Project acronym AcetyLys
Project Unravelling the role of lysine acetylation in the regulation of glycolysis in cancer cells through the development of synthetic biology-based tools
Researcher (PI) Eyal Arbely
Host Institution (HI) BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), LS9, ERC-2015-STG
Summary Synthetic biology is an emerging discipline that offers powerful tools to control and manipulate fundamental processes in living matter. We propose to develop and apply such tools to modify the genetic code of cultured mammalian cells and bacteria with the aim to study the role of lysine acetylation in the regulation of metabolism and in cancer development. Thousands of lysine acetylation sites were recently discovered on non-histone proteins, suggesting that acetylation is a widespread and evolutionarily conserved post translational modification, similar in scope to phosphorylation and ubiquitination. Specifically, it has been found that most of the enzymes of metabolic processes—including glycolysis—are acetylated, implying that acetylation is key regulator of cellular metabolism in general and in glycolysis in particular. The regulation of metabolic pathways is of particular importance to cancer research, as misregulation of metabolic pathways, especially upregulation of glycolysis, is common to most transformed cells and is now considered a new hallmark of cancer. These data raise an immediate question: what is the role of acetylation in the regulation of glycolysis and in the metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells? While current methods rely on mutational analyses, we will genetically encode the incorporation of acetylated lysine and directly measure the functional role of each acetylation site in cancerous and non-cancerous cell lines. Using this methodology, we will study the structural and functional implications of all the acetylation sites in glycolytic enzymes. We will also decipher the mechanism by which acetylation is regulated by deacetylases and answer a long standing question – how 18 deacetylases recognise their substrates among thousands of acetylated proteins? The developed methodologies can be applied to a wide range of protein families known to be acetylated, thereby making this study relevant to diverse research fields.
Summary
Synthetic biology is an emerging discipline that offers powerful tools to control and manipulate fundamental processes in living matter. We propose to develop and apply such tools to modify the genetic code of cultured mammalian cells and bacteria with the aim to study the role of lysine acetylation in the regulation of metabolism and in cancer development. Thousands of lysine acetylation sites were recently discovered on non-histone proteins, suggesting that acetylation is a widespread and evolutionarily conserved post translational modification, similar in scope to phosphorylation and ubiquitination. Specifically, it has been found that most of the enzymes of metabolic processes—including glycolysis—are acetylated, implying that acetylation is key regulator of cellular metabolism in general and in glycolysis in particular. The regulation of metabolic pathways is of particular importance to cancer research, as misregulation of metabolic pathways, especially upregulation of glycolysis, is common to most transformed cells and is now considered a new hallmark of cancer. These data raise an immediate question: what is the role of acetylation in the regulation of glycolysis and in the metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells? While current methods rely on mutational analyses, we will genetically encode the incorporation of acetylated lysine and directly measure the functional role of each acetylation site in cancerous and non-cancerous cell lines. Using this methodology, we will study the structural and functional implications of all the acetylation sites in glycolytic enzymes. We will also decipher the mechanism by which acetylation is regulated by deacetylases and answer a long standing question – how 18 deacetylases recognise their substrates among thousands of acetylated proteins? The developed methodologies can be applied to a wide range of protein families known to be acetylated, thereby making this study relevant to diverse research fields.
Max ERC Funding
1 499 375 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-07-01, End date: 2021-06-30
Project acronym AcTafactors
Project AcTafactors: Tumor Necrosis Factor-based immuno-cytokines with superior therapeutic indexes
Researcher (PI) Jan Honoré L Tavernier
Host Institution (HI) VIB
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), ERC-2015-PoC, ERC-2015-PoC
Summary Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) is a homotrimeric pro-inflammatory cytokine that was originally discovered based on its extraordinary antitumor activity. However, its shock-inducing properties, causing hypotension, leukopenia and multiple organ failure, prevented its systemic use in cancer treatment. With this proof-of-concept study we want to evaluate a novel class of cell-targeted TNFs with strongly reduced systemic toxicities (AcTafactors). In these engineered immuno-cytokines, single-chain TNFs that harbor mutations to reduce the affinity for its receptor(s) are fused to a cell- specific targeting domain. Whilst almost no biological activity is observed on non-targeted cells, thus preventing systemic toxicity, avidity effects at the targeted cell membrane lead to recovery of over 90% of the TNF signaling activity. In this project we propose a lead optimization program to further improve the lead AcTafactors identified in the context of the ERC Advanced Grant project and to evaluate the resulting molecules for their ability to target the tumor (neo)vasculature in clinically relevant murine tumor models. The pre-clinical proof-of-concept we aim for represents a first step towards clinical development and ultimately potential market approval of an effective AcTafactor anti-cancer therapy.
