Project acronym 15CBOOKTRADE
Project The 15th-century Book Trade: An Evidence-based Assessment and Visualization of the Distribution, Sale, and Reception of Books in the Renaissance
Researcher (PI) Cristina Dondi
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH6, ERC-2013-CoG
Summary The idea that underpins this project is to use the material evidence from thousands of surviving 15th-c. books, as well as unique documentary evidence — the unpublished ledger of a Venetian bookseller in the 1480s which records the sale of 25,000 printed books with their prices — to address four fundamental questions relating to the introduction of printing in the West which have so far eluded scholarship, partly because of lack of evidence, partly because of the lack of effective tools to deal with existing evidence. The book trade differs from other trades operating in the medieval and early modern periods in that the goods traded survive in considerable numbers. Not only do they survive, but many of them bear stratified evidence of their history in the form of marks of ownership, prices, manuscript annotations, binding and decoration styles. A British Academy pilot project conceived by the PI produced a now internationally-used database which gathers together this kind of evidence for thousands of surviving 15th-c. printed books. For the first time, this makes it possible to track the circulation of books, their trade routes and later collecting, across Europe and the USA, and throughout the centuries. The objectives of this project are to examine (1) the distribution and trade-routes, national and international, of 15th-c. printed books, along with the identity of the buyers and users (private, institutional, religious, lay, female, male, and by profession) and their reading practices; (2) the books' contemporary market value; (3) the transmission and dissemination of the texts they contain, their survival and their loss (rebalancing potentially skewed scholarship); and (4) the circulation and re-use of the illustrations they contain. Finally, the project will experiment with the application of scientific visualization techniques to represent, geographically and chronologically, the movement of 15th-c. printed books and of the texts they contain.
Summary
The idea that underpins this project is to use the material evidence from thousands of surviving 15th-c. books, as well as unique documentary evidence — the unpublished ledger of a Venetian bookseller in the 1480s which records the sale of 25,000 printed books with their prices — to address four fundamental questions relating to the introduction of printing in the West which have so far eluded scholarship, partly because of lack of evidence, partly because of the lack of effective tools to deal with existing evidence. The book trade differs from other trades operating in the medieval and early modern periods in that the goods traded survive in considerable numbers. Not only do they survive, but many of them bear stratified evidence of their history in the form of marks of ownership, prices, manuscript annotations, binding and decoration styles. A British Academy pilot project conceived by the PI produced a now internationally-used database which gathers together this kind of evidence for thousands of surviving 15th-c. printed books. For the first time, this makes it possible to track the circulation of books, their trade routes and later collecting, across Europe and the USA, and throughout the centuries. The objectives of this project are to examine (1) the distribution and trade-routes, national and international, of 15th-c. printed books, along with the identity of the buyers and users (private, institutional, religious, lay, female, male, and by profession) and their reading practices; (2) the books' contemporary market value; (3) the transmission and dissemination of the texts they contain, their survival and their loss (rebalancing potentially skewed scholarship); and (4) the circulation and re-use of the illustrations they contain. Finally, the project will experiment with the application of scientific visualization techniques to represent, geographically and chronologically, the movement of 15th-c. printed books and of the texts they contain.
Max ERC Funding
1 999 172 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-04-01, End date: 2019-03-31
Project acronym 3D-REPAIR
Project Spatial organization of DNA repair within the nucleus
Researcher (PI) Evanthia Soutoglou
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), LS2, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary Faithful repair of double stranded DNA breaks (DSBs) is essential, as they are at the origin of genome instability, chromosomal translocations and cancer. Cells repair DSBs through different pathways, which can be faithful or mutagenic, and the balance between them at a given locus must be tightly regulated to preserve genome integrity. Although, much is known about DSB repair factors, how the choice between pathways is controlled within the nuclear environment is not understood. We have shown that nuclear architecture and non-random genome organization determine the frequency of chromosomal translocations and that pathway choice is dictated by the spatial organization of DNA in the nucleus. Nevertheless, what determines which pathway is activated in response to DSBs at specific genomic locations is not understood. Furthermore, the impact of 3D-genome folding on the kinetics and efficiency of DSB repair is completely unknown.
