Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : CSI.interface (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : TU Wien — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TUW
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1146875.0 €

After decades of truly transformative advancements in single molecule (bio)physics and surface science, it is still no more than a vision to predict and control macroscopic phenomena such as adhesion or electrochemical reaction rates at solid/liquid interfaces based on well-characterized single molecular interactions. How exactly do inherently dynamic and simultaneous interactions of a countless number of interacting “crowded” molecules lead to a concerted outcome/property on a macroscopic scale? Here, I propose a unique approach that will allow us to unravel the scaling of single molecule interactions towards macroscopic properties at adhesive and redox-active solid/liquid interfaces. Combining Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) based single molecule force spectroscopy and macroscopic Surface Forces Apparatus (SFA) experiments CSI.interface will (1) derive rules for describing nonlinearities observed in complex, crowded (water and ions) and chemically diverse adhesive solid/liquid interfaces; (2) uniquely characterize all relevant kinetic parameters (interaction free energy and transition states) of electrochemical and adhesive reactions/interactions of single molecules at chemically defined surfaces as well as electrified single crystal facets and step edges. Complementary, (3) my team and I will build a novel molecular force apparatus in order to measure single-molecule steady-state dynamics of both redox cycles as well as binding unbinding cycles of specific interactions, and how these react to environmental triggers. CSI.interface goes well beyond present applications of AFM and SFA and has the long-term potential to revolutionize our understanding of interfacial interaction under steady state, responsive and dynamic conditions. This work will pave the road for knowledge based designing of next-generation technologies in gluing, coating, bio-adhesion, materials design and much beyond.

Mots-clés : atomic force microscopy,single molecule force spectroscopy,surface and interface forces,scaling,electric double layers
Projet ERC : UniverScale (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Observatoire de Paris — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Observatoire Paris
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1220555.0 €

After detection of the accelerated expansion of the Universe (Nobel prize 2011) and the existence of an enigmatic “dark energy” component of the matter-energy content of the Universe the physical explanation of the nature of dark energy has become a major challenge for astronomers and physicists in recent years. The recent empirical determinations of H0 complicated even more our understanding of the Universe since they differ by about 4σ from the value obtained from Planck data and the ΛCDM model, which suggest that new physics might be required in the models. We will calibrate two geometrical methods which will yield 1% distances a thousand times further out than Gaia parallaxes. The great advantage of our approach is the full control on all potential errors affecting the distance determinations, including systematic errors elusive in most other methods. In addition, we will provide mutual crosschecks at the sub-percent accuracy level with three completely independent geometrical methods. This will allow for the first time to verify the accuracy (and not only precision) at this unprecedented level of precision. Applying these methods we will calibrate the extragalactic distance scale with an unprecedented precision and accuracy. This will allow for a 1% H0 determination with Cepheids and SN Ia. Novel reverberation studies of AGN continua will allow us to determine H0 completely independently, and provide direct insight into the larger redshift Universe, including the H(z) dependence which will constrain other cosmological parameters. Our results will have strong impact on many fields of modern astrophysics. In particular they will definitively answer the question if new physics beyond the standard cosmological model is required. They will also be central to understand the physical nature of dark energy which constitutes about 72% of the matter-energy of the Universe.

Mots-clés : cepheids,eclipsing binaries,binary systems,hubble constant
Projet ERC : SuperH (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : University of the Basque Country — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UPV;EHU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 965022.5 €

After the discovery of superconductivity at above 200 K in the hydrogen sulfide system, two clear conclusions can be drawn: i) there is lots of room for discovering new hydrogen-based high-temperature superconducting compounds, and ii) first-principles calculations can guide the discovery of these materials. In fact, the possibility of high-temperature superconductivity in the hydrogen sulfide system had been predicted before the experiment. However, in order to be accurate and reliable for this type of compounds, first-principles calculations need to go far beyond the state-of-the-art to correctly incorporate the large quantum effects intrinsic to hydrogen atoms. Huge errors on the superconducting properties of materials are often obtained with state-of-the-art methods, misguiding experimental effort. In this project we will develop a new method that will make first-principles calculations correctly incorporate such quantum effects and, thus, reach an unprecedented precision and accuracy. With the use of the novel first-principles method we will characterize correctly the physical and chemical properties of hydrogen-based superconductors, aiming at understanding clearly why and when these materials become high-temperature superconductors. We will also investigate the possibility of high-temperature superconductivity at ambient pressure in this type of compounds. In the end of the project, we will focus our theoretical effort to the discovery of new high-temperature superconductors, focusing on hydrides, hydrogen-storage materials, and organic compounds.

