Monitoring war destruction to support humanitarian action

How can war-related damage be assessed faster, cheaper and more reliably to support humanitarian efforts in conflict zones? Andre Groeger and his team aims to overcome the limitations of current methods, which rely heavily on manual detection and eyewitness reports. By combining very high-resolution satellite imagery with advanced machine learning techniques, he seeks to automate the analysis of damage caused by armed conflict - with the potential to transform how war destruction is monitored worldwide.

Initially focusing on Ukraine, the project seeks to develop a global model for assessing war damage that can adapt to different geographic regions, a challenge known as 'spatial domain shift.' Groeger and his research team will design a novel neural network architecture that makes efficient use of panel data, allowing changes to be tracked over time, to improve the accuracy of damage detection. Training datasets will be expanded with destruction annotations from multiple conflict zones, while real-world case studies will be used to validate the system's performance.

The project builds on Groeger's earlier research conducted in Syria, as well as the methodological foundations of his current ERC-funded work addressing the agricultural productivity gap in developing countries. To ensure that the new AI model is both practical and widely applicable, he will collaborate closely with the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT), a leading institution in geospatial analysis for humanitarian aid.

Providing a more efficient, reliable and cost-effective solution for damage assessment, this Proof of Concept Grant holds the potential to significantly strengthen humanitarian responses, transform post-war recovery efforts and contribute to greater accountability.

In his ongoing ERC Starting Grant project at the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research and Barcelona Graduate School of Economics, Andre Groeger investigates why agricultural productivity remains lower, both across space and across industries, in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. By combining novel micro-level panel data, geospatial information on rural areas, and theoretical models, he explores how agricultural productivity gaps shape transformation and rural development - generating insights that are highly relevant for poverty reduction and evidence-based policymaking.

• Researcher: Andre Groeger
• Project: Monitoring War Destruction - MonWaDes
• Host institution: Barcelona School of Economics
• ERC grant: €150 000 euro for 18 months
• Original ERC frontier research project: Rural Structural Transformation in Developing Countries - RUSTDEC

Making earthquake protection accessible where it is most needed

Why do earthquakes claim so many more lives in some parts of the world than in others? While seismic activity is global, its impact is not. In many developing countries, buildings are far more vulnerable - not because engineers lack expertise, but because earthquake-resistant technologies are often too expensive to implement.

In this ERC-funded project, researcher Michalis Vassiliou will explore a radically simpler and more affordable approach to seismic protection. Rather than relying on costly materials and complex systems used in high-income countries, his project will test a low-cost seismic isolation method based on a surprisingly simple idea: rubber balls rolling on concrete conical surfaces.

Seismic isolation is proven to reduce forces transmitted to buildings during earthquakes, but its costs typically limit its use to critical infrastructure. Vassiliou aims to reimagine the concept for contexts where resources are scarce. A particularly innovative variation will use cement-filled, upcycled tennis balls - drastically lowering costs while supporting circular economy practices. The technique will focus on masonry buildings, which are common across many regions but among the most vulnerable to earthquakes.

The research team will test and refine this method through shake-table tests, durability studies and structural performance assessments. They will also develop design guidelines, draft code chapters and provide engineers with analysis tools to support real-world implementation. A prototype structure will be built in Cuba, where high seismicity and limited resources make safe, affordable housing a pressing challenge.

By focusing on affordability, practicality and real-world constraints, this research aims to make earthquake-resistant construction accessible where it is needed most. If successful, the project could help enable safer, more resilient housing in high-seismic regions with limited resources - directly contributing to UN sustainable development goals and reducing the human cost of earthquakes worldwide.

In his previous Starting Grant, Dr Vassiliou developed a new way to test how masonry buildings behave during earthquakes using small models that reliably predict the behaviour of real buildings. His method enables faster, cheaper and more accessible large-scale seismic testing, opening the door to safer construction methods worldwide.

• Researcher: Michalis Vassiliou
• Project: Low-Cost Seismic Isolation for the Developing World - Low-Cost Isolation
• Host institution: National Technical University of Athens
• ERC funding: €150 000

• Original ERC frontier research project: Seismic Testing of 3D Printed Miniature Masonry in a Geotechnical Centrifuge - MiniMasonryTesting

A small mammal's big secret to healing heart attacks

Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, and one of its most serious forms is a heart attack. During a heart attack, blood flow to part of the heart is blocked, causing heart muscle cells to die. Unlike skin or some other tissues, the adult human heart has very little ability to repair itself. The damaged area is replaced by scar tissue, which weakens the heart and can eventually lead to heart failure. Current treatments help people survive heart attacks and manage symptoms, but they cannot rebuild the lost heart muscle. This remains a major challenge in medicine.

