Descartes research prize : excellence in scientific collaborative research.
Date: 2007-03-14
Institutions: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
Subjects: EU research policy, honour, scientific research

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DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

ISSN 1018-5593

2006

 P A n e L   I n F o

 H.e.s.s. - the High energy stereoscopy system

sky,  and  the  amount  of  light  collected  gives  the  energy 
of  the  initial  gamma  ray.  Building  up  the  images  photon 
by photon allows H.E.S.S. to create maps of astronomical 
objects as they appear in gamma rays.

PANEL
Science and Society

After  only  two  years  of  operation,  it  has  already 
revolutionised the fi eld of astrophysics with a number of 
major  achievements.  H.E.S.S.  was  the  fi rst  to  record  an 
astronomical  image  of  a  Supernova  shock  wave  at  very 
high  gamma  ray  energies,  thus  making  the  hypothesis 
about the origin of Victor Hess’ cosmic rays in the remnants 
of Supernova explosions experimentally plausible. H.E.S.S. 
collaboration  members  are  also  world  leaders  in  the 
theoretical foundation of this origin. 

Descartes

research prize
 Excellence in scientifi c collaborative research  

CONTACT
Prof Werner Hofmann
Tel : + 49 6221 516 330 – Fax: +49 6221 516 603
Email: werner.hofmann@mpi-hd.mpg.de

PARTNERS
 • Dr Michael Punch, Institut National de Physique Nucleaire 

LED BY
 Max Planck Institut für Kernphysik
Saupfercheckweg 1, Heidelberg, Germany

 • Dr Paula Chadwick, University of Durham, United Kingdom.
 • Prof Thomas Lohse, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (UBER), 

et de Physique des Particules (IN2P3), France.

A  second  result  was  that  the  Galactic  Centre  –  the 
rotational  center  of  the  Milky  Way  galaxy  –  has  been 
identifi ed  as  a  potential  strong  gamma-ray  source  and 
that nearby interstellar gas clouds are ‘glowing’ in gamma 
rays. Scientists presume they are irradiated by high-energy 
particles  generated  in  a  prehistoric  particle  accelerator 
close to the Galactic Centre. A third achievement was the 
discovery of a stellar black hole source of gamma rays in 
our Galaxy.

2006Brussels

7 March 2007

H.E.S.S. also found that the VHE gamma rays from distant 
super  massive  Black  Holes  far  beyond  our  Galaxy  are 
characteristically  absorbed  in  interactions  with  starlight 
accumulated in extragalactic space. Conventional wisdom 
believed  that  this  accumulation  began  with  the  star 
formation in the Universe. The absorbing light was indeed 
revealed to come from known external galaxies. However, 
it does not show the same signature as the fi rst generation 
of bright stars. As a result, the search for a clear sign of 
the  primordial  sources  of  radiant  energy  that  lit  up  the 
Universe  a  few  hundred  million  years  after  the  Big  Bang 
must go on.
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Descartes Research 2006.indd   1

Germany.

 • Prof Götz Heinzelmann, Universität Hamburg (Uhamburg), 

Germany.

 • Prof Stefan Wagner, Universität Heidelberg (LSW) 

Germany.

 • Prof Reinhard Schlickeiser, Ruhr-Universität Bochum 

(Ubochum), Germany.

 • Prof Christian Stegmann, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität 

Erlangen-Nürnberg (UErlangen), Germany.

 • Prof Andrea Santangelo, Eberhard Universität Tübingen 

(UTübingen), Germany.

 • Dr Philippe Goret, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique, 

Centre de Saclay (CEA/DSM/DAPNIA), France.

 • Dr Helene Sol, Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers 

(INSU), France.

 • Prof Luke O’Connor Drury, Dublin Institute for Advanced 

Studies (DIAS), Ireland.

 • Prof Ladislav Rob, Institut of Particle and Nuclear Physics, 

Charles University (IPNP), Czech.

 • Prof Ocker Cornelis de Jager, North-West University 

(NWU), South Africa.

 • Prof Michal Ostrowski, Jagiellonian University (JU), Poland.
 • Dr Rudak Bronislaw, Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical 
Center Polish Academy of Sciences (NCAC), Poland.

 • Dr Ashot Akhperjanian, Yerevan Physics Institute (YerPhI), 

Armenia.

1

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Excellence in scientific collaborative research

Interested in European research?

RTD info is our quarterly magazine keeping you in touch with main developments (results, programmes, events, etc.).
It is available in English, French and German. A free sample copy or free subscription can be obtained from:
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Internet: http://ec.europa.eu/research/rtdinfo/

The Science and Society programme of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research is responsible
for organising the annual Descartes Prizes: one for collaborative scientific research and one for science communication.
The Commission welcomes the widest possible pool of entrants for these prestigious prizes.

Descartes Prizes

Research prize
Proposals may be submitted by teams of scientists themselves or by public or private organisations,
such as research centres, foundations or universities, which can nominate candidates
for the prize in the following thematic areas:

Basic sciences (physics, chemistry, mathematics)
Earth sciences
Engineering
Information sciences
Life sciences
Socio-economic sciences

Communication prize
Candidatures will be accepted from organisations or individuals who have achieved
outstanding results in science communication. Organisers of science communication prizes may
send their winners as candidates for the EU prize in one of the following categories:

Professional scientists engaged in science communication towards the public
Popularising science through the written word
Popularising science through audiovisual and electronic media
Innovative action for science communication
Editorial policy for the promotion of science whatever the media

Participation guidelines for the Descartes Prizes:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/descartes/index_en.htm

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Research
Directorate L – Science, Economy and Society
Scientific Culture and Gender Issues (L4)
Contact: Georges Vlandas

Tel. +32 2 2995287
Fax +32 2 2993746
Email: rtd-descartes@ec.europa.eu

Descartes Research 2006.indd   2

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European Commission

EUR 22420 — Descartes Research Prize
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities

2007 — 40 pp. — 21.0 x 29.7 cm

ISBN 978-92-79-04903-3

ISSN 1018-5593

SALES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

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Descartes Research 2006.indd   3

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K

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THE DESCARTES PRIZES

Recognising	the	power	of	knowledge
Scientific excellence is paramount for Europe to succeed in the competitive environment 
of international research and scientific development. But is this such a new concept? 
Actually,  no.  Much  of  Europe’s  prosperity  has  indeed  been  based  on  its  ability  to 
harness the potential of knowledge.

René  Descartes  (1596-1650)  –  the  world-famous  philosopher,  mathematician  and 
scientist – understood the power of knowledge over 350 years ago. The prize that bears 
his name acknowledges that science is rarely the preserve of a single brilliant mind in 
a single country. The sharing of ideas and means yields a whole that is greater than 
the sum of its parts. His willingness to share his thoughts and explore relationships 
with his peers is a poignant metaphor for what the European Commission is trying to 
achieve with the prestigious yearly event, the Descartes Prizes. Winning a Descartes 
Prize is not meant to compensate scientists financially for their hard work, but is a 
token of how the European Union appreciates cross-border scientific excellence and 
science communication.

Descartes Research 2006.indd   4

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Descartes

r e s e a r c h   p r i z e

Excellence in scientific collaborative research

Descartes Research 2006.indd   1

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Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers
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Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2007

ISBN 978-92-79-04903-3
ISSN 1018-5593
© European Communities, 2007
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

Printed in Belgium

PRINTED ON WHITE CHLORINE-FREE PAPER

Descartes Research 2006.indd   2

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contents

Foreword  ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Programme 
Celebrating  European  Research ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 5

LAUREATES 2006

> H.E.S.S. – The High Energy Stereoscopy System ..................................................................................................................................... 6

> HYDROSOL – Advanced Monolithic Reactors for Solar Hydrogen Production 

via Water Splitting ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 8

> APOPTOSIS – Apoptosis Pathways in Cancer and AIDS ........................................................................................................... 10

FINALISTS 2006

> NEMABS – Nano-emitters for bioscience and material science ................................................................................ 12 

> QGATES – Quantum Gates and Elementary Scalable Processors Using 

Deterministically  Addressed Atoms ..................................................................................................................................................................... 14

> TAM RAM – Thermally Assisted Magnetic Random Access Memory ................................................................... 16

> DYNAQPRIM – Protein Dynamics in cell Nuclei studied using quantitative proteomics 

and fluorescence imaging .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

> GLOBALIFE – Life Courses in the Globalisation Process .......................................................................................................... 20

NOMINEES 2006

> FULCARS – Friendly and Useful Carbon Nanotubes  .................................................................................................................... 22

> QUMAGDE – Science and technology in quantum magnetic 

deflagration and detonation ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 24

> AVISPA – Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications ......................... 26

> EUROGENOS – European Consortium on Genetic determinants of Osteoporosis    

and other Bone Diseases ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 28

> DOSEI – Domestic Structures and European Integration. A multi-stage two-level analysis 

of constitution building in the European Union ................................................................................................................................ 30 

THE GRAND JURY

> Descartes Research Prize 2006 – Grand Jury Members .......................................................................................................... 32

René Descartes – To think… is to be............................................................................................................................................................................................ 39

Descartes Research 2006.indd   3

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fOREwORd

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

2006

PROGRAMME

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

The Descartes Prizes – which were first awarded in 2000 – are among the 
foremost scientific awards at international level. Each year 1,150,000 euros 
is granted to research teams for demonstrating scientific excellence through 
close, transnational co-operation, which makes this prize absolutely unique. 
Since 2004, due recognition has also been given to the field of science 
communication with awards totalling 275,000 euros shared among scientists, 
film makers and specialist communicators.

The  prestigious  Descartes  Prize  for  scientific 
collaborative research celebrates, in the spirit of 
European co-operation, team efforts, not individual 
researchers  and  scientists  per  se.  Their  work  is 
judged on the criteria of scientific excellence and 
cross-border  co-operation  at  international  level. 
“This  prize  is  essential  because  it  is  part  of  the 
process of  ‘Europeanising’ research by encouraging 
scientists to cooperate more and more effectively,” 
commented Science and Research Commissioner 
Janez Potocˇnik.

“This prize is essential because  
it is part of the process of ‘Europeanising’ 
research by encouraging scientists  
to cooperate more and more effectively.”

(Science and Research Commissioner  
Janez Potocˇnik)

The  prize  –  1  million  euros  shared  between  the 
laureate teams, and 30,000 euros for each of the 
five  finalist  teams  -  is  awarded  for  outstanding 
scientific or technological results from European 
collaborative  research.  It  showcases  the  best 
European scientists and shows the advances that 
can  be  made  through  European  co-operation. 
The  prize  is  open  to  those  involved  in  all  fields 
of  scientific  endeavour,  including  the  social  and 
economic sciences. 

Since its launch in 2000, some 430 submissions 
have  been  received,  from  which  a  selection  of 
finalists  has  been  selected  each  year.  In  its  first 
year  alone,  hundreds  of  researchers  vied  to  win 
the  prestigious  prize.  By  2003,  the  number  of 
competitors for the prize had risen to almost 1,500 
scientists.  In  2005,  the  jury  chose  five  laureates 
and five finalists from a highly competitive field 
of 85 submissions.

Over  the  past  six  years,  16  projects,  involving 
104 teams from 24 European and non-European 
countries,  have  taken  home  the  esteemed  prize, 
thus  creating  a  diverse  family  of  Descartes 
laureates in countries across the European Union 
and beyond.  In 2006, 3  additional projects have 
been awarded laureate status. A further 5 projects 
have been designated as finalists.



Descartes Research 2006.indd   4

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PROGRAMME

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

2006

	 	 Celebrating	
	European												
					Research		

  Brussels, 7 March 2007

  Celebration with Chancellor Merkel, President Barroso, Commissioner Potocˇnik and

  Minister Schavan (Rond-Point Schuman, rue de la Loi, 1040 Brussels)

 Transfer (Maison du Bois, avenue des Volontaires 2, 1040 Brussels)

Opening of the Science Tunnel exhibition with Commissioner Potocˇnik, Minister Schavan 

and Peter Gruss, President of the Max Planck Society (Maison du Bois)

Opening of the Descartes ceremony with His Royal Highness Prince Philippe of Belgium,    

  Minister Schavan and Commissioner Potocˇnik (Arsenal, Boulevard L. Schmidt 1, 1040 Brussels)

Award of the Descartes Research Prizes with Commissioner Potocˇnik, Minister Schavan 

and Mme Haigneré, Chairman of the Descartes Grand Jury

Dinner

‘Looking at the Earth to understand the World’, presentation with Jürgen Mlynek, 

President of the Helmholtz Association

Award of the Descartes Communication Prizes with Commissioner Potocˇnik,  

  Minister Schavan and Mme de Cheveigné, Chairman of the Communication Grand Jury

Closing 

Dessert and coffee

End of the official programme

17:15 

17:45 
18:30 

19:45 

20:40 

21:20 
21:40 

21:55 

22:39 
22:40 
23:00 

Descartes Research 2006.indd   5

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lAuREAtE

H.E.S.S. – the High Energy Stereoscopy System

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

	 	 Exploring	

		the	Universe’s	
New	Frontiers		

The glimmering stars in the night sky have captured the human imagination 
ever since we started to look at the heavens. The ancients tracked the progress 
of planets and named the constellations. With advances in technology, the 
night sky became more familiar; entire galaxies were discovered and new 
theories about the structure of space emerged. The H.E.S.S. project is opening 
a new window for astronomy that raises as many questions as it answers.

In 1936, Victor Francis Hess shared the Nobel Prize in Physics, 
for  his  discovery  of  cosmic  rays.  His  method,  primitive  by 
today’s standards, involved taking a balloon up to more than 
5,000 metres where, with only a few instruments, he proved 
that ionisation occurring in the atmosphere was of cosmic 
origin.  It  was  in  his  honour  that  the  H.E.S.S.  project  was 
named. H.E.S.S. stands for High Energy Stereoscopic System 
and is the most sensitive instrument on earth for gamma ray 
astronomy in the Very High Energy range (VHE, above 1011 
Electronvolts or 0.1 Tera Electronvolts).

