Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : QPE (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and communication engineering
Entité participante : University of Bristol — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1978060.0 €

By harnessing the unique properties of quantum mechanics (superposition and entanglement) to encode, transmit and process information, quantum information science offers significant opportunities to revolutionise information and communication technologies. The far-reaching goal of this project is to build quantum technology demonstrators that can outperform conventional technologies in communications and computation. For quantum information technologies (QITs) to have as big an impact on society as anticipated, a practical and scalable approach is needed. One promising approach to QITs is the photonics implementation, where single particles of light (photons) are used to encode, transmit and process quantum information – in the form of photonic quantum-bits (qubits). Currently, state-of-the-art experiments are limited to the “few-photon” regime, occupying many metres of space on an optical table, constructed from bulk optical elements, with no routes to scalability and far from outperforming conventional technologies. Integrated quantum photonics has recently emerged as a new approach to address these challenges. This research programme will take an engineering approach to QITs and draw upon rapidly growing field of silicon photonics. We will develop a silicon-based quantum technology platform where single-photon sources, circuits and detectors will be integrated into miniature microchip circuits containing thousands of discrete components, enabling breakthroughs in quantum communications and computation, and developing a scalable approach to quantum technologies. There are no new physics breakthroughs required to achieve the goals of this project, however, there are hard engineering challenges that need to be addressed.
Projet ERC : FeedSax (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : University of Leicester — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 199481.25 €

By the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, England’s population was again comparable to that of Roman Britain and included substantial urban centres. By 1200, England was more densely populated than ever before. Such population growth was mirrored across much of Europe. It drove the expansion of towns and markets and was fed, literally, by an increase in agricultural productivity that involved a fundamental reorganization of the countryside. The social, economic and demographic consequences of this reorganization were so far-reaching that it has often been described as an ‘agricultural revolution’. At the heart of this proposal is the question, how and when was this revolution achieved? FeedSax will effect a breakthrough in understanding this critically important period in Europe’s agricultural history by generating new, direct evidence for changing land-use from the excavated remains of crops, animals and farms. The timing and nature of the ‘cerealisation’ of England have been debated for over a century, with arguments focusing on the origins of open fields. These arrays of strip fields were communally cultivated, requiring collective decision-making and sharing of resources. Peasant households therefore had to live close together, giving rise to the nucleated villages that remain such a striking feature of the landscape. Fields thus created communities, reconfiguring both landscapes and social geography. The spread of open fields laid the foundations for the modern countryside and is widely regarded as one of the transformative changes of the Middle Ages, yet theories about when and how this unprecedented type of agriculture emerged and spread are based on limited, indirect written and archaeological evidence. FeedSax breaks new ground by integrating scientific methods such as stable isotope and pollen analysis, radiocarbon dating, archaeobotany and archaeozoology with structural remains to resolve this hitherto intractable problem.
Projet ERC : COMPLEX (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
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 : 1499394.0 €

By viewing a scientific problem through the lens of heritage, COMPLEX will create an entirely new cross-disciplinary vision for understanding and modelling polymer degradation and build a world leading research team studying the degradation of modern polymeric objects in collections. Rather than focussing on specific chemical or physical processes, as has been done in the past, COMPLEX will consider polymeric objects as almost akin to living organisms, and by using a system dynamics approach will model objects in their environments in a way that reflects their real complexity, with multiple, inter-connecting interactions between material properties and environmental parameters. As a polymer chemist, this project has been inspired by my 4 years of experience in the field of heritage, in particular by experiencing the problems raised by the conservation of modern polymeric objects such as plastics. The development of modern polymers during the 19th and 20th centuries has changed history and society and they are a part of our material heritage that it is essential to conserve for future generations. However, these objects are at risk due to their instability and a lack of knowledge within the museum sector as to their degradation behaviour. System dynamics models will be developed incorporating multiple chemical and physical interactions between the components of polymeric objects and environmental parameters such as relative humidity or light. These will be used to predict the degradation behaviour of objects over time, to identify key parameters that are correlated to object change and provide practical solutions for heritage professionals. Above all, COMPLEX will provide a new way of looking at polymer degradation, that can be applied across a wide range of fields, including medicine, waste management and industry.

