Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : BodyMemory (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Entité participante : Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : OvGU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 34003.49 €

Body memory is the sum of all past bodily experiences that are stored in memory and influence behavior. Body memories influence our daily life, for example when we remember injuries, accidents, or moments of bodily comfort, and they affect mental health, for example when they cause psychosomatic symptoms, depression, or anxiety. Scientific knowledge on the neuroanatomical pathways and neuronal mechanisms that underlie human body memory is scarce, partly because offline representations of bodily experiences are challenging to study experimentally. Recently, I used 7 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging (7T-fMRI) to detect and describe offline representations of tactile sensations at the skin in human somatosensory cortex. These representations are fine-grained, precise, and replicable, and provide empirical evidence that offline representations of bodily feelings can be described by means of 7T-fMRI. In this research project, I will combine my own knowledge and experience in ultra-high field imaging, topographic mapping, psychophysics, and embodiment with recent advances in episodic memory research to target three research questions: (i) Which neuronal mechanisms underlie the storage and retrieval of somatosensory experiences?, (ii) How do stored sensory experiences contribute to psychosomatic symptoms?, and (iii) How can we treat psychosomatic symptoms triggered by maladaptive body memories? Offline representations of tactile experiences and associated emotions will be used as a model system to systematically investigate the storage, retrieval, and intervention-induced plasticity of somatosensory body memories and associated emotions in healthy adults and in clinical populations. The research agenda I propose here will use state-of-the-art scientific tools and methods to gain basic and applied insights into a novel and far reaching research field with the final goal to develop interventions to change stored body memories.

Mots-clés : embodiment,embodied memories,7 tesla fmri
Projet ERC : PersonalBone (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Tel Aviv University — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TAU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499375.0 €

Bone regeneration is a critical challenge in the treatment of fractures, bone loss due to tumor resection, and alveolar bone deficiencies. Currently, approximately 2.2 million bone graft procedures are performed annually worldwide. Despite significant progress in bone tissue engineering, there is an unmet need for patient-specific long-lasting bone restoration to reproduce the unique physical, chemical, and biological properties of hierarchically structured bone in a personalized manner. While bones can often naturally self-heal, critical-size bone defects lead to a failed repair process. Expanding on the current understanding of bone regeneration, I will integrate the biomechanical and immunological triggers of the healing process into an artificial bio-mimicking scaffold to specifically target critical defects. Thus, I aim to develop a conceptually new approach of personalized layered 3D-printed supramolecular scaffolds. I intend to use a bottom-up multi-component co-assembly to produce tailored, layer-by-layer printed, extracellular-matrix-mimicking scaffolds that not only fit the defect shape, but also mimic the bone composition around the defect. For this purpose, I will significantly expand the repertoire of our proprietary peptide-based hydrogel technology by chemical modifications that allow interaction with bone minerals, slow release of growth factors, and activation of the immune system to trigger healing. I will combine computerized tomography scans and computer-assisted manufacturing to design personalized scaffolds that can be studied in an alveolar bone model, and be customized to accommodate bone type, structure, gender, age, and systemic diseases. PersonalBone aims to develop customized supramolecular scaffolds that will promote personalized therapy for bone regenerative medicine, thus significantly advancing the fields of tissue engineering and materials science while offering a novel solution to a major healthcare issue.

Mots-clés : tissue engineering,bone regeneration,molecular self assembly,hydrogel scaffolds,co assembly,bionanomaterials,3d printing
Projet ERC : ShipShape (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : University of London — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : U. London
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 22587.5 €