Mots-clés : superconductivity,first principles calculations,hydrogen compounds,quantum lattice vibrations
Projet ERC : SuperH (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : Asociacion de investigacion mpc - materials physics center — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 467477.5 €

After the discovery of superconductivity at above 200 K in the hydrogen sulfide system, two clear conclusions can be drawn: i) there is lots of room for discovering new hydrogen-based high-temperature superconducting compounds, and ii) first-principles calculations can guide the discovery of these materials. In fact, the possibility of high-temperature superconductivity in the hydrogen sulfide system had been predicted before the experiment. However, in order to be accurate and reliable for this type of compounds, first-principles calculations need to go far beyond the state-of-the-art to correctly incorporate the large quantum effects intrinsic to hydrogen atoms. Huge errors on the superconducting properties of materials are often obtained with state-of-the-art methods, misguiding experimental effort. In this project we will develop a new method that will make first-principles calculations correctly incorporate such quantum effects and, thus, reach an unprecedented precision and accuracy. With the use of the novel first-principles method we will characterize correctly the physical and chemical properties of hydrogen-based superconductors, aiming at understanding clearly why and when these materials become high-temperature superconductors. We will also investigate the possibility of high-temperature superconductivity at ambient pressure in this type of compounds. In the end of the project, we will focus our theoretical effort to the discovery of new high-temperature superconductors, focusing on hydrides, hydrogen-storage materials, and organic compounds.

Mots-clés : superconductivity,first principles calculations,hydrogen compounds,quantum lattice vibrations
Projet ERC : ALFA (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
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 : 1871250.0 €

Alfonsine astronomy is arguably among the first European scientific achievements. It shaped a scene for actors like Regiomontanus or Copernicus. There is however little detailed historical analysis encompassing its development in its full breadth. ALFA addresses this issue by studying tables, instruments, mathematical and theoretical texts in a methodologically innovative way relying on approaches from the history of manuscript cultures, history of mathematics, and history of astronomy. ALFA integrates these approaches not only to benefit from different perspectives but also to build new questions from their interactions. For instance the analysis of mathematical practices in astral sciences manuscripts induces new ways to analyse the documents and to think about astronomical questions. Relying on these approaches the main objectives of ALFA are thus to: - Retrace the development of the corpus of Alfonsine texts from its origin in the second half of the 13th century to the end of the 15th century by following, on the manuscript level, the milieus fostering it; - Analyse the Alfonsine astronomers’ practices, their relations to mathematics, to the natural world, to proofs and justification, their intellectual context and audiences; - Build a meaningful narrative showing how astronomers in different milieus with diverse practices shaped, also from Arabic materials, an original scientific scene in Europe. ALFA will shed new light on the intellectual history of the late medieval period as a whole and produce a better understanding of its relations to related scientific periods in Europe and beyond. It will also produce methodological breakthroughs impacting the ways history of knowledge is practiced outside the field of ancient and medieval sciences. Efforts will be devoted to bring these results not only to the relevant scholarly communities but also to a wider audience as a resource in the public debates around science, knowledge and culture.

