ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

"The A2C2 project treats two major challenges in climate and atmospheric research: the time dependence of the climate attractor to external forcings (solar, volcanic eruptions and anthropogenic), and the attribution of extreme climate events occurring in the northern extra-tropics. The main difficulties are the limited climate information, the computer cost of model simulations, and mathematical assumptions that are hardly verified and often overlooked in the literature. A2C2 proposes a practical framework to overcome those three difficulties, linking the theory of dynamical systems and statistics. We will generalize the methodology of flow analogues to multiple databases in order to obtain probabilistic descriptions of analogue decompositions. The project is divided into three workpackages (WP). WP1 embeds the analogue method in the theory of dynamical systems in order to provide a metric of an attractor deformation in time. The important methodological step is to detect trends or persisting outliers in the dates and scores of analogues when the system yields time-varying forcings. This is done from idealized models and full size climate models in which the forcings (anthropogenic and natural) are known. A2C2 creates an open source toolkit to compute flow analogues from a wide array of databases (WP2). WP3 treats the two scientific challenges with the analogue method and multiple model ensembles, hence allowing uncertainty estimates under realistic mathematical hypotheses. The flow analogue methodology allows a systematic and quasi real-time analysis of extreme events, which is currently out of the reach of conventional climate modeling approaches. The major breakthrough of A2C2 is to bridge the gap between operational needs (the immediate analysis of climate events) and the understanding long-term climate changes. A2C2 opens new research horizons for the exploitation of ensembles of simulations and reliable estimates of uncertainty."

1 491 457 €

Start date: 2014-03-01, End date: 2019-02-28

Clouds play a key role in the climate system. Small anthropogenic perturbations of the cloud system potentially have large radiative effects. Aerosols perturb the global radiation budget directly, by scattering and absorption, as well as indirectly, by the modification of cloud properties and occurrence. The applicability of traditional conceptual models of indirect aerosol effects to convective clouds is disputed as cloud dynamics complicates the picture. Strong evidence for numerous aerosol effects on convection has been established in individual disciplines: through remote sensing and in-situ observations as well as by cloud resolving and global modelling. However, a coherent scientific view of the effects of aerosols on convection has yet to be established. The primary objective of ACCLAIM is to recast the effects of aerosols on convective clouds as basis for improved global estimates of anthropogenic climate effects. Specific objectives include: i) to unravel the governing principles of aerosol effects on convective clouds; ii) provide quantitative constraints on satellite-retrieved relationships between convective clouds and aerosols; and ultimately iii) to enable global climate models to represent the full range of anthropogenic climate perturbations and quantify the climate response to aerosol effects on convective clouds. I have developed the research strategy of ACCLAIM to overcome disciplinary barriers in this frontier research area and seek five years of funding to establish an interdisciplinary, physics focused, research group consisting of two PostDocs, two PhD students and myself. ACCLAIM will be centred around global aerosol-convection climate modelling studies, complemented by research constraining aerosol-convection interactions through remote sensing and a process focused research strand, advancing fundamental understanding and global model parameterisations through high resolution aerosol-cloud modelling in synergy with in-situ observations.

1 429 243 €

Start date: 2011-09-01, End date: 2017-02-28

Formation of the Earth and the other terrestrial planets of our Solar System (Mercury, Venus and Mars) commenced 4.568 billion years ago and occurred on a time scale of about 100 million years. These planets grew by the process of accretion, which involved numerous collisions with smaller (Moon- to Mars-size) bodies. Impacts with such bodies released sufficient energy to cause large-scale melting and the formation of deep “magma oceans”. Such magma oceans enabled liquid metal to separate from liquid silicate, sink and accumulate to form the metallic cores of the planets. Thus core formation in terrestrial planets was a multistage process, intimately related to the major impacts during accretion, that determined the chemistry of planetary mantles. However, until now, accretion, as modelled by astrophysicists, and core formation, as modelled by geochemists, have been treated as completely independent processes. The fundamental and crucial aim of this ambitious interdisciplinary proposal is to integrate astrophysical models of planetary accretion with geochemical models of planetary differentiation together with cosmochemical constraints obtained from meteorites. The research will involve integrating new models of planetary accretion with core formation models based on the partitioning of a large number of elements between liquid metal and liquid silicate that we will determine experimentally at pressures up to about 100 gigapascals (equivalent to 2400 km deep in the Earth). By comparing our results with the known physical and chemical characteristics of the terrestrial planets, we will obtain a comprehensive understanding of how these planets formed, grew and evolved, both physically and chemically, with time. The integration of chemistry and planetary differentiation with accretion models is a new ground-breaking concept that will lead, through synergies and feedback, to major new advances in the Earth and planetary sciences.

