Project acronym COQCOoN
Project COntinuous variables Quantum COmplex Networks
Researcher (PI) Valentina PARIGI
Host Institution (HI) SORBONNE UNIVERSITE
Country France
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE2, ERC-2018-COG
Summary At different scales, from molecular systems to technological infrastructures, physical systems group in structures which are neither simply regular or random, but can be represented by networks with complex shape. Proteins in metabolic structures and the World Wide Web, for example, share the same kind of statistical distribution of connections of their constituents. In addition, the individual elements of natural samples, like atoms or electrons, are quantum objects. Hence replicating complex networks in a scalable quantum platform is a formidable opportunity to learn more about the intrinsic quantumness of real world and for the efficient exploitation of quantum-complex structures in future technologies. Future trusted large-scale communications and efficient big data handling, in fact, will depend on at least one of the two aspects -quantum or complex- of scalable systems, or on an appropriate combination of the two.
In COQCOoN I will tackle both the quantum and the complex structure of physical systems. I will implement large quantum complex networks via multimode quantum systems based on both temporal and frequency modes of parametric processes pumped by pulsed lasers. Quantum correlations between amplitude and phase continuous variables will be arranged in complex topologies and delocalized single and multiple photon excitations will be distributed in the network. I aim at:
-Learn from nature: I will reproduce complex topologies in the quantum network to query the quantum properties of natural processes, like energy transport and synchronization, and investigate how nature-inspired efficient strategies can be transferred in quantum technologies.
-Control large quantum architectures: I will experiment network topologies that make quantum communication and information protocols resilient against internal failures and environmental changes. I will setup distant multi-party quantum communications and quantum simulation in complex networks.
Summary
At different scales, from molecular systems to technological infrastructures, physical systems group in structures which are neither simply regular or random, but can be represented by networks with complex shape. Proteins in metabolic structures and the World Wide Web, for example, share the same kind of statistical distribution of connections of their constituents. In addition, the individual elements of natural samples, like atoms or electrons, are quantum objects. Hence replicating complex networks in a scalable quantum platform is a formidable opportunity to learn more about the intrinsic quantumness of real world and for the efficient exploitation of quantum-complex structures in future technologies. Future trusted large-scale communications and efficient big data handling, in fact, will depend on at least one of the two aspects -quantum or complex- of scalable systems, or on an appropriate combination of the two.
In COQCOoN I will tackle both the quantum and the complex structure of physical systems. I will implement large quantum complex networks via multimode quantum systems based on both temporal and frequency modes of parametric processes pumped by pulsed lasers. Quantum correlations between amplitude and phase continuous variables will be arranged in complex topologies and delocalized single and multiple photon excitations will be distributed in the network. I aim at:
-Learn from nature: I will reproduce complex topologies in the quantum network to query the quantum properties of natural processes, like energy transport and synchronization, and investigate how nature-inspired efficient strategies can be transferred in quantum technologies.
-Control large quantum architectures: I will experiment network topologies that make quantum communication and information protocols resilient against internal failures and environmental changes. I will setup distant multi-party quantum communications and quantum simulation in complex networks.
Max ERC Funding
1 990 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-06-01, End date: 2024-11-30
Project acronym ECOFEED
Project Altered eco-evolutionary feedbacks in a future climate
Researcher (PI) Julien COTE
Host Institution (HI) CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Country France
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), LS8, ERC-2018-COG
Summary Current scenarios predict an accelerated biodiversity erosion with climate change. However, uncertainties in predictions remain large because the multitude of climate change effects from genes to ecosystems and their interdependencies are still overlooked. This incomplete vision hampers the development of effective mitigation strategies to sustain biodiversity.
Climate change can directly modify the phenotype and performance of individuals through phenotypic plasticity and evolution on contemporary time scales. The microevolution of keystone species can spread throughout the whole ecological network due to changes in species interactions and further translate into an altered ecosystem functioning. Conversely, direct impacts on communities and ecosystems can have ripple effects on the phenotypic distribution and evolution of all species of ecological networks.