Summary
Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) is a homotrimeric pro-inflammatory cytokine that was originally discovered based on its extraordinary antitumor activity. However, its shock-inducing properties, causing hypotension, leukopenia and multiple organ failure, prevented its systemic use in cancer treatment. With this proof-of-concept study we want to evaluate a novel class of cell-targeted TNFs with strongly reduced systemic toxicities (AcTafactors). In these engineered immuno-cytokines, single-chain TNFs that harbor mutations to reduce the affinity for its receptor(s) are fused to a cell- specific targeting domain. Whilst almost no biological activity is observed on non-targeted cells, thus preventing systemic toxicity, avidity effects at the targeted cell membrane lead to recovery of over 90% of the TNF signaling activity. In this project we propose a lead optimization program to further improve the lead AcTafactors identified in the context of the ERC Advanced Grant project and to evaluate the resulting molecules for their ability to target the tumor (neo)vasculature in clinically relevant murine tumor models. The pre-clinical proof-of-concept we aim for represents a first step towards clinical development and ultimately potential market approval of an effective AcTafactor anti-cancer therapy.
Max ERC Funding
149 320 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-11-01, End date: 2017-04-30
Project acronym AD-VIP
Project Alzheimer’s disease and AAV9: Use of a virus-based delivery system for vectored immunoprophylaxis in dementia.
Researcher (PI) MATTHEW GUY HOLT
Host Institution (HI) VIB
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), PC1, ERC-2015-PoC
Summary Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia in the Western World, representing an economic and social cost of billions of euros a year. Given the changing demographics of society, these costs will only increase over the coming decades.
Amyloid plaques, composed of amyloid beta peptide (Abeta), are a defining characteristic of AD. Evidence now suggests that Abeta is central to disease pathogenesis due to its toxicity, which leads to cell loss and eventual cognitive decline. Abeta is generated by proteolytic cleavage of amyloid precursor protein, a process that involves the protein BACE1.
Knock-down of BACE1 is sufficient to prevent amyloid pathology and cognitive deficits in transgenic mouse models of AD, so BACE1 is an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. Although many small molecule inhibitors of BACE1 have been developed, many have problems with imperfect selectivity, posing a substantial risk for off-target toxicity in vivo. In contrast, antibody-based therapeutics provide an attractive alternative given their excellent molecular selectivity. However, the success of antibody therapies in AD is limited by the blood brain barrier, which limits antibody entry into the brain from the systemic circulation.
Recent studies have shown that adeno-associated virus serotype 9 (AAV9) effectively crosses the blood brain barrier. Here, we propose evaluating the use of AAV9 as a delivery system for a highly specific and potent inhibitory nanobody targeted against BACE1 as a treatment for AD.
Summary
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia in the Western World, representing an economic and social cost of billions of euros a year. Given the changing demographics of society, these costs will only increase over the coming decades.
Amyloid plaques, composed of amyloid beta peptide (Abeta), are a defining characteristic of AD. Evidence now suggests that Abeta is central to disease pathogenesis due to its toxicity, which leads to cell loss and eventual cognitive decline. Abeta is generated by proteolytic cleavage of amyloid precursor protein, a process that involves the protein BACE1.
Knock-down of BACE1 is sufficient to prevent amyloid pathology and cognitive deficits in transgenic mouse models of AD, so BACE1 is an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. Although many small molecule inhibitors of BACE1 have been developed, many have problems with imperfect selectivity, posing a substantial risk for off-target toxicity in vivo. In contrast, antibody-based therapeutics provide an attractive alternative given their excellent molecular selectivity. However, the success of antibody therapies in AD is limited by the blood brain barrier, which limits antibody entry into the brain from the systemic circulation.