H.E.S.S. is not an average telescope. In actuality it is not one, 
but  a  system  of  four  13  metre  telescopes  each  with  over 
107  square  metres  of  mirror  area.  Other  telescopes  view 
the cosmos through normal optical light, radio waves or X-
rays.  H.E.S.S.  was  specifically  designed  to  observe  gamma 
rays, which are the most extreme form of electromagnetic 
radiation. The energy in these gamma rays is over a million 
times  greater  than  that  generated  by  an  average  X-ray 
machine.  Before  H.E.S.S.  no  Very  High  Energy  gamma  ray 
sky survey was possible.

The  initial  planning  of  H.E.S.S.  started  in  1998,  when  a 
consortium of partners from Europe and Africa got together 
with  the  intention  of  constructing  a  telescope  system  to 
observe  gamma  rays,  a  project  which  had  previously  not 
been realised on this scale. This was a field in which new 
research had to be done. 

Location is an essential element in the construction of any 
telescope. The world’s population creates a lot of background 
‘noise’  which  interferes  with  night  time  observation.  This 
noise  is  audible,  but  visible  also.  The  noise  is  created  by 
domestic and street lighting. This is the equivalent of trying 
to listen to a radio during a rock concert. Also of absolute 
importance is the absence of rainfall and pollution. These 
background lights, pollution and cloud cover, severely limit 
a telescope’s ability to see into the night sky. 

The  perfect  site  was  found  in  the  Khomas  Highlands  of 
Namibia  in  the  southern  part  of  Africa.  At  1,800  metres 
above  sea  level,  the  site  provides  clear  skies  for  optimal 
viewing of the night sky. Another advantage is the fact that 
it is located in the southern hemisphere, which allows for a 
perfect view of the Milky Way. 

The location is important due to the difficulty of tracking 
gamma rays, as they can’t penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere. 
A remarkable effect, however, occurs when gamma rays strike 
the Earth’s atmosphere. This is known as the ‘atmospheric 
Cherenkov effect’. The moment when gamma rays come into 
contact with the Earth’s atmosphere they create a flash of 
blue light which only lasts a few billionths of a second. 

The H.E.S.S. telescopes detect these faint, short flashes of 
bluish light and collect it using the mirrors that then reflect 
it  onto  extremely  sensitive  and  fast  cameras.  Each  image 
indicates the position of a single gamma-ray photon in the 



Descartes Research 2006.indd   6

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DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

2006

sky,  and  the  amount  of  light  collected  gives  the  energy 
of  the  initial  gamma  ray.  Building  up  the  images  photon 
by photon allows H.E.S.S. to create maps of astronomical 
objects as they appear in gamma rays.

After  only  two  years  of  operation,  it  has  already 
revolutionised the field of astrophysics with a number of 
major  achievements.  H.E.S.S.  was  the  first  to  record  an 
astronomical  image  of  a  Supernova  shock  wave  at  very 
high  gamma  ray  energies,  thus  making  the  hypothesis 
about the origin of Victor Hess’ cosmic rays in the remnants 
of Supernova explosions experimentally plausible. H.E.S.S. 
collaboration  members  are  also  world  leaders  in  the 
theoretical foundation of this origin. 

A  second  result  was  that  the  Galactic  Centre  –  the 
rotational  center  of  the  Milky  Way  galaxy  –  has  been 
identified  as  a  potential  strong  gamma-ray  source  and 
that nearby interstellar gas clouds are ‘glowing’ in gamma 
rays. Scientists presume they are irradiated by high-energy 
particles  generated  in  a  prehistoric  particle  accelerator 
close to the Galactic Centre. A third achievement was the 
discovery of a stellar black hole source of gamma rays in 
our Galaxy.

H.E.S.S. also found that the VHE gamma rays from distant 
super  massive  Black  Holes  far  beyond  our  Galaxy  are 
characteristically  absorbed  in  interactions  with  starlight 
accumulated in extragalactic space. Conventional wisdom 
believed  that  this  accumulation  began  with  the  star 
formation in the Universe. The absorbing light was indeed 
revealed to come from known external galaxies. However, 
it does not show the same signature as the first generation 
of bright stars. As a result, the search for a clear sign of 
the  primordial  sources  of  radiant  energy  that  lit  up  the 
Universe a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, 
must go on.

P A n e L   I n F o

H.e.s.s. - the High energy stereoscopy system

PANEL
Science and Society

LED BY
Max Planck Institut für Kernphysik
Saupfercheckweg 1, Heidelberg, Germany

CONTACT
Prof Werner Hofmann
Tel : + 49 6221 516 330 – Fax: +49 6221 516 603
Email: werner.hofmann@mpi-hd.mpg.de

PARTNERS
• Dr Michael Punch, Institut National de Physique Nucleaire 

et de Physique des Particules (IN2P3), France.

• Dr Paula Chadwick, University of Durham, United Kingdom.
• Prof Thomas Lohse, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (UBER), 

Germany.

• Prof Götz Heinzelmann, Universität Hamburg (Uhamburg), 

Germany.

• Prof Stefan Wagner, Universität Heidelberg (LSW) 

Germany.

• Prof Reinhard Schlickeiser, Ruhr-Universität Bochum 

(Ubochum), Germany.

• Prof Christian Stegmann, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität 

Erlangen-Nürnberg (UErlangen), Germany.

• Prof Andrea Santangelo, Eberhard Universität Tübingen 

(UTübingen), Germany.

• Dr Philippe Goret, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique, 

Centre de Saclay (CEA/DSM/DAPNIA), France.

• Dr Helene Sol, Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers 

(INSU), France.

• Prof Luke O’Connor Drury, Dublin Institute for Advanced 

Studies (DIAS), Ireland.

• Prof Ladislav Rob, Institut of Particle and Nuclear Physics, 

Charles University (IPNP), Czech.

• Prof Ocker Cornelis de Jager, North-West University 

(NWU), South Africa.

• Prof Michal Ostrowski, Jagiellonian University (JU), Poland.
• Dr Rudak Bronislaw, Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical 
Center Polish Academy of Sciences (NCAC), Poland.

• Dr Ashot Akhperjanian, Yerevan Physics Institute (YerPhI), 

Armenia.

Descartes Research 2006.indd   7



23/02/07   7:58:23

   
lAuREAtE

HYDROSOL – Advanced Monolithic Reactors for Solar Hydrogen Production via water Splitting

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

	 	 					Heralding
	a	New	Age	
						in	Energy		

With traditional energy sources diminishing, interest in alternative energy 
supplies is increasing. Hydrogen is considered by many to be the next link 
in the evolution of energy, after nuclear power. A new chemical engineering 
process hopes to make the ‘hydrogen economy’ a reality.

The  19th  Century  saw  the  beginning  of  the  Industrial 
Revolution. Yet despite significant advances in technology, 
little has really changed in the way the world produces its 
energy.  Most  of  the  energy  produced  is  created  through 
the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil, which has the 
negative side-effect of releasing CO2 into the atmosphere, 
one of the main causes of global warming.  

produced  from  natural  gas,  attracting  additional  costs, 
for  example,  through  emissions  taxes.  For  Dr  Athanasios 
G.  Konstandopoulos  –  the  project’s  coordinator  –  clean, 
renewable and cost-effective energy is only half the story. 
For  him,  an  equally  significant  achievement  is  the  revival 
in  the  field  of  Chemical  Engineering  that  Solar  Hydrogen 
Chemical Technology promises to bring about. 

The  global  supply  of  fossil  fuels  will  not  last  forever  and 
so the EU has committed its member states to increasing 
their  renewable  energy  use  as  well  as  reducing  their  CO2 
emissions. Energy experts have long pointed to hydrogen as 
a bright energy hope for the future. Hydrogen is cleaner than 
fossil fuels and is the most plentiful element in the universe. 
However, hydrogen does not occur by itself in nature and is 
only found in combination with other elements, such as in 
the air we breathe or the water we drink. 

The HYDROSOL project has come up with an innovative way of 
extracting hydrogen from water. Traditionally, the technology 
to  split  water  (H2O)  into  its  separate  hydrogen  and  oxygen 
elements has been carried out through a process known as 
electrolysis. The problem with this method is that the energy 
required to extract the hydrogen comes from burning fossil 
fuels, resulting in an almost nil saving in fossil fuels. 

HYDROSOL has overcome this problem through the use of 
a novel solar hydrogen production reactor, which produces 
practically  zero  carbon  dioxide  emissions  and  uses  only 
solar  energy  and  water.  It  is  estimated  that  the  cost  of 
hydrogen  produced  in  this  way  could  be  competitive 
within  a  decade,  with  non-renewable  hydrogen  currently 

Solar  hydrogen  production  is  made  possible  by  a  key 
development  in  the  project:  nanomaterials  with  high 
water-splitting ability, undergoing cycles of oxidation and 
reduction. These nanomaterials are used as coatings in the 
HYDROSOL solar monolithic reactor, the reactor itself allows 
this  process  to  be  simply  repeated  continuously  without 
modifications.

Monolithic reactors first emerged from traditional Chemical 
Engineering,  with  their  most  familiar  application  being 
the automobile catalytic converters. For the first time, this 
reactor geometry has been successfully transferred to solar 
applications,  creating  a  state-of-the-art  solar  hydrogen 
reactor. The reactor contains no moving parts and is made 
from a high temperature ceramic material, which is heated 
by  absorbing  concentrated  solar  radiation.  The  reactor 
geometry  is  that  of  a  honeycomb  with  many  millimetre-
sized parallel channels, each of them coated with the active 
water-splitting nanomaterial.

As water vapour travels through the reactor, oxygen atoms 
are  absorbed  by  the  coating  in  the  honeycomb  channels, 
similar  to  the  way  a  sponge  soaks  up  water,  leaving  only 
the hydrogen to carry on. The hydrogen produced  is clean 



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Principle of operation under concentrated solar irradiation 
at the DLR solar furnace in Cologne

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

2006

Plataforma Solar Almeria (PSA), Spain

and ready for use. The ‘oxygen-soaked‘ nanomaterial is then 
heated to release the oxygen allowing a cyclical operation, 
so that the entire process (water splitting and redox material 
regeneration) can be achieved in a single reactor. The process 
is easily adaptable for use with materials other than water 
where hydrogen can be found, such as natural gas. 

This  achievement  was  only  made  possible  through  the 
cooperation of four teams from complementary engineering 
fields  of  study  and  application.  Co-ordinated  by  the 
Greek  Aerosol  and  Particle  Technologies  Laboratory,  the 
consortium  consisted  of;  the  German  Aerospace  Centre, 
Stobbe  Technical  Ceramics  from  Denmark  and  Johnson 
Matthey Fuel Cells from the UK.

The  work  has  attracted  interest  from  a  number  of 
international organisations including the UN who foresee 
a  huge  potential  for  technological  transfer  to  developing 
countries with high ‘Solar Potential’; thereby offering the 
prospect for the creation of new markets, as well as new 
energy sources. 

The  HYDROSOL  project  has  attracted 
international 
recognition.  In  2005,  it  was  awarded  an  International 
Global 100 Eco-Tech award during the International Expo 
in  Aichi,  Japan,  being  selected  among  ‘…environment 
technologies that contribute significantly to the resolution 
of global environmental problems and to the creation of a 
sustainable future.’ 

More  recently  HYDROSOL  was  awarded  the  International 
Partnership  for  the  Hydrogen  Economy  (IPHE)  inaugural 

2006 Technical Achievement Award for being «…the world’s 
first  closed,  solar-thermochemical  cycle  in  operation  that 
is  capable  of  continuous  hydrogen  production.»  Results 
from this landmark research project promise the potential 
for  long-term  production  of  renewable  based  hydrogen, 
particularly  for  regions  of  the  world  that  lack  indigenous 
resources, but are endowed with ample solar energy.

P A n e L   I n F o

Hydrosol – Advanced Monolithic Reactors for solar 
Hydrogen Production via Water splitting

PANEL
Engineering

LED BY
Chemical Process Engineering Research Institute,  
Center for Research and Technology-Hellas (CERTH/CPERI)
6th klm. Charilaou-Thermi Rd, Thessaloniki, Greece.

CONTACT
Dr. Athanasios Konstandopoulos
Tel : + 30 2310498192 – Fax : + 30 2310498190
Email: agk@cperi.certh.gr

PARTNERS
• Dr Christian Sattler, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und 

Raumfahrt E.V (DLR), Germany.

• Mr Per Stobbe, Stobbe Tech Ceramics A/S (STC), Denmark.
• Dr Andrew Steele, Johnson Matthey Fuel Cells Ltd. (JM), 

Great Britain.   

Descartes Research 2006.indd   9

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lAuREAtE

APOPTOSIS – Apoptosis Pathways in Cancer and AIdS

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

The	Autumn	

Time	for	Cells		

During the course of a day, millions of cells die as they reach the end of their 
natural life. To understand the complexities of the very foundation of life, six of  
Europe’s foremost laboratories got together to unravel the mysteries of cell death. 

The  Apoptosis  team  reads  like  an  all-star  football  team 
for  the  science  world.  It  comprises  some  of  the  best  and 
brightest minds involved in molecular cell biology today. The 
Apoptosis project is named after the subject of the team’s 
research:  programmed  cell  death.  Programmed  cell  death, 
is  a  natural  occurrence  where  cells  die,  either  because  of 
damage, mutation or simply age. 

Apoptosis  is  a  perfectly  normal  event  in  cell  life.  Despite 
the regularity with which it occurs; scientists did not really 
know how cells ‘decide’ to die. Following years of research 
the team has now managed to identify the point at which 
the  cell  decides  to  die,  namely  the  permeabilization  of 
mitochondria. These organelles are the cell’s powerhouses 
and required for normal cell life.  