Mots-clés : polymer degradation,plastics conservation,system dynamics
Projet ERC : CATCH-22 (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : Radboud University Nijmegen — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 863673.75 €

CATCH-22 sets out to resolve the mystery of the cuprate high temperature superconductors. Hailed as one of the major discoveries of the 20th Century, its central mysteries – the pairing mechanism, the origin of the ‘pseudogap’ and the nature of the ‘strange metal’ phase, have remained elusive for over 30 years. Typically, what scatters electrons also binds them into pairs, and in the cuprates, the strong pairing interaction manifests itself in the strange metal phase as intense scattering, so strong in fact that it drives the electronic states required for pairing incoherent. In other words, what first promotes high temperature superconductivity ultimately destroys it! This logical paradox is the Catch-22 conundrum. CATCH-22, the program, comprises three parts. Part 1 will explore the fate of electronic states within the strange metal phase by studying how the metallic response diminishes across universal bounds, both as a function of temperature and interaction strength, through momentum-averaged electrical conductivity and thermal diffusivity studies and momentum-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Part 2 will seek to access the ground state of optimally doped cuprates for the first time, by applying intense current and laser pulses to ultra-thin samples in a high magnetic field. The latter, if successful, will open up a new frontier in which intense THz light and intense magnetic fields combine to access the terra incognita of hidden phases. Finally, Part 3 will explore the origins of the strange metal at the edge of the superconducting dome and search for manifestations of incoherence in other strange metals in an attempt to unify the governing principles. Given that the central mysteries are intertwined – the strange metal is a precursor to the pseudogap which in turn leads to superconductivity - CATCH-22 will aim to bring significant new insight into all three and pave the way, finally, for a coherent phenomenological model for cuprate superconductivity.

Mots-clés : none
Projet ERC : CATCH-22 (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : University of Bristol — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1631955.0 €

CATCH-22 sets out to resolve the mystery of the cuprate high temperature superconductors. Hailed as one of the major discoveries of the 20th Century, its central mysteries – the pairing mechanism, the origin of the ‘pseudogap’ and the nature of the ‘strange metal’ phase, have remained elusive for over 30 years. Typically, what scatters electrons also binds them into pairs, and in the cuprates, the strong pairing interaction manifests itself in the strange metal phase as intense scattering, so strong in fact that it drives the electronic states required for pairing incoherent. In other words, what first promotes high temperature superconductivity ultimately destroys it! This logical paradox is the Catch-22 conundrum. CATCH-22, the program, comprises three parts. Part 1 will explore the fate of electronic states within the strange metal phase by studying how the metallic response diminishes across universal bounds, both as a function of temperature and interaction strength, through momentum-averaged electrical conductivity and thermal diffusivity studies and momentum-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Part 2 will seek to access the ground state of optimally doped cuprates for the first time, by applying intense current and laser pulses to ultra-thin samples in a high magnetic field. The latter, if successful, will open up a new frontier in which intense THz light and intense magnetic fields combine to access the terra incognita of hidden phases. Finally, Part 3 will explore the origins of the strange metal at the edge of the superconducting dome and search for manifestations of incoherence in other strange metals in an attempt to unify the governing principles. Given that the central mysteries are intertwined – the strange metal is a precursor to the pseudogap which in turn leads to superconductivity - CATCH-22 will aim to bring significant new insight into all three and pave the way, finally, for a coherent phenomenological model for cuprate superconductivity.

Mots-clés : none
Projet ERC : CLONCELLBREAST (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : University of Cambridge — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. Cambridge
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2497660.0 €