Recent studies have shown that adeno-associated virus serotype 9 (AAV9) effectively crosses the blood brain barrier. Here, we propose evaluating the use of AAV9 as a delivery system for a highly specific and potent inhibitory nanobody targeted against BACE1 as a treatment for AD.
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-12-01, End date: 2018-05-31
Project acronym AEROSPACEPHYS
Project Multiphysics models and simulations for reacting and plasma flows applied to the space exploration program
Researcher (PI) Thierry Edouard Bertrand Magin
Host Institution (HI) INSTITUT VON KARMAN DE DYNAMIQUE DES FLUIDES
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE8, ERC-2010-StG_20091028
Summary Space exploration is one of boldest and most exciting endeavors that humanity has undertaken, and it holds enormous promise for the future. Our next challenges for the spatial conquest include bringing back samples to Earth by means of robotic missions and continuing the manned exploration program, which aims at sending human beings to Mars and bring them home safely. Inaccurate prediction of the heat-flux to the surface of the spacecraft heat shield can be fatal for the crew or the success of a robotic mission. This quantity is estimated during the design phase. An accurate prediction is a particularly complex task, regarding modelling of the following phenomena that are potential “mission killers:” 1) Radiation of the plasma in the shock layer, 2) Complex surface chemistry on the thermal protection material, 3) Flow transition from laminar to turbulent. Our poor understanding of the coupled mechanisms of radiation, ablation, and transition leads to the difficulties in flux prediction. To avoid failure and ensure safety of the astronauts and payload, engineers resort to “safety factors” to determine the thickness of the heat shield, at the expense of the mass of embarked payload. Thinking out of the box and basic research are thus necessary for advancements of the models that will better define the environment and requirements for the design and safe operation of tomorrow’s space vehicles and planetary probes for the manned space exploration. The three basic ingredients for predictive science are: 1) Physico-chemical models, 2) Computational methods, 3) Experimental data. We propose to follow a complementary approach for prediction. The proposed research aims at: “Integrating new advanced physico-chemical models and computational methods, based on a multidisciplinary approach developed together with physicists, chemists, and applied mathematicians, to create a top-notch multiphysics and multiscale numerical platform for simulations of planetary atmosphere entries, crucial to the new challenges of the manned space exploration program. Experimental data will also be used for validation, following state-of-the-art uncertainty quantification methods.”
Summary
Space exploration is one of boldest and most exciting endeavors that humanity has undertaken, and it holds enormous promise for the future. Our next challenges for the spatial conquest include bringing back samples to Earth by means of robotic missions and continuing the manned exploration program, which aims at sending human beings to Mars and bring them home safely. Inaccurate prediction of the heat-flux to the surface of the spacecraft heat shield can be fatal for the crew or the success of a robotic mission. This quantity is estimated during the design phase. An accurate prediction is a particularly complex task, regarding modelling of the following phenomena that are potential “mission killers:” 1) Radiation of the plasma in the shock layer, 2) Complex surface chemistry on the thermal protection material, 3) Flow transition from laminar to turbulent. Our poor understanding of the coupled mechanisms of radiation, ablation, and transition leads to the difficulties in flux prediction. To avoid failure and ensure safety of the astronauts and payload, engineers resort to “safety factors” to determine the thickness of the heat shield, at the expense of the mass of embarked payload. Thinking out of the box and basic research are thus necessary for advancements of the models that will better define the environment and requirements for the design and safe operation of tomorrow’s space vehicles and planetary probes for the manned space exploration. The three basic ingredients for predictive science are: 1) Physico-chemical models, 2) Computational methods, 3) Experimental data. We propose to follow a complementary approach for prediction. The proposed research aims at: “Integrating new advanced physico-chemical models and computational methods, based on a multidisciplinary approach developed together with physicists, chemists, and applied mathematicians, to create a top-notch multiphysics and multiscale numerical platform for simulations of planetary atmosphere entries, crucial to the new challenges of the manned space exploration program. Experimental data will also be used for validation, following state-of-the-art uncertainty quantification methods.”
Max ERC Funding
1 494 892 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-09-01, End date: 2015-08-31
Project acronym AMSEL
Project Atomic Force Microscopy for Molecular Structure Elucidation
Researcher (PI) Leo Gross
Host Institution (HI) IBM RESEARCH GMBH
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE4, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary Molecular structure elucidation is of great importance in synthetic chemistry, pharmacy, life sciences, energy and environmental sciences, and technology applications. To date structure elucidation by atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been demonstrated for a few, small and mainly planar molecules. In this project high-risk, high-impact scientific questions will be solved using structure elucidation with the AFM employing a novel tool and novel methodologies.
