Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : HiSCORE (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ETH Zurich
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 268750.0 €

The need for drug screening with increasingly higher throughput is dictated both by the increasing number of drug targets made available through genomics and the increasing number of chemical molecules generated through combinatorial chemistry. Merely Boolean high-throughput screening techniques today can scan large compound libraries, but the ever increasing throughput has not translated into a significant increase in late-phase drug candidates. HiSCORE presents a synergistic approach to high-throughput, high-information drug screening that builds on the complementary skills of four laboratories supported by two external experts of drug screening: (i) Research and build innovative magnetic resonance instrumentation (Kentgens, IMM/RU) that can provide small, hyperpolarized solid samples on a seconds timescale, transfer and dissolve or liquefy these samples with minimum dilution, and acquire multiple high-resolution NMR spectra of the liquefied samples in parallel (Meier, IBG/KIT), using complementary contrast-enhancement methods, in up to 1000 massively parallelized microfluidic detectors (Korvink, IMT/KIT). (ii) Use this instrumentation for binding assays and measure the dissociation constants in the nano to micromolar range, and determine kinetic rates of the association and dissociation for a large number of complexes of putative drug compounds and protein targets (Bodenhausen, ENS) (iii) Use this instrumentation for functional assays, in particular for systems that comprise multiple enzyme steps with intermediate products, and to determine the efficacy of potential inhibitors, while fully exploiting the rich information that can be obtained by fluorine-19 NMR. (iv) Use this instrumentation for metabonomic assays to observe the metabolism of the compounds in cultures of living cells in view of identifying potentially toxic side-products. The contrast between compounds that bind to targets and those that fail to bind will be boosted by exploiting long-lived states

Mots-clés : dissociation constants,kinetic rates,enzyme inhibition,high throughput screening,microfluidics,supercritical co2,parallel detection,dynamic nuclear polarization,para hydrogen
Projet ERC : BuBble Gun (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : University of Twente — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

The needle-free delivery of liquid jets into soft and heterogeneous substrates, e.g. human tissue, has been hindered by (1) the need to reach specific penetration depths with energy efficient means, (2) the break-up of jets that impedes control over the dose delivery, and (3) liquid splash-back after impacting the substrate that cause cross-contamination between injections. BuBble Gun is aimed at overcoming these challenges. My team and I have recently uncovered new operational regimes of cavitation with continuous-wave lasers. My next goal is to study the energy partition between the creation of bubbles, the formation of liquid jets, and the penetration of these jets into soft substrates. Fundamental insights on energy partitioning will then be applied to achieve major breakthroughs in jet injection, by (1) controlling cavitation within microfluidic confinement, (2) tuning the rheology of jets emerging from confined cavitation, and (3) deriving the relationships between fluid dynamics and material properties governing jet injection into soft substrates. I expect to advance the knowledge at the intersection of microfluidics, physics, and bioengineering, to enable unprecedented control over cavitation, jetting, and injection phenomena. We will develop a portable energy- efficient injection platform by using ultra-high-speed imaging, and quantifying injections with experimental resolutions below the microsecond and micrometer scales. The rheological properties of the jets will be tuned with biocompatible additives to ensure cohesion, before injecting them into in-vitro targets and ex-vivo skin. Numerical models will assist untangling the influence of microfluidic configuration and material properties on the injection outcomes. The ultimate result will be the predictable, reproducible, and efficient injection of liquids that will enable a wide-range of technologies, such as additive manufacturing, coating modifications, the delivery of drugs and vaccinations.

