Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : BactRNA (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems
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 : 1999754.0 €

Regulation of gene expression plays a key role in the ability of bacteria to rapidly adapt to changing environments and to colonize extremely diverse habitats. The relatively recent discovery of a plethora of small regulatory RNAs and the beginning of their characterization has unravelled new aspects of bacterial gene expression. First, the expression of many bacterial genes responds to a complex network of both transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulators. However, the properties of the resulting regulatory circuits on the dynamics of gene expression and in the bacterial adaptive response have been poorly addressed so far. In a first part of this project, we will tackle this question by characterizing the circuits that are formed between two widespread classes of bacterial regulators, the sRNAs and the two-component systems, which act at the post-transcriptional and the transcriptional level, respectively. The study of sRNAs also led to major breakthroughs regarding the basic mechanisms of gene expression. In particular, we recently showed that repressor sRNAs can target activating stem-loop structures located within the coding region of mRNAs that promote translation initiation, in striking contrast with the previously recognized inhibitory role of mRNA structures in translation. The second objective of this project is thus to draw an unprecedented map of non-canonical translation initiation events and their regulation by sRNAs. Overall, this project will greatly improve our understanding of how bacteria can so rapidly and successfully adapt to many different environments, and in the long term, provide clues towards the development of anti-bacterial strategies.

Mots-clés : gene expression regulation,mathematical modeling,bioinformatics,regulatory networks,microbiology
Projet ERC : SCALER (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer science and informatics
Entité participante : Pompeu Fabra University — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UPF
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1493990.0 €

Reinforcement learning (RL) is an intensely studied subfield of machine learning concerned with sequential decision-making problems where a learning agent interacts with an unknown reactive environment while attempting to maximize its rewards. In recent years, RL methods have gained significant popularity due to being the key technique behind some spectacular breakthroughs of artificial intelligence (AI) research, which renewed interest in applying such techniques to challenging real-world problems like control of autonomous vehicles or smart energy grids. While the RL framework is clearly suitable to address such problems, the applicability of the current generation of RL algorithms is limited by a lack of formal performance guarantees and a very low sample efficiency. This project proposes to address this problem and advance the state of the art in RL by developing a new generation of provably efficient and scalable algorithms. Our approach is based on identifying various structural assumptions for Markov decision processes (MDPs, the main modeling tool used in RL) that enable computationally and statistically efficient learning. Specifically, we will focus on MDP structures induced by various approximation schemes including value-function approximation and relaxations of the linear-program formulation of optimal control in MDPs. Based on this view, we aim to develop a variety of new tools for designing and analyzing RL algorithms, and achieve a deep understanding of fundamental performance limits in structured MDPs. While our main focus will be on rigorous theoretical analysis of algorithms, most of our objectives are inspired by practical concerns, particularly by the question of scalability. As a result, we expect that our proposed research will have significant impact on both the theory and practice of reinforcement learning, bringing RL methods significantly closer to practical applicability.

Mots-clés : reinforcement learning,markov decision processes,learning theory
Projet ERC : TIMEISNOW (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Social World and Its Diversity
Entité participante : Tilburg University — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TiU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499854.0 €

Relational event history data are becoming increasingly available due to new technical developments. These data contain detailed information about who interacted with whom in a network and when. For example, employees wear sociometric badges storing time-stamped interactions between colleagues, classrooms are monitored to observe interactions between teachers and students, and police databases store violent interactions between criminal gangs in city districts. This new type of data has the potential to greatly contribute to our understanding of dynamic social networks by providing new insights about speed, rhythm, duration, and lag in social interactions. However a crucial problem is that statistical tools for analyzing such data are currently underdeveloped. We are therefore unable to exploit this treasure of information, resulting in a limited understanding about the evolution of social relations in continuous time. I will undertake the following actions to resolve this fundamental shortcoming. First, I will develop an innovative Bayesian statistical framework for the analysis of relational event histories by building upon the novel relational event model, which has great potential but is in a preliminary stage of development. Second, I will implement the new framework in free and user-friendly software to ensure general utilization among social scientists. Third, in collaboration with network experts in organizational sociology, sociology of education, and criminology, I will develop tailor-made extensions for dynamic social processes in important applications. In sum, this project will yield a groundbreaking new methodology for testing and building theories on time-sensitive processes in social networks. It will allow us to research, among others, how fast integration occurs among teams with workers from different cultures, how long it takes to develop respect in the classroom, and when violent interactions between criminal gangs will occur in the near future.
Projet ERC : EoPPP (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Social World and Its Diversity
Entité participante : Mekelle University — Pays : Éthiopie — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : MU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 21250.0 €