Here we aim to understand how nuclear compartmentalization, chromatin structure and genome organization impact on the efficiency of detection, signaling and repair of DSBs. We will unravel what determines the DNA repair specificity within distinct nuclear compartments using protein tethering, promiscuous biotinylation and quantitative proteomics. We will determine how DNA repair is orchestrated at different heterochromatin structures using a CRISPR/Cas9-based system that allows, for the first time robust induction of DSBs at specific heterochromatin compartments. Finally, we will investigate the role of 3D-genome folding in the kinetics of DNA repair and pathway choice using single nucleotide resolution DSB-mapping coupled to 3D-topological maps.
This proposal has significant implications for understanding the mechanisms controlling DNA repair within the nuclear environment and will reveal the regions of the genome that are susceptible to genomic instability and help us understand why certain mutations and translocations are recurrent in cancer
Summary
Faithful repair of double stranded DNA breaks (DSBs) is essential, as they are at the origin of genome instability, chromosomal translocations and cancer. Cells repair DSBs through different pathways, which can be faithful or mutagenic, and the balance between them at a given locus must be tightly regulated to preserve genome integrity. Although, much is known about DSB repair factors, how the choice between pathways is controlled within the nuclear environment is not understood. We have shown that nuclear architecture and non-random genome organization determine the frequency of chromosomal translocations and that pathway choice is dictated by the spatial organization of DNA in the nucleus. Nevertheless, what determines which pathway is activated in response to DSBs at specific genomic locations is not understood. Furthermore, the impact of 3D-genome folding on the kinetics and efficiency of DSB repair is completely unknown.
Here we aim to understand how nuclear compartmentalization, chromatin structure and genome organization impact on the efficiency of detection, signaling and repair of DSBs. We will unravel what determines the DNA repair specificity within distinct nuclear compartments using protein tethering, promiscuous biotinylation and quantitative proteomics. We will determine how DNA repair is orchestrated at different heterochromatin structures using a CRISPR/Cas9-based system that allows, for the first time robust induction of DSBs at specific heterochromatin compartments. Finally, we will investigate the role of 3D-genome folding in the kinetics of DNA repair and pathway choice using single nucleotide resolution DSB-mapping coupled to 3D-topological maps.
This proposal has significant implications for understanding the mechanisms controlling DNA repair within the nuclear environment and will reveal the regions of the genome that are susceptible to genomic instability and help us understand why certain mutations and translocations are recurrent in cancer
Max ERC Funding
1 999 750 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-03-01, End date: 2022-02-28
Project acronym AAREA
Project The Archaeology of Agricultural Resilience in Eastern Africa
Researcher (PI) Daryl Stump
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITY OF YORK
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH6, ERC-2013-StG
Summary "The twin concepts of sustainability and conservation that are so pivotal within current debates regarding economic development and biodiversity protection both contain an inherent temporal dimension, since both refer to the need to balance short-term gains with long-term resource maintenance. Proponents of resilience theory and of development based on ‘indigenous knowledge’ have thus argued for the necessity of including archaeological, historical and palaeoenvironmental components within development project design. Indeed, some have argued that archaeology should lead these interdisciplinary projects on the grounds that it provides the necessary time depth and bridges the social and natural sciences. The project proposed here accepts this logic and endorses this renewed contemporary relevance of archaeological research. However, it also needs to be admitted that moving beyond critiques of the misuse of historical data presents significant hurdles. When presenting results outside the discipline, for example, archaeological projects tend to downplay the poor archaeological visibility of certain agricultural practices, and computer models designed to test sustainability struggle to adequately account for local cultural preferences. This field will therefore not progress unless there is a frank appraisal of archaeology’s strengths and weaknesses. This project will provide this assessment by employing a range of established and groundbreaking archaeological and modelling techniques to examine the development of two east Africa agricultural systems: one at the abandoned site of Engaruka in Tanzania, commonly seen as an example of resource mismanagement and ecological collapse; and another at the current agricultural landscape in Konso, Ethiopia, described by the UN FAO as one of a select few African “lessons from the past”. The project thus aims to assess the sustainability of these systems, but will also assess the role archaeology can play in such debates worldwide."
