Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : DAT (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : Université de Bologne — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 989395.0 €

This project addresses fundamental issues in the development of algebraic topology, coarse geometry, and other areas of mathematics, related to the problem of doing algebra when the structures under considerations also have a topology. A number of other approaches have been proposed recently, showing the current importance of these issues for the mathematical community. The approach followed in this project is unique, in harnessing powerful tools from mathematical logic, and especially descriptive set theory.  The fundamental idea is to enrich an algebraic object with additional information provided by a Polish cover, which is an explicit presentation of the given object as a suitable quotient of a structure endowed with a compatible Polish topology. The goal of this project is to show that fundamental invariants from homological algebra, algebraic topology, operator algebras, and coarse geometry, such as Ext, Cech cohomology, KK-theory, and coarse K-homology, can be seen as functors to the category of groups with a Polish cover. Furthermore, doing so provides invariants that are finer, richer, and more rigid than the purely algebraic ones.  These invariants will allow us to tackle classifications problems for topological spaces, coarse spaces, C*-algebras, and maps, that had been so far out of reach. Furthermore, we will use these invariants to calibrate the complexity of such classification problems from the perspective of Borel complexity theory. In turn, this will enable us to isolate complexity-theoretic consequences of the Universal Coefficient Theorem for C*-algebras and of the coarse Baum-Connes Conjecture for coarse spaces, and to construct examples of strong failure of such results. Ultimately, the completion of this project will lead to the development of entirely new fields of research at the interface between logic and other areas of mathematics (algebraic topology, coarse geometry, operator algebras).

Mots-clés : logic,algebraic topology,operator algebras,coarse geometry,homology,cohomology,polish group,descriptive set theory,homotopy,homotopy equivalence
Projet ERC : EcoMEMO (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Entité participante : Université de Bologne — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1451568.0 €

Current global changes are increasing frequency and intensity of extreme drought events, with severe consequences for ecosystems. Recent evidence of ecological memory formation upon recurrent disturbances — defined as the capacity of past events to influence current ecosystem responses —, challenges our ability to simulate future ecosystem response to drought. Yet an important question remains: is ecological memory a fundamental feature regulating how ecosystem functioning responds to extreme climatic events? EcoMEMO aims at filling this large knowledge gap, with a focus on soil microbial communities, for which I previously showed ecological memory of drought. Soil microbes regulate important biogeochemical processes for carbon and nutrient cycling. They also possess an enormous taxonomic and functional diversity which allows for potential short-term adaptation. By embracing new approaches to study microbial ecology under drought conditions and new experimental facilities targeted to test ecological memory under realistic climate scenarios, I aim to quantify the importance of ecological memory of drought and identify its mechanisms. All this makes EcoMEMO potentially ground-breaking towards our understanding of soil microbial community response to climate change.  My overarching hypothesis is that ecological memory is a common phenomenon in soil microbial communities, attenuating negative effects of extreme drought on the processes they mediate. I also hypothesize that microbial community transition to alternative stable states during exposure to extreme drought underpins the positive effect on biogeochemical cycling. Combining soil biogeochemistry, molecular ecology and mathematics I will: - quantify ecological memory across ecosystems and its consequence for soil processes; - assess legacies of previous drought events within soil biotic and abiotic properties; - identify features of soil microbial community dynamics underpinning ecological memory formation.

Mots-clés : drought soil microbial community biogeochemical cycles climate change community dynamics soil functions soil processes,carbon cycle drought legacies recurrent stress events
Projet ERC : CUE-GO (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and Communication Engineering
Entité participante : Université de Bologne — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1055314.0 €

The CUE-GO project aims to conceive a novel methodological framework for enhancing the decision-making capabilities of autonomous agents through the exploitation of contextual radio cues of the environment. Radio cues represent a quantum leap from the traditional concept of features, usually retrieved by vision-based systems, as they contain electromagnetic information with semantic meanings (contextual) enabled by radio-frequency sensors, like those at TeraHertz bands. The elaboration of contextual radio cues allows a far-reaching prediction of the outcomes of agents’ behaviors and ultimately yields a more efficient navigation in social environments, more accurate localization of people and objects, and enhanced cooperation toward a common mission goal. In interpreting contextual radio cues, agents exchange their sensed information in a way that considers other agents’ expertise, i.e., their abilities to process environmental stimuli.  To achieve this vision, I will: (1) develop a general framework for the decision-making of autonomous agents that emulates the human capability of interpreting cues for anticipating an action’s course; (2) conceive and design methods for extrapolating contextual radio cues based on high-resolution semantic mapping of the environment; (3) conceive and design cue-guided localization and navigation algorithms that will boost ambient awareness; (4) conceive new methods and metrics to assess the agents’ skills in associating contextual radio cues with statistical models that accurately predict future rewards or punishments; (5) develop collaboration schemes accounting for the assessment of agents’ expertise.  Thanks to a multidisciplinary approach, combining diverse knowledge from behavioral neuroscience to engineering, this project will lead to a significant advance in human-inspired decision-making for future networks of autonomous agents, toward a society where humans and artificial intelligence co-exist in the same environment.

