Project acronym ANTINEUTRINONOVA
Project Probing Fundamental Physics with Antineutrinos at the NOvA Experiment
Researcher (PI) Jeffrey Hartnell
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE2, ERC-2012-StG_20111012
Summary "This proposal addresses major questions in particle physics that are at the forefront of experimental and theoretical physics research today. The results offered would have far-reaching implications in other fields such as cosmology and could help answer some of the big questions such as why the universe contains so much more matter than antimatter. The research objectives of this proposal are to (i) make world-leading tests of CPT symmetry and (ii) discover the neutrino mass hierarchy and search for indications of leptonic CP violation.
The NOvA long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment will use a novel ""totally active scintillator design"" for the detector technology and will be exposed to the world's highest power neutrino beam. Building on the first direct observation of muon antineutrino disappearance (that was made by a group founded and led by the PI at the MINOS experiment), tests of CPT symmetry will be performed by looking for differences in the mass squared splittings and mixing angles between neutrinos and antineutrinos. The potential to discover the mass hierarchy is unique to NOvA on the timescale of this proposal due to the long 810 km baseline and the well measured beam of neutrinos and antineutrinos.
This proposal addresses several key challenges in a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment with the following tasks: (i) development of a new approach to event energy reconstruction that is expected to have widespread applicability for future neutrino experiments; (ii) undertaking a comprehensive calibration project, exploiting a novel technique developed by the PI, that will be essential to achieving the physics goals; (iii) development of a sophisticated statistical analyses.
The results promised in this proposal surpass the sensitivity to antineutrino oscillation parameters of current 1st generation experiments by at least an order of magnitude, offering wide scope for profound discoveries with implications across disciplines."
Summary
"This proposal addresses major questions in particle physics that are at the forefront of experimental and theoretical physics research today. The results offered would have far-reaching implications in other fields such as cosmology and could help answer some of the big questions such as why the universe contains so much more matter than antimatter. The research objectives of this proposal are to (i) make world-leading tests of CPT symmetry and (ii) discover the neutrino mass hierarchy and search for indications of leptonic CP violation.
The NOvA long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment will use a novel ""totally active scintillator design"" for the detector technology and will be exposed to the world's highest power neutrino beam. Building on the first direct observation of muon antineutrino disappearance (that was made by a group founded and led by the PI at the MINOS experiment), tests of CPT symmetry will be performed by looking for differences in the mass squared splittings and mixing angles between neutrinos and antineutrinos. The potential to discover the mass hierarchy is unique to NOvA on the timescale of this proposal due to the long 810 km baseline and the well measured beam of neutrinos and antineutrinos.
This proposal addresses several key challenges in a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment with the following tasks: (i) development of a new approach to event energy reconstruction that is expected to have widespread applicability for future neutrino experiments; (ii) undertaking a comprehensive calibration project, exploiting a novel technique developed by the PI, that will be essential to achieving the physics goals; (iii) development of a sophisticated statistical analyses.
The results promised in this proposal surpass the sensitivity to antineutrino oscillation parameters of current 1st generation experiments by at least an order of magnitude, offering wide scope for profound discoveries with implications across disciplines."
Max ERC Funding
1 415 848 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-10-01, End date: 2018-09-30
Project acronym CASAA
Project Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of amines and amides
Researcher (PI) Jeffrey William Bode
Host Institution (HI) EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH
Country Switzerland
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE5, ERC-2012-StG_20111012
Summary "Amines and their acylated derivatives – amides – are among the most common chemical functional groups found in modern pharmaceuticals. Despite this there are few methods for their efficient, environmentally sustainable production in enantiomerically pure form. This proposal seeks to provide new catalytic chemical methods including 1) the catalytic, enantioselective synthesis of peptides and 2) catalytic methods for the preparation of enantiopure nitrogen-containing heterocycles. The proposed work features innovative chemistry including novel reaction mechanism and catalysts. These methods have far reaching applications for the sustainable production of valuable compounds as well as fundamental science."
Summary
"Amines and their acylated derivatives – amides – are among the most common chemical functional groups found in modern pharmaceuticals. Despite this there are few methods for their efficient, environmentally sustainable production in enantiomerically pure form. This proposal seeks to provide new catalytic chemical methods including 1) the catalytic, enantioselective synthesis of peptides and 2) catalytic methods for the preparation of enantiopure nitrogen-containing heterocycles. The proposed work features innovative chemistry including novel reaction mechanism and catalysts. These methods have far reaching applications for the sustainable production of valuable compounds as well as fundamental science."
Max ERC Funding
1 500 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-12-01, End date: 2017-11-30
Project acronym INNODYN
Project Integrated Analysis & Design in Nonlinear Dynamics
Researcher (PI) Jakob Soendergaard Jensen
Host Institution (HI) DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET
Country Denmark
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE8, ERC-2011-StG_20101014
Summary Imagine lighter and more fuel economic cars with improved crashworthiness that help save lives, aircrafts and wind-turbine blades with significant weight reductions that lead to large savings in material costs and environmental impact, and light but efficient armour that helps to protect against potentially deadly blasts. These are the future perspectives with a new generation of advanced structures and micro-structured materials.
The goal of INNODYN is to bring current design procedures for structures and materials a significant step forward by developing new efficient procedures for integrated analysis and design taking the nonlinear dynamic performance into account. The assessment of nonlinear dynamic effects is essential for fully exploiting the vast potentials of structural and material capabilities, but a focused endeavour is strongly required to develop the methodology required to reach the ambitious goals.