Summary
"The twin concepts of sustainability and conservation that are so pivotal within current debates regarding economic development and biodiversity protection both contain an inherent temporal dimension, since both refer to the need to balance short-term gains with long-term resource maintenance. Proponents of resilience theory and of development based on ‘indigenous knowledge’ have thus argued for the necessity of including archaeological, historical and palaeoenvironmental components within development project design. Indeed, some have argued that archaeology should lead these interdisciplinary projects on the grounds that it provides the necessary time depth and bridges the social and natural sciences. The project proposed here accepts this logic and endorses this renewed contemporary relevance of archaeological research. However, it also needs to be admitted that moving beyond critiques of the misuse of historical data presents significant hurdles. When presenting results outside the discipline, for example, archaeological projects tend to downplay the poor archaeological visibility of certain agricultural practices, and computer models designed to test sustainability struggle to adequately account for local cultural preferences. This field will therefore not progress unless there is a frank appraisal of archaeology’s strengths and weaknesses. This project will provide this assessment by employing a range of established and groundbreaking archaeological and modelling techniques to examine the development of two east Africa agricultural systems: one at the abandoned site of Engaruka in Tanzania, commonly seen as an example of resource mismanagement and ecological collapse; and another at the current agricultural landscape in Konso, Ethiopia, described by the UN FAO as one of a select few African “lessons from the past”. The project thus aims to assess the sustainability of these systems, but will also assess the role archaeology can play in such debates worldwide."
Max ERC Funding
1 196 701 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-02-01, End date: 2018-01-31
Project acronym ADAPT
Project Life in a cold climate: the adaptation of cereals to new environments and the establishment of agriculture in Europe
Researcher (PI) Terence Austen Brown
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH6, ERC-2013-ADG
Summary "This project explores the concept of agricultural spread as analogous to enforced climate change and asks how cereals adapted to new environments when agriculture was introduced into Europe. Archaeologists have long recognized that the ecological pressures placed on crops would have had an impact on the spread and subsequent development of agriculture, but previously there has been no means of directly assessing the scale and nature of this impact. Recent work that I have directed has shown how such a study could be carried out, and the purpose of this project is to exploit these breakthroughs with the goal of assessing the influence of environmental adaptation on the spread of agriculture, its adoption as the primary subsistence strategy, and the subsequent establishment of farming in different parts of Europe. This will correct the current imbalance between our understanding of the human and environmental dimensions to the domestication of Europe. I will use methods from population genomics to identify loci within the barley and wheat genomes that have undergone selection since the beginning of cereal cultivation in Europe. I will then use ecological modelling to identify those loci whose patterns of selection are associated with ecogeographical variables and hence represent adaptations to local environmental conditions. I will assign dates to the periods when adaptations occurred by sequencing ancient DNA from archaeobotanical assemblages and by computer methods that enable the temporal order of adaptations to be deduced. I will then synthesise the information on environmental adaptations with dating evidence for the spread of agriculture in Europe, which reveals pauses that might be linked to environmental adaptation, with demographic data that indicate regions where Neolithic populations declined, possibly due to inadequate crop productivity, and with an archaeobotanical database showing changes in the prevalence of individual cereals in different regions."
Summary
"This project explores the concept of agricultural spread as analogous to enforced climate change and asks how cereals adapted to new environments when agriculture was introduced into Europe. Archaeologists have long recognized that the ecological pressures placed on crops would have had an impact on the spread and subsequent development of agriculture, but previously there has been no means of directly assessing the scale and nature of this impact. Recent work that I have directed has shown how such a study could be carried out, and the purpose of this project is to exploit these breakthroughs with the goal of assessing the influence of environmental adaptation on the spread of agriculture, its adoption as the primary subsistence strategy, and the subsequent establishment of farming in different parts of Europe. This will correct the current imbalance between our understanding of the human and environmental dimensions to the domestication of Europe. I will use methods from population genomics to identify loci within the barley and wheat genomes that have undergone selection since the beginning of cereal cultivation in Europe. I will then use ecological modelling to identify those loci whose patterns of selection are associated with ecogeographical variables and hence represent adaptations to local environmental conditions. I will assign dates to the periods when adaptations occurred by sequencing ancient DNA from archaeobotanical assemblages and by computer methods that enable the temporal order of adaptations to be deduced. I will then synthesise the information on environmental adaptations with dating evidence for the spread of agriculture in Europe, which reveals pauses that might be linked to environmental adaptation, with demographic data that indicate regions where Neolithic populations declined, possibly due to inadequate crop productivity, and with an archaeobotanical database showing changes in the prevalence of individual cereals in different regions."
