Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : PyroTRACH (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas — Pays : Grèce — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : FORTH;ΙΤΕ
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1899832.0 €

Biomass burning (BB) is a significant contributor to global atmospheric particulate matter, with strong impacts on climate, ecosystems and public health. Yet these impacts are highly uncertain, largely owing to our inability to track BB particulate matter and the evolution of their properties throughout most of its atmospheric lifetime. PyroTRACH will provide the necessary breakthroughs in our understanding of BB particles and their impacts by: i) deriving new markers of biomass burning with an atmospheric lifetime that exceeds the current limitation of about a day, ii) measuring highly uncertain but critically-important climate- and health- relevant properties of aerosols both from wildfire events that occur during summertime and from BB for heating purposes during wintertime in highly populated urban environments, iii) applying this new knowledge to quantify the contribution of biomass burning to aerosol in the Mediterranean region, and quantify its impacts on climate and public health. Novel state-of-the-art instrumentation, portable environmental chambers and well established measurement techniques will be applied in continuous measurements as well as intensive field campaigns to study the properties and evolution of BB particulates as they age in the atmosphere. Discovering new stable chemical markers that allow detection of BBOA many days after emission, while carefully and accurately following the climate and health-related properties of freshly emitted and aged BBOA, allows for an unprecedented understanding of the evolution and impacts of biomass burning aerosol and its impact on the Earth System and public health. Considering the increasing occurrence of wildfires, along with decreased emissions from fossil fuels means that accurately predicting the health and climate effects from biomass burning aerosol is one of the most important aspects of atmospheric aerosol that needs to be studied.

Mots-clés : biomass burning aerosol,reactive oxygen species,atmospheric measurements,modeling
Projet ERC : pocL-CI (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : National Centre of Scientific Research "Demokritos" — Pays : Grèce — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : NCSR;NCSR-D
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 148250.0 €

Blood cell counting/identification is the most powerful and widespread approach throughout the world for assessing an individual’s health status. The diagnosis and monitoring of an infection (e.g. HIV, malaria, bacterial infection), the monitor of a chemotherapy outcome (e.g. in cancer patients) or even the diagnosis of rare diseases (e.g. sickle cell disease, non-Hodgkin lymphomas), relies on analysing the number and/or the morphology of different types of blood cells. Here, we aim to validate a portable, single-cell counting/identification platform that can be used to diagnose and monitor diseases at the point-of-care. The platform consists of a low-cost, handheld, battery-operated, scanner and a disposable microfluidic biochip. The underlying technology, termed ‘Label-free Cell Identification (L-CI) technology’, is based on the integration of novel, microfabricated components that enable to simultaneously image and count thousands of cells at high spatial resolution. If successfully commercialized, the L-CI platform will be the first medical instrument to perform a blood cell counting test by the end user at home, in few minutes. The potential is enormous as the L-CI platform will replace millions of blood cell tests that routinely performed by trained personnel in clinics and hospitals in the developed world but it will also make blood cell tests available in the developing wold.

Mots-clés : lab on chip,microfluidics,cell counting
Projet ERC : BOMPAC (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : University of Helsinki — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UH
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499808.0 €

Book production became a market-orientated craft long before the invention of printing. In the late-medieval manuscript economy, the parish churches formed one of the biggest entities on the demand side. However, at present we know next to nothing about how they were provisioned with books. BOMPAC is a response to this gap in scholarly understanding. It offers the first substantial study of the place of the parish church in the culture and economy of the manuscript book, c. 1150–c.1500. BOMPACs contribution to the topic will be twofold. It will, firstly, provide an extensive case study concering one medieval kingdom – Sweden – comprising more or less two modern countries (Sweden, Finland). Secondly, preliminary research indicates that many of the books used in the parishes of medieval Sweden were imported from abroad. Thus, the project will directly break new ground in the study of the international book economy of the later middle ages. Parish church book provision remains poorly known because such books very rarely survive as complete physical items. BOMPAC will go around this limitation by innovative use of a hitherto understudied corpus of manuscript fragments. In Sweden, the parchment books of the parishes were recycled as covers for tax accounts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This operation was systematic and resulted in a massive collection of c. 50 000 leaves from c. 12 500 books, probably the biggest collection of material from medieval parish church books anywhere in the world. Only recent cataloguing and digitizing efforts have made this material accessible for research. In BOMPAC, it will be studied with both statistical and palaeographical methods. A database-driven approach is used to produce a reliable big picture of how the books were distributed in the medieval period. Palaeographical and codicological case studies will show us the modes and routes by which parish churches acquired their books.