INNODYN will in two interacting work-packages develop the necessary computational analysis and design tools using
1) reduced-order models (WP1) that enable optimization of the overall topology of structures which is today hindered by excessive computational costs when dealing with nonlinear dynamic systems
2) multi-scale models (WP2) that facilitates topological design of the material microstructure including essential nonlinear geometrical effects currently not included in state-of-the-art methods.
The work will be carried out by a research group with two PhD-students and a postdoc, led by a PI with a track-record for original ground-breaking research in analysis and optimization of linear and nonlinear dynamics and hosted by one of the world's leading research groups on topology optimization, the TOPOPT group at the Technical University of Denmark.
Summary
Imagine lighter and more fuel economic cars with improved crashworthiness that help save lives, aircrafts and wind-turbine blades with significant weight reductions that lead to large savings in material costs and environmental impact, and light but efficient armour that helps to protect against potentially deadly blasts. These are the future perspectives with a new generation of advanced structures and micro-structured materials.
The goal of INNODYN is to bring current design procedures for structures and materials a significant step forward by developing new efficient procedures for integrated analysis and design taking the nonlinear dynamic performance into account. The assessment of nonlinear dynamic effects is essential for fully exploiting the vast potentials of structural and material capabilities, but a focused endeavour is strongly required to develop the methodology required to reach the ambitious goals.
INNODYN will in two interacting work-packages develop the necessary computational analysis and design tools using
1) reduced-order models (WP1) that enable optimization of the overall topology of structures which is today hindered by excessive computational costs when dealing with nonlinear dynamic systems
2) multi-scale models (WP2) that facilitates topological design of the material microstructure including essential nonlinear geometrical effects currently not included in state-of-the-art methods.
The work will be carried out by a research group with two PhD-students and a postdoc, led by a PI with a track-record for original ground-breaking research in analysis and optimization of linear and nonlinear dynamics and hosted by one of the world's leading research groups on topology optimization, the TOPOPT group at the Technical University of Denmark.
Max ERC Funding
823 992 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-02-01, End date: 2016-01-31
Project acronym MatMech
Project Live Tapings of Material Formation: Unravelling formation mechanisms in materials chemistry through Multimodal X-ray total scattering studies
Researcher (PI) Kirsten Marie oernsbjerg Jensen
Host Institution (HI) KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET
Country Denmark
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE5, ERC-2018-STG
Summary With this proposal, I want to develop a new, multimodal approach to in situ X-ray scattering studies to unravel formation mechanisms of the solid state. The aim of the project is to develop a unified view of metal oxide nucleation processes on the atomic scale: From precursor complexes over pre-nucelation clusters to the final crystalline particle.
The development of new materials relies on our understanding of the relation between material structure, properties and synthesis. While the intense focus on ‘materials by design’ have made it possible to predict the properties of many materials given an atomic arrangement, actually knowing how to synthesize it is a completely different story. Material synthesis methods are to a large degree developed by extensive parameter studies based on trial-and-error experiments. Specifically, our knowledge of particle nucleation is lacking, as even non-classical views on nucleation such as the concept of pre-nucleation clusters do not apply an atomistic view of the formation process. Here, I want to use new methods in X-ray total scattering and Pair Distribution Function analysis to follow nucleation processes to establish the framework needed for predictive material synthesis. One of the large challenges in studying nucleation is the lack of a characterization method that can give structural information on materials without long-range order. I have demonstrated that time-resolved X-ray total scattering gives new possibilities for following structural changes in a synthesis, and the use of total scattering has opened for a new view on material formation. However, the complexity of the structures involved in nucleation processes is too large to obtain sufficient information from X-ray total scattering alone. Here, I will combine X-ray total scattering data with complementary techniques using a new multimodal approach for complex modelling analysis, providing a unifying view on material nucleation.
Summary
With this proposal, I want to develop a new, multimodal approach to in situ X-ray scattering studies to unravel formation mechanisms of the solid state. The aim of the project is to develop a unified view of metal oxide nucleation processes on the atomic scale: From precursor complexes over pre-nucelation clusters to the final crystalline particle.
The development of new materials relies on our understanding of the relation between material structure, properties and synthesis. While the intense focus on ‘materials by design’ have made it possible to predict the properties of many materials given an atomic arrangement, actually knowing how to synthesize it is a completely different story. Material synthesis methods are to a large degree developed by extensive parameter studies based on trial-and-error experiments. Specifically, our knowledge of particle nucleation is lacking, as even non-classical views on nucleation such as the concept of pre-nucleation clusters do not apply an atomistic view of the formation process. Here, I want to use new methods in X-ray total scattering and Pair Distribution Function analysis to follow nucleation processes to establish the framework needed for predictive material synthesis. One of the large challenges in studying nucleation is the lack of a characterization method that can give structural information on materials without long-range order. I have demonstrated that time-resolved X-ray total scattering gives new possibilities for following structural changes in a synthesis, and the use of total scattering has opened for a new view on material formation. However, the complexity of the structures involved in nucleation processes is too large to obtain sufficient information from X-ray total scattering alone. Here, I will combine X-ray total scattering data with complementary techniques using a new multimodal approach for complex modelling analysis, providing a unifying view on material nucleation.
Max ERC Funding
1 493 269 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-02-01, End date: 2024-01-31