Max ERC Funding
2 492 964 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-02-01, End date: 2019-01-31
Project acronym ADaPt
Project Adaptation, Dispersals and Phenotype: understanding the roles of climate,
natural selection and energetics in shaping global hunter-gatherer adaptability
Researcher (PI) Jay Stock
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARSOF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH6, ERC-2013-CoG
Summary Relative to other species, humans are characterised by considerable biological diversity despite genetic homogeneity. This diversity is reflected in skeletal variation, but we lack sufficient understanding of the underlying mechanisms to adequately interpret the archaeological record. The proposed research will address problems in our current understanding of the origins of human variation in the past by: 1) documenting and interpreting the pattern of global hunter-gatherer variation relative to genetic phylogenies and climatic variation; 2) testing the relationship between environmental and skeletal variation among genetically related hunter-gatherers from different environments; 3) examining the adaptability of living humans to different environments, through the study of energetic expenditure and life history trade-offs associated with locomotion; and 4) investigating the relationship between muscle and skeletal variation associated with locomotion in diverse environments. This will be achieved by linking: a) detailed study of the global pattern of hunter-gatherer variation in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene with; b) ground-breaking experimental research which tests the relationship between energetic stress, muscle function, and bone variation in living humans. The first component tests the correspondence between skeletal variation and both genetic and climatic history, to infer mechanisms driving variation. The second component integrates this skeletal variation with experimental studies of living humans to, for the first time, directly test adaptive implications of skeletal variation observed in the past. ADaPt will provide the first links between prehistoric hunter-gatherer variation and the evolutionary parameters of life history and energetics that may have shaped our success as a species. It will lead to breakthroughs necessary to interpret variation in the archaeological record, relative to human dispersals and adaptation in the past.
Summary
Relative to other species, humans are characterised by considerable biological diversity despite genetic homogeneity. This diversity is reflected in skeletal variation, but we lack sufficient understanding of the underlying mechanisms to adequately interpret the archaeological record. The proposed research will address problems in our current understanding of the origins of human variation in the past by: 1) documenting and interpreting the pattern of global hunter-gatherer variation relative to genetic phylogenies and climatic variation; 2) testing the relationship between environmental and skeletal variation among genetically related hunter-gatherers from different environments; 3) examining the adaptability of living humans to different environments, through the study of energetic expenditure and life history trade-offs associated with locomotion; and 4) investigating the relationship between muscle and skeletal variation associated with locomotion in diverse environments. This will be achieved by linking: a) detailed study of the global pattern of hunter-gatherer variation in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene with; b) ground-breaking experimental research which tests the relationship between energetic stress, muscle function, and bone variation in living humans. The first component tests the correspondence between skeletal variation and both genetic and climatic history, to infer mechanisms driving variation. The second component integrates this skeletal variation with experimental studies of living humans to, for the first time, directly test adaptive implications of skeletal variation observed in the past. ADaPt will provide the first links between prehistoric hunter-gatherer variation and the evolutionary parameters of life history and energetics that may have shaped our success as a species. It will lead to breakthroughs necessary to interpret variation in the archaeological record, relative to human dispersals and adaptation in the past.