CLONAL AND CELLULAR HETEROGENEITY OF BREAST CANCER AND ITS DYNAMIC EVOLUTION WITH TREATMENT Breast cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer death in women. One of the greatest challenges is that breast cancer is a heterogeneous group of 10 diseases defined by genomic profiling. In addition, each tumor is composed of clones and clonal evolution underpins the successive acquisition of the hallmarks of cancer, including metastasis and resistance to therapy. Furthermore tumors display biologically and clinically relevant cellular heterogeneity: immune system, vasculature, and stroma. This cellular heterogeneity both shapes and is shaped by the malignant compartment and modulates response to therapy. This proposal will use longitudinal studies to unravel the clonal and cellular heterogeneity of breast cancer and its dynamic evolution with treatment. The overall goal is to provide a systems level view of evolving clonal and cellular architectures in space and time along the clinical continuum of breast cancers in the clinic, leading to the discovery of new biological and clinical paradigms which will transform our understanding of the disease. The overall approach is to capture the evolution of clonal and cellular heterogeneity of breast cancers in space and time using unique clinical cohorts where samples (biopsies and blood/plasma) are available spanning the whole disease continuum: early breast cancer surgically treated with curative intent, neo-adjuvant therapy, and matched relapse/metastasis. The 4 aims of the proposal are: 1. Characterization of the clonal and cellular heterogeneity of primary tumours from the 10 genomic driver-based breast cancer subtypes (ICs) 2. Comparative characterization of the clonal and cellular heterogeneity of matched pairs of primary and metastatic cancers 3. Characterization of the clonal and epigenetic evolution across therapy courses 4. Characterization of the immune response across therapy courses

Mots-clés : breast cancer,tumor heterogeneity,clonal evolution
Projet ERC : OldCO2NewArchives (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : University of St Andrews — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1996784.0 €

CO2 exerts a major control on Earth’s environment, including ocean acidity and global climate. Human carbon emissions have elevated CO2 levels to above 400 ppm, substantially higher than at any time in the 800,000 year ice core record. If we want to understand how Earth’s environment and climate will respond to a high CO2 world, we need to look deeper into the geological past. This project provides a novel way to reconstruct ocean pH and atmospheric CO2 levels over the last 100 Myr. This will allow us to fathom the fundamental mechanisms governing Earth’s environmental evolution, and improve predictions of environmental response to CO2 change in the future. Atmospheric CO2 and ocean pH are closely coupled, because CO2 is acidic and is readily exchanged between the ocean and atmosphere. If ocean pH is known, we can place strong constraints on atmospheric CO2. Thanks to recent developments in geochemistry, it is possible to reconstruct changes in ocean pH using the boron isotope composition (d11B) of fossil shells. The well-studied systematics of this method and its underlying thermodynamic framework provide confidence in its application to the geological record. However calculation of pH from carbonate d11B requires knowledge of the boron isotope composition of past seawater d11Bsw. Here I propose novel strategies and techniques with new or underutilized archives (evaporites, shallow carbonates, and infaunal foraminifera) to constrain this crucial parameter. With d11BSW constrained, new d11B records from benthic foraminifera will provide a 100 Myr record of ocean pH. This benchmark reconstruction will be used to test key hypotheses on major environmental change in the geological record, and to constrain atmospheric CO2 using a state-of-the-art biogeochemical model. These paired data and modelling outcomes will provide a major step forward in our understanding of the fundamental processes regulating Earth’s climate and long-term habitability.

Mots-clés : boron,palaeoceanography,seawater chemistry,biominerals
Projet ERC : COMTESSA (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : Norwegian Institute for Air Research — Pays : Norvège — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : NILU
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2726300.0 €

COMTESSA will push back the limits of our understanding of turbulence and plume dispersion in the atmosphere by bringing together full four-dimensional (space and time) observations of a (nearly) passive tracer (sulfur dioxide, SO2), with advanced data analysis and turbulence and dispersion modelling. Observations will be made with six cameras sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) radiation and three cameras sensitive to infrared (IR) radiation. The UV cameras will be built specifically for this project where high sensitivity and fast sampling is important. The accuracy of UV and IR retrievals will be improved by using a state-of-the art-3D radiative transfer model. Controlled puff and plume releases of SO2 will be made from a tower, which will be observed by all cameras, yielding multiple 2D images of SO2 integrated along the line of sight. The simultaneous observations will allow - for the first time - a tomographic reconstruction of the 3D tracer concentration distribution at high space (< 1 m) and time (>10 Hz) resolution. An optical flow code will be used to determine the eddy-resolved velocity vector field of the plume. Special turbulent phenomena (e.g. plume rise) will be studied using existing SO2 sources (e.g. smelters, power plants, volcanic fumaroles). Analysis of the novel campaign observations will deepen our understanding of turbulence and tracer dispersion in the atmosphere. For instance, for the first time we will be able to extensively measure the concentration probability density function (PDF) in a plume not only near the ground but also at high-er altitudes; quantify relative and absolute dispersion; estimate the value of the Richardson-Obukhov constant, etc. We will also use the data to evaluate state-of-the-art LES and Lagrangian dispersion models and revise their underlying parameterizations. COMTESSA’s vision is that the project results will lead to large improvements of tracer transport in all atmospheric models.
Projet ERC : CONQUEST (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Universitätsklinikum Aachen — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UKA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 145312.0 €