Climate-driven changes at individual and population levels can shape community composition and ecosystem functioning, and vice versa, altering eco-evolutionary feedbacks, namely the reciprocal interactions between ecological and evolutionary processes. Climate-driven ecological and evolutionary dynamics are yet often investigated separately. The role of eco-evolutionary feedbacks in climate change impacts on biological systems therefore hinges on little concrete empirical evidence contrasting with a profuse theoretical development.
ECOFEED will investigate climate-dependent eco-evolutionary feedbacks using a 6 year-long realistic warming experiment reproducing natural conditions and thus allowing for both evolutionary and ecological dynamics to occur under a predicted climate change scenario. Complementary laboratory experiments will quantify reciprocal impacts of climate-dependent evolutionary and ecological changes on each other. ECOFEED will provide unprecedented insights on the eco-evolutionary feedbacks in a future climate and will ultimately help refine predictions on the future of biodiversity.
Summary
Current scenarios predict an accelerated biodiversity erosion with climate change. However, uncertainties in predictions remain large because the multitude of climate change effects from genes to ecosystems and their interdependencies are still overlooked. This incomplete vision hampers the development of effective mitigation strategies to sustain biodiversity.
Climate change can directly modify the phenotype and performance of individuals through phenotypic plasticity and evolution on contemporary time scales. The microevolution of keystone species can spread throughout the whole ecological network due to changes in species interactions and further translate into an altered ecosystem functioning. Conversely, direct impacts on communities and ecosystems can have ripple effects on the phenotypic distribution and evolution of all species of ecological networks.
Climate-driven changes at individual and population levels can shape community composition and ecosystem functioning, and vice versa, altering eco-evolutionary feedbacks, namely the reciprocal interactions between ecological and evolutionary processes. Climate-driven ecological and evolutionary dynamics are yet often investigated separately. The role of eco-evolutionary feedbacks in climate change impacts on biological systems therefore hinges on little concrete empirical evidence contrasting with a profuse theoretical development.
ECOFEED will investigate climate-dependent eco-evolutionary feedbacks using a 6 year-long realistic warming experiment reproducing natural conditions and thus allowing for both evolutionary and ecological dynamics to occur under a predicted climate change scenario. Complementary laboratory experiments will quantify reciprocal impacts of climate-dependent evolutionary and ecological changes on each other. ECOFEED will provide unprecedented insights on the eco-evolutionary feedbacks in a future climate and will ultimately help refine predictions on the future of biodiversity.
Max ERC Funding
1 983 565 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-04-01, End date: 2024-03-31
Project acronym EQUALITY
Project CORRECTING INEQUALITY THROUGH LAW: HOW COURTS CONCEPTUALIZE EQUALITY IN THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL JURISPRUDENCE
Researcher (PI) Niels Petersen
Host Institution (HI) WESTFAELISCHE WILHELMS-UNIVERSITAET MUENSTER
Country Germany
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH2, ERC-2018-COG
Summary Equality is one of the main political concerns of our time. Rising economic inequality is often cited as a major reason for the recent rise of political populism. But economic inequality is not the only problem. Inequalities based on gender, race or nationality are also major issues in the contemporary discussion. While most commentators discuss political solutions, the proposed research project analyzes the contributions that courts can make to correct inequalities. Norms protecting equality form part of all major national and international human rights instruments. However, the meaning of equality is fundamentally contested. There is no agreement on what equality exactly means or entails. The question, therefore, is not whether legal equality guarantees can tolerate inequality, but to what extent they can do. Because of these conceptual difficulties, the application of equality and non-discrimination clauses is not a straightforward exercise, in which courts simply apply legal norms to a given set of facts. Instead, courts need to develop doctrinal instruments to give meaning to the concept of equality. The proposed research project analyses how apex courts conceptualize equality in constitutional and international human rights law. It will be based on a comparative study of the equality jurisprudence of 16 jurisdictions and has three aims. Firstly, it intends to create a comparative map of equality jurisprudence, i.e. to describe and categorize the constitutional jurisprudence on equality: Which doctrinal choices do courts make and how do these choices inform the conception of equality? Secondly, it seeks to explain the doctrinal choices of the analyzed courts: Which factors influence courts to arrive at particular conceptions of equality? Thirdly, it has a normative goal and examines whether courts are better suited to correct certain kinds of inequalities than other kinds of inequalities.