Throughout  its  normal  life  span,  a  cell  has  one  of  three 
possible  fates.  It  can  either  engage  in  proliferation, 
differentiation  or  simply  die  through  apoptosis.  Apoptosis 
happens  to  several  million  cells  every  second  in  a  normal 
healthy  human  adult.  The  problem  lies  when  this  normal 
apoptotic  process  is  cancelled.  The  onset  of  cancer  is 
accompanied  by  a  suppression  of  the  natural  apoptotic 
process, allowing the cancer cells to thrive and live on. This 
is further complicated when, as a result of therapy programs 
such  as  chemotherapy,  which  is  aimed  at  inducing  the 
apoptosis of cancer cells, certain cells acquire a resistance 
to cell death. This Darwinian selection leads to the survival 
of therapy-resistant cancer cells. 

Another problem occurs when apoptosis is accelerated, for 
instance  on  infection  with  the  human  immunodeficiency 
virus-1 (HIV-1), the causative agent of AIDS. In this case, 
immune cells suffer from an accelerated rate of apoptosis 
which  ultimately 
immunity  failure.  Acute 
pathological  cell  death  also  occurs  in  victims  of  strokes, 
intoxication and septic shock.

leads  to 

If  progress  is  to  be  made,  apoptosis  needs  to  be  better 
understood.  Talented  researchers  based  in  some  of  the 
best  laboratories  in  Austria,  Denmark,  France,  Germany, 
Italy and Sweden worked together in close collaboration to 
unravel the basic concepts of the mechanisms involved in 
apoptosis. 

The team discovered that mitochondria have an additional 
function, the control of cell death and that this control is 
linked  to  the  permeability  or  leakiness  of  mitochondrial 
membranes.    Endogenous  or  exogenous  stress  can  cause 
the permeabilization of mitochondrial membranes with the 
consequent  liberation  of  toxic  proteins  that  contribute  to 
the cell digesting from inside. This controlled permeability 
seals  the  fate  of  the  cell.  By  identifying  the  irreversible 
frontier between cell life and death, the team has created a 
paradigm shift in basic cell death research. 

This  increased  understanding  has  meant  that  old  and 
ineffective treatments can be abandoned and replaced with 
new and improved ones. The pharmacological industry has, 
for example, shifted emphasis away from traditional methods 
of treating increased cell death and is instead focusing on 
strategies to intercept the lethal signal pathways at different 
stages,  before  mitochondrial  membrane  permeabilization 
occurs.

In  addition,  the  consortium  has  explored  the  mechanisms 
of  cell  death  resistance  in  cancer  cells,  at  the  level  of 
mitochondrial  membranes.  The  team  developed  several 
strategies for restoring the cell death program in tumours, 
showing  their  therapeutic  effectiveness  in  preclinical 
models. 

Partners within the consortium have shown that it is now 
possible to determine the chemotherapy response in patients 

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2006

suffering from leukaemia by measuring the mitochondrial 
trans-membrane potential among circulating tumour cells. 

importance  of 

The 
these  discoveries  cannot  be 
underestimated.  Since  2001,  the  team’s  research  papers 
have been cited by other journals over fifty thousand times. 
This is a definitive indication of the importance that this 
research has had in the medical scientific community. To be 
cited so frequently also indicates that the research has not 
only been widely accepted, but that it has also become a 
benchmark for future research.  

P A n e L   I n F o

Apoptosis – Apoptosis Pathways in cancer and AIDs

PANEL
Life Sciences

LED BY
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS, 
Institut Gustave Roussy, PR1,  
Laboratoire FRE2939 «Génomes et Cancer »
39 rue Camille Desmoulins, Villejuif, France.

CONTACT
Dr Guido Kroemer
Tel : +33-1-42-11-60-46 – Fax: +33-1-42-11-52-44
Email: kroemer@igr.fr

PARTNERS
• Dr Josef Martin Penninger, Institute of Molecular 

Biotechnology GmbH, IMBA, Austria.

• Prof. Marja Helena Jaattela, Danish Cancer Society DCS, 

Denmark.

• Prof Piacentini Mauro, Department of Biology, University 

of Rome ‘TOR VERGATA’, IROMA2, Italy.

• Prof Boris Zhivotovsky, Institute of Environmental 

Medicine, Division of Toxicology, Karolinska Institutet, 
Sweden.

• Prof Klaus-Michael Debatin, University of Ulm Medical 

Faculty UULM.MF, Germany.

Descartes Research 2006.indd   11

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fINAlISt

NEMABS – Nano-emitters for bioscience and material science

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

	 A	Renaissance	
										of	Colours

A new project has discovered a new way of adding colour to our lives, 
literally. This collaborative effort between German and Belgium research 
teams has succeeded in developing new dyes with nearly limitless 
applications. And however they’re used, they are certain to leave a very 
colourful mark on our lives

Dr. Klaus Müllen could never be called a dull person. This 
may  explain  the  passion  he  has  for  his  subject  matter: 
colour. ‘Look at them’ he exclaims passionately, pointing to 
a set of rainbow vials filled with the most exquisite coloured 
dye solutions ‘aren’t the colours just lovely? ’

Dr  Müllen  is  quite  rightly  proud  of  his  colourful  dyes, 
because they are not simply colours; they are much more. 
Colours, and the dyes that create them, have always played 
an important role in human society. In ancient times, purple 
dyes could only be obtained from a certain mollusc and as 
a  result,  the  dyes  were  reserved  for  royal  use  only.  White 
clothes were created by soaking the materials in sour milk.

It  was  only  in  1856  that  the  first  synthetic  dye,  mauvine, 
was created. As the name suggests, it dyes fabric a mauve 
colour.  After  time,  mauve  fell  out  of  fashion  but  synthetic 
dyes  remained  and  grew  in  popularity.  Continued  research 
into  synthetic  dyes  lead  to  an  increased  understanding 
of  where  colour  originates  from.  ‘When  we  talk  about 
colour  we  talk  about  different  bands  in  the  visible  part  of 
the  electromagnetic  spectrum’  Dr  Klaus  Mullen  explained. 
‘Colours  are  tremendously  significant  because  they  have  a 
kind of signal function. Think of the way some birds use colour 
to  attract  sexual  partners.  In  plants,  colour  renders  leaves 
green, but is also an essential element in photosynthesis. Other 
dyes give blood its red colour and the same molecules are also 
involved in the transport of oxygen. Dye molecules can even 
quench the radicals responsible for ageing in our body.’

This  is  a  reference  to  the  so-called  ‘French  paradox’.  ‘In 
France’,  Dr  Müllen  explains,  ‘they  can  eat  what  they  like 
because  they  have  enough  molecules  in  their  diet  from  the 
wine and tomato sauce (red colours!) that can quench these 

free radicals. Our business’, he says, ‘is to make new dyes, new 
colours if you wish, by way of synthesis.’ 

The  project  team  led  by  Dr  Müllen  has  designed  and 
synthesised a whole new family of dyes called rylene imides 
and diimides. These dyes have a number of special qualities 
that  make  them  unique.  Among  them  is  outstanding 
photostability;  the  measure  of  their  level  of  degradation 
under exposure to ultraviolet and visible light. One can see 
the photostability process in old photos, as they fade and 
lose their brightness over time. Some dyes, responsible for 
the colour blue will fade less, because blue is a more stable 
colour. These dyes are less prone to light induced fading and 
stay closer to their original colour for longer. 

Once the dyes were synthesised, the Mainz team attached 
so called ‘linking groups’ to them. These linking groups allow 
the dyes to be anchored to various partner molecules and 
particles, for example, proteins, DNA, synthetic polymers and 
polymer  lattices.  The  Mainz  group  then  joined  forces  with 
Spectroscopic and physical chemists in Leuven, Belgium, De 
Schryver/Hofkens. They had developed microscopy techniques 
that allowed the dyes to be studied at molecular level.

Experiments  were  conducted  with  single  lipase  enzymes. 
These  are  used  in  washing  powders  for  their  ability  to 
break down fat. These ‘Müllen dyes’ were added to a layer 
of  fat  and  the  progress  of  the  enzyme  could  be  tracked. 
From these experiments they discovered that the enzymes 
appeared  to  follow  an  alternating  pattern  of  work  and 
sleep-like activity. That enzymes actually took time to ‘rest’ 
was a groundbreaking discovery and headlined in a number 
of papers internationally. 

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2006

Another  remarkable  achievement  by  both  groups  is  the 
progress they made in studies of catalysis. Prior to this, no 
techniques  had  existed  which  enabled  scientists  to  look 
at the molecular level of what happened during catalysis. 
NEMABS constructed a single molecule detection technique 
based on fluorescence and were able to follow the reactions 
of individual molecules. This was the ‘Dream of chemists, to 
be able to see the reaction of one single molecule’ explained 
Johan Hofkens, a partner in the NEMABS project. 

‘What makes the collaboration between both research teams 
unique  is  the  level  of  interaction  among  them’  explains  
Dr  Müllen.  ‘The  project  is  also  about  the  synthesis  that 
occurs between people.’  Johan Hofkens, a research partner 
continued  ‘Our  collaboration  goes  much  further  than  just 
physical chemists measuring compounds. Together we have 
developed  new  concepts  and  strategies  to  tackle  scientific 
questions  that  are  interesting  to  both  research  teams.  We 
have really learned to speak each other’s scientific language’.

Learning to speak each other’s ‘language’ has allowed the 
NEMABS project to sustain a level of collaborative research 
that is the foundation of their success.

P A n e L   I n F o

neMABs - nano-emitters for bioscience and material 
science

PANEL
Basic Science – Chemistry

LED BY
Max Planck Gesellschaft zur Foederung  
der Wissenschaften e. V (MPG)
Max-Planck-Institut fuer Polymerforschung
Ackermannweg 10, Mainz, Germany

CONTACT
Prof Klaus Muellen
Tel : + 49-6131-379150 – Fax: + 49-6131-379100 
Email: muellen@mpip-mainz.mpg.de

PARTNERS
• Prof Frans De Schryver, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven 

(KULEUVEN), Chemistry/Science/Molecular and 
Nanomaterials Division/laboratory of Photochemistry  
and Spectroscopy, Belgium. 

• Prof Johan Hofkens, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven 
(KULEUVEN), Chemistry/Science/Molecular and 
Nanomaterials Division/laboratory of Photochemistry  
and Spectroscopy, Belgium.  

Descartes Research 2006.indd   13

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fINAlISt

QGATES – Quantum Gates and Elementary Scalable Processors using deterministically    Addressed Atoms

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

	 Computers	
enter	the	Quantum									
				Age	

The current rate of increase in computing power will begin to slow down  
in the next decade, as we approach individual microchip component sizes  
of essentially atomic dimensions. This means that new radical approaches  
to computing and information transfer must be found. QGATES may just  
be the answer.

The 
invention  of  the  computer  has  undoubtedly 
revolutionised  the  modern  world.  Its  prevalence  in  our 
day-to-day  tasks  is  indisputable  and  computers  have 
become  smaller,  faster  and  more  efficient.  Despite  these 
changes, the computer itself has not changed much since 
it  was  first  created.  Its  function  remains  ultimately  the 
same:  to  interpret  binary  bits,  turning  them  into  useable 
information. 

The  way  in  which  data  is  stored  has  not  changed  either. 
Data is currently stored using the binary storage system, the 
basis of which is that data can take either the value of 1 or 
0. These bits are realised using transistors and an array of 
such bits is called a ‘register’. Other devices called ‘gates’ are 
built using groups of transistors. These gates give a specified 
output for a given input. 

QGATES’  quantum  computing  power  will  dramatically 
change  the  world  of  computing.  Computers  will  be 
capable of applications previously unthought-of and tasks 
which currently require massive computing power, will be 
achievable in less than half the time. They will be able to 
achieve this, by harnessing a physical phenomenon unique 
to quantum mechanics. 

A quantum computer will work in units of quantum bits (or 
‘qubits’) instead of traditional binary bits. 

A  qubit  is  unique  in  that  it  can  exist  as  a  zero,  a  one,  or 
simultaneously as both 0 and 1, with a numerical coefficient 

representing  the  probability  for  each  state.  This  is  only 
possible  through  the  application  of  quantum  mechanical 
laws,  which  differ  radically  from  the  laws  of  classical 
physics.

In the prototype quantum computers of the QGATES project, 
quantum bits were encoded by positioning trapped atoms 
into  states  in  which  the  electrons  they  were  made  from 
had  well  specified  energies.  The  atomic  qubits  were  then 
manipulated  using  light  or  radio  frequency  pulses  and 
complex  sequences  of  these  pulses  were  used  to  make 
simple quantum gates and algorithms.

The QGATES have explored quantum information processing 
using  the  methods  of  atomic  physics  and  atom-optical 
interfaces.  Interest  in  quantum  information  processing  is 
exploding  and  QGATES’  innovative  research  is  positioning 
Europe ahead of the competition. In fact, the experimental 
work conducted by the team has inspired students to take 
up studies in the field.

The  project  draws  on  the  various  experiences  of  thirteen 
organisations across Europe, including new European Union 
member Slovakia. Whilst in some areas of science there may 
be a tendency for national teams to follow each other, leading 
to duplication of effort, such is not the case for the QGATES 
group. From the outset, the group opted to take a European 
view and concentrated on establishing themselves within the 
broader, international scene to avoid repetitive research.

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QGATES – Quantum Gates and Elementary Scalable Processors using deterministically    Addressed Atoms

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

2006

P A n e L   I n F o

QGAtes - Quantum Gates and elementary scalable 
Processors Using Deterministically Addressed Atoms

PANEL
Basic Sciences Physics 

LED BY
University of Innsbruck (UIBKEX), 
Institut fuer Experimentalphysik,
Technikerstrasse 25, Innsbruck, Austria

CONTACT
Prof. Dr. Rainer Blatt 
Tel : + 43-512-507-6332 – Fax :+ 43-512-507-2952 
Email: Rainer.Blatt@uibk.ac.at

PARTNERS
• Dr Daniel Martin Segal, Imperial College, London, United 

Kingdom.

• Prof Patrick Gill, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, 

United Kingdom.

• Dr Arno Rauschenbeutel, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-

Universität (UBonn), Germany.