1 826 200 €

Start date: 2012-05-01, End date: 2018-04-30

Obesity and diabetes have reached pandemic proportions and new therapeutic strategies are critically needed. Brown adipose tissue (BAT), a major source of heat production, possesses significant energy-dissipating capacity and therefore represents a promising target to use in combating these diseases. Recently, I discovered a novel link between circadian rhythm and thermogenic stress in the control of the conserved, calorie-burning functions of BAT. Circadian and thermogenic signaling to BAT incorporates blood-borne hormonal and nutrient cues with direct neuronal input. Yet how these responses coordinately shape BAT energy-expending potential through the regulation of cell surface receptors, metabolic enzymes, and transcriptional effectors is still not understood. My primary goal is to investigate this previously unappreciated network of crosstalk that allows mammals to effectively orchestrate daily rhythms in BAT metabolism, while maintaining their ability to adapt to abrupt changes in energy demand. My group will address this question using gain and loss-of-function in vitro and in vivo studies, newly-generated mouse models, customized physiological phenotyping, and cutting-edge advances in next generation RNA sequencing and mass spectrometry. Preliminary, small-scale validations of our methodologies have already yielded a number of novel candidates that may drive key facets of BAT metabolism. Additionally, we will extend our circadian and thermogenic studies into humans to evaluate the translational potential. Our results will advance the fundamental understanding of how daily oscillations in bioenergetic networks establish a framework for the anticipation of and adaptation to environmental challenges. Importantly, we expect that these mechanistic insights will reveal pharmacological targets through which we can unlock evolutionary constraints and harness the energy-expending potential of BAT for the prevention and treatment of obesity and diabetes.

1 497 008 €

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

The role of the African continent in the global carbon cycle, and therefore in climate change, is increasingly recognised. Despite the increasingly acknowledged importance of Africa in the global carbon cycle and its high vulnerability to climate change there is still a lack of studies on the carbon cycle in representative African ecosystems (in particular tropical forests), and on the effects of climate on ecosystem-atmosphere exchange. In the present proposal we want to focus on these spoecifc objectives : 1. Understand the role of African tropical rainforest on the GHG balance of the atmosphere and revise their role on the global methane and N2O emissions. 2. Determine the carbon source/sink strength of African tropical rainforest in the pre-industrial versus the XXth century by temporal reconstruction of biomass growth with biogeochemical markers 3. Understand and quantify carbon and GHG fluxes variability across African tropical forests (west east equatorial belt) 4.Analyse the impact of forest degradation and deforestation on carbon and other GHG emissions

