Project acronym DigitalDoctors
Project Making Clinical Sense: A comparative study of how doctors learn in digital times
Researcher (PI) Anna Harris
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITEIT MAASTRICHT
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH3, ERC-2015-STG
Summary Digital technologies are reconfiguring medical practices in ways we still don’t understand. This research project seeks to examine the impact of the digital in medicine by studying the role of pedagogical technologies in how doctors learn the skills of their profession. It focuses on the centuries-old skill of physical examination; a sensing of the body, through the body. Increasingly medical students are learning these skills away from the bedside, through videos, simulated models and in laboratories. My research team will interrogate how learning with these technologies impacts on how doctors learn to sense bodies. Through the rich case of doctors-in-training the study addresses a key challenge in social scientific scholarship regarding how technologies, particularly those digital and virtual, are implicated in bodily, sensory knowing of the world. Our research takes a historically-attuned comparative anthropology approach, advancing the social study of medicine and medical education research in three new directions. First, a team of three ethnographers will attend to both spectacular and mundane technologies in medical education, recognising that everyday learning situations are filled with technologies old and new. Second, it offers the first comparative social study of medical education with fieldwork in three materially and culturally different settings in Western and Eastern Europe, and West Africa. Finally, the study brings historical and ethnographic research of technologies closer together, with a historian conducting oral histories and archival research at each site. Findings will have impact in the social sciences and education research by advancing understanding of how the digital and other technologies are implicated in skills learning. The study will develop novel digital-sensory methodologies and boldly, a new theory of techno-perception. These academic contributions will have practical relevance by improving the training of doctors in digital times.
Summary
Digital technologies are reconfiguring medical practices in ways we still don’t understand. This research project seeks to examine the impact of the digital in medicine by studying the role of pedagogical technologies in how doctors learn the skills of their profession. It focuses on the centuries-old skill of physical examination; a sensing of the body, through the body. Increasingly medical students are learning these skills away from the bedside, through videos, simulated models and in laboratories. My research team will interrogate how learning with these technologies impacts on how doctors learn to sense bodies. Through the rich case of doctors-in-training the study addresses a key challenge in social scientific scholarship regarding how technologies, particularly those digital and virtual, are implicated in bodily, sensory knowing of the world. Our research takes a historically-attuned comparative anthropology approach, advancing the social study of medicine and medical education research in three new directions. First, a team of three ethnographers will attend to both spectacular and mundane technologies in medical education, recognising that everyday learning situations are filled with technologies old and new. Second, it offers the first comparative social study of medical education with fieldwork in three materially and culturally different settings in Western and Eastern Europe, and West Africa. Finally, the study brings historical and ethnographic research of technologies closer together, with a historian conducting oral histories and archival research at each site. Findings will have impact in the social sciences and education research by advancing understanding of how the digital and other technologies are implicated in skills learning. The study will develop novel digital-sensory methodologies and boldly, a new theory of techno-perception. These academic contributions will have practical relevance by improving the training of doctors in digital times.
Max ERC Funding
1 361 507 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-03-01, End date: 2021-02-28
Project acronym ECOSPACE
Project EcoSpace: Spatial-Dynamic Modelling of Adaptation Options to Climate Change at the Ecosystem Scale
Researcher (PI) Lars Gerard Hein
Host Institution (HI) WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH3, ERC-2010-StG_20091209
Summary Climate change will necessitate adjustments in ecosystem management in order to maintain the functioning of ecosystems and the supply of ecosystem services. The aim of this project is to develop a spatially explicit, dynamic modelling approach for identifying and analysing adaptation strategies for ecosystem management.
In particular, the project will develop and apply a general, spatial model integrating climate change scenarios, ecosystem dynamics, response thresholds, ecosystem services supply and management options. The scientific innovation of the project lies in the application of an ecosystem services approach to analyse adaptation options, the integration of complex ecosystem dynamics and societal impacts, and the spatially explicit modelling of economic benefits supplied by ecosystems.
