Project acronym HHIT
Project The here and the hereafter in Islamic traditions
Researcher (PI) Christian Robert Lange
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH2, ERC-2010-StG_20091209
Summary The aim of this project is to write a history of the Muslim paradise and hell. Researchers (PI, RF and two doctoral researchers) will assess the extent to which Islamic traditions favour or reject a view of human existence as directed toward the otherworld. They will do so by examining a variety of intellectual traditions from the inception of Islam in the 7th century CE until today. The focus of investigation will not just be on the ‘high tradition’ of Islamic theology and jurisprudence, but also on mystical, philosophical, artistic and ‘popular’ traditions, thereby avoiding a monolithic, essentialising account of Islam’s attitude toward the hereafter.
As has been argued, the relationship between this world (dunya) and the otherworld (akhira) is as important to Islam as the mind/body dualism is to the intellectual history of the West. However, no sustained effort of analysis has been made in modern Islamic Studies to reflect on the dunya/akhira relationship, and on the boundary that separates the two. This project will be the first comprehensive and systematic attempt in this direction. Five axes of research will underlie this endeavor: (1) the eschatological imaginaire, (2) material culture and the arts, (3) theology and law, (4) mysticism and philosophy, and (5) modern and contemporary visions of the hereafter.
The project (proposed duration: 48 months), which is to begin on 1 March 2011, will be based at the Utrecht University and led by Dr Christian Lange (PhD Harvard, 2006, 70%), currently Lecturer in Islamic Studies at New College/School of Divinity. The research team will include one research assistant (100%, 45 months) and two doctoral researchers (100%, 36 months). Financial support is solicited to facilitate the survey of manuscripts and manuscript research in various collections in North America, Europe and Asia, and to help organise two scholarly symposia in Islamic eschatology and one comparative conference.
Summary
The aim of this project is to write a history of the Muslim paradise and hell. Researchers (PI, RF and two doctoral researchers) will assess the extent to which Islamic traditions favour or reject a view of human existence as directed toward the otherworld. They will do so by examining a variety of intellectual traditions from the inception of Islam in the 7th century CE until today. The focus of investigation will not just be on the ‘high tradition’ of Islamic theology and jurisprudence, but also on mystical, philosophical, artistic and ‘popular’ traditions, thereby avoiding a monolithic, essentialising account of Islam’s attitude toward the hereafter.
As has been argued, the relationship between this world (dunya) and the otherworld (akhira) is as important to Islam as the mind/body dualism is to the intellectual history of the West. However, no sustained effort of analysis has been made in modern Islamic Studies to reflect on the dunya/akhira relationship, and on the boundary that separates the two. This project will be the first comprehensive and systematic attempt in this direction. Five axes of research will underlie this endeavor: (1) the eschatological imaginaire, (2) material culture and the arts, (3) theology and law, (4) mysticism and philosophy, and (5) modern and contemporary visions of the hereafter.
The project (proposed duration: 48 months), which is to begin on 1 March 2011, will be based at the Utrecht University and led by Dr Christian Lange (PhD Harvard, 2006, 70%), currently Lecturer in Islamic Studies at New College/School of Divinity. The research team will include one research assistant (100%, 45 months) and two doctoral researchers (100%, 36 months). Financial support is solicited to facilitate the survey of manuscripts and manuscript research in various collections in North America, Europe and Asia, and to help organise two scholarly symposia in Islamic eschatology and one comparative conference.
Max ERC Funding
978 368 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-03-01, End date: 2015-04-30
Project acronym LIFE-HIS-T
Project Mapping the life histories of T cells
Researcher (PI) Antonius Nicolaas Maria Schumacher
Host Institution (HI) STICHTING HET NEDERLANDS KANKER INSTITUUT-ANTONI VAN LEEUWENHOEK ZIEKENHUIS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS6, ERC-2010-AdG_20100317
Summary T cells display many different phenotypes and functions, depending on the nature of previously encountered signals. If we want to understand how these different T cell subsets arise, we need to be able to follow individual T cells and their progeny through time. With the aim to map the life histories of individual T cells we have developed unique technologies that allow us to determine whether different T cell populations arise from common or distinct progenitors.
Within this project we will utilize genetic reporter systems to determine:
1. How T cell recruitment, proliferation and death shape antigen-specific T cell responses
2. At which stage the resulting T cells commit to the effector or the memory T cell lineage
3. The self renewal potential of the tissue-resident memory T cells that remain after infection is cleared
By following T cells and their progeny through time, this project will describe the regulation of cell fate in antigen-specific T cell responses. Furthermore, this project will lead to the creation of novel reporters of cellular history that will be of broad value to analyze cell fate and kinship for a variety of cell types.
