ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

The discoveries that the expansion of the universe is accelerating due to an unknown “dark energy” and that most of the matter is invisible, highlight our lack of understanding of the major constituents of the universe. These surprising findings set the stage for research in cosmology at the start of the 21st century. The objective of this proposal is to advance observational constraints to a level where we can distinguish between physical mechanisms that aim to explain the properties of dark energy and the observed distribution of dark matter throughout the universe. We use a relatively new technique called weak gravitational lensing: the accurate measurement of correlations in the orientations of distant galaxies enables us to map the dark matter distribution directly and to extract the cosmological information that is encoded by the large-scale structure. To study the dark universe we will analyse data from a new state-of-the-art imaging survey: the Kilo- Degree Survey (KiDS) will cover 1500 square degrees in 9 filters. The combination of its large survey area and the availability of exquisite photometric redshifts for the sources makes KiDS the first project that can place interesting constraints on the dark energy equation-of-state using lensing data alone. Combined with complementary results from Planck, our measurements will provide one of the best views of the dark side of the universe before much larger space-based projects commence. To reach the desired accuracy we need to carefully measure the shapes of distant background galaxies. We also need to account for any intrinsic alignments that arise due to tidal interactions, rather than through lensing. Reducing these observational and physical biases to negligible levels is a necessarystep to ensure the success of KiDS and an important part of our preparation for more challenging projects such as the European-led space mission Euclid.

1 316 880 €

Start date: 2012-01-01, End date: 2016-12-31

Linear Parameter-Varying (LPV) systems are flexible mathematical models capable of representing Nonlinear (NL)/Time-Varying (TV) dynamical behaviors of complex physical systems (e.g., wafer scanners, car engines, chemical reactors), often encountered in engineering, via a linear structure. The LPV framework provides computationally efficient and robust approaches to synthesize digital controllers that can ensure desired operation of such systems - making it attractive to (i) high-tech mechatronic, (ii) automotive and (iii) chemical-process applications. Such a framework is important to meet with the increasing operational demands of systems in these industrial sectors and to realize future technological targets. However, recent studies have shown that, to fully exploit the potential of the LPV framework, a number of limiting factors of the underlying theory ask a for serious innovation, as currently it is not understood how to (1) automate exact and low-complexity LPV modeling of real-world applications and how to refine uncertain aspects of these models efficiently by the help of measured data, (2) incorporate control objectives directly into modeling and to develop model reduction approaches for control, and (3) how to see modeling & control synthesis as a unified, closed-loop system synthesis approach directly oriented for the underlying NL/TV system. Furthermore, due to the increasingly cyber-physical nature of applications, (4) control synthesis is needed in a plug & play fashion, where if sub-systems are modified or exchanged, then the control design and the model of the whole system are only incrementally updated. This project aims to surmount Challenges (1)-(4) by establishing an innovative revolution of the LPV framework supported by a software suite and extensive empirical studies on real-world industrial applications; with a potential to ensure a leading role of technological innovation of the EU in the high-impact industrial sectors (i)-(iii).

1 493 561 €

Start date: 2017-09-01, End date: 2022-08-31

Recent advances in cryptography yielded the blockchain technology, which enables a radically new and decentralized method to maintain authoritative records, without the need of trusted intermediaries. Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency blockchain application has already demonstrated that it is possible to operate a purely cryptography-based, global, distributed, decentralized, anonymous financial network, independent from central and commercial banks, regulators and the state. The same technology is now being applied to other social domains (e.g. public registries of ownership and deeds, voting systems, the internet domain name registry). But research on the societal impact of blockchain innovation is scant, and we cannot properly assess its risks and promises. In addition, crucial knowledge is missing on how blockchain technologies can and should be regulated by law. The BlockchainSociety project focuses on three research questions. (1) What internal factors contribute to the success of a blockchain application? (2) How does society adopt blockchain? (3) How to regulate blockchain? It breaks new ground as it (1) maps the most important blockchain projects, their governance, and assesses their disruptive potential; (2) documents and analyses the social diffusion of the technology, and builds scenarios about the potential impact of blockchain diffusion; and (3) it creates an inventory of emerging policy responses, compares and assesses policy tools in terms of efficiency and impact. The project will (1) build the conceptual and methodological bridges between information law, the study of the self-governance of technological systems via Science and Technology Studies, and the study of collective control efforts of complex socio-technological assemblages via Internet Governance studies; (2) address the most pressing blockchain-specific regulatory challenges via the analysis of emerging policies, and the development of new proposals.

1 499 631 €

Start date: 2018-01-01, End date: 2022-12-31

Positive peer experiences are crucial for young people’s health and wellbeing. Accordingly, multiple studies (including my own) have described long-term negative psychological and behavioral consequences when adolescents’ peer relationships are dysfunctional. Paradoxically, knowledge on adult social consequences of adolescent peer experiences –relationships with others a decade later - is much less extensive. Informed by social learning and attachment theory, I tackle this gap and investigate whether and how peer experiences are transmitted to other social contexts, and intergenerationally, i.e., passed on to the next generation. My aim is to shed light on how the “ghosts from peer past” affect young adults’ relationships and their children. To this end, I examine longitudinal links between adolescent peer and young adult close relationships and test whether parents’ peer experiences affect offspring’s peer experiences. Psychological functioning, parenting, temperament, genetic, and epigenetic transmission mechanisms are examined separately and in interplay, which 1) goes far beyond the current state-of-the-art in social development research, and 2) significantly broadens my biosocially oriented work on genetic effects in the peer context. My plans utilize data from the TRAILS (Tracking Adolescents’ Individual Lives’ Survey) cohort that has been followed from age 11 to 26. To study intergenerational transmission, the TRAILS NEXT sample of participants with children is substantially extended. This project uniquely studies adult social consequences of peer experiences and, at the same time, follows children’s first steps into the peer world. The intergenerational approach and provision for environmental, genetic, and epigenetic mediation put this project at the forefront of developmental research and equip it with the potential to generate the knowledge needed to chase away the ghosts from the peer past.

1 464 846 €

Start date: 2018-02-01, End date: 2023-01-31