Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : SpaTe (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer science and informatics
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 : 1998750.0 €

Numerical simulations are of tremendous importance for a wide range of scientific disciplines and commercial enterprises. For the majority of these natural phenomena, we not only need to consider the three spatial dimensions, but additionally we need to resolve how these phenomena develop over time. Thus, most natural simulations inherently need to resolve four dimensional functions, and most effects at human scales require fine discretizations along all four axes. As a consequence, these functions require large amounts of resources to compute and store. This problem becomes even more pronounced with the advent of data-driven techniques and machine learning. The learning algorithms effectively add additional dimensions, and the complexity and dimensionality of the corresponding functions explains the current lack of data-driven algorithms for space-time functions despite their enormous potential. Within this research project I plan to address the fundamental difficulties that arise in this setting: I will develop novel algorithms to infer spatio-temporal functions, and to construct efficient representations to tame their complexity and high dimensionality. This project combines numerical simulations with computer vision, and machine learning, and has the potential to radically change the way we work with physical simulations. Not only will it break new ground for fast and controllable VFX animations, but it will additionally facilitate the development of new ways to capture physical effects, in conjunction with algorithms to make physical predictions based on observations. Ultimately, this direction will allow us to better understand the physical world around us. It will help us to analyze sparse and ambiguous measurements such as videos and 3D scans automatically and reliably, with a vast range of practical applications from social-media apps to autonomous vehicles.

Mots-clés : computer animation,physics based simulation,inverse problems,physical scene understanding
Projet ERC : PANAMA (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer science and informatics
Entité participante : Max Planck Society — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : MPG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 53336.7 €

Numerical tasks - integration, linear algebra, optimization, the solution of differential equations - form the computational basis of machine intelligence. Currently, human designers pick methods for these tasks from toolboxes. The generic algorithms assembled in such collections tend to be inefficient on any specific task, and can be unsafe when used incorrectly on problems they were not designed for. Research in numerical methods thus carries carries the potential for groundbreaking advancements in the performance and quality of AI. Project PANAMA will develop a framework within which numerical methods can be constructed in an increasingly automated fashion; and within which numerical methods can assess their own suitability, and adapt both model and computations to the task, at runtime. The key tenet is that numerical methods, since they perform tractable computations to estimate a latent quantity, can themselves be interpreted explicitly as active inference agents; thus concepts from machine learning can be translated to the numerical domain. Groundwork for this paradigm - probabilistic numerics - has recently been developed into a rigorous mathematical framework by the PI and others. The proposed research will simultaneously deliver new general theory for the computations of learning machines, and concrete new algorithms for core areas of machine learning. In doing so, Project PANAMA will improve the efficiency and safety of artificial intelligence, addressing scientific, technological and societal challenges affecting Europeans today.

Mots-clés : computational statistics
Projet ERC : FAT NKT (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy
Entité participante : Trinity College Dublin — Pays : Irlande — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TCD
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1804052.0 €

