Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : StableCat (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : National Institute of Chemistry — Pays : Slovénie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : NIC;KI
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 80000.0 €

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) are crucial in the race towards cutting the greenhouse gas emissions – covering 90.7% of total fuel cell market share already in 2018. PEMFCs as a zero-carbon technology converts hydrogen, as a fuel, and oxygen from the air into clean electricity, with water being the only by-product. In doing so, the catalyst material plays a crucial role. Currently, the most promising strategy is to use scarce and expensive platinum (Pt) in the form of carbon-supported nanoparticles (NPs) that are alloyed with a less expensive metal M (e.g. M = Ni, Co or Cu; Pt-M/C). However, current commercial catalyst solutions cannot yet combine the ‘three-pillars’ within the same material – (i) high electrochemically active surface area (ECSA), (ii) high catalytic activity and (iii) high stability. Thus, the StableCat project addresses the pressing need for the improvements of commercial catalysts by obtaining atomic-scale structural understanding. A unique methodological approach developed in project ERC StG 123STABLE resulted in a novel synthesis strategy that, for the first time, combines all three-pillars within the same catalyst material, and will pave the innovative way as an enabler for mass commercialisation of PEMFC technology. Our investigation revealed that 123STABLE catalysts exhibit up to 40% increase in ECSA, a 2-3 fold increase in catalytic activity, as well as an intermetallic crystal structure with increased stability towards corrosion. In addition, the new synthesis approach has also revealed significant potential at reducing the amount of Pt in PEMFCs (50% reduction possible already today). The goal of StableCat is to conduct technical and business activities necessary to enter the commercialisation phase, preferably in a form of a Spin-out company.

Mots-clés : proton exchange membrane fuel cells  pemfcs,platinum  pt,electrocatalysis,hydrogen,nanotechnology,value chain,intellectual property  ip,business development,commercialisation
Projet ERC : StableCat (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : Recatalyst, razvoj, proizvodnja in prodaja katalizatorskih kompozitov, d.o.o. — Pays : Slovénie — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : Recatalyst, d.o.o.
Type d'entité : Organismes privés (hors enseignement)
Financement ERC de l'entité : 65000.0 €

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) are crucial in the race towards cutting the greenhouse gas emissions – covering 90.7% of total fuel cell market share already in 2018. PEMFCs as a zero-carbon technology converts hydrogen, as a fuel, and oxygen from the air into clean electricity, with water being the only by-product. In doing so, the catalyst material plays a crucial role. Currently, the most promising strategy is to use scarce and expensive platinum (Pt) in the form of carbon-supported nanoparticles (NPs) that are alloyed with a less expensive metal M (e.g. M = Ni, Co or Cu; Pt-M/C). However, current commercial catalyst solutions cannot yet combine the ‘three-pillars’ within the same material – (i) high electrochemically active surface area (ECSA), (ii) high catalytic activity and (iii) high stability. Thus, the StableCat project addresses the pressing need for the improvements of commercial catalysts by obtaining atomic-scale structural understanding. A unique methodological approach developed in project ERC StG 123STABLE resulted in a novel synthesis strategy that, for the first time, combines all three-pillars within the same catalyst material, and will pave the innovative way as an enabler for mass commercialisation of PEMFC technology. Our investigation revealed that 123STABLE catalysts exhibit up to 40% increase in ECSA, a 2-3 fold increase in catalytic activity, as well as an intermetallic crystal structure with increased stability towards corrosion. In addition, the new synthesis approach has also revealed significant potential at reducing the amount of Pt in PEMFCs (50% reduction possible already today). The goal of StableCat is to conduct technical and business activities necessary to enter the commercialisation phase, preferably in a form of a Spin-out company.