The general model will be tested and validated on the basis of three case studies, focussing on: (i) flood protection in the Netherlands; (ii) impacts of climate change in northern Norway; and (iii) optimising land use including production of biofuels stock in Kalimantan, Indonesia. The first two areas are particularly vulnerable to climate change, and the third area is relevant because of its importance as a source of biofuel (palmoil) with associated environmental and social impacts. Each case study will be implemented in collaboration with local and international partners, and will result in the identification of economic efficient, sustainable and equitable local adaptation options.
Summary
Climate change will necessitate adjustments in ecosystem management in order to maintain the functioning of ecosystems and the supply of ecosystem services. The aim of this project is to develop a spatially explicit, dynamic modelling approach for identifying and analysing adaptation strategies for ecosystem management.
In particular, the project will develop and apply a general, spatial model integrating climate change scenarios, ecosystem dynamics, response thresholds, ecosystem services supply and management options. The scientific innovation of the project lies in the application of an ecosystem services approach to analyse adaptation options, the integration of complex ecosystem dynamics and societal impacts, and the spatially explicit modelling of economic benefits supplied by ecosystems.
The general model will be tested and validated on the basis of three case studies, focussing on: (i) flood protection in the Netherlands; (ii) impacts of climate change in northern Norway; and (iii) optimising land use including production of biofuels stock in Kalimantan, Indonesia. The first two areas are particularly vulnerable to climate change, and the third area is relevant because of its importance as a source of biofuel (palmoil) with associated environmental and social impacts. Each case study will be implemented in collaboration with local and international partners, and will result in the identification of economic efficient, sustainable and equitable local adaptation options.
Max ERC Funding
759 600 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-11-01, End date: 2015-10-31
Project acronym FAMILIFE
Project Families of migrant origin: a life course perspective
Researcher (PI) Helga Antoinette Gerda De Valk
Host Institution (HI) KONINKLIJKE NEDERLANDSE AKADEMIE VAN WETENSCHAPPEN - KNAW
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH3, ERC-2010-StG_20091209
Summary Over the last decades European societies have become more ethnically diverse. However, a more comprehensive understanding of the life course and population dynamics in migrant families is still lacking. Ignoring a large share of the population in studies on family and population dynamics is exclusive and does not reflect reality. My project is first of all innovative in providing a more comprehensive overview of individual life courses of migrants: events in different life domains are linked and full life trajectories are analysed and explained. I will focus not only on the causes but also study the consequences of life course decisions. The second project goal is to explain the effect of migration on intergenerational solidarity and family ties. The analyses will link different phases in the life course as well as different generations. Families of different migrant and native origin will be compared in these parts. Third, I will make unique comparisons between the life course trajectories in the countries of origin and settlement of migrants. Bringing in the perspective of the sending country is original and crucial for understanding to what extent life course choices are related to the integration process in the host society, or to a trend that also occurs in the country of origin. A final major novelty of this project is that different recent data sources are linked within each of the components of the project. The combination of data from the Gender and Generations Survey (GGS), The Integration of the Second Generation (TIES) survey, the PAIRFAM survey, the European Social Survey, the Demographic and Health Surveys and the census, allow for a more complete understanding of the life courses of migrants and population dynamics in migrant families.
Summary
Over the last decades European societies have become more ethnically diverse. However, a more comprehensive understanding of the life course and population dynamics in migrant families is still lacking. Ignoring a large share of the population in studies on family and population dynamics is exclusive and does not reflect reality. My project is first of all innovative in providing a more comprehensive overview of individual life courses of migrants: events in different life domains are linked and full life trajectories are analysed and explained. I will focus not only on the causes but also study the consequences of life course decisions. The second project goal is to explain the effect of migration on intergenerational solidarity and family ties. The analyses will link different phases in the life course as well as different generations. Families of different migrant and native origin will be compared in these parts. Third, I will make unique comparisons between the life course trajectories in the countries of origin and settlement of migrants. Bringing in the perspective of the sending country is original and crucial for understanding to what extent life course choices are related to the integration process in the host society, or to a trend that also occurs in the country of origin. A final major novelty of this project is that different recent data sources are linked within each of the components of the project. The combination of data from the Gender and Generations Survey (GGS), The Integration of the Second Generation (TIES) survey, the PAIRFAM survey, the European Social Survey, the Demographic and Health Surveys and the census, allow for a more complete understanding of the life courses of migrants and population dynamics in migrant families.
