Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : Light-Dark (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Entité participante : Université hébraïque de Jérusalem — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : HUJI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries of the universe, yet its particle identity is unknown. This proposal focuses on light dark matter (LDM), with mass below a GeV. In Light-Dark, I will pursue two intrinsically complementary directions: (I) I will explore novel theoretical frameworks for LDM; and (II) I will develop new theoretical concepts to directly detect it in the laboratory. This pioneering theory work will lay the foundation for future experimental realizations and is crucial in the quest to unearth the identity of dark matter. I will carry out a comprehensive research program designed to tackle these challenges, and I believe that I am uniquely positioned to do so. Regarding (I), the wealth of annihilation channels, scattering processes, self-interactions, decay modes and mass splittings opens up a host of possible frameworks to set the LDM abundance, which I will explore. I have already proposed a paradigm-shifting idea in the form of the Strongly Interacting Massive Particle (SIMP) mechanism, which, along with other new ideas for LDM, will be thoroughly studied. Regarding (II), the study of novel target materials for LDM, sensitive sensors, collective excitations, detection philosophies and the interplay between them is crucially still in its infancy. I will explore new theoretical concepts and synergies in these experimental aspects, including the use of superconducting nanowires, microwave kinetic inductance devices, 2D layered materials, ferroelectrics and directionality, with prospects to detect LDM orders of magnitude beyond current abilities, down to the meV scale. Proof-of-principle has already been established for nanowires, where, using data from a tiny prototype device, I have already broken new ground in LDM parameter space. The innovative theoretical approaches presented here open up an exciting and groundbreaking ?eld of research. The proposed investigations are both timely and essential, paving the way towards a dark matter discovery.

Mots-clés : light dark matter,light dark matter theory,simp dark matter,direct detection of sub gev dark matter,low threshold direct detection
Projet ERC : PROTECTIVE (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention,  Diagnosis and T reatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Fondazione biotecnopolo di siena — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Autres
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499375.0 €

Recent Monkeypox (mpox) outbreaks have caught once again the world unprepared. Low-middle income countries are currently most affected by mpox, however cases keep being reported worldwide. The continues circulation of mpox can rapidly burst in a global crisis that can set-back our world into chaos, reminiscing the recent pandemic. Lack of effective and affordable medical interventions urges the need to develop innovative countermeasures against orthopoxviruses. Recent technologies and methodological advancements allow to develop vaccines and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in record time, and their use can be vital to stop current and future orthopoxvirus-related threats. Here we propose to discover and develop mAbs against mpox and other orthopoxviruses. These reagents will be crucial to identify and design novel protective antigens to develop innovative vaccines. We will isolate, through an antigen-agnostic approach, mAbs from mpox infected or vaccinated individuals to build a panel of neutralizing mAbs (nAbs) able to recognize orthopoxviruses shared and protective epitopes. Generative artificial intelligence will be systemically integrated in our workflow to identify antigens targeted by discovered nAbs at unprecedented speed. Data-augmentation and iterative deep-learning models will be used to in silico design new vaccine immunogens which can be produced as recombinant proteins or mRNA, or loaded on nanoparticles. This approach will provide broadly nAbs and effective vaccines designed to protect from mpox and other orthopoxviruses. If successful, the approach herein proposed will fuel the field of vaccinology allowing unprecedent speed for antigen discovery and vaccine development. This approach could be translated to all pathogens for which no cure or prevention are available including emerging viral pathogens and antimicrobial resistant bacteria. This will strongly increase European competitiveness in fighting infectious disease and control future crisis.

Mots-clés : monoclonal antibodies,monkeypox,orthopoxviruses,pandemic preparedness,global health,artificial intelligence
Projet ERC : CLL-STORY (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : FCRB
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1778698.25 €

