Dark100 will shine a light into an underexplored dark matter particle mass range. Driven by recent theoretical developments, both in tools and motivation, Dark100 will search for dark matter particles between 100 TeV and several tens of PeV. Leveraging novel, cost-effective telescope technology, Dark100 will deploy an array of telescopes capable of probing dark matter annihilation, improving on the sensitivity of currently operating and planned gamma-ray instruments by an order of magnitude with unprecedented energy and angular resolution. Dark100 will build a unique dataset of deep gamma-ray observations of dark-matter-rich astrophysical systems. Dark matter will potentially be detected, or in the event of non-detection, limits on its velocity-weighted annihilation cross section will be set. For a non-detection, dark matter will be ruled out for part of the probed mass range and theoretical models constrained for the full probed mass range. The impact of Dark100 will be felt beyond the dark matter community. By demonstrating a new gamma-ray telescope paradigm, Dark100 will enable a range of possible astrophysical studies with gamma rays above 100 TeV, including searches for Galactic Pevatrons and transient events. Its public data archive will encourage synergy with other gamma-ray instruments. Dark100 takes advantage of a unique moment in theoretical and technological development that enables its pioneering science goals. While the theoretical motivation is fully developed and the technology is well-tested, the deployment of the Dark100 array and collection and interpretation of its observations is an ambitious project that demands the resources of an ERC consolidator grant. The PI's leadership in dark matter searches and gamma-ray analysis and simulation make her ideally suited to direct this program.

In the Eastern Mediterranean, the four decades between 1880 and 1920 were a time of imperialism, globalisation and Ottoman state building, but also of profound social differentiation, fuelled by an unprecedented degree of human mobility and migration. Therefore, in this period we find the roots of many social formations that have remained relevant until the present. My focus is on the individual and collective practices for coping with various challenges and on census-taking as a social process. It will open up new perspectives on social and cultural dynamics in late Ottoman Palestine, in a historical context defined by European imperialism, Ottoman state building and globalisation. The main research question is: which social strategies did late Ottoman Palestinians employ, across ethnic, religious and class divides, to confront challenges on the individual and collective levels? These include fostering social advancement of one’s household or coping with economic stress. My hypothesis is that an accumulation of individual actions led to the constant emergence and re-emergence of social formations. Using the census process and its data I will establish yardsticks that will make it possible to compare social practices across the region and beyond, and thus contribute to ongoing efforts to write a global social and cultural history and it will develop a theoretical framework and methodological standards that will be useful for similar research projects. Specifically, the project aims to set new standards for how to realise the vision of an HGIS for the entire Ottoman Empire. Enabling comparison with other sources it may also offer intriguing new perspectives for the study of colonialism, notably under the British Mandate.

Carbanionic compounds such as organolithium or Grignard reagents are important organometallic reagents and commonly used in organic synthesis for difficult deprotonation or C-C bond formation reactions. Due to the strongly polarized metal carbon bond these reagents are usually highly reactive and sensitive towards air and moisture and thus must be handled under strictly anhydrous conditions. Owing to this intrinsic reactivity, carbanionic compounds are usually only prepared in situ and scarcely applied beyond their classical use as strong bases or alkylation reagents. Free carbanions without stabilizing metal-carbon inter¬action are usually even more reactive but can be isolated when being stabilized by electron withdrawing groups. These naked carbanions are isoelectronic to simple amines. Yet, whereas amines are applied in various fields of chemistry not only as bases but also as versatile building blocks and functional groups, applications of free carbanions are very limited. This project will change the perspective on carbanionic compounds. By careful molecular design the reactivity of carbanions will be controlled to enable their use as broadly applicable building blocks and functional groups. Experimental and computational methods will provide a fundamental understanding of the electronic structure and its influencing factors, thus allowing for a systematic use of the anionic nature and donor capacity of carbanions to reach properties and reactivities, which are not accessible via conventional strategies. Thus, we will provide a new toolbox for the design of smart anionic reagents and catalysts. The power of this concept will be demonstrated by applying carbanions in different research directions ranging from the stabilization of main group species with unusual electronic properties, to designing new bifunctional catalysts with abundant s- and p-block elements and the generation of versatile weakly coordinating anions.