Max ERC Funding
1 012 800 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-02-01, End date: 2016-08-31
Project acronym GEODIVERCITY
Project Analysing and Modelling the Geographical Diversity of Cities and Systems of Cities
Researcher (PI) Denise Pumain
Host Institution (HI) CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH3, ERC-2010-AdG_20100407
Summary Cities are today the main form of occupation of the Earth’s surface by human societies, and their development, combining design and self-organisation, sets numerous challenges in terms of collective territorial intelligence. On the scale of national and continent-wide territories, or indeed world-wide territories for the largest, cities are interconnected by way of numerous networks, in particular economic networks, that make them increasingly interdependent and associate them one with another in a process of co-evolution within which they have to structure and adapt conjointly. It is also important to underline the existence of path dependence processes, whereby the mark of previous choices is retained over several centuries in urban morphology, and often over several decades in social or economic specialisations. The present project sets out to gather the main stylised facts making up our knowledge about the dynamics of complex urban systems that has been acquired from observation and different analytical modelling processes, and to use them in new simulation models so as to reconstruct the interaction networks making up these systems. These models will be validated using a multi-scale procedure based on temporal geo-referenced data bases. The generic model SIMPOP will be completed and transferred to an open and scalable simulation platform, and specific versions will be developed and tested for the main regions of the world. The ultimate aim is to provide a series of validated models able to provide medium-term forecasts of the way in which the main urban and global territorial balances will evolve, and to explore scenarios whereby these city systems might adapt to the policies enacted aiming to counter the effects of climate change.
Summary
Cities are today the main form of occupation of the Earth’s surface by human societies, and their development, combining design and self-organisation, sets numerous challenges in terms of collective territorial intelligence. On the scale of national and continent-wide territories, or indeed world-wide territories for the largest, cities are interconnected by way of numerous networks, in particular economic networks, that make them increasingly interdependent and associate them one with another in a process of co-evolution within which they have to structure and adapt conjointly. It is also important to underline the existence of path dependence processes, whereby the mark of previous choices is retained over several centuries in urban morphology, and often over several decades in social or economic specialisations. The present project sets out to gather the main stylised facts making up our knowledge about the dynamics of complex urban systems that has been acquired from observation and different analytical modelling processes, and to use them in new simulation models so as to reconstruct the interaction networks making up these systems. These models will be validated using a multi-scale procedure based on temporal geo-referenced data bases. The generic model SIMPOP will be completed and transferred to an open and scalable simulation platform, and specific versions will be developed and tested for the main regions of the world. The ultimate aim is to provide a series of validated models able to provide medium-term forecasts of the way in which the main urban and global territorial balances will evolve, and to explore scenarios whereby these city systems might adapt to the policies enacted aiming to counter the effects of climate change.
Max ERC Funding
1 801 047 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-06-01, End date: 2016-05-31
Project acronym GP
Project COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE: Political economy of Green Paradoxes
Researcher (PI) Cornelius Antonius Adrianus Maria Withagen
Host Institution (HI) STICHTING VU
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH3, ERC-2010-AdG_20100407
Summary Green Paradoxes are defined as the phenomenon that climate change policies can have counterproductive effects. For example, a subsidy on clean energy from renewable resources (solar, wind) will decrease the price at which this energy is supplied. But if the price still exceeds the cost of fossil fuel extraction and given that available stocks will be depleted, the price decrease will speed up the extraction from non-renewable resources, such as oil, that cause CO2 emissions. Hence, instead of delaying extraction the policy enhances initial extraction and emissions. In the design of environmental policy this effect is insufficiently taken into account, because the supply side of the market for fossil fuels is largely neglected.
