ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

Geometric frustration, namely the impossibility of satisfying competing interactions on a lattice, has recently become a topic of considerable interest as it engenders emergent, fundamentally new phenomena and holds the exciting promise of delivering a new class of nanoscale devices based on the motion of magnetic charges. With ENFORCE, I propose to realize two and three dimensional artificial colloidal ices and investigate the fascinating manybody physics of geometric frustration in these mesoscopic structures. I will use these soft matter systems to engineer novel frustrated states through independent control of the single particle positions, lattice topology and collective magnetic coupling. The three project work packages (WPs) will present increasing levels of complexity, challenge and ambition: (i) In WP1, I will demonstrate a way to restore the residual entropy in the square ice, a fundamental longstanding problem in the field. Furthermore, I will miniaturize the square and the honeycomb geometries and investigate the dynamics of thermally excited topological defects and the formation of grain boundaries. (ii) In WP2, I will decimate both lattices and realize mixed coordination geometries, where the similarity between the colloidal and spin ice systems breaks down. I will then develop a novel annealing protocol based on the simultaneous system visualization and magnetic actuation control. (iii) In WP3, I will realize a three dimensional artificial colloidal ice, in which interacting ferromagnetic inclusions will be located in the voids of an inverse opal, and arranged to form the FCC or the pyrochlore lattices. External fields will be used to align, bias and stir these magnetic inclusions while monitoring in situ their orientation and dynamics via laser scanning confocal microscopy. ENFORCE will exploit the accessible time and length scales of the colloidal ice to shed new light on the exciting and interdisciplinary field of geometric frustration.

1 850 298 €

Start date: 2020-01-01, End date: 2024-12-31

LArcHer project aims at pioneering a new and more comprehensive way of understanding one of Europe’s most extraordinary bodies of prehistoric art, awarded Unesco World Heritage status in 1998: Levantine rock art (LRA). The ground-breaking nature of the project relies on combining a multidisciplinary (Archaeology, Heritage Science and IT) and multiscale approach (from microanalysis to landscape perspectives) to gain a holistic view of this art. It also aims at closing existing gaps between science and heritage mainstreams, to better understand the values and threats affecting this tradition and bring about a change in the way we understand, care, use and manage this millenary legacy. LArcHer aims are: a) Use cross-disciplinary knowledge and methods to redefine LRA (i.e. new dating techniques to refine chronology, new analytical methods to understand the creative process); b) Use LRA as a proxy to raise new questions of global interest on the evolution of creative thinking and human cognition (i.e. the timing and driving forces behind the birth of anthropocentrism and visual narratives in the history of prehistoric art); c) Develop new research agendas to set off complementary goals between science and heritage and define best practices for open air rock art conservation and management. Spread across Mediterranean Iberia, LRA is the only European body of figurative art dominated by humans engaged in dynamic narratives of hunting, violence, warfare, dances and so forth. These scenes are unique to explore past social dynamics, human behaviour and cultural practices. As such, it is the only body of European rock art with potential to answer some of the new questions raised by LArcHer. Key to LArcHer are the systematic recording and analysis of the art through 3D Digital technologies, management and data storage systems, GIS, physicochemical analysis of pigments and bedrock and comparative analysis with other major bodies of art with equivalent developments.

1 991 178 €

Start date: 2019-10-01, End date: 2024-09-30

Concepts of large bodies of glacial ice and liquid standing water, a robust hydrological cycle, and a rich Martian history of climate change are part of the current consensus model for early Mars. However, questions still poorly constrained include: a precise understanding of the inventory of water during the first billion years of Mars history and its early evolution on both global and local scales; whether liquid or solid H2O dominated, for what duration of time and where the water resided; what were the host-rock weathering rates and patterns and the physicochemical parameters defining such interactions; what specific landforms and mineralogies were generated during those periods; and what implications all these processes had on the possible inception of life on Mars. These fundamental questions represent large uncertainties and knowledge gaps. Therefore, a quantitative understanding of the basic characteristics of water on early Mars is very much needed and is the focus of this proposal. This application outlines a plan for my research in the next five years, and explains how I propose to fully characterize the aqueous environments of early Mars through a quantitative and truly interdisciplinary investigation. Spacecraft mission-derived datasets will be consistently used to test hypotheses through paleogeomorphological reconstructions, geochemical modeling, mineralogical studies, and astrobiological investigations. The derived results will produce hard constraints on the physical evolution, chemical alteration and habitability of surface and near-surface aqueous environments on early Mars. The planned investigations will benefit from the combination of working with first-hand data from ongoing Mars missions and with the state-of-the-art laboratory tools at the host institution. The final expected result will be a complete understanding of the physicochemical nature of water on early Mars, also opening new paths for the astrobiological exploration of the planet.

1 998 368 €

Start date: 2019-06-01, End date: 2024-05-31

The main goal of this project is to demonstrate that reading acquisition (RA) drastically reshapes our phonemic inventory, and to investigate the time-course and fine-grained properties of this recalibration. The main innovative and ground-breaking aspect of this project is the merging of two research fields, (1) reading acquisition and (2) phonemic recalibration, together with a deep and extensive exploration of the (3) perception-production link, which results in a new research line that pushes the boundaries of our understanding of the complex interactions between auditory and visual language perception and production. We will demonstrate that phonemic representations (PRs) become more stable (less dispersed) during the process of learning to read, and that this recalibration varies according to the grapheme-phoneme conversion rules of the reading system. We will explore such recalibration by means of the first cross-linguistic longitudinal study examining the position and dispersion of PRs, both in perception and production of phonemes and words. Secondly, we will explore how recalibration develops when RA is impaired as is the case in dyslexic children –informing the research field on (4) dyslexia– and when pre-reading PRs are unstable as is the case in deaf children with cochlear implants –informing the research field on (5) deafness. Finally, the research will also be extended to PR recalibration during RA in a second language –informing the research on (6) bilingualism. This proposal provides the first systematic investigation of phonemic recalibration during literacy acquisition, and will provide important insight for pragmatic research and theoretical accounts of language perception and production and phonemic recalibration. This project will also have major implications for the clinical field (theories and remediation of dyslexia and deafness) and for social policies and education (bilingualism, spoken and written language teaching).

1 875 000 €

Start date: 2019-10-01, End date: 2024-09-30