Eight SNSF Starting Grants for ETH researchers

The most recent call for applications for SNSF Starting Grants went rather well for ETH Zurich: four women and four men from six different departments will each be receiving funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) worth around CHF 1.7 million.

In total, 58 researchers applied for the funding via ETH, amounting to a success rate of 13.8 percent. This time around, women enjoyed particular success, with 28.6 percent of applications submitted being approved. The average success rate for all Swiss universities is 12.2 percent.

The projects in brief:

Diana Aude Craik is an experimental atomic physicist. In her project, she wants to explore the limits of the Standard Model of particle physics. Mathematical symmetry principles provide an important framework for this model. However, it is known that some of these symmetries are broken in reality. Aude Craik aims to measure one of these known symmetry breaks, the parity violation, with unprecedented accuracy. To do this, she will analyse trapped barium ions using a high-precision measurement method she has developed. The results could provide clues to new particles or new fundamental forces of physics and improve measurement techniques in quantum physics.

A plasma is a dynamic mixture of freely moving charged particles. When these particles are in a magnetic field, complex interactions occur between them. These interactions are characterised by two things: the dynamics of the motion and the order imposed by the magnetic field. A whole field of mathematical research – kinetic theory – is dedicated to describing such systems. Mikaela Iacobelli is a professor in the Department of Mathematics. In her project, she will develop important mathematical foundations for this field of research, in particular on how energy is transferred between particles and how the systems reach a stable equilibrium. These insights will also benefit research into nuclear fusion and its application to energy production.

Sarah Meissner investigates how the brain’s arousal state is regulated and how it is associated with mental well-being. Recently, she has developed a biofeedback method that uses pupil size as an indicator of this arousal state. In her Starting Grant project, she will explore the mechanisms of this method in more detail. Moreover, she will investigate whether the method can be used as a non-invasive and non-pharmacological intervention to modulate anxiety- and sleep-related arousal states.

Neuroscientist Timothée Proix is investigating how our brains process language. His project aims to understand the neural mechanisms by which we combine individual sounds, first into meaningful words, and then into complex sentences. In particular, he wants to describe these mechanisms using mathematical principles. These should help us to better understand how our brains process language, as well as to understand disturbances in these processes. They could pave the way for new approaches to help patients with language disorders recover after a stroke. Finally, these principles could be used to build new kinds of computers that process language in a similar way to the human brain and are much more energy efficient than the ones we use today.

Benedikt Soja is a professor of space geodesy, the use of satellites to measure the Earth and its atmosphere. He will use his Starting Grant to develop a new concept for measuring water vapour in the atmosphere using signals from the GPS satellite system. He will develop low-cost GPS receivers that are sensitive enough that they react to water vapour in the atmosphere. To demonstrate the feasibility, he will set up a system of 200 stations around Zurich with the help of citizen science. It will measure water vapour locally, enabling better rainfall forecasts and an early warning system for extreme weather events.

Microorganisms play an important role in both the production and degradation of methane, a greenhouse gas with a particular high impact on climate. The molecular mechanisms of methane metabolism in these microorganisms are still poorly understood. Marie Schölmerich is a professor of environmental microbiology. In her project, she will investigate how certain genetic elements regulate methane metabolism in these organisms. She will also study the rewetting of peatlands, which is currently being done for climate protection reasons. She is interested in the effects of this practice on the populations of microorganisms living in the peatlands and their genetics. Her findings will support the climate effectiveness of peatland restoration. They could also be useful in the development of vaccines against methane-producing microorganisms in the stomachs of cows.

Mathematician Jeffrey Hicks from the University of Edinburgh has, in collaboration with ETH Zurich, successfully applied for an SNSF Starting Grant. His project deals with mathematical applications of an aspect of string theory in physics. It is still unclear whether Hicks will come to ETH Zurich for his project.

Franco Zunino works at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering. He has been awarded a Starting Grant for a project to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete. However, he will not be conducting this project at ETH Zurich but will continue his research at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has been appointed as a professor.