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The online world of food sharing
10-09-2020 | © Getty Images | Yesim Sahin
How can researchers successfully engage with citizens to improve their scientific outputs? To find out, we talked to ERC grantee, Anna Davies of Trinity College Dublin, the winner of the first ERC Public Engagement Award in the online and social media category. Her project set out to map urban food-sharing practices and discovered early on that they would need the help of citizen scientists. 
Luminescent leap forward: Maximising the efficiency of solar panels in bad weather
29-11-2019 | © picture
Inspired by the country’s cloudy weather, an Irish researcher has developed a new way to increase the efficiency of solar panels – even in the event of overcast skies. With a grant from the European Research Council (ERC), the disruptive technology has increased the viability of effective solar energy collection in northern Europe. The potential of this innovation could be huge given Europe’s growing demand for cost-effective and sustainable energy solutions.
Myth or reality? Lifting the veil on the neighbourhood effect
27-11-2019 | © I Wei Huang, Shutterstock
There is a common belief that concentrating poor people in the same area and isolating them from wealthier neighbourhoods actually aggravates their situation. To investigate this assumption, the DEPRIVEDHOODS project used new approaches.
Autonomous flight inspired by nature
01-07-2019 | © Shane Windsor
Humans have wondered at flight since primeval times. Yet despite almost two centuries of designing machines to fly, birds still do it better in many ways. Dr Shane Windsor, a lecturer in Aerodynamics at the University of Bristol, is looking at how birds control their flight in windy conditions with the aim to improve the engineering of small-scale unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) for use in and around urban areas.
Unravelling masons’ secrets to help the restorers of Notre-Dame
24-06-2019 | © M.J. Ventas Sierra
New insights into how the great Gothic vaults were constructed helps restorers of the future When we think about fascinating architectural work, vaulted ceilings may not necessarily be the first elements to spring to mind. However, they were key to limiting interior damage when a fire broke out beneath the roof of the Notre-Dame of Paris in April of this year. While medieval stonemasons seemed to know very well what they were doing, today their techniques are still not completely understood. The challenge of restoring Notre Dame presents an opportunity for their mystery to finally be unravelled.
Keeping EU citizens safe and warm
04-04-2019 | © picture
Every day thousands of people across Europe are working together to keep EU citizens safe from challenges to do with health, the environment, crime, terrorism, migration and the economy.
Could connected and automated vehicles end road congestion?
22-03-2019 | © picture
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.