Summary
Equality is one of the main political concerns of our time. Rising economic inequality is often cited as a major reason for the recent rise of political populism. But economic inequality is not the only problem. Inequalities based on gender, race or nationality are also major issues in the contemporary discussion. While most commentators discuss political solutions, the proposed research project analyzes the contributions that courts can make to correct inequalities. Norms protecting equality form part of all major national and international human rights instruments. However, the meaning of equality is fundamentally contested. There is no agreement on what equality exactly means or entails. The question, therefore, is not whether legal equality guarantees can tolerate inequality, but to what extent they can do. Because of these conceptual difficulties, the application of equality and non-discrimination clauses is not a straightforward exercise, in which courts simply apply legal norms to a given set of facts. Instead, courts need to develop doctrinal instruments to give meaning to the concept of equality. The proposed research project analyses how apex courts conceptualize equality in constitutional and international human rights law. It will be based on a comparative study of the equality jurisprudence of 16 jurisdictions and has three aims. Firstly, it intends to create a comparative map of equality jurisprudence, i.e. to describe and categorize the constitutional jurisprudence on equality: Which doctrinal choices do courts make and how do these choices inform the conception of equality? Secondly, it seeks to explain the doctrinal choices of the analyzed courts: Which factors influence courts to arrive at particular conceptions of equality? Thirdly, it has a normative goal and examines whether courts are better suited to correct certain kinds of inequalities than other kinds of inequalities.
Max ERC Funding
1 606 597 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-06-01, End date: 2024-05-31
Project acronym FIAT
Project The Foundations of Institutional AuThority: a multi-dimensional model of the separation of powers
Researcher (PI) Eoin CAROLAN
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, DUBLIN
Country Ireland
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH2, ERC-2018-COG
Summary ‘Almost three centuries later, it is past time to rethink Montesquieu’s holy trinity’ (Ackerman, 2010).
As Ackerman (and many others) have observed, political reality has long left the traditional model of the separation of powers behind. The problems posed by this gap between constitutional theory and political practice have recently acquired fresh urgency as developments in Hungary, Poland, Turkey, Russia, the UK, US, Bolivia and elsewhere place the separation of powers under strain. These include the emergence of authoritarian leaders; personalisation of political authority; recourse to non-legal plebiscites; and the capture or de-legitimisation of other constitutional bodies.
This project argues that these difficulties are rooted in a deeper problem with constitutional thinking about institutional power: a constitution-as-law approach that equates the conferral of legal power with the authority to exercise it. This makes it possible for a gap to emerge between legal accounts of authority and its diverse –and potentially conflicting (Cotterrell)– sociological foundations. Where that gap exists, the practical authority of an institution (or constitution) may be vulnerable to challenge from rival and more socially-resonant claims (Scheppele (2017)).
It is this gap between legal norms and social facts that the project aims to investigate – and ultimately bridge.
How is authority established? How is it maintained? How might it fail? And how does the constitution (as rule? representation (Saward)? mission statement (King)?) shape, re-shape and come to be shaped by those processes? By investigating these questions across six case studies, the project will produce a multi-dimensional account of institutional authority that takes seriously the sociological influence of both law and culture.
The results from these cases provide the evidential foundation for the project’s final outputs: a new model and new evaluative measures of the separation of powers.
Summary
‘Almost three centuries later, it is past time to rethink Montesquieu’s holy trinity’ (Ackerman, 2010).
As Ackerman (and many others) have observed, political reality has long left the traditional model of the separation of powers behind. The problems posed by this gap between constitutional theory and political practice have recently acquired fresh urgency as developments in Hungary, Poland, Turkey, Russia, the UK, US, Bolivia and elsewhere place the separation of powers under strain. These include the emergence of authoritarian leaders; personalisation of political authority; recourse to non-legal plebiscites; and the capture or de-legitimisation of other constitutional bodies.