Bottom-up Energy-Efficient Emulsification and Structured Materials Fabrication Building on the novel platform technology we have recently pioneered for the bottom-up bulk generation of shapes, as well as for self-emulsification from liquid droplets, we are developing pre-commercialization activities. The existing method creates, without the use of lithography, applied fields, or other expensive techniques, micro- and nanoparticles of regular geometric shapes, including fibers. By cycling temperature in the range of only a few degrees, it can also efficiently break up rough emulsions into micro- and nano-scale droplets. Last year our process was featured in Nature and we have filed a patent to protect the IP. Since, we have a published several papers on the detailed mechanisms of the transformations and classified over 60 systems of different compounds and surfactants exhibiting this general phenomenon. We have submitted other papers and have several in preparation on further novel physical phenomena and potential uses of the technology. We have received significant interest from existing active industrial collaborators, detailed in the support letters from 3 of the largest chemical and consumer product companies in Europe. In this POC grant we will explore the commercial viability of our technology in order to take it to a pilot plant stage test. We will clarify the IP position in talks with companies that could potentially license it, and cover the initial expenses for establishing a company if the best route turns out to be commercialization via a start-up. This energy- and material-effficient process may become a new bottom-up method for manufacturing.

Mots-clés : emulsions,self emulsification,shape change,elastocapillarity,bottom up fabrication
Projet ERC : BIOMORPHIC (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : Eindhoven University of Technology — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TU/e
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1498726.0 €

Brain-inspired (neuromorphic) computing has recently demonstrated advancements in pattern and image recognition as well as classification of unstructured (big) data. However, the volatility and energy required for neuromorphic devices presented to date significantly complicate the path to achieve the interconnectivity and efficiency of the brain. In previous work, recently published in Nature Materials, the PI has demonstrated a low-cost solution to these drawbacks: an organic artificial synapse as a building-block for organic neuromorphics. The conductance of this single synapse can be accurately tuned by controlled ion injection in the conductive polymer, which could trigger unprecedented low-energy analogue computing. Hence, the major challenge in the largely unexplored field of organic neuromorphics, is to create an interconnected network of these synapses to obtain a true neuromorphic array which will not only be exceptionally pioneering in materials research for neuromorphics and machine-learning, but can also be adopted in a multitude of vital medical research devices. BIOMORPHIC will develop a unique brain-inspired organic lab-on-a-chip in which microfluidics integrated with sensors, collecting characteristics of biological cells, will serve as input to the neuromorphic array. BIOMORPHIC will combine modular microfluidics and machine-learning to develop a novel platform for low-cost lab-on-a-chip devices capable of on-chip cell classification. In particular, BIOMORPHIC will focus on the detection of circulating tumour cells (CTC). Current methods for the detection of cancer are generally invasive, whereas analysing CTCs in blood offers a highly desired alternative. However, accurately detecting and isolating these cells remains a challenge due to their low prevalence and large variability. The strength of neuromorphics precisely lies in finding patterns in such variable data, which will result in a ground-breaking CTC classification lab-on-a-chip.

Mots-clés : neuromorpic engineering,lab on a chip,organic electronics
Projet ERC : Demos (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems
Entité participante : Institute of Science and Technology Austria — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ISTA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1452604.0 €

Branching morphogenesis, the process by which branched organs such as the lung, prostate, kidney or mammary gland are generated, is a paradigmatic example of complex developmental processes bridging multiple scales. The mechanisms through which given molecular signals and cellular behaviours give rise to a robust organ structure remains a fundamental and open question, for which theoretical methods are needed. Our experience in modelling cytoskeletal mechanics, stem cell dynamics and branching processes puts us in a unique position to tackle this fascinating problem, by combining systems biology and biophysical approaches at multiple scales. In particular, we will focus on: 1. Understanding how stochastic rules lead to robust morphogenetic outputs at the organ scale, and which constraints and optimal design principles they impose on physiological function. 2. Characterizing at the cellular scale the bi-directional feedbacks coordinating fate choices of stem/progenitor cells and niche signals during the extensive remodelling events that branching morphogenesis entails. 3. Developing at the subcellular and cellular scale an integrated mechanochemical theory of pattern formation in branched organs, to understand the coordination of mechanical forces and chemical signals defining their global structure. Towards these goals, we will combine analytical and numerical tools with data analysis methods, to reach a quantitative understanding of the emergent mechanisms driving branching morphogenesis. We will challenge our theoretical predictions with published datasets available for different organs, as well as design specific experimental tests in collaboration with experimental biology groups. This will allow us to compare and contrast different systems, and extract generic classes of design principles of organogenesis across length scales. With this, we expect to generate novel insights of broad relevance for the fields of systems, computational and developmental biology.

