Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : LaunTeNaBio (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering
Entité participante : Università di Camerino — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UNICAM
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 134060.0 €

Insect-Borne Diseases (IBDs) affecting animals and plants are an increasing problem burdening the economy and the social conditions of many countries. The growing concern is that climatic changes, globalization and increase in travel and trade have fostered the spread of insect populations in new geographic areas and with them many IBDs. It is now established that Europe must face an increasing risk of vector-borne outbreaks. Mosquito-borne infections affect millions of people all over the world every year, with severe implications for public health and a devastating economic impact in endemic countries. Phytophagous insects transmit diseases to plants of agronomic importance, seriously damaging food production and heavily compromising the well-being of local populations, especially in countries whose economy is mainly based on agriculture. Solving or alleviating IBDs is a global challenge, but effective and safe tools are not yet available. The main approach is based on the use of insecticides to reduce or eliminate the insect-vector populations, but this approach has dual limitations of undesired effects on the environment and insect development of resistance to these substances. Effective strategies are needed to overcome these drawbacks, contributing to solutions in a practical and forward-looking way. Two main aspects for an innovative control strategy are the reduction of costs for anti-IBDs campaigns, and the attraction of potential users to promote technology transfer and implementation. The proof of concept proposed by LaunTeNaBio is the realization of a Launch Test of Natural Biocides starting from an innovative product containing symbiotic yeasts (KysBio) to prevent IBDs of health or agricultural significance. LaunTeNaBio intends to accomplish the objective by supporting a rising spinoff by the marketing of KYsBio through businesses.

Mots-clés : natural biocides,insect borne diseases,symbiotic control,killer yeasts
Projet ERC : Foldmetcat (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Institut Català d'Investigació Química — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ICIQ;ICIQ-CERCA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2500000.0 €

Inspired by mimicking the characteristics of terpenoid cyclase enzymes, the goal of this proposal is to design new types of catalysts containing electrophilic transition metal centers that could simultaneously fold and activate polyunsaturated substrates promoting non-inherent cyclization modes. Our goal is unprecedented, although it is rooted on fundamental organometallic chemistry, in particular, on the known activation of polyunsaturated substrates by highly electrophilic transition metals. These unconventional cyclizations cascades challenge the paradigm that the intrinsic reactivity of the substrate is the relevant factor in carbocation-initiated processes and would provide access to large carbocyclic skeletons such as those present in taxol and ophiobolin enantioselectively in a single step under catalytic conditions. Although the initial work will be carried out with gold catalysts, a major goal of this research is to develop other general-purpose efficient chiral electrophilic catalysts based on zinc. To attain our goal, we will study more simple catalysts to delineate the factors that control the folding of polyenynes and polyenes. Thus, we will prepare new series of C2-chiral catalysts in which the stereogenic elements are close to the reaction site. Related C2-chiral systems will be generated by supramolecular hydrogen-bond pairing. A similar chiral arrangement could also be achieved by an intramolecular chiral anion translocation from the metal to a distant hydrogen-bond donor site. In addition, we will explore larger systems based on structurally well-defined metallic clusters to generate highly electrophilic chiral reactive sites. The folding and activation of polyunsaturated substrates will be studied first with a series of catalytic prototypes based on digold or heterobimetallic complexes with N-heterocyclic carbenes, diphosphines, mixed ligands of these types, as well as resorcinarene-phosphonite cavitant ligands.

Mots-clés : homogeneous catalysis,transition metal catalysis,organic synthesis
Projet ERC : MEDIATE (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
Entité participante : Radboud University Nijmegen — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1998125.0 €