Mots-clés : history of astronomy,history of mathematics,manuscript cultures,middle ages
Projet ERC : K3CRYSTAL (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : Technical University of Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TUM
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1328710.0 €

Algebraic geometry deals with algebraic varieties, that is, systems of polynomial equations and their geometric interpretation. Its ultimate goal is the classification of all algebraic varieties. For a detailed understanding, one has to construct their moduli spaces, and eventually study them over the integers, that is, in the arithmetic situation. So far, the best results are available for curves and Abelian varieties. To go beyond the aforementioned classes, I want to study arithmetic moduli spaces of the only other classes that are currently within reach, namely, K3 surfaces, Enriques surfaces, and Hyperkähler varieties. I expect this study to lead to finer invariants, to new stratifications of moduli spaces, and to open new research areas in arithmetic algebraic geometry. Next, I propose a systematic study of supersingular varieties, which are the most mysterious class of varieties in positive characteristic. Again, a good theory is available only for Abelian varieties, but recently, I established a general framework via deformations controlled by formal group laws. I expect to extend this also to constructions in complex geometry, such as twistor space, which would link so far completely unrelated fields of research. I want to accompany these projects by developing a general theory of period maps and period domains for F-crystals, with an emphasis on the supersingular ones to start with. This will be the framework for Torelli theorems that translate the geometry and moduli of K3 surfaces, Enriques surfaces, and Hyperkähler varieties into explicit linear algebra problems, thereby establishing new tools in algebraic geometry.

Mots-clés : k3 surfaces,moduli spaces,crystalline cohomology
Projet ERC : MACI (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
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 : 2496055.0 €

Algebraic geometry is the study of varieties -- the zero sets of polynomial equations in several variables. The subject has a central role in mathematics with connections to number theory, representation theory, and topology. Moduli questions in algebraic geometry concern the behavior of varieties as the coefficients of the defining polynomials vary. At the end of the 20th century, several basic links between the algebraic geometry of moduli spaces and path integrals in quantum field theory were made. The virtual fundamental class plays an essential role in these connections. I propose to study the algebraic cycle theory of basic moduli spaces. The guiding questions are: What are the most important cycles? What is the structure of the algebra of cycles? How can the classes of geometric loci be expressed? The virtual fundamental class and the associated invariants often control the answers. A combination of virtual localization, degeneration, and R-matrix methods together with new ideas from log geometry will be used in the study. Most of the basic moduli spaces in algebraic geometry related to varieties of dimension at most 3 -- including the moduli of curves, the moduli of maps, the moduli of surfaces, and the moduli of sheaves on 3-folds -- will be considered. The current state of the study of the algebraic cycle theory in these cases varies from rather advanced (for the moduli of curves) to much less so (for the moduli of surfaces). There is a range of rich open questions which I will attack: Pixton's conjectures for the moduli of curves, the structure of the ring of Noether-Lefschetz loci for the moduli of K3 surfaces, the holomorphic anomaly equation in Gromov-Witten theory, and conjectures governing descendents for the moduli of sheaves. The dimension 3 restriction is often necessary for a good deformation theory and the existence of a virtual fundamental class.

Mots-clés : moduli spaces,curves,sheaves,surfaces,gromov witten,tautological classes,donaldson thomas,givental teleman
Projet ERC : ALKENoNE (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : University of Glasgow — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 940883.0 €

Alkenones are algal lipids that have been used for decades to reconstruct quantitative past sea surface temperature. Although alkenones are being discovered in an increasing number of lake sites worldwide, only two terrestrial temperature records have been reconstructed so far. The development of this research field is limited by the lack of interdisciplinary research that combines modern biological and ecological algal research with the organic geochemical techniques needed to develop a quantitative biomarker (or molecular fossil) for past lake temperatures. More research is needed for alkenones to become a widely used tool for reconstructing past terrestrial temperature change. The early career Principal Investigator has discovered a new lake alkenone-producing species of haptophyte algae that produces alkenones in high abundances both in the environment and in laboratory cultures. This makes the new species an ideal organism for developing a culture-based temperature calibration and exploring other potential environmental controls. In this project, alkenone production will be manipulated, and monitored using state-of-the-art photobioreactors with real-time detectors for cell density, light, and temperature. The latest algal culture and isolation techniques that are used in microalgal biofuel development will be applied to developing the lake temperature proxy. The objectives will be achieved through the analysis of 90 new Canadian lakes to develop a core-top temperature calibration across a large latitudinal and temperature gradient (Δ latitude = 5°, Δ spring surface temperature = 9°C). The results will be used to assess how regional palaeo-temperature (Uk37), palaeo-moisture (δDwax) and palaeo-evaporation (δDalgal) respond during times of past global warmth (e.g., Medieval Warm Period, 900-1200 AD) to find an accurate analogue for assessing future drought risk in the interior of Canada.