Dr Jane Reznick's research tackles that problem by learning from an unexpected animal: the naked mole-rat. Unlike humans and most mammals, the naked mole-rat can regenerate its heart after injury. It can remove scar tissue, grow new heart muscle cells and restore heart function. By studying this unique ability, researchers have discovered a special protein that appears only after heart injury in naked mole-rats. In laboratory studies, this protein helps heart cells recover and reduces harmful scarring.

The project aims to turn this discovery into a new treatment for heart attack patients. The idea is to deliver this protein directly to the heart at the same time as standard procedures, such as opening blocked arteries and encourage the heart to heal itself by growing new muscle and limiting scar formation. To test how well this works and how safe it is, the therapy will be studied in pigs, whose hearts are similar in size and function to the human heart.

If successful, this approach could change how heart attacks are treated, helping patients recover better and reducing the risk of heart failure later in life.

With her ERC Starting Grant Dr Jane Reznick's studied how naked mole-rat hearts cope with low oxygen, a key factor in heart disease. By uncovering their unusual metabolism and ability to resist damage, the research aimed to inspire new ways to protect and repair the human heart.

• Researcher: Jane Reznick
• Project: From Naked Mole-Rat to Preclinical Pig: Advancing a Regenerative Factor for Myocardial Infarction - NEWHEART
• Host institution: CECAD Research Centre, University Hospital Cologne
• ERC funding: €150 000
• Original ERC frontier research project: Naked mole-rats to mice: metabolic reprogramming to prevent ischaemic injury - METAMOLE

Saving energy and costs through new coating technologies

Friction and wear in machines waste a huge amount of energy and cause many parts to fail, ultimately leading to high financial and environmental costs. Carbon-based coatings offer effective strategies to mitigate these effects. Through her research, Maria Clelia Righi wants to make affordable and energy-efficient solutions usable for several practical applications.

In her Consolidator Grant project, Righi studied how to create alternative coatings by using tribosynthesis. Tribosynthesis is a process where simple materials like gases and plant-derived molecules are turned into carbon films using mechanical stress, not heat. This method does not require vacuum-chambers and can be done at room temperature, which makes the tribosynthesis process cost-effective and potentially simpler than current techniques. Instead of relying on trial and error, the research used atomistic simulations to understand how molecules confined at sliding interfaces react and form lubricious films.

Righi's new project aims at making this method accessible across industries in sectors such as automotive, aerospace and medicine, and promises both economic and environmental benefits.

• Researcher: Maria Clelia Righi
• Project: Tribosynthesis of Carbon Coatings for Friction ad Wear Reduction - TRIBOSYNC
• Host institution: University of Bologna
• ERC funding: €150 000 for 18 months
• Original ERC frontier research project: Advancing Solid Interfaces and Lubricants by First Principles Material Design - SLIDE

Towards a faster, safer diagnosis of kidneys diseases

Current imaging methods either expose patients to radiation, require contrast agents, or are costly and complex. While ultrasound is widely available and safe, existing high-resolution systems can only scan a limited area at once, making it difficult to assess whole organs in sufficient detail. The research team is tackling this limitation by rethinking how ultrasound waves are shaped and captured inside the body.

The new project is developing a new medical ultrasound system that could significantly improve the way kidneys diseases is detected and monitored. Erik Vilain Thomsen's aim is to make it possible to see the smallest blood vessels throughout the entire human kidney quickly and safely, using a non-invasive and affordable technique. Changes in these tiny vessels are often among the earliest signs of serious conditions such as cancer and diabetes.

Using an innovative acoustic lens and combined with advanced image reconstruction methods, the new system can 'image' the full kidney in three dimensions within seconds. This allows doctors to see blood vessels at a thinner scale than a human hair (down to 28 micrometers), across the entire organ, using technology that fits into standard hospital equipment.

Thomsen will test the system in clinical settings to ensure it works in real medical practice. His ambition is to support earlier diagnosis, better disease monitoring and more informed treatment decisions, while reducing the need for invasive procedures.

Also, the project has a strong innovation potential, paving the way for collaboration with industry, new medical technologies and skilled jobs in Europe.

In his previous Synergy Grant and together with researchers from the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Copenhagen and the Capital Region of Denmark, Thomsen developed an innovative ultrasound method that can visualise the smallest blood vessels in the body by tracking red blood cells in real time. It provides a safe, non-invasive way to study blood flow and organ perfusion at high detail, without contrast agents. This technology could help doctors detect, monitor, and better understand diseases like cancer and diabetes from an early stage.

• Researcher: Erik Vilain Thomsen
• Project: Implementation of acoustic lens technology for Super-resolution Ultrasound Real-time microvascular Imaging using Erythrocytes - iSURElens
• Host institution: Technical University of Denmark
• ERC funding: €150 000 for 18 months
• Original ERC frontier research project: 3-D Super resolution Ultrasound Real time imaging of Erythrocytes - SURE (Erik Vilain, Jørgen Arendt, Charlotte Mehlin, Michael Bachmann)