Mots-clés : systems biology,theoretical biophysics,branching morphogenesis,pattern formation,cytoskeletal force generation,cellular fate choices,robustness,developmental biology
Projet ERC : STEM-BCPC (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : University Hospital of Basel — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : USB
Type d'entité : Organismes publics (hors enseignement & recherche)
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1979875.0 €

Breast cancer is diagnosed in ~1.4 million women worldwide and ~500,000 lives are lost to the disease annually. Patients may do well after surgery and initial treatment, but drug resistant and fatal metastases often develop. Improved treatment options are urgently needed. The connecting thread of this project is the identification of epigenetic drivers of breast cell fate, tumor heterogeneity and metastasis. Tumor heterogeneity impinges on prognosis, response to therapy, and metastasis and is one of the most important and clinically relevant areas of cancer research. Tumor heterogeneity results from genetic and epigenetic alterations that enhance the plasticity and fitness of cancer cells in the face of hurdles like the metastatic cascade and anti-cancer therapies. Unfortunately, the driving molecular mechanisms remain unclear, particularly the potential interplay between signalling pathways and epigenetic programs. This interdisciplinary project uses pathophysiologically relevant models and state-of-the-art technologies to identify molecular mechanisms underlying crosstalk between key signalling pathways and epigenetic programs in the normal and neoplastic breast. We hypothesize that interfering with these programs will decrease tumor heterogeneity. We will address the effects of: - SHP2/ERK signalling on the epigenetic programs of tumor-initiating cells (Aim 1) - PI3K pathway hyperactivation on the epigenetic programs underpinning cell plasticity (Aim 2) - Epigenetic regulators on normal mammary cell self-renewal and on metastasis (Aim 3) By investigating the integrated effects of key signalling pathways and epigenetic programs in normal and neoplastic breast, this multipronged project will identify and validate mechanisms of cell plasticity. The derived mechanistic understanding will generate means to interfere with tumor heterogeneity and thus improve the efficacy of anti-cancer therapies and ultimately the clinical outcome for patients with breast cancer.

Mots-clés : phosphatases  pi3k  signaling  epigenetics  stem cells
Projet ERC : BRITE (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ETH Zurich
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1552620.0 €

Brown adipocytes can dissipate energy in a process called adaptive thermogenesis. Whilst the classical brown adipose tissue (BAT) depots disappear during early life in humans, cold exposure can promote the appearance of brown-like adipocytes within the white adipose tissue (WAT), termed brite (brown-in-white). Increased BAT activity results in increased energy expenditure and has been correlated with leanness in humans. Hence, recruitment of brite adipocytes may constitute a promising therapeutic strategy to treat obesity and its associated metabolic diseases. Despite the beneficial metabolic properties of brown and brite adipocytes, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying their specification and activation in vivo. This proposal focuses on understanding the complex biology of thermogenic adipocyte biology by studying the epigenetic and transcriptional aspects of WAT britening and BAT recruitment in vivo to identify pathways of therapeutic relevance and to better define the brite precursor cells. Specific aims are to 1) investigate epigenetic and transcriptional states and heterogeneity in human and mouse adipose tissue; 2) develop a novel time-resolved method to correlate preceding chromatin states and cell fate decisions during adipose tissue remodelling; 3) identify and validate key (drugable) epigenetic and transcriptional regulators involved in brite adipocyte specification. Experimentally, I will use adipose tissue samples from human donors and mouse models, to asses at the single-cell level cellular heterogeneity, transcriptional and epigenetic states, to identify subpopulations, and to define the adaptive responses to cold or β-adrenergic stimulation. Using computational methods and in vitro and in vivo validation experiments, I will define epigenetic and transcriptional networks that control WAT britening, