Five physicists receive ERC Advanced Grant

Frenken will take up the challenge of reducing energy loss through friction to zero. For this, he will use nanostructures based on graphene. This new discipline, "nanotribology," will get a major boost from this European funding.

Friction converts useful energy into useless heat, thus wasting at least five percent of all the world's wealth. Still, little is known about friction at the nanometre scale, where the first contact between two surfaces occurs and frictional forces arise. Frenken focuses his research on special friction-reducing effects such as superlubricity and thermolubricity: slipperiness! The main question is how to use these effects at the macroscopic scale to reduce friction.

Further information about Frenken's research proposal (Leiden University press release):
http://news.leiden.edu/news/erc-grant-helps-joost-frencken-on-the-road-to-superlubricity.html

Van Grondelle submitted a proposal on the physics of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process that plants, algae and photosynthetic bacteria use to capture energy from the sun in energy-rich chemical compounds. The energy from almost all of the absorbed photons is captured by two ultrafast processes in a few picoseconds (10^-12). The important question that will be answered in this research centres on the role of a specific protein in the success of photosynthesis. Is the protein merely a passive matrix protein or does the protein play an "intelligent," active role? Essential knowledge for the application and optimisation of photosynthesis for food and/or fuel production. The study will be conducted using a wide variety of (ultra fast) spectroscopic techniques.

Further information about Van Grondelle's research proposal (VU University Amsterdam press release):
http://www.vu.nl/en/news-agenda/news/2010/oct-dec/prestigious-erc-advanced-grant-to-professor-of-biophysics.asp

Lohse will get to work on the "Physics of Boiling." Until now, liquid-gas phase transitions have been mainly the research domain of engineers, but they also contain much unexplored physics. Vapour bubbles and gas bubbles behave very differently: for gas bubbles, the gas's diffusion rate determines the growth or shrinkage of the bubble; for vapour bubbles, it's the temperature's diffusion rate - and this is a thousand times faster than that of gas. That is so fast that it's pointless even to speak of a vapour bubble's equilibrium radius, since evaporation and condensation occur very quickly. Lohse will visualise these processes with the help of high-speed cameras and simulations.

"I’m very pleased that this proposal has been accepted by a hard-core physics panel. Until now, this was a subject for engineers, but there's really great physics here and this is what we want to look at," says a proud Detlef Lohse.

Further information about Lohse's work:
http://pof.tnw.utwente.nl/

Theoretical physicist Verlinde submitted a proposal entitled "Emergent Gravity, String Theory and the Holographic Principle." In physics, Einstein's theory of general relativity still applies as the most accepted description of gravity. Nonetheless, evidence from quantum mechanics, string theory and the theory of black holes suggests that there is a different underlying explanation for gravity. In a recent article, Verlinde made a major step forward by exposing the underlying principles of the origin of gravity. The award of the European grant will enable him to develop these ideas further with his research group. In cosmology, in particular, there are important open questions that may be resolved and possibly answered by this new approach.

More information (press release University of Amsterdam):
http://www.english.uva.nl/news/news.cfm/7BA87E2C-CC3F-4C2A-84FA5A77B6AD6B27

Zandbergen will get to work on the in situ High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) nano-characterisation technique. In-situ HRTEM is a unique combination of electron microscopy at nano-scale and physical measurements performed simultaneously so that researchers can physically measure what they are making visible on an atomic scale with the electron microscope. In recent years, Zandbergen's group has gained experience with HRTEM under various in situ conditions, with excellent, promising results. With the European grant, he will carry out nano-electrical measurements of nanostructures in situ using HRTEM (NEMinTEM). In addition, he will change the structures while measuring the effects of those adjustments on the electrical properties of the material. Once the technique has been developed further, it can be widely used for physical and materials research.

The ERC Advanced Grant is a prestigious European research grant for individual researchers. It is part of the European Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), a grant programme for the years 2007-2013. The ERC Advanced Grant is awarded to outstanding individual researchers for groundbreaking research. Besides the research ideas, the researchers' track records and the research environment are also assessed.

Further information:http://erc.europa.eu/