Project acronym ABEP
Project Asset Bubbles and Economic Policy
Researcher (PI) Jaume Ventura Fontanet
Host Institution (HI) Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional (CREI)
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH1, ERC-2009-AdG
Summary Advanced capitalist economies experience large and persistent movements in asset prices that are difficult to justify with economic fundamentals. The internet bubble of the 1990s and the real state market bubble of the 2000s are two recent examples. The predominant view is that these bubbles are a market failure, and are caused by some form of individual irrationality on the part of market participants. This project is based instead on the view that market participants are individually rational, although this does not preclude sometimes collectively sub-optimal outcomes. Bubbles are thus not a source of market failure by themselves but instead arise as a result of a pre-existing market failure, namely, the existence of pockets of dynamically inefficient investments. Under some conditions, bubbles partly solve this problem, increasing market efficiency and welfare. It is also possible however that bubbles do not solve the underlying problem and, in addition, create negative side-effects. The main objective of this project is to develop this view of asset bubbles, and produce an empirically-relevant macroeconomic framework that allows us to address the following questions: (i) What is the relationship between bubbles and financial market frictions? Special emphasis is given to how the globalization of financial markets and the development of new financial products affect the size and effects of bubbles. (ii) What is the relationship between bubbles, economic growth and unemployment? The theory suggests the presence of virtuous and vicious cycles, as economic growth creates the conditions for bubbles to pop up, while bubbles create incentives for economic growth to happen. (iii) What is the optimal policy to manage bubbles? We need to develop the tools that allow policy makers to sustain those bubbles that have positive effects and burst those that have negative effects.
Summary
Advanced capitalist economies experience large and persistent movements in asset prices that are difficult to justify with economic fundamentals. The internet bubble of the 1990s and the real state market bubble of the 2000s are two recent examples. The predominant view is that these bubbles are a market failure, and are caused by some form of individual irrationality on the part of market participants. This project is based instead on the view that market participants are individually rational, although this does not preclude sometimes collectively sub-optimal outcomes. Bubbles are thus not a source of market failure by themselves but instead arise as a result of a pre-existing market failure, namely, the existence of pockets of dynamically inefficient investments. Under some conditions, bubbles partly solve this problem, increasing market efficiency and welfare. It is also possible however that bubbles do not solve the underlying problem and, in addition, create negative side-effects. The main objective of this project is to develop this view of asset bubbles, and produce an empirically-relevant macroeconomic framework that allows us to address the following questions: (i) What is the relationship between bubbles and financial market frictions? Special emphasis is given to how the globalization of financial markets and the development of new financial products affect the size and effects of bubbles. (ii) What is the relationship between bubbles, economic growth and unemployment? The theory suggests the presence of virtuous and vicious cycles, as economic growth creates the conditions for bubbles to pop up, while bubbles create incentives for economic growth to happen. (iii) What is the optimal policy to manage bubbles? We need to develop the tools that allow policy makers to sustain those bubbles that have positive effects and burst those that have negative effects.
Max ERC Funding
1 000 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-04-01, End date: 2015-03-31
Project acronym ANALYTICAL SOCIOLOGY
Project Analytical Sociology: Theoretical Developments and Empirical Research
Researcher (PI) Mats Peter Hedström
Host Institution (HI) LINKOPINGS UNIVERSITET
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH2, ERC-2012-ADG_20120411
Summary This proposal outlines a highly ambitious and path-breaking research program. Through a tightly integrated package of basic theoretical work, strategic empirical research projects, international workshops, and a large number of publications in leading journals, the research program seeks to move sociology in a more analytical direction.
One part of the research program focuses on the epistemological and methodological foundations of analytical sociology, an approach to sociological theory and research that currently receives considerable attention in the international scholarly community. This work will be organized around two core themes: (1) the principles of mechanism-based explanations and (2) the micro-macro link.
The empirical research analyzes in great detail the ethnic, gender, and socio-economic segregation of key interaction domains in Sweden using the approach of analytical sociology. The interaction domains focused upon are schools, workplaces and neighborhoods; domains where people spend a considerable part of their time, where much of the social interaction between people takes place, where identities are formed, and where important resources are distributed.
