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.
Although it is widely known that global warming has a direct impact on our ecosystems, there is little information about its effects on oceans’ top predators, such as pelagic sharks and tunas. How does ocean deoxygenation brought about by climate change influence their habitat? And how do they adapt their behaviour to this changing environment? David Sims and his team at the Marine Biological Association Laboratory in the United Kingdom aim to reveal how climate change, oceans’ predators and fishing fleets interact.
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.
Both populist movements and conspiracy theories have been on the rise over the past 20 years. Is this a coincidence or is there a link between the two? And how are conspiracy theories used by populists ahead of election campaigns? These are only some of the questions that ERC grantee Michael Butter from the University of Tübingen is trying to answer. In this interview, he talks about his ERC-funded work, conspiracy theories in times of Covid-19, and reveals the best approach when talking to someone who believes in conspiracy theories.
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.
Have you ever wondered why our world is green? For decades, the most accepted answer has been that predators control herbivores, allowing plants to flourish. But is that really so? ERC grantee Katerina Sam at the Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences in the Czech Republic is testing novel aspects of this ‘green world hypothesis’ to get a more realistic answer. Her work has important implications for protecting our planet’s biodiversity.
