine. By calorimetric measurements, we have found that the core losses of electrical machines may be twice as large as comprehensive loss models predict. The electrical steel sheets are punched, welded together and shrink fit to the frame. This causes residual strains in the core sheets deteriorating their magnetic characteristics. The cutting burrs make galvanic contacts between the sheets and form paths for inter-lamination currents. Another potential source of additional losses are the circulating currents between the parallel strands of random-wound armature windings. The stochastic nature of these potential sources of additional losses puts more challenge on the research.
We shall develop a physical loss model that couples the mechanical strains and electromagnetic losses in electrical steel sheets and apply the new model for comprehensive loss analysis of electrical machines. The stochastic variables related to the core losses and circulating-current losses will be discretized together with the temporal and spatial discretization of the electromechanical field variables. The numerical stochastic loss model will be used to search for such machine constructions that are insensitive to the manufacturing defects. We shall validate the new numerical loss models by electromechanical and calorimetric measurements."
Max ERC Funding
2 489 949 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-03-01, End date: 2019-02-28
Project acronym AMETIST
Project Advanced III-V Materials and Processes Enabling Ultrahigh-efficiency ( 50%) Photovoltaics
Researcher (PI) Mircea Dorel GUINA
Host Institution (HI) TAMPEREEN KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SR
Country Finland
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE8, ERC-2015-AdG
Summary Compound semiconductor solar cells are providing the highest photovoltaic conversion efficiency, yet their performance lacks far behind the theoretical potential. This is a position we will challenge by engineering advanced III-V optoelectronics materials and heterostructures for better utilization of the solar spectrum, enabling efficiencies approaching practical limits. The work is strongly motivated by the global need for renewable energy sources. To this end, AMETIST framework is based on three vectors of excellence in: i) material science and epitaxial processes, ii) advanced solar cells exploiting nanophotonics concepts, and iii) new device fabrication technologies.
Novel heterostructures (e.g. GaInNAsSb, GaNAsBi), providing absorption in a broad spectral range from 0.7 eV to 1.4 eV, will be synthesized and monolithically integrated in tandem cells with up to 8-junctions. Nanophotonic methods for light-trapping, spectral and spatial control of solar radiation will be developed to further enhance the absorption. To ensure a high long-term impact, the project will validate the use of state-of-the-art molecular-beam-epitaxy processes for fabrication of economically viable ultra-high efficiency solar cells. The ultimate efficiency target is to reach a level of 55%. This would enable to generate renewable/ecological/sustainable energy at a levelized production cost below ~7 ¢/kWh, comparable or cheaper than fossil fuels. The work will also bring a new breath of developments for more efficient space photovoltaic systems.
AMETIST will leverage the leading position of the applicant in topical technology areas relevant for the project (i.e. epitaxy of III-N/Bi-V alloys and key achievements concerning GaInNAsSb-based tandem solar cells). Thus it renders a unique opportunity to capitalize on the group expertize and position Europe at the forefront in the global competition for demonstrating more efficient and economically viable photovoltaic technologies.
Summary
Compound semiconductor solar cells are providing the highest photovoltaic conversion efficiency, yet their performance lacks far behind the theoretical potential. This is a position we will challenge by engineering advanced III-V optoelectronics materials and heterostructures for better utilization of the solar spectrum, enabling efficiencies approaching practical limits. The work is strongly motivated by the global need for renewable energy sources. To this end, AMETIST framework is based on three vectors of excellence in: i) material science and epitaxial processes, ii) advanced solar cells exploiting nanophotonics concepts, and iii) new device fabrication technologies.
Novel heterostructures (e.g. GaInNAsSb, GaNAsBi), providing absorption in a broad spectral range from 0.7 eV to 1.4 eV, will be synthesized and monolithically integrated in tandem cells with up to 8-junctions. Nanophotonic methods for light-trapping, spectral and spatial control of solar radiation will be developed to further enhance the absorption. To ensure a high long-term impact, the project will validate the use of state-of-the-art molecular-beam-epitaxy processes for fabrication of economically viable ultra-high efficiency solar cells. The ultimate efficiency target is to reach a level of 55%. This would enable to generate renewable/ecological/sustainable energy at a levelized production cost below ~7 ¢/kWh, comparable or cheaper than fossil fuels. The work will also bring a new breath of developments for more efficient space photovoltaic systems.