The principal aim of this research proposal is to critically investigate Green Paradoxes and to come up with sound policy recommendations, taking into account the demand as well as the supply dimension of fossil fuels. Particular attention is paid to a broad and dynamic welfare analysis, allowing for concerns regarding sustainability. Especially relevant for tackling the research question is to provide a closer examination of imperfect competition on the oil market and to distinguish between dirty and clean alternatives for fossil fuel. In addition the proposal is to study the political economy of climate change policy to come up with proposals that not only muster global support but also address the adverse distributional aspects of climate change itself on developing economies and on the poorest of advanced economies who get hardest hit by green taxes. This requires not only the tools of modern political economy, but also the realms of second-best economics and the latest developments in public finance.
Summary
Green Paradoxes are defined as the phenomenon that climate change policies can have counterproductive effects. For example, a subsidy on clean energy from renewable resources (solar, wind) will decrease the price at which this energy is supplied. But if the price still exceeds the cost of fossil fuel extraction and given that available stocks will be depleted, the price decrease will speed up the extraction from non-renewable resources, such as oil, that cause CO2 emissions. Hence, instead of delaying extraction the policy enhances initial extraction and emissions. In the design of environmental policy this effect is insufficiently taken into account, because the supply side of the market for fossil fuels is largely neglected.
The principal aim of this research proposal is to critically investigate Green Paradoxes and to come up with sound policy recommendations, taking into account the demand as well as the supply dimension of fossil fuels. Particular attention is paid to a broad and dynamic welfare analysis, allowing for concerns regarding sustainability. Especially relevant for tackling the research question is to provide a closer examination of imperfect competition on the oil market and to distinguish between dirty and clean alternatives for fossil fuel. In addition the proposal is to study the political economy of climate change policy to come up with proposals that not only muster global support but also address the adverse distributional aspects of climate change itself on developing economies and on the poorest of advanced economies who get hardest hit by green taxes. This requires not only the tools of modern political economy, but also the realms of second-best economics and the latest developments in public finance.
Max ERC Funding
2 743 548 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-05-01, End date: 2016-04-30
Project acronym INCLUDE
Project Indigenous Communities, Land Use and Tropical Deforestation
Researcher (PI) Michele Graziano Ceddia
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAET BERN
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH3, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary Tropical deforestation is an important contributor to climate change, through the release of significant amounts of carbon in the atmosphere. The main proximate cause of deforestation in tropical regions is agricultural expansion, followed by timber extraction. The general objective of this research is to understand how the interaction of technological, environmental, economic and social factors influence land use dynamics, including household decisions, about agricultural expansion and resource extraction in sensitive tropical regions. More specific questions relate to the role of various governance structures, particularly those recognizing common property regimes of land tenure to indigenous and rural communities, and the deliberative evaluation about the opportunity of reforming such structures in order to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. Although such aspects have been addressed in a variety of contexts, the approach proposed here is novel as a) it explicitly models the interaction between institutional, environmental, technological and socio-economic factors at different spatio-temporal scales, b) it specifically focuses on the governance structures associated with different land tenure regimes through the lenses of Social Network Analysis (SNA), c) uses a Q-methodology framework to develop a participatory approach to study stakeholders’ perspectives and attitudes on the necessary governance interventions to prevent deforestation and forest degradation and d) it assesses the relationships between agricultural expansion, deforestation, governance structures and stakeholders’ attitudes, with particular attention to the sensitivity of household land use decisions and resource extraction. In order to meet the research objectives, this project will focus on the province of Salta in the dry Chaco in North-Western Argentina, a region characterized by high rates of land cover change and the presence of indigenous/rural communities.
