Programme details

Rene Descartes was a mathematician, a scientist and a philosopher. He was also a European citizen and a great figure of learning. The award of "scientific research excellence", which uses his name, leans on the fact that today's science is not solely the fruit of one brilliant brain and one sole country. The award highlights the importance of transnational cooperation. Here are the eight European scientific partnership projects nominated for the 2004 Descartes Award.


DENDRIMERS


The Project

This team works in the domain of chemistry, the project has dealt with the chemistry of dendrimers, which are branched molecules of nanometric dimensions and which resemble trees. The team tries to build machinery and equipment. The strategy is identical to that used by engineers to build macroscopic machinery and equipment, but in this case they work with components of nanometric dimensions, in fact they work with molecules. Probably the most important prospect is that of using dendrimers as antennae to collect luminous energy in order to achieve artificial photosynthesis, i.e. splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using sunlight

The Team

Professor Vincenzo Balzani from the University of Bologna in Italy is the coordinator of the European Community's dendrimer project."
This project involves the skills of a transnational network of scientists, coming from the university of Bologna in Italy, the university of Bonn in Germany and the university of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

The Research

Dendrimers are very complex molecules, the researchers wanted to examine the properties of dendrimers, specifically the properties relating to light.
To understand better what the team does, professor Vincenzo Balzani uses an analogy: "what does an engineer do when he builds machinery or equipment, for example, this hairdryer?
He takes the components: a resistor, a circuit breaker, a wire, a fan. He fits them together in the appropriate way and these parts thus assembled produce an effect that is much more useful than that produced individually.
These solutions are dendrimers, when we excite them with ultraviolet light, they become highly fluorescent."
To understand how this fluorescence phenomenon occurs and to understand this precisely, they needed very sophisticated instruments like a femtosecond laser, thanks to which they have been able to understand the excitation conditions responsible for the emission of light.

The Next Step

With another experiment, the team also proves that the dendrimer is able to extract a dye, another molecule. Thus one can reason that dendrimers can be used to separate substances, for example medicines. This is an application that could be very interesting. But who knows what other applications with dendrimers will be possible in 2010 because they can also be used in catalysis, because they can also be useful for materials used for holography and they can be used to process light signals.

MAFTIA

The Project

The team is working in computer sciences and MAFTIA is a computer science project dealing with large-scale network information systems, such as the internet. The internet is not as robust as it should be and is also increasingly under attack from hackers and criminals. The goal is to develop techniques for building systems that can tolerate both accidental faults and deliberate attacks. The researchers want the internet to be a better place somewhere we can go about our business reliably and somewhere we can store our information securely, without fear of it being lost or stolen. MAFTIA is an acronym, which stands for Malicious and Accidental Fault Tolerance for Internet Applications.

The Team

Robert Strout is the coordinator for the European project MAFTIA which involves the skills of a transnational network of scientists, coming from the university of Newcastle in the United Kingdom, the cnrs in Toulouse, France, the university of Lisboan in Portugal, IBM laboratory OF Zurich in Switzerland, Qinetiq in Malvern United Kingdom, and the university of Saarland in Germany.

The Research

MAFTIA is concerned with making large-scale systems such as the internet more operationally secure. The project grew out of a series of projects on fault tolerance and security, but what was novel about the project is that it brought these communities together and combined ideas from both domains.
MAFTIA explores three different aspects of intrusion tolerance. Ideas from the fault tolerance of security communities are combined to define a vocabulary and conceptual model to think about intrusion tolerance; the team developed mechanisms and protocols for building tolerance systems and formal mathematical techniques are used to prove that our solutions really work for intrusion tolerance.
MAFTIA explored two different practical solutions to this problem. One used a randomized technique based on the efficient use of cryptographic protocols, and the other relied on a trusted component that we call a wormhole.

