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Content archived on 2024-06-18

The Earth Under Surveillance. Climate Change, Geophysics and the Cold War Legacy

Objective

The development of geophysics of the last century has become more relevant to contemporary research. This is because much of the data accumulated in the past have allowed mapping many features of the Earth. Thanks to this information scientists can now appreciate long term changes in climate and environment. However, the data now available were not put together for this purpose. A big leap forward in geophysics materialised during the Cold War, when civilian and military research agencies promoted its expansion in developed countries. Actually, it was the confrontation between Superpowers that boosted the discipline. Some of its branches developed because of the search for oil and uranium in the emerging nuclear arms race. New techniques of geophysical surveying became known especially because of the requirements of nuclear warfare. Western European research groups were deeply involved in geophysical research because US funding organisations (partly through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO) encouraged international collaboration. US/European collaborative programmes covertly aimed at gathering data and techniques and they paralleled US and European intelligence operations. This project aims at revealing how the geosciences developed during the Cold War, looking at the network of institutions that promoted a new understanding of the Earth, and the motives in play in expanding geophysical studies. It will focus on scientific and intelligence programmes to find out how they complemented each other. The impact of the proposed research is far reaching promoting new scholarly approaches based on team-based analysis; cross-examination of empirical evidence; and international cooperative work. TEUS will be greatly beneficial to the expansion of the recent history of science and technology. And it will also have an impact on current security studies by shedding new light on the relationship between the geosciences and intelligence organisations.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

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.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

ERC-2009-StG
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.

ERC-SG - ERC Starting Grant

Host institution

THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
EU contribution
€ 946 834,00
Address
OXFORD ROAD
M13 9PL Manchester
United Kingdom

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Region
North West (England) Greater Manchester Manchester
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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No data

Beneficiaries (4)

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