Intellectual history has long focused on a small number of authors and conceptual frameworks in studying societal change during the Enlightenment. Historians of the book have similarly restricted their vision, tending to privilege radical, subversive or forbidden texts. Yet ever since Daniel Mornet launched the history of the book approach a century ago, historians have recognized that it was authors who were not radical or subversive who produced the best-selling texts of the 18th century. This project will push Enlightenment studies in a new direction by moving beyond the present, narrow corpus of texts and models that dominate the field, and propose a new conceptual framework that takes as its starting-point the heuristic concept of middlebrow culture. Developing a state-of-the-art database, it will, firstly, identify not the ‘high’ Enlightenment texts studied by the history of ideas, and not the ‘low’, forbidden texts of book history, but the real best-sellers of the 18th century. These were the texts that, to readers on the ground, represented the most visible face of the Enlightenment, but have hitherto never really been studied. Secondly, it will elaborate a typology of this corpus describing its generic traits, intended readers, relation to major political-religious debates, and how readers in different parts of Europe appropriated these texts through translations, reworkings and other uses. Finally, it examines how historiography came to define the Enlightenment as the work of an intellectual elite, downplaying the impact of middlebrow texts and readers. The project thus brings an ambitious, bottom-up approach to intellectual history, using book history data and innovative digital tools to argue that the Enlightenment was fashioned not only by the progressive intellectuals we know today, but just as importantly, also by a large mass of forgotten, middlebrow best-sellers that need to be adequately studied if we are to truly understand how we ‘became modern’
Projet ERC : NEUROABSTRACTION (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Entité participante : University of Oxford — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999775.0 €

Intelligent agents make good decisions in novel environments. Understanding how humans deal with novelty is a key problem in the cognitive and neural sciences, and building artificial agents that behave effectively with novel settings remains an unsolved challenge in machine learning. According to one view, humans form abstract representations that encode latent variables pertaining to the high-level structure of the environment (a “model” of the world). These abstractions facilitate generalisation of extant task and category information to novel domains. For example, an individual who can ride a bicycle, or speak Spanish, will learn more rapidly to ride a motorcycle, or speak Portuguese. However, the neural basis for these abstractions, and the computational underpinnings of high-level generalisation, remain largely unexplored topics in cognitive neuroscience. In the current proposal, we describe 4 experimental series in which humans learn to perform structured decision-making tasks, and then generalise this behaviour to input domains populated by previously unseen stimuli, categories, or tasks. Building on extant pilot work, we will use representational similarity analysis (RSA) of neuroimaging (fMRI or EEG) data to chart the emergence of neural representations encoding abstract structure in patterns of brain activity. We will then assess how the formation of these abstractions at the neural level predicts successful human generalisation to previously unseen contexts. Our proposal is centered around a new theory, that task generalisation depends on the formation of low-dimensional population codes in the human dorsal stream, that are scaffolded by existing neural basis functions for space, value and number. The work will have important implications for psychologists and neuroscientists interested in decision-making and executive function, and for machine learning researchers seeking to build intelligent artificial agents.
Projet ERC : MMGNRs (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : University of Oxford — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1729668.0 €

Intense research efforts are currently aimed at establishing a fundamental link between spintronics, molecular electronics and quantum computation. Novel materials could usher a true revolution in this area, and magnetic graphene nanoribbons, in particular, have attracted impressive theoretical attention. However, creating them with the necessary level of precision has, until now, proved elusive, so that the extensive theoretical work remains fundamentally untested, and the applicative potential untapped. MMGNRs will investigate these uncharted waters, by developing a radically new approach: instead of the usual methods of cutting out graphene nanoribbons from large sheets, or randomly placing magnetic molecules on graphene surfaces, we will create graphene nanoribbons from a molecular bottom-up synthetic procedure, and attach molecular magnetic centres to their sides, at well-defined periodic intervals. In this way, a spin density is injected into the graphene backbone, and the homogeneity of the sample allows studying edge spin with unprecedented accuracy. MMGNRs will test the chemical possibilities offered by this approach, and will then use low-temperature transport and pulsed electron-paramagnetic-resonance spectroscopy to reveal the classical and quantum magnetic properties of graphene spin states. The success of MMGNRs will answer three fundamental questions: are our extensive theories of graphene magnetic states, for which there is no clean experimental counterpart, right? Can we use graphene magnetic states to perform quantum logic operations? Is it possible to push the quantum effects to high temperatures, and include them into electronic nanodevices? While answering these questions, MMGNRs will open a totally new area of chemical synthesis, redefine our experimental and theoretical knowledge of spins in graphene, and assess the limits and applicative potential of graphene and molecular spintronic devices.