Large-scale longitudinal micro data on the entire Swedish population, unique longitudinal data on social networks within school classes, and various agent-based simulation techniques, are used to better understand the processes through which schools, workplaces and neighborhoods become segregated along various dimensions, how the domains interact with one another, and how the structure and extent of segregation affects diverse social and economic outcomes.
Summary
This proposal outlines a highly ambitious and path-breaking research program. Through a tightly integrated package of basic theoretical work, strategic empirical research projects, international workshops, and a large number of publications in leading journals, the research program seeks to move sociology in a more analytical direction.
One part of the research program focuses on the epistemological and methodological foundations of analytical sociology, an approach to sociological theory and research that currently receives considerable attention in the international scholarly community. This work will be organized around two core themes: (1) the principles of mechanism-based explanations and (2) the micro-macro link.
The empirical research analyzes in great detail the ethnic, gender, and socio-economic segregation of key interaction domains in Sweden using the approach of analytical sociology. The interaction domains focused upon are schools, workplaces and neighborhoods; domains where people spend a considerable part of their time, where much of the social interaction between people takes place, where identities are formed, and where important resources are distributed.
Large-scale longitudinal micro data on the entire Swedish population, unique longitudinal data on social networks within school classes, and various agent-based simulation techniques, are used to better understand the processes through which schools, workplaces and neighborhoods become segregated along various dimensions, how the domains interact with one another, and how the structure and extent of segregation affects diverse social and economic outcomes.
Max ERC Funding
1 745 098 €
Duration
Start date: 2013-03-01, End date: 2018-02-28
Project acronym ANGEOM
Project Geometric analysis in the Euclidean space
Researcher (PI) Xavier Tolsa Domenech
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE1, ERC-2012-ADG_20120216
Summary "We propose to study different questions in the area of the so called geometric analysis. Most of the topics we are interested in deal with the connection between the behavior of singular integrals and the geometry of sets and measures. The study of this connection has been shown to be extremely helpful in the solution of certain long standing problems in the last years, such as the solution of the Painlev\'e problem or the obtaining of the optimal distortion bounds for quasiconformal mappings by Astala.
More specifically, we would like to study the relationship between the L^2 boundedness of singular integrals associated with Riesz and other related kernels, and rectifiability and other geometric notions. The so called David-Semmes problem is probably the main open problem in this area. Up to now, the techniques used to deal with this problem come from multiscale analysis and involve ideas from Littlewood-Paley theory and quantitative techniques of rectifiability. We propose to apply new ideas that combine variational arguments with other techniques which have connections with mass transportation. Further, we think that it is worth to explore in more detail the connection among mass transportation, singular integrals, and uniform rectifiability.
We are also interested in the field of quasiconformal mappings. We plan to study a problem regarding the quasiconformal distortion of quasicircles. This problem consists in proving that the bounds obtained recently by S. Smirnov on the dimension of K-quasicircles are optimal. We want to apply techniques from quantitative geometric measure theory to deal with this question.
Another question that we intend to explore lies in the interplay of harmonic analysis, geometric measure theory and partial differential equations. This concerns an old problem on the unique continuation of harmonic functions at the boundary open C^1 or Lipschitz domain. All the results known by now deal with smoother Dini domains."
Summary
"We propose to study different questions in the area of the so called geometric analysis. Most of the topics we are interested in deal with the connection between the behavior of singular integrals and the geometry of sets and measures. The study of this connection has been shown to be extremely helpful in the solution of certain long standing problems in the last years, such as the solution of the Painlev\'e problem or the obtaining of the optimal distortion bounds for quasiconformal mappings by Astala.
More specifically, we would like to study the relationship between the L^2 boundedness of singular integrals associated with Riesz and other related kernels, and rectifiability and other geometric notions. The so called David-Semmes problem is probably the main open problem in this area. Up to now, the techniques used to deal with this problem come from multiscale analysis and involve ideas from Littlewood-Paley theory and quantitative techniques of rectifiability. We propose to apply new ideas that combine variational arguments with other techniques which have connections with mass transportation. Further, we think that it is worth to explore in more detail the connection among mass transportation, singular integrals, and uniform rectifiability.
We are also interested in the field of quasiconformal mappings. We plan to study a problem regarding the quasiconformal distortion of quasicircles. This problem consists in proving that the bounds obtained recently by S. Smirnov on the dimension of K-quasicircles are optimal. We want to apply techniques from quantitative geometric measure theory to deal with this question.