2 406 950 €

Start date: 2010-04-01, End date: 2014-12-31

Ageing is accompanied by ectopic white adipose tissue depositions in skeletal muscle and other anatomical locations, such as brown adipose tissue and the bone marrow. Ectopic fat accrual contributes to organ dysfunction, systemic insulin resistance, and other perturbations that have been implicated in metabolic diseases. This research proposal aims to identify the regulatory cues that control the development of ectopic progenitor cells that give rise to this type of fat. It is hypothesized that an age-related dysfunction of the stem cell niche leads to an imbalance between (1) tissue-specific stem cells and (2) fibroblast-like, primarily adipogenic progenitors that reside within many tissues. Novel methodologies that assess stem/progenitor cell characteristics on the single cell level will be combined with animal models of lineage tracing to determine the developmental origin of these adipogenic progenitors and processes that regulate their function. Notch signalling is a key signalling pathway that relies on direct physical interaction to control stem cell fate. It is proposed that impaired Notch activity contributes to the phenotypical shift of precursor cell distribution in aged tissues. Lastly, the role of the stem cell niche in ectopic adipocyte progenitor formation will be analyzed. External signals originating from the surrounding niche cells regulate the developmental fate of stem cells. Secreted factors and their role in the formation of ectopic adipocyte precursors during senescence will be identified using a combination of biochemical and systems biology approaches. Accomplishment of these studies will help to understand the basic processes of stem cell ageing and identify mechanisms of age-related functional decline in tissue regeneration. By targeting the population of tissue-resident adipogenic progenitor cells, therapeutic strategies could be developed to counteract metabolic complications associated with the ageing process.

1 496 444 €

Start date: 2013-03-01, End date: 2018-02-28

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

2 044 364 €

Start date: 2016-09-01, End date: 2021-08-31

Present-day financial markets are turning algorithmic, as market orders are increasingly being executed by fully automated computer algorithms, without any direct human intervention. Although algorithmic finance seems to fundamentally reshape the central dynamics in financial markets, and even though it prompts core sociological questions, it has not yet received any systematic attention. In a pioneering contribution to economic sociology and social studies of finance, ALGOFINANCE aims to understand how and with what consequences the turn to algorithms is changing financial markets. The overall concept and central contributions of ALGOFINANCE are the following: (1) on an intra-firm level, the project examines how the shift to algorithmic finance reshapes the ways in which trading firms operate, and does so by systematically and empirically investigating the reconfiguration of organizational structures and employee subjectivity; (2) on an inter-algorithmic level, it offers a ground-breaking methodology (agent-based modelling informed by qualitative data) to grasp how trading algorithms interact with one another in a fully digital space; and (3) on the level of market sociality, it proposes a novel theorization of how intra-firm and inter-algorithmic dynamics can be conceived of as introducing a particular form of sociality that is characteristic to algorithmic finance: a form of sociality-as-association heuristically analyzed as imitation. None of these three levels have received systematic attention in the state-of-the-art literature. Addressing them will significantly advance the understanding of present-day algorithmic finance in economic sociology. By contributing novel empirical, methodological, and theoretical understandings of the functioning and consequences of algorithms, ALGOFINANCE will pave the way for other research into digital sociology and the broader algorithmization of society.

1 590 036 €

Start date: 2017-05-01, End date: 2021-04-30

Alkenones are algal lipids that have been used for decades to reconstruct quantitative past sea surface temperature. Although alkenones are being discovered in an increasing number of lake sites worldwide, only two terrestrial temperature records have been reconstructed so far. The development of this research field is limited by the lack of interdisciplinary research that combines modern biological and ecological algal research with the organic geochemical techniques needed to develop a quantitative biomarker (or molecular fossil) for past lake temperatures. More research is needed for alkenones to become a widely used tool for reconstructing past terrestrial temperature change. The early career Principal Investigator has discovered a new lake alkenone-producing species of haptophyte algae that produces alkenones in high abundances both in the environment and in laboratory cultures. This makes the new species an ideal organism for developing a culture-based temperature calibration and exploring other potential environmental controls. In this project, alkenone production will be manipulated, and monitored using state-of-the-art photobioreactors with real-time detectors for cell density, light, and temperature. The latest algal culture and isolation techniques that are used in microalgal biofuel development will be applied to developing the lake temperature proxy. The objectives will be achieved through the analysis of 90 new Canadian lakes to develop a core-top temperature calibration across a large latitudinal and temperature gradient (Δ latitude = 5°, Δ spring surface temperature = 9°C). The results will be used to assess how regional palaeo-temperature (Uk37), palaeo-moisture (δDwax) and palaeo-evaporation (δDalgal) respond during times of past global warmth (e.g., Medieval Warm Period, 900-1200 AD) to find an accurate analogue for assessing future drought risk in the interior of Canada.

940 883 €

Start date: 2015-04-01, End date: 2020-03-31