A holistic view of the history of cancer is not only essential to better understand its pathogenesis, but also has a clear impact by improving future prevention schemes, personalized management strategies, and treatment options. Importantly, the roadmap of a tumor is incomplete without knowing the molecular composition of its normal cellular counterpart (NCC), cell of origin (COO), clonal trajectories, and interactions with the tumor microenvironment influencing disease progression and response to therapy. In chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the most common adult leukemia in Western countries, and Richter transformation (RT), its aggressive progression, these fundamental aspects remain largely unknown. In this project, named CLL-STORY, I aim to fully reconstruct the life histories of CLL to improve clinical outcome. To that end, using novel methodological breakthroughs and functional readouts, I will (1) generate a detailed multi-omic atlas of normal B cells to properly delineate the NCCs of CLL and their precise nature, allowing me to clarify the role of (epi)genetic drivers in CLL promotion, (2) characterize the COO of CLL and its lifelong clonal trajectories to resolve the disease origin and growth patterns dictating the different clinical courses, with the ultimate aim to control early disease precursors and anticipate disease evolution, and (3) determine the mechanisms of resistance to immune-based therapies, as well as intrinsic and extrinsic features influencing their anti-tumor efficacy, to aid the development of predictive models and improvement of current treatments, which shall improve clinical outcome. In summary, CLL-STORY explores uncharted territories unraveling clonal mosaicism, early cancer development, tumor phylogenies along human lifespan, and mechanisms of treatment failure, hence providing key knowledge, tools, and enhanced treatment options with clear implications reaching beyond CLL, that will bring the entire cancer biology field forward.

Mots-clés : lymphoid neoplasms chronic lymphocytic leukemia richter transformation
Projet ERC : Christosemitism (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Study of the Human Past
Entité participante : Université hébraïque de Jérusalem — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : HUJI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1700000.0 €

This project sets out to study the history of the Roman-Catholic and the Protestant repudiation of antisemitism, which I call Christian anti-antisemitism, in Western Europe between 1945 and 2020. Through its expression in multiple ecclesial declarations, theological works, liturgical events, educational projects, and professional appointments, I argue that anti-antisemitism is a core component of contemporary European Christianity. As such, it is inherently tied to the reconfiguration of Western Christianity in late 20th and early 21st century in the context of the liberal secular society, to the creation of orthodoxies and heresies, and to processes of secularization, decolonization, and the globalization of Christianity.  To grasp the role of Christian anti-antisemitism within these processes, the project will explore three of its central aspects: First, the project will analyze the penetration of anti-antisemitism into the center of Christian European identity by examining its key theological concepts and historical development. Second, the project will explore Christian anti-antisemitism as it was consolidated and negotiated in interaction with Jewish interlocutors, and the dialectic combination between severe disagreements between Jews and Christians on the nature of antisemitism and the role of Christians in facilitating and perpetuating it, and between fruitful anti-antisemitic collaborations that were also recruited for the cultivation of Europe’s postwar liberal ethos. Third, the project will study intra-Christian debates on antisemitism in ecumenical and global Christian settings, and investigate the place of anti-antisemitism within tensions between Western Christianity and World Christianity around racism and colonialism.  Based on its findings, Christosemitism will suggest a new theoretical paradigm through which to grasp Christianity’s role in contemporary Europe, as well as that of religious phenomena in the history of secular societies more broadly.
Projet ERC : SCALE (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer Science and Informatics
Entité participante : Université hébraïque de Jérusalem — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : HUJI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1496711.0 €

In In the era of exponential growth in available data, privacy and security have become paramount concerns for a wide range of domains, including healthcare, financial services, and many more. Classical tools developed in the cryptography community, e.g., the ability to perform computation on encrypted data without revealing the underlying information, could have the potential to address these challenges. However, most results do not fit modern large-scale distributed settings due to communication and storage limitations. A recent line of work attempts to bridge this gap, yet, existing solutions are still highly unsatisfactory since they assume either strong trusted setup assumptions, rely on strong and non-standard computational assumptions, or they are extremely theoretical. This research proposal aims to overcome the above drawbacks and systematically identify and design secure computation tools that can be effectively used within modern large-scale applications. To this end, we will address three main challenges: (1) understand and design distributed large-scale building blocks (such as broadcast protocols), (2) equip large-scale algorithms with privacy guarantees, and (3) increase the usability and practical usefulness of privacy-preserving tools in large-scale settings. A successful execution of the proposed research will capitalize on and develop new ideas in three key areas: cryptography, distributed computing, and algorithms.  This research holds immense potential for applications in various domains. For instance, it could enable secure analysis of patient data across healthcare providers, improving diagnosis and treatment planning while preserving privacy. Similarly, in financial services, it could revolutionize fraud detection by collaborative analysis without compromising customer confidentiality. Ultimately, this research's goal is to design novel methods for privacy-preserving data processing, allowing new applications benefiting society as a whole.

