Brussels, 25/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - In mid-July, the European Commission published a list of projects preselected for the Descartes Prize 2005. These 14 projects cover a broad range of scientific work and discoveries aiming to increase understanding of the purpose of research. At this stage, only 14 projects have been retained out of 85 candidates. These 14 projects bring together 76 teams working in 22 countries. They are competing for a prize of 1.15 million EUR to be awarded to the winners on to December in London. These projects relate to:
? Human health: (1) As part of the CANCERGENES project, the British and Finnish professors Ian Tomlinson (London Research Institute) and Lauri Antti Aaltonen (Helsingin yliopisto) worked on the identification of genes which point to a predisposition to cancer. Amongst other things, this project led to the identification of the gene which seems to show a predisposition to colorectal cancer. The researchers also mapped and identified the gene for another cancer syndrome, leiomyomatosis (a rare benign tumour of the smooth muscle tissues) and renal cancer. Progress has been made in identifying links between deficient energy production and tumorigenesis; (2) coordinated by the French professor Alain Fischer (INSERM), EURO-PID brings together French, British, Italian and Swedish teams together and has allowed over 20 molecular anomalies to be described in the specific field of primary immunodeficiencies, a group of rare genetic diseases of the immune system. This work has led to progress in the still relatively small body of knowledge on the functioning of the families of lymphocytes T, B and NK; (3) in the very complex world of molecular biology, the Swedish professor Jan-Ake Gustafsson (Karolinska Institutet) has worked with teams from France, Norway, Finland and Singapore on the PATHFINDER project, the aim of which was to describe the role of nuclear receptors on human health and their reaction to chemical pollutants ingested through food; (4) in the context of PITCID, Professor Matthias P. Wymann of the University of Basel worked with German, Italian, British, Swiss and Spanish researchers on Phospholnositide 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) as a target for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases. Trials proved the efficiency of this therapeutic method on rheumatoid polyarthritis and lupus. The work also relates to chronic allergy and asthma.
? the enviroment: (1) Under CECA, the Norwegian professor Ola M. Johannessen (NERSC) worked with Russian and German partners on the Arctic climate system and its influence on Europe;
? physics: (1) Professor Costas Soukoulis (Foundation for Research and Technology, Heraklion) coordinated the EXEL project. With Turkish, British, German and American partners, he developed a new class of artificial meta-materials called Left Handed Materials or Negative Index Materials, which have fascinating properties. Their specific capacities in terms of diffusing electromagnetic rays has opened up the possibility of applications in the sector of mobile communications; (2) HESS, which is coordinated by Professor Stavros Katsanevas (CNRS), is a project in the field of astrophysics, which brings together French, German, British, Irish, Czech and South African teams. This project uses gamma rays to explore the universe. It has led to the first images to be created using gamma rays; (3) British professor Andrew Lyne (JBO, University of Manchester) co-ordinated PULSE, a research project on pulsars (rapidly rotating neutron stars), which Italian, German, Dutch and Greek researchers also worked on. They carried out precision tests on theories of gravity in discovered almost 800 pulsars, which doubles the number discovered in the entire world in the 30 years prior to this collaboration, according to a press release of the Commission, which adds that they were also the first to discover a double pulsar; (4) Patrick De Kepper of France (CNRS) and Pierre Borckmans of Belgium (ULB) carried out the first experimental demonstration of Turing's conjecture, which attempted to prove that it does exist in natural systems. Put forward in 1952 by the British mathematician Alan Turing, this hypothesis is based on a reaction-diffusion patterning mechanism in chemistry and biology.
? engineering: (1) Professor Antonio Pizzi (ENSTIB, Nancy) worked with Swiss, Italian, French and Japanese teams on a project which allowed adhesives to be developed from natural tannin for composite materials in wood. These non-toxic adhesives, which are made from extracts of waste wood bark, work as quickly as similar products. They can be used in the wood panel sector, which uses more than 3,000,000 tonnes of synthetic adhesives a year; (2) with HIDEMAR, which was coordinated by Dino Fioriani of Italy (CNR), Greek, French, Italian, Austrian and Liechtenstein researchers worked on nanolithographics and the ecological chemical self-assembly of nano-particles in order to create new products designed for information storage.
? information sciences: The GRAB project, which was led by Teresa Gutierrez of Spain (Fundación Labein, Derio), aims to give access to the three-dimensional graphics computer world for the visually impaired, using Haptic & Audio Video Entertainment (the creation of a sensorial environment promoting the perception of the three-dimensional world). Italian, British and Irish teams took part in this project.
? socio-economic sciences: (1) The ESS (European Social Survey) series of surveys was led by British professor Roger Jowell (City University London) together with German, Dutch, Belgian, Norwegian and French researchers. A press release by the Commission indicates that "with ESS, Europe has for the first time an authoritative source of data about its changing social values"; (2) under the IDEE project, the French professor Robert Franck (CNRS) worked with Hartmut Kaelbe of Germany (Humboldt University, Berlin) on links between national identity, a European identity and the process of democratisation in Europe.