Max ERC Funding
1 911 485 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-07-01, End date: 2019-06-30
Project acronym BCOOL
Project Barocaloric materials for energy-efficient solid-state cooling
Researcher (PI) Javier Eduardo Moya Raposo
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARSOF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE8, ERC-2015-STG
Summary Cooling is essential for food and drinks, medicine, electronics and thermal comfort. Thermal changes due to pressure-driven phase transitions in fluids have long been used in vapour compression systems to achieve continuous refrigeration and air conditioning, but their energy efficiency is relatively low, and the working fluids that are employed harm the environment when released to the atmosphere. More recently, the discovery of large thermal changes due to pressure-driven phase transitions in magnetic solids has led to suggestions for environmentally friendly solid-state cooling applications. However, for this new cooling technology to succeed, it is still necessary to find suitable barocaloric (BC) materials that satisfy the demanding requirements set by applications, namely very large thermal changes in inexpensive materials that occur near room temperature in response to small applied pressures.
I aim to develop new BC materials by exploiting phase transitions in non-magnetic solids whose structural and thermal properties are strongly coupled, namely ferroelectric salts, molecular crystals and hybrid materials. These materials are normally made from cheap abundant elements, and display very large latent heats and volume changes at structural phase transitions, which make them ideal candidates to exhibit extremely large BC effects that outperform those observed in state-of-the-art BC magnetic materials, and that match applications.
My unique approach combines: i) materials science to identify materials with outstanding BC performance, ii) advanced experimental techniques to explore and exploit these novel materials, iii) materials engineering to create new composite materials with enhanced BC properties, and iv) fabrication of BC devices, using insight gained from modelling of materials and device parameters. If successful, my ambitious strategy will culminate in revolutionary solid-state cooling devices that are environmentally friendly and energy efficient.
Summary
Cooling is essential for food and drinks, medicine, electronics and thermal comfort. Thermal changes due to pressure-driven phase transitions in fluids have long been used in vapour compression systems to achieve continuous refrigeration and air conditioning, but their energy efficiency is relatively low, and the working fluids that are employed harm the environment when released to the atmosphere. More recently, the discovery of large thermal changes due to pressure-driven phase transitions in magnetic solids has led to suggestions for environmentally friendly solid-state cooling applications. However, for this new cooling technology to succeed, it is still necessary to find suitable barocaloric (BC) materials that satisfy the demanding requirements set by applications, namely very large thermal changes in inexpensive materials that occur near room temperature in response to small applied pressures.
I aim to develop new BC materials by exploiting phase transitions in non-magnetic solids whose structural and thermal properties are strongly coupled, namely ferroelectric salts, molecular crystals and hybrid materials. These materials are normally made from cheap abundant elements, and display very large latent heats and volume changes at structural phase transitions, which make them ideal candidates to exhibit extremely large BC effects that outperform those observed in state-of-the-art BC magnetic materials, and that match applications.
My unique approach combines: i) materials science to identify materials with outstanding BC performance, ii) advanced experimental techniques to explore and exploit these novel materials, iii) materials engineering to create new composite materials with enhanced BC properties, and iv) fabrication of BC devices, using insight gained from modelling of materials and device parameters. If successful, my ambitious strategy will culminate in revolutionary solid-state cooling devices that are environmentally friendly and energy efficient.
Max ERC Funding
1 467 521 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-04-01, End date: 2021-03-31
Project acronym BEEHIVE
Project Bridging the Evolution and Epidemiology of HIV in Europe
Researcher (PI) Christopher Fraser
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS2, ERC-2013-ADG
Summary The aim of the BEEHIVE project is to generate novel insight into HIV biology, evolution and epidemiology, leveraging next-generation high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics to produce and analyse whole-genomes of viruses from approximately 3,000 European HIV-1 infected patients. These patients have known dates of infection spread over the last 25 years, good clinical follow up, and a wide range of clinical prognostic indicators and outcomes. The primary objective is to discover the viral genetic determinants of severity of infection and set-point viral load. This primary objective is high-risk & blue-skies: there is ample indirect evidence of polymorphisms that alter virulence, but they have never been identified, and it is not known how easy they are to discover. However, the project is also high-reward: it could lead to a substantial shift in the understanding of HIV disease.
Technologically, the BEEHIVE project will deliver new approaches for undertaking whole genome association studies on RNA viruses, including delivering an innovative high-throughput bioinformatics pipeline for handling genetically diverse viral quasi-species data (with viral diversity both within and between infected patients).
