The European Research Council (ERC) has agreed to fund two high-profile international projects with ETH’s backing. Markus Reiher is helping to accelerate the development of chemical catalysts, while Christoph Studer is working on a new wireless communication solution.

The two ETH Zurich professors Markus Reiher (left) and Christoph Studer each receive an ERC Synergy Grant. (Images: Markus Bertschi, Giulia Marthaler / ETH Zurich)

The Synergy Grants are one of four individual funding schemes of the European Research Council (ERC). The EU is donating several million euros to projects run by two, three or four researchers who complement each other in their combined effort. The idea is that, by combining different areas of expertise, methods, disciplines and infrastructures, the teams can solve challenging research questions. Funding is only awarded for scientific excellence and to research collaborations that create added value.

This year, two of the prestigious grants will go to researchers at ETH Zurich. Markus Reiher, Professor of Theoretical Chemistry, is part of a consortium that aims to use a new approach to significantly accelerate the development of new catalysts. Christoph Studer, Professor of Integrated Information Processing, is being funded to develop a completely new wireless communication solution with an international team.

More about the projects:

Catalysts for the chemical processes of tomorrow

The chemical industry is increasingly relying on biomass, renewable energies and recycling to replace the use of fossil raw materials. This requires new chemical processes – and new catalysts that make these processes possible. At the present, however, it often takes many years to develop new catalysts.

ETH Professor Markus Reiher is part of a consortium that aims to use a new approach to accelerate catalyst development. In contrast to today’s practice, one synthesis step will use not just one catalyst, but dozens of different catalysts combined. These catalysts can be selectively activated, either electrically or by UV light, and can take on new structures with different catalytic properties. This concept is called dynamic adaptive catalysis.

The researchers will develop a sophisticated system that gives them an in-depth understanding of dynamic catalysis reactions, which will then enable them to control and optimise it. This involves the use of a highly sensitive mass spectrometry method to track the substances produced in the chemical reactions, as well as computer models.

The project involves an expert in chemical synthesis from the University of Regensburg, Germany, who himself developed dynamic adaptive catalysis, a mass spectrometry expert from Radboud Universiteit in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and Markus Reiher from ETH Zurich, an expert in theoretical chemistry.

Reiher develops computer-aided models based on quantum mechanical principles. These computer models capture tens of thousands of theoretically possible reactions and intermediates. The models can be used to simulate and predict the chemical reactions, making it easier to find optimal catalytic conditions.

This ERC Synergy project has received €10 million in funding. €2.9 million of the grant will go to ETH Zurich. The new, rational design should make it possible to develop new optimal and efficient catalysts within weeks instead of years. This will help in areas such as the recycling of plastic waste, the conversion of renewable raw materials into basic chemicals, and “green chemistry” in general.

A completely new solution for wireless communication

ETH Professor Christoph Studer is part of an international research team aiming to develop an innovative technology for wireless communication, a solution that will work in a fundamentally different way than today’s systems.

This idea is fuelled by the ever-increasing demand for mobile data rates. If this trend continues, current and next-generation technologies under development will reach their absolute limits. In the future, many more antennas will be deployed than today, which will drive up costs. Moreover, we will not be able to sustainably meet the much higher demand for electricity.

As part of the ERC Synergy project, Studer and his colleagues will develop a new technology; the fundamental difference being that it processes signals primarily at the radio-signal level instead of in electronic circuits.

This technology will require a new way of processing signals using specially developed surfaces. These surfaces will feature nanometre-scale structures, which means they are smaller than radio wavelengths. It will be possible to control and change these structural elements in a targeted manner, thereby deflecting, bundling or filtering the radio waves as a result. Sensors will measure the waves, and – within microseconds – processors will calculate new parameters and send corresponding signals to the structural elements. Compared to today, this new technology will be much more energy efficient and will require significantly fewer electronic circuits.

The EU is providing a total of €9.9 million in funding for the six-year project, of which ETH Zurich will receive €2.3 million. One key aim is to develop demonstration systems to validate the new technology.

The project partner at the City University of New York is responsible for developing the controllable nanosurfaces. ETH Professor Studer will develop computer models that can be used to quickly calculate the nanosurfaces’ properties. He will also develop algorithms for controlling the structural elements as well as the chip that calculates the nanosurface configurations. Researchers from the Technical University of Berlin and the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Paris are also involved in the project and will ensure that the technology is both physically practical and mathematically sound.