• Prfs Gerhard Rempe & Herbert Walther, Max-Planck-

Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e.V. (MPG), 
Germany.

• Prof Jean-Michel Raimond, Ecole Normale Supérieure 

(ENS), France.

• Prof Martin Weitz, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen 

(EKUT), Germany.

• Prof Vladimir Buzek, Institute of Physics, Slovak Academ of 

Sciences (IPSAS), Slovakia.

• Dr Philippe Grangier, Centre Scientifique de la recherche 

scientifique (CNRS), France.

• Prof Andrew Steane, Chancellor Masters and Scholars of 
the University of Oxford (UOXF.DU), United Kingdom.

• Prof Wolfgang Schleich, University of Ulm (UULM), 

Germany

• Prof Jürgen Eschner, Fundacio Privada Institut De Ciencies 

Fotoniques (ICFO), Spain.

• Prof Christof Wunderlich, University of Siegen (UNSIEG), 

Germany.

Scientific  visits  between  partners  allowed  researchers  to 
gain valuable new perspectives on their own experiments. 
Visitors were able to suggest alternative approaches as well 
as offer fresh insights. This, in turn led to faster progress.

The outcomes of the QGATES project could bring enormous 
rewards  in  the  form  of  employment  opportunities  and 
improved  quality  of  life  for  EU  citizens.  What  it  has 
achieved in the short term, is establish Europe as the leader 
in  this  technology  and  place  it  firmly  in  the  role  of  long 
term  visionary;  a  vision  that  is  not  constrained  by  short 
term national interest. 

• University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
• Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, München,
  Germany
• University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
• Université de Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
• University of Tübingen, Germany
• Institute of Physics, Slovak Acad. Sci., Slovakia
• Institut d’Optique, Orsay, France
• Université de Paris Sud, Paris, France
• University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
• University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
• Institute of Photonic Sciences, Barcelona, Spain
• University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany

Descartes Research 2006.indd   15

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fINAlISt

TAM RAM – thermally Assisted Magnetic Random Access Memory

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

	 	 Improved	
Microelectronic		
					Memories		

Thermally Assisted Magnetic Random Access Memory (TAM RAM) is set to 
redefine preconceptions about microelectronic memory, through an innovative 
magnetic memory concept, in which memory is written by a combination of 
magnetic field and heat pulses. This new approach will allow the creation of 
a new fast and reliable memory system that has already created a buzz of 
excitement within the world of microelectronics. 

Magnetic  memory  chips  (MRAM),  are  set  to  revolutionise 
the microelectronic industry and are considered by some to 
be the most significant advance in computer memory since 
the microchip. Companies from both Asia  and  the  US  are 
working hard to make the MRAM chip a reality. However, a 
small European consortium has made a real breakthrough 
with a new innovation: the creation of the TAM RAM chip. 

The  importance  of  this  new  memory  chip  cannot  be 
underestimated. ‘We are living in an information society which 
is generating massive amounts of information and memory is 
crucial to storing these data’ says Bernard Dieny, lead scientist 
of the TAM RAM project. ‘Memory chips are everywhere, from 
consumer  products,  medical  systems,  to  space  systems,  and 
the market for these is over $200 billion a year.’

Currently  manufacturers  use  a  combination  of  memory 
systems in their products. Mobile phones, for example, use 
SRAM  for  its  speed  combined  with  flash  memory  for  its 
stability  i.e.  the  ability  to  store  information  even  when  a 
device is turned off. This however pushes up the cost, uses 
more space, increases weight and requirees more electricity. 
Manufacturers therefore dream of a universal memory that 
combines the best qualities of current memory systems, but 
without their flaws. The TAM RAM project has managed to 
create a memory chip that does just that by combining the 
density of DRAM, the speed of SRAM and the stability of 
flash memory. 

TAM  RAM  was  patented  in  2001  and  differs  significantly 
from other MRAM chips under development, in that it offers 
perfect ‘write selectivity’ and its design allows it to be scaled 
down to smaller sizes. 

TAM RAM’s uniqueness is in a new write scheme, based on 
a combination of temporary heating of a memory bit with 
the application of a magnetic field. 

Each  memory  bit  comprises  a  magnetic  tunnel  junction 
which consists of a stack of two magnetic layers separated 
by  an  insulating  material.  The  magnetisation  of  one 
magnetic  layer  remains  in  a  fixed  direction  and  acts  as  a 
reference,  whereas  the  magnetisation  of  the  second  layer 
changes  its  direction  when  heat  and  magnetic  field  are 
applied simultaneously. 

These  two  magnetic  configurations  are  characterised  by 
different values of the electrical resistance of the stack, a 
property allowing the magnetic configuration of the stack to 
be ‘read’. These two magnetic states are a perfect synthesis 
for binary information storage, which stores information as 
either a 1 or 0, the backbone of current computer memory.

Besides  memories,  this  technology  can  also  be  applied 
to  logic  circuits.  It  also  allows  for  the  conception  of  new 
architectures for electronic devices in which logic circuits 
and memories are more closely combined than in present 
technology. This could result in much faster processing of 

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2006

information, especially for multimedia applications. These 
results were mostly obtained within the IST project NEXT 
coordinated by Olivier Redon from CEA-LETI.

On  a  wider  scale  all  electronic  product  consumers  could 
benefit from the development of TAM RAM: if it replaces 
DRAM  as  a  main  memory  in  computers,  the  concept  of 
‘in  an  instant’  on  a  computer  could  become  a  reality.  In 
standard computers the operating system must be reloaded 
from the hard disk drive each time the computer is started, 
which takes time. With TAM RAM however, the operating 
system will remain stored in the main memory even when 
the power is switched off. This allows the computer to start 
the instant it is turned on with the same configuration as 
when it was shut down.

A start-up company CROCUS Technology was launched to 
further develop this technology and bring it into production 
in partnership with a large European manufacturer. 

This  small  start-up  has  made  well-established 
conglomerates  stand  up  and  take  notice,  because  it  has 
succeeded where others have failed. Furthermore, despite 
the current scarcity of venture capital in Europe, CROCUS 
Technology has already attracted huge interest.

The  sales  performance  of  partner  company  Singular  has 
also improved through its association with the TAM RAM 
technology.  The  company  is  now  experiencing  increased 

sales  in  deposition  tools,  where  previously  it  was  often 
bettered by competing Japanese suppliers. 

Perhaps the most significant value of this technology is that 
it could place Europe at the cutting edge of MRAM research: 
most of the U.S. firms that were involved in similar work 
have retreated from developing this technology further. 

P A n e L   I n F o

tAM RAM – thermally Assisted Magnetic Random Access 
Memory

PANEL
Information Science

LED BY
SPINTEC Unité de Recherche Associée CEA/CNRS 
CEA/Grenoble, 17 rue des Martyrs, Grenoble, France

CONTACT
Bernard Dieny 
Fax : +33 4 38 78 21 27 
Email: Bernard.dieny@cea.fr

PARTNERS
• Dr Olivier Redon, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique, LETI, 

France.

• Professor Paulo Freitas, Instituto de Engenharia de 

Sistemas e Computadores para os Microsistemas e as 
Nanotecnologicas, Portugal .

• Dr Wolfram Maass, Singulus Technologies AG, Germany.

Descartes Research 2006.indd   17

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fINAlISt

DYNAQPRIM – Protein dynamics in cell Nuclei studied using quantitative proteomics and   fluorescence imaging

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

	 	 Measuring	Proteins		
sheds	New	Light
			on	cell	biology		

By developing new techniques that combine the use of mass spectrometry  
and advanced light microscopes, research teams from laboratories in 
Scotland, Germany and Denmark, have mapped the inner structure of cells 
and measured how cell proteins move. This helps researchers to understand 
better the internal workings of the cell and enhances our understanding of 
both the composition and the function of cells in the human body.

Science  is  an  ever-changing  endeavour.  Building  on  past 
successes, new discoveries spur on research into fresh fields 
of study. Proteomics is one such new field of research. 

The year 2000 saw the publication of the first draft of the 
human  genome  sequence,  a  map  of  all  the  genes  found 
in  human  cells.  The  genome  sequence  only  scratches  the 
surface  however  as  the  genes  themselves  code  different 
types of cell proteins and the full list of human proteins is 
termed the ‘proteome’. Proteomics is the new field of science 
concerned with the large-scale study of proteins. 

Researchers want to discover the roles these proteins play 
and how defects in proteins can lead to disease. For example, 
lack of the protein insulin can cause diabetes.

Cells are the building blocks of life, from the human body 
to garden plants and microbes. Proteins, in turn, are the key 
building blocks for cells and body tissue, such as muscle. In 
human cells the genes sit within a special ‘compartment’, 
called the nucleus. Many forms of human disease, including 
viral infections, malignancies and inherited genetic disorders, 
can  all  cause  profound  changes  inside  the  nucleus  of  the 
cell and often affect proteins. 

DYNAQPRIM researchers studied the changes that occur in 
proteins within the nuclei of cancer cells, to try to understand 
better the relation between these specific changes and the 
mechanism of disease. 

For  the  past  13  years,  DYNAQPRIM  researchers  based 
in  Denmark,  Germany  and  Scotland,  have  been  busy 
collaborating  to  find  better  ways  to  unlock  the  secret 
world  of  cell  proteins.  They  have  developed  new  methods 
for  detecting  and  measuring  large  numbers  of  proteins 
within  cells,  by  combining  the  use  of  proteomics  (using 
advanced  mass  spectrometers)  and  live  cell  fluorescence 
imaging (using advanced light microscopes). Their advances 
now  allow  them  to  measure  with  unprecedented  detail 
how  protein  levels  in  different  structures  within  the  cell 
can  change  under  a  wide  range  of  growth  and  metabolic 
conditions.

These  new  advances  into  the  biology  of  human  cells  are 
critical to developing a better understanding of the causes 
and consequences of human disease and will also underpin 
the  future  development  of  new  therapies  and  improved 
diagnosis  and  screening  procedures.  In  addition,  the  new 
methods  that  have  been  developed  can  now  be  adapted 
and  used  by  many  other  researchers,  both  in  Europe  and 
throughout the world, to advance numerous areas of basic 
and applied biological and biomedical research.

Aided by EU funding, the DYNAQPRIM groups were able to 
combine their distinct skills and different areas of expertise 
in a unique way. Due to the complexity and novelty of the 
project,  such  collaboration  across  borders  was  imperative 
because no one country had the required broad knowledge 

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DYNAQPRIM – Protein dynamics in cell Nuclei studied using quantitative proteomics and   fluorescence imaging

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

2006

base and expertise to work in all these new areas in a timely 
and effective way. The ability of the DYNAQPRIM groups to 
interact and sustain their international collaboration over 
such  an  extended  period,  allowed  the  value  of  the  great 
depth  of  scientific  expertise  spread  across  Europe  to  be 
captured. This illustrates how one of the major strengths of 
the European system can be realised and exploited.

The DYNAQPRIM project is of fundamental importance to 
furthering our basic understanding of cell biology and has 
many potential applications. This outlook is supported by 
the team’s decision not to restrict the use of their advances 
and knowledge only for exclusive commercial exploitation. 
Instead, they distribute freely all the cDNA clones, expression 
vectors  encoding  FP-tagged  nuclear  proteins,  antibodies 
and stable cell lines resulting from this project, as well as 
their data and research findings to academic researchers. 

This  spirit  of  openness  adds  great  value  to  the  funding 
invested  in  the  DYNAQPRIM  project  because  it  allows 
many other researchers in the cell biology and biomedical 
research  communities  to  benefit  from,  and  have  rapid 
access to, their new data and reagents. In the long run, it is 
likely that this policy will also enhance the real commercial 
value  of  their  work,  by  allowing  many  scientists  to  build 
upon their basic research findings and thereby help them 
to form new spin-out ventures in the future.

Researchers interested in the work of the DYNAQPRIM Project 
can explore the LamondLab website (www.LamondLab.com), 
where they host and maintain a searchable online database 
describing  the  nucleolar  proteome,  including  the  primary 

data on peptide identifications, sensitivity of detection and 
changes  in  protein  levels.  This  website  also  has  technical 
descriptions  of  the  methods  employed  accompanied  by 
multilingual descriptions of their research and information 
for non-scientists, as well as fun pages, including a section 
specially aimed at children to interest them in science.

P A n e L   I n F o

DYnAQPRIM - Protein Dynamics in cell nuclei studied 
using quantitative proteomics and fluorescence imaging.

PANEL
Science and Society 

LED BY
Division of Gene Regulation &  
Expression School of Life Sciences 
University of Dundee Dow Street, Dundee 
United Kingdom

CONTACT
Angus Iain Lamond
Tel : +44 (0)1382 385473 – Fax : +44 (0)1382 385695
Email: angus@lifesci.dundee.ac.uk

PARTNERS
• Prof Matthias Mann, Department of Proteomics and  

Signal Transduction Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, 
Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Germany.
• Prof Jens Skorstengaard Andersen, Department of 
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Center for 
Experimental Bioinformatics, University of Southern 
Denmark (SDU), Denmark. 

Descartes Research 2006.indd   19

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fINAlISt

GLOBALIFE – life Courses in the Globalisation Process

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

Globalisation	
																				exposed

Globalisation has become a central point of discussion for the media, 
politicians and academics. Many commentators have defined themselves as 
being either pro- or anti- globalisation. While most of the debate has centred 
on the macro-structural consequences of globalisation, its impact on peoples’ 
lives has largely been ignored. The GLOBALIFE project seeks to rectify this.

It’s almost impossible to open a newspaper or switch on a 
TV without hearing the word globalisation. Every aspect of 
the topic seems to have been over-analysed. However there 
is a large part of globalisation, which is still unknown: its 
impact on the everyday life of people in modern societies. 

‘Globalisation  was  only  studied  as  a  macro  phenomenon 
where  you  had  a  lot  of  studies  on  international  trade, 
financial markets and so on, and so I would say 95% of all 
globalisation  publications  were  based  on  macro  changes,’ 
explains  Professor  Hans-Peter  Blossfeld  director  of  the 
GLOBALIFE research team. ‘What we did was to use the macro 
changes and include them into an analysis of micro level data, 
so we could in fact study the impacts of macro structures on 
individual life courses.’