Another question that we intend to explore lies in the interplay of harmonic analysis, geometric measure theory and partial differential equations. This concerns an old problem on the unique continuation of harmonic functions at the boundary open C^1 or Lipschitz domain. All the results known by now deal with smoother Dini domains."
Max ERC Funding
1 105 930 €
Duration
Start date: 2013-05-01, End date: 2018-04-30
Project acronym ANGIOFAT
Project New mechanisms of angiogenesis modulators in switching between white and brown adipose tissues
Researcher (PI) Yihai Cao
Host Institution (HI) KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS4, ERC-2009-AdG
Summary Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying adipose blood vessel growth or regression opens new fundamentally insight into novel therapeutic options for the treatment of obesity and its related metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cancer. Unlike any other tissues in the body, the adipose tissue constantly experiences expansion and shrinkage throughout the adult life. Adipocytes in the white adipose tissue have the ability to switch into metabolically highly active brown-like adipocytes. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) contains significantly higher numbers of microvessels than white adipose tissue (WAT) in order to adopt the high rates of metabolism. Thus, an angiogenic phenotype has to be switched on during the transition from WAT into BAT. We have found that acclimation of mice in cold could induce transition from inguinal and epidedymal WAT into BAT by upregulation of angiogenic factor expression and down-regulations of angiogenesis inhibitors (Xue et al, Cell Metabolism, 2009). The transition from WAT into BAT is dependent on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) that primarily targets on vascular endothelial cells via a tissue hypoxia-independent mechanism. VEGF blockade significantly alters adipose tissue metabolism. In another genetic model, we show similar findings that angiogenesis is crucial to mediate the transition from WAT into BAT (Xue et al, PNAS, 2008). Here we propose that the vascular tone determines the metabolic switch between WAT and BAT. Characterization of these novel angiogenic pathways may reveal new mechanisms underlying development of obesity- and metabolism-related disease complications and may define novel therapeutic targets. Thus, the benefit of this research proposal is enormous and is aimed to treat the most common and highly risk human health conditions in the modern time.
Summary
Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying adipose blood vessel growth or regression opens new fundamentally insight into novel therapeutic options for the treatment of obesity and its related metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cancer. Unlike any other tissues in the body, the adipose tissue constantly experiences expansion and shrinkage throughout the adult life. Adipocytes in the white adipose tissue have the ability to switch into metabolically highly active brown-like adipocytes. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) contains significantly higher numbers of microvessels than white adipose tissue (WAT) in order to adopt the high rates of metabolism. Thus, an angiogenic phenotype has to be switched on during the transition from WAT into BAT. We have found that acclimation of mice in cold could induce transition from inguinal and epidedymal WAT into BAT by upregulation of angiogenic factor expression and down-regulations of angiogenesis inhibitors (Xue et al, Cell Metabolism, 2009). The transition from WAT into BAT is dependent on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) that primarily targets on vascular endothelial cells via a tissue hypoxia-independent mechanism. VEGF blockade significantly alters adipose tissue metabolism. In another genetic model, we show similar findings that angiogenesis is crucial to mediate the transition from WAT into BAT (Xue et al, PNAS, 2008). Here we propose that the vascular tone determines the metabolic switch between WAT and BAT. Characterization of these novel angiogenic pathways may reveal new mechanisms underlying development of obesity- and metabolism-related disease complications and may define novel therapeutic targets. Thus, the benefit of this research proposal is enormous and is aimed to treat the most common and highly risk human health conditions in the modern time.