Mots-clés : organic geochemistry,biomarkers,alkenones,palaeo temperature,haptophyte
Projet ERC : GRAPHENART (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Epistimoniko parko patron ae — Pays : Grèce — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Organismes privés (hors enseignement)
Financement ERC de l'entité : 15000.0 €

All art materials are prone to degradation; in particular, the introduction of new creative manufacturing techniques in the 20th century art has yielded artworks with short lifetime expectancy. Fading, yellowing and discolouration are the most common degradation effects that result from the exposition to UV and visible light and oxidizing agents. The result of the degradation is the irreversible alteration of the appearance of contemporary artworks, which is a patrimony of mankind. This PoC project aims to develop innovative, multi-functional graphene-based products (graphene ‘veils’ and inclusions) that provide UV shielding, de-acidification, oxygen and humidity barriers for the protection of old and modern paintings and artworks. Recent advances in the understanding of the mechanical integrity of large graphene membranes as well as of innovative graphene-transfer processes through the current ERC Tailor Graphene has made possible the emergence of this application of strong societal value. The transparent protective graphene veil can be easily removed so it does not constitute an irreversible intervention on the art object. Moreover, for such an application the price of graphene does not hamper its business potential since the quantities are minimal. Two different classes of products are envisaged; CVD graphene membranes directly deposited to artworks for which transparency is required and graphene flakes that will be dispersed to colour paints and varnishes so as to bestow enhanced UV, oxidation and humidity resistance. The latter paves the way to extend this application to the huge market of architectural paints. A multi-disciplinary approach will be pursued for the implementation of this PoC and involves experimentation with CVD graphene sheets of various morphologies and sizes and the dispersion of nanographene as additives in paints. Finally, the development of a Business Plan will be undertaken in collaboration with business developers and patent specialists.

Mots-clés : graphene,wrinkles,artworks protection,uv shielding,oxygen and humidity barrier
Projet ERC : Clock Mechanics (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Entité participante : University of London — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. London
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1885042.24 €

All forms of life adjust themselves to the daily rhythms of their environments using endogenous oscillators collectively referred to as circadian clocks. Peripheral and central body clocks exist, which both require extrinsic information (e.g. light or temperature changes) to keep in sync with the geophysical cycle (entrainment). In addition, intrinsic cues (e.g. activity levels) have been linked to clock entrainment. Recently, we could show that activation of proprioceptors is sufficient to entrain the central clock of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Proprioceptors are mechanosensors that monitor the positions, and relative movements, of an animal’s own body parts. The existence of proprioceptive entrainment pathways has significant implications; it implies that an animal’s ‘clock time’ is computed by integrating, and weighting, various external and internal conditions, suggesting the existence of external and internal time. Using Drosophila, I will investigate the relationship between mechanosensory and circadian systems in a dual, and bidirectional, approach. The project’s first aim is to dissect the neurobiological bases of proprioceptive clock entrainment (i) identifying the specific stimulus requirements for effective entrainment, (ii) determining its mechanosensory pathways and, in a combined computational and experimental strategy, (iii) quantifying the precise contributions of an animal’s activity to its sense of time. The project’s second aim, in turn, is to unravel the roles of the clock, and clock genes, for the function of mechanosensory systems. Previous studies have linked the clock to noise vulnerability in mammalian ears, and clock genes to regeneration in avian ears. Our own preliminary data reveal severe mechanosensory defects in flies mutant for core clock genes. I will use the Drosophila ear as a unifying model to analyse the specific roles of the clock, and clock genes, for the function of mechanotransducer systems.

Mots-clés : circadian entrainment,mechanosensation,auditory transduction