Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : TRANS (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ETH Zurich
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999715.0 €

This ERC CoG will serve to build a strong multidisciplinary group concentrating on the synthesis of novel functional dielectric polymers that are printed into devices capable of converting one form of energy into another. Research spans all the way from materials’ synthesis and optimization, via device engineering to exploration of the manifold applications. TRANS will develop novel high dielectric permittivity elastomers and piezoelectric elastomers with an unprecedented collection of properties and use them as active components in devices for emerging technologies. The devices are not only of high technological and scientific importance, but also exhibit substantial economic and societal impact. They will reversibly change their shape in response to an electric field, generate electricity when mechanically stretched, cool while using little energy, convert thermal energy directly into electricity and, finally, store electricity in the form of batteries. The polymers developed in TRANS will combine either unprecedentedly high dielectric permittivity with a high dielectric breakdown field or piezoelectric properties with high elasticity. They have the potential to revolutionize different fields of applications such as actuators, sensors, energy harvesting, artificial muscles, soft robotics, energy storage, stretchable electronics, and solid-state refrigeration. A particularly important aspect concerns the synthesis of scalable and environmentally friendly, easy-to-apply and process printable inks, which are the active ingredients of various devices. After project termination, the applicant’s group will expand the fundamental understanding of structure-dielectric properties relationship and will be able to provide inks that are printed in prototype devices responsive to electricity, heat or mechanical stress.

Mots-clés : dielectric elastomer transducers,soft robots,stimuli responsive polymers,high dielectric permittivity elastomers,stretchable sensors
Projet ERC : RADDICS (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer science and informatics
Entité participante : Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ETH Zurich
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1996500.0 €

This ERC project pushes the boundary of reliable data-driven decision making in cyber-physical systems (CPS), by bridging reinforcement learning (RL), nonparametric estimation and robust optimization. RL is a powerful abstraction of decision making under uncertainty and has witnessed dramatic recent breakthroughs. Most of these successes have been in games such as Go - well specified, closed environments that - given enough computing power - can be extensively simulated and explored. In real-world CPS, however, accurate simulations are rarely available, and exploration in these applications is a highly dangerous proposition. We strive to rethink Reinforcement Learning from the perspective of reliability and robustness required by real-world applications. We build on our recent breakthrough result on safe Bayesian optimization (SAFE-OPT): The approach allows - for the first time - to identify provably near-optimal policies in episodic RL tasks, while guaranteeing under some regularity assumptions that with high probability no unsafe states are visited - even if the set of safe parameter values is a priori unknown. While extremely promising, this result has several fundamental limitations, which we seek to overcome in this ERC project. To this end we will (1) go beyond low-dimensional Gaussian process models and towards much richer deep Bayesian models; (2) go beyond episodic tasks, by explicitly reasoning about the dynamics and employing ideas from robust control theory and (3) tackle bootstrapping of safe initial policies by bridging simulations and real-world experiments via multi-fidelity Bayesian optimization, and by pursuing safe active imitation learning. Our research is motivated by three real-world CPS applications, which we pursue in interdisciplinary collaboration: Safe exploration of and with robotic platforms; tuning the energy efficiency of photovoltaic powerplants and safely optimizing the performance of a Free Electron Laser.

Mots-clés : reinforcement learning,algorithmic decision making,bayesian optimization,exploration,cyber physical systems
Projet ERC : TMCS (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : University of Oxford — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499622.0 €