Max ERC Funding
2 411 547 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-03-01, End date: 2015-02-28
Project acronym ANSR
Project Ab initio approach to nuclear structure and reactions (++)
Researcher (PI) Christian Erik Forssén
Host Institution (HI) CHALMERS TEKNISKA HOEGSKOLA AB
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE2, ERC-2009-StG
Summary Today, much interest in several fields of physics is devoted to the study of small, open quantum systems, whose properties are profoundly affected by the environment; i.e., the continuum of decay channels. In nuclear physics, these problems were originally studied in the context of nuclear reactions but their importance has been reestablished with the advent of radioactive-beam physics and the resulting interest in exotic nuclei. In particular, strong theory initiatives in this area of research will be instrumental for the success of the experimental program at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Germany. In addition, many of the aspects of open quantum systems are also being explored in the rapidly evolving research on ultracold atomic gases, quantum dots, and other nanodevices. A first-principles description of open quantum systems presents a substantial theoretical and computational challenge. However, the current availability of enormous computing power has allowed theorists to make spectacular progress on problems that were previously thought intractable. The importance of computational methods to study quantum many-body systems is stressed in this proposal. Our approach is based on the ab initio no-core shell model (NCSM), which is a well-established theoretical framework aimed originally at an exact description of nuclear structure starting from realistic inter-nucleon forces. A successful completion of this project requires extensions of the NCSM mathematical framework and the development of highly advanced computer codes. The '++' in the project title indicates the interdisciplinary aspects of the present research proposal and the ambition to make a significant impact on connected fields of many-body physics.
Summary
Today, much interest in several fields of physics is devoted to the study of small, open quantum systems, whose properties are profoundly affected by the environment; i.e., the continuum of decay channels. In nuclear physics, these problems were originally studied in the context of nuclear reactions but their importance has been reestablished with the advent of radioactive-beam physics and the resulting interest in exotic nuclei. In particular, strong theory initiatives in this area of research will be instrumental for the success of the experimental program at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Germany. In addition, many of the aspects of open quantum systems are also being explored in the rapidly evolving research on ultracold atomic gases, quantum dots, and other nanodevices. A first-principles description of open quantum systems presents a substantial theoretical and computational challenge. However, the current availability of enormous computing power has allowed theorists to make spectacular progress on problems that were previously thought intractable. The importance of computational methods to study quantum many-body systems is stressed in this proposal. Our approach is based on the ab initio no-core shell model (NCSM), which is a well-established theoretical framework aimed originally at an exact description of nuclear structure starting from realistic inter-nucleon forces. A successful completion of this project requires extensions of the NCSM mathematical framework and the development of highly advanced computer codes. The '++' in the project title indicates the interdisciplinary aspects of the present research proposal and the ambition to make a significant impact on connected fields of many-body physics.
Max ERC Funding
1 304 800 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-12-01, End date: 2014-11-30
Project acronym Anti-CSC
Project Targeting Cancer Stem Cells (CSC) for the development of more effective treatments to cure cancer patients
Researcher (PI) Joan SEOANE
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO PRIVADA INSTITUT D'INVESTIGACIO ONCOLOGICA DE VALL-HEBRON
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), PC1, ERC-2012-PoC
Summary Global cancer market is growing at a CAGR of 6.9% with an estimated value of $81bn in 2016. Although the huge R&D investment observed in the past years in the development of new treatments, there is still lack on an effective treatment in many tumour types. In particular, the median survival for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a high-grade brain tumour affecting 23,000 patients a year in US and EU, is 14 months and its 5-yr survival less than 5%. It is therefore urgent to develop more effective treatments against this fatal disease.
It has been recently demonstrated that Cancer Stem Cells (CSCs) are responsible from tumour initiation, maintenance, relapse and treatment resistance, and therefore therapies targeting CSC should eradicate the tumour. Our team has discovered a molecular pathway critical in the regulation of CSC. The project presented here entails the proof of concept and pre-clinical development of a humanized antibody blocking this pathway. Our murine version of the antibody blocks CSC development in vitro by 54% and tumour recurrence in a mice model by 50%. At the end of the ERC POC project we will have a patent protected and fully humanized antibody active in vivo and in vitro and ready to enter Phase 1 clinical trials in humans to continue its commercialization process. The forecasted annual peak revenue for this therapeutic antibody is $530M with additional sales coming from line extensions in other cancer indications.
With the ERC POC project we are dramatically increasing the commercial value of the therapeutic antibody, transforming an R&D finding (CSC are critical for cancer development) into a potential new solution to patients (a therapeutic antibody targeting CSC). Hence, we are de-risking the product, advancing it through the commercialization path and creating a product and a commercial data package with a good expectative in the cancer market that is ready to be out-licensed or transferred to a spin-off previous VC investment.
Summary
Global cancer market is growing at a CAGR of 6.9% with an estimated value of $81bn in 2016. Although the huge R&D investment observed in the past years in the development of new treatments, there is still lack on an effective treatment in many tumour types. In particular, the median survival for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a high-grade brain tumour affecting 23,000 patients a year in US and EU, is 14 months and its 5-yr survival less than 5%. It is therefore urgent to develop more effective treatments against this fatal disease.
