Instead of writing detailed algorithms, a Dutch researcher is teaching computers how to prioritise tasks

Picture yourself infirm and elderly, and in need of some reliable, hands-on help with the basics of daily life. Now picture yourself with a robot helper. Would you trust it?

A robot swarm might sound like something from a sinister science fiction movie. But in the real world, a swarm of robots could do a lot of good. They could clear a beach of garbage, retrieve plastic from the ocean or build a habitable abode on Mars.

The real world is too complex to be modelled in detail, so a Dutch researcher is helping computers prioritise what’s important to get things done

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

Acoustics research powers cinema sound and virtual reality gaming. Figuring out how sound bounces of the walls of an auditorium is also essential to designing concert halls

Around 4% of the population suffers from ‘amusia’ – a disorder affecting the perception and production of pitch in music. Understanding this phenomenon could help a seemingly unrelated group: people with autism.

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.