The  phrase  ‘life  courses’  refers  to  the  experiences  an 
individual  goes  through  during  their  life.  Life  course 
research examines individuals’ reactions to societal change. 
The GLOBALIFE project was organised into four life phases, 
which  covered  the  transition  from  youth  into  adulthood, 
mid-career changes in career for both men and women and 
the transition from employment to retirement.

GLOBALIFE  is  the  first  international  comparative  research 
project which focuses on the impact globalisation has had 
on  individuals  in  various  modern  societies.  It  is  therefore 
a gold mine of information for researchers, politicians and 
the  general  public  who  are  concerned  about  the  impacts 
of  globalisation.  The  findings  of  this  research  have  also 
been made available to the general public through the four 
published books and numerous journal articles. In Germany, 
public  forums  have  been  organised  with  politicians, 
businessmen  and  social  partners.  By  disseminating  the 
project  results,  the  research  team  hopes  to  give  people 

access to information, so that they can make more informed 
decisions about the things that can change their lives. There 
is information on how different countries tackle the issue 
of  globalisation.  Therefore,  strategies  and  public  policies 
developed to assist countries in dealing with the strain of 
globalisation can be more focused. 

Over the five years of the project’s life, a total of 23 scientists 
have  worked  directly  on  the  project,  first  at  Bielefeld 
University and then at Bamberg University – in collaboration 
with 44 external social scientists from 17 different countries 
(14 from Europe and three North American – Canada, the 
US, and Mexico). The countries chosen include a range of 
governance structures including Liberal, Social-Democratic, 
Conservative and Post-Socialist. 

The GLOBALIFE project revealed that globalisation impacted 
negatively on people at every age. Both young adults and 
older workers were increasingly vulnerable to the impacts 
of  globalisation.  Young  adults  in  all  countries  are  facing 
more uncertainty and are more likely to be unemployed or 
employed  under  part-time  contracts.  This  vulnerability  is 
exacerbated  in  young  people  at  the  bottom  of  the  social 
ladder. The impact stretches into the future too, as young 
adults whose position in society is more precarious are more 
likely to postpone starting a family for economic reasons. 

The new type of knowledge-based work in globalised countries  
puts  a  huge  premium  on  innovation  as  well  as  on  new 
technology,  which,  along  with  outsourcing  renders  many 
established job positions obsolete. All this has accelerated the 
departure of older employees from the workforce and employers 
are  less  willing  to  invest  in  re-training  older  employees 
because  they  are  generally  expected  to  remain  working 
for  shorter  periods  of  time  than  their  younger  colleagues. 

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The case for men and women is a different depending on 
the country. Men in the middle of their career in countries 
where  the  labour  market  is  highly  deregulated  are  also 
more  likely  to  lose  out  as  a  result  of  globalisation.  Men 
in  Sweden,  Germany,  Italy  and  Denmark,  however,  were 
more insulated from the negative impacts of globalisation. 
Blossfeld calls the mid-career men in these countries ‘the 
winners’ in an increasingly globalised society. Globalisation 
has ambivalent implications for women’s’ employment and 
is  dependant  on  the  country  in  question’s  welfare  state 
and employment regime. In some countries, globalisation 
fosters women’s’ employment by allowing more women to 
re-enter the labour market than in the past (e.g. Germany 
and the Netherlands).

GLOBALIFE has also pointed out where – according to their 
research – countries have made mistakes. One case in point 
is Estonia, which experienced high rates of unemployment 
and  poverty  as  a  result  of  its  liberal  economic  policy 
combined with a highly rigid and inflexible labour market. 
At the other end of the spectrum, Scandinavian countries 
have  maintained  relatively  stable  life  courses  that  allow 
men  and  women  virtually  equal  and  secure  participation 
in the market.

P A n e L   I n F o

GLoBALIFe – Life courses in the Globalisation Process

PANEL
Socio – Economic Sciences

LED BY
Otto-Friedrich University Bamberg
Lichtenhaidestrasse 11 
Bamberg, Germany. 

CONTACT
Professor Hans-Peter Blossfeld
Tel : +49 951 863 2597 
Email: soziologiel@sowi.uni-bamberg.de
Webpage : www.globalife.de

PARTNERS
• Dr Erzsebet Bukodi, Hungarian Central Statistical Office 

(HCSO), Hungary.

• Prof Fabrizio Bernardi, Universidad Nacional de Educacion 

a Distancia (UNED), Spain.

• Dr Heather Hofmeister, Otto-Friedrich University Bamberg, 

Germany.

• Prof. Karin Kurz, Otto-Friedrich University Bamberg, 

Germany.

• Prof. Melinda Mills, University of Groningen, Netherlands.

Descartes Research 2006.indd   21

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NOMINEE

FULCARS – friendly and useful Carbon Nanotubes 

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

Future	looms	large		
		for	Nano-tools

Imagine a house where traditional-looking roof tiles are wired up to catch 
solar radiation. Or imagine an anti-cancer drug that targets and destroys only 
the cancer cells, leaving healthy cells intact. All this is possible through the 
practical application of nano-science.

Nano-science is still in its infancy, yet it is already showing 
enormous  potential.  The  FULCARS  project  is  well  on  the 
way  to  realising  these  expectations.  FULCARS  stands  for 
‘Friendly  and  Useful  Carbon  Nanotubes’  and  the  team 
responsible for this project has pioneered research focussing 
on  the  practical  application  of  carbon  nanotubes.  Carbon 
nanotubes  are  miniscule  needle-shaped  cylinders,  over 
10,000 times smaller than human hair, made exclusively of 
carbon atom structures. 

These  nanotubes  could  turn  out  to  be  the  ‘material  of 
the  future’  says  Professor  Maurizio  Prato,  a  full  professor 
of  Chemistry  at  the  University  of  Trieste.  He  continues, 
‘nanotubes contain all the right ingredients to revolutionise 
the scientific arena.’ 

While not exactly new, the application of carbon nanotubes 
has been restricted, as they are difficult to handle and show 
high levels of toxicity. 

The FULCARS research team noticed that earlier research into 
nanotubes used only pristine nanotubes and experimented 
with modifying them. The researchers discovered that the 
simple application of a chemical reaction to the surface of 
the nanotubes, which allowed the nanotubes to be water-
soluble, also allowed them to be handled safely. Once this 
was  possible,  nanotubes  could  be  used  in  many  different 
applications.

Many  of  the  practical  applications  for  nanotubes  are  in 
biomedicine, where it has spawned a new technological field: 
nanomedicine. A specific application is the development of 
new Lightweight Electron Donor Acceptor Nanocomposites 
(LEDAN),  which  allows  significant  improvements  in  the 
conversion of energy harnessed from the sun’s rays.

One of FULCARS successes was the development of the first 
‘proof of principle’ of the use of carbon nanotubes. The team 
was successful in utilising carbon nanotubes as a delivery 
device in a wide variety of therapeutic approaches ranging 
from  cancer  chemotherapy,  vaccination,  antimicrobial 
therapy, gene therapy, radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging. 

Taking  cancer  cells  as  a  specific  example,  the  delivery 
system created by the use of carbon nanotubes works in a 
remarkably unique way. A ‘pilot’ can be placed in front of the 
nanotubes, which are then capable of ‘driving’ the treatment 
medicine  directly  into  the  cancer  cells  without  disturbing 
the  cell  membrane.  Once  the  treatment  is  delivered,  the 
carbon nanotubes are then naturally and safely expelled by 
the body after three hours.

The ‘pilot’ in this case is a chemical compound, the positively 
charged NH3. The Italian, French and British team attached 
a series of oxygen and carbon atom chains to the outside 
of  the  nanotubes;  in  effect  producing  an  anchor  for  DNA 
fragments that otherwise would not have been able to pass 
through the cell membranes.

Carbon  nanotubes  are  also  the  foundation  for  a  new 
method of harnessing solar energy. This important milestone 
was  created  when  the  nanotubes  were  integrated  with 
complementary  molecular  components  for  efficient  solar 
energy conversion. The FULCARS team speculate that if solar 
power/photovoltaic  cells  could  be  constructed  of  carbon 
nanotubes  they  could  be  integrated  with  or  even  replace 
costly and labour-intensive silicon cell technology.

FULCARS  has  brought  together  chemistry,  engineering, 
materials  science,  biology  and  pharmacology  and  made 
significant  progress  in  newly  emerging  fields.    As  a  result 
of  its  successes  the  FULCARS  Consortium  has  established 

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2006

itself  internationally  and  has  been  featured  in  numerous 
publications. Their exceptional efforts will undoubtedly be 
the starting point for further discoveries in accomplishing 
the goal of the routine medical use of carbon nanotubes 
and the practical conversion of solar light into electricity.

P A n e L   I n F o

FULcARs - Friendly and Useful carbon nanotubes 

PANEL
Life Sciences and Health

LED BY
Università degli Studi di Trieste (UNITS), 
Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche
Piazzale Europa 1, Trieste, Italy

CONTACT
Prof Maurizio Prato 
Tel : +390405587883 – Fax : +3904052572 
Email: prato@units.it 

PARTNERS
• Dr Alberto Bianco, Centre National de la Recherche 

Scientifique (CNRS-ICT), Unité Propre de Recerche 9021, 
Immunologie et Chimie Thérapeutiques, France.

• Prof Dirk Guldi , Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg (UNERL), 

Physikalische Chemie I, Germany.

• Dr Kostas Kostarelos, Centre for Drug Delivery Research 
The School of Pharmacy, University of London (ULSOP), 
United Kingdom.

• Prof Ester Vázquez Fernández-Pacheco, Universidad de 

Castilla-la Mancha (UCLM), Spain.

• Prof Francesco Zerbetto, Dipartimento di Chimica  
‘G. Ciamician’, Università di Bologna (Unibo), Italy.

Descartes Research 2006.indd   23

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NOMINEE

QUMAGDE – Science and technology in quantum magnetic deflagration and detonation

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

	 	 							Magnetic		
Avalanche	ignites
Quantum	theorists

Inside every scientist is an explorer, constantly pushing the boundaries 
of what is known, to discover the undiscovered. Such is the case with the 
QUMAGDE project. A European team of researchers is the first to have 
discovered ‘Quantum Magnetic Deflagration’ (QUMAGDE), a physical 
phenomena governed by quantum law. The potential of this discovery is 
something that the scientific community has yet to come to terms with. 

The  discovery  of  a  new  research  field  does  not  happen 
too often, so when it does, it is of major significance. The 
discovery of a QUMAGDE, is just such an event. Its discovery 
may  generate  new  fundamental  research  activity  and 
technological applications in fields such as nanomagnetism, 
superconductivity, ferroelectrics and magnetic quantum dots.

QUMAGDE  is  a  totally  new  physical  phenomenon  and 
the  only  case  of  a  deflagration  governed  by  a  quantum 
law.  If  QUMAGDE  can  be  controlled  it  could  open  up  a 
myriad  of  applications  in  areas  as  diverse  as  energy  and 
telecommunications,  biomedicine,  biology  and  ultra-fast 
reading/writing processes and imaging for nano-information 
technology.  The  team,  led  by  Javier  Tejada,  Professor  of 
Fundamental  Physics  at  the  University  of  Barcelona,  Paul 
Santos,  a  researcher  at  the  Paul  Drude  Institute  in  Berlin 
and  Victor  Moshcalkov  from  the  Katholieke  Universieit  in 
Leuven, have discovered a way to control the process. 

‘The process of Quantum Magnetic Deflagration is very easy 
to understand’, explains Professor Tejada. To understand it, 
imagine a magnetic material (technically, the precise term 
for  the  magnetic  material  used  is  Mn12  acetate)  with 
either a north south magnetic orientation. This north south 
orientation is similar to a compass, with the needle of the 
compass showing the orientation. If one were to look at it in 
a nanoscale, they would see hundreds of atoms, each with 

the same north south magnetic orientation. If a magnetic 
field was applied of the opposite orientation the compass 
poles  should  turn  slowly  until,  eventually,  they  were  all 
similarly aligned.

What  the  team  discovered  was  that  they  used  acoustic 
microwaves to heat the material, and then in a certain part 
of it heat will be sufficient to cause the compass poles to 
reverse in this area. This part of the material then heats the 
bordering areas to produce the same reaction and the poles 
of other compasses are reversed; this propagation continues 
until  all  the  spins  are  similarly  aligned.  The  effect  can  be 
likened to a domino effect: once one area is changed it sets 
off the neighbouring pieces.

Deflagration  refers  to  the  speed  at  which  this  change 
occurs, which is currently slower than the speed of sound. 
Therefore, the next area of research will be to find a way 
of  breaking  the  quantum  magnetic  speed  barrier  through 
quantum magnetic detonation. 

Quantum  magnetic  detonation  produces  a  more  intense 
wave whose speed exceeds 6,000 feet per second, in other 
words, faster than the speed of sound.

Besides being governed by quantum law, Quantum Magnetic 
Deflagration  also  emits  coherent  radiation  in  the  form  of 
microwaves. These microwaves are of a bigger wavelength, 

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2006

in  the  Giga  –  Terahertz  range  and  are  less  harmful  than  
x-rays.  This  means  that  quantum  magnetic  deflagration 
could ultimately replace x-rays. 

Terahertz  radiation  has  been  shown  to  be  important  in 
electronic  communications  as  well  as  in  tissue  imaging. 
This  is  carried  out  in  the  same  way  as  x-rays;  however 
without the safety risks associated with extended exposure. 
Quantum Magnetic Deflagration offers an alternative,safe 
way of carrying out x-rays. This system is not only useful 
for the medical profession, but also where security is an 
issue. For example, people could be safely screened before 
boarding  planes  to  see  if  they  are  carrying  dangerous 
material. 

The  range  of  applications  emerging  from  QUMAGDE’s 
research  is  manifold  and  could  include  material  science 
research,  security,  pharmaceutical  compound  analysis, 
biomedical  imaging,  superconducting  material  research, 
astronomy and particle physics research.