Relationships between politicians and the people they represent are in turmoil. This is no more evident than on social media. Although the digital revolution has created unprecedented scope for political expression and debate, potentially acting as a connective tissue binding the public to politicians, the sobering reality of echo-chambers and post-truth populist memes has tempered the optimism of many. In embracing social networking, politicians have exposed themselves to daily criticism for perceived breaches in their legislative and representative responsibilities. The institutions that lie at the heart of our democracies – parliaments – are under constant attack by the media and disdained by the public. Their cultures are also under-researched by scholars. At a time when in-depth political scrutiny has a vital role to play in addressing democratic deficits, this research will uncover the relationships between parliaments, politicians and people – as expressed and shaped by political communication – in six democracies. We will explore the causes of rupture, crises of representation, and pathways towards more inclusive and relational communication between politicians and people. Leading a team of experienced ethnographers, Professor Emma Crewe (PI) will remould how representatives within parliaments are studied. This research will position anthropology as an intellectually influential, and potentially transformative, source of scholarship on everyday politics. She is eminently placed to direct this research as the world’s leading ethnographer of parliaments, having published ground-breaking ethnographies of the UK Parliament and mentored scholars researching parliaments elsewhere. Having played a pivotal role in the development of the anthropology of development in the 1980s, Crewe is similarly poised to reshape the study of parliament globally by guiding ethnographers to conduct research across Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Oceania.

Mots-clés : ethnography,politicians,parliaments,anthropology
Projet ERC : PROSTATOR (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems
Entité participante : Institut Curie — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Reliable urinary test for the diagnosis of prostate cancer Prostate cancer is a life threatening disease which affects about 400,000 males and causes 92,000 deaths per year in Europe. Among suspected cancer patients who undergo a prostate biopsy, only 45% really have a cancer. However, this diagnostic procedure is associated with discomfort, anxiety, bleeding, and the potential for serious infections requiring hospitalization. It is also very expensive. None of the tests available today offer an alternative which avoids unnecessary biopsies. To solve this problem we propose to validate a urinary, non-invasive, rapid and robust diagnostic test that we call PROSTATOR, for the early detection of prostate cancer without unnecessary biopsies. PROSTATOR quantifies three new prostate cancer specific biomarkers that we identified using our ERC Consolidator Grant. We show that, contrary to the biomarkers quantified by commercialized urinary tests for prostate cancer, our three new biomarkers were detected in all grades of tumours. Only cancer patients detected by our test will have a biopsy to determine the type and the grade of the prostate tumour but unnecessary biopsies will be avoided when the test is negative. Other advantages of our novel test: it can be performed from the first visit to the urologist, collecting the urine after prostatic massage and sending it to a laboratory that will give the diagnosis within 4 days. With this grant, we want to validate our first results on a large number of urines (900). We have established collaborations with Henri-Mondor and Foch hospitals to collect the urines and with the Genomic Platform of Institut Curie to quantify our biomarkers. We started discussions with tech transfer office of the Institut Curie to discuss the opportunity to license PROSTATOR to pharmaceutical companies that already confirmed their interest of our product, or create a start-up.