This ERC project will build a wide-ranging theory of strongly-correlated topological states of matter in three dimensions, via analytical, numerical, and phenomenological approaches. It will use non-symmorphic crystal symmetry as an organizing principle to identify systems that are good candidates to host fractionalized states of matter. Via slave-particle mean-field theories used in concert with symmetry analysis, it will provide a systematic classification of different possible spin-charge-separated, topologically ordered, and broken-symmetry states in correlated Mott insulators and heavy-fermion materials. This mean-field study of model Hamiltonians will be wedded to a sophisticated new variational tensor-network scheme for simulating physically-realistic systems. Separately, an analytical classification of gapless ‘U(1)’ quantum spin liquids with emergent photon excitations will be implemented. Variational trial wavefunctions will also be developed to access a new class of interacting 'topological quantum paramagnets’ with gapless edge states. The symmetry analysis will be coupled to two phenomenological studies. One will examine unconventional surface state properties of topological semimetals, and extend these to the interacting regime. Another will develop a spectroscopic theory for topological matter with symmetry, leveraging results from the parton approach where possible. Experimental input from studies of nematic quantum Hall states and photoemission studies of Weyl semimetals will provide feedback to this effort. A final thrust of activity will focus on newly-proposed fracton states of matter not captured by usual theories of topological order, and will employ both analytical parton techniques and numerical quantum Monte Carlo simulations. At its close, this project will deliver a dramatically altered understanding of three dimensional topological phases and provide a new class of analytical and numerical tools as a platform for future studies.

Mots-clés : quantum condensed matter,topological phases,correlated materials,quantum entangled states
Projet ERC : SILION (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Technische Universität Berlin — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : TUB
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 0.0 €

This ERC-StG 2014 proposal, SILION, outlines a strategy for the one-pot synthesis, characterization, and reactivity investigation of a positively charged, electron-deficient, highly Lewis acidic, cationic silicon(II) species, denoted “silyliumylidene ions”. Silyliumylidene ion has only four valence electrons, consisting of a lone pair of electrons and two vacant orbitals on the central silicon atom. It will be expected to bear the best combined character of both silylenes as silicon analogue of carbene and silylium ions as silicon analogue of carbenium ions. The program described herein is also aimed at the development of silyliumylidene ion as novel catalysts based on main group elements. The proposed silyliumylidene ions should fulfil the following criteria: a) compounds can be synthesized by a facile one-pot reaction of the corresponding dichlorosilane with two equivalents of N-heterocyclic carbenes, b) silyliumylidene ions will potentially possess three reactive sites including (i) a lone pair at the silicon center, (ii) p-orbital at the silicon center, and (iii) N-heterocyclic carbenes, c) thanks to their strong sigma-donor as well as pi-acceptor ability, the highly reactive silyliumylidene ions are expected to serve as innovative reagents for activation of organic small molecules, excellent catalysts, and strikingly versatile coordination ligands toward transition metals. The target of this proposal is the introduction of facile accessible silyliumylidene ions, which are combined the best properties of silylene and silylium ions, and development of its reactivity and catalytic activity. The synthesis of silyliumylidene ions is straightforward and should allow the investigation of electronic and steric properties of the substituents and N-heterocyclic carbenes. It is anticipated that novel silyliumylidene ions can be used for a promising new building block for low-valent organosilicon compounds and high-performance catalysts.

Mots-clés : main group chemistry,silicon,silylene,silylium ion,transition metal complex,catalysis,small molecule activation
Projet ERC : MOPHIMPOC (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : University of London — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. London
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149624.0 €

This European Research Council Proof of Concept grant is focused on translating a new medical device for interventional cardiology from a proven laboratory prototype to a commercial prototype. The core innovation in this medical device is a new type of ultrasound imaging probe that can be readily integrated into medical devices to guide minimally invasive procedures. Current generation probes, which are based on electrical methods of ultrasound generation, involve complex fabrication processes that make them prohibitively expensive for many applications. The technology platform underlying the new ultrasound imaging probes includes both optical transmission and reception of ultrasound waves. The new probes are fabricated with inexpensive optical fibres, using simple techniques that are highly scalable for large-volume production. With fabrication costs that are approximately 10 times lower than those of current generation probes, they will address large under-served markets in which current generation probes are too expensive to be reimbursed. They can be readily integrated into small diameter needles and catheters, which make them attractive for a wide range of clinical applications. The commercial prototype that will be developed with this ERC POC grant will address a specific clinical application in the field of Cardiac Electrophysiology. As it will be designed to be manufactured as part of a quality system, it will be compelling for commercialization and for obtaining follow-on funding. The POC grant will be undertaken in close collaboration with Cardiac Electrophysiologists at Barts Hospital, and a medical device consultancy in the UK with expertise in the development of ultrasound imaging probes. Clinician interviews will be conducted at a European clinical congress, and the resulting insights will be included as part of a business plan and pitch presentation to external investors to obtain follow-on funding.

