ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

The cell cortex is a highly dynamic layer of crosslinked actin filaments and myosin molecular motors beneath the cell membrane. It plays a central role in large scale rearrangements that occur inside cells. Many molecular mechanisms contribute to cortex structure and dynamics. However, cell scale physical properties of the cortex are difficult to grasp. This is problematic because for large scale rearrangements inside a cell, such as coherent flow of the cell cortex, it is the cell scale emergent properties that are important for the realization of such events. I will investigate how the actomyosin cytoskeleton behaves at a coarse grained and cellular scale, and will study how this emergent active behaviour is influenced by molecular mechanisms. We will study the cell cortex in the one cell stage C. elegans embryo, which undergoes large scale cortical flow during polarization and cytokinesis. We will combine theory and experiment. We will characterize cortex structure and dynamics with biophysical techniques such as cortical laser ablation and quantitative photobleaching experiments. We will develop and employ novel theoretical approaches to describe the cell scale mechanical behaviour in terms of an active complex fluid. We will utilize genetic approaches to understand how these emergent mechanical properties are influenced by molecular activities. A central goal is to arrive at a coarse grained description of the cortex that can predict future dynamic behaviour from the past structure, which is conceptually similar to how weather forecasting is accomplished. To date, systematic approaches to link molecular scale physical mechanisms to those on cellular scales are missing. This work will open new opportunities for cell biological and cell biophysical research, by providing a methodological approach for bridging scales, for studying emergent and large-scale active mechanical behaviours and linking them to molecular mechanisms.

1 500 000 €

Start date: 2011-12-01, End date: 2017-08-31

Learning to read is probably one of the most exciting discoveries in our life. Using a longitudinal approach, the research proposed examines how the human brain responds to two major challenges: (a) the instantiation a complex cognitive function for which there is no genetic blueprint (learning to read in a first language, L1), and (b) the accommodation to new statistical regularities when learning to read in a second language (L2). The aim of the present research project is to identify the neural substrates of the reading process and its constituent cognitive components, with specific attention to individual differences and reading disabilities; as well as to investigate the relationship between specific cognitive functions and the changes in neural activity that take place in the course of learning to read in L1 and in L2. The project will employ a longitudinal design. We will recruit children before they learn to read in L1 and in L2 and track reading development with both cognitive and neuroimaging measures over 24 months. The findings from this project will provide a deeper understanding of (a) how general neurocognitive factors and language specific factors underlie individual differences – and reading disabilities– in reading acquisition in L1 and in L2; (b) how the neuro-cognitive circuitry changes and brain mechanisms synchronize while instantiating reading in L1 and in L2; (c) what the limitations and the extent of brain plasticity are in young readers. An interdisciplinary and multi-methodological approach is one of the keys to success of the present project, along with strong theory-driven investigation. By combining both we will generate breakthroughs to advance our understanding of how literacy in L1 and in L2 is acquired and mastered. The research proposed will also lay the foundations for more applied investigations of best practice in teaching reading in first and subsequent languages, and devising intervention methods for reading disabilities.

2 487 000 €

Start date: 2012-05-01, End date: 2017-04-30

"Perceptions, memories, emotions, and everything that makes us human, demand the flexible integration of information represented and computed in a distributed manner. The human brain is structured into a large number of areas in which information and computation are highly segregated. Normal brain functions require the integration of functionally specialized but widely distributed brain areas. Furthermore, human behavior entails a flexible task- dependent interplay between different subsets of these brain areas in order to integrate them according to the corresponding goal-directed requirements. We contend that the functional and encoding roles of diverse neuronal populations across areas are subject to intra- and inter-cortical dynamics. More concretely, we hypothesize that coherent oscillations within frequency-specific large-scale networks and coherent structuring of the underlying fluctuations are crucial mechanisms for the flexible integration of distributed processing and interaction of representations. The project aims to elucidate precisely the interplay and mutual entrainment between local brain area dynamics and global network dynamics and their breakdown in brain diseases. We wish to better understand how segregated distributed information and processing are integrated in a flexible and context-dependent way as required for goal-directed behavior. It will allow us to comprehend the mechanisms underlying brain functions by complementing structural and activation based analyses with dynamics. We expect to gain a full explanation of the mechanisms that mediate the interactions between global and local spatio-temporal patterns of activity revealed at many levels of observations (fMRI, EEG, MEG) in humans under task and resting conditions, complemented and further constrained by using more detailed characterization of brain dynamics via Local Field Potentials and neuronal recording in animals under task and resting conditions."

2 467 530 €

Start date: 2012-07-01, End date: 2017-06-30

Understanding the nature and distribution of habitable environments in the Universe is one of the fundamental goals of modern astrophysics. For the life we know, liquid water on the planetary surface is a prerequisite. However, a direct detection of liquid water on exoplanets, and especially on a potentially habitable Earth-size planet, is not yet possible. The existence of water almost certainly implies the presence of atmospheric water vapour which must evaporate under stellar irradiation from a cloud deck or from the surface, together with other related molecules. Therefore, devising sensitive methods to detect hot molecules on exoplanets is of high importance. This proposal develops several exploratory theoretical and observational aspects of precision spectropolarimetry for detecting water vapour and other volatiles on exoplanets and in the inner part of protoplanetary disks. These are new tools for making progress in our understanding which fraction of planets acquires water and how planet formation influences their habitability. As a “double differential” technique, spectropolarimetry has enormous advantages for dynamic range problems, like detection of weak line signals against a large stellar background and exploration at scales beyond the angular resolution of telescopes, which are crucial for both exoplanets and inner disks. Direct detection of polarized spectral lines enables recovering precise orbits of exoplanets (including non-transiting systems) and evaluating their masses as well as potentially their magnetic fields. First applied to hot Jupiters the developed tools will create a firm foundation for future exploration of Earth-like planets with larger telescopes. The same technique applied to planetesimals in the inner disks of young stars yields their orbits, temperature, and chemical composition. These will provide constraints on the formation of a planetary atmosphere in the vicinity of the star and its habitable zone.

2 436 000 €

Start date: 2012-04-01, End date: 2017-03-31