It has been recently demonstrated that Cancer Stem Cells (CSCs) are responsible from tumour initiation, maintenance, relapse and treatment resistance, and therefore therapies targeting CSC should eradicate the tumour. Our team has discovered a molecular pathway critical in the regulation of CSC. The project presented here entails the proof of concept and pre-clinical development of a humanized antibody blocking this pathway. Our murine version of the antibody blocks CSC development in vitro by 54% and tumour recurrence in a mice model by 50%. At the end of the ERC POC project we will have a patent protected and fully humanized antibody active in vivo and in vitro and ready to enter Phase 1 clinical trials in humans to continue its commercialization process. The forecasted annual peak revenue for this therapeutic antibody is $530M with additional sales coming from line extensions in other cancer indications.
With the ERC POC project we are dramatically increasing the commercial value of the therapeutic antibody, transforming an R&D finding (CSC are critical for cancer development) into a potential new solution to patients (a therapeutic antibody targeting CSC). Hence, we are de-risking the product, advancing it through the commercialization path and creating a product and a commercial data package with a good expectative in the cancer market that is ready to be out-licensed or transferred to a spin-off previous VC investment.
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-12-01, End date: 2013-11-30
Project acronym APMPAL
Project Asset Prices and Macro Policy when Agents Learn
Researcher (PI) Albert Marcet Torrens
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIÓ MARKETS, ORGANIZATIONS AND VOTES IN ECONOMICS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH1, ERC-2012-ADG_20120411
Summary "A conventional assumption in dynamic models is that agents form their expectations in a very sophisticated manner. In particular, that they have Rational Expectations (RE). We develop some tools to relax this assumption while retaining fully optimal behaviour by agents. We study implications for asset pricing and macro policy.
We assume that agents have a consistent set of beliefs that is close, but not equal, to RE. Agents are ""Internally Rational"", that is, they behave rationally given their system of beliefs. Thus, it is conceptually a small deviation from RE. It provides microfoundations for models of adaptive learning, since the learning algorithm is determined by agents’ optimal behaviour. In previous work we have shown that this framework can match stock price and housing price fluctuations, and that policy implications are quite different.
In this project we intend to: i) develop further the foundations of internally rational (IR) learning, ii) apply this to explain observed asset price price behavior, such as stock prices, bond prices, inflation, commodity derivatives, and exchange rates, iii) extend the IR framework to the case when agents entertain various models, iv) optimal policy under IR learning and under private information when some hidden shocks are not revealed ex-post. Along the way we will address policy issues such as: effects of creating derivative markets, sovereign spread as a signal of sovereign default risk, tests of fiscal sustainability, fiscal policy when agents learn, monetary policy (more specifically, QE measures and interest rate policy), and the role of credibility in macro policy."
Summary
"A conventional assumption in dynamic models is that agents form their expectations in a very sophisticated manner. In particular, that they have Rational Expectations (RE). We develop some tools to relax this assumption while retaining fully optimal behaviour by agents. We study implications for asset pricing and macro policy.
We assume that agents have a consistent set of beliefs that is close, but not equal, to RE. Agents are ""Internally Rational"", that is, they behave rationally given their system of beliefs. Thus, it is conceptually a small deviation from RE. It provides microfoundations for models of adaptive learning, since the learning algorithm is determined by agents’ optimal behaviour. In previous work we have shown that this framework can match stock price and housing price fluctuations, and that policy implications are quite different.
In this project we intend to: i) develop further the foundations of internally rational (IR) learning, ii) apply this to explain observed asset price price behavior, such as stock prices, bond prices, inflation, commodity derivatives, and exchange rates, iii) extend the IR framework to the case when agents entertain various models, iv) optimal policy under IR learning and under private information when some hidden shocks are not revealed ex-post. Along the way we will address policy issues such as: effects of creating derivative markets, sovereign spread as a signal of sovereign default risk, tests of fiscal sustainability, fiscal policy when agents learn, monetary policy (more specifically, QE measures and interest rate policy), and the role of credibility in macro policy."