Mots-clés : secure computation,distributed large scale algorithms
Projet ERC : NanoDep (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : Université hébraïque de Jérusalem — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : HUJI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1722500.0 €

Even though electrodeposition processes have been used since the nineteenth century, it is remarkably challenging to control their behaviour on the nanoscale. To the naked eye, deposited metal surface appears homogeneous, yet their morphology at the nanoscale is anything but smooth, with ramified metal structures (dendrites) forming on their surface. The utility of electrodeposition for advanced technologies such as NextGen high-energy metal batteries is proportional to our ability to control metal growth at the nanoscale. In theory, this requirement may be accomplished through nanoscale control over ionic processes. Due to lack of appropriate material systems, it appears that examining and validating this hypothesis, much less meeting its requirements, is currently beyond reach. NanoDep envisions a future in which these requirements are met by the development of nano-structured electrolyte systems with well-ordered conductive and nonconductive nanodomains. Our early results suggest that we may be able to completely prevent uncontrolled dendritic formation by designing structured electrolytes that allow nanoscale regulation over local ionic transport processes. The goals of NanoDep are to (1) uncover the behaviour of uncontrolled nanoscale electrodeposition processes within nano-structured electrolytes, (2) prevent them, and (3) apply these newly acquired insights to the construction of a "real-world" system. To accomplish these goals, we will develop a novel in-situ electrochemical platform for investigating the spatiotemporal electrodeposition behaviour in well-ordered nano-structured model electrolytes. The model system insights and guidelines will be translated into "real-world" macroscale batteries using advanced molecular engineering and self-assembly methods. The successful development of well-ordered nano-structured electrolytes represents an important step toward NextGen high-energy metal batteries based on fully regulated electrodeposition processes.

Mots-clés : electrodeposition,solid state polymer electrolytes,lithium metal batteries,nano structured materials,metal dendrites,block copolymer self assembly,nanofabrication
Projet ERC : KetoCardio (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : Hôpital universitaire de la Charité de Berlin — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Charité
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1809140.0 €

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a burgeoning public health problem for which there are little to no evidence-based therapies. This syndrome has proven particularly challenging because of the limited insight into its underlying molecular mechanisms. Metabolic adaptations are critical for cardiomyocyte response to stress. Ketones are metabolites actively produced in heart failure and their role as metabolic rheostat capable of modulating cardiac metabolism and cardiomyocyte signaling pathways has been postulated. However, there is fundamental, open gap in understanding how ketones are utilized as source of energy in HFpEF and how β-hydroxybutyrate (β-OHB) – the most abundant ketone – plays a role as non-energy carrier governing cardiomyocyte function. In this project proposal, I hypothesize that ketones are major regulators of cardiomyocyte biology representing an alternative source of fuel in HFpEF (“energy” role) and act as protein modifiers trough β-hydroxybutyrylation – a lysine-based post-translational modification (PTM) – thereby regulating chromatin architecture, gene transcription and metabolic signaling in cardiomyocytes (“non-energy” role). The overall aim of KetoCardio is to define mechanisms integrating ketone metabolic adaptation with signaling pathways and epigenetic changes in HFpEF-stressed cardiomyocyte. Coupling proteomics, transcriptomics and genomics approaches together with cardiac and systemic metabolic evaluation and rigorous preclinical experimental modeling of HFpEF, I will be able to define the previously unrecognized role(s) of ketones as energy substrates in HFpEF and as substrate for proteins PTM impacting on cardiomyocyte function. In summary, focusing on metabolic pathways that govern cardiomyocyte abnormalities in preclinical HFpEF, this project will provide a transformative molecular understanding of ketones biology in cardiomyocyte fostering innovation in the field and beyond.

