Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : IMPRODECO (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Texts and Concepts
Entité participante : Université d'Utrecht — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

In the course of the 20th century, musical improvisation became strongly associated with emancipatory politics, as expressive freedom in music symbolised forms of societal, cultural, and political freedom more generally. In the 1960s, European improvisers distinguished their 'free improvisation' from jazz and other improvisatory music by calling it 'non-idiomatic', i.e. not drawing on previously existing musical styles. Although the genre of free improvisation has formed a unique space of transnational and intercultural collaboration, such a utopian understanding risks an erasure of actual forms of inequality and exclusion. After all, to draw on one's own musical tradition inevitably means to play in a specific idiom. To what extent has this definition of freedom as non-idiomatic playing excluded the participation of musicians of colour?  The aim of this proposal is to understand the politics imbedded in free improvisation in a European postcolonial context. We investigate the hypothesis that non-idiomatic music constructed a form of musical whiteness in the spheres of musical practice, discourse, and institutions. We develop a novel understanding of musical idiom in terms of differentiation rather than convention, and we describe how questions of freedom and idiom were negotiated in musical practice. As a case study, we investigate the musical practice of improvising musicians from former Dutch colonies active in the Netherlands after World Warr II (ca. 1945-2000) and analyse how they negotiated their position between the idiom of jazz, a supposedly 'universal' non-idiomatic form of improvisation, and their own musical traditions.  Through archival research, oral history, and the analysis of musical practices, IMPRODECO will make a fundamental contribution to jazz historiography, postcolonial perspective on Dutch music history, musicological theories of improvisation, and to current debates about racial inequality in Dutch music and society.

Mots-clés : improvisation,decolonisation,postcolonialism
Projet ERC : N2-CONVERT (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Université d'Utrecht — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1575000.0 €

Nitrogen containing molecules (amines) are ubiquitous in our daily lives. The N atoms in these essential compounds originate from dinitrogen (N2), but often undergo a vastly energy inefficient route to be incorporated into molecules. Hence, it has been a long-standing goal to develop catalysts that enable the direct conversion of N2 into amines to provide an efficient and sustainable alternative for amine synthesis. While various metal complexes enable the stoichiometric conversion of N2 into amines, a key problem preventing catalytic conversion lies in the incompatibility of the required harsh reductants with the reagents for making N–C bonds.  In this project, I aim to develop well-defined molecular catalysts wherein multiple metals work together to directly convert N2 into amines. To this end, I will develop innovative ligand platforms based on rigid core scaffolds, designed to bind 2, 3 or 4 metal centers in close proximity. In a systematic combined experimental and computational study, I will obtain fundamental understanding on how aspects like metal-metal separation, number of metals, reduction state or accessibility of metal sites, affect the cooperative binding and activation of N2. This will enable me to identify design parameters of multimetallic complexes that enable N–C bond formation at metal-bound N2 without requiring harsh reductants. With this information, I will rationally design multimetallic complexes that enable the direct (electro)catalytic conversion of N2 into amines. My strong background and track record in ligand design, N2 activation, multimetallic coordination chemistry and catalysis puts me in a unique position to realize the highly ambitious goals of this project. The N2-CONVERT project will provide a new paradigm on how we look at N2, from an inert molecule to an abundant, cheap and non-toxic N-atom building block. In the long run, it will lay the foundation for a sustainable alternative to the current wasteful way of making amines.
Projet ERC : DataDivers (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer Science and Informatics
Entité participante : Université d'Utrecht — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Despite great progress in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP), the field is still struggling to ensure the robustness and fairness of models. So far, NLP has prioritized data size over data quality. Yet there is growing evidence suggesting that the diversity of data, a key dimension of data quality, is crucial for fair and robust NLP models. Many researchers are therefore trying to create more diverse datasets, but there is no clear path for them to follow. Even the fundamental question “How can we measure the diversity of a dataset?” is currently wide open. It is both surprising and concerning that we still lack the tools and theoretical insights to understand, improve, and leverage data diversity in NLP.  DataDivers will 1) develop the first ever framework to measure data diversity in NLP datasets; 2) investigate how data diversity impacts NLP model behavior; and 3) develop novel approaches that harness data diversity for fairer and more robust NLP models. I operationally define the diversity of a text collection as the variability of texts along specific dimensions (e.g., semantic, lexical, and sociolinguistic). Sociolinguistic diversity in particular, is an overlooked but crucial dimension, which I am committed to addressing.  DataDivers will break new ground by taking a comprehensive view of data diversity, which is urgently needed for robust and fair NLP. Its approach will be both theoretical and empirical. It will combine insights from disciplines that have developed methodologies to quantify data diversity with rigorous empirical experimentation. DataDivers will take a unique view on data diversity: measuring it at the dataset level, and across contexts for individual features. Finally, DataDivers will use its framework to develop diversity-informed data collection and model training methods. DataDivers’ results will impact the full NLP development pipeline—from data collection to evaluation—and open up a new, urgently needed, area of research.