AMETIST will leverage the leading position of the applicant in topical technology areas relevant for the project (i.e. epitaxy of III-N/Bi-V alloys and key achievements concerning GaInNAsSb-based tandem solar cells). Thus it renders a unique opportunity to capitalize on the group expertize and position Europe at the forefront in the global competition for demonstrating more efficient and economically viable photovoltaic technologies.
Max ERC Funding
2 492 719 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-01-01, End date: 2021-12-31
Project acronym ATLAS
Project Bioengineered autonomous cell-biomaterials devices for generating humanised micro-tissues for regenerative medicine
Researcher (PI) Joao Felipe Colardelle da Luz Mano
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDADE DE AVEIRO
Country Portugal
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE8, ERC-2014-ADG
Summary New generations of devices for tissue engineering (TE) should rationalize better the physical and biochemical cues operating in tandem during native regeneration, in particular at the scale/organizational-level of the stem cell niche. The understanding and the deconstruction of these factors (e.g. multiple cell types exchanging both paracrine and direct signals, structural and chemical arrangement of the extra-cellular matrix, mechanical signals…) should be then incorporated into the design of truly biomimetic biomaterials. ATLAS proposes rather unique toolboxes combining smart biomaterials and cells for the ground-breaking advances of engineering fully time-self-regulated complex 2D and 3D devices, able to adjust the cascade of processes leading to faster high-quality new tissue formation with minimum pre-processing of cells. Versatile biomaterials based on marine-origin macromolecules will be used, namely in the supramolecular assembly of instructive multilayers as nanostratified building-blocks for engineer such structures. The backbone of these biopolymers will be equipped with a variety of (bio)chemical elements permitting: post-processing chemistry and micro-patterning, specific/non-specific cell attachment, and cell-controlled degradation. Aiming at being applied in bone TE, ATLAS will integrate cells from different units of tissue physiology, namely bone and hematopoietic basic elements and consider the interactions between the immune and skeletal systems. These ingredients will permit to architect innovative films with high-level dialogue control with cells, but in particular sophisticated quasi-closed 3D capsules able to compartmentalise such components in a “globe-like” organization, providing local and long-range order for in vitro microtissue development and function. Such hybrid devices could be used in more generalised front-edge applications, including as disease models for drug discovery or test new therapies in vitro.
Summary
New generations of devices for tissue engineering (TE) should rationalize better the physical and biochemical cues operating in tandem during native regeneration, in particular at the scale/organizational-level of the stem cell niche. The understanding and the deconstruction of these factors (e.g. multiple cell types exchanging both paracrine and direct signals, structural and chemical arrangement of the extra-cellular matrix, mechanical signals…) should be then incorporated into the design of truly biomimetic biomaterials. ATLAS proposes rather unique toolboxes combining smart biomaterials and cells for the ground-breaking advances of engineering fully time-self-regulated complex 2D and 3D devices, able to adjust the cascade of processes leading to faster high-quality new tissue formation with minimum pre-processing of cells. Versatile biomaterials based on marine-origin macromolecules will be used, namely in the supramolecular assembly of instructive multilayers as nanostratified building-blocks for engineer such structures. The backbone of these biopolymers will be equipped with a variety of (bio)chemical elements permitting: post-processing chemistry and micro-patterning, specific/non-specific cell attachment, and cell-controlled degradation. Aiming at being applied in bone TE, ATLAS will integrate cells from different units of tissue physiology, namely bone and hematopoietic basic elements and consider the interactions between the immune and skeletal systems. These ingredients will permit to architect innovative films with high-level dialogue control with cells, but in particular sophisticated quasi-closed 3D capsules able to compartmentalise such components in a “globe-like” organization, providing local and long-range order for in vitro microtissue development and function. Such hybrid devices could be used in more generalised front-edge applications, including as disease models for drug discovery or test new therapies in vitro.
