Science stories

Will we run out of groundwater?
13 Nov 2025

Will we run out of groundwater?

Groundwater supplies half the world’s drinking water and irrigates a third of its crops, yet it is disappearing fast. How much can we still use before it is gone? ERC grantee Marc Bierkens is among the first to map the global overuse of groundwater and its consequences for…
Groundwater supplies half the world’s drinking water and irrigates a third of its crops, yet it is disappearing fast. How much can we still use before it is gone? ERC grantee Marc Bierkens is among the first to map the global overuse of groundwater and its consequences for…
Groundwater supplies half the world’s drinking water and irrigates a third of its crops, yet it is disappearing fast. How much can we still use before it is gone? ERC grantee Marc Bierkens is among the first to map the global overuse of groundwater and its consequences for…
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Geometry at the service of robotics

Embodied intelligence is a very dynamic research field. With this ERC project, Doctor Jean-Paul Laumond intends to contribute to the advancement of basic research in this field bridging the gap between robot engineering and neuroscience thanks to…
Embodied intelligence is a very dynamic research field. With this ERC project, Doctor Jean-Paul Laumond intends to contribute to the advancement of basic research in this field…
Embodied intelligence is a very dynamic research field. With this ERC project, Doctor Jean-Paul Laumond intends to contribute to the advancement of…
Embodied intelligence is a very dynamic research field. With this ERC project, Doctor Jean-Paul Laumond intends to contribute to the advancement of basic research in this…
Embodied intelligence is a very dynamic research field. With this ERC project, Doctor Jean-Paul Laumond intends to…

Broken hearts may be repaired

Prof. Michael Schneider is a leading authority in the field of cardiac molecular biology. In 2008, he obtained an ERC grant to identify the mechanisms governing self-renewal of cardiac progenitor cells, a population of stem cells located in the…
Prof. Michael Schneider is a leading authority in the field of cardiac molecular biology. In 2008, he obtained an ERC grant to identify the mechanisms governing self-renewal of cardiac…
Prof. Michael Schneider is a leading authority in the field of cardiac molecular biology. In 2008, he obtained an ERC grant to identify the…
Prof. Michael Schneider is a leading authority in the field of cardiac molecular biology. In 2008, he obtained an ERC grant to identify the mechanisms governing self-renewal…
Prof. Michael Schneider is a leading authority in the field of cardiac molecular biology. In 2008, he obtained an ERC grant…

Flocking drones, swarming pigeons

Not only living organisms, but also robots can move in certain collective patterns. But what rules underlie such behaviour? The study of the patterns of group motion in pigeons motivated Professor Tamás Vicsek to develop a swarm of drones being able…
Not only living organisms, but also robots can move in certain collective patterns. But what rules underlie such behaviour? The study of the patterns of group motion in pigeons…
Not only living organisms, but also robots can move in certain collective patterns. But what rules underlie such behaviour? The study of the patterns…
Not only living organisms, but also robots can move in certain collective patterns. But what rules underlie such behaviour? The study of the patterns of group motion in…
Not only living organisms, but also robots can move in certain collective patterns. But what rules underlie such behaviour?…

A step forward to the service robots of the future

Why should people waste their time executing some repetitive time-consuming everyday tasks which do not require creativity and intellectual capacity? Such a reasoning stands behind Professor Bruno Siciliano’s ERC funded project aiming at the…
Why should people waste their time executing some repetitive time-consuming everyday tasks which do not require creativity and intellectual capacity? Such a reasoning stands behind…
Why should people waste their time executing some repetitive time-consuming everyday tasks which do not require creativity and intellectual capacity?…
Why should people waste their time executing some repetitive time-consuming everyday tasks which do not require creativity and intellectual capacity? Such a reasoning stands…
Why should people waste their time executing some repetitive time-consuming everyday tasks which do not require creativity…

Microrobotics meets nanomedicine for improved eye surgery

With an aging population, Europe sees a rapid increase in the number of people affected by visual disorders requiring surgical intervention. Funded by the ERC, a team of scientists based in Zürich are currently designing innovative microrobotics…
With an aging population, Europe sees a rapid increase in the number of people affected by visual disorders requiring surgical intervention. Funded by the ERC, a team of scientists…
With an aging population, Europe sees a rapid increase in the number of people affected by visual disorders requiring surgical intervention. Funded…
With an aging population, Europe sees a rapid increase in the number of people affected by visual disorders requiring surgical intervention. Funded by the ERC, a team of…
With an aging population, Europe sees a rapid increase in the number of people affected by visual disorders requiring…

Poppy, the 3-D printed robot set to inspire innovation in classrooms

It has long been a sci-fi dream to have a humanoid robot in our everyday life. Soon that dream may seem even more vivid, thanks to Dr Pierre-Yves Oudeyer’s ERC-funded project. His team has developed the first complete open-source 3D printed humanoid…
It has long been a sci-fi dream to have a humanoid robot in our everyday life. Soon that dream may seem even more vivid, thanks to Dr Pierre-Yves Oudeyer’s ERC-funded project. His team…
It has long been a sci-fi dream to have a humanoid robot in our everyday life. Soon that dream may seem even more vivid, thanks to Dr Pierre-Yves…
It has long been a sci-fi dream to have a humanoid robot in our everyday life. Soon that dream may seem even more vivid, thanks to Dr Pierre-Yves Oudeyer’s ERC-funded project…
It has long been a sci-fi dream to have a humanoid robot in our everyday life. Soon that dream may seem even more vivid,…

Towards simpler, smarter artificial hands

Will robots ever have the same dexterity as humans? Professor Antonio Bicchi is working on the next-generation of artificial hands that can be programmed to adapt to different tasks and environments. The promising results of his research could have…
Will robots ever have the same dexterity as humans? Professor Antonio Bicchi is working on the next-generation of artificial hands that can be programmed to adapt to different tasks…
Will robots ever have the same dexterity as humans? Professor Antonio Bicchi is working on the next-generation of artificial hands that can be…
Will robots ever have the same dexterity as humans? Professor Antonio Bicchi is working on the next-generation of artificial hands that can be programmed to adapt to…
Will robots ever have the same dexterity as humans? Professor Antonio Bicchi is working on the next-generation of artificial…

How to equip robots with senses

Compared to humans, the sensing and dexterity of current robots is extremely limited. Reproducing these fundamental human abilities in robotics systems requires a new scientific and technological approach, according to Professor Danica Kragic.
Compared to humans, the sensing and dexterity of current robots is extremely limited. Reproducing these fundamental human abilities in robotics systems requires a new scientific and…
Compared to humans, the sensing and dexterity of current robots is extremely limited. Reproducing these fundamental human abilities in robotics…
Compared to humans, the sensing and dexterity of current robots is extremely limited. Reproducing these fundamental human abilities in robotics systems requires a new…
Compared to humans, the sensing and dexterity of current robots is extremely limited. Reproducing these fundamental human…