Mots-clés : proton exchange membrane fuel cells  pemfcs,platinum  pt,electrocatalysis,hydrogen,nanotechnology,value chain,intellectual property  ip,business development,commercialisation
Projet ERC : MODMAT (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : University of Fribourg — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1854321.0 €

Pump-probe techniques are a powerful experimental tool for the study of strongly correlated electron systems. The strategy is to drive a material out of its equilibrium state by a laser pulse, and to measure the subsequent dynamics on the intrinsic timescale of the electron, spin and lattice degrees of freedom. This allows to disentangle competing low-energy processes along the time axis and to gain new insights into correlation phenomena. Pump-probe experiments have also shown that external stimulation can induce novel transient states, which raises the exciting prospect of nonequilibrium control of material properties. The ab-initio simulation of correlated materials is challenging, and the prediction of a material's behavior under nonequilibrium conditions is an even more ambitious task. In the equilibrium context, a significant recent advance is the implementation of dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) schemes capable of treating dynamically screened interactions. These techniques have enabled the combination of the GW ab-initio method and DMFT in realistic contexts. Another recent development is the nonequilibrium extension of DMFT, which has been established as a flexible tool for the simulation of time-dependent phenomena in correlated lattice systems. The goal of this research project is to combine these two recently developed computational techniques into a GW and nonequilibrium DMFT based ab-initio framework capable of delivering quantitative and material-specific predictions of the nonequilibrium properties of correlated compounds. The new formalism will be used to study photoinduced phasetransitions, unconventional superconductors with driven phonons, and strongly correlated devices such as Mott insulating solar cells.

Mots-clés : nonequilibrium properties,dynamical mean field theory,computational physics
Projet ERC : PyroSafe (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and communication engineering
Entité participante : Office national d’études et de recherches aérospatiales — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : ONERA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 64500.0 €

PyroSafe aims at (1) creating a new generation of safe and versatile energetic materials with tailored architectures at nanoscales to replace old unsafe energetic substances currently used in pyrodevices; (2) enabling a new technology based on the co-integration of electronic components with these new types of energetic layers; (3) manufacturing high energetic microsystems able to produce multiple functionalities (gas, heat, or generation of chemical species) to implement relevant emergency safety responses. This involves both evolutionary and revolutionary advances in metal/oxide materials science and engineering that constitute the focus of the proposed work. Specifically, I will develop: i. multi-scale (nm to mm) processing methodologies combining vapor-deposition techniques with additive manufacturing methods, to tailor the structural features of the energetic layers to the application needs; ii. an understanding of the physical and chemical processes at the most fundamental level to predict composition/structure/performance relationships and aging mechanisms; iii. a heterogeneous assembly process to co-integrate the energetic layers with electronic circuits. As key achievements of the project, three safety-critical microsystems, capable of detecting catastrophes and trigger quick safety responses, will be demonstrated with prototypes, ensuring that the basic research performed in initial thrusts will directly contribute to the development of novel microsystems. Overall, the PyroSafe technology will constitute a technological breakthrough in the current “pyrotechnical systems industry” by introducing a new way of thinking and manufacturing energetic materials as safe programmable and protectable components in a field led, for decades, by organic chemistry. Furthermore, the output of this research will have a deep and broad impact on the European society by introducing a real-time response to accidents in contrast to the current approach based on prevention.

Mots-clés : nanothermites,safe and smart pyrodevices,mems,multi scale engineering
Projet ERC : InflamCellDeath (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy
Entité participante : University of Lausanne — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UNIL
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999176.0 €

Pyroptosis is a lytic pro-inflammatory type of programmed cell death that is induced by inflammatory caspases, a family of proteases that control the innate immune response to infection, injury or noxious substances. Inflammatory caspases are activated within so-called inflammasomes, cytosolic signalling platforms that are assembled by pattern recognition receptors upon the detection of pathogen- or host-derived danger signals. Pyroptosis is essential for antimicrobial host defense, but also promotes the concomitant release of inflammatory danger signals and leaderless cytokines that is detrimental during chronic inflammatory disease. Recently it was found that pyroptosis is caused by the cleavage of a single caspase substrate called gasdermin-D. This cleavage generates a cytotoxic N-terminal fragment of gasdermin-D that targets the plasma membrane, where it forms large permeability pores and thus causes pyroptotic cell death. Gasdermin-D is only one member of the larger gasdermin protein family, an emerging group of cell death effectors that share its pore-forming cytotoxic activity and that appear to be major regulators of inflammatory necrotic cell death. The main goal of this proposal is to comprehensively characterize the function of gasdermins in anti-microbial host defense, to investigate the consequences of gasdermin-D pore formation to the host cell and to elucidate the pathways that regulate gasdermin activation. My objectives are: 1) to define the role of gasdermin-D in inflammasome-dependent anti-bacterial host defense 2) to study the role of membrane repair in restricting gasdermin-D-induced membrane 3) to characterize the function and regulation of other gasdermin family members during infection By characterizing the mechanism and function of gasdermin-induced cell death in host-defense and inflammation this project may contribute to the development of novel therapies for infectious as well as inflammatory diseases.
Projet ERC : YoctoLHC (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : University of Santiago de Compostela — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : USC
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1693687.5 €