Mots-clés : manuscript studies,history of the book
Projet ERC : GlacialLegacy (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : AWI
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1979052.0 €

Boreal forests provide critical ecosystem services to humanity, including timber supplies, cli-mate-regulation, and permafrost-stabilization. However, these forests differ markedly between Asia, which is dominated by summergreen larch forests, and North America, where boreal for-ests are exclusively evergreen. The basic mechanisms controlling the distributions of these bo-real biomes remain poorly understood. My new hypothesis is that summergreen and evergreen needle-leaf forests represent alterna-tive quasi-stable states that occur today under similar climatic conditions, but were triggered by different environmental conditions and gene pools during the Last Glacial. GlacialLegacy will use coherent empirical and modelling approaches to investigate this hypoth-esis across the entire Northern Hemisphere, also collecting new data from northern Asia, where both forests types occur today. Work package (WP) A will explore the dependency of post-glacial forest establishment on the glacial climate and genetic characteristics of northern tree refugia. We will use ancient DNA analysis of sediments, complemented by results from pollen data synthesis. For a mechanistic understanding of the empirical evidence obtained, we will simulate post-glacial forest migra-tion using the LAVESI individual-based vegetation model, into which long-term genetic process-es will be incorporated. WP-B will further refine the LAVESI model using results from vegetation and biophysical field surveys. This will enable us to quantify the vegetation–fire–permafrost–climate feedbacks that are likely to facilitate boreal forest bi-stability. Such a model configuration is the only way that reliable predictions of the future of boreal for-ests can be made, which will be the objective of WP-C. These predictions will aim to anticipate potentially critical future ecosystem service changes on a continental scale, thus providing the knowledge base required for adaptation strategies to be prepared.

Mots-clés : ancient sedimentary dna,vegetation modelling
Projet ERC : NANOCELL (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
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 : 887487.65 €

Bottom-up synthetic biology aims to artificially replicate the emerging behaviours of cellular life but struggles to do so without relying on poorly controllable machinery borrowed from biological cells. DNA nanotechnology enables ab-initio design of nanoscale objects with fully programmable structure and dynamic response, making them ideal to mimic the complex functionalities of biological machinery in a truly bottom-up fashion. NANOCELL will establish a fully modular and integrated platform that utilises DNA nanotechnology to prescribe structure and functionality of artificial cells. I will design a library of micron-scale DNA-based objects that mimic cell organelles in their ability to perform specific tasks in response to chemical and environmental stimuli including signal detection and amplification, the capture and release of cargoes, and the construction of structural elements. These “membrane-less organelles” will self-assemble from a new class of amphiphilic DNA building blocks I recently introduced, which enable unprecedented control over the morphology and response of nanostructured frameworks. Interaction between organelles will lead to the emergence of collective effects, and their encapsulation in lipid-bilayer compartments will enable the modular construction of artificial cells displaying a range of complex behaviours such as remote communication, dynamic adaptation, and spatiotemporal patterning in multicellular systems. NANOCELL will consist of three Work Packages reflecting its hierarchical approach: WP1: Mapping the self-assembly behaviour of amphiphilic DNA nanostructures. WP2: Embedding different functionalities in amphiphilic DNA frameworks to produce artificial organelles. WP3: Creating artificial cells by encapsulating DNA organelles in compartmentalised systems. The full programmability afforded by NANOCELL will ultimately unlock long-awaited applications of artificial cells, spanning from biosensing to smart therapeutics.

Mots-clés : structural dna nanotechnology,dynamic dna nanotechnology,artificial cells,bottom up synthetic biology,encapsulation,self assembly,amphiphilic molecules,phase behaviour
Projet ERC : MiCaBra (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Entité participante : Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Inserm
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2500000.0 €

