Press release -
Politecnico di Milano research: two ERC Advanced Grants awarded
Milan, 27 April 2022 - The Politecnico di Milano has secured two 2021 ERC Advanced Grants awarded by the European Research Council (ERC) to support outstanding scientific research. Professor Manuela Raimondi's BEACONSANDEGG study will develop an innovative platform capable of recapitulating tumour fibrosis by exploiting the vascularisation of a living organism, while Professor Daniele Ielmini's ANIMATEresearch aims to develop a new computational concept to reduce energy consumption in machine learning.
The University once again proves to be at the forefront, having outperformed its scholarly competitors in a very competitive selection process, with only 14.6% of the 1735 projects submitted receiving funding.
ANIMATE (ANalogue In-Memory computing with Advanced device Technology) by Professor Daniele Ielmini.
We generate, process and use a huge amount of data every day. Searching for a keyword on the internet, choosing a film for the weekend or booking our next holiday are just some of the actions that rely on data-intensive algorithms. The energy cost of this type of calculation is extremely high: it has been estimated that training a conventional neural network for artificial intelligence (AI) produces the same amount of carbon dioxide as 5 cars in their life cycle. Data centres, which currently meet most of the world's AI needs, now consume about 1% of global energy demand, with growth expected to reach 7% by 2030. To correct this worrying trend, new energy-efficient hardware solutions are needed. Professor Ielmini's preliminary ANIMATEresearch has shown that computational energy requirements can be reduced by closed-loop in-memory computing (CL-IMC), which can solve linear algebra problems in a single computational step.
In CL-IMC, the time to solve a given problem does not increase in proportion to the size of the problem, unlike other computing concepts, such as digital and quantum computers. Thanks to the reduction in calculation time, CL-IMC requires 5,000 times less energy than digital computers with the same accuracy in terms of number of bits. The preliminary results make CL-IMC an extremely promising calculation concept for reducing the energy consumption of data processing. Ielmini's project will develop the device and circuit technology, system architectures and set of applications to fully validate the CL-IMC concept. System-level architecture and exploring its applications will further prove the scalability and feasibility of the concept, to prove that CL-IMC is a major contender among energy-efficient computing technologies.
BEACONSANDEGG (Mechanobiology of cancer progression) by Professor Manuela Raimondi
In breast cancer, aggressiveness is related to fibrotic stiffening of the tumour tissue. Fibrosis progressively prevents drugs from reaching the tumour cells, due to the formation of a matrix with mechanical properties that stabilise the tumour's vascular network. However, the hierarchy and stability of the tumour vascular network are not reproducible in vitro. Professor Raimondi's BEACONSANDEGG research will develop an innovative platform capable of recapitulating tumour fibrosis by exploiting the vascularisation of a living organism.
To achieve this, microtumours at various levels of fibrosis will be modelled. Human breast cancer cells adhered to 3D polymeric microplates will be used. The microtumours will be implanted in vivo in the respiratory membrane of embryonated avian eggs in order to elicit a fibrotic foreign body reaction in the microtumours. The geometry of the 3D microsupports will be manipulated to condition the infiltration of the microtumours by the vessels and cells of the embryo. This study model will be validated with anticancer drugs whose clinical outcome is known to depend on the level of tumour fibrosis. This project combines mechanobiology with bioengineering, oncology, genetics, microtechnology, biophysics and pharmacology in order to understand the mechanisms of progression of the most incurable cancers. It will also provide a standardised and ethical platform to promote the clinical translation of new therapeutic products in oncology.
ERC Advanced Grants are funding for established researchers in their field to carry out innovative and high-risk projects. With these two projects, the Politecnico di Milano has been awarded a total of 86 European Individual Grants (including ERC and Marie Curie).
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Politecnico di Milano is a scientific-technological university which trains engineers, architects and industrial designers.
The University has always focused on the quality and innovation of its teaching and research, developing a fruitful relationship with business and productive world by means of experimental research and technological transfer.
Research has always been linked to didactics and it is a priority commitment which has allowed Politecnico Milano to achieve high quality results at an international level as to join the university to the business world. Research constitutes a parallel path to that formed by cooperation and alliances with the industrial system.
Knowing the world in which you are going to work is a vital requirement for training students. By referring back to the needs of the industrial world and public administration, research is facilitated in following new paths and dealing with the need for constant and rapid innovation. The alliance with the industrial world, in many cases favored by Fondazione Politecnico and by consortiums to which Politecnico belong, allows the university to follow the vocation of the territories in which it operates and to be a stimulus for their development.
The challenge which is being met today projects this tradition which is strongly rooted in the territory beyond the borders of the country, in a relationship which is developing first of all at the European level with the objective of contributing to the creation of a single professional training market. Politecnico takes part in several research, sites and training projects collaborating with the most qualified European universities. Politecnico's contribution is increasingly being extended to other countries: from North America to Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe. Today the drive to internationalization sees Politecnico Milano taking part into the European and world network of leading technical universities and it offers several courses beside many which are entirely taught in English.