Mots-clés : molecular magnets,graphene nanoribbons,spintronics,quantum coherence,electron paramagnetic resonance
Projet ERC : EPICut (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions
Entité participante : University of Exeter — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 437790.0 €

Interactions between bacteria and their viruses (bacteriophages) have led to the evolution of a wide range of bacterial mechanisms to resist viral infection. The exploitation of such systems has produced true revolutions in biotechnology; firstly, the restriction-modification (RM) enzymes for genetic engineering, and secondly, CRISPR-Cas9 for gene editing. This project aims to unravel the mechanisms and consequences of prokaryotic immune systems that target covalently-modified DNA, such as base methylation, hydroxymethylation and glucosylation. Very little is known about these Type IV restriction enzymes at a mechanistic level, or about their importance to the coevolution of prokaryotic-phage communities. I propose a unique interdisciplinary approach that combines biophysical and single-molecule analysis of enzyme function, nucleoprotein structure determination, prokaryotic evolutionary ecology, and epigenome sequencing, to link the molecular mechanisms of prokaryotic defence to individual, population and community-level phenotypes. This knowledge is vital to a full understanding of how bacterial immunity influences horizontal gene transfer, including the spread of virulence or antimicrobial resistance. In addition, a deeper analysis of enzyme function will support our reengineering of these systems to produce improved restriction enzyme tools for the mapping of eukaryotic epigenetics markers.
Projet ERC : BRIDGING (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Cellular, Developmental and Regenerative Biology
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999840.0 €

Intercellular communication is critical for multicellularity. It coordinates the activities within individual cells to support the function of an organism as a whole. Plants have developed remarkable cellular machines -the Plasmodesmata (PD) pores- which interconnect every single cell within the plant body, establishing direct membrane and cytoplasmic continuity, a situation unique to plants. PD are indispensable for plant life. They control the flux of molecules between cells and are decisive for development, environmental adaptation and defence signalling. However, how PD integrate signalling to coordinate responses at a multicellular level remains unclear. A striking feature of PD organisation, setting them apart from animal cell junctions, is a strand of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) running through the pore, tethered extremely tight (~10nm) to the plasma membrane (PM) by unidentified “spokes”. To date, the function of ER-PM contacts at PD remains a complete enigma. We don’t know how and why the two organelles come together at PD cellular junctions. I recently proposed that ER-PM tethering is in fact central to PD function. In this project I will investigate the question of how integrated cellular responses benefit from organelle cross-talk at PD. The project integrates proteomic/bioinformatic approaches, biophysical/modelling methods and ultra-high resolution 3D imaging into molecular cell biology of plant cell-to-cell communication and will, for the first time, directly address the mechanism and function of ER-PM contacts at PD. We will pursue three complementary objectives to attain our goal: 1) Identify the mechanisms of PD membrane-tethering at the molecular level 2) Elucidate the dynamics and 3D architecture of ER-PM contact sites at PD 3) Uncover the function of ER-PM apposition for plant intercellular communication. Overall, the project will pioneer a radically new perspective on PD-mediated cell-to-cell communication, a fundamental aspect of plant biology

Mots-clés : plasmodesmata,intercellular communication,membrane contact sites
Projet ERC : GTCMR (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
Entité participante : Delft University of Technology — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TU Delft
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2017555.0 €

International terrorism, e.g. Al Qaeda, IS, is a major global security threat. Counter-terrorism is a morally complex enterprise involving police, military, intelligence agencies and non-security agencies. Counter-terrorism should be framed as a collective moral responsibility of governments, security institutions and citizens. (1) How is international terrorism to be defined? (2) What is the required theoretical notion of collective moral responsibility? (3) What counter-terrorist strategies and tactics are effective, morally permissible and consistent with liberal democracy? Tactics: targeted killing, drone warfare, preventative detention, and bulk metadata collection (e.g. by NSA); (4) How is this inchoate collective moral responsibility to be institutionally embedded in security agencies? (i) How are security institutions to be redesigned to enable them to realise and coordinate their counter-terrorism strategies without over-reaching their various core institutional purposes which have hitherto been disparate, (e.g. law enforcement versus military combat), and without compromising human rights, (e.g. right to life of innocent civilians, right to freedom, right to privacy), including by means of morally unacceptable counter-terrorism tactics? (ii) How are these tactics to be integrated with a broad-based counter-terrorism strategy which has such measures as anti-radicalisation and state-to-state engagement to address key sources of terrorism, such as the dissemination of extremist religious ideology (e.g. militant Wahhabi ideology emanating from Saudi Arabia) and the legitimate grievances of some terrorist groups (e.g. Palestinian state)? What ought a morally permissible and efficacious (i) structure of counter-terrorist institutional arrangements, and (ii) set of counter-terrorist tactics, for a contemporary liberal democracy collaborating with other liberal democracies facing the common problem of international terrorism consist of?