Mots-clés : diagnosis,urine,fluid,new biomarkers,prostate cancer
Projet ERC : REPRODAMH (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : Centre hospitalier régional universitaire de Lille — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : CHRU Lille
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 107760.0 €

Reproduction in mammals is dependent on specific neurons secreting the Gonadotropin Hormone-Releasing Hormone (GnRH). Many reproductive disorders in humans are associated with abnormal or deficient GnRH secretion. Among reproductive dysfunctions, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common form of female infertility with a prevalence of up to 10%, characterized by increased ovarian androgen biosynthesis, oligo-anovulation and frequent metabolic morbidities. Because women with PCOS have increased luteinizing hormone (LH) pulse frequency, it has been inferred that the pulse frequency of GnRH must be accelerated as well. However, so far PCOS has been considered mainly as a gonadal pathology and possible regulations from the central nervous system or interactions with it remain elusive. In patients with PCOS, ovarian levels of Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) are also elevated, indicating the potential relevance of AMH for PCOS diagnosis and management. Recently, we showed that AMH acts directly on GnRH neurons to increase neuropeptide secretion, raising the intriguing hypothesis that AMH-dependent regulation of GnRH release could be involved in the neuroendocrine control of fertility and pathophysiology of PCOS. By providing integrative, functional and mechanistic in vivo strategies, combined with clinical human investigations, REPRODAMH will represent a major step forward into the understanding of PCOS with the final goal of developing new therapeutic strategies. To achieve these goals we will: 1: Determine whether developmental or postnatal AMH excess leads to PCOS endocrine disturbances by hyperactivation of GnRH neurons. 2: Study whether inhibition of GnRH neuronal activity rescues the neuroendocrine reproductive phenotype in PCOS-mouse models. 3: Study whether modifications of the hypothalamic structural plasticity occur in PCOS and contribute to alterations of GnRH release. 4: Design and test new preclinical therapeutic strategies in PCOS animal models.

Mots-clés : fertility,gnrh,pcos,hypothalamus
Projet ERC : GLOBALMACRO (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Individuals, Markets and Organisations
Entité participante : Pompeu Fabra University — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UPF
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1381250.0 €

Researchers and policymakers alike have highlighted the potential efficiency gains of a global production structure. However, such linkages also raise the possibility of risks. This proposal tackles both empirical and theoretical challenges in incorporating the microeconomic structure of trade and international production networks in the study of the propagation of shocks internationally, and their impact on macroeconomic interdependence. Using newly constructed micro-level datasets, I provide quantitative analysis of the importance of the linkages in multicountry general equilibrium models of trade. First, using firm export and imported-input linkages, I provide a novel model-based estimation strategy to identify the role of country and firm-level shocks, and the implications of these estimates for the transmission of shocks across borders. By using structural trade models to estimate shocks at the firm level and studying the implications for the transmission of shocks across borders, I help bridge the micro-macro nexus in international economics. Second, I take an even more granular focus by studying the role of firm-to-firm production linkages in transmitting shocks across countries. To do so, I exploit a novel matching procedure between a country’s administrative dataset and cross-country firm-level data. I further build on these data by adding in domestic bank-firm relationships. This strategy allows for the study of how financial shocks are exported abroad via firms’ trade and multinational linkages. Third, I incorporate the insights from the empirical work into a full-scale multicountry general equilibrium model of trade, which allows for firm-level heterogeneity and microeconomic and macroeconomics shocks. I use the model for a quantitative study of the cross-country transmission of the different shocks via trade. This allows me to perform counterfactuals and examine the impact of policies, such as how opening to trade impacts macroeconomic interdependence.