A combined low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope/atomic force microscope (LT-STM/AFM) with high throughput and in situ electrospray deposition method will be developed. Chemical resolution will be achieved by novel measurement techniques, in particular the usage of different and novel tip functionalizations and combination with Kelvin probe force microscopy. Elements will be identified using substructure recognition provided by a database that will be erected and by refined theory and simulations.
The developed tools and techniques will be applied to molecules of increasing fragility, complexity, size, and three-dimensionality. In particular samples that are challenging to characterize with conventional methods will be studied. Complex molecular mixtures will be investigated molecule-by-molecule taking advantage of the single-molecule sensitivity. The absolute stereochemistry of molecules will be determined, resolving molecules with multiple stereocenters. The operation of single molecular machines as nanocars and molecular gears will be investigated. Reactive intermediates generated with atomic manipulation will be characterized and their on-surface reactivity will be studied by AFM.
Summary
Molecular structure elucidation is of great importance in synthetic chemistry, pharmacy, life sciences, energy and environmental sciences, and technology applications. To date structure elucidation by atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been demonstrated for a few, small and mainly planar molecules. In this project high-risk, high-impact scientific questions will be solved using structure elucidation with the AFM employing a novel tool and novel methodologies.
A combined low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope/atomic force microscope (LT-STM/AFM) with high throughput and in situ electrospray deposition method will be developed. Chemical resolution will be achieved by novel measurement techniques, in particular the usage of different and novel tip functionalizations and combination with Kelvin probe force microscopy. Elements will be identified using substructure recognition provided by a database that will be erected and by refined theory and simulations.
The developed tools and techniques will be applied to molecules of increasing fragility, complexity, size, and three-dimensionality. In particular samples that are challenging to characterize with conventional methods will be studied. Complex molecular mixtures will be investigated molecule-by-molecule taking advantage of the single-molecule sensitivity. The absolute stereochemistry of molecules will be determined, resolving molecules with multiple stereocenters. The operation of single molecular machines as nanocars and molecular gears will be investigated. Reactive intermediates generated with atomic manipulation will be characterized and their on-surface reactivity will be studied by AFM.
Max ERC Funding
2 000 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-06-01, End date: 2021-05-31
Project acronym Antibodyomics
Project Vaccine profiling and immunodiagnostic discovery by high-throughput antibody repertoire analysis
Researcher (PI) Sai Tota Reddy
Host Institution (HI) EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), LS7, ERC-2015-STG
Summary Vaccines and immunodiagnostics have been vital for public health and medicine, however a quantitative molecular understanding of vaccine-induced antibody responses is lacking. Antibody research is currently going through a big-data driven revolution, largely due to progress in next-generation sequencing (NGS) and bioinformatic analysis of antibody repertoires. A main advantage of high-throughput antibody repertoire analysis is that it provides a wealth of quantitative information not possible with other classical methods of antibody analysis (i.e., serum titers); this information includes: clonal distribution and diversity, somatic hypermutation patterns, and lineage tracing. In preliminary work my group has established standardized methods for antibody repertoire NGS, including an experimental-bioinformatic pipeline for error and bias correction that enables highly accurate repertoire sequencing and analysis. The overall goal of this proposal will be to apply high-throughput antibody repertoire analysis for quantitative vaccine profiling and discovery of next-generation immunodiagnostics. Using mouse subunit vaccination as our model system, we will answer for the first time, a fundamental biological question within the context of antibody responses - what is the link between genotype (antibody repertoire) and phenotype (serum antibodies)? We will expand upon this approach for improved rational vaccine design by quantitatively determining the impact of a comprehensive set of subunit vaccination parameters on complete antibody landscapes. Finally, we will develop advanced bioinformatic methods to discover immunodiagnostics based on antibody repertoire sequences. In summary, this proposal lays the foundation for fundamentally new approaches in the quantitative analysis of antibody responses, which long-term will promote the development of next-generation vaccines and immunodiagnostics.
