ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

Domestic Devotions brings together the study of books, buildings, objects, spaces, images and archives in order to understand how religion functioned in the Renaissance household. In opposition to the enduring stereotype of the Renaissance as a ‘secular age’, our research is premised on the view that religion played a key role in attending to the needs of the laity, and presents the period 1400-1600 as an age of spiritual revitalization. Devotions, from routine prayers to extraordinary religious experiences such as miracles or exorcisms, frequently took place within the home and were specifically shaped to meet the demands of domestic life – childbirth, marriage, infertility, sickness, accidents, poverty and death. This tight bond between the domestic and the devotional was neither institutionally nor legally defined. It cannot be adequately traced in any one type of source nor by means of a single approach. A rare combination of expertise and experience across several disciplines – social history, textual scholarship, and the study of art and architecture – is required to reveal the pivotal place of piety in the Renaissance home. The project moves beyond traditional research on the Renaissance in two further ways. Firstly, it breaks free from the golden triangle of Venice, Florence and Rome in order to investigate practices of piety in three significant zones: Naples and its environs; the Marche in central Italy; and the Venetian mainland. Secondly, it rejects the standard focus on Renaissance elites in order to develop our understanding of the artisanal household. Inspired in part by the rich historiography on the Protestant family, Domestic Devotions will shed new light on the roles of women and children in the Catholic home, and will be attentive to gender and age as factors that conditioned religious experience. Our multidisciplinary approach will enable unprecedented glimpses into the private lives of Renaissance Italians.

2 333 162 €

Start date: 2013-09-01, End date: 2017-08-31

We propose a new paradigm in materials science – heterostructures based on two-dimensional atomic crystals (and their hybrids with metallic and semiconducting quantum dots and nanostructures), and develop several devices which are based on such concept. Two-dimensional (2D) atomic crystals (such as graphene, monolayers of boron nitride, molybdenum disulphide, etc) possess a number of exciting properties, which are often unique and very different from those of their tree-dimensional counterparts. However, it is the combinations of such 2D crystals in 3D stacks that offer truly unlimited opportunities in designing the functionalities of such heterostructures. One can combine conductive, insulating, probably superconducting and magnetic 2D materials in one stack with atomic precision, fine-tuning the performance of the resulting material. Furthermore, the functionality of such stacks is “embedded” in the design of such heterostructure. We will create several types of devices based on such heterostructures, including tunnelling transistors, charge and spin drag, photodetectors, solarcells, lasers and other optical and electronic components. As the range of available 2D materials broadens, so the possible functionality of the 2D-based heterostructures will cover larger and larger area. We will concentrate on creating and understanding of the prototypes of such hetersotructures and apply efforts in developing methods for their mass-production suitable for various applications. The development of such novel paradigm in material science will only by possible by bringing together a Synergy group of researchers with complementary skills, knowledge and resources.

13 352 308 €

Start date: 2013-11-01, End date: 2019-10-31

NEXUS1492 investigates the impacts of colonial encounters in the Caribbean, the nexus of the first interactions between the New and the Old World. This Synergy Programme intends to rewrite a crucial and neglected chapter in global history initiated by European colonisation by focussing on transformations to indigenous, Amerindian cultures and societies. NEXUS1492 will address intercultural Amerindian-European-African dynamics at multiple temporal and spatial scales across the historical divide of 1492. The unique trans-disciplinary synergy of four PIs and their teams of archaeologists, social, natural and computer scientists, and heritage experts will pioneer new analytical tools, and apply multi-disciplinary cutting-edge techniques, theoretical frameworks and skill sets to provide a novel perspective on New World encounters in a globalising world. NEXUS1492 will work with local experts to develop sustainable heritage management strategies, creating a future for the past. This past is under threat from looting and illegal trade, construction development and natural disasters (e.g., climate change, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions). By placing the Caribbean’s indigenous past within a contemporary heritage agenda, this programme strives to increase the awareness and protection of heritage resources. The innovative approach and outcomes of NEXUS1492 will be of global scientific significance and high societal relevance. Four interlocking projects will address: 1. Transformations of lifeways and deathways, landscapes, and material culture through archaeological investigations. 2. Human mobility and the circulation of materials and objects through isotope geochemistry and archaeometry. 3.Socio-cultural relationships and interactions through the reconstruction of archaeological networks. 4. Heritage preservation through investigation of regulatory, legislative, and curatorial standards and community engagement efforts.

14 826 037 €

Start date: 2013-09-01, End date: 2019-08-31

The world of atoms is governed by the rules of quantum mechanics. Over the past century, quantum-mechanical phenomena such as superposition and entanglement have been observed and studied with great precision. Today, we are entering a new era in which we can hope to explore quantum mechanics in larger objects. The science of quantum mechanics in more complex objects is barely known and as a result quantum mechanics is rarely explicitly used in technology. Theoretically, superposition and entanglement could be exploited as a new resource in a wide variety of future applications. We focus on information science and investigate the use of quantum mechanics in computing, i.e. a quantum computer (QC). If information is encoded in quantum superpositions and processed by exploiting entanglement, a QC can solve computational problems that are beyond the reach of conventional computers. Building a QC is, however, an enormous scientific challenge because the fragile quantum bits need to be protected from and corrected for even the smallest disturbances by the environment. Meeting this challenge requires a synergetic effort combining the best of quantum theory, electrical engineering, materials science, applied physics and computer science. This proposal aims to achieve a robust, exemplary QC. We propose a circuit containing processor qubits (two types: superconducting transmon qubits and spin qubits in silicon quantum dots), memory qubits (two types: topological qubits with nanowires and donor qubits), and a quantum databus (superconducting striplines). Our goal is to demonstrate a 13-qubit circuit that incorporates fault-tolerance through implementation of a surface code. We will demonstrate back-and-forth quantum state transfer between processor and memory qubits. Our team brings together the required expertise into a single “QC-lab” enabling us to bring our understanding of quantum mechanics to the next level and push QC to the tipping point from science to engineering.

15 000 000 €

Start date: 2013-11-01, End date: 2019-10-31