CONQUEST aims to commercialise a first-of-its-kind platform technology for imaging a biological effect – i.e. the EPR effect – that is predictive for a cancer patient's response to tumor-targeted nanomedicine (NM) therapy. CONQUEST thereby addresses a key issue in the (nano)pharmaceutical industry; as currently large proportions of cancer patients do not respond to NM, while others show major improvements in terms of response rates, survival times and quality of life. This trend impairs the outcome of clinical studies and results in many patients receiving treatments that are not effective to them. It would therefore be highly desirable to stratify responders from non-responders prior to study entry or treatment. CONQUEST stands at the basis of introducing a solution to this problem in the pharmaceutical industry. Prof. Lammers and colleagues, as part of ERC-funded research, have developed a powerful imaging approach that allows to construct an EPR profile of each individual tumour - by the administration and non-invasive imaging of contrast agent-labelled nanocarriers (drug-loaded or empty) that accumulate in tumours through EPR. The general idea is that patients with a low degree of EPR, and therefore unlikely to respond to such treatments, can be excluded from NM treatment and referred to alternative established or experimental interventions. Vice versa, patients with a high level of EPR can likely be treated relatively efficiently. Recognising the commercial potential of this technology, CONQUEST aims to tailor the technique and protocol for application in humans, by tuning the method for imaging with PET-MRI. A successful demonstration of PET-MRI-based EPR imaging will trigger large interest of the pharmaceutical and diagnostics industry, to invest in further clinical (co-) development.

Mots-clés : nanomedicine,epr effect,platform technology,tumor targeting,imaging,pet mri
Projet ERC : THEIA (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : Imperial College London — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1498934.0 €

CONTEXT: Reshaping our energy portfolio considering the sustainability of global energy resources is central to the European Energy Roadmap 2050. Hence, researchers need to identify efficient routes towards solar fuels production. Unlike H2 evolution, CO2 photoreduction has been poorly studied. Given the scope for CO2 utilisation in a carbon-constrained future, there is an exciting opportunity to devote targeted research towards CO2 photoreduction. Photocatalysis is one route towards CO2 reduction. Yet, the design of a cost-effective, sustainable, efficient and robust photocatalyst remains a highly challenging task. PROPOSAL: I propose to merge catalysis, materials science and engineering to develop a radically new class of photocatalysts, i.e. porous boron nitride (BN)-based materials for CO2 reduction. My approach is opposite to current research trends which explore non-crystalline and non-porous materials, and aims to compete with the 40-year old benchmark in the field, TiO2. Porous BN combines key attributes for CO2 photoreduction: (i) chemical, structural and optoelectronic tunability, (ii) high porosity, (iii) semi-crystalline to amorphous nature. These features provide unique pathways towards effective sorption of reactants/products, facile band gap engineering, and enhanced surface charge transfer. Their semi-crystalline to amorphous nature may facilitate scale-up. IMPACT: I will address three major challenges: 1. Creating a porous BN-based material platform with adsorptive and photocatalytic functionalities 2. Adding a new dimension to photocatalyst design via porosity control 3. Creating approaches to molecular- and micro-structure engineering in porous BN Realization of these advances would lead towards a ‘dream photocatalyst’ with integrated adsorptive, optoelectronic and catalytic functionalities. The impact will benefit fields for which interfacial phenomena are key: molecular separation, catalysis and drug delivery.

Mots-clés : porous materials,co2 photoreduction,solar fuels,boron nitride,photocatalysis,materials engineering