The project also includes secondary and tertiary objectives that address critical open questions in HIV epidemiology and evolution. The secondary objective is to use viral genetic sequences allied to mathematical epidemic models to better understand the resurgent European epidemic amongst high-risk groups, especially men who have sex with men. The aim will not just be to establish who is at risk of infection, which is known from conventional epidemiological approaches, but also to characterise the risk factors for onwards transmission of the virus. Tertiary objectives involve understanding the relationship between the genetic diversity within viral samples, indicative of on-going evolution or dual infections, to clinical outcomes.
Summary
The aim of the BEEHIVE project is to generate novel insight into HIV biology, evolution and epidemiology, leveraging next-generation high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics to produce and analyse whole-genomes of viruses from approximately 3,000 European HIV-1 infected patients. These patients have known dates of infection spread over the last 25 years, good clinical follow up, and a wide range of clinical prognostic indicators and outcomes. The primary objective is to discover the viral genetic determinants of severity of infection and set-point viral load. This primary objective is high-risk & blue-skies: there is ample indirect evidence of polymorphisms that alter virulence, but they have never been identified, and it is not known how easy they are to discover. However, the project is also high-reward: it could lead to a substantial shift in the understanding of HIV disease.
Technologically, the BEEHIVE project will deliver new approaches for undertaking whole genome association studies on RNA viruses, including delivering an innovative high-throughput bioinformatics pipeline for handling genetically diverse viral quasi-species data (with viral diversity both within and between infected patients).
The project also includes secondary and tertiary objectives that address critical open questions in HIV epidemiology and evolution. The secondary objective is to use viral genetic sequences allied to mathematical epidemic models to better understand the resurgent European epidemic amongst high-risk groups, especially men who have sex with men. The aim will not just be to establish who is at risk of infection, which is known from conventional epidemiological approaches, but also to characterise the risk factors for onwards transmission of the virus. Tertiary objectives involve understanding the relationship between the genetic diversity within viral samples, indicative of on-going evolution or dual infections, to clinical outcomes.
Max ERC Funding
2 499 739 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-04-01, End date: 2019-03-31
Project acronym BIAF
Project Bird Inspired Autonomous Flight
Researcher (PI) Shane Paul Windsor
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE8, ERC-2015-STG
Summary The agile and efficient flight of birds shows what flight performance is physically possible, and in theory could be achieved by unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) of the same size. The overall aim of this project is to enhance the performance of small scale UAVs by developing novel technologies inspired by understanding how birds are adapted to interact with airflows. Small UAVs have the potential to dramatically change current practices in many areas such as, search and rescue, surveillance, and environmental monitoring. Currently the utility of these systems is limited by their operational endurance and their inability to operate in strong turbulent winds, especially those that often occur in urban environments. Birds are adapted to be able to fly in these conditions and actually use them to their advantage to minimise their energy output.
This project is composed of three tracks which contain elements of technology development, as well as scientific investigation looking at bird flight behaviour and aerodynamics. The first track looks at developing path planning algorithms for UAVs in urban environments based on how birds fly in these areas, by using GPS tracking and computational fluid dynamics alongside trajectory optimization. The second track aims to develop artificial wings with improved gust tolerance inspired by the features of feathered wings. Here, high speed video measurements of birds flying through gusts will be used alongside wind tunnel testing of artificial wings to discover what features of a bird’s wing help to alleviate gusts. The third track develops novel force and flow sensor arrays for autonomous flight control based on the sensor arrays found in flying animals. These arrays will be used to make UAVs with increased agility and robustness. This unique bird inspired approach uses biology to show what is possible, and engineering to find the features that enable this performance and develop them into functional technologies.
Summary
The agile and efficient flight of birds shows what flight performance is physically possible, and in theory could be achieved by unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) of the same size. The overall aim of this project is to enhance the performance of small scale UAVs by developing novel technologies inspired by understanding how birds are adapted to interact with airflows. Small UAVs have the potential to dramatically change current practices in many areas such as, search and rescue, surveillance, and environmental monitoring. Currently the utility of these systems is limited by their operational endurance and their inability to operate in strong turbulent winds, especially those that often occur in urban environments. Birds are adapted to be able to fly in these conditions and actually use them to their advantage to minimise their energy output.