QCD is the only sector of the Standard Model where the exploration of the first levels of complexity, built from fundamental interactions at the quantum level, is experimentally feasible. An outstanding example is the thermalised state of QCD matter formed when heavy atomic nuclei are smashed in particle colliders. Systematic experimental studies, carried out in the last two decades, overwhelmingly support the picture of a deconfined state of matter, which behaves as a nearly perfect fluid, formed in a very short time, less than 5 yoctoseconds. The mechanism that so efficiently brings the initial out-of-equilibrium state into a thermalised system is, however, largely unknown. Most surprisingly, LHC experiments have found that collisions of small systems, i.e. proton-proton or proton-lead, seem to indicate the presence of a tiny drop of this fluid in events with a large number of produced particles. These systems have sizes of 1 fm or less, or time-scales of less than 3 ys. To add to the puzzle, jet quenching, the modifications of jet properties due to interactions with the medium, has not been observed in these small systems, while jet quenching and thermalisation are expected to be controlled by the same dynamics. Present experimental tools have limited sensitivity to the actual process of thermalisation. To solve these long-standing questions we propose, as a completely novel strategy, using jet observables to directly access the first yoctoseconds of the collision. This strategy needs developments well beyond the state-of-the-art in three subjects: i) novel theoretical descriptions of the initial stages of the collision — the first 5 ys; ii) jet quenching theory for yoctosecond precision, with new techniques to couple the jet to the surrounding matter and novel parton shower evolution; and iii) jet quenching tools for the 2020’s, where completely novel jet observables will be devised with a focus on determining the initial stages of the collision.

Mots-clés : large hadron collider,heavy ions
Projet ERC : QCDHighDensityCMS (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : École polytechnique — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : X
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 337500.0 €

Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is the theory of the strong force. Its high-temperature phase can be accessed experimentally via high energy heavy-ion collisions, allowing us to investigate how the macroscopic properties of nuclear matter arise from QCD interactions between quarks and gluons. With this proposal I aim to solve several fundamental and long-standing questions concerning the strong force and the evolution of the high density phase of QCD, the Quark Gluon plasma (QGP), that are related to the evolution of the early universe: a) Characterize the transport coefficient, qhat, of the Quark Gluon Plasma, which is related to its density b) Perform the equivalent of the Rutherford experiment in the QGP, to resolve the point-like quark and gluon scatterers within the QGP. c) Provide first experimental evidence of two important interference mechanisms that are expected to play a main role in the evolution of jets in a QGP, such as the Landau Pomeranchuk Migdal effect in QCD and the color coherence effect d) Study the phenomenology of the Lund plane, in particular selections on the branching time obtained from the splitting kinematics. Can it be used to draw a time-dependent picture of the jet shower? e)Perform the first attempt to time-scan the QGP with a yoctosecond chronometer using hadronic decays of W and Z bosons. As a world leader in the field of jet physics, also with a strong phenomenological background, I am in a unique position to to solve some of the most interesting problems concerning QCD at high densities by applying new ideas and techniques and exploring the jet substructure. The CMS detector capabilities for jet and electroweak boson reconstruction and the synergy between the pp and heavy ion communities within, make of CMS the ideal experimental detector to capitalize on my ideas and existing expertise. This grant will also provide the opportunity to reinforce the european contribution to the CMS heavy ion program and lead it.