Mots-clés : data centered nlp,computational sociolinguistics,robust nlp,fair nlp,robustness,fairness,variation
Projet ERC : PicAAA (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Molecules of Life: B iological  Mechanisms , Structures  and Functions
Entité participante : Université d'Utrecht — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1550000.0 €

Noroviruses (NoVs) and enteroviruses (EVs) cause numerous gastrointestinal and respiratory infections. Their contagious nature and high mutation rates can lead to the emergence of new pathogenic strains. Understanding these viruses is crucial for controlling outbreaks and to maintain global health. Both NoVs and EVs are members of the order Picornavirales and share commonalities in their replication strategies. Their positive-strand RNA genomes encode non-structural proteins (NSPs) that exploit host cells to create membranous replication organelles for genome replication and virion formation. The most enigmatic NSP encoded by these viruses is a AAA+ ATPase (NoV NS3 and EV 2C). These enzymes have many proposed roles in the virus lifecycle, such as RNA helicase/chaperone activity, membrane rearrangement, and genome encapsidation. However, their structure and the molecular basis for their diverse activities are poorly understood due to challenges in producing stable and soluble complexes for structural analysis and the lack of tools to accurately visualize NSPs in a cellular context. Drawing from my decade-long experience in structural virology and recent success in engineering soluble AAA+ ATPases, I aim to unravel the multiple functions of NoV NS3 and EV 2C. Specifically, I will: 1) Decipher the structure-function relationship of these enzymes through single-particle cryo-electron microscopy analysis of the nucleotide and RNA-bound complexes. 2) Create a toolkit of small molecules and nanobodies to investigate the functional sites in NS3. 3) Utilize cryo-electron tomography to visualise NS3 and 2C in infected cells, guided by genetically encoded tags developed in this project. Collectively, the results of this project will provide new mechanistic insights into the functions that NoV and EV AAA+ ATPases carry out during the viral lifecycle and pave the way for the development of novel antiviral compounds capable of inhibiting these functionally indispensable enzymes.

Mots-clés : aaa atpase,helicase,positive strand rna virus,viral replication,cryo em,cryo et,norovirus,enterovirus
Projet ERC : Care2Act (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Soci al World and Its Interactions
Entité participante : Université d'Utrecht — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499998.0 €

The current overlapping crises—political polarization, the climate, and security fears—present challenges for mental health and well-being. Engaging in collective action is one way to cope, but research shows it can also be exhausting and increase sensitivity to these problems and injustices. But activism can also foster empowerment and solidarity. Decades of research have provided insights into factors affecting mental health outcomes for activists. However, the traditional linear approach—focused on relationships between factors and outcomes—often fails to capture the mechanisms and dynamic processes that shape outcomes during engagement. Integrating psychological and sociological perspectives, Care2Act will apply a novel interactionist approach to activism and mental health, employing the concept of strategic care to highlight the dual task of regulating personal well-being while caring for the world. Care2Act asks: Which combinations of situations and processes during civic engagement at different problem scales contribute to varying mental health and well-being outcomes, and what strategies do individuals and communities employ to regulate their mental health and well-being? Using a multi-level comparative approach and innovative methods such as participatory Ripple Effects Mapping, Care2Act will analyze: 1) Situations, mechanisms, and actors affecting mental health; 2) Individual and community strategies for regulating well-being while engaging in this often tedious work; 3) The transformation of strategic care across different phases of engagement; and 4) The role of the magnitude of the social problem in shaping mental health outcomes. Care2Act will offer tools for interdisciplinary research that inform studies on public health interventions, political participation more broadly, and the social integration of marginalized groups. It could also have societal impact by providing activists with tools to integrate mental health awareness into their strategies.

