Objective
Why do organisms age? This is one of the big, unsolved questions in biology, because it is unclear how a process that decreases fitness can persist evolutionarily, and why species do not evolve to live longer. Many evolutionary theories have been suggested to explain, but it is likely that multiple factors contribute to the phenomenon. One potentially very important factor has been largely ignored: transgenerational epigenetic effects of senescence. Epigenetic effects can strongly affect the predictions of evolutionary models. One such epigenetic, trans-generational factor that affects fitness is parental age. It has been known for nearly a century that a mother's age can affect her offspring's, and even her grand- offspring's fitness. However, all studies have been done in the laboratory. Therefore, it is unknown whether the effect of parental age operates in wild populations, and how it contributes to our understanding of the evolution of longevity.
We propose to study the effects of parental and grand-parental age on their offspring's lifespan, reproductive success, physiology and genetics in a wild population of house sparrows. We have data available from a long-term study of sparrows in which we will examine these topics in detail. Only a closed population such as the one that we is uniquely suited for this study, as we can accurately estimate lifespan, fitness and parentage, which are all prerequisites for the longitudinal study of longevity on individual fitness. Also, we will use focused experiments with captive birds to cement our hypotheses, and individual-based simulation models to explore the implications of parental age effects on the evolution of longevity.
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.
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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.
FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG
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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.
MC-CIG - Support for training and career development of researcher (CIG)
Coordinator
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany
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.