Mots-clés : contextual radio cue radio mapping localization and target tracking autonomous navigation decision making
Projet ERC : COFActiveCO2 (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : École polytechnique Chalmers — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499450.0 €

The diffusion of particles such as electrons, photons, ions, and molecules in substances represents a basic phenomenon in the universe. By manual control of the diffusion of these particles, a directional transport can be achieved, enabling the invention of electricity, fiber-optic communication and desalination. The pursuit of more powerful control over transporting processes constitutes a foundation for technology evolution. This is exactly what this project aims to do. The co-transport of multiple species in a single substance is typically prohibited in nature. This because different species have their own preferable transport environments, which are markedly disparate from one another. Optimizing the transport environment for different species in one material is therefore a great challenge, and the efforts of doing so often leads to undesired outcomes, such as trade-offs or even annihilation effects. However, the co-transport of multiple species is a necessity in technologies like electrolysis. Thus, a fundamental innovation in material science is needed to address the problem of simultaneous diffusions. In COFActiveCO2, I will use reticular chemistry to construct macromolecular type framework materials with compartmentalized multi-channels for mixed transport. The project will realize unprecedentedly control over the simultaneous transport of electrons, ions and molecules, to achieve intercalated nano-flows at high flux. As a result, a large contact between hybrid nano-flows will greatly facilitate the chemical kinetics in electrochemical processes. The implementation of membrane reactors with such design will enable significant upgrade in the electrochemical conversion efficiency of working electrodes in CO2 electrolysis technology, thus paving the way for a sustainable future.

Mots-clés : co2 electrochemcial conversion,electrolysis,mixed transport management,sustainability,covalent organic frameworks,cof membrane
Projet ERC : AFireTest (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and Processes Engineering
Entité participante : Université de Gand — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UGent
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

The current fire safety paradigm is based on a set of standardized tests which have been developed as part of a prescriptive design framework, and do not provide in-depth understanding of construction products’ fire performance. The resulting incomplete fire performance characterization hampers the much needed innovation in the built environment. The current fire safety paradigm also places tremendous emphasis on the expertise of controlling bodies (AHJ), making them responsible both for the specification of detailed prescriptive rules, and for the acceptance of performance based designs. This is unsustainable in the face of innovation.  AFireTest strives to induce a paradigm shift in fire safety science and engineering (FSSE). The core of AFireTest is the development of Adaptive Fire Testing whereby optimum fire tests are determined from the infinite number of possible test specifications through the maximum expected net information gain (Value of Information, VoI). This will be developed using modern glazing and load bearing glass as innovative case study, resulting in breakthroughs in fire performance understanding. Secondly, a framework for advanced ‘grey’ surrogate modelling will be developed, combining the pattern identification strengths of machine learning with fundamental FSSE constraints. This will introduce a powerful new tool to FSSE and enable the VoI optimization. A grey modelling approach will also be developed for quasi-instantaneous building specific risk evaluations, allowing a new approach to the AHJ acceptance of fire designs. The future operationalization of the new framework for fire design acceptance will require large follow-up investments. Thus, stakeholder buy-in is crucial. Therefore, AFireTest will develop a methodology for the cost-benefit evaluation of fire safety frameworks. For the first time, fire safety approaches will be evaluated from the perspective of Law and Economics, laying the groundwork for an entirely new field of study.