Mots-clés : collective action,mental health,well being,care,social movement strategy
Projet ERC : RESTART (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention,  Diagnosis and T reatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Princess Máxima Center — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Autres
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

How hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) regenerate blood is a major unsolved question, frustrating their effective use for therapy. Every year, >40.000 patients receive an HSPC transplantation (HSCT), as a last-resort therapy for various diseases, including leukemia. However, ~40% of HSCT recipients die, due to poor outgrowth of the donor HSPCs, inflammatory complications or relapse. There is an unmet need for strategies to predict and prevent these adverse outcomes. In mice, single-cell methods have revolutionized our understanding of how hematopoiesis is organized, allowing us to control the outcome of murine HSCT in detail. In contrast, our understanding of human hematopoietic regeneration, and our ability to control this process, is lagging behind. As a clinician in pediatric HSCT and stem cell biologist, my mission is to change this. RESTART aims to comprehensively characterize the cellular and molecular mechanisms guiding hematopoietic regeneration in humans. I have pioneered single-cell methods to study human HSPC biology. Here, we will apply state-of-the-art multiomics to dissect the identities and functional states of thousands of HSPCs and their surrounding niche cells in human bone marrow (BM). Embedded in Europe’s largest pediatric cancer center, we will apply these methods to a unique, longitudinal collection of BM samples of pediatric HSCT recipients and their donors, collected before and up to a year after HSCT. Our objectives are: (1) Dissect the cellular and molecular composition of the HSPC population during successful hematopoietic regeneration in human HSCT recipients; (2) Determine how HSCT-induced alterations in BM niche cells affect HSPC fate; (3) Leverage this information to identify and validate single-cell states or trajectories predictive of adverse HSCT outcome (graft failure, relapse). This study will contribute to improved survival of human HSCT recipients and to increased fundamental knowledge on human tissue regeneration.

Mots-clés : hematopoietic stem cells,tissue regeneration,pediatrics,children,single cell transcriptomics
Projet ERC : HOMEPATH (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and R egeneration
Entité participante : Institut Pasteur — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 93750.0 €

Mammalian cells sense and exert forces on their environment, and their responses to mechanical signals regulate their growth, motility, and behavior within tissues. However, little is known about the forces at play during microbial infections, and their impact on tissue homeostasis and disease progression. I recently found that binding of the extracellular bacterium Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) on the endothelium leads to the generation of large traction forces on the extracellular matrix. This is due to the formation of a new structure, that I called ancreopodia, linking the bacterial colony on the apical side of the host cell to the basal side and underlying substrate. I hence hypothesize that Nm induces long-range force transmission throughout the infected cells, leading to alterations in tissue function. In this project, I propose to dissect how host cell mechanics is affected by Nm infection, and how mechanical forces globally impact tissue barrier physiology in epithelia and endothelia. By developing quantitative tools to directly measure forces while imaging host cells during infection, both in vitro using 2D and 3D models of tissue barrier with increasing complexity and in vivo, I will: 1) identify the key molecular mechanisms involved in host cell structural remodeling and their regulation in space and time; 2) characterize the mechanics of the infected host tissue, using biophysical tools and theoretical approaches to link signaling to the forces involved, and 3) study the functional consequences of infection-induced mechanical imbalance on cell fate and host tissue integrity. This study has a double interest: to better understand the impact of mechanics in the process of infection, for the development of new therapeutic strategies, and to bring new fundamental knowledge on the mechanical homeostasis of tissue barriers, by integrating extracellular pathogens as new tools to shed light on complex feedbacks between cell architecture, mechanics, and function

Mots-clés : quantitative cell biology,bacterial infection,tissue barrier,neisseria meningitidis,type iv pili
Projet ERC : KaryodynEVO (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and R egeneration
Entité participante : Laboratoire européen de biologie moléculaire — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : EMBL
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1615930.0 €

