Objective
Every time we grab an object to look at its geometrical details or to feel if it is hard or soft, we are ineluctably confronted with the limits of our senses. Behind its appearances, the object may still hide information that, encrypted in its microscopic features, remains undetected to our macroscopic assessment. In life sciences, those limits are more than just frustrating: they are an obstacle to study and detect life threatening conditions. Many different instruments may overcome those limits, but the vast majority of them rely either on “sight” (optics) or “touch” (mechanics) separately. On the contrary, I believe that it is from the combination of those two “senses” that we have more chances to tackle the future challenges of cell biology, tissue engineering, and medical diagnosis.
Inspired by this tantalizing perspective, and supported by a technology that I have brought from blackboard to market, I have now designed a scientific program to breach into the microscopic scale via an unbeaten path. The program develops along three projects addressing the three most relevant scales in life sciences: cells, tissues, and organs. In the first project, I will design and test a new optomechanical probe to investigate how a prolonged mechanical load on a brain cell of a living animal may trigger alterations in its Central Nervous System. With the second project, I will develop an optomechanical tactile instrument that can assess how subsurface tissues deform in response to a mechanical stroke – a study that may change the way physicians look at tissue classification. For the third project, I will deliver an acousto-optical gas trace sensors so compact that can penetrate inside the lungs of an adult patient, where it could be used for early detection of pulmonary life threatening diseases. Each project represents an opportunity to open an entire new field, where optics and micromechanics are combined to extend our senses well beyond their natural limits.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences neurobiology
- natural sciences biological sciences cell biology
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology tissue engineering
- natural sciences physical sciences optics
- medical and health sciences basic medicine neurology stroke
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2013-CoG
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
1081 HV Amsterdam
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.