This project argues that these difficulties are rooted in a deeper problem with constitutional thinking about institutional power: a constitution-as-law approach that equates the conferral of legal power with the authority to exercise it. This makes it possible for a gap to emerge between legal accounts of authority and its diverse –and potentially conflicting (Cotterrell)– sociological foundations. Where that gap exists, the practical authority of an institution (or constitution) may be vulnerable to challenge from rival and more socially-resonant claims (Scheppele (2017)).
It is this gap between legal norms and social facts that the project aims to investigate – and ultimately bridge.
How is authority established? How is it maintained? How might it fail? And how does the constitution (as rule? representation (Saward)? mission statement (King)?) shape, re-shape and come to be shaped by those processes? By investigating these questions across six case studies, the project will produce a multi-dimensional account of institutional authority that takes seriously the sociological influence of both law and culture.
The results from these cases provide the evidential foundation for the project’s final outputs: a new model and new evaluative measures of the separation of powers.
Max ERC Funding
1 997 628 €
Duration
Start date: 2020-01-01, End date: 2024-12-31
Project acronym LHCtoLISA
Project Precision Gravity: From the LHC to LISA
Researcher (PI) Rafael Alejandro PORTO PEREIRA
Host Institution (HI) STIFTUNG DEUTSCHES ELEKTRONEN-SYNCHROTRON DESY
Country Germany
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE2, ERC-2018-COG
Summary The nascent field of gravitational wave (GW) science will be an interdisciplinary subject, enriching different branches of physics, yet the associated computational challenges are enormous. Faithful theoretical templates are a compulsory ingredient for successful data analysis and reliable physical interpretation of the signals. This is critical, for instance, to study the equation of state of neutron stars, the nature of black holes, and binary formation channels. However, while current templates for compact binary sources may be sufficient for detection and crude parameter estimation, they are too coarse for precision physics with GW data. We then find ourselves in a situation in which, for key processes within empirical reach, theoretical uncertainties may dominate. To move forward, profiting the most from GW observations, more accurate waveforms will be needed.
I have played a pioneering role in the development and implementation of a new formalism, known as the ‘effective field theory approach’, which has been instrumental for the construction of the state-of-the-art GW template bank. The goal of my proposal is thus to redefine the frontiers of analytic understanding in gravity through the effective field theory framework. Even more ambitiously, to go beyond the current computational paradigm with powerful tools which have been crucial for `new-physics' searches at the Large Hadron Collider.
The impact of the high-accuracy calculations I propose to undertake will be immense: from probes of dynamical spacetime and strongly interacting matter, to the potential to discover exotic compact objects and ultra-light particles in nature. Furthermore, GW observations scan gravity in a regime which is otherwise unexplored. Consequently, the coming decade will tell whether Einstein's theory withstands precision scrutiny. In summary, my program will provide novel techniques and key results that will enable foundational investigations in physics through GW precision data.
Summary
The nascent field of gravitational wave (GW) science will be an interdisciplinary subject, enriching different branches of physics, yet the associated computational challenges are enormous. Faithful theoretical templates are a compulsory ingredient for successful data analysis and reliable physical interpretation of the signals. This is critical, for instance, to study the equation of state of neutron stars, the nature of black holes, and binary formation channels. However, while current templates for compact binary sources may be sufficient for detection and crude parameter estimation, they are too coarse for precision physics with GW data. We then find ourselves in a situation in which, for key processes within empirical reach, theoretical uncertainties may dominate. To move forward, profiting the most from GW observations, more accurate waveforms will be needed.
I have played a pioneering role in the development and implementation of a new formalism, known as the ‘effective field theory approach’, which has been instrumental for the construction of the state-of-the-art GW template bank. The goal of my proposal is thus to redefine the frontiers of analytic understanding in gravity through the effective field theory framework. Even more ambitiously, to go beyond the current computational paradigm with powerful tools which have been crucial for `new-physics' searches at the Large Hadron Collider.