Mots-clés : macroeconomic interdependence,propagation of shocks,production networks,international trade,large firms
Projet ERC : BirNonArchGeom (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : Hebrew University of Jerusalem — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : HUJI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1365600.0 €

Resolution of singularities is one of classical, central and difficult areas of algebraic geometry, with a centennial history of intensive research and contributions of such great names as Zariski, Hironaka and Abhyankar. Nowadays, desingularization of schemes of characteristic zero is very well understood, while semistable reduction of morphisms and desingularization in positive characteristic are still waiting for major breakthroughs. In addition to the classical techniques with their triumph in characteristic zero, modern resolution of singularities includes de Jong's method of alterations, toroidal methods, formal analytic and non-archimedean methods, etc. The aim of the proposed research is to study nearly all directions in resolution of singularities and semistable reduction, as well as the wild ramification phenomena, which are probably the main obstacle to transfer methods from characteristic zero to positive characteristic. The methods of algebraic and non-archimedean geometries are intertwined in the proposal, though algebraic geometry is somewhat dominating, especially due to the new stack-theoretic techniques. It seems very probable that increasing the symbiosis between birational and non-archimedean geometries will be one of by-products of this research.

Mots-clés : resolution of singularities,semistable reduction,wild ramification,berkovich analytic spaces
Projet ERC : ConFooBio (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Social World and Its Diversity
Entité participante : University of Stirling — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1497151.0 €

Resolving conflicts between food security and biodiversity conservation under uncertainty Conflicts between food security and biodiversity conservation are increasing in scale and intensity and have been shown to be damaging for both biodiversity and human livelihoods. Uncertainty, for example from climate change, decreases food security, puts further pressure on biodiversity and exacerbates conflicts. I propose to develop a novel model that predicts solutions to conflicts between biodiversity conservation and food security under uncertainty. ConFooBio will integrate game theory and social-ecological modelling to develop new theory to resolve conservation conflicts. ConFooBio will implement a three-tiered approach 1) characterise and analyse 7 real-world conservation conflicts impacted by uncertainty; 2) develop new game theory that explicitly incorporates uncertainty; and 3) produce and test a flexible social-ecological model, applicable to any real-world conflict where stakeholders operate under conditions of extreme uncertainty. The project has importance for society at large because ecosystems and their services are central to human wellbeing. Managing a specific natural resource often results in conflict between those stakeholders focussing on improving food security and those focussed on biodiversity conversation. ConFooBio will illuminate resolutions to such conflicts by showing how to achieve win-win scenarios that protect biodiversity and secure livelihoods. In this project, I will develop a practical, transparent and flexible model for the sustainable future of natural resources that is also robust to uncertainty (e.g., climate change); this model will be highly relevant for environmental negotiations among stakeholders with competing objectives, e.g., the negotiations to set the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in September 2015.

Mots-clés : social ecological systems modelling,decision making,game theory,behavioural games
Projet ERC : EURO-EXPERT (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Entité participante : University of Padua — Pays : Italie — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : UNIPD
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 43248.3 €

Respect for diversity has been at the forefront of political accession to the European Union since 1993 and socio-legal scholarship has developed articulated reflections on the accommodation of ethnic and religious minorities in Europe. Country-experts have been instructed with increasing frequency in judicial and pre-judicial proceedings involving members of diasporic communities. In some common law countries the role of the expert witness has expanded to systematically assist the judge when litigants or defendants belong to minorities; in most civil law countries, similar roles are played by translators and cultural mediators, including notaries and lawyers. Cultural expertise is sometimes used in order to avoid excessive judicialisation. Notwithstanding, disbelief is developing around cultural expertise; and, excalations of violence and counter-violence signal that European majority and the so-called minorities are drifting apart. Hence our question: Cultural Expertise in Europe: What is it useful for? A comprehensive assessment of cultural expertise was entrenched by its narrow technical definition. This project develops around a new integrated concept of cultural expertise to empirically investigate its use and impact in fourteen European countries. In-context data will be collected through ethnographic fieldwork conducted by a modular team allowing real time analysis and immediate use of results by the stakeholders. The objectives will be to: 1) map the terms, condition, and costs of cultural expertise in private and public law; 2) create a toolkit for measuring the impact of cultural expertise; 3) establish an open access searchable data base for the consultation of cases and solution including cultural expertise; 4) design a teaching and learning module using the cultural expertise impact toolkit; and 5) formulate policy-making guidelines which include tested solutions for a sustainable inclusiveness in Europe.

Mots-clés : anthropology of law