Max ERC Funding
1 970 260 €
Duration
Start date: 2013-06-01, End date: 2018-08-31
Project acronym ARISYS
Project Engineering an artificial immune system with functional components assembled from prokaryotic parts and modules
Researcher (PI) Víctor De Lorenzo Prieto
Host Institution (HI) AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DEINVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS9, ERC-2012-ADG_20120314
Summary The objective of this project is to overcome current limitations for antibody production that are inherent to the extant immune system of vertebrates. This will be done by creating an all-in-one artificial/synthetic counterpart based exclusively on prokaryotic parts, devices and modules. To this end, ARISYS will exploit design concepts, construction hierarchies and standardization notions that stem from contemporary Synthetic Biology for the assembly and validation of (what we believe is) the most complex artificial biological system ventured thus far. This all-bacterial immune-like system will not only simplify and make affordable the manipulations necessary for antibody generation, but will also permit the application of such binders by themselves or displayed on bacterial cells to biotechnological challenges well beyond therapeutic and health-related uses. The work plan involves the assembly and validation of autonomous functional modules for [i] displaying antibody/affibody (AB) scaffolds attached to the surface of bacterial cells, [ii] conditional diversification of target-binding sequences of the ABs, [iii] contact-dependent activation of gene expression, [iv] reversible bi-stable switches, and [v] clonal selection and amplification of improved binders. These modules composed of stand-alone parts and bearing well defined input/output functions, will be assembled in the genomic chassis of streamlined Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida strains. The resulting molecular network will make the ABs expressed and displayed on the cell surface to proceed spontaneously (or at the user's decision) through subsequent cycles of affinity and specificity maturation towards antigens or other targets presented to the bacterial population. In this way, a single, easy-to-handle (albeit heavily engineered) strain will govern all operations that are typically scattered in a multitude of separate methods and apparatuses for AB production.
Summary
The objective of this project is to overcome current limitations for antibody production that are inherent to the extant immune system of vertebrates. This will be done by creating an all-in-one artificial/synthetic counterpart based exclusively on prokaryotic parts, devices and modules. To this end, ARISYS will exploit design concepts, construction hierarchies and standardization notions that stem from contemporary Synthetic Biology for the assembly and validation of (what we believe is) the most complex artificial biological system ventured thus far. This all-bacterial immune-like system will not only simplify and make affordable the manipulations necessary for antibody generation, but will also permit the application of such binders by themselves or displayed on bacterial cells to biotechnological challenges well beyond therapeutic and health-related uses. The work plan involves the assembly and validation of autonomous functional modules for [i] displaying antibody/affibody (AB) scaffolds attached to the surface of bacterial cells, [ii] conditional diversification of target-binding sequences of the ABs, [iii] contact-dependent activation of gene expression, [iv] reversible bi-stable switches, and [v] clonal selection and amplification of improved binders. These modules composed of stand-alone parts and bearing well defined input/output functions, will be assembled in the genomic chassis of streamlined Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida strains. The resulting molecular network will make the ABs expressed and displayed on the cell surface to proceed spontaneously (or at the user's decision) through subsequent cycles of affinity and specificity maturation towards antigens or other targets presented to the bacterial population. In this way, a single, easy-to-handle (albeit heavily engineered) strain will govern all operations that are typically scattered in a multitude of separate methods and apparatuses for AB production.
Max ERC Funding
2 422 271 €
Duration
Start date: 2013-05-01, End date: 2019-04-30
Project acronym ASD
Project Atomistic Spin-Dynamics; Methodology and Applications
Researcher (PI) Olof Ragnar Eriksson
Host Institution (HI) Uppsala University
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE3, ERC-2009-AdG
Summary Our aim is to provide a theoretical framework for studies of dynamical aspects of magnetic materials and magnetisation reversal, which has potential for applications for magnetic data storage and magnetic memory devices. The project focuses on developing and using an atomistic spin dynamics simulation method. Our goal is to identify novel materials and device geometries with improved performance. The scientific questions which will be addressed concern the understanding of the fundamental temporal limit of magnetisation switching and reversal, and the mechanisms which govern this limit. The methodological developments concern the ability to, from first principles theory, calculate the interatomic exchange parameters of materials in general, in particular for correlated electron materials, via the use of dynamical mean-field theory. The theoretical development also involves an atomistic spin dynamics simulation method, which once it has been established, will be released as a public software package. The proposed theoretical research will be intimately connected to world-leading experimental efforts, especially in Europe where a leading activity in experimental studies of magnetisation dynamics has been established. The ambition with this project is to become world-leading in the theory of simulating spin-dynamics phenomena, and to promote education and training of young researchers. To achieve our goals we will build up an open and lively environment, where the advances in the theoretical knowledge of spin-dynamics phenomena will be used to address important questions in information technology. In this environment the next generation research leaders will be fostered and trained, thus ensuring that the society of tomorrow is equipped with the scientific competence to tackle the challenges of our future.