Summary
Vaccines and immunodiagnostics have been vital for public health and medicine, however a quantitative molecular understanding of vaccine-induced antibody responses is lacking. Antibody research is currently going through a big-data driven revolution, largely due to progress in next-generation sequencing (NGS) and bioinformatic analysis of antibody repertoires. A main advantage of high-throughput antibody repertoire analysis is that it provides a wealth of quantitative information not possible with other classical methods of antibody analysis (i.e., serum titers); this information includes: clonal distribution and diversity, somatic hypermutation patterns, and lineage tracing. In preliminary work my group has established standardized methods for antibody repertoire NGS, including an experimental-bioinformatic pipeline for error and bias correction that enables highly accurate repertoire sequencing and analysis. The overall goal of this proposal will be to apply high-throughput antibody repertoire analysis for quantitative vaccine profiling and discovery of next-generation immunodiagnostics. Using mouse subunit vaccination as our model system, we will answer for the first time, a fundamental biological question within the context of antibody responses - what is the link between genotype (antibody repertoire) and phenotype (serum antibodies)? We will expand upon this approach for improved rational vaccine design by quantitatively determining the impact of a comprehensive set of subunit vaccination parameters on complete antibody landscapes. Finally, we will develop advanced bioinformatic methods to discover immunodiagnostics based on antibody repertoire sequences. In summary, this proposal lays the foundation for fundamentally new approaches in the quantitative analysis of antibody responses, which long-term will promote the development of next-generation vaccines and immunodiagnostics.
Max ERC Funding
1 492 586 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-06-01, End date: 2021-05-31
Project acronym ARMOS
Project Advanced multifunctional Reactors for green Mobility and Solar fuels
Researcher (PI) Athanasios Konstandopoulos
Host Institution (HI) ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXIS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE8, ERC-2010-AdG_20100224
Summary Green Mobility requires an integrated approach to the chain fuel/engine/emissions. The present project aims at ground breaking advances in the area of Green Mobility by (a) enabling the production of affordable, carbon-neutral, clean, solar fuels using exclusively renewable/recyclable raw materials, namely solar energy, water and captured Carbon Dioxide from combustion power plants (b) developing a highly compact, multifunctional reactor, able to eliminate gaseous and particulate emissions from the exhaust of engines operated on such clean fuels.
The overall research approach will be based on material science, engineering and simulation technology developed by the PI over the past 20 years in the area of Diesel Emission Control Reactors, which will be further extended and cross-fertilized in the area of Solar Thermochemical Reactors, an emerging discipline of high importance for sustainable development, where the PI’s research group has already made significant contributions, and received the 2006 European Commission’s Descartes Prize for the development of the first ever solar reactor, holding the potential to produce on a large scale, pure renewable Hydrogen from the thermochemical splitting of water, also known as the HYDROSOL technology.
Summary
Green Mobility requires an integrated approach to the chain fuel/engine/emissions. The present project aims at ground breaking advances in the area of Green Mobility by (a) enabling the production of affordable, carbon-neutral, clean, solar fuels using exclusively renewable/recyclable raw materials, namely solar energy, water and captured Carbon Dioxide from combustion power plants (b) developing a highly compact, multifunctional reactor, able to eliminate gaseous and particulate emissions from the exhaust of engines operated on such clean fuels.
The overall research approach will be based on material science, engineering and simulation technology developed by the PI over the past 20 years in the area of Diesel Emission Control Reactors, which will be further extended and cross-fertilized in the area of Solar Thermochemical Reactors, an emerging discipline of high importance for sustainable development, where the PI’s research group has already made significant contributions, and received the 2006 European Commission’s Descartes Prize for the development of the first ever solar reactor, holding the potential to produce on a large scale, pure renewable Hydrogen from the thermochemical splitting of water, also known as the HYDROSOL technology.