Summary
Tropical deforestation is an important contributor to climate change, through the release of significant amounts of carbon in the atmosphere. The main proximate cause of deforestation in tropical regions is agricultural expansion, followed by timber extraction. The general objective of this research is to understand how the interaction of technological, environmental, economic and social factors influence land use dynamics, including household decisions, about agricultural expansion and resource extraction in sensitive tropical regions. More specific questions relate to the role of various governance structures, particularly those recognizing common property regimes of land tenure to indigenous and rural communities, and the deliberative evaluation about the opportunity of reforming such structures in order to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. Although such aspects have been addressed in a variety of contexts, the approach proposed here is novel as a) it explicitly models the interaction between institutional, environmental, technological and socio-economic factors at different spatio-temporal scales, b) it specifically focuses on the governance structures associated with different land tenure regimes through the lenses of Social Network Analysis (SNA), c) uses a Q-methodology framework to develop a participatory approach to study stakeholders’ perspectives and attitudes on the necessary governance interventions to prevent deforestation and forest degradation and d) it assesses the relationships between agricultural expansion, deforestation, governance structures and stakeholders’ attitudes, with particular attention to the sensitivity of household land use decisions and resource extraction. In order to meet the research objectives, this project will focus on the province of Salta in the dry Chaco in North-Western Argentina, a region characterized by high rates of land cover change and the presence of indigenous/rural communities.
Max ERC Funding
1 952 183 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-11-01, End date: 2021-10-31
Project acronym MO-TRAYL
Project Mobility trajectories of young lives: Life chances of transnational youths in Global South and North
Researcher (PI) Valentina Mazzucato
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITEIT MAASTRICHT
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH3, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary The objective of MO-TRAYL is to develop a better understanding of the relationship between migration and young people’s life-chances by studying youth’s mobility trajectories. How the life chances of youths, defined as their educational performance, psychological well-being and transitions into adulthood, are impacted by migration are of relevance for European cities that are faced with a growing youth population with migrant background. At the same time, cities in the Global South, where many migrants in Europe originate from, are faced with large portions of the population of minors who are living without at least one of their parents due to their parent’s migration. There is growing concern in both academia and policy about how these ‘stay-behind’ children are faring. Yet little is known about how migration impacts young people in the Global North and South in the medium-term, in part because our conception of young people’s mobility patterns has to date been overly simplified (either they move once, or they do not). This results in a lack of data that specifically looks at the different mobility patterns of young people and hardly any that has a longitudinal dimension. MO-TRAYL will break new ground by studying simultaneously youths in the Global South who have remained ‘at home’ and those who have migrated to Europe by making use of unique new longitudinal data collected in the Global South as well as collecting new data in the Global North that specifically traces the mobility trajectories, the resulting different family compositions along the way, and how both affect life chances. Through a transnational perspective in which family members and events spanning home and host countries are brought to bear on life chances, MO-TRAYL aims to re-conceptualize youth mobility and families and add a longitudinal dimension to the study of migration and life chance outcomes. The project focuses on Ghanaian children in Ghana, The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Summary
The objective of MO-TRAYL is to develop a better understanding of the relationship between migration and young people’s life-chances by studying youth’s mobility trajectories. How the life chances of youths, defined as their educational performance, psychological well-being and transitions into adulthood, are impacted by migration are of relevance for European cities that are faced with a growing youth population with migrant background. At the same time, cities in the Global South, where many migrants in Europe originate from, are faced with large portions of the population of minors who are living without at least one of their parents due to their parent’s migration. There is growing concern in both academia and policy about how these ‘stay-behind’ children are faring. Yet little is known about how migration impacts young people in the Global North and South in the medium-term, in part because our conception of young people’s mobility patterns has to date been overly simplified (either they move once, or they do not). This results in a lack of data that specifically looks at the different mobility patterns of young people and hardly any that has a longitudinal dimension. MO-TRAYL will break new ground by studying simultaneously youths in the Global South who have remained ‘at home’ and those who have migrated to Europe by making use of unique new longitudinal data collected in the Global South as well as collecting new data in the Global North that specifically traces the mobility trajectories, the resulting different family compositions along the way, and how both affect life chances. Through a transnational perspective in which family members and events spanning home and host countries are brought to bear on life chances, MO-TRAYL aims to re-conceptualize youth mobility and families and add a longitudinal dimension to the study of migration and life chance outcomes. The project focuses on Ghanaian children in Ghana, The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Max ERC Funding
1 937 500 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-01-01, End date: 2021-12-31
Project acronym UMnD
Project Urban modelling in higher dimensions: embedding generalisation of 3D data in a 4D model
Researcher (PI) Jantine Esther Stoter
Host Institution (HI) TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFT
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH3, ERC-2015-STG
Summary Geographic data about urban objects (buildings, roads) is needed to monitor and control processes within modern urban areas (noise, flooding, energy demand-supply). As these processes occur in 3D, urban applications require 3D data and each application requires its own specific semantic and geometric Level of Detail (LoD) of the 3D data.