Summary
Our aim is to provide a theoretical framework for studies of dynamical aspects of magnetic materials and magnetisation reversal, which has potential for applications for magnetic data storage and magnetic memory devices. The project focuses on developing and using an atomistic spin dynamics simulation method. Our goal is to identify novel materials and device geometries with improved performance. The scientific questions which will be addressed concern the understanding of the fundamental temporal limit of magnetisation switching and reversal, and the mechanisms which govern this limit. The methodological developments concern the ability to, from first principles theory, calculate the interatomic exchange parameters of materials in general, in particular for correlated electron materials, via the use of dynamical mean-field theory. The theoretical development also involves an atomistic spin dynamics simulation method, which once it has been established, will be released as a public software package. The proposed theoretical research will be intimately connected to world-leading experimental efforts, especially in Europe where a leading activity in experimental studies of magnetisation dynamics has been established. The ambition with this project is to become world-leading in the theory of simulating spin-dynamics phenomena, and to promote education and training of young researchers. To achieve our goals we will build up an open and lively environment, where the advances in the theoretical knowledge of spin-dynamics phenomena will be used to address important questions in information technology. In this environment the next generation research leaders will be fostered and trained, thus ensuring that the society of tomorrow is equipped with the scientific competence to tackle the challenges of our future.
Max ERC Funding
2 130 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-01-01, End date: 2014-12-31
Project acronym BIDECASEOX
Project Bio-inspired Design of Catalysts for Selective Oxidations of C-H and C=C Bonds
Researcher (PI) Miguel Costas Salgueiro
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT DE GIRONA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE5, ERC-2009-StG
Summary The selective functionalization of C-H and C=C bonds remains a formidable unsolved problem, owing to their inert nature. Novel alkane and alkene oxidation reactions exhibiting good and/or unprecedented selectivities will have a big impact on bulk and fine chemistry by opening novel methodologies that will allow removal of protection-deprotection sequences, thus streamlining synthetic strategies. These goals are targeted in this project via design of iron and manganese catalysts inspired by structural elements of the active site of non-heme enzymes of the Rieske Dioxygenase family. Selectivity is pursued via rational design of catalysts that will exploit substrate recognition-exclusion phenomena, and control over proton and electron affinity of the active species. Moreover, these catalysts will employ H2O2 as oxidant, and will operate under mild conditions (pressure and temperature). The fundamental mechanistic aspects of the catalytic reactions, and the species implicated in C-H and C=C oxidation events will also be studied with the aim of building on the necessary knowledge to design future generations of catalysts, and provide models to understand the chemistry taking place in non-heme iron and manganese-dependent oxygenases.
Summary
The selective functionalization of C-H and C=C bonds remains a formidable unsolved problem, owing to their inert nature. Novel alkane and alkene oxidation reactions exhibiting good and/or unprecedented selectivities will have a big impact on bulk and fine chemistry by opening novel methodologies that will allow removal of protection-deprotection sequences, thus streamlining synthetic strategies. These goals are targeted in this project via design of iron and manganese catalysts inspired by structural elements of the active site of non-heme enzymes of the Rieske Dioxygenase family. Selectivity is pursued via rational design of catalysts that will exploit substrate recognition-exclusion phenomena, and control over proton and electron affinity of the active species. Moreover, these catalysts will employ H2O2 as oxidant, and will operate under mild conditions (pressure and temperature). The fundamental mechanistic aspects of the catalytic reactions, and the species implicated in C-H and C=C oxidation events will also be studied with the aim of building on the necessary knowledge to design future generations of catalysts, and provide models to understand the chemistry taking place in non-heme iron and manganese-dependent oxygenases.
Max ERC Funding
1 299 998 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-11-01, End date: 2015-10-31