Mots-clés : fire safety experimental design value of information surrogate model compliance framework
Projet ERC : CanExCell (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : École polytechnique Chalmers — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499818.0 €

It is estimated that up to 90% of cancer deaths are caused not by the primary cancer but after it has metastasised, i.e. spread to other organs in the body, and it is well known that the locations of metastasised tumours are specific to the location of the primary cancer. Communication and transfer of material between cells is a fundamental process in cell biology, for which nature uses extracellular vesicles (EVs). These nanometre-sized vesicles are excreted by cells and contain signature combinations of membrane lipids, nucleic acids, proteins and surface markers. EVs excreted by cancer cells play an important role in communication between tumours and distant organs where metastases can take hold. While more is now understood about the role of EV nucleic acids, proteins and surface markers in these processes, the role of EV lipid composition, and especially the role of asymmetric lipid distribution across the membrane, remains overlooked. I address this fundamental research question by developing an interdisciplinary approach for mapping the asymmetric lipid composition of EVs with varying pro-metastatic nature from a library of cancer cell lines. I will create an atlas of asymmetric lipid compositions of EVs excreted by cancer cell lines, including quantitative data on the asymmetric lipid distribution between the inner and outer membrane leaflets (asymmetric lipid distribution). To study the role of EV lipid composition on selective uptake in cells from the original tumour and pre-metastatic environment, I will apply neutron scattering and super-resolution microscopy techniques. Taken together, the atlas of cancer-derived EV asymmetric lipid compositions that I will develop represents a significant advance to the state of the art, and a ground-breaking combination of cell biology with engineering-based tools for chemical and biophysical in-depth characterisation of complex, asymmetric membranes.

Mots-clés : lipid self assembly,vesicles,extracellular vesicles,lipidomics,neutron scattering,neutron reflectometry,lipid phase behaviour,liposomal formulations,cancer
Projet ERC : MyFirstBody (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : Université Eberhard Karl de Tübingen — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 88000.0 €

The representation of one’s own body as a distinct entity from the environment (i.e., bodily-self representation, BSR) is a fundamental component of our sense of self. Neuropsychological literature has provided an important contribution, revealing that brain damage can selectively disrupt BSR. MyFirstBody starts from my well-grounded expertise in BSR pathological alterations, and aims at providing the first comprehensive account of the ontogenetic development of BSR, by translating from a neuropsychological to a developmental perspective. First, I will look for implicit signatures of the BSR emergence in prenatal and postnatal life, by describing the maturation of the crucial components identified through the study of neurological patients (WP1). Then, I will move to a causative level, by challenging i) the neural mechanism that underpins the BSR emergence (WP2) and b) the developmental context that leads to its normal and pathological growth (WP3). I expect to describe a clear picture of BSR development (WP1) and its underlying network dynamics (WP2), starting with a primitive coding of the bodily-self in space, which likely emerges in the maternal womb, and proceeding to further specializations along post-natal life until the maturation of a more abstract knowledge of the bodily-self. From the comparison between congenital and acquired motor deprivations (WP3), I expect to provide the proof that early motor experience represents the crucial context for BSR development. MyFirstBody pioneers a new area of research at the intersection between neuropsychological and developmental research, by addressing different levels of analysis (cognitive and neural) in foetuses, infants, and clinical populations, all while combining advanced neuroimaging techniques (foetal fMRI, EEG, fNIRS). The final outcome will result in original theoretical insights, innovative methods and translational impacts that will represent the optimal foundation for future investigation in the field.

Mots-clés : bodily self representation,motor control,movement deprivation,multisensory integration,peripersonal space
Projet ERC : MathQuantProp (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : Université Eberhard Karl de Tübingen — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1480403.0 €

Strongly interacting and strongly correlated quantum many-body systems are at the forefront of modern quantum physics. Experimentalists have obtained unprecedented control on the interaction parameters and are able to reliably produce striking fundamental phenomena. These problems demand a rigorous mathematical treatment, but analytical methods are extremely scarce. Outside of special scaling limits, the gold standard are Lieb-Robinson bounds (LRBs) which provide an a priori bound on the speed of information propagation with broad physical implications. However, for the important classes of (A) lattice bosons and (B) continuum fermions and continuum bosons, the standard derivations of Lieb-Robinson bounds break down because these systems have unbounded interactions. The first goal of this project is to establish propagation bounds, including LRBs, for lattice bosons and to identify the true behavior of information propagation for these systems. This is the missing puzzle piece to develop a quantum information theory of lattice bosons that is on par with the revolutionary findings for quantum spin systems. The second goal is to develop propagation bounds, including LRBs, for continuum fermions and bosons. These systems present even more fundamental challenges due to ultraviolet divergences. As an application, I aim to close a glaring gap in our understanding of continuum quantum many-body systems: the existence of the thermodynamic limit of the dynamics. I recently developed the ASTLO method which uses bootstrapped differential inequalities, microlocal-inspired resolvent expansions, and multiscale iteration to pioneer particle propagation bounds for the paradigmatic Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian. This resolved longstanding problems in mathematical physics. My new ASTLO method is a robust proof template. In combination with the technique of truncated dynamics, it enables me to now tackle even more challenging open problems about information propagation.