Mots-clés : microfluidics,bubble,cavitation,rheology,needle free transdermal delivery,drop impact,splashing,reynolds number,weber number,ohnesorge number,viscoelasticity,biodegradable polymers,skin surrogates,ex vivo skin,vaccinations,jet break up,jet splash back,permanent make up,medical tattooing,continous wave lasers,thermocavitation
Projet ERC : MiTSoPro (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Entité participante : University of Liège — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1306717.98 €

The negative employment and social developments across Europe since the start of the crisis, coupled with increased fiscal constraints and changing migration patterns, have led to increasing depictions of EU and third-country immigrants as ‘abusers’ of their social protection systems. Member States have accordingly sought reduce migrants’ ability to access social protection benefits, despite the fact that they are disproportionately at risk of poverty and social exclusion. This project looks at the different strategies that migrants have to access social protection within (post) crisis Europe and does so by explicitly integrating social policy and migration studies’ approaches on the phenomenon. More precisely, it aims to study transnational social protection, that we define as migrants’ cross-border strategies to cope with social risks in areas such as health, long-term care, pensions or unemployment that combine entitlements to host and home state-based public welfare policies and market-, family- and community-based practices. This study thus consists in, first, identifying the social protection policies and programs that home countries make accessible to their citizens abroad, and then compiling this information into an online database. We will then aggregate the results of the database into a Transnational Social Protection Index (TSPIx) in order to determine the overall level of engagement of each state with citizens abroad in a comparative way. Second, on the basis of the results of the index, we will select case studies of migrants from two EU and two non-EU countries that vary in their level of engagement in providing social protection to their citizens abroad. We will then undertake multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork to qualitatively assess the informal social protection strategies used by migrants and examine their interaction with formal host and home state social protection provision.

Mots-clés : migration,social protection,diaspora,welfare,european union
Projet ERC : LSSgrav (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : University of Geneva — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UNIGE
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1946064.0 €

The objective of my proposal is to test the law of gravity using the large-scale structure of our Universe. The way galaxies are distributed in the sky, as well as their observed size and shape, are directly sensitive to the theory of gravity. Upcoming large-scale structure surveys are expected to deliver very precise pictures of our sky over a wide range of scale and redshift, opening the way to a whole new range of tests of gravity. The aim of my project is to construct novel cosmological observables to test fundamental properties of gravity that are not accessible through standard large-scale structure analyses. With these observables, I will probe two distinct but complementary regimes of the large-scale structure. First, I will construct new tests of gravity at large scales. In this regime, observables are affected by relativistic distortions that deform our image of the sky. The goal of my research is to construct novel, innovative methods to isolate these distortions and use them to probe some features of gravity that are not encoded in standard tests. Second, I will probe gravity at small scales, in the non-linear regime of large-scale structure. The non-linear regime contains complementary information about the nature of gravitational interactions. I will use a novel observable, the line correlation function, to probe these interactions. This observable is sensitive to correlations in the phases of the galaxy density field and grant us access to information that is not included in standard statistical measures like the two-point correlation function. The new cosmological observables constructed in this project will allow us to go beyond standard large-scale structure analyses, and to test in a model-independent way specific properties of gravity that have never been tested before at cosmological scales.

Mots-clés : relativistic distortions,phase correlations
Projet ERC : DIFFUSION (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : University of Leeds — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The objective of the DIFFUSION project is to develop an easy-to-use device to analyse diffusion processes within thin solvated films. This new analytical tool will overcome a current bottleneck in the development of functional coatings for a wide range of applications, from fundamental research in biophysics and microbiology to real-life applications in biomaterials and paints. Driven by analytical needs during the ERC Starting Grant project JELLY my team and I conceived the DIFFUSION technology. The technology has the potential to enhance research and development in industry and academia – in material sciences and engineering, physics, chemistry and biology – wherever functional thin films/coatings are developed or used. It enables the analysis of molecular and nanoparticle diffusion within thin solvated films, thus providing new information that is instrumental to the development and quality control of films/coatings with superior performance and new functions yet has so far been challenging to assess. The technology is conceived as a modular add-on device that enhances the capabilities of the users' existing existing optical microscopy setups. An initial market analysis has already shown that there is broad interest in the method in academia and industry, and that the solution we aim to offer would be attractive. This Proof of Concept grant is required to develop a second-generation prototype to demonstrate that a cost-effective and easy-to-use device is feasible, to demonstrate its added value with selected application examples covering target research and development areas, and to develop a commercialisation plan including the identification of an industrial partner that is ready to build on the second-generation prototype and rapidly move a device into production and commercialisation.

