Nicholas Ayache - DR The European Research Council awarded three INRIA researchers in the “Advanced grant” category: Serge Abiteboul and Olivier Faugeras, research directors at INRIA, and Rémi Abgrall, professor at the University of Bordeaux I, seconded to INRIA.

Supporting exploratory research in Europe

Since 2006, the European Research Council has sought to stimulate exploratory research in Europe. Every year, it rewards the best projects of European researchers in three fields: the social sciences, life sciences, physical sciences and engineering sciences. There are two categories: “Starting Independent grant” and “Advanced grant”.

Each ERC grant constitutes a subsidy over a maximum period of 5 years that may amount to more than 2 million euros to carry out a large-scale project. This amount allows the researcher receiving the grant to enjoy stable financial and intellectual conditions to bring such a project to fruition.

Three INRIA grant recipients in 2008

In 2008, INRIA presented 7 entries. The Institute already has three grantees in the “Advanced grant” category: 2 in mathematics and 1 in computer science. As a reminder, 2 INRIA researchers also received the ERC Starting Independent grant in 2007.

These results confirm the involvement of the Institute’s scientists in large-scale “exploratory” projects.

The Grant Recipients

Making fluid dynamics models reliable

Rémi Abgrall - © Amélie Rozet - INRIA The ADDECCO project of Rémi Abgrall, a specialist in scientific computation, deals with new, increasingly less costly mathematical methods for building numerical models of fluid dynamics that are increasingly more reliable. Rémi Abgrall is a professor at the University of Bordeaux I, seconded to the Bordeaux - Sud Ouest INRIA research center.

A new framework for Web applications

Serge Abiteboul - DR The WebDam project of Serge Abiteboul, Research Director at the Saclay - Ile-de-France INRIA research center, aims to develop a formal and universal framework for describing Web applications that involve complex and flexible interactions. This framework should also serve as a basis for future Web developments, especially data management software.

New horizons in biological and artificial vision

Olivier Faugeras - DR The NERVI project of Olivier Faugeras, world-renowned specialist in computer assisted vision, consists of developing a formal framework for describing and understanding complex visual information handling processes in man or machines. Olivier Faugeras is a Research Director at the Sophia Antipolis - Méditerranée INRIA research center.