Project description
A closer look at cosmic dust to shed light on galaxy evolution
Galaxies evolve through complex interactions within their baryonic components, particularly the interstellar medium (ISM) and its crucial constituent, dust. This dust influences everything from a galaxy’s appearance across various wavelengths to the processes of star formation. However, understanding dust at high redshifts (beyond nearby galaxies) has been limited, leaving gaps in our knowledge of its properties and formation. The ERC-funded DistantDust project aims to bridge this gap using the James Webb Space Telescope. By analysing dust at pivotal cosmic epochs, such as Cosmic Noon and the Early Universe, alongside ground-based observatories, this project will enhance our understanding of star formation and galaxy evolution across cosmic time.
Objective
At the core of galaxy evolution is the evolution of the baryonic components that modify the observable properties of galaxies. A crucial component of the baryonic matter is the interstellar medium (ISM) that consists of gas and solid-phase metals called dust. Interstellar dust determines how galaxies look like from UV to IR, how the ISM behaves, and the very process of star formation that creates the stellar component that defines a galaxy. Despite our wealth of knowledge about dust in local galaxies, very little is known about the properties of dust grains, where it resides inside galaxies, and how it is formed, beyond the nearby Universe (i.e. at high redshifts). The fundamental importance of advancing our knowledge about dust at high redshifts is further underlined by the vital need to correct for its attenuation effects in the observed rest-frame UV/optical emission of high-redshift galaxies. This situation will fundamentally change in the next few years owing to the unprecedented capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). This ERC program capitalizes on the massive technological advance of JWST to take a holistic approach, physically and observationally, and conduct a panchromatic study of dust emission and absorption properties at two key cosmic epochs:1) z~1-3, dubbed as Cosmic Noon, the peak epoch of cosmic star formation activity, and 2) z~5-10, the early Universe and the epoch of reionization. Owing to my leading role in multiple deep extragalactic JWST surveys, my ERC group will take full advantage of the very first data from this revolutionary observatory. This will be done in synergy with ALMA and other powerful ground-based observatories such as VLT and Keck to observe the attenuation and emission properties of dust from rest-frame UV to submm wavelengths at Cosmic Noon and beyond. This ambitious research program will bring novel key insight into the physical processes that enable star formation and galaxy evolution throughout cosmic time.
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.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
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.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
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.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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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.
Funding Scheme
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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.
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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.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-STG
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28006 Madrid
Spain
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