Max ERC Funding
1 750 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-02-01, End date: 2017-01-31
Project acronym ARRAY SEQ
Project Array-tagged single cell gene expression by parallel linear RNA amplification and sequencing
Researcher (PI) Itai Yanai
Host Institution (HI) TECHNION - ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), ERC-2015-PoC, ERC-2015-PoC
Summary In many biomedical research and clinical applications it would be tremendously useful to know the gene expression profile of each and every cell in a sample, be it a blood sample or tumor. At present, the most advanced single-cell technologies are limited to a few thousand cells by a laborious and expensive approach. We have invented a method allowing the determination of the transcriptomes of millions of cells in parallel, using array-based technique for tagging single cells. The protocol combines our previously published protocol for single cell transcriptomics – CEL-Seq – with a new membrane based system for capturing single cells and a DNA microarray for differentially tagging each cell in the membrane. If further developed into a commercial platform, our method could have tremendous impact on clinical and research transcriptomics. Our method requires no expensive equipment, low amounts of reagents and little hands-on, making it unlike any available protocol for single cell analysis. Our method also has great versatility as it can be used for analyzing up to a million cells, but can also be easily scaled down to several hundreds, promising to make it the state of the art protocol for any lab interested in single cell biology. Our method thus represents a game-changer because it completely reinvents the scale under which cells can be examined – affordably and without a need for expensive instruments – by at least three orders of magnitude. The aim of this project is to establish a user-friendly platform for our method that could be commercially available in the coming years. The developed platform will facilitate a large-scale ability to query cells; the breadth of possible research and personal medicine applications is unimaginable at present.
Summary
In many biomedical research and clinical applications it would be tremendously useful to know the gene expression profile of each and every cell in a sample, be it a blood sample or tumor. At present, the most advanced single-cell technologies are limited to a few thousand cells by a laborious and expensive approach. We have invented a method allowing the determination of the transcriptomes of millions of cells in parallel, using array-based technique for tagging single cells. The protocol combines our previously published protocol for single cell transcriptomics – CEL-Seq – with a new membrane based system for capturing single cells and a DNA microarray for differentially tagging each cell in the membrane. If further developed into a commercial platform, our method could have tremendous impact on clinical and research transcriptomics. Our method requires no expensive equipment, low amounts of reagents and little hands-on, making it unlike any available protocol for single cell analysis. Our method also has great versatility as it can be used for analyzing up to a million cells, but can also be easily scaled down to several hundreds, promising to make it the state of the art protocol for any lab interested in single cell biology. Our method thus represents a game-changer because it completely reinvents the scale under which cells can be examined – affordably and without a need for expensive instruments – by at least three orders of magnitude. The aim of this project is to establish a user-friendly platform for our method that could be commercially available in the coming years. The developed platform will facilitate a large-scale ability to query cells; the breadth of possible research and personal medicine applications is unimaginable at present.
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-09-01, End date: 2017-02-28
Project acronym ARTIVISM
Project Art and Activism : Creativity and Performance as Subversive Forms of Political Expression in Super-Diverse Cities
Researcher (PI) Monika Salzbrunn
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITE DE LAUSANNE
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH5, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary ARTIVISM aims at exploring new artistic forms of political expression under difficult, precarious and/or oppressive conditions. It asks how social actors create belonging and multiple forms of resistance when they use art in activism or activism in art. What kind of alliances do these two forms of social practices generate in super-diverse places, in times of crisis and in precarious situations? Thus, ARTIVISM seeks to understand how social actors engage artistically in order to bring about social, economic and political change. Going beyond former research in urban and migration studies, and beyond the anthropology of art, ARTIVISM focuses on a broad range of artistic tools, styles and means of expression, namely festive events and parades, cartoons and comics and street art. By articulating performance studies, street anthropology and the sociology of celebration with migration and diversity studies, the project challenges former concepts, which took stable social groups for granted and reified them with ethnic lenses. The applied methodology considerably renews the field by bringing together event-, actor- and condition-centred approaches and a multi-sensory framework. Besides its multidisciplinary design, the ground-breaking nature of ARTIVISM lies in the application of the core concepts of performativity and liminality, as well as in an examination of the way to advance and refine these concepts and to create new analytical tools to respond to recent social phenomena. We have developed and tested innovative methods that respond to a postmodern type of fluid and temporary social action: audio-visual ethnography, urban event ethnography, street ethnography, field-crossing, and sensory ethnography (apprenticeship). Therefore, ARTIVISM develops new methods and theories in order to introduce a multi-faceted trans-disciplinary approach to the study of an emerging field of social transformations that is of challenging significance to the social sciences.