Mots-clés : analytical devices,research and development market,diffusion,functional materials,organic thin films,biological surfaces and interfaces
Projet ERC : LACRYS (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : University of Bologna — Pays : Italie — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : UNIBO
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 45000.0 €

The objective of the LACRYS project is to validate and de-risk a technology based on light assisted crystallization for restoration of artworks (frescos), to assess its market potential and identify the most suitable exploitation strategy. Precipitation or dissolution oThe precipitation or dissolution of single and composite materials is a ubiquitous process in materials science and nature. So far, it can be controlled at large scale either in laboratory experiments or industrial processes. However, controlling the precipitation (or dissolution) of a mineral phase at micron scale is nowadays a challenge opening the gate to precious applications in health sciences (bone and teeth repair), art preservation (frescos and most pieces of work), the synthesis of advanced complex materials and the polymorphic control in pharmaceutical industry. We have envisaged a new, feasible and affordable method to control the precipitation/dissolution of mineral phases at the scale of one micron and below. Our method uses light-sensitive molecules that can induce a local change of pH (or a local change of concentration of specific species) upon illumination with a particular wavelength. Light can be currently focused at the scale of tens of femtolitre in volume, thus allowing a formidable control of the nucleation and growth of mineral phases. The applications of this new technique would be almost universal. Therefore, we plan for this project: a) to demonstrate the limits of feasibility of the methodology and patent it; b) to optimize formulations for the specific cases of carbonate and phosphate precipitation/dissolution with obvious applications in bones and teeth repair and art preservation; c) to perform a market study to have a detailed evaluation of the value of the invention while exploring applications in the fields of polymorphic control, microgravity and fabrication of complex material at nanoscale, and d) to develop a plan for commercialization and promoting the technology.

Mots-clés : crystallization,dissolution,photoactivation,photoactive and photobasic generators,microscale,carbonate and phosphate photogenerators,light assisted crystallization
Projet ERC : Dark-OsT (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2474875.0 €

The objective of the proposed project is to pioneer a magnetometry-based experimental framework for the detection of time-varying signatures of the ‘dark sector’. This novel approach will enable systematic searches for particles contributing to the dark matter and for dark-energy components. The nature of dark matter and that of dark energy are among the central open problems in modern physics. There are only few experimental bounds and so far no conclusive observations of dark-sector particles or fields. Experiments enabling a direct coupling to the dark sector and thus a systematic search for and study of the contributing particles and fields would open up new vistas for areas ranging from particle physics to astrophysics and cosmology, and would in particular provide insights into the physics beyond the Standard Model. Here, we propose a framework for such experimental searches based on high-precision magnetometers, and networks thereof. Our approach is distinct from existing efforts in two ways. First, it will enable searches for so-far unexplored couplings to ultra-light bosonic particles present in the Universe that could be components of dark matter and/or dark energy, in particular axions and axion-like particles (ALPs). Second, we will develop and use devices and methods tailored to search for oscillating and transient, rather than time-independent, effects. Specifically, we will use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques for detecting spin precession caused by background axion and ALP dark matter, and geographically separated magnetometers for identify transient effects, such as crossing domain walls of ALP fields, which have been proposed as a possible dark-energy component. The devices and methods developed in the framework of this project will provide the essential components for unique searches for a broad class of dark-matter and dark-energy candidates and might enable the key experiments to understanding the dark sector.

Mots-clés : dark sector,dark energy,dark matter,magnetometry
Projet ERC : BU-PACT (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : University of Twente — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