The Next Step

Today's internet does not provide a firm enough foundation on which to build the future information society; services such as e-banking, e-commerce, e-voting and e-government need to be resilient and trustworthy, otherwise citizens will not use them. So the challenge for tomorrow is to find ways of building systems that not only are dependable, but are clearly seen to be dependable by the people who have to depend on them.

3. IST-Qucomm

The Project

This research network works in the domain of quantum physics on a long-distance photon telecommunication project the acronym of which is IST-QuComm. The project uses the physics that is behind communication and information technology.
The researchers are trying to use and optimise quantum physics within the framework of information and communication technology. The project can now provide secure communication systems. In the longer term, quantum effects will be very determinant in the IT domain when we introduce nanotechnology and reduce the components to atom scale.

The Team

Anders Karlsson is the coordinator of this project which involves the skills of a transnational network of scientists, coming from the Royal Institute of Technology of Stockholm in Sweden, the University of Vienna in Austria, the University of Munich in Germany, the University of Geneva in Switzerland, the university of Oxford in the United Kingdom, Thales Neuilly Sur Seine in France, Los Alamos National Laboratoty in the United States and Qinetiq in Malvern, United Kingdom.

The Research

Quantum physics is physics that describes atoms as elementary light particles. Lots of research have been carried out in the lab. The aim of this project was to reproduce quantum teleportation outside the lab and turn it into technology that could be used in IT.
To explain what quantum teleportation is, first the concept of entanglements has to be explained. In the case of people, twins have identical characteristics: they dress in an identical way, behave in an identical way. With twin photons, i.e. twin light particles, these identical characteristics are much more powerful than traditional physics admits.
Anders Karlsso describes the process of quantum teleportation: "I take two entangled twin photons, I separate them but each keeps its structural characteristics. If I wish to teleport a third photon, its structure, its characteristics, I take the latter and compare it with the first entangled photon. At the same time, I send additional information to the twin that is here. Insofar as these two are identical, and I measure that the teleportation photon is identical to the first twin, finally, everything is teleported from here to there. Without it having been moved, it has been teleported."

The Next Step

One specific use of entanglement is in cryptography. In cryptography the two parties wishing to communicate look for a secret key. Entangled photons can be used to create this secret key. Because of this entanglement, no one can intercept it. We will probably never see the teleporting of humans à la Star Trek. However, we must regard these quantum techniques as fundamental structural elements in the microelectronics and IT of tomorrow.

4. APLOMB

The Project

The research group is concerned with optics and particularly with luminescence. They've been trying to improve the performance of luminescence detectors. The goal they want to reach for the medical and biological applications is to have a detector that picks up luminescence from the surface of skin or from the interior of the body, and use that as a diagnosis probe, particularly for cancer.
The researchers are pretty confident that this will become a very successful route to diagnosis, it will look a little bit like a "star trek" diagnosis where you scan something down the surface of the skin and come up with an instant diagnosis, which involves no surgery, no biopsy, and is immediate.

The Team

Professor Peter Townsend isthe coordinator of a European programme with the acronym of APLOMB: Advanced Photocathode for Luminescence Optimisation in Medicine and Biology.
This project involves the skills of a transnational network of scientists, coming from the university of Sussex in the united kingdom, the university of Madrid in Spain, electron tubes limited in Ruislip united kingdom, Photek Limited in sint Leonard's on sea, united kingdom, Lazer Centrum Hanover in Germany, Institute of Metal and Technology in Lubjiana, Slovenia, Optella Ltd in Sofia, Bulgaria, Novara Technology in Italy and the "Centro de investigaciones energeticas, mediambientales y technologicas" in Madrid Spain.

The Research

The principle of bioluminescence is much the same as the effect you have in a disco where UV lights produces luminescence of a clean shirt. In the case of skin, the problem is much more difficult because the luminescence from the skin is extremely weak and therefore you need an incredibly sensitive detector in order to analyse the spectrum of the light and then make a diagnosis out of it.
Luminescence could be used for example, to detect breast cancer. A laser beam goes into the healthy tissue - and if it then reaches a region where there is a cancer, then the cancerous bit is going to luminescent with a different spectrum. If we have got sufficient sensibility. We will pick that up and be able to localise and see where it is.

