Imagine intelligent microrobots capable of finding their own path through body tissues. They could enable many revolutionary medical procedures, including targeted drug delivery, long-term monitoring and non-invasive interventions in organs such as brain. They could also allow scientists to study the migration of immune and cancer cells within the human body. ERC grantee Stefano Palagi plans to make this dream a reality, by mimicking features of immune cells.
This year the ERC reached a special round-number milestone: its 10,000th grantee. The successful applicant to reach this significant threshold was Inga Berre, an applied mathematician and leading Norwegian researcher in geothermal energy. We interviewed Berre to find out how mathematics is helping us understand more about this ancient energy source first used by the Romans in their spas, and what role geothermal energy can play in the transition to a carbon-neutral future.
How do artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms learn to predict and make decisions? Can we entrust them with decisions that affect our lives and societies? Are they neutral and as immune to societal imperfections as commonly thought? Nello Cristianini at the University of Bristol investigated challenges emerging from data-driven AI, addressing issues such as gender biases in AI algorithms, and shifts in people’s emotions reflected in social media content.
ERC grantee Martin Vechev, originally from Bulgaria, is a computer science professor at ETH Zurich and the leader of its research lab working in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). His ERC-funded project was the first to combine advanced programming languages with machine learning technics, aiming to fundamentally change how developers build software. Based on the results of his ERC project, he co-founded a start-up that was recently acquired by a leading cybersecurity company. In this interview, Vechev talks about his ERC-funded work, AI breakthroughs, and Europe’s future in the field of AI.
The Sun is a star that formed 4.6 billion years ago in our Milky Way Galaxy. It is the largest and most massive object in our Solar System, whose energy enables life on our planet. What happened at the time of its birth? Was its formation similar to most stars in our Galaxy, or did it form in special circumstances? ERC grantee Maria Lugaro at the Konkoly Observatory in Budapest seeks to answer these questions by investigating the Solar System’s chemical origin. Her discoveries could help untangle the secrets of stars' potential to harbour Earth-like planets, and ultimately life.
By the end of the 21st century, sea levels are estimated to rise between 40 and 60 centimetres worldwide. Coping with this will be a major challenge for many European coastal communities. ERC grantee Jadranka Šepić at the University of Split in Croatia is investigating how climate change will affect the strength and frequency of tsunami-like flooding events along European coastlines. Her research could help coastal communities prepare better for future challenges.
ERC grantee Konstantinos Nikolopoulos at the University of Birmingham recently won the first ERC Public Engagement with Research Award in the category of public outreach. His ExclusiveHiggs project looks at the origin of mass by exploring the interactions of the elementary matter particles with the Higgs boson. In this interview, he describes his efforts to make the public understand this field of physics through art and dance.
There is much more to marine plastic pollution than meets the eye. In his quest to set the record straight about this litter, Erik van Sebille, an oceanographer at Utrecht University, is garnering international interest from the public, media, schoolchildren and policymakers alike. His passion for public outreach has led him to become one of the first laureates of the ERC Public Engagement with Research Award. We interviewed him to find out more about his winning media relations strategy and the benefits public engagement has brought to his research.
Three-time ERC grantee and four-time panel member in the ERC evaluations (the last three as panel chair), Maciej Lewenstein is not only one of the key physicists of the 21st century, but also a jazz expert. In this interview, he talks about his passion for free-improvised music and explains the intrinsic connections between quantum physics and jazz.
Cancelled flights, and less commercial and industrial activity during lockdown are reducing air and light pollution around the world, leading to spectacular views of the night sky. To mark this year’s International Dark Sky Week, we bring you the story of ERC grantee Minna Palmroth who, together with a group of Finnish amateur stargazers, has discovered a new kind of northern lights.
