In this podcast we talk to scientists and scholars, explorers and discoverers who push the frontiers of knowledge. Occasionally, you’ll hear also from experts in science communication who share their secrets of how to make the important interesting. And don’t be surprised sometimes to get a useful tip on how to obtain our coveted grants.   

The European Research Council, set up by the European Union in 2007, is the premier European funding organisation for excellent frontier research. It funds creative researchers of any nationality and age, to run projects based across Europe. More about the ERC: https://erc.europa.eu/

Frontiers of Research

A new acoustic paradigm for cities

Architecture and urban design have traditionally tended to focus on what we see rather than what we hear. When sound is taken into account, it tends to be viewed as a problem to be dealt with through noise control. 

Reducing noise is certainly important, especially because the kind and level of noise people are exposed to in urban environments often reflects socio-economic inequalities. And noise can also have a damaging effect on ecosystems, for example by interfering in communication between different species of birds at certain frequencies. 

But the Soncities project aims to go beyond the traditional focus on noise control, and to develop more creative approaches towards sound in urban environments. The project brings together specialists from different fields including sound theorists, urban sociologists, architects, urban designers and sound artists. It is also engaging local communities in several cities through field recordings, audio diaries and sonic mapping of neighbourhoods. New tools developed and tested through these collaborations are intended to help create more inclusive and enjoyable sonic environments.

In this episode in our series of podcasts featuring ERC grantees, we spoke with Gascia Ouzounian, Associate Professor of Music at the University of Oxford, about her work to develop a “new acoustic paradigm for cities”.

Urban Sounds - Interview with Gascia Ouzounian

What does success look like, and how is it achieved? Teenagers may be developing a distorted image of success due to popular media narratives, according to research conducted by Professor Laura Vandenbosch at KU Leuven. In this podcast, Professor Vandenbosch talks about her ERC-funded MIMIc project, which is looking at the impact of media narratives on the personal wellbeing of teenagers, as well as their perspectives on wider social issues. She also shares some tips on applying for an ERC grant. Check out the story on the ERC website https://erc.europa.eu/projects-statistics/stories/teenagers-wellbeing-affected-media-narratives and the MIMIc website http://www.projectmimic.eu/ for further information.

Teenagers’ wellbeing affected by media narratives - Interview with Laura Vandenbosch

What are the impacts of visual technologies like facial recognition, deepfakes and image filtering? Research carried out by Professor Jill Walker Rettberg at the University of Bergen suggests that they may fundamentally affect our perception of the world around us. Listen to this podcast interview to hear about her ERC-funded ‘Machine Vision’ project, and visit the project website to find out more! https://www.uib.no/en/machinevision

How are we affected by visual technologies? - Interview with Jill Walker Rettberg

How do universities and research institutions communicate about science? Saman Musacchio https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanmusacchio/ is International Communications Manager at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)https://www.cnrs.fr . The CNRS is the largest research institution in Europe, with over 1000 labs and some 30,000 researchers (including many ERC grantees!). In this podcast interview, Saman shares his experiences as a science communicator, and explains how he and his colleagues promote the work of the CNRS around the world.

Science communication today - Interview with Saman Musacchio

In this podcast, Oana Stroe, a Senior Communications Officer at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)https://www.embl.org/ shares her experience communicating frontier research in simple yet engaging ways through storytelling, navigating the role of media in shaping public perception, reaching out to policy-makers and harnessing the power of digital platforms. With 28 member states, EMBL has more than 110 independent research groups and service teams covering the spectrum of molecular biology at six sites across Europe. Tune in to hear more about how EMBL embraces its role as a storyteller and advocate for the wonders of scientific discovery.

Communicating frontier research - Interview with Oana Stroe

In this episode, Professor Michael Kramer, a renowned radio astronomer and astrophysicist and Professor Alberto Sesana, a theoretical astrophysicist, talk about their recent detection of low-frequency gravitational waves. 
 
Tune in to hear about the latest breakthrough that opens up the possibilities for astrophysicists to understand fundamental questions about the origins and evolution of the universe, our existence and to what happened closer in time to the Big Bang. 
 
Michael Kramer, University of Manchester and Director at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
 
Alberto Sesana, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

New gravitational wave astronomy: black holes, the Big Bang and the early universe

What is important for researchers to have in mind when preparing an ERC grant application? What are the tips to follow and the pitfalls to avoid? Prof. Andrea Mattevi from the University of Pavia vividly narrates his experience both as being a chair in an ERC evaluation panel, and being an ERC grantee himself, explaining the intricate and, at the same time, intriguing journey of an ERC grant.

What does it take to chair an evaluation panel at the ERC? Bonus: tips for potential applicants

Electrical impulses that occur naturally in the heart could one day be used to detect and repair irregular heartbeats known as arrhythmias. In this episode, we speak with Daniël Pijnappels, Head of the Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology at Leiden University Medical Center. His research, funded by the ERC, aims to develop a completely new type of ‘biologically integrated cardiac defibrillator’ that would replace more invasive treatments, improve patients’ wellbeing, and save lives.

Helping the heart to heal itself

Professor Baroness Susan Greenfield, a renowned neuroscientist, talks about defeating Alzheimer’s, how digital tech affects children’s brains, and what drugs and alcohol do to our heads. Also, she shares her own uncommon career path and weights in on the question of women in science.

Drugs, alcohol and social media: The science of the brain

In conversation with Professor Michael Bruter on voter psychology and democracy
What goes through people’s minds when their vote? Should we be concerned about disinformation? Can technology help get out the vote? Michael Bruter is Professor of Political Science and European Politics at Department of Government of the London School of Economics and Political Science. On 24 January 2024 he delivered the 2024 STOA Annual Lecture at the European Parliament in Brussels.  He also sat with Tony Lockett, ERC’s head of communication, for a conversation on voters and democracy in the year in which Europeans and half of humanity will go to polls.

Inside the mind of a voter: Elections and democracy in times of political hostility

Eleni Zika who heads feedback to policy at the ERC executive agency and Anne Nielsen, policy adviser, sat with the ERC’s head of communication Tony Lockett to explore how the agency maps the research it funds and how it makes sure policymakers are aware of the scientific results achieved by its grantees. The new report on ERC-funded research on democracy, published ahead of the European elections in June, was the occasion to discuss the ERC’s feedback-to-policy activities.

TASCAM DR-05

ERC contributes to policy-making on democracy

The war in Ukraine has had a profound impact on the country’s scientific community. Research infrastructure has been destroyed or badly damaged. Many scientists have left the country, while others have been forced to abandon or scale back their research. But international support is helping to preserve Ukrainian science and to train the next generation of researchers. The ERC is contributing to these efforts by extending is mentoring scheme to researchers based in Ukraine. In this episode, we speak with Fedya Kondrashov from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology. Professor Kondrashov is behind the organisation of a biological data science summer school that will be taking place in Ukraine for the second time in summer 2024. He is also the chair of one of the ERC’s evaluation panels.

Frontiers of Research

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