Press release -
Politecnico di Milano and Università di Milano-Bicocca awarded an ERC Synergy Grant on next-generation numerical methods for sustainability challenges
The international research project NEMESIS funded for almost 8 million euros by the European programme for six years. The Université de Montpellier and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique arealso involved
Milan, 26 October 2023 - Developing new-generation numerical methods for the technological challenges of the 21st century, mainly in sustainability. This is the objective underpinning NEMESIS (NEw GEneration MEthods for Numerical SImulationS), an international research project involving Politecnico di Milano and Università di Milano-Bicocca, which today has been awarded one of the 37 Synergy Grants by the European Research Council (ERC). A total of 395 proposals were received. ERC Synergy Grants fund research on topics that are ambitious and complex enough to require the creation of a specific team including two to four researchers operating in strong synergy.
The team of researchers has been awarded EUR 7.8 million for 6 years. It is made up of Paola F. Antonietti, professor of Numerical Analysis and Head of MOX Laboratory for Modelling and Scientific Computing of the Department of Mathematics at Politecnico di Milano; Lourenco Beirao da Veiga, professor of Numerical Analysis at Università di Milan-Bicocca; Daniele A.Di Pietro, Université de Montpellier; and Jérôme Droniou, director of research at CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
The NEMESIS project is in the field of applied and computational mathematics and aims to develop a new generation of numerical methods, starting from the theoretical foundations up to their computational implementation. It also faces the challenge of validating their use in sustainability-relevant applications such as geophysics (e.g., in the mitigation of the effects of anthropic activities in the subsoil and energy transition issues) and advanced manufacturing processes.
Specifically, a numerical method will be able to simulate the seismic and environmental risks associated with past and future CO2 storage operations in the subsoil, or infiltration of pollutants in a given area subjected to this process. Another possible application will be systems for aluminium extraction by smelting, in the Industry 4.0 domain. Mathematical models will be able to simulate the steps for the low environmental impact production of aluminium from bauxite.
This methodology, compared to previous ones, will have a better ability to approximate the data and the geometric domain, will allow for the direct integration of specific physics laws into the numerical domain, thus reflecting the true structure of the physical problem under investigation, and will be more efficient in computational processing.
“The NEMESIS project is the second Synergy Grant won by Politecnico di Milano”, Vice Rector for Research Alberto Guadagnini says, “and addresses fascinating and critically important issues in the field of sustainable development. This is a unique achievement that consolidates Politecnico’s ability to conduct research of excellence and cutting-edge research in important international scientific contexts”.
"The funding of the NEMESIS project," Guido Angelo Cavaletti, Vice-Chancellor for Research at the University of Milan-Bicocca, says "which will allow a significant improvement in the management of the complex challenges we face in the field of sustainability, is further proof that only teamwork involving researchers with different skills, even from different organisations, can address such important issues."
The two Italian researchers
Paola F. Antonietti, born in 1980, is Head of MOX Laboratory for Modelling and Scientific Computing of the Department of Mathematics and professor of Numerical Analysis at Politecnico di Milano. In 2015 she obtained a SIR (Scientific Independence of young Researchers) grant, funded by the Ministry of Universities and Research, with the project 'PolyPDEs: Non-conforming polyhedral finite element methods for the approximation of partial differential equations’. In 2020, she received the 'Jacques-Louis Lions' Prize, awarded every two years by the European Community on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences (ECCOMAS) to young researchers giving outstanding contributions to the field of computational mathematics.
Lourenco Beirao da Veiga, born in 1976, full professor of Numerical Analysis at Università di Milano-Bicocca since 2015, had already been awarded an ERC (Consolidator Grant) in 2016 (project CAVE - Challenges and Advancements in Virtual Elements) and is recognised as a 'Highly Cited Researcher' (a title awarded to researchers whose scientific work has a high number of citations), by the prestigious 'Web of Science’ scientific citation indexing platform. In 2016, he received the 'Jacques-Louis Lions' Prize.
ERC Synergy Grant
The calls from the European Research Council (ERC) are among the most competitive and prestigious in Europe and support frontier research by funding visionary and highly innovative projects. In particular, the Synergy Grant funds research on topics that are so ambitious that they require the creation of a small group of 2 to 4 Principal Investigators (the researchers who supervise and manage the project) acting in strong synergy.
This year, out of 395 proposalssubmitted under the ERC Synergy Grants programme, 37 projects (5 of which were participated in by Italian scientists) received funding, involving 135 researchers who will carry out their projects at 114 universities and research centres in 19 countries in Europe and beyond.
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Politecnico di Milano is a scientific-technological university which trains engineers, architects and industrial designers.
The University has always focused on the quality and innovation of its teaching and research, developing a fruitful relationship with business and productive world by means of experimental research and technological transfer.
Research has always been linked to didactics and it is a priority commitment which has allowed Politecnico Milano to achieve high quality results at an international level as to join the university to the business world. Research constitutes a parallel path to that formed by cooperation and alliances with the industrial system.
Knowing the world in which you are going to work is a vital requirement for training students. By referring back to the needs of the industrial world and public administration, research is facilitated in following new paths and dealing with the need for constant and rapid innovation. The alliance with the industrial world, in many cases favored by Fondazione Politecnico and by consortiums to which Politecnico belong, allows the university to follow the vocation of the territories in which it operates and to be a stimulus for their development.
The challenge which is being met today projects this tradition which is strongly rooted in the territory beyond the borders of the country, in a relationship which is developing first of all at the European level with the objective of contributing to the creation of a single professional training market. Politecnico takes part in several research, sites and training projects collaborating with the most qualified European universities. Politecnico's contribution is increasingly being extended to other countries: from North America to Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe. Today the drive to internationalization sees Politecnico Milano taking part into the European and world network of leading technical universities and it offers several courses beside many which are entirely taught in English.