The Next Step

In the immediate future, the technique has value because it can be used as an alterative to x-rays. X-rays have the side problem that they can even induce cancer. They also cannot be used very readily with young women, because the breast tissue is too dense and the very active mammography is quite a difficult and painful process for many women. The optical luminescence route avoids all those problems and is more sensitive.

5. CSNM

The Project

The European Union project CSNM, which is the acronym of Computational Science of Novel Materials, is in the domain of quantum mechanics, in particular relativistic quantum mechanics consistent with the Density Functional Theory applied to nanoscience. Magnetic nanosystems form the backbone of the current and future technology used in the IT and recording industry. The future can be summed up by the two acronyms Nano and Femto, which means the measuring of the physical properties of nanosystems on the femtosecond scale."

The Team

Peter Weinberger is the coordinator of the project CSNM which involves the skills of a transnational network of scientists, coming from the Center of Computational Materials Science of Vienna in Austria, the Institute of Physics, Academy of Science of Prague, Czech Republic and the university of Technology and Economics of Budapest in Hungary.

The Research

The materials that the researchers are interested in are multilayer magnetic systems or clusters of magnetic atoms attached to metallic surfaces or magnetic semi-conductor systems.
The research has been devoted to novel materials, in particular nanostructures which are particularly interesting for information technology.
They are also interested in the effect of giant magnetoresistance which today is used in the reading heads of hard disks of permanent magnetic disks and, in a derived form, will probably be the future of IT memories, non-volatile memory.

The Next Step

All the materials and systems these researchers are interested in are used in information technology. In relation to this, one could imagine, getting back to the name of René Descartes, the name of the prize, that it will possible, in the future, to see Descartes' original manuscripts and at the same time to visualise their translation into various languages. Our cultural heritage is also part of the information society.

6. LOCAL THERAPY

The Project

Heart disease kills more than half the people in the EU, and this team is working in the area of trying to find out what causes the wear an tear in arteries that leads to heart disease. The particular project that our team is working on is to discover the control of damage in the walls of arteries.
By 2015 the team hopes to will have produced a tabled that will stop men getting heart attack.

The Team

Professor John Martin is the coordinator of the European project called Local Therapy which involves the skills of a transnational network of scientists, coming from the university college of London in the United Kingdom, the university of Milan in Italy, the technical university of Dresden in Germany and the university of Kuopio in Finland.

The Research

The starting point of this research was a concern about heart disease. The researchers started digging in this problem by understanding the biology of how the arterial wall works.
Professor John Martin explains their research as follows: "When I do this to my arm 1000 times, I'm bending my arteries. Why don't I destroy it by wear and tear? That's the problem we analysed. Now, if we damage an artery from the outside (here is the arterial wall and the blood flowing in it), then the artery tires to repair itself by making a scar as in any part of the body. If that scar becomes too big, I block the flow of blood and I cause a heart attack. We discovered that there is a natural system in the artery call the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) that protects t he arterial wall against that. We wanted to apply this basic knowledge to treatment in human beings by taking the gene in VEGF and putting it in a virus. We put our gene into the virus, introduced it into the arterial wall to over-express too much VEGF there, and therefore protect the artery against this."

The Next Step

The first application of this discovery is in surgery but the big problem in Europe is the prevention of heart attacks and also of strokes. The researchers hope that by 2015 they will have made a table that can be taken before heart attack and stroke, to prevent arteries against the damage that would lead to those diseases.

7. Upar

The Project

This group is active in cancer research in particular on the clarification of molecular mechanisms which lead to the spreading of cancer. The aim is to understand the molecular mechanisms of urokinase and its receptor and insert them into the complex functioning of a cell be it normal or tumorous. The researchers would like to help cancer become a curable disease in the not-too-distant future, perhaps 20 years from now.