Summary
T cells display many different phenotypes and functions, depending on the nature of previously encountered signals. If we want to understand how these different T cell subsets arise, we need to be able to follow individual T cells and their progeny through time. With the aim to map the life histories of individual T cells we have developed unique technologies that allow us to determine whether different T cell populations arise from common or distinct progenitors.
Within this project we will utilize genetic reporter systems to determine:
1. How T cell recruitment, proliferation and death shape antigen-specific T cell responses
2. At which stage the resulting T cells commit to the effector or the memory T cell lineage
3. The self renewal potential of the tissue-resident memory T cells that remain after infection is cleared
By following T cells and their progeny through time, this project will describe the regulation of cell fate in antigen-specific T cell responses. Furthermore, this project will lead to the creation of novel reporters of cellular history that will be of broad value to analyze cell fate and kinship for a variety of cell types.
Max ERC Funding
2 499 640 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-05-01, End date: 2017-01-31
Project acronym MICROINNATE
Project An exploration into the role of microRNAs in innate immune signaling
Researcher (PI) Luke O'neill
Host Institution (HI) THE PROVOST, FELLOWS, FOUNDATION SCHOLARS & THE OTHER MEMBERS OF BOARD OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY & UNDIVIDED TRINITY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH NEAR DUBLIN
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS6, ERC-2010-AdG_20100317
Summary MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of both innate and adaptive immunity. This is very much a frontier area since little is known about miRNA function in vivo, and there is still much discovery to be done. Their emerging functions indicate that they are as potent as cytokines in immunoregulation.
We have found that Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling is potently modulated by 2 particular miRNAs, miR-21 and miR-107. The programme will have 4 aspects which will build on this initial observation.
1. Extension of our observations on miR-21 and TLR signaling. We found that the translational repressor PDCD4 is a key target. We will study miR-21-deficient mice, construct a mouse model where the miR-21 seed sequence in the 3'UTR of PDCD4 is altered, and target miR-21 in vivo using antagomirs. We will also determine the mRNAs regulated by PDCD4 and examine the role of mTOR in PDCD4 control since PDCD4 is a possible substrate.
2. Examination of the role of miR-107 in TLR signaling. TLRs dramatically decrease it¿s expression. We have found that miR-107 has an inhibitory role in TNF secretion via the targeting of CDK6. Activation of PPAR-alpha increases expression of miR107, which could be part of the anti-inflammatory effect of PPAR-alpha ligands. We will explore miR-107-deficient mice and in vitro models of miR-107 function.
3. Exploring the targeting of miR-155 by IL10, which we have recently found. The miR-155 target SHIP1 may be important in this system. We will analyze this process in detail and determine other targets for miR-155 in IL10 action.
4. Perform a screen for novel regulators of the aforementioned miRNAs and screen for miRNAs as regulators of other innate immune pathways, including Nalp3 and RIG-I, about which little is known. These experiments will yield new insights and components
The focus is the complex role miRNAs are playing in innate immunity and inflammation.
Summary
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of both innate and adaptive immunity. This is very much a frontier area since little is known about miRNA function in vivo, and there is still much discovery to be done. Their emerging functions indicate that they are as potent as cytokines in immunoregulation.
We have found that Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling is potently modulated by 2 particular miRNAs, miR-21 and miR-107. The programme will have 4 aspects which will build on this initial observation.
1. Extension of our observations on miR-21 and TLR signaling. We found that the translational repressor PDCD4 is a key target. We will study miR-21-deficient mice, construct a mouse model where the miR-21 seed sequence in the 3'UTR of PDCD4 is altered, and target miR-21 in vivo using antagomirs. We will also determine the mRNAs regulated by PDCD4 and examine the role of mTOR in PDCD4 control since PDCD4 is a possible substrate.
2. Examination of the role of miR-107 in TLR signaling. TLRs dramatically decrease it¿s expression. We have found that miR-107 has an inhibitory role in TNF secretion via the targeting of CDK6. Activation of PPAR-alpha increases expression of miR107, which could be part of the anti-inflammatory effect of PPAR-alpha ligands. We will explore miR-107-deficient mice and in vitro models of miR-107 function.
3. Exploring the targeting of miR-155 by IL10, which we have recently found. The miR-155 target SHIP1 may be important in this system. We will analyze this process in detail and determine other targets for miR-155 in IL10 action.
4. Perform a screen for novel regulators of the aforementioned miRNAs and screen for miRNAs as regulators of other innate immune pathways, including Nalp3 and RIG-I, about which little is known. These experiments will yield new insights and components
The focus is the complex role miRNAs are playing in innate immunity and inflammation.
Max ERC Funding
2 480 587 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-06-01, End date: 2016-05-31