Mots-clés : medical device,ultrasound,optical fibre,commercial prototype,intracardiac
Projet ERC : GENETTA (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer science and informatics
Entité participante : Barcelona Supercomputing Center — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : BSC
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

This PoC project aims to pave the road to commercialize a comprehensive data analytics platform enabling data-driven biomedical innovation and precision medicine. The platform is specifically designed to efficiently fuse and mine heterogeneous omic data, including genomes, epigenomes, proteomes, metabolomes, patient clinical profiles, drugs and their chemical similarities, disease and other ontologies, and other relevant omic data. The goal of this development is to provide the most advanced software platform for fusion and analytics of numerous heterogeneous multi-scale omic data that takes advantage of novel non-negative matrix trifactorization (NMTF)-based and network mining algorithms, providing dramatic improvements in the number and type of fused data, quantity of data, computational efficiency and biomedical accuracy compared to the most advanced omic data analytics platforms currently existing. The main goal of the PoC is to close the gap between the research results of ERC Consolidator Grant, ICON-BIO, and the production of a commercial data analytics platform for the bio-pharmaceutical sector. In particular, the solution will target biopharma companies to embed the platform into their existing Data Science resources and enable effective and efficient application of the platform’s explainable AI methods (resulting from ICON-BIO) to optimize and guide their discovery processes. The result of this effort will be the achievement of a market-ready Data Analytics Platform.

Mots-clés : large scale distributed software,omics and molecular data analytics,precision medicine,data fusion,large scale data mining
Projet ERC : POHP (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : University of Bath — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149424.0 €

This Proof of Concept will exploit pyroelectric harvesting in the emerging market of oscillating heat pipes (OHPs) that can be used for cooling of electronics, lighting, solar panel and batteries. The application areas for oscillating heat pipes include thermal management of microprocessors, mobile computing devices, and LEDs, which all require small heat transfer devices. Larger electronic systems that require cooling include voltage transformers and current rectifiers, since most of the modern electronics require a direct current (DC). Solar panels and batteries benefit from OHP thermal management since an increase in temperature significantly reduces the efficiency and lifetime of the devices. Our proof of concept approach is to combine OHPs with a pyroelectric harvester to provide both thermal management and energy generation. The OHP is used to remove heat from a system to provide cooling and the naturally high temperature fluctuations in the OHP can be simultaneously transformed into useful electricity and fed back into the system to improve battery lifetime for mobile devices or reduce power demand. We will develop an industrial scaled integrated cooling and heat recovery unit utilising the abundantly available heat through an OHP in order to drive a pyroelectric generator and effectively cool heat-concentrated areas without mechanical motion, while also generating electricity locally from the otherwise wasted heat. The project contains technical and commercial activities to demonstrate the feasibility of POHP to provide cooling and harvested power. This involves the development of prototypes to showcase the potential of the technology, undertaking market analysis, end-user identification, marketing/dissemination, competitor analysis and potential business models to provide a bridge between technical development and a market ready solution.

Mots-clés : harvesting,pyroelectric,thermal,heat pipe,energy,recovery
Projet ERC : ISECO (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Individuals, Markets and Organisations
Entité participante : Fondation Jean-Jacques Laffont - Toulouse sciences économiques — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : JJL-TSE
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1815938.0 €

This application aims at fostering our knowledge of the economics of information services by studying the strategic interactions between agents involved in the production and exchange of information services. In this context, externalities play a key role explored by this proposal. Their increasing prevalence in information services can be traced to three features: - Many information services involve one-sided or two-sided network externalities. - Information is a public good and the production and exchange of information between two parties may affect other parties in a positive or negative manner. - Information services and physical infrastructures are complements. Externalities arise in the two layers of the information society, the content level and the physical infrastructure. The proposal is then organized around four parts: 1. Background theory: two-sided markets, network dynamics, contractual externalities 2. Virtual layer: recommendation systems, privacy, transaction costs 3. Physical layer: pricing , investment 4. Competition policy for two-sided markets The first part consists of the development of relevant theory with original and novel methods including for instance global games, coordination games and recent contract theory. The second part studies specific issues in information services such as the design of search engines and the right to privacy. It also includes empirical investigation of on-line transaction costs using proprietary data of transactions on e-commerce platforms. The third part is concerned with the infrastructure. It studies net-neutrality and the prices of data from the perspective of price theory, accounting for the gratuity of some services. It will also develop original dynamic investment models to understand the role of the complementarity between infrastructure and service innovation and the role of legacy. The last part will develop tools for competition policy makers.