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally. At least 2.8 million people die each year as a result of being overweight or obese, the biggest burden being obesity-related diseases. It is now clear that inflammation is an underlying cause or contributor to many of these diseases, including type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, and cancer. Recognition that the immune system can regulate metabolic pathways has prompted a new way of thinking about diabetes and weight management. Despite much recent progress, most immunometabolic pathways, and how to target them, are currently unknown. One such pathway is the cross-talk between invariant natural killer (iNKT) cells and neighboring adipocytes. iNKT cells are the innate lipid-sensing arm of the immune system. Since our discovery that mammalian adipose tissue is enriched for iNKT cells, we have identified a critical role for iNKT cells in regulating adipose inflammation and body weight. The goal of this project is to use a multi-disciplinary approach to identify key signals and molecules used by iNKT cells to induce metabolic control and weight loss in obesity. Using immunological assays and multi-photon intravital microscopy, cells and pathways that control the unique regulatory functions of adipose iNKT cells will be identified and characterised. Novel lipid antigens in adipose tissue will be identified using a biochemical approach, perhaps explaining iNKT cell conservation in adipose depots, and providing safe tools for iNKT cell manipulation in vivo. Finally, using proteomics and whole body metabolic analysis in vivo, novel ‘weight-loss inducing’ factors produced by adipose iNKT cells will be identified. This ambitious and high impact project has the potential to yield major insights into immunometabolic interactions at steady state and in obesity. The ability to activate or induce adipose iNKT cells holds remarkable potential as an entirely new therapeutic direction for treating obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Projet ERC : LubSat (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering
Entité participante : University of Leeds — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Obesity is a serious form of malnutrition that is known to have substantial morbidity and mortality consequences. Hence, to directly promote weight management, there is an immense need to design satiety-enhancing foods that terminate appetite for longer periods after consumption. Although the concept of “satiety cascade” was proposed nearly 20 years ago, the changing dynamics of food properties in the oral mucosa remains the greatest source of uncertainty in food design. In particular, our quantitative multi-scale understanding of lubrication of the human salivary film when exposed to stimuli from food biomolecules, which in turn can have significant appetite suppression consequences, remains poorly understood. The key limitation to accurately measure oral lubrication is the lack of tribo-contact surfaces that effectively emulate the oral surfaces (i.e. the soft, slippery mucous-coated human tongue and the upper palate). I intend to address these deficiencies by proposing a whole hierarchy of scales (from human scale down to nanometres). To do so, I will use a unique combination of in vitro and in vivo experimental approaches to quantitatively establish molecular mechanisms of salivary lubrication and its psychological and physiological consequences. In order to determine the true oral lubrication mechanism of food-saliva mixtures, I propose to develop and deploy new instrument based on novel 3D printing coupled with both surface-patterning and unique biochemical functionalization to emulate the surface topologies and chemistries of oral environments at macro-to-nano scales. The ground-breaking nature of the project will be to discover how food-mediated alteration of salivary lubricity will result in enhanced satiety perception for longer periods. This will bring the paradigm shift in thinking that is needed to underpin the creation of the next generation of weight management foods and allow the development of coordinated public health strategies to tackle obesity.

Mots-clés : oral processing,satiety,tribology,lubrication,food colloids,biopolymer gels,mucins,sensory,saliva
Projet ERC : PROSINT (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : University of Freiburg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1882500.0 €

Objective of this proposal is to obtain a real time picture of how components of a multi-protein complex interact to perform complex regulated tasks, in particular to see how a protein system might be more than the sum of its components. In living organisms many proteins work in complexes to form multicomponent protein machines and to regulate cellular processes. The function of such multicomponent machines is usually addressed by dividing them into a collection of two state systems at equilibrium. Many molecular machines work in large complexes with multiple states out of equilibrium by utilizing the energy of ATP hydrolysis. In this proposal the real time kinetics of multi-protein interactions in and out of equilibrium will be investigated using single molecule methods. The succession of association and dissociation steps as well as large conformational changes within the proteins will be monitored simultaneously with multicolour single molecule FRET in real time. In order to observe at the same time the folding state of proteins, a combination of optical tweezers and single molecule FRET will be developed. Finally, a combination of microfluidics for fast mixing and single pair FRET will be developed to investigate interactions of low affinity. A large part of the experiments will focus on the example of the heat shock protein Hsp90 system, which consists of co-chaperones, clients and nucleotides. Altogether, these interdisciplinary experiments will yield unprecedented information on multi-component interactions in equilibrium and out of equilibrium on timescales from sub milliseconds to hours. I am confident that these studies will have an impact on the understanding of the Hsp90 machinery as well as general principles of multi-component protein systems, which is the basis for understanding cellular processes.

Mots-clés : single molecule,fret,protein kinetics,hsp90,physics of biological systems
Projet ERC : Ergo-Lean (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and communication engineering
Entité participante : Italian Institute of Technology — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1488750.0 €