P A n e L   I n F o

QUMAGDe - science and technology in quantum 
magnetic deflagration and detonation

PANEL
Science and Society

LED BY
Universitat de Barcelona
Departament de Física Fonamental
Avda. Diagonal 647, Barcelona – Spain

CONTACT
Prof Javier Tejada 
Tel : +34 934021158 – Fax : 34934021149 
Email: jtejada@ubxlab.com

PARTNERS
• Dr Paulo Santos, Forschungsverbund Berlin E.V. (FVB), 

Germany.

• Prof Victor V. Moshchalkov, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven 

(KULeuven), Belgium.

Descartes Research 2006.indd   25

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NOMINEE

AVISPA – Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

			A	New	Tool	for																
Secure	Internet	
				applications		

While the European Union has been eagerly promoting e-commerce and  
e-governance, shadowy figures have been lurking in cyberspace, aiming to 
exploit the security weaknesses in internet applications. However, a new 
weapon has been added to the security planner’s arsenal. AVISPA will  
improve security and speed up the development of the next generation  
of internet protocols. 

In  today’s  global  world  of  communication,  our  economic 
and  social  life  strongly  depends  on  information  and 
communication technologies (ICT). More and more, the web 
is being used to buy and sell goods and email has become 
accepted as a normal part of everyday life, keeping people 
from the remotest parts of the globe in contact. 

Security protocols lie at the core of these IT infrastructures 
and keep confidential information secure from prying eyes 
and ensure the authenticity of users and web applications. 
However, these protocols are only as good as the people who 
develop  them.  Until  recently,  security  protocols  had  to  be 
checked by manual inspection and, as increasingly complex 
security protocols are being developed, it is inevitable that 
mistakes occur. As a consequence, many security protocols 
are  vulnerable  to  serious  attacks,  even  years  after  their 
publication and deployment in commercial applications. 

This has inevitably caused the companies that have made 
the  protocols  embarrassment  as  well  as  serious  financial 
loss. Additionally, these security lapses have the inevitable 
effect of eroding the users’ confidence and are consequently 
slowing down the widespread use of networked applications 
by the public.

In  general,  the  number  and  scale  of  internet  security 
protocols  and  applications  under  development  is  out-
pacing  the  ability  of  both  industry  and  academia  to 
rigorously analyse and validate them. This is becoming an 

increasingly serious problem not only for the end-users but 
also for companies whose products and services time-to-
market requirements depend on the rapid standardisation 
and correct functioning of these protocols. 

However the future is not all doom and gloom. As a result 
of EU funding, four research groups were able to unite to 
develop AVISPA. While it is still early days, the project has 
already caused a stir of excitement in the ICT community.  

The  ‘Automated  Validation  of  Internet  Security  Protocols 
and  Applications’  (AVISPA)  project  group  is  composed  of 
four research groups, from the University of Genoa, INRIA-
Lorraine, ETH Zurich, and Siemens AG Munich. Together they 
developed  a  new  tool  that  allows  protocol  designers  and 
engineers to analyse product security in the design phase. 
By using advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques, the 
tool  automatically  analyses  all  possible  executions  of  the 
protocol under consideration and finds security attacks that 
are very difficult to spot by manual inspection, or prove that 
the protocol is free from security flaws. 

AVISPA  is  already  improving  the  security  of  the  next 
generation  of  network  protocols  and  distributed  internet 
applications. For example, by using the AVISPA technology, 
Siemens  AG  discovered  a  problem  in  their  protocol  for 
mobile multimedia applications which had already passed 
through  their  normal  checks  and  been  patented.  Through 
the  application  of  AVISPA,  it  allowed  their  software 

2 

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DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

2006

programmers to come up with a new, improved version of 
the protocol. 

more willing to use internet applications in their everyday 
life, which will in turn lead to an increased uptake of ICT. 

Despite  the  success  and  widespread  uptake  of  AVISPA, 
the project team is not resting on their laurels. The team 
has  planned  a  number  of  extensions  to  the  tool  as  well 
as  to  its  component  technologies.  These  include  the 
specification  languages,  the  ‘back  end’  (including  the 
automated reasoning techniques they are based on), and 
the interfaces.

The  team  hopes  that  the  AVISPA  tool  will  be  used  as 
a  starting  point  for  the  construction  of  a  framework, 
capable  of  accelerating  and  improving  the  deployment 
of  trustworthy  security  systems  and  applications, 
by  supporting  the  formal  specification  of  security 
requirements. To this end, the team plans further extensions 
to  the  AVISPA  technologies:  a  language  with  precise 
syntax  and  semantics  for  describing  security  primitives; 
a deduction system for reasoning the security properties 
of  system  modules  and  their  combination  and  usage  at 
the application and system level; as well as a methodology 
for the validation of modular security services, based on 
combining  model  checking  for  validating  basic  services 
and deductive reasoning for validating their composition. 

By  ensuring  the  security  of  internet  safeguards,  AVISPA 
is  also  increasing  confidence  in  internet  and  networked 
applications. With that increased trust, people will become 

P A n e L   I n F o

AVIsPA - Automated Validation of Internet security 
Protocols and Applications

PANEL
Information Science

LED BY
Universita` degli Studi di Genova
Dipartimento di Informatica, Sistemistica e Telematica
Via all’Opera Pia, 13, Genoa, Italy

CONTACT
Prof. Alessandro Armando 
Tel : +39-0103532216 – Fax : +39-0103532948 
Email: armando@dist.unige.it

PARTNERS
• Dr Michael Rusinowitch, Institut National de Recherche en 

Informatique et en Automatique (INRIA), France.

• Dr Jorge Cuellar, Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Germany.
• Profs David Basin and Luca Vigano, Eidegenoessische 

Technische Hochshule (ETHZ), Switzerland.

Descartes Research 2006.indd   27

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NOMINEE

EUROGENOS – European Consortium on Genetic determinants of Osteoporosis and other     Bone diseases

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

Fighting
			Bone	Disease																
		in	the	Genes

Osteoporosis affects an estimated 75 million people in Europe, USA and Japan. 
It is estimated that in Europe alone, 179,000 men and 611,000 women will 
suffer a hip fracture each year and that the cost of all osteoporotic fractures 
in Europe is approximately €25 billion. By 2050, this figure is expected to 
increase to €76.7 billion in Europe alone.

Osteoporosis is just one of a number of bone diseases which 
affect millions of people, not only in Europe but worldwide. 
The  EUROGENOS  project  has-  conducted  ground  breaking 
research into identifying the genes responsible for monogenic 
bone diseases, such as juvenile osteoporosis, Pagets disease 
and  sclerosing  bone  dysplasis  and 
investigating  the 
relationship  between  polymorphisms  in  these  genes  and 
common bone diseases like osteoporosis. 

The identification of these genes and molecular pathways 
has allowed international researchers to redirect their focus 
on  the  development  of  new  drugs  for  the  treatment  of 
bone disease. ‘Genetic factors play an important role in the 
development of several bone diseases including osteoporosis, 
Paget’s disease of bone and osteoporosis’ explained Dr Stuart 
Ralston  from  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  the  project’s 
leader.

Until recently it was the commonly held view that dietary 
factors,  along  with  lifestyle,  played  the  predominant 
role  in  determining  whether  a  person  would  develop 
osteoporosis.  Although  environmental  factors  also  play  a 
role in osteoporosis, it is now clear that genetic factors are 
a  more  important  determinant  of  developing  the  disease.  
As a result of years of research conducted by nine research 
partners across seven countries, researchers can now point 
to variations in several genes that predispose to osteoporosis 
and other bone diseases; thus, people with a certain genetic 
background  are  predisposed  to  developing  bone  diseases 
like osteoporosis. 

The research carried out within EUROGENOS would not have 
been possible without European funding. When dealing with 
rare genetic disorders it is important to pool resources since 
individual  clinicians  might  only  encounter  a  few  patients 
with the disorder. As a result, European collaboration was 
essential in order to gain access to a large enough sample 
size, to be able to identify the genes for these rare diseases. 
Large numbers of individuals also needed to be studied to 
define the role of genetic variants in common diseases, since 
the effect of individual genes is quite small. 

Around  26,000  people  were  included  in  the  project;  they 
came  from  the  United  Kingdom,  Denmark,  Austria,  Italy, 
Spain Sweden and Holland. And, such has been the success 
of the project that it has been extended to include groups 
outside Europe, including Canada and the USA; dramatically 
increasing the sample size to 40,000 research participants.

The  EUROGENOS  consortium  is  a  good  example  of  how 
successful  progress  can  be  made  when  scientists  with 
complementary skills work together on an area of research. 
European collaboration has allowed a wide range of expertise 
in  all  domains  of  human  molecular  genetics,  functional 
genomics,  cell  biology,  population  genetics,  mathematics 
and  statistics  to  be  harnessed.  This  has  made  it  possible 
to  use  different  strategies  in  identifying,  characterising 
disease genes, while allowing coverage over a broad area, 
ranging from positional cloning of monogenetic diseases to 
association studies for complex diseases. 

2 

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EUROGENOS – European Consortium on Genetic determinants of Osteoporosis and other     Bone diseases

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2006

By identifying the genes responsible for rare bone disease, 
the  researchers  were  able  to  uncover  new  molecular 
pathways that regulate bone cell function. Pharmaceutical 
companies  have  already  begun  to  use  this  research,  to 
develop  new  drugs  for  the  treatment  of  osteoporosis, 
including antibodies directed against a gene product that is 
mutated in a sclerosing bone dysplasia. Preclinical studies 
of these antibodies have shown promising results and the 
antibodies are being developed for clinical use. Several other 
pharmaceutical  companies  are  also  now  focusing  efforts 
on  the  therapeutic  manipulation  of  pathways  identified 
by  EUROGENOS,  to  increase  bone  mass  in  patients  with 
osteoporosis. 

The studies on the genetic basis of bone disease provide a 
further  source  of  molecular  markers  that  can  be  used  to 
assess the risk of disease complications. Work is currently 
underway by a EUROGENOS partner into developing intra-
uterine bone marrow transplantation for the treatment of 
cases of fatal osteoporosis such as recessive osteoporosis. 

The  identification  of  genetic  variants  that  predispose 
people in the population to complications of bone disease 
is significant, as it will lead to the development of genetic 
markers.  New  diagnostic  tools  could  be  used  along  with 
existing  technologies,  such  as  bone  densitometry  and 
biochemical  markers  for  improving  risk  assessment  of 
predicting complications of bone disease such as fragility 
fracture. 

P A n e L   I n F o

eURoGenos - european consortium on Genetic 
determinants of osteoporosis and other Bone Diseases

PANEL
Life Sciences

LED BY
The University of Edinburgh (UEDIN)
Molecular Medicine Centre, Western general Hospital, Crewe 
Road South, Edinburgh – Scotland , UK

CONTACT
Stuart Hamilton Ralston 
Tel : + 44 1316511035 – Fax : +44 1316511085 
Email: stuart.ralston@ed.ac.uk.

PARTNERS
• Dr Andre Uitterlinden, Eramus MC (EUR) Genetic 

Laboratory , Department of Internal Medicine, Netherlands.

• Prof John Ioannidis, University of Ioannina (UOI), 

Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical School, 
Greece. 

• Prof Wim Van Hul, Universiteit Antwerpen (UA) 

Department of medical genetics, Universitiy of Antwerp, 
Belgium. 

• Prof Anna Maria Teti, Università dell’Aquila (UNIVAQ) 

Department of Experimental Medicine, Bone Biopathology 
Laboratory, Italy.

• Dr Paolo Maria Vezzoni, Istituto di Tecnologie Biomediche, 

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, (I.T.B./C.N.R.), Italy.

• Prof David Macaulay Reid, University of Aberdeen, 

(UNIABDN), Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, 
Scotland, UK.

• Dr Teresa Garcia, PROSKELIA SAS (PSK) (Prostrakan Group), 

France.

• Prof Marie-Christine de Vernejoul, Institut National de la 
Santé et de la Recheche Médicale (INSERM), France.   

Descartes Research 2006.indd   29

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NOMINEE

DOSEI – domestic Structures and European Integration. A multi-stage two-level analysis of    constitution building in the European union 

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

	 	 Documenting	
History	in	the	
										Making		

European integration and the development of a European Constitution have 
been in the headlines all over the world. Commentators and various experts 
waded into the debate to offer their opinions. Quietly working away in 
the shadows however, was a team of dedicated researchers who carefully 
documented and analysed the entire process. Their hard work is now proving 
invaluable to both historians and diplomats alike.

‘When  I  first  read  about  European  integration  I  was  very 
confused’  admits  Thomas  König,  ‘everyone  thinks  it’s  so 
complicated, but it’s not.’ Over the past few years, a number  
of  distinguished  scholars  from  around  the  world,  led 
by  Professor  König,  have  been  carefully  following  and 
documenting  the  process  of  European  integration,  as  it 
unfolds.

The  European  integration  process  is  a  historical  landmark 
and has been referred to by historians as the most significant 
constitutional  process  to  occur  since  the  birth  of  the 
American Constitution in 1776. Well over 200 years since 
its creation, scholars still pore over the archived documents. 
The constitutional process of the EU – in attempting to bring 
together a large number of different countries – cannot be 
underestimated in its breadth or complexity. 

The archiving was carried out by the ‘Domestic Structures 
and  European  Integration’  or  DOSEI  project.  Its  archive 
documents  the  policies  of  all  the  actors  involved  on  a 
wide range of constitutional issues, regardless of whether 
they participated in the Convention, in national fora, or in 
Intergovernmental  ratification  conferences.  In  addition  to 
documenting this process, the research team analysed the 
impact of the conventional ‘method’ for setting the reform 
agenda,  the  coordination  in  the  25  member  states,  the 
negotiation stage, and the ongoing ratification, including the 
French and the Dutch ‘No’ votes. These results highlight the 

dynamic relationships at Member State and European levels 
and the fluid nature of the constitution-building process.