Max ERC Funding
2 498 988 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-12-01, End date: 2021-10-31
Project acronym ATM-GTP
Project Atmospheric Gas-to-Particle conversion
Researcher (PI) Markku KULMALA
Host Institution (HI) HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
Country Finland
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2016-ADG
Summary Atmospheric Gas-to-Particle conversion (ATM-GTP) is a 5-year project focusing on one of the most critical atmospheric processes relevant to global climate and air quality: the first steps of atmospheric aerosol particle formation and growth. The project will concentrate on the currently lacking environmentally-specific knowledge about the interacting, non-linear, physical and chemical atmospheric processes associated with nano-scale gas-to-particle conversion (GTP). The main scientific objective of ATM-GTP is to create a deep understanding on atmospheric GTP taking place at the sub-5 nm size range, particularly in heavily-polluted Chinese mega cities like Beijing and in pristine environments like Siberia and Nordic high-latitude regions. We also aim to find out how nano-GTM is associated with air quality-climate interactions and feedbacks. We are interested in quantifying the effect of nano-GTP on the COBACC (Continental Biosphere-Aerosol-Cloud-Climate) feedback loop that is important in Arctic and boreal regions. Our approach enables to point out the effective reduction mechanisms of the secondary air pollution by a factor of 5-10 and to make reliable estimates of the global and regional aerosol loads, including anthropogenic and biogenic contributions to these loads. We can estimate the future role of Northern Hemispheric biosphere in reducing the global radiative forcing via the quantified feedbacks. The project is carried out by the world-leading scientist in atmospheric aerosol science, being also one of the founders of terrestrial ecosystem meteorology, together with his research team. The project uses novel infrastructures including SMEAR (Stations Measuring Ecosystem Atmospheric Relations) stations, related modelling platforms and regional data from Russia and China. The work will be carried out in synergy with several national, Nordic and EU research-innovation projects: Finnish Center of Excellence-ATM, Nordic CoE-CRAICC and EU-FP7-BACCHUS.
Summary
Atmospheric Gas-to-Particle conversion (ATM-GTP) is a 5-year project focusing on one of the most critical atmospheric processes relevant to global climate and air quality: the first steps of atmospheric aerosol particle formation and growth. The project will concentrate on the currently lacking environmentally-specific knowledge about the interacting, non-linear, physical and chemical atmospheric processes associated with nano-scale gas-to-particle conversion (GTP). The main scientific objective of ATM-GTP is to create a deep understanding on atmospheric GTP taking place at the sub-5 nm size range, particularly in heavily-polluted Chinese mega cities like Beijing and in pristine environments like Siberia and Nordic high-latitude regions. We also aim to find out how nano-GTM is associated with air quality-climate interactions and feedbacks. We are interested in quantifying the effect of nano-GTP on the COBACC (Continental Biosphere-Aerosol-Cloud-Climate) feedback loop that is important in Arctic and boreal regions. Our approach enables to point out the effective reduction mechanisms of the secondary air pollution by a factor of 5-10 and to make reliable estimates of the global and regional aerosol loads, including anthropogenic and biogenic contributions to these loads. We can estimate the future role of Northern Hemispheric biosphere in reducing the global radiative forcing via the quantified feedbacks. The project is carried out by the world-leading scientist in atmospheric aerosol science, being also one of the founders of terrestrial ecosystem meteorology, together with his research team. The project uses novel infrastructures including SMEAR (Stations Measuring Ecosystem Atmospheric Relations) stations, related modelling platforms and regional data from Russia and China. The work will be carried out in synergy with several national, Nordic and EU research-innovation projects: Finnish Center of Excellence-ATM, Nordic CoE-CRAICC and EU-FP7-BACCHUS.
Max ERC Funding
2 500 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-06-01, End date: 2022-05-31
Project acronym ATMEN
Project Atomic precision materials engineering
Researcher (PI) Toma SUSI
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT WIEN
Country Austria
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE5, ERC-2017-STG
Summary Despite more than fifty years of scientific progress since Richard Feynman's 1959 vision for nanotechnology, there is only one way to manipulate individual atoms in materials: scanning tunneling microscopy. Since the late 1980s, its atomically sharp tip has been used to move atoms over clean metal surfaces held at cryogenic temperatures. Scanning transmission electron microscopy, on the other hand, has been able to resolve atoms only more recently by focusing the electron beam with sub-atomic precision. This is especially useful in the two-dimensional form of hexagonally bonded carbon called graphene, which has superb electronic and mechanical properties. Several ways to further engineer those have been proposed, including by doping the structure with substitutional heteroatoms such as boron, nitrogen, phosphorus and silicon. My recent discovery that the scattering of the energetic imaging electrons can cause a silicon impurity to move through the graphene lattice has revealed a potential for atomically precise manipulation using the Ångström-sized electron probe. To develop this into a practical technique, improvements in the description of beam-induced displacements, advances in heteroatom implantation, and a concerted effort towards the automation of manipulations are required. My project tackles these in a multidisciplinary effort combining innovative computational techniques with pioneering experiments in an instrument where a low-energy ion implantation chamber is directly connected to an advanced electron microscope. To demonstrate the power of the method, I will prototype an atomic memory with an unprecedented memory density, and create heteroatom quantum corrals optimized for their plasmonic properties. The capability for atom-scale engineering of covalent materials opens a new vista for nanotechnology, pushing back the boundaries of the possible and allowing a plethora of materials science questions to be studied at the ultimate level of control.