Mots-clés : mathematical quantum theory quantum many body systems quantum dynamics bose hubbard hamiltonian lieb robinson bounds
Projet ERC : AR-NMJ (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Entité participante : Université de Padoue — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UniPd
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499221.0 €

Motor functions implement evolutionary relevant and necessary actions, such as running and breathing. They rely on electric impulses which produce muscle contractions through the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). Sex-dependent features including hormone production and genetics influence neuromuscular pathophysiology, but the molecular players involved are unknown. Here, I will unravel how sex hormones shape and maintain NMJs by dissecting the unconventional signalling exerted by peripheral hormone receptors. Indeed, unexpectedly, androgen receptor (AR) localizes at the neuron periphery and is regulated by neuronal activity. Trinucleotide repeat expansions (TRE) in AR gene cause spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA), a neuromuscular disease caused by motor neuron degeneration and muscle wasting. As AR interacts with components of the translation machinery and RNA-binding proteins, I hypothesize that extra-nuclear AR is a regulator of NMJ stability mediated by hormone binding, regulating sex-specific local translation of key mRNA targets in a phosphorylation/dephosphorylation-dependent manner, mechanisms which fail to support neuron/muscle crosstalk in SBMA. Applying sophisticated in vitro models such as cocultures in microfluidic devices and cutting-edge spatial technologies, I propose to test this by: 1. Dissecting the in vivo NMJ transcriptome in healthy males/females and SBMA mice using unbiased Nova-ST technology and snRNA-seq. 2. Elucidating the sex-specific synaptic translation events in motor axons and NMJs using ribosome sequencing from microdissected subcellular compartments. 3. Identifying the molecular players involved in the AR-dependent local translation at the NMJ and their dysregulation in disease using proximity labelling. AR-NMJ will be the first of its kind to identify the unprecedented spatial AR function and its dysregulation in SBMA at the NMJ, uncovering a novel sex-specific pathway for NMJ function, and original therapeutic strategies for SBM

Mots-clés : androgen receptor,neuromuscular junction,local translation,hormones,sex biology,neuromuscular system,neurodegeneration
Projet ERC : TranSplice (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Molecules of Life: B iological  Mechanisms , Structures  and Functions
Entité participante : Université de Liège — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1765625.0 €

Kinetoplastids are unicellular eukaryotic parasites responsible for severe human pathologies, such as sleeping sickness, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis. Kinetoplastids have diverged early during evolution and harbor many intriguing cellular and molecular peculiarities. Among these is their remarkably streamlined nuclear genome characterized by a high gene density and significantly divergent and specialized gene expression systems. A main example of such divergence is the polycistronic transcription of all their genes producing long messenger RNA precursors (pre-mRNAs) containing tens to hundreds of coding sequences. These pre-mRNAs are dissected into monocistronic mRNAs by SL trans-splicing, a process during which a spliced leader (SL) RNA is intermolecularly fused to the 5’end of all mRNAs by the trans-spliceosome. Although this machinery is essential for gene expression, the lack of structural information and the high divergence of its RNA and protein elements have hindered a mechanistic understanding of how kinetoplastids employ SL trans-splicing to generate their entire mRNA transcriptome. Here, we will use innovative approaches to provide the structural and mechanistic basis of SL trans-splicing in kinetoplastids by using cutting-edge structural biology techniques and state-of-the-art genetic and in silico tools. By combining genome editing, purification of endogenous trans-splicing machineries, high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy, AI-based interactome approaches, and novel in vivo assays, we will reveal the mechanism of SL snRNP biogenesis, the molecular basis for SL snRNP intermolecular recognition and activation by the trans-spliceosome, and the central mechanism of trans-splicing orchestrated by the highly divergent kinetoplastids trans-spliceosome. The outcome of this research will transform our understanding of RNA trans-splicing in eukaryotes and will pave the way for developing new drugs that specifically target this unique and essential pathway.

Mots-clés : trans spliceosome cryo em trans splicing ribonucleoprotein gene expression regulation kinetoplastids parasites