Every eukaryote has a nucleus, a double lipid membrane-bound compartment that encapsulates the genome, but almost every nucleus is different - in shape, size, molecular composition, spatial organisation, and dynamics through the cell cycle. Given its fundamental and universal functional roles in protecting the DNA and regulating the exchange of information and control machinery between genome and cytoplasm, one might ask the question: why are there so many ways to build and remodel a nucleus? Bringing together comparative genomics, phylogenetics, quantitative cell biology and experimental evolution in multiple microbial model systems drawn from across the eukaryotic tree, we set out to elucidate the genomic, biophysical and evolutionary factors that determine nuclear dynamics and remodelling - karyodynamics - within the context of cellular architecture and function. A comparative perspective driven by phylogenetics will enable us to separate universal principles of karyodynamics from species- and niche-specific adaptations, and dissect the reasons for the evolutionary and developmental plasticity that we observe experimentally. In turn, we can use these principles to infer, predict and validate phenotypes in novel and emerging model systems. Finally, a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms responsible for karyodynamic phenotypic diversity would allow us to reconstruct evolutionary trajectories all the way back to the origins of the nuclear compartment, a landmark event in the evolution of eukaryotes from an archaeal-bacterial symbiosis over 2 billion years ago.

Mots-clés : evolutionary cell biology,nuclear remodelling,emerging model systems
Projet ERC : CoRe (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and R egeneration
Entité participante : Laboratoire européen de biologie moléculaire — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : EMBL
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2486429.0 €

Developing systems show an unmatched complexity due to an entangled regulation across different levels of organization. Errors in this regulation often lead to tissue and organ malformations and disease. Accordingly, cell decisions like division, fate or motility are not only guided by local signals generated at the cell micro-environment, but also integrate cues propagated by collective properties at the tissue-level, such as tissue rigidity. How the cell’s macro-environment impacts cell decisions is still elusive, largely because we lack methods and concepts to identify and eventually control collective tissue properties. I will tackle this question by harnessing the physics of collective behaviours as design principles for synthetic in vivo developmental biology. We build on our discovery that embryonic tissue rigidity emerges via phase transitions, only when a simple cell parameter, cell connectivity, reaches a specific but generic value, the critical point. By identifying the responsible cell parameters and their critical points, we will build tools to tune those parameters, engineer for the first time, a set of tissue physical properties in vivo and explore their role in cell decisions. We will use the developing zebrafish as a model and: Quantitatively map cell parameters and the critical points at which tissue properties emerge; Control tissue properties by opto-genetically tuning the responsible cell parameters in relation to the critical points; Dissect mechanisms of collective regulation of cell polarity and fate decisions at single-cell resolution; Derive generic principles of multiple cell decision-making by comparing species operating near or far from critical points. Uncovering how collective properties impact cell decisions will reveal mechanisms of tissue development transcending biological scales, generate new hypotheses of how developing systems optimise biological functions, and inform strategies for tissue engineering and disease treatment.

Mots-clés : collective properties,phase transitions,embryo complexity,criticality
Projet ERC : D-MAP (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Immunity, Infection and I mmunotherapy
Entité participante : Leiden University Medical Center — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : LUMC
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 252500.0 €

Numerous mucosal vaccines and IgA-based monoclonal antibodies aimed at a robust immunity within the respiratory tract are in development to combat viral endemics and pandemics. However, investigations into humoral immunity have predominantly focused on circulating antibodies, particularly those of the IgG isotype. This has left a significant void in our understanding of the role of mucosal IgA proteoforms in conveying effective immune protection. This crucial knowledge gap deprives vaccine and antibody development of crucial determinants or immune characteristics to replicate.  In response to this, we will conduct in-depth investigations of mucosal IgA including in vitro and in vivo functional evaluations. We will capitalize on recent advances in liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry-based approaches for the detailed characterization of mucosal IgA clonal repertoires and glycosylation profiles, a field that has remained completely unexplored until now, B-cell receptor sequencing, monoclonal IgA glycoengineering and in vitro functional assays. We will take advantage of our unparalleled biobank of human nasal secretion samples with clear documentations of infection outcomes on an individual level. What sets our approach apart is thereby the unprecedented molecular-level characterization of IgA, directly linked to their in vitro functionality and pre-defined clinical outcomes, which clearly surpasses current state-of-the-art.  By harnessing our in-depth characterization of mucosal IgA coupled to functional traits, we will generate IgA templates with enhanced binding and neutralization capabilities as well as functionally advantageous Fc effector potencies. Our overarching aim is to provide molecular-level blueprints for protective monoclonal IgA-antibodies, enabling the fine-tuning of vaccine formulations and monoclonal antibody generation with a higher degree of accuracy, ultimately enhancing their efficacy and safety.

Mots-clés : mucosal immunity,iga clonal repertoire,iga glycosylation