The impact of the high-accuracy calculations I propose to undertake will be immense: from probes of dynamical spacetime and strongly interacting matter, to the potential to discover exotic compact objects and ultra-light particles in nature. Furthermore, GW observations scan gravity in a regime which is otherwise unexplored. Consequently, the coming decade will tell whether Einstein's theory withstands precision scrutiny. In summary, my program will provide novel techniques and key results that will enable foundational investigations in physics through GW precision data.
Max ERC Funding
1 975 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-06-01, End date: 2024-05-31
Project acronym MetaboSENS
Project Metabolic integration by nutrient SENSing
Researcher (PI) Ganna PANASYUK
Host Institution (HI) INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA SANTE ET DE LA RECHERCHE MEDICALE
Country France
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), LS4, ERC-2018-COG
Summary Nutrient sensing enables metabolic homeostasis by matching energy use with fuel availability. The vast body of knowledge on pro-anabolic nutrient sensors, such as insulin and class 1 phosphoinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) signalling exposed the missing links in molecular coordination of catabolism. The cellular catabolism relies on mitochondrial activities and on lysosomal pathway of autophagy, both paced by the biological clock. However, how pro-catabolic nutrient sensors synchronize these catabolic activities is not well understood. We discovered that class 3 PI3K, the only PI3K present in all eukaryotes, is essential for catabolic homeostasis in vivo, but the mechanisms of its metabolic functions are still lacking. We found novel roles for class 3 PI3K in metabolic adaptation to fasting and mitochondrial activity, beyond its established functions in autophagy and endosomal trafficking. These findings form the basis of our innovative interdisciplinary research program that will investigate the molecular bases of Metabolic integration in vivo by a nutrient SENSing pathway of class 3 PI3K (MetaboSENS). In the MetaboSENS research program, we seek to identify transcription factor networks and regulatory complexes of class 3 PI3K that serve its catabolic integrator function. We aim to reveal the physiological oscillation of class 3 PI3K signalling and its reciprocal impact on metabolic timekeeping. Finally, the MetaboSENS project will combine patient analyses and the medical expertise of my team to reveal, for the first time, genetic alterations in class 3 PI3K signalling in inborn metabolic disease. The new mechanisms that we discover may provide therapeutic targets that we will test in the pre-clinical models. Altogether, the MetaboSENS project will redefine our view of systemic catabolism.
Summary
Nutrient sensing enables metabolic homeostasis by matching energy use with fuel availability. The vast body of knowledge on pro-anabolic nutrient sensors, such as insulin and class 1 phosphoinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) signalling exposed the missing links in molecular coordination of catabolism. The cellular catabolism relies on mitochondrial activities and on lysosomal pathway of autophagy, both paced by the biological clock. However, how pro-catabolic nutrient sensors synchronize these catabolic activities is not well understood. We discovered that class 3 PI3K, the only PI3K present in all eukaryotes, is essential for catabolic homeostasis in vivo, but the mechanisms of its metabolic functions are still lacking. We found novel roles for class 3 PI3K in metabolic adaptation to fasting and mitochondrial activity, beyond its established functions in autophagy and endosomal trafficking. These findings form the basis of our innovative interdisciplinary research program that will investigate the molecular bases of Metabolic integration in vivo by a nutrient SENSing pathway of class 3 PI3K (MetaboSENS). In the MetaboSENS research program, we seek to identify transcription factor networks and regulatory complexes of class 3 PI3K that serve its catabolic integrator function. We aim to reveal the physiological oscillation of class 3 PI3K signalling and its reciprocal impact on metabolic timekeeping. Finally, the MetaboSENS project will combine patient analyses and the medical expertise of my team to reveal, for the first time, genetic alterations in class 3 PI3K signalling in inborn metabolic disease. The new mechanisms that we discover may provide therapeutic targets that we will test in the pre-clinical models. Altogether, the MetaboSENS project will redefine our view of systemic catabolism.
Max ERC Funding
1 999 391 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-11-01, End date: 2024-10-31