The scientific challenge of this project is that it requires enormous efforts to collect and transform 3D data to make it suitable for a specific application. Urban applications are therefore forced to work mainly in 2D. This reduction causes the loss of important information. A solution is needed to support the reuse of once collected 3D data in multiple applications.
I will develop a fundamental solution for providing 3D data at application specific LoDs to solve the current problem of independently acquired and stored LoDs of a 3D urban model. To enforce consistency across dimensions, the LoDs will be modelled as an extra dimension to the 3D spatial dimensions in an integrated 3D+LoD (4D) model. I will use an innovative method that goes far beyond the state-of-the-art by introducing higher dimensional (nD) mathematical models to the well-established domain of cartographic generalisation in 2D. Furthermore, I will study 3D generalisation solutions to derive coarse from fine data and embed these in the 4D model. “Slicing” operations will be developed that reduce the dimensions of the 4D data to generate error-free 3D data at application specific LoDs.
LoD is strongly related to map scale, a well-known concept in GIS. However, modelling it as an extra dimension of geographic data is new. In addition, the intermediate results have the potential to advance the field of geo-information technology, such as the ground-breaking extension of the 2D cartographic generalisation domain to 3D. If successful, the 4D approach opens a new horizon for modelling parametrisable aspects of urban environments, which may establish a new research line.
Summary
Geographic data about urban objects (buildings, roads) is needed to monitor and control processes within modern urban areas (noise, flooding, energy demand-supply). As these processes occur in 3D, urban applications require 3D data and each application requires its own specific semantic and geometric Level of Detail (LoD) of the 3D data.
The scientific challenge of this project is that it requires enormous efforts to collect and transform 3D data to make it suitable for a specific application. Urban applications are therefore forced to work mainly in 2D. This reduction causes the loss of important information. A solution is needed to support the reuse of once collected 3D data in multiple applications.
I will develop a fundamental solution for providing 3D data at application specific LoDs to solve the current problem of independently acquired and stored LoDs of a 3D urban model. To enforce consistency across dimensions, the LoDs will be modelled as an extra dimension to the 3D spatial dimensions in an integrated 3D+LoD (4D) model. I will use an innovative method that goes far beyond the state-of-the-art by introducing higher dimensional (nD) mathematical models to the well-established domain of cartographic generalisation in 2D. Furthermore, I will study 3D generalisation solutions to derive coarse from fine data and embed these in the 4D model. “Slicing” operations will be developed that reduce the dimensions of the 4D data to generate error-free 3D data at application specific LoDs.
LoD is strongly related to map scale, a well-known concept in GIS. However, modelling it as an extra dimension of geographic data is new. In addition, the intermediate results have the potential to advance the field of geo-information technology, such as the ground-breaking extension of the 2D cartographic generalisation domain to 3D. If successful, the 4D approach opens a new horizon for modelling parametrisable aspects of urban environments, which may establish a new research line.
Max ERC Funding
1 498 148 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-09-01, End date: 2021-08-31