Summary
ARTIVISM aims at exploring new artistic forms of political expression under difficult, precarious and/or oppressive conditions. It asks how social actors create belonging and multiple forms of resistance when they use art in activism or activism in art. What kind of alliances do these two forms of social practices generate in super-diverse places, in times of crisis and in precarious situations? Thus, ARTIVISM seeks to understand how social actors engage artistically in order to bring about social, economic and political change. Going beyond former research in urban and migration studies, and beyond the anthropology of art, ARTIVISM focuses on a broad range of artistic tools, styles and means of expression, namely festive events and parades, cartoons and comics and street art. By articulating performance studies, street anthropology and the sociology of celebration with migration and diversity studies, the project challenges former concepts, which took stable social groups for granted and reified them with ethnic lenses. The applied methodology considerably renews the field by bringing together event-, actor- and condition-centred approaches and a multi-sensory framework. Besides its multidisciplinary design, the ground-breaking nature of ARTIVISM lies in the application of the core concepts of performativity and liminality, as well as in an examination of the way to advance and refine these concepts and to create new analytical tools to respond to recent social phenomena. We have developed and tested innovative methods that respond to a postmodern type of fluid and temporary social action: audio-visual ethnography, urban event ethnography, street ethnography, field-crossing, and sensory ethnography (apprenticeship). Therefore, ARTIVISM develops new methods and theories in order to introduce a multi-faceted trans-disciplinary approach to the study of an emerging field of social transformations that is of challenging significance to the social sciences.
Max ERC Funding
1 999 287 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-09-01, End date: 2021-08-31
Project acronym ATMOPACS
Project Atmospheric Organic Particulate Matter, Air Quality and Climate Change Studies
Researcher (PI) Spyridon Pandis
Host Institution (HI) FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY HELLAS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2010-AdG_20100224
Summary Despite its importance for human health and climate change organic aerosol (OA) remains one of the least understood aspects of atmospheric chemistry. We propose to develop an innovative new framework for the description of OA in chemical transport and climate models that will be able to overcome the challenges posed by the chemical complexity of OA while capturing its essential features.
The objectives of ATMOPACS are: (i) The development of a new unified framework for the description of OA based on its two most important parameters: volatility and oxygen content. (ii) The development of measurement techniques for the volatility distribution and oxygen content distribution of OA. This will allow the experimental characterization of OA in this new “coordinate system”. (iii) The study of the major OA processes (partitioning, chemical aging, hygroscopicity, CCN formation, nucleation) in this new framework combining lab and field measurements. (iv) The development and evaluation of the next generation of regional and global CTMs using the above framework. (v) The quantification of the importance of the various sources and formation pathways of OA in Europe and the world, of the sensitivity of OA to emission control strategies, and its role in the direct and indirect effects of aerosols on climate.
The proposed work involves a combination of laboratory measurements, field measurements including novel “atmospheric perturbation experiments”, OA model development, and modelling in urban, regional, and global scales. Therefore, it will span the system scales starting from the nanoscale to the global. The modelling tools that will be developed will be made available to all other research groups.
Summary
Despite its importance for human health and climate change organic aerosol (OA) remains one of the least understood aspects of atmospheric chemistry. We propose to develop an innovative new framework for the description of OA in chemical transport and climate models that will be able to overcome the challenges posed by the chemical complexity of OA while capturing its essential features.
The objectives of ATMOPACS are: (i) The development of a new unified framework for the description of OA based on its two most important parameters: volatility and oxygen content. (ii) The development of measurement techniques for the volatility distribution and oxygen content distribution of OA. This will allow the experimental characterization of OA in this new “coordinate system”. (iii) The study of the major OA processes (partitioning, chemical aging, hygroscopicity, CCN formation, nucleation) in this new framework combining lab and field measurements. (iv) The development and evaluation of the next generation of regional and global CTMs using the above framework. (v) The quantification of the importance of the various sources and formation pathways of OA in Europe and the world, of the sensitivity of OA to emission control strategies, and its role in the direct and indirect effects of aerosols on climate.
The proposed work involves a combination of laboratory measurements, field measurements including novel “atmospheric perturbation experiments”, OA model development, and modelling in urban, regional, and global scales. Therefore, it will span the system scales starting from the nanoscale to the global. The modelling tools that will be developed will be made available to all other research groups.
Max ERC Funding
2 496 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-01-01, End date: 2015-12-31