The  findings  reveal  that  the  Chairman  of  the  European 
Convention, Valéry Giscard D’Estaing, was closely involved in 
the drafting of the Constitution and in setting the agenda. 
However, while this conventional method helped establish 
an agenda for constitutional reform, it also contributed to a 
failure in the ratification process because it tied the hands 
of  the  25  governments  during  subsequent  negotiations. 
This demonstrates the dynamic effects of the constitution-
building  process.  This  is  particularly  true  in  the  case  of 
referenda:  the  DOSEI  results  suggest  that  voters  have 
been unable to make the connection between the various 
referenda and the ratification of the Treaty of Nice. This is in 
contrast to the successes of parliamentary ratification. 

The  project  was  conducted  by  researchers  from  eight 
European  universities  and  institutions  as  well  as  the 
University of California in Los Angeles, USA. The significance 
of  this  project  also  attracted  interest  from  scholars  at 
other  US  universities  including  Princeton  and  Harvard. 
Publications  from  DOSEI  are  already  widely  recognized  in 
leading  international  journals  and  the  press  (see  http://
dosei.dhv-speyer.de/).

DOSEI  research  has  also  been  used  as  an  education  tool. 
The  foundation  of  diplomacy  is  finding  common  ground 

 0

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DOSEI – domestic Structures and European Integration. A multi-stage two-level analysis of    constitution building in the European union 

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

2006

between opposing sides. The DOSEI team discovered that 
all too often negotiations began in which one side knew 
nothing about what the other side wanted to achieve. The 
DOSEI researchers were, therefore, in an excellent position 
to reveal the policies of all negotiating countries involved 
in the constitution process. The researchers discovered that 
over 80% of European diplomats were eager to talk about 
what they hoped to accomplish for their countries during 
negotiations.

The team has also developed a role-playing game, in which 
students as well as diplomats, take on the roles of various 
countries  as  they  attempt  to  draft  a  constitution.  This 
simulation game not only educates students about the EU, 
but  also  opens  the  eyes  of  diplomats  to  the  diversity  of 
policy goals which are based on different cultural, societal, 
political  and  economic  backgrounds.  In  the  words  of 
Professor König ‘Science produces information and you can 
use it or not, but you should always listen to it.’

P A n e L   I n F o

DoseI - Domestic structures and european Integration.  
A multi-stage two-level analysis of constitution building 
in the european Union.

PANEL
Science and Society

LED BY
German Research Institute for Public Administration 
(Deutsches Forschungsinstitut für öffentliche Verwaltung)
Freiherr-vom-Stein-Strasse 2, Speyer, Germany

CONTACT
Prof Thomas König 
Tel : +49-6232-654-355 – Fax: +49-6232-654-127 
Email: tkoenig@dhv-speyer.de 
Webpage: http://www.dhv-speyer.de/tkoenigenglish/

PARTNERS
• Prof Simon Hug, Institut für Politikwissenschaft, University 

of Zürich (UNIZH), Switzerland.

• Prof Crombez Christophe, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven 

(KUL.DAEC), Belgium.

• Prof Paul Pennings, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 

– Vereniging voor Christelijk Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs, 
(VUA.SCS.PS), Netherlands.

• Dr Han Dorussen, University of Essex, UESSEX.DG,  

United Kingdom.

• Prof Georgios Pagoulatos, Athens University of Economics 

and Business, ATHUEB.DIE, Greece.

• Prof Simon Hix, London School of Economics and Political 

Science, (LSEPS.GD), United Kingdom.

• Dr Kenneth Benoit, Trinity College Dublin (UDTC.DPS), 

Ireland.

Descartes Research 2006.indd   31

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tHE GRANd JuRy

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

Descartes	Research	Prize	2006
		Grand	Jury	Members

Dr claudie Haigneré
Astronaut and neuroscientist 

Professor
Jan Balzarini
Medicine
2001 Descartes Prize winner

 2

President of the Grand Jury 2006

Senior Adviser to director-general of the European Space Agency 
A  medical  doctor  and  neuroscientist  by  training,  Claudie  Haigneré  is  a  senior  adviser  to  the 
director-general  of  the  European  Space  Agency.  She  is  also  a  faculty  member  at  the  french 
Academy of technology, the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and the Academie des 
Sports. dr Haigneré is the only professional woman astronaut in Europe. She has taken part in two 
space missions: the first scientific mission (Cassiopée) aboard MIR, the Russian space station, in 
1996, and another (Andromede) on the International Space Station in 2001. dr Haigneré is also a 
qualified station and spacecraft flight engineer and a cosmonaut rescuer for Soyuz. She became a 
member of the European Astronaut Corps on joining the ESA in 1999. She has held two ministerial 
posts  in  the  french  government:  Research  and  New  technologies  (2002-2004)  and  European 
Affairs (2004-2005). She has been decorated by the french state, receiving the prestigious Officier 
de la légion d’Honneur and Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite. She has also received the 
Russian Order of friendship between the Peoples, and another for Personal Valour.

Professor at the School of Medicine, KU Leuven, Belgium
Jan Balzarini is on the board of directors of the International Society for Antiviral Research and 
professor  at  the  Rega  Institute  for  Medical  Research.  He  studied  biology  and  bioengineering 
at the Ku leuven in Belgium. In 1984, he obtained a doctorate in bioengineering. He attended 
the  National  Institutes  of  Health  in  Bethesda,  Md,  for  a  post-doctorate  focusing  on  the 
discovery  and  pharmacology  of  novel  medicines  against  HIV.  Back  at  the  Rega  Institute,  he 
further  expanded  his  antiviral  research,  coordinated  a  variety  of  research  networks  sponsored 
by the European Commission, and was at the core of the discovery of an entirely novel class of 
therapeutics for HIV and hepatitis B. He won a descartes Prize in 2001 the Blaise Pascal Medal 
of the European Academy of Sciences in 2003, and the Sanofi-Aventis Award of the American 
Society of Microbiology in 2006. Jan Balzarini is currently head of the laboratory of Virology and 
Chemotherapy at the Rega Institute.

Descartes Research 2006.indd   32

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Professor 
Marcia c. Barbosa
Biology

Professor  
tatiana Birshtein
Biochemistry
Physics/mathematics

Professor
Jean-Patrick
connerade
Physics

Professor
Yves coppens
Palaeontology

Professor
Pierre coullet
Physics

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

2006

Professor at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil 
Born  and  educated  in  Porto  Alegre,  Brazil,  Marcia  Barbosa’s  career  includes  research 
in  statistical  physics,  with  particular  application  in  the  study  of  phase  transitions  in 
complex fluids. She is the head of the Complex Fluids Group at the UFRGS. Besides her 
own research, she has been active in gender studies and organisations promoting gender 
equity. She chairs the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics’ Working Group on 
Women in Physics.

Principal Research Scientist, the Institute of Macromolecular Compounds, 
the Russian Academy of Science (IMC RAS), St Petersburg, Russia
Born  and  educated  in  leningrad  (presently  St  Petersburg),  tatiana  Birshtein’s  scientific  career 
has been connected with the IMC RAS since 1958. She is the author of a monograph entitled 
“Conformations of macromolecules”, with OB Ptitsyn (issued in 1964 in Russian and later translated 
and  published  abroad),  and  more  than  250  papers  in  the  field  of  the  statistical  mechanics  of 
polymeric systems. for many years, she has been the group leader in International and Russian 
Grants. She has sat on the editorial board of several polymeric journals: Macromolecular theory 
and  Simulations  (1992-2002),  Polymer  Science  (Russian,  1988-1999),  Acta  Polymerica  (1990-
1999) and Biophysical Chemistry (1983-1997). Professor Birshtein has received a large number 
of  awards,  including  Honoured  Professor,  Honoured  Research  Scientist  for  the  Best  Scientific 
Publication in Russia in 2000, and the Medal for the defence of leningrad (1944).

Professor at the Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine, London, 
and President of EuroScience
Jean-Patrick Connerade’s distinguished career spans nearly 40 years, starting as a state scholar 
in physics at Imperial College, london, in 1965, and culminating in his ongoing presidency of the 
renowned EuroScience Association. In between, he has researched atomic physics in the uK, in 
france and in Germany, and has taught at institutions in london, Paris and Bonn. He has served 
on numerous committees – including the Synchrotron Radiation Committees of the Science and 
Engineering  Research  Council  and  of  the  laboratoire  luRE  in  Orsay.  Professor  Connerade  has 
been Honorary Editor of the Journal of Physics B. Among other things, he joined the Association 
of Scientists in St Petersburg, was elected fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and to the 
Council of Physics College of the EPSRC on two occasions. He also serves on the External Advisory 
Group for the Commission’s Marie Curie Actions.

Professor at the Collége de France and Chair of Palaeoanthropology and Prehistory 
at the Collége de France
Born and educated in france, yves Coppens’ long career includes a research stint at the National 
Scientific Research Centre, some 14 years at the National Museum of Natural History as professor 
and chair of anthropology, a directorship at the Museum of Man, membership of the french, Italian 
and Belgian Academies of Science, as well as other prestigious organisations. He has carried out 
a wide range of field research in Chad, Ethiopia, the Maghreb, Asia, Russia and more. Professor 
Coppens has around 800 publications to his name, has won several European and international 
awards, and has earned honorary doctorates from universities in Italy, Belgium and the uSA.

Professor at the University of Nice, France, and Senior Member of the Institut 
Universitaire de France
Pierre Coullet’s association with the descartes Prize began in 2001, as panel president for the basic 
sciences section. He was a researcher at france’s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 
(CNRS) between 1975 and 1987. He co-founded the Institut Non-linéaire de Nice in 1991, which 
he headed between 1995 and 2002. He also founded and heads the Insitut Robert Hooke. He has 
won several awards, including Germany’s highest, the Humboldt Prize, and sits on various science 
panels, including that of the Institut universitaire de france. His long list of publications in the 
fields  of  dynamical  systems,  chaos,  turbulence  and  self-organisation  (in  fluids,  liquid  crystal, 
chemical reaction and biological systems) includes many major peer-reviewed journals.

Descartes Research 2006.indd   33

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23/02/07   8:01:01

tHE GRANd JuRy

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

Professor Patrick
cunningham
Genetics

Professor Ayse erzan
Physics

Dr cristina Gavrilovici
Bioethics and medicine

Professor Andrzej 
Górski
Medicine and bioethics

Professor
elmars Grens
Biomedicine
Genetics/biology

Professor of Animal Genetics at Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland
Patrick Cunningham was formerly deputy director (research) at the Irish National Agriculture and 
food  Research  Institute  (1980-1988),  visiting  professor  at  the  Economic  development  Institute 
of the world Bank (1988), and director of the Animal Production and Health division of the uN’s 
food and Agriculture Organisation (1990-1993). He has published extensively on the genetics of 
domesticated animals. He is co-founder and chairman of the biotechnology company IdentiGEN. He 
has been president of the European and world Associations of Animal Production, and served on the 
European life Sciences Group which advised former Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin.

Professor, Department of Physics, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey
Ayse  Erzan  is  a  professor  at  Istanbul  technical  university’s  department  of  Physics.  Professor 
Erzan was born and educated in turkey, as well as the united States. She spent many years in 
Portugal, Germany and the Netherlands doing research in statistical physics as well as teaching. 
She has been at the physics department of the Istanbul technical university for the last 16 years, 
and is also associated with the feza Gursey Institute for Basic Research. She is a member of the 
turkish Academy of Sciences, the Palestine Academy for Science and technology and twAS, the 
Academy of Sciences for the developing world. She has served on the editorial boards of various 
scientific journals and on the IuPAP Committee for Statistical Physics, as well as on human rights 
and ethics committees. She was the 2003 laureate from Europe of the l’Oreal-uNESCO prize for 
women in Science. She also won the annual prize of the Scientific and technological Research 
Council of turkey (tuBItAK) in 1997.

Member of the Bioethics Committee, Romanian College of Physicians, Romania
dr Cristina Gavrilovici has a background in bioethics and medicine, having acquired a Phd cum laude 
in medicine (paediatrics) and a Master of Arts in bioethics. She completed her training in Romania 
and the united States. Currently, she is a member of the Romanian Bioethics Committee and her 
main areas of interest are research ethics, ethical issues in genetic technologies and procreative 
liberties. She has published in both paediatric nephrology research and bioethics domains. 

Professor, the Medical University of Warsaw (MUW), Poland
Born in Poland, Andrzej Górski studied medicine at the Muw. Between 1974 and 1976, he was 
a fulbright scholar at the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New york (uSA). His 
major  research  interests  focus  on  immunology,  transplantation  and  bacteriophages.  Between 
1996 and 1999, he was rector of the Muw. Professor Górski has organised seven international 
conferences in the field of ethics in science, and currently chairs the bioethics commission at 
the Polish Ministry of Health. He is a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences (and is also 
the director of the l Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental therapy there) and the 
Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Scientific Director, the Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Latvia
Born and educated in latvia, Elmars Grens graduated from the university of latvia’s faculty of 
chemistry, and is currently a professor of molecular biology at the same university. He is a member 
of the latvian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Sciences and Academia Europaea. 
Professor  Grens  is  also  a  member  of  the  latvian  Science  Council  and  the  Strategic  Analysis 
Commission. His main research interests are in the field of biomedicine, namely gene structure and 
expression, molecular virology, gene and protein engineering, and recombinant biotechnology.