Mots-clés : applied philosophy,moral analysis,global terrorism,security studies,police,military,intelligence agencies
Projet ERC : COMPCON (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 213750.0 €

Interspecific competition is arguably the best interaction to address how individual trait variation and eco-evolutionary feedbacks shape species distributions and trait evolution, due to its indirect effects via the shared resource. However, a clear understanding of such feedbacks is only possible if each contributing factor can be manipulated independently. With COMPCON, we will address how individual variation, niche width, niche construction and the presence of competitors shape species distributions and trait evolution, using a system amenable to manipulation of all these variables. The system is composed of two spider mite species, Tetranychus urticae and T. ludeni, that up- and down-regulate plant defences (i.e., negative and positive niche construction, respectively). Tomato mutant plants with low defences will be used as an environment in which niche construction is not expressed. Furthermore, tomato plants will be grown under different cadmium concentrations, allowing quantitative variation of available niches. Using isogenic lines, we will measure individual variation in niche width, niche construction and competitive ability. Different combinations of lines will then be used to test key predictions of recent theory on how such variation affects coexistence with competitors. Subsequently, mite populations will evolve in environments with either one or more potential niches, in plants where niche construction is possible or not, and in presence or absence of competitors (coevolving or not). We will test how these selection pressures affect niche width, niche construction and competitive ability, as well as plant damage. Finally, we will re-derive isogenic lines from these treatments, to test how evolution under different scenarios affects individual variation in niche width. COMPCON will shed new light on the role of competition in shaping eco-evolutionary communities, with bearings on disciplines ranging from macro-ecology to evolutionary genetics

Mots-clés : competition,experimental evolution,niche width,niche construction,individual variation
Projet ERC : COMPCON (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : Fciencias.id - associacao para a investigacao e desenvolvimento de ciencias — Pays : Portugal — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Fc.id
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1710525.0 €

Interspecific competition is arguably the best interaction to address how individual trait variation and eco-evolutionary feedbacks shape species distributions and trait evolution, due to its indirect effects via the shared resource. However, a clear understanding of such feedbacks is only possible if each contributing factor can be manipulated independently. With COMPCON, we will address how individual variation, niche width, niche construction and the presence of competitors shape species distributions and trait evolution, using a system amenable to manipulation of all these variables. The system is composed of two spider mite species, Tetranychus urticae and T. ludeni, that up- and down-regulate plant defences (i.e., negative and positive niche construction, respectively). Tomato mutant plants with low defences will be used as an environment in which niche construction is not expressed. Furthermore, tomato plants will be grown under different cadmium concentrations, allowing quantitative variation of available niches. Using isogenic lines, we will measure individual variation in niche width, niche construction and competitive ability. Different combinations of lines will then be used to test key predictions of recent theory on how such variation affects coexistence with competitors. Subsequently, mite populations will evolve in environments with either one or more potential niches, in plants where niche construction is possible or not, and in presence or absence of competitors (coevolving or not). We will test how these selection pressures affect niche width, niche construction and competitive ability, as well as plant damage. Finally, we will re-derive isogenic lines from these treatments, to test how evolution under different scenarios affects individual variation in niche width. COMPCON will shed new light on the role of competition in shaping eco-evolutionary communities, with bearings on disciplines ranging from macro-ecology to evolutionary genetics

Mots-clés : competition,experimental evolution,niche width,niche construction,individual variation