Mots-clés : internet,information services,externality,two sided market,network,contract,investment,privacy,competition policy,game theory,microeconomics,net neutrality
Projet ERC : ECO-ZEN (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : University of Manchester — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 266638.75 €

This high-impact, challenging CoG Proposal integrates multiple novel ideas in boron and zinc chemistry into an overarching project to open up new horizons across synthesis and catalysis. The Applicant’s successful ERC StG has opened up new avenues of pioneering research in main group element mediated transformations that were not conceivable before the work was done. Components of this proposal extend out from the StG into new, exciting research areas that are completely different. Developing low toxicity earth abundant catalysts for important transformations is vital to the EU with the focus herein being on; (i) the Suzuki-Miyaura (S-M) cross coupling reaction which is ubiquitous in industry and academia, and (ii) the formation of organoboranes that are essential synthetic intermediates. Both of these are currently dominated by toxic, expensive and low abundance precious metal catalysts (e.g. Pd, Ir). This project will deliver innovation through utilising combinations of main group Lewis acids and nucleophilic anions that do not react with each other, i.e. are frustrated pairs. This “frustration” enables the two species to concertedly transform substrates to achieve: (i) precious metal-free S-M cross coupling reactions of sp3C electrophiles catalysed by zinc and boron compounds, including stereospecific couplings and one pot two step cross electrophile couplings (ii) trans-elementoboration of alkynes, including the unprecedented fluoroboration of alkynes Other new approaches will be developed to access novel (hetero)arylboronic acid derivatives using only simple boranes and without requiring noble metal catalysts, specifically: (i) boron directed C-H borylation and (ii) directed ortho borylation to enable subsequent meta selective SEAr C-H functionalisation. This CoG will afford the freedom and impetus via consolidated funding to undertake fundamental research to deliver high impact results, including developing a new area of cross coupling catalysis research.

Mots-clés : cross coupling,borylation
Projet ERC : ALTERUMMA (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
Entité participante : Lund University — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 718561.63 €

This interdisciplinary project investigates the transformation of Shii Islam in the Middle East and Europe since the 1950s. The project examines the formation of modern Shii communal identities and the role Shii clerical authorities and their transnational networks have played in their religio-political mobilisation. The volatile situation post-Arab Spring, the rise of militant movements such as ISIS and the sectarianisation of geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East have intensified efforts to forge distinct Shii communal identities and to conceive Shii Muslims as part of an alternative umma (Islamic community). The project focusses on Iran, Iraq and significant but unexplored diasporic links to Syria, Kuwait and Britain. In response to the rise of modern nation-states in the Middle East, Shii clerical authorities resorted to a wide range of activities: (a) articulating intellectual responses to the ideologies underpinning modern Middle Eastern nation-states, (b) forming political parties and other platforms of socio-political activism and (c) using various forms of cultural production by systematising and promoting Shii ritual practices and utilising visual art, poetry and new media. The project yields a perspectival shift on the factors that led to Shii communal mobilisation by - analysing unacknowledged intellectual responses of Shii clerical authorities to the secular or sectarian ideologies of post-colonial nation-states and to the current sectarianisation of geopolitics in the Middle East - emphasising the central role of diasporic networks in the Middle East and Europe in mobilising Shii communities and in influencing discourses and agendas of clerical authorities based in Iraq and Iran - exploring new modes of cultural production in the form of a modern Shii aesthetics articulated in ritual practices, visual art, poetry and new media and thus creating a more holistic narrative on Shii religio-political mobilisation.

Mots-clés : transnationalism,diaspora,cultural production,islam,middle east,europe