 

Descartes Research 2006.indd   34

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DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

2006

Professor nouzha 
Guessous Idrissi
Medicine and bioethics

Professor Lucia  
Mendonça Previato
Microbiology

Professor  
Gretty M. Mirdal
Psychology

Professor
Wubbo ockels
Engineering and astronautics

Professor of Medical Parasitology and Chair of UNESCO’s International Bioethics 
Committee 
Educated in Morocco and france, Nouzha Guessous Idrissi has been teaching and carrying out 
research in the field of medical parasitology for some 28 years, as a Professor at the Medical 
faculty of Casablanca university and the former head of the diagnosis and Research laboratory 
at the university Hospital of Casablanca. Her wide lab and field research in Morocco has covered 
such topics as leishmaniasis and the interaction between parasites and their environment. Since 
1999, she has been acting as an expert for the uN-sponsored Special Programme for Research 
and training in tropical diseases (tdR). Concomitantly, Professor Idrissi is a founding member 
of  the  Moroccan  Organisation  of  Human  Rights,  a  consultant  for  women  rights  NGOs,  and  a 
member of the Royal Advisory Commission for the Revision of the Moroccan family Code. She has 
also been dedicating more of her attention to the field of bioethics. In Morocco, she is a member 
of the Ethics Committee for Biomedical Research and of the Moroccan Association for Bioethics. 
Internationally,  she  has  sat  on  uNESCO’s  International  Bioethics  Committee  since  2000  –  she 
became vice-chair in 2002 and the Chair in december 2005.

Institute of Biophysics Carlos Chagas Filho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
lucia Mendonça Previato was born and educated in Brazil. from 1972 to 1976, she undertook 
her graduate studies at the federal university of Rio de Janeiro, where she was awarded a Phd 
in microbiology and immunology. In the late 1970s, she did post-doctoral work on carbohydrate 
chemistry at the National Research Council of Canada, Saskatoon and on glycobiology at the 
department  of  Biochemistry,  university  of  California,  Berkeley  (uSA).  In  1980,  she  established 
a Surface Structure of Micro-organisms laboratory at the federal university of Rio de Janeiro’s 
Institute of Microbiology, which she directed until taking up her present position, in 2001, at 
the Carlos Chagas filho Institute of Biophysics’ laboratory of Glycobiology, located at the same 
university.  Her  honours  include  the  National  Research  Council  of  Brazil’s  top  Research  Career 
Investigator (1986); the Petrobras Award’s National Invention Prize (1987); the Rio de Janeiro State 
Award for Biological Sciences (1999); the National Order of Merit in Science (Ordem Nacional do 
Mérito Científico) (2001); and the l’Oréal-uNESCO laureate for latin America (2004). dr Previato 
has been the editor-in-chief of Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Science since 2003.

Professor, Transcultural and Clinical Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Gretty  M.  Mirdal  is  professor  of  transcultural  and  clinical  psychology  at  the  university  of 
Copenhagen. She is an expert in the areas of mental and physical health in migration and health 
psychology. Professor Mirdal is also involved in international research policy and administration 
at  the  highest  level.  She  chairs  the  Standing  Committee  for  Humanities  at  the  European 
Science  foundation,  is  a  member  of  the  board  of  the  danish  Research  foundation  (danmarks 
Grundforskningsfond),  and  sits  on  the  European  Research  Advisory  Board  (EuRAB).  Professor 
Mirdal is the former chair of the Committee for the Humanities and Social Sciences at france’s 
Agence Nationale de la Recherche, as well as a former member of the Scientific Board of france’s 
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and of the grand jury of the Institut universitaire de 
france.  She is a fellow of the Royal danish Academy of Sciences and letters.

Chair, Aerospace for Sustainable Engineering and Technology at Delft University of 
Technology, The Netherlands
Born  in  the  Netherlands,  wubbo  Ockels  holds  EStEC’s  professorial  chair  in  the  aerospace 
engineering faculty at the technical university delft. He completed a doctorate in physics and 
mathematics at the university of Groningen (the Netherlands) in 1978 on the basis of work at 
its Nuclear Physics Accelerator Institute. Shortly after, the European Space Agency  chose him 
as a payload specialist to train for the Spacelab-1 mission at the uS space agency NASA. He 
performed this task on the successful 1985 Spacelab d-1 mission, launched on-board the space 
shuttle Challenger. In addition to his EStEC duties, he has been involved in ESA’s future manned 
space flight activities, the Columbus programme and the International Space Station. He advised 
the department of Automation and Informatics in the Netherlands and initiated the Agency’s 
education programme.

Descartes Research 2006.indd   35

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tHE GRANd JuRy

DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

Professor Mary osborn
Molecular biology

Dr Rossella
Palomba
Demography

Dr nadia Rosenthal
Biology

Professor Karen siune
Social sciences

Max Planck scientist and past president of the International Union of Biochemistry 
and Molecular Biology
Born in the uK, Mary Osborn studied physics at the university of Cambridge (uK) and obtained her 
Phd in biophysics from Penn State university (uSA). later career stages took her to Harvard (uSA), 
to the laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge (uK), to Cold Spring Harbor laboratory (uSA) 
and then to the Max Planck Institute for biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen (dE), where she also 
became honorary professor in the medical faculty at the Georg August university (dE). She was 
awarded the Meyenburg Prize and the l’Oréal/uNESCO Prize for her work on cytoskeletal and 
nuclear proteins in animal cells. Professor Osborn is a member of the European Molecular Biology 
Organisation and holds an honorary doctorate from the Pomerian Medical Academy in Sczeczin 
(Pl). She was a trustee of the Swedish foundation on the Environment, MIStRA, and has chaired 
both the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Molecular Biology laboratory in Heidelberg, 
and the Cell Biology Section of Academia Europaea. from 2003 to 2006, Professor Osborn was 
the  president  of  the  International  union  of  Biochemistry  and  Molecular  Biology  (IuBMB),  an 
organisation representing biochemists and molecular biologists in 72 countries.

Director of Research at the National Research Council, Italy
Italian Rossella Palomba is head of the department of Population, Social Behaviour and Policies at 
the National Institute for Population Research and Social Policies in Rome, Italy. Her main fields of 
interest are related to the analysis of changes in family structure and behaviour, couple formation 
and dissolution, fertility, and gender roles. dr Palomba was a member of the National Committee 
for  Sociology,  Statistics  and  Economy,  the  National  Committee  for  the  Environment,  and  the 
Italian Representative on the European Commission-appointed Committee on Human Potential 
and Mobility. She was vice-president of uNESCO’s European Observatory on Population Education 
and Information. She also held the presidency of the Italian Committee for Valorisation of women 
in Science. dr Palomba has written ten books and more than 150 articles in international and 
national scientific journals. She is also the Italian Ambassador for Equal Opportunities in Science.

Head of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Monterotondo 
Outstation, Italy
Born in the united States, Nadia Rosenthal was awarded a Phd in 1981 from Harvard Medical 
School and trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health. She moved to 
EMBl  from  the  Cardiovascular  Research  Center  at  Harvard,  where  she  directed  a  biomedical 
research laboratory at the Massachusetts General Hospital. She served on the editorial staff at 
the New England Journal of Medicine, where she was a consultant on molecular medicine and 
editor of the molecular medicine series. Since her arrival in Europe in 2001 to direct the EMBl 
Mouse Biology unit in Rome, dr Rosenthal has become a member of EMBO, and was awarded 
the ferrari-Soave Prize in Cell Biology from the university of turin. She has served on numerous 
Eu  grant  review  and  prize  committees,  advisory  panels  and  editorial  boards.  She  also  holds  a 
professorship  in  cardiovascular  science  at  Imperial  College  london  (uK).  Professor  Rosenthal’s 
research focuses on developmental genetics, the molecular biology of ageing and the role of stem 
cells in tissue regeneration.

Director, the Danish Centre for Studies in Research and Research Policy
Karen Siune has headed the danish Centre for Studies in Research and Research Policy – which she 
helped build up between 1997 and 2003 – since 2004. Her areas of research interest include the role 
of science in society, comparative research policy studies and citizens’ attitudes towards science. 
during her successful career, Professor Siune has held various faculty positions at the universities 
of Aarhus (dK) and Michigan (uSA). She has also sat on several danish government commissions. 
Between 2002 and 2006, she chaired the Science and Society Advisory Group connected to the 
Sixth framework Programme for Research. from 1995 to 2001, Professor Siune was vice-president 
of the European Advisory Committee on Statistical Information in the economic and social spheres. 
She has also been involved in a number of Eu-funded research programmes.

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DescARtes ReseARcH PRIZe 2006

2006

Professor
edward P.J.
van den Heuvel
Astronomy
2002 Descartes Prize winner

Dr Georges
Vassiliou
Economics

Professor at the University of Amsterdam (UA), The Netherlands
until 2005, Edward P.J. van den Heuvel had chaired the Netherlands foundation for Research in 
Astronomy for nine years. He has been a professor of Astrophysics at uA since 1974, and was 
director of the Astronomical Institute and the Centre for High Energy Astrophysics until January 
2005. He has carried out astrophysical research at the universities of utrecht (Nl), Brussels (BE), 
California (Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara) in the united States and at the Institute for Advanced 
Study  in  Princeton  (uSA).  He  led  the  team  which  was  awarded  the  2002  descartes  Prize  for 
the discovery of the places of origin of giant cosmic explosions producing the cosmic bursts of 
gamma-ray radiation.

Businessman, Visiting Professor, Politician, Cyprus
Born  in  famagusta,  Cyprus,  Georges  Vassiliou  has  a  degree  and  doctorate  in  economics  from 
the university of Economics in Budapest. Back in Cyprus, after a few years of work in the uK as 
a market researcher, he established his own company, Middle East Marketing Research Bureau, 
which  provided  market  research  and  consultancy  services  in  the  Middle  East,  and  from  1990 
onwards in Central and Eastern Europe. the company presently covers the whole area with offices 
in 30 countries. In 1988, he was elected president of the Republic of Cyprus, serving until 1993. 
In 1998, he was appointed chief negotiator and coordinator of Cyprus’ effort to join the Eu. He 
established the university of Cyprus and the Cyprus Institute of Management and, since 1987, 
has been a visiting professor at Cranfield university in the uK.

During its six-year history, the Descartes Prize has also been honoured by contributions from: 

Professor Ene Ergma 

Former President of the Descartes Grand Jury  
and former President of the X Riigikogu,  
the Estonian Parliament (2003-2006), currently Vice-President

Membership

2003-2005  

Dr Leo Esaki  

Nobel Prize winner in Physics (1973)   

2004-2005

Professor José Mariano Gago  Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Portugal  2003

Professor Helena Ilnerová 

President, Czech Academy of Sciences  

Mr Pantelis Kyriakides 

Vice-President, European Patent Office  

Sir John Maddox 

Former editor of Nature  

2001-2004

2000-2004

2000-2002

Dr Ulf Merbold 

Dr Yves Michot 

Former astronaut and former coordinator of the International  
Space Station at the European Space Agency  

2000-2002  
and 2005

President, Défense Conseil Internationale  
former President of ‘Aérospatiale’ (France)
and former President of the Descartes Grand Jury 

Professor Helga Nowotny 

Chair, European Research Advisory Board  

Professor Nikolaï Platé 

Vice-President, Russian Academy of Sciences  

2000-2002   

2003-2004

2000-2004  

Dr Anna C. Roosevelt 

Professor of Anthropology, University of Illinois, USA  

2000-2003

Professor Margarita Salas  
Falgueras 

Research Professor at the Spanish Research Council (CSIC)  
and former President of the Institute of Spain (1995-2003)  

2001 

Ion Siotis 

Dr Susan Solomon 

Former Research Director at the National Centre for Science  
Research ‘Demokritos’ in Athens, Greece  

2002-2005 

Senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric   
Administration (NOAA) Boulder, Colorado  

2005 

Mr Rudi Thomaes 

President and CEO, Alcatel Bell  

2001-2003

Descartes Research 2006.indd   37

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Descartes Research 2006.indd   38

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René	Descartes	

To	think...	

is	to	be	

The  philosopher,  mathematician  and  scientist  René 
Descartes  (1596-1650),  also  known  as  Cartesius,  was 
a pioneer of the Age of Reason and was one of the key 
players  of  the  European  scientific  revolution.  Like  other 
leading thinkers of his time, he stressed the separation of 
reason  and  faith.  This  meant  that  he  could  be  sceptical 
concerning  the  philosophical  and  theological  positions 
taken by the Church, while maintaining his Catholic faith.

He is known both as the ‘founder of modern philosophy’ 
due to his attempt to explore fresh philosophical avenues 
and the ‘father of modern mathematics’ because of the 
headway he made in reconciling different strands of the 
discipline.

Descartes believed that the world was created in such a 
way that its workings are amenable to human intelligence. 
He  invented  analytical  geometry  –  which  bridged  the 
gap between algebra and geometry and paved the way 
for calculus – and developed a detailed account of the 
physical universe in terms of matter and motion. 

His famous work Meditations on First Philosophy is now 
perhaps best remembered for the statement ‘cogito, ergo 
sum’ (‘I think, therefore I am’). This simple declaration was 
the outcome of his attempt to arrive at a fundamental set 
of principles that one can know as true without any doubt. 

He posited that the only certainties that could be asserted 
with any confidence were simply the fact of doubting itself, 
and  the  inference  that  something  exists  which  is  doing 
the  doubting,  i.e.  Descartes  himself.  Through  a  process  of 
hyperbolic  doubt  and  reasoning,  he  discarded  perception 
as  unreliable  and  instead  admitted  only  scientifically  and 
mathematically based deduction as a method. 

Born in France, Descartes was the quintessential European 
scientist  who  travelled  widely  around  Europe.  Between 
1620 and 1628, he spent time in Hungary, Germany, Italy 
and  France.  His  most  productive  years  were  spent  in  The 
Netherlands  –  where  he  wrote  Discourse  on  the  Method, 
published  in  1637,  and  other  major  works.  There,  he  met 
the Dutch philosopher and scientist Isaac Beeckman, who 
sparked  his  interest  in  mathematics  and  the  new  physics, 
particularly the problem of falling heavy bodies.

He  relocated  to  Stockholm  in  1649  to  become  Queen 
Christina of Sweden’s teacher but died of pneumonia a year 
later. Like the Enlightenment scholars who followed in his 
footsteps,  Descartes  corresponded  widely  –  most  notably 
with  the  Cambridge  Platonist  Henry  More  (1614-1683) 
–  and  was  one  of  the  first  people  to  suggest  a  universal 
language  through  which  people  of  different  nationalities 
could exchange ideas.

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