Mots-clés : hfpef ketones ptms
Projet ERC : CELLMATES (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative B iology : from Genes and Genomes to S ystems
Entité participante : Hôpital universitaire de la Charité de Berlin — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Charité
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499900.0 €

Multicellular life relies on coordinated physical interactions and communication between cells. In these interactions, cells exchange information that determines their fate, physiological state and behavior. The substantial transcriptional heterogeneity that is evident even among cells considered the same type, however, raises questions about exactly which temporal and spatial interactions regulate development and homeostasis. During development, for instance, multipotent neural crest cells migrate along different pathways in which they encounter microenvironments that are thought to instruct their migration and fate choices. To ultimately reveal how cell communication shapes cell identities and cellular decisions, we need to know the transcriptional state of a cell and that of its neighbors. Current technologies either sequence single cells at high transcriptional resolution or localize cells in their spatial context but without capturing their precise transcriptional configuration. To overcome these limitations, we will establish a novel approach that provides high-resolution transcriptomic information on cellular microenvironments. We will use this approach to uncover the interactions and communication codes that neural crest cells are exposed to along their developmental path. In addition, we will develop strategies to systematically identify cell-cell interactions likely to determine migration and cell fate decisions, and elucidate their functional role in the developing embryo. Our overall goal is to uncover how the diversity of cell interactions orchestrates the development of a complex cell lineage. This approach and the insights obtained here will provide a foundation for studying how cells interact in other systems such as human tissues, and how these interactions are altered in disease.

Mots-clés : cell states,single cell genomics,cell interactions,mouse embryogenesis,neural crest lineage
Projet ERC : ANYONBOX (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed Matter Physics
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 : 2127371.0 €

Protecting quantum information from environmental interference is essential for advancing quantum technologies. However, reading a quantum state or performing gate operations inevitably involves a coupling to the environment, leading to significant loss of coherence. To address this, the non-local degrees of freedom of topological phases of matter have been proposed for quantum information storage and manipulation. Prototypes of such phases include certain fractional quantum Hall states, found in 2D systems under a strong magnetic field, where pairs of quasiparticles, called non-abelian anyons, share a non-local degree of freedom known as the topological charge. However, detecting the topological charge remains a major experimental challenge due to the narrow energy range over which these states are realized in conventional semiconductor-based platforms.  The ANYONBOX project will leverage the recently discovered properties of bilayer graphene, which supports unprecedented robust candidate states for non-abelian anyons, to evidence the topological charge and its potential for quantum information. We will take advantage of the unique electrostatic control achievable with van der Waals heterostructures to isolate anyons confined within electrically tunable potential wells: the anyon boxes. The thermodynamic response when a single anyon is added to the box will be accessed with unmatched resolution through a groundbreaking combination of quantum capacitance and thermal noise measurements.  The realization of anyon boxes in bilayer graphene will uncover the elusive topological charge, enabling the measurement of its coherence time, and ultimately, its coherent manipulation through controlled exchanges of the anyon positions, known as non-abelian braiding. ANYONBOX will provide a radically new way of encoding quantum information, opening a new platform for topological quantum information processing with built-in protection against decoherence.
Projet ERC : LIFT (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth System Science
Entité participante : Nederlandse organisatie voor wetenschappelijk onderzoek — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : NWO
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2124988.0 €

We do not understand how lightning in our atmosphere initiates, nor how it develops and propagates after initiation. The fundamental difficulty is that these basic lightning phenomena are driven by the meter-scale dynamics of the low-conductivity plasma that surrounds the lightning channel, known as the corona, but the dynamics of this corona is as-yet unresolved. Resolving the structure of the lightning corona and how it develops in time is the holy grail of lightning science, as it will reveal the mechanism behind lightning initiation, the physics behind how lightning channels grow and propagate, and why lightning emits intense flashes of X-ray and gamma ray radiation. During the LIFT project I will develop new advanced data processing techniques, including polarization imaging and interferometric beamforming, to produce meter-scale and nanosecond precise radio-frequency images of lightning activity. This project will use data collected by the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) radio telescope, which previous work has shown to be the most precise and sensitive lightning interferometer in the world. The end result of this project will be finely resolved images of lightning corona that are an order-of-magnitude more precise than all previous work. Since it is the coronal plasma that drives most other lightning processes, the impact will be a fundamentally deeper insight into the physics of lightning initiation, propagation, and emission of energetic radiation, including resolving long-standing questions of how cosmic rays or hydrometers could be involved in lightning initiation, how lightning expands from a single point to a kilometer-scale network, and which key plasma processes allow lightning channels to grow. In addition, the LIFT project will make use of the drastically increased bandwidth and processing power that will be made available during the LOFAR 2.0 upgrade in order to push the observations to even higher spectral and spatial precision.

Mots-clés : lightning,radio interferometry,radio telescope,plasma physics