The Team

Francesco Blasi and Danø are the coordinators of a European project on the receptor of urokinases, uPAR which involves the skills of a transnational network of scientists, coming from the university vita-salute san raffaele in Milan, Italy and the state hospital of Copenhagen in Denmark.

The Research

Francesco Blasi describes the research on this project as follows:
"It all started when it was discovered that tumours produce proteases that are very active during proteolysis. Proteases are enzymes that degrade other proteins, so the process of proteolysis simply means that certain proteins are destroyed, degraded. What we have actually discovered, is that one of these enzymes one of the most important, urokinase, has a specific receptor. A receptor, a protein that is found on the surface of the cell and which specifically binds this enzyme, urokinase. This animation shows that this animal has a tumour coming out of which is a blood vessel that supplies a series of organs. So tumorous cells
come out of the tumour and go to other organs via the blood vessel and can produce a new tumour there, a metastasis.
So, how does this happen? This happens because the cells have the urokinase receptor. When this receptor binds the urokinase, these cells are able to destroy the barrier formed by the blood vessel wall and to pass through this barrier.
Thus reproduce there, form another tumour. The crucial moment of this research came when we decided to purify the urokinase receptor, work that was realised in partnership: our group together with that of Danø. After cloning was discovered and that provided us with the material, the means to study the behaviour of these molecules and consequently their role."

The Next Step

The ultimate aim is to deal with cancer. But that it's very difficult because these proteases are numerous, even if urokinase is one of the most important. The resaerchers know that by inhibiting the interaction between urokinase and its receptor functions this receptor performs in cancer will be blocked. Consequently with these inhibitors of other proteases, they hope that, probably in ten to twenty years from now, it will be possible to block tumour spreading.

8. MBAD

The Project

This team works in life sciences, at the interface of cell biology and medical genetics on the European project MBAD which stands for mitochondrial biogenesis, ageing and disease. The particular area of the sturdy is mitochondria, the energy factory of the cell. The goal is to understand how mitochondria work, how their genetic system operates, and how this goes wrong in disease.
The researcher's hope for the future is to be able to use this knowledge to design a strategy to cure mitochondrial diseases.

The Team

Howard Jacobs coordinates this project involving the skills of a transnational network of scientists, coming from the university of tampere in Finland, the karolinska institute of Stockholm in Sweden, the medical research council of London in the united kingdom, the national neurological institute in Milan Italy and the national institute for health and medical research in Paris France.

The Research

Mitochondria are the power stations or the engines of cells. They are structures in cells that provide biological energy for all the activities of life. One obvious driving force for the research has been the fact that mitochondria are - when they go wrong - involved in a number of different disease states, such as, for instance: diabetes, deafness, various forms of eye diseases, retinopathy, muscle disease, heart muscle disease specifically, and some degenerative conditions.
The genes, however, that specifies all those energy producing processes, are split into two compartments, two physically separate compartments in the cell. One set of genes in the nucleus, where all the genes are, and another restrictive set of genes that are carrying to a separate place in the cell, inside the mitochondria. This is the mitochondria DNA. Much of the focus of the researcher's work has been to trying to understand how the genes in the mitochondrial DNA - as well as the genes in nucleus that control mitochondria function - are involved in disease.
They discovered that degradation of the mitochondrial DNA leads to premature ageing. In other words, this is one of the key mechanisms of biological ageing, the loss of the information of the mitochondrial DNA to the cell.

The Next Step

The long-term goal is to build on this knowledge to actually create effective drugs to combat mitochondrial diseases, using the models that I've just described. An example of that is the work of the team in Paris, which is actually in the process of testing, in clinical trials, specific classes of drugs to reverse the consequences of the disease Frederick Hataxi, which is a specific mitochondrial disease.

Conclusion

The winners of the 2004 Descartes Prize, an award for scientific excellence on the initiative of the European Commission, were selected from among these eight projects.