Project acronym CHROMPHYS
Project Physics of the Solar Chromosphere
Researcher (PI) Mats Per-Olof Carlsson
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITETET I OSLO
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE9, ERC-2011-ADG_20110209
Summary CHROMPHYS aims at a breakthrough in our understanding of the solar chromosphere by combining the development of sophisticated radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations with observations from the upcoming NASA SMEX mission Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS).
The enigmatic chromosphere is the transition between the solar surface and the eruptive outer solar atmosphere. The chromosphere harbours and constrains the mass and energy loading processes that define the heating of the corona, the acceleration and the composition of the solar wind, and the energetics and triggering of solar outbursts (filament eruptions, flares, coronal mass ejections) that govern near-Earth space weather and affect mankind's technological environment.
CHROMPHYS targets the following fundamental physics questions about the chromospheric role in the mass and energy loading of the corona:
- Which types of non-thermal energy dominate in the chromosphere and beyond?
- How does the chromosphere regulate mass and energy supply to the corona and the solar wind?
- How do magnetic flux and matter rise through the chromosphere?
- How does the chromosphere affect the free magnetic energy loading that leads to solar eruptions?
CHROMPHYS proposes to answer these by producing a new, physics based vista of the chromosphere through a three-fold effort:
- develop the techniques of high-resolution numerical MHD physics to the level needed to realistically predict and analyse small-scale chromospheric structure and dynamics,
- optimise and calibrate diverse observational diagnostics by synthesizing these in detail from the simulations, and
- obtain and analyse data from IRIS using these diagnostics complemented by data from other space missions and the best solar telescopes on the ground.
Summary
CHROMPHYS aims at a breakthrough in our understanding of the solar chromosphere by combining the development of sophisticated radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations with observations from the upcoming NASA SMEX mission Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS).
The enigmatic chromosphere is the transition between the solar surface and the eruptive outer solar atmosphere. The chromosphere harbours and constrains the mass and energy loading processes that define the heating of the corona, the acceleration and the composition of the solar wind, and the energetics and triggering of solar outbursts (filament eruptions, flares, coronal mass ejections) that govern near-Earth space weather and affect mankind's technological environment.
CHROMPHYS targets the following fundamental physics questions about the chromospheric role in the mass and energy loading of the corona:
- Which types of non-thermal energy dominate in the chromosphere and beyond?
- How does the chromosphere regulate mass and energy supply to the corona and the solar wind?
- How do magnetic flux and matter rise through the chromosphere?
- How does the chromosphere affect the free magnetic energy loading that leads to solar eruptions?
CHROMPHYS proposes to answer these by producing a new, physics based vista of the chromosphere through a three-fold effort:
- develop the techniques of high-resolution numerical MHD physics to the level needed to realistically predict and analyse small-scale chromospheric structure and dynamics,
- optimise and calibrate diverse observational diagnostics by synthesizing these in detail from the simulations, and
- obtain and analyse data from IRIS using these diagnostics complemented by data from other space missions and the best solar telescopes on the ground.
Max ERC Funding
2 487 600 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-01-01, End date: 2016-12-31
Project acronym Egalitarianism
Project Egalitarianism: Forms, Processes, Comparisons
Researcher (PI) Bruce Kapferer
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITETET I BERGEN
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH2, ERC-2013-ADG
Summary The projects concerned with the heterogeneity of egalitarian structures, processes and value. This heterogeneity is approached through a) a library-based global comparative study and through b) field ethnographic studies, also comparatively oriented, in sites of egalitarian/inegalitarian crisis within Europe and elsewhere. The library and field studies are to be closely integrated, each influencing the development and directions of the other.
The decentering inherent in the orientation heterogeneity involves an emphasis on the forms and practices of egalitarianism as cultural phenomena emergent within and having their complexities of effect through the socio-cultural dimensions of their realities. The key proposition of the project is that it is egalitarian practices and processes as cultural values that is of considerable importance for understanding their force, contradictions, limitations. Thus in this approach dualism that is widely conceived as being politically and philosophically problematic in egalitarianism as a whole is approached as a cultural phenomenon potentially specific to Euro-American forms.
The emphasis on the heterogeneity of egalitarianism combined with the development of a comparative method appropriate to the heterogeneity of egalitarian processes, constitutes the distinction and the several contributions of the project to a fuller understanding of egalitarian processes, their constraints, limitations and potential. The method to be developed is to be open both to the varieties in the conceptions and imagination of egalitarian processes and the various historical, socio-political, and geo-ecological circumstances under which egalitarian practices emerge. Through the comparison perennial questions – the role of the state, religion, forms of economic distribution, the matter of scale – concerning forms and structures with egalitarian effect will be exposed to further consideration.