This project is composed of three tracks which contain elements of technology development, as well as scientific investigation looking at bird flight behaviour and aerodynamics. The first track looks at developing path planning algorithms for UAVs in urban environments based on how birds fly in these areas, by using GPS tracking and computational fluid dynamics alongside trajectory optimization. The second track aims to develop artificial wings with improved gust tolerance inspired by the features of feathered wings. Here, high speed video measurements of birds flying through gusts will be used alongside wind tunnel testing of artificial wings to discover what features of a bird’s wing help to alleviate gusts. The third track develops novel force and flow sensor arrays for autonomous flight control based on the sensor arrays found in flying animals. These arrays will be used to make UAVs with increased agility and robustness. This unique bird inspired approach uses biology to show what is possible, and engineering to find the features that enable this performance and develop them into functional technologies.
Max ERC Funding
1 998 546 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-04-01, End date: 2021-09-30
Project acronym BioBlood
Project Development of a Bio-Inspired Blood Factory for Personalised Healthcare
Researcher (PI) Athanasios Mantalaris
Host Institution (HI) IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE8, ERC-2013-ADG
Summary Personalized medicine is a medical model that proposes the customization of healthcare, with decisions and practices being tailored to the individual patient by use of patient-specific information and/or application of patient-specific cell-based therapies. BioBlood aims to deliver personalised healthcare through a “step change” in the clinical field of haemato-oncology. BioBlood represents an engineered bio-inspired integrated experimental/modelling platform for normal and abnormal haematopoiesis that receives disease & patient input (patient primary cells & patient/disease-specific data) and will produce cellular (red blood cell product) and drug (optimal drug treatment) therapies as its output. Blood supply to meet demand is the primary challenge for Blood Banks and requires significant resources to avoid shortages and ensure safety. An alternative, practical and cost-effective solution to conventional donated blood is essential to reduce patient morbidity and mortality, stabilise and guarantee the donor supply, limit multiple donor exposures, reduce risk of infection of known or as yet unidentified pathogens, and ensure a robust and safe turn-around for blood supply management. BioBlood aims to meet this challenge by developing a novel in vitro platform for the mass production of RBCs for clinical use. More than £32b/year is spent to develop and bring new drugs to market, which takes 14 years. Most patients diagnosed with leukaemias are unable to tolerate treatment and would benefit from novel agents. There is a need to optimise current treatment schedules for cancers such as AML to limit toxicities and improve clinical trial pathways for new drugs to enable personalised healthcare. BioBlood’s in vitro & in silico platform would be a powerful tool to tailor treatments in a patient- and leukaemia-specific chemotherapy schedule by considering the level of toxicity to the specific individual and treatment efficiency for the specific leukaemia a priori.
Summary
Personalized medicine is a medical model that proposes the customization of healthcare, with decisions and practices being tailored to the individual patient by use of patient-specific information and/or application of patient-specific cell-based therapies. BioBlood aims to deliver personalised healthcare through a “step change” in the clinical field of haemato-oncology. BioBlood represents an engineered bio-inspired integrated experimental/modelling platform for normal and abnormal haematopoiesis that receives disease & patient input (patient primary cells & patient/disease-specific data) and will produce cellular (red blood cell product) and drug (optimal drug treatment) therapies as its output. Blood supply to meet demand is the primary challenge for Blood Banks and requires significant resources to avoid shortages and ensure safety. An alternative, practical and cost-effective solution to conventional donated blood is essential to reduce patient morbidity and mortality, stabilise and guarantee the donor supply, limit multiple donor exposures, reduce risk of infection of known or as yet unidentified pathogens, and ensure a robust and safe turn-around for blood supply management. BioBlood aims to meet this challenge by developing a novel in vitro platform for the mass production of RBCs for clinical use. More than £32b/year is spent to develop and bring new drugs to market, which takes 14 years. Most patients diagnosed with leukaemias are unable to tolerate treatment and would benefit from novel agents. There is a need to optimise current treatment schedules for cancers such as AML to limit toxicities and improve clinical trial pathways for new drugs to enable personalised healthcare. BioBlood’s in vitro & in silico platform would be a powerful tool to tailor treatments in a patient- and leukaemia-specific chemotherapy schedule by considering the level of toxicity to the specific individual and treatment efficiency for the specific leukaemia a priori.