Summary
Despite more than fifty years of scientific progress since Richard Feynman's 1959 vision for nanotechnology, there is only one way to manipulate individual atoms in materials: scanning tunneling microscopy. Since the late 1980s, its atomically sharp tip has been used to move atoms over clean metal surfaces held at cryogenic temperatures. Scanning transmission electron microscopy, on the other hand, has been able to resolve atoms only more recently by focusing the electron beam with sub-atomic precision. This is especially useful in the two-dimensional form of hexagonally bonded carbon called graphene, which has superb electronic and mechanical properties. Several ways to further engineer those have been proposed, including by doping the structure with substitutional heteroatoms such as boron, nitrogen, phosphorus and silicon. My recent discovery that the scattering of the energetic imaging electrons can cause a silicon impurity to move through the graphene lattice has revealed a potential for atomically precise manipulation using the Ångström-sized electron probe. To develop this into a practical technique, improvements in the description of beam-induced displacements, advances in heteroatom implantation, and a concerted effort towards the automation of manipulations are required. My project tackles these in a multidisciplinary effort combining innovative computational techniques with pioneering experiments in an instrument where a low-energy ion implantation chamber is directly connected to an advanced electron microscope. To demonstrate the power of the method, I will prototype an atomic memory with an unprecedented memory density, and create heteroatom quantum corrals optimized for their plasmonic properties. The capability for atom-scale engineering of covalent materials opens a new vista for nanotechnology, pushing back the boundaries of the possible and allowing a plethora of materials science questions to be studied at the ultimate level of control.
Max ERC Funding
1 497 202 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-10-01, End date: 2022-09-30
Project acronym ATMNUCLE
Project Atmospheric nucleation: from molecular to global scale
Researcher (PI) Markku Tapio Kulmala
Host Institution (HI) HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
Country Finland
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary Atmospheric aerosol particles and trace gases affect the quality of our life in many ways (e.g. health effects, changes in climate and hydrological cycle). Trace gases and atmospheric aerosols are tightly connected via physical, chemical, meteorological and biological processes occurring in the atmosphere and at the atmosphere-biosphere interface. One important phenomenon is atmospheric aerosol formation, which involves the production of nanometer-size particles by nucleation and their growth to detectable sizes. The main scientific objectives of this project are 1) to quantify the mechanisms responsible for atmospheric new particle formation and 2) to find out how important this process is for the behaviour of the global aerosol system and, ultimately, for the whole climate system. Our scientific plan is designed as a research chain that aims to advance our understanding of climate and air quality through a series of connected activities. We start from molecular simulations and laboratory measurements to understand nucleation and aerosol thermodynamic processes. We measure nanoparticles and atmospheric clusters at 15-20 sites all around the world using state of the art instrumentation and study feedbacks and interactions between climate and biosphere. With these atmospheric boundary layer studies we form a link to regional-scale processes and further to global-scale phenomena. In order to be able to simulate global climate and air quality, the most recent progress on this chain of processes must be compiled, integrated and implemented in Climate Change and Air Quality numerical models via novel parameterizations.
Summary
Atmospheric aerosol particles and trace gases affect the quality of our life in many ways (e.g. health effects, changes in climate and hydrological cycle). Trace gases and atmospheric aerosols are tightly connected via physical, chemical, meteorological and biological processes occurring in the atmosphere and at the atmosphere-biosphere interface. One important phenomenon is atmospheric aerosol formation, which involves the production of nanometer-size particles by nucleation and their growth to detectable sizes. The main scientific objectives of this project are 1) to quantify the mechanisms responsible for atmospheric new particle formation and 2) to find out how important this process is for the behaviour of the global aerosol system and, ultimately, for the whole climate system. Our scientific plan is designed as a research chain that aims to advance our understanding of climate and air quality through a series of connected activities. We start from molecular simulations and laboratory measurements to understand nucleation and aerosol thermodynamic processes. We measure nanoparticles and atmospheric clusters at 15-20 sites all around the world using state of the art instrumentation and study feedbacks and interactions between climate and biosphere. With these atmospheric boundary layer studies we form a link to regional-scale processes and further to global-scale phenomena. In order to be able to simulate global climate and air quality, the most recent progress on this chain of processes must be compiled, integrated and implemented in Climate Change and Air Quality numerical models via novel parameterizations.
Max ERC Funding
2 000 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-01-01, End date: 2013-12-31
