What is more important - safety or freedom? An EU-funded project is helping security forces get the balance right, with research on how to develop ethical counter-terrorism measures that respect citizens' rights.
Train travel is one of the safest modes of transport. For it to remain so, regular inspection and maintenance of train axles is vital to ensuring the structural integrity of wheelsets. The EU-funded AXLEINSPECT project has developed new ultrasonic inspection technology that makes check-ups both easier and more reliable than conventional methods.
A clay pot, an arrowhead, a delicately carved bone bead - taken in isolation, the artefacts of bygone ages don't convey much information to the untrained observer. Immersive 3D technologies are opening up new ways to provide context for individual objects, or across entire cultural heritage sites. An EU-funded project is advancing key techniques.
Unfortunately the threat of a terrorist attack on an aeroplane is today a real threat to airline security. The EU-funded FLY-BAG2 project has developed a technology that enables aeroplanes to survive a Lockerbie-type explosion scenario. The bomb-resistant bags are ready to be manufactured and installed.
Prof. Nosnitsin’s ETHIO-SPARE project made several field trips to North Ethiopia to identify the most important collections, create inventories and make digital copies of over 2000 manuscripts. Next steps were the classification and scientific cataloguing of these cultural treasures and the publication of selected studies and research results.
Robots the size of bacteria represent the future of medical surgery, ERC research team BOTMED have developed microrobots, currently being tested on animals, that will be able to enter the body through natural pathways and perform key medical procedures with minimal impact. This development is a step forward as important as the advent of endoscopic surgery in the 1980s.
The human hand is a complex system of receptors, muscles and joints, making it hard to create a robot that can match not only its ability to move, but also to apply different levels of strength. Supported by the European Research Council (ERC), the SOFTHANDS team has succeeded in doing just this. Their prototype represents a great step-forward in robotics, since it is able to perform fine manipulations of a wide variety of objects.
By studying the geology of Mars, the team behind project 'E-MARS' has been able to identify the ideal landing spot for the next European mission to the planet. The 2018 ESA expedition is part of the ExoMars programme, which is set to provide new information regarding one of the most outstanding scientific questions of our time: whether there is life on other planets.
The project 'EARTH CORE STRUCTURE', funded by the European Research Council (ERC), has greatly improved the knowledge we have of the inside of our planet by determining a new method to understand its structure. The method uses knowledge from different disciplines and has helped scientists paint a picture of the Earth's core - more comprehensive than ever before.
Breakthrough technologies developed by the EU-funded project DESCRAMBLE could allow Europe to exploit geothermal energy more efficiently and in more locations than is currently possible. The aim is to increase use of this renewable, clean energy source and reduce Europe's dependence on imported fossil fuels.
A portable device to detect potential signs of cancer in a patient's urine is under development within the EU-funded research project GLAM. The project aims to speed up cancer diagnosis and monitoring, while making the process both less intrusive and less unpleasant.
Malaria has always been the centre of attention for Dr Ali Salanti’s, a molecular parasitologist and an ERC grantee. With his studies, he hoped to bring new insight into pregnancy-associated malaria, to save the lives of women and their babies in areas affected by the disease. Now, Dr Salanti’s research has shifted to battling against another deadly disease: cancer. This comes after an unexpected discovery yielded ground-breaking results for the diagnosis and treatment of this illness.
How close are we to developing a successful and comprehensive vaccine for cancer? ERC grantee Prof. Yvette van Kooyk thinks that a combination of glycobiology and immunology will lead us closer than ever before. Thanks to her ground-breaking multidisciplinary team and her new approach based on sugar receptors, she has developed a nanovaccine that promises to represent the future for cancer treatment.
EU and euro-area policymakers are planning reforms to the common rules that underpin economic and monetary integration in Europe. To help, researchers in the EU-funded project ADEMU are developing proposals to guide the reforms.
As the number of babies born prematurely continues to rise, the list of milk banks has also grown in length, particularly in Europe. But as Europe also tops another league table - that of alcohol consumption per capital - do doctors need to worry about the safety of donated breast milk? An EU-funded researcher plans to find out.
EU-funding helped scholar Christophe Fricker restart his academic career and link it up with his experiences in the business world. His research has shed new light on the life and writing of controversial German author Ernst Junger.
Poorly managed resource extraction can have a considerably negative impact on the environment, in particular on drinking water, and on individuals and societies. An EU-funded STRADE project will examine how can the sustainable supply of raw materials for the European Union be secured and sustainably exploited as well as how can the European Union successfully work together with developing countries on an international level.
New technologies claiming to protect pedestrians and cyclists in the event of a collision are being developed all the time. They could reduce pedestrian fatalities by 15-20%. But how do we know which systems are effective? How can we compare them? An EU-funded project drew up harmonised test and assessment procedures for pedestrian safety systems.
Despite enormous progress in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, the global response cannot keep pace: 35 million people are living with HIV worldwide with around 6,000 new infections each day. Numerous HIV prevention strategies, though proven successful, are difficult to sustain long-term. A vaccine still represents the most effective tool in the combat against HIV from a public health perspective.
Supramolecular chemistry could provide new, innovative materials for applications for medicine, data storage and other areas. Some European countries even have national programmes devoted to this field. The ASSEMZYME project is using EU funding to train a research candidate in this cutting-edge science.
