Ανάμεσα στους κρωγμούς των πουλιών σε ένα μικρό, απομακρυσμένο νησί στην πύλη του Αιγαίου πελάγους, ένα φιλόδοξο έργο επιχορηγούμενο από το Ευρωπαϊκό Συμβούλιο Έρευνας (ΕΣΕ) και με συντονιστή τον Δρ. Βασίλη Αμοιρίδη, έβαλε τις βάσεις για τη δημιουργία ενός παρατηρητηρίου για την κλιματική αλλαγή, με την ενθουσιώδη υποστήριξη του ΕΣΕ, του Εθνικού Αστεροσκοπείου Αθηνών (ΕΑΑ) και της Ελληνικής κυβέρνησης.
Amidst the raspy jabbering of Buzzards on a remote island at the edge of the Aegean Sea, one ambitious ERC grantee, Dr. Vassilis Amiridis, instigated the construction of a climate change superstation with the enthusiastic support of the ERC, the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) and the Greek government.
Can highly automated vehicles fare better than traditional cars in traffic gridlock conditions? Cooperation between vehicle intelligent transport systems via connected vehicles may provide a solution.
Travellers already benefit from applications harnessing data from sensor networks and smartphone users. They calculate alternative routes, help plan carpooling routes, or support the optimisation of public transport. With her ERC grant, Prof. Vana Kalogeraki works on a comprehensive software framework that will simplify the development of such mobile human-centred systems and make them more predictable and reliable.
Faster, greener and more sustainable: our world is thirsty for innovative processes that meet these demanding criteria. While natural resources can offer part of the solution, the biggest challenge lies in cleaning-up chemical synthesis. Prof. Georgios Vasilikogiannakis and his team have been looking for answers.
Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the EU – and this figure is expected to rise due to an ageing population in Europe. In his ERC-funded ‘Nanotherapy’ project, Professor George Kordas has developed ‘nanocontainers’ – tiny hollow spheres with a width measured in molecules – which are attracted to cancer cells and, once there, deliver their payload of chemotherapy drugs. It is a kind of ‘guided missile’, aimed at the heart of a cancer cell.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) makes decisions on religious freedom that affect the rights of over 800 million people in 47 countries. A famous case is the Lautsi v. Italy decision which prevented the display of the crucifix in classrooms, and was later revoked after a public outcry.
Dr Effie Fokas, a Greek researcher, has received an ERC Starting grant to study the influence of ECtHR decisions on the public. Looking beyond the legal implementation of the decisions, she hopes to discover how they change local perceptions of religious rights, grassroots movements and national case law.