The objective of the proposed study program is to elucidate the effect of turbulence on collisions between bubbles and particles. Such collisions are fundamental to flotation, a process widely used to separate materials based on differences in their hydropThe objective of the proposed study program is to elucidate the effect of turbulence on collisions between bubbles and particles. Such collisions are fundamental to the flotation process, a technology widely used in industry. Applications include wastewater treatment, paper recycling, and especially mining, where flotation is used to separate minerals. This process commonly operates under strongly turbulent conditions and the important role of turbulence is now a widely accepted fact in the mineral engineering community. The actual effect of turbulence on the bubble-particle collision rate, however, remains unclear. This is largely because effects arising from a finite drift velocity of suspended species, such as preferential concentration, remain entirely unexplored and hence unaccounted for. Bubbles and light particles behave fundamentally different in a turbulent flow compared to their heavy counterparts and therefore the problem. Therefore the bubble-particle problem is fundamentally different from e.g. droplet collisions in clouds, requiring new concepts. I intend to investigate bubble-particle collisions through combined experimental and numerical efforts. Experiments using Particle Tracking Velocimetry will provide much needed reference data while direct numerical simulations via point-particle and immersed-boundary methods will allow us to study various physical effects in detail. Together, these will enable us to develop and test realistic theories and models for the geometric collision rate between particles and bubbles as well as for their collision efficiency. The ultimate goal is a physics-based parametrization of the effective bubble-particle collision rate in realistic conditions.

Mots-clés : particles in turbulence,multi phase flow,flotation
Projet ERC : COSMO_SIMS (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : Université Côte d'Azur — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : UCA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 337416.56 €

The objective of this ambitious research proposal is to push forward the frontier of computational cosmology by significantly improving the precision of numerical models on par with the increasing richness and depth of surveys that aim to shed light on the nature of dark matter and dark energy. Using new phase-space techniques for the simulation and analysis of dark matter, completely new insights into its dynamics are possible. They allow, for the first time, the accurate simulation of dark matter cosmologies with suppressed small-scale power without artificial fragmentation. Using such techniques, I will establish highly accurate predictions for the properties of dark matter and baryons on small scales and investigate the formation of the first galaxies in non-CDM cosmologies. Baryonic effects on cosmological observables are a severe limiting factor in interpreting cosmological measurements. I will investigate their impact by identifying the relevant astrophysical processes in relation to the multi-wavelength properties of galaxy clusters and the galaxies they host. This will be enabled by a statistical set of zoom simulations where it is possible to study how these properties correlate with one another, with the assembly history, and how we can derive better models for unresolved baryonic processes in cosmological simulations and thus, ultimately, how we can improve the power of cosmological surveys. Finally, I will develop a completely unified framework for precision cosmological initial conditions (ICs) that is scalable to both the largest simulations and the highest resolution zoom simulations. Bringing ICs into the ‘cloud’ will enable new statistical studies using zoom simulations and increase the reproducibility of simulations within the community. My previous work in developing most of the underlying techniques puts me in an excellent position to lead a research group that is able to successfully approach such a wide-ranging and ambitious project.
Projet ERC : SPICY (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : Austrian Academy of Sciences — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : OAW
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1313025.0 €

The objective of this project is to experimentally realize a 100-particle quantum simulator with complete quantum control at the single-particle level that will be used for investigating models of interacting spins in two dimensions. The experimental platform is a two-dimensional crystal of laser-cooled ions held in a radio-frequency trap. In this approach, the quantum state of a spin is encoded in two electronic levels of an ion. Effective spin-spin interactions are induced by laser fields coupling the ions’ electronic levels to excitations of the crystal lattice. Single-particle quantum control will be achieved by manipulating individual ions with a strongly focused steerable laser beam. Single-shot quantum measurements with near-unit detection efficiency will enable measurements of arbitrary spin correlation functions. The main goals of SPICY are: 1. Trapping and laser-cooling of two-dimensional ion crystals to millikelvin temperatures in a radio-frequency trap. 2. Realization of quantum spin models with particle numbers for which the simulation becomes intractable by numerical techniques. 3. Development of methods for validating quantum simulators 4. Investigation of various models with spin-frustration in two-dimensional geometries. SPICY builds on my experience with small-scale one-dimensional trapped-ion simulators. The exploration of two-dimensional lattice geometries will overcome difficulties in scaling up one-dimensional trapped-ion systems and enable the experimental investigation of the rich physics of two-dimensional spin models.

Mots-clés : trapped ions,quantum simulation,entanglement,laser ion interactions,quantum magnetism,laser cooling