Max ERC Funding
2 498 903 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-01-01, End date: 2018-12-31
Project acronym BM
Project Becoming Muslim: Conversion to Islam and Islamisation in Eastern Ethiopia
Researcher (PI) Timothy Insoll
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH6, ERC-2015-AdG
Summary "
Why do people convert to Islam? The contemporary relevance of this question is immediately apparent.""Becoming Muslim"" will transform our knowledge about Islamisation processes and contexts through archaeological research in Harar, Eastern Ethiopia, and examine this in comparison to other regions in sub-Saharan Africa via publication and a major conference. Assessing genuine belief is difficult, but the impact of trade, Saints, Sufis and Holy men, proselytisation, benefits gained from Arabic literacy and administration systems, enhanced power, prestige, warfare, and belonging to the larger Muslim community have all been suggested. Equally significant is the context of conversion. Why were certain sub-Saharan African cities key points for conversion to Islam, e.g. Gao and Timbuktu in the Western Sahel, and Harar in Ethiopia? Archaeological engagement with Islamisation processes and contexts of conversion in Africa is variable, and in parts of the continent research is static. This exciting 4-year project explores, for the first time, Islamic conversion and Islamisation through focusing on Harar, the most important living Islamic centre in the Horn of Africa, and its surrounding region.
Islamic archaeology has been neglected in Ethiopia, and is wholly non-existent in Harar. Excavation at 5 key sites: 2 shrines, 2 abandoned settlements, 1 urban site, will permit evaluation of urban Islam, the veneration of saints, pilgrimage and shrine based practices, rural Islam, architecture and jihad, changes in lifeways, and early and comparative evidence for Islam and long-distance trade, through analysis of, e.g. architecture, epigraphy, burial orientation, imported artifacts, and faunal and botanical remains. Although it is fully acknowledged that conversion to Islam and Islamisation processes are not universal, my project is groundbreaking in developing and applying a transferable methodology for the archaeological explanation of ""Becoming Muslim"" in sub-Saharan Africa."
Summary
"
Why do people convert to Islam? The contemporary relevance of this question is immediately apparent.""Becoming Muslim"" will transform our knowledge about Islamisation processes and contexts through archaeological research in Harar, Eastern Ethiopia, and examine this in comparison to other regions in sub-Saharan Africa via publication and a major conference. Assessing genuine belief is difficult, but the impact of trade, Saints, Sufis and Holy men, proselytisation, benefits gained from Arabic literacy and administration systems, enhanced power, prestige, warfare, and belonging to the larger Muslim community have all been suggested. Equally significant is the context of conversion. Why were certain sub-Saharan African cities key points for conversion to Islam, e.g. Gao and Timbuktu in the Western Sahel, and Harar in Ethiopia? Archaeological engagement with Islamisation processes and contexts of conversion in Africa is variable, and in parts of the continent research is static. This exciting 4-year project explores, for the first time, Islamic conversion and Islamisation through focusing on Harar, the most important living Islamic centre in the Horn of Africa, and its surrounding region.
Islamic archaeology has been neglected in Ethiopia, and is wholly non-existent in Harar. Excavation at 5 key sites: 2 shrines, 2 abandoned settlements, 1 urban site, will permit evaluation of urban Islam, the veneration of saints, pilgrimage and shrine based practices, rural Islam, architecture and jihad, changes in lifeways, and early and comparative evidence for Islam and long-distance trade, through analysis of, e.g. architecture, epigraphy, burial orientation, imported artifacts, and faunal and botanical remains. Although it is fully acknowledged that conversion to Islam and Islamisation processes are not universal, my project is groundbreaking in developing and applying a transferable methodology for the archaeological explanation of ""Becoming Muslim"" in sub-Saharan Africa."
Max ERC Funding
1 031 105 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-09-01, End date: 2021-08-31
