ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

Over the past decade, the media, international organisations, as well as policy-making bodies have voiced increasing concern about a growing overlap between the criminal and political spheres in South Asia. Many 'criminal politicians' are accused not simply of embezzlement, but of burglary, kidnapping and murder, so that the observed political landscape emerges not only as a 'corrupt', but also a highly violent sphere. This project is a collaborative and cross-national ethnographic study of the criminalisation of politics in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Bringing together local-level investigation, surveys and historical analysis, the project will produce comprehensive political ethnographies in sixteen sites across the subcontinent, providing empirical material and theoretical directives for further charting of the virtually unexplored terrain of extra-legal muscular politics in the region. Central to the proposed programme of research are the following interrelated objectives: 1) To further develop the method of collaborative political ethnography by designing, collecting and producing case studies which will allow us to write thematically across sites; 2) To generate policy relevant research in the fields of security, conflict, democracy and development; 3) To produce capability by forging an international network of scholars on issues related to democratisation, violence, crime and support the work and careers of the project's 4 Post-docs. The study capitalises on previous research and skills of the PI in the cross-cultural study of democracy and muscular politics in the global South. All members of the research team have expertise in ethnographic research in the difficult spheres of criminal politics, informal economies, and political violence and are hence well and sometimes uniquely equipped to pursue this challenging research thematic.

1 200 000 €

Start date: 2012-03-01, End date: 2016-02-29

Bio-medical innovation makes a substantial contribution to Western societies and economies. But leading research organisations in the West are increasingly reliant on clinical research conducted beyond the West. Such initiatives are challenged by uncertainties about research quality and therapeutic practices in Asian countries. These only partly justified uncertainties are augmented by unfamiliar conditions. This study examines how to create responsible innovation in the life sciences by looking for ways to overcome existing obstacles to safe, just and ethical international science collaborations. Building on observations of scientists, managers and patients and supported by Asian language expertise, biology background, and experience with science and technology policy-making, we examine the roles of regional differences and inequalities in the networks used for patient recruitment and international research agreements. Profit-motivated networks in the life sciences also occur underground and at an informal, unregulated level, which we call bionetworking. Bionetworking is a social entrepreneurial activity involving biomedical research, healthcare and patient networks that are maintained by taking advantage of regionally differences in levels of science and technology, healthcare, education and regulatory regimes. Using novel social-science methods, the project studies two main themes. Theme 1 examines patient recruitment networks for experimental stem cell therapies and cooperation between research and health institutions involving exchanges of patients against other resources. Theme 2 maps and analyses exchanges of biomaterials of human derivation, and forms of ‘ownership’ rights, benefits and burdens associated with their donation, possession, maintenance, and application. Integral analysis of the project nodes incorporates an analysis of public health policy and patient preference in relation to Responsible innovation, Good governance and Global assemblages.

1 497 711 €

Start date: 2012-02-01, End date: 2017-01-31

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease that culminates in excessive extra-cellular matrix deposition (fibrosis) in skin and internal organs. SSc is a severe disease in which fibrotic events lead to organ failure such as renal failure, deterioration of lung function and development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Together, these disease hallmarks culminate in profound disability and premature death. Over the past three years several crucial observations by my group changed the landscape of our thinking about the ethiopathogenesis of this disease. First, plasmacytoid dendritic (pDCs) cells were found to be extremely frequent in the circulation of SSc patients (1000-fold) compared with healthy individuals. In addition, we observed that pDCs from SSc patients are largely dedicated to synthesize CXCL4 that was proven to be directly implicated in fibroblast biology and endothelial cell activation, two events recapitulating SSc. Finally, research aimed to decipher the underlying cause of this increased pDCs frequency led to the observation that Runx3, a transcription factor that controls the differentiation of DC subsets, was almost not expressed in pDC of SSc patients. Together, these observations led me to pose the “SSc immune postulate” in which the pathogenesis of SSc is explained by a multi-step process in which Runx3 and CXCL4 play a central role. The project CIRCUMVENT is designed to provide proof of concept for the role of CXCL4 and RUNX3 in SSc. For this aim we will exploit a unique set of patient material (cell subsets, protein and DNA bank), various recently developed in vitro techniques (siRNA for pDCs, viral over expression of CXCL4/RUNX3) and apply three recently optimised experimental models (CXCL4 subcutaneous pump model, DC specific RUNX3 KO and the SCID/NOD/rag2 KO mice). The project CIRCUMVENT aims to proof the direct role for Runx3 and CXCL4 that could provide the final step towards the development of novel therapeutic targets

1 500 000 €

Start date: 2012-08-01, End date: 2017-07-31

At a time when the discourse on constitutionalism has come to focus on the constitutionalisation processes at the European and global level, this project will turn the spotlight on national constitutions. It embarks on an analysis and rethinking of the role and future of national constitutions in the context where decision-making has increasingly shifted to transnational level. The project will have three objectives. The first objective is concerned with the role of constitutions internally within the state: the project assesses how credible the content of constitutions remains given the realities of European integration. To this end, it will undertake a comprehensive, comparative and issue-based analysis of EU-related amendments in national constitutions. The second objective concerns the role of constitutions externally with regard to European integration. While national constitutions have increasingly been regarded as a manifestation of sovereignty, and therefore representing values that are often viewed as parochial, the project will turn the focus on other values contained in the constitutions, such as protection of rights and the rule of law. It will explore constitutional courts’ judgements articulating the rights and values that mandate upholding at supranational level, and assess the responsiveness of the European Court of Justice with regard to such concerns. The third objective applies experiences from the EU context to the new research area of global governance. The project aims to assess whether the constitutional provisions on international treaties suffice to reflect the sheer extent to which decision-making has shifted to international institutions and global regulatory networks. It will also explore how constitutions could respond to the problems increasingly highlighted in the context of global governance in relation to legitimacy, democratic control, accountability and the rule of law.

1 230 958 €

Start date: 2012-01-01, End date: 2018-12-31