Press release -
Two ERC Consolidator Grants 2022 awarded to Politecnico di Milano
From a new way of producing innovative materials to reducing uncertainties in tackling climate change. The European Research Council (ERC), the European Union organization that rewards talented scholars engaged in cutting-edge research, is funding two projects led by researchers from the Politecnico di Milano. Sara Bagherifard with ArcHIDep and Massimo Tavoni with EUNICE have been awarded the 2 ERC Consolidator Grants 2022. The research projects were selected from among more than 2,000 proposals received by ERC. This is a great result for the Politecnico, considering that this year only 11.8% of the projects submitted have obtained funding. In addition to these two projects, to date, a total of 48 ERC grants have been awarded to researchers from Politecnico di Milano.
Sara Bagherifard, senior researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano, will work on the ArcHIDep project: a revolutionary system of solid-state deposition to obtain heterogeneous materials with structured architecture on three scales: micro, meso and macro. This ambitious goal is possible with the development of the cold spray beyond the state of the art, with analytical models, experimental tests and multi-scale computational models. ArcHIDep will develop a framework, currently non-existent, that will allow the design and construction of elements capable of overcoming the limits connected to the current impossibility of combining conflicting properties, by the rational exploitation of raw materials and superior performance.
Professor Massimo Tavoni, Professor of Engineering for the Environment and the Territory, has been awarded the grant for EUNICE, which aspires to correct the errors of the ensembles of climate-energy-economy models that study climate stabilization, and to develop methods to validate and confirm the intuitions of the scenarios.
The objective of the project is therefore to develop an innovative and integrated approach to quantify, translate and communicate in an effective and timely manner the main uncertainties associated with low-carbon pathways and scenarios that explore very distant futures, renewing the methodological and experimental bases of model-based climate assessments.
EUNICE is a project of great relevance also for other research areas: the approach and innovations developed by EUNICE can in fact also be applied to other high-risk environmental, social and technological assessments. Its unique combination of computational and behavioural science and public engagement will be an important mediation tool in debates on fundamental decisions for our society, increasing confidence in and recognition of the scientific method.
ERC Consolidator Grants are intended for researchers with at least 7 years of experience since obtaining their PhD and with a very promising scientific profile. These are scholars who aim to consolidate their independence in research, strengthening their research group and continuing to develop a career in Europe. Funding can reach €2 million per single project, for a maximum duration of 5 years.
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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.