Occupational ergonomics is facing a new complex challenge caused by the adaptation of industrial processes to the demands of the high-mix, low-volume production. In such processes, humans operate in, and interact with dynamically changing environments. The underlying physical interactions can cause variations of human states, and make a traditionally identified ergonomic pose of a human non-efficient and unproductive, or vice versa. This challenge has contributed to the growth of musculoskeletal disorders in manufacturing and service industries undergoing a lean transformation, and calls for new thinking on occupational ergonomics. Ergo-Lean proposes to study, for the first time, human ergonomics during complex human-robot-environment interactions, and investigate methods to anticipate the effect of worker actions in the short, middle and long term. It explores the potential of collaborative robotics technology to deliver an original set of anticipatory behaviors that contribute to the improvement of human physical factors during interaction. Ergo-Lean will create radically new Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) systems where the robot and human directly interact, forming a dyad which optimally solves manufacturing problems in the environment, with the robot flexibly contributing to ergonomic improvement of workplace conditions. To achieve this, the research will be articulated along five multidisciplinary scientific objectives to: i) Understand and formulate human ergonomics during dynamic interactions; ii) Investigate ways of applying the HRC technology to the mitigation of occupational risks; iii) Evaluate the influence of feedback interfaces for ergonomic coordination of motor redundancy; iv) Study shared authority models for ergonomic HRC systems; and v) Challenge and demonstrate the improved adaptability and acceptability of Ergo-Lean systems. Ergo-Lean will have profound socio-economic impacts by improving workers’ wellbeing and contributing to productivity.

Mots-clés : human factors and ergonomics,work related musculoskeletal disorders  msd,human robot collaboration,adaptive robots,lean manufacturing
Projet ERC : MEDEA-CHART (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : Fciencias.id - associacao para a investigacao e desenvolvimento de ciencias — Pays : Portugal — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Fc.id
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1231319.0 €

Of all the technical and scientific developments that made possible the early modern maritime expansion, the nautical chart is perhaps the least studied and understood. This fact is very surprising as it was through those charts that the newly discovered world was first shown to the amazed eyes of the European nations. Although the History of Cartography is a well-established academic discipline and old charts have been examined for many years, their detailed technical study is still in its infancy. What is the origin of the pre-Mercator nautical chart, how charts evolved technically over time and how they were used at sea are all critical questions that remain to be answered. I intend to approach these challenges in a truly interdisciplinary way, by using innovative and powerful tools as a complement to the traditional methods of historical research: analytical cartometric methods, numerical modelling and the examination of the manuscripts through special lighting. By applying these tools to a large sample of charts of various periods and origins, I aim to unveil hidden graphic content related to their construction and use, to characterize their main geometric features, to establish meaningful connections with contemporary navigational methods and exploration missions, and to numerically simulate their construction by taking into account the explanations given in the textual sources. The effectiveness of those techniques has already been demonstrated in my previous studies, such as in the solution of an historical enigma which had been alive for more than a century: the construction of the Mercator projection, in 1569. Now, I propose to handle a broader and more complex set of questions, which has eluded the historians of cartography for even a longer period. The clarification of these issues will have a ground-breaking impact, not only in the strict field of the History of Cartography, but also in the context of the intellectual history at large.

Mots-clés : portolan chart,latitude chart,plane chart,cartometric analysis,cartometric modelling,history of cartography,history of navigation
Projet ERC : OLI.VAS (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : Heidelberg University — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 390847.46 €

Oligodendrocytes (OLs) are the glia cells that produce myelin in the central nervous system (CNS). Despite the severe outcome of demyelinating diseases, like multiple sclerosis (MS), little is known about the mechanisms by which myelin is disrupted or why remyelination fails in disease. Thus, a substantial advance in the understanding of oligodendrocyte biology and myelin pathology is required in order to develop successful treatments for demyelinating diseases. Recent research indicates that apart from delivering oxygen and nutrients, blood vessels are active regulators of organ function. Our recent work supports the existence of an oligo-vascular interface where vessels directly control oligodendrogenesis. However, mechanistic insights of the interaction between OLs and the vasculature are lacking. Based on the innovative hypothesis that proper generation and OL functionality depends on active crosstalk with the vasculature, the OLI.VAS project will now tackle the challenge to characterize in depth the interaction between OLs and the vasculature during development and demyelinating diseases. To achieve this goal, two complementary multidisciplinary research tracks are pursued: Research track 1: Deconstructing and reconstructing the oligo-vascular interface to unravel the relationship of oligodendrocyte lineage cells with the vasculature Research track 2: Studying the oligo-vascular interface in white matter lesions. Modulating the vasculature to prevent de-myelination or promote of re-myelination Both tracks combine cutting edge technology in single cell and spatial transcriptomics, bioinformatics, 3D imaging, in vitro and ex vivo tissue culture, mouse genetics and MS patient samples. OLI.VAS will deliver new insights into the role of the vasculature as a regulator of oligodendrogenesis and myelination and thus generate major scientific breakthroughs in an area that is highly relevant for diseases such as MS, which affects more than 600000 patients in Europe.