Brain activity critically depends on the high energetic support provided by mitochondria, the cell organelles transforming energy sources into molecularly usable ATP. The pathological effects of chronic mitochondrial dysfunctions in the brain are under scrutiny, but the impact of physiological modulation of mitochondrial activity on ongoing brain functions is almost unknown. Cannabinoid type-1 receptors (CB1) are amongst the G Protein-Coupled receptors (GPCR) expressed at highest levels in the brain, and they are key regulators of behaviour. We recently showed that CB1 receptors are present at brain mitochondrial membranes (mtCB1), where they regulate bioenergetic processes, thereby mediating amnesic effects of cannabinoids. Thus, the physiological roles of the brain endocannabinoid system formed by CB1 receptors and endogenous ligands, and the pharmacological effects of cannabinoid drugs (e.g. the psychotropic compound of the plant cannabis sativa, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol) partially rely on the regulation of brain mitochondrial activity. Using a bottom-up approach at micro-, meso- and macro-scale levels, MiCaBra will reveal cell biological features, signalling properties and behavioural impact of mtCB1 receptors in the brain. First, we will address the cell biology of mtCB1 receptors, determining the structural and molecular requirements for their mitochondrial trafficking. To define how this GPCR modulate mitochondrial activity and what are the functional consequences of these effects, we will study downstream intra-mitochondrial signalling of mtCB1 receptors and the eventual impact on cellular processes controlled by the organelle. Finally, we will tackle the role of mtCB1 receptors in the (endo)cannabinoid control of brain circuits and behaviour. Thus, MiCaBra has the ambitious aim to understand the impact of regulation of bioenergetic processes on ongoing brain functions, thereby determining a novel framework in the study of behavioural pathophysiology.

Mots-clés : cannabinoid receptors,mitochondria,brain bioenergetics,conditional mutagenesis,behaviour,imaging,proteomics,cell biology,biochemistry,electrophysiology
Projet ERC : AstroWireSyn (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Entité participante : Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : Inserm
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 412500.0 €

Brain information processing is commonly thought to be a neuronal performance. However recent data point to a key role of astrocytes in brain development, activity and pathology. Indeed astrocytes are now viewed as crucial elements of the brain circuitry that control synapse formation, maturation, activity and elimination. How do astrocytes exert such control is matter of intense research, as they are now known to participate in critical developmental periods as well as in psychiatric disorders involving synapse alterations. Thus unraveling how astrocytes control synaptic circuit formation and maturation is crucial, not only for our understanding of brain development, but also for identifying novel therapeutic targets. We recently found that connexin 30 (Cx30), an astroglial gap junction subunit expressed postnatally, tunes synaptic activity via an unprecedented non-channel function setting the proximity of glial processes to synaptic clefts, essential for synaptic glutamate clearance efficacy. Our work not only reveals Cx30 as a key determinant of glial synapse coverage, but also extends the classical model of neuroglial interactions in which astrocytes are generally considered as extrasynaptic elements indirectly regulating neurotransmission. Yet the molecular mechanisms involved in such control, its dynamic regulation by activity and impact in a native developmental context are unknown. We will now address these important questions, focusing on the involvement of this novel astroglial function in wiring developing synaptic circuits. Thus using a multidisciplinary approach we will investigate: 1) the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying Cx30 regulation of synaptic function 2) the activity-dependent dynamics of Cx30 function at synapses 3) a role for Cx30 in wiring synaptic circuits during critical developmental periods This ambitious project will provide essential knowledge on the molecular mechanisms underlying astroglial control of synaptic circuits.

Mots-clés : neuroglial interactions,astrocytes,synapse,plasticity,criticial period
Projet ERC : 3DBrainStrom (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Tel Aviv University — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TAU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2353125.0 €

Brain metastases represent a major therapeutic challenge. Despite significant breakthroughs in targeted therapies, survival rates of patients with brain metastases remain poor. Nowadays, discovery, development and evaluation of new therapies are performed on human cancer cells grown in 2D on rigid plastic plates followed by in vivo testing in immunodeficient mice. These experimental settings are lacking and constitute a fundamental hurdle for the translation of preclinical discoveries into clinical practice. We propose to establish 3D-printed models of brain metastases (Aim 1), which include brain extracellular matrix, stroma and serum containing immune cells flowing in functional tumor vessels. Our unique models better capture the clinical physio-mechanical tissue properties, signaling pathways, hemodynamics and drug responsiveness. Using our 3D-printed models, we aim to develop two new fronts for identifying novel clinically-relevant molecular drivers (Aim 2) followed by the development of precision nanomedicines (Aim 3). We will exploit our vast experience in anticancer nanomedicines to design three therapeutic approaches that target various cellular compartments involved in brain metastases: 1) Prevention of brain metastatic colonization using targeted nano-vaccines, which elicit antitumor immune response; 2) Intervention of tumor-brain stroma cells crosstalk when brain micrometastases establish; 3) Regression of macrometastatic disease by selectively targeting tumor cells. These approaches will materialize using our libraries of polymeric nanocarriers that selectively accumulate in tumors. This project will result in a paradigm shift by generating new preclinical cancer models that will bridge the translational gap in cancer therapeutics. The insights and tumor-stroma-targeted nanomedicines developed here will pave the way for prediction of patient outcome, revolutionizing our perception of tumor modelling and consequently the way we prevent and treat cancer.

