An ERC Proof of Concept grant to F. Dias

Frédéric Dias, professor at Centre Borelli and University College Dublin has received an innovation top-up funding (Proof of Concept Grant) for the valorization of researches conducter in the framework of its ERC project, HIGHWAVE (2019). Part of this project consists in the implementation of an experimental device for measuring waves at sea and their breaking.

Published on 25 January 2023

ERC Proof of Concept Grants

This grant allocated by the European Research Council is intended for researchers who have received an ERC Advanced Grant. It is part of the European Union's research and innovation program, Horizon Europe.

The grants – each worth 150.000 euro – help researchers to bridge the gap between the discoveries stemming from their frontier research and the practical application of the findings, including early phases of their commercialisation.

In 2022/2023, a total of 366 grantees received this additional funding, including that of Frédéric Dias entitled REALTIMESEA : "Real-time measurements of oceanic waves using connected buoys and mobile stations".

Project HIGHWAVE

Why do waves break? How do they dissipate energy, and how important is the breaking of waves?

Located at the frontiers of coastal and ocean engineering, earth system science, statistics and fluid mechanics, the HIGHWAVE project explores fundamental open questions about wave breaking.

Ultimately, it will allow the development of operational and predictive models applicable to shipbuilding, port infrastructure, coastal erosion, energy recovery devices, or the analysis of CO2 transfers at the heart of wave dynamics, which are one of the keys to climate change.

This is the second ERC project of Frédéric Dias, a world leader in fluid dynamics research. His work on rogue waves was also awarded a Proof of Concept Grant in 2014.