Mots-clés : jet physics,jet quenching
Projet ERC : QFPROBA (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : University of Helsinki — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UH
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2463412.0 €

Quantum Field Theory (QFT) has become a universal framework in physics to study systems with infinite number of degrees of freedom. It has also had in the past significant interaction with Probability starting with Constructive QFT and rigorous statistical mechanics. The goal of this proposal is to bring QFT methods to probabilistic problems and new ideas from Probability to QFT. It concentrates on two concrete topics: (1) Renormalization Group study of rough Stochastic Partial Differential Equations, both their path wise solutions and their space-time correlations and stationary states. These equations are ubiquitous in non-equilibrium physics and they are mathematically challenging. (2) The use of Multiplicative Chaos theory in the rigorous construction and study of the Liouville Conformal Field Theory. Liouville theory is one of the most studied Conformal Field Theories in physics due to its connection to scaling limits of random surfaces and string theory. It has many mathematically puzzling features and its rigorous study is now possible. Although the physical applications of these theories are far apart on the level of mathematical methods they have a common unity based on renormalization theory that I want to utilize. I think time is ripe for a new fruitful interaction between QFT and Probability.

Mots-clés : renormalization group,stochastic partial differential equations,conformal field theory,multiplicative chaos,liouville model
Projet ERC : QUASIFT (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : Institut des hautes études scientifiques — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : IHÉS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1498750.0 €

Quantum Field Theory is a universal framework to address quantum physical systems with infinitely many interacting degrees of freedom, applicable both at the level of fundamental interactions, such as the subnuclear physics of quarks and gluons and at the phenomenological level such as the physics of quantum fluids and superconductivity. Traditionally, weakly interacting quantum field theory is formulated as a perturbative deformation of the linear theory of freely propagating quantum waves or particles with interactions described by Feynman diagrams. For strongly non-linear quantum field theories the method of Feynman diagrams is not adequate. The main goal of this proposal is to develop novel tools and techniques to address strongly non-linear quantum field theories. To achieve this goal we will search for hidden algebraic structures in quantum field theories that will lead to efficient algorithms to compute physical observables of interest. In particular we identify non-linear quantum field theories with exactly solvable sectors of physical observables. In this project we will focus on three objectives: - build general theory of localization in supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory for arbitrary geometrical backgrounds - find all realizations of symplectic and supersymplectic completely integrable systems in gauge theories - construct finite supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in terms of the algebra of locally supersymmetric loop observables for maximally supersymmetric gauge theory The realization of the above objectives will uncover hidden quantum algebraic structures and consequently will bring ground-breaking results in our knowledge of quantum field theories and the fundamental interactions.

Mots-clés : quantum field theory,string theory,supersymmetry,integrable systems,yang mills theory,gauge theory,non perturbative,instantons,topological fields,quantization,poisson,mirror symmetry
Projet ERC : MEMO (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : Uppsala University — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1491275.0 €

Quantum field theory (QFT) is undoubtedly one of the most important achievements of modern theoretical physics, with broad applications ranging from condensed matter systems to elementary particle physics. Despite its successes, the current formulation of QFT is incomplete and we lack tools to address from first principles a wide variety of interesting physical systems, including the dynamics of quarks within protons, phase transitions, and high temperature superconductors. The present project aims at addressing this issue by establishing a novel, powerful and unconventional paradigm for QFT without relying upon the existence of a perturbative expansion. The cornerstone for such a paradigm is the following remark: in a wide variety of simple examples it is possible to compute exactly the values of several observables relying solely upon the knowledge of the spectrum of solitons of the given QFT. I call this effect the memory of solitons. My goal is to establish a research group that will develop and exploit the memory of solitons to study non-perturbative aspects of QFTs. The proposed strategy to approach this problem is twofold. On the one hand I focus on the simplest QFTs to develop my intuition on concrete and explicit examples: my laboratory consists of theories having supersymmetry and/or conformal symmetry where a plethora of exact results are available in the literature. On the other I exploit geometric engineering techniques in string theory, which gives access to the non-perturbative spectrum of QFTs from a completely different angle that allows exact computations to be performed, providing new insights into the mathematical structure of the theories involved. The combination of these techniques is so powerful that I have already obtained a wide variety of results that could not be derived by any other known method.

Mots-clés : non perturbative quantum field theory,solitons,string theory,geometric engineering,supersymmetry