Mots-clés : 3d bio printing,brain metastases,melanoma,breast cancer,lung cancer,tumor microenvironment,nanomedicines
Projet ERC : MATADOR (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CEA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149645.0 €

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, with nearly 1.7 million new cases diagnosed in 2012. Fortunately, the availability of diagnosis tools to detect mammary neoplastic tissues, as well as transcriptomic biomarkers helping for prognosis, and the diversity of treatment options for primary tumors allows a 90% 5-year survival rate. However the metastatic grade of breast cancer is still not curable. Advances from basic research in the last decade outline the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) as a key program of molecular events triggering metastatic dissemination [Nieto MA, Cell, 2016]. Impairing the EMT process appears as a very seductive way to cure breast carcinoma cancer. Based on preliminary results obtained from “SPICY” ERC Frontier Research Starting Grant, in which we successfully develop an assay dedicated to characterize the EMT state of breast carcinoma cells [Thery M, EP 2180042 A1, 2008 ; Burute M, Dev. Cell, 2016], MATADOR is an ERC proof-of-concept project which proposes a genuine innovative strategy to develop marketable cell based assays allowing the discovery of new drugs efficiently curing mammary tumors, and create a CRO-type biotechnology company exploiting the pre-existing and newly created intellectual property: including marketable assays and therapeutics defined in MATADOR.

Mots-clés : breast carcinoma,drug discovery,cell based assays,nanotechnologies for health sciences,cell polarity,chimio resistance
Projet ERC : OpenPhilology (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
Entité participante : Leiden University — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2498296.0 €

Buddhist sūtras are fundamental sources for understanding the beliefs that once dominated, and largely continue to dominate, Asian societies. But classical philological approaches to these texts, assuming an Ur-text and linear development, misrepresent their nature and obscure their history. Like oral literature the sūtras are authorless and textually fluid, their content formulaic and modular, and the situation complicated by their huge volume and the linguistic diversity of their extant versions. Their fluidity and the absence of an Ur-text makes traditional stemmatic editing inappropriate. Other options are also unacceptable: eclectic editions conflate distinct sources, creating texts which never existed historically, while exclusive focus on a single version ignores the tradition’s true richness. Utilizing the tools of Digital Humanities, Open Philology offers a revolution in approaching the composition of these scriptures, and other literatures with common features, such as the Homeric corpus or Rabbinic literature. Given the vastness of the Buddhist canons, we will focus on a traditional subset of texts, and produce electronic editions which preserve their diachronic and synchronic fluidity, revealing the intertextuality inherent in their formulaic composition. Our editing environments will allow one to easily view the diversity of sources, in different versions of ‘the same text’ and in parallels in other texts, and permit one to view data at any level of granularity, according to one’s interests. The project will produce corpora of sūtras mutually aligned in their Chinese, Tibetan and, when available, Sanskrit versions, a map of formulaic content, annotated text editions and translations, a general study of the corpus, and a series of scholarly publications on methodological and content-oriented issues. The tools and results we produce will bring our historical understanding of Buddhism, the most formative influence on Asian cultures, to a new level.

Mots-clés : buddhism,scriptures,text critique
Projet ERC : TramOpt (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Inria
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149903.0 €

Building on the advances of the ERC TRAM3 project, the TramOpt PoC project aims are twofold: 1) developing a robust prototype to allow real-life testing and deployment of a novel vehicular traffic control Decision Support System (DSS) based on a software platform for road traffic management including variable speed limits, ramp-metering and re-routing policies. This DSS is intended for public and private traffic managers to increase freeway network performances (e.g. congestion and pollution reduction); 2) assessing the exploitation perspectives through a dedicated market study evaluating the added value of TramOpt over existing solutions and evaluating the best business approach to foster uptake and commercialization of our technology.

Mots-clés : vehicular traffic,macroscopic models,numerical simulations,optimization,decision support system