The Synergy Grant is a prestigious science award from the European Research Council (ERC) that supports groundbreaking projects that can only be realised through interdisciplinary collaboration among two to four lead scientists. The ERC is funding four ORIGINS projects with a total grant amount of 31 million euros.
GEOASTRONOMY: understanding the properties of rocky exoplanets
In the project GEOASTRONOMY with the theme "Exploring the chemical foundations for rocky exoplanets around Sun-like stars," Kevin Heng from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Stephen Mojzsis (HUN-REN, spokesperson), and Fabrice Gaillard (CNRS) and their teams aim to explore the properties of rocky exoplanets. There are likely billions of such planets in our galaxy alone, orbiting Sun-like stars. The researchers want to gain comprehensive knowledge about their chemical and physical properties, connecting the fundamentals of astrophysics with those of geosciences. The project focuses on three categories of exoplanets that may have specific atmospheres: sub-Neptunes, super-Earths, and so-called "ultra-short-period" exoplanets.
BubbleLife: the origin of life on Earth and elsewhere
In the "BubbleLife" project, with the motto "From RNA-peptide coevolution to cellular life at heated air bubbles," Dieter Braun from Ludwig Maximilians University Munich and Hannes Mutschler (Technical University Dortmund, spokesperson), along with their teams, are investigating the conditions that must have existed on the early Earth for molecules to combine into precursors of organic life and initiate the beginning of biological evolution. The researchers aim to trace the path from the Darwinian evolution of RNA and peptides to the emergence of the first cells. This process, which likely took millions of years, is being simulated in a test tube within just a few weeks. The interdisciplinary work is ultimately intended to lead to artificially created "proto-cell generators." "BubbleLife will hopefully fundamentally change our understanding of the origin of life on Earth and possibly elsewhere in the universe," says Dieter Braun.
META-DIVIDE: replicating minimal cell-like systems
In the MetaDivide project, short for "Metabolism-driven division of minimal cell-like systems," Petra Schwille from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry and Bert Poolman (University of Groningen) and their teams aim to create a bacteria-sized artificial cell from non-living components, such as proteins and biological membranes, that exhibits aspects of life. To achieve this, self-organising membrane-active protein machines must be encapsulated within the cell and powered by a self-sustaining metabolism. The artificial cell is intended to maintain a physicochemical equilibrium and divide autonomously. The integration of membrane biology and minimal metabolic research within a biological system will provide the researchers with new insights into the fundamental principles of life.
mw-atlas: constructing the first 3D-atlas of the Milky Way
In the mw-atlas project, short for "First comprehensive atlas of the Milky Way," project leader Torsten Enßlin from the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Philipp Mertsch (RTHW Aachen), and Vasiliki Pavlidou (IA-FORTH Heraklion) and their teams aim to create the first three-dimensional, comprehensive atlas of our galaxy, which is expected to drastically change the way we observe and understand the universe. The mw-atlas is designed to be a kind of "Google Maps" of our galaxy, not only showing the locations of stars, dust, gas, and dark matter in three-dimensional space, but also how these components interact with each other. "Although we have been collecting data on the Milky Way for decades, most of the information is still two-dimensional: we perceive the 3D galaxy only as a 2D projection on the celestial sphere," says Torsten Enßlin. "With the approach of Information Field Theory, which my group has played a key role in developing, we can use the wealth of existing data on the Milky Way to reconstruct the three-dimensional structure of all its components."
Kontakt:
Prof. Dr. Kevin Heng
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München / Exzellence Cluster ORIGINS
E-Mail: Kevin.Heng(at)physik.lmu.de
Prof. Dr. Dieter Braun
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München / Exzellence Cluster ORIGINS
E-Mail: Dieter.Braun(at)physik.uni-münchen.de
Prof. Dr. Petra Schwille
Max Planck Institute for Biophysics / Exzellence Cluster ORIGINS
E-Mail: schwille(at)biochem.mpg.de
PD Dr. Torsten Enßlin
Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics / Exzellence Cluster ORIGINS
E-Mail: ensslin(at)mpa-garching.mpg.de