Summary
The projects concerned with the heterogeneity of egalitarian structures, processes and value. This heterogeneity is approached through a) a library-based global comparative study and through b) field ethnographic studies, also comparatively oriented, in sites of egalitarian/inegalitarian crisis within Europe and elsewhere. The library and field studies are to be closely integrated, each influencing the development and directions of the other.
The decentering inherent in the orientation heterogeneity involves an emphasis on the forms and practices of egalitarianism as cultural phenomena emergent within and having their complexities of effect through the socio-cultural dimensions of their realities. The key proposition of the project is that it is egalitarian practices and processes as cultural values that is of considerable importance for understanding their force, contradictions, limitations. Thus in this approach dualism that is widely conceived as being politically and philosophically problematic in egalitarianism as a whole is approached as a cultural phenomenon potentially specific to Euro-American forms.
The emphasis on the heterogeneity of egalitarianism combined with the development of a comparative method appropriate to the heterogeneity of egalitarian processes, constitutes the distinction and the several contributions of the project to a fuller understanding of egalitarian processes, their constraints, limitations and potential. The method to be developed is to be open both to the varieties in the conceptions and imagination of egalitarian processes and the various historical, socio-political, and geo-ecological circumstances under which egalitarian practices emerge. Through the comparison perennial questions – the role of the state, religion, forms of economic distribution, the matter of scale – concerning forms and structures with egalitarian effect will be exposed to further consideration.
Max ERC Funding
2 092 176 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-06-01, End date: 2019-05-31
Project acronym MULTIRIGHTS
Project The Legitimacy of Multi-level Human Rights Judiciary
Researcher (PI) Andreas Follesdal
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITETET I OSLO
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH2, ERC-2010-AdG_20100407
Summary The proliferation of human rights treaties at regional and global levels may offer moral foundations for international law. However, many worry that this growth of supervisory organs is illegitimate. Consider, for instance
• The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is overburdened.
• The human rights organs may disagree e.g. on how to balance freedom of expression against protection from hate speech. Which should be obeyed?
• Citizens of well-functioning democracies ask: why should such international organs intervene?
The MultiRights team of international lawyers and political theorists will first scrutinize the claims of legitimacy deficits. We then consider reform proposals for global and European human rights organs: We develop four plausible models, ranging from Primacy of National Courts to a World Court of Human Rights. We will assess the models by four Contested Constitutional Principles of legitimacy, revised for our multilevel legal order: Human Rights values, the Rule of Law, Subsidiarity, and Democracy.
MultiRights thereby provides reasoned comparative assessment of models for human rights regime reforms, and contributes to better standards of legitimacy for international institutions. The findings also help us understand and assess the alleged ‘Constitutionalisation of International Law” - an urgent topic under globalization, when governance beyond states increases in density and impact.
The academic contributions of MultiRights will also benefit several reforms:
• the Interlaken Process on how to improve the ECtHR,
• the accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights under the Lisbon Treaty,
• the UN Secretary General’s calls to reform the Human Rights treaty body system, and
• challenges to the democratic credentials of such human rights review.
Summary
The proliferation of human rights treaties at regional and global levels may offer moral foundations for international law. However, many worry that this growth of supervisory organs is illegitimate. Consider, for instance
• The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is overburdened.
• The human rights organs may disagree e.g. on how to balance freedom of expression against protection from hate speech. Which should be obeyed?
• Citizens of well-functioning democracies ask: why should such international organs intervene?
The MultiRights team of international lawyers and political theorists will first scrutinize the claims of legitimacy deficits. We then consider reform proposals for global and European human rights organs: We develop four plausible models, ranging from Primacy of National Courts to a World Court of Human Rights. We will assess the models by four Contested Constitutional Principles of legitimacy, revised for our multilevel legal order: Human Rights values, the Rule of Law, Subsidiarity, and Democracy.
MultiRights thereby provides reasoned comparative assessment of models for human rights regime reforms, and contributes to better standards of legitimacy for international institutions. The findings also help us understand and assess the alleged ‘Constitutionalisation of International Law” - an urgent topic under globalization, when governance beyond states increases in density and impact.
The academic contributions of MultiRights will also benefit several reforms:
• the Interlaken Process on how to improve the ECtHR,
• the accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights under the Lisbon Treaty,
• the UN Secretary General’s calls to reform the Human Rights treaty body system, and
• challenges to the democratic credentials of such human rights review.
Max ERC Funding
2 430 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-06-01, End date: 2016-05-31
