The European Research Council’s proof of concept programme funds grantees who want to put their discoveries into practical use. At a Brussels event, 3 grantees talk about the challenges and prospects

Sure, computers can do sums. But can they think like a mathematician? In Prague Josef Urban wants to make computers prove theorems

Swiss researchers visit a watch-making school, to teach robots to think like a craftsman

Artificial intelligence could transform our world. But first, ERC researchers are trying to answer the basic questions – about life and the universe – that AI poses

ERC researcher Michael Ellison is bringing classical Turkish and Western musicians together at a big scientific conference, to show the intersections between two very different musical traditions.