Mots-clés : vascular control of organ function,central nervous system vasculature,oligodendrocyte,myelination,oligo vascular crosstalk,demylination,demyelinating diseases,multiple sclerosis
Projet ERC : GlycoSpec (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : Freie Universität Berlin — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : FU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1705350.0 €

Oligosaccharides or glycans are essential in nature and central participants in virtually every biological process. The extensive structural diversity enables glycans to encode rich information in biological functions; however, it also creates major challenges in almost all aspects of the glycosciences. The synthetic formation of glycosidic bonds during glycan assembly for example, is mechanistically still not fully understood. This is largely a result of highly-reactive, but short-lived oxocarbenium ion intermediates, which are difficult to study using established techniques. However, the structure of these intermediates dictates the stereochemistry of the resulting glycosidic bond, the control of which is absolutely crucial for a successful synthesis. An equally important aspect is the sequencing of glycans, which is generally complicated by the frequent occurrence of isomers. This is further complicated by poorly understood rearrangement reactions during mass spectrometric analysis, which often lead to erroneous structural assignments. Here as well, cationic intermediates are the key species that determine the outcome of the rearrangement. The aim of GlycoSpec is to unravel fundamental aspects of oligosaccharide reaction and fragmentation mechanisms by probing cationic glycan intermediates. To do so, a unique combination of instrument and method development (ion mobility-mass spectrometry and cold-ion spectroscopy), chemical synthesis and theory will be used. The gain in mechanistic understanding will provide the basis to tailor building blocks and reaction conditions and is expected to lead to a major advancement in glycosynthesis. The mechanistic understanding of fragmentation reactions will furthermore lead to general rules for the prediction of tandem mass spectra. Just like in the early years of proteomics, this will make the technology automatable and accessible for broader applications. Therefore, GlycoSpec will help to initiate the pursuit of glycomics.

Mots-clés : mass spectrometry,ion mobility spectrometry,gas phase spectroscopy,infrared,glycosyl cations,glycomics
Projet ERC : DeVOTE (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Entité participante : University of Vienna — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Univie
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1498767.0 €

On Election Day, citizens are usually asked to vote by placing a mark besides one party and/or candidate on a ballot paper. What meanings do citizens attribute to that mark? Frequently it is assumed that citizens share the view that the mark is substantively meaningful. Yet high rates of abstention, rejection of politics as usual, distrust in election administration and integrity, and democratic backsliding now challenge this assumption. This project aims not only to provide first-time evidence on what ‘voting’ means for ordinary citizens, but also to examine variation in such meanings between individuals and across types of democracies; study how elections create and modify these meanings; and investigate their attitudinal and behavioural consequences. ‘Meaning’, in this project, refers to both the significance of voting for citizens as well as what is meant by voting for citizens, which may encompass citizen definitions or understandings of voting and/or the motivations they have for voting or not. Looking at what voting means for citizens in a variety of countries promises to provide a ground-breaking understanding of citizen-conceptualizations of representation and the psychology of voting that can challenge conventional wisdom about participation and voting as well as lead to practical implications for how elections are run and administered. In addition, the project agenda will result in an observatory devised for systematic data collection on the meanings of elections on Election Day. In the long run, this will provide a resource containing information about the political meanings given to elections by citizens themselves and can be used as a basis to refine and challenge the constructed interpretations commonly assigned to elections by the media and politicians. Citizen views are gathered via a novel approach based on a citizen-science website and inductive reasoning combined with panel data, vignette experiments and topic modelling to test causal mechanisms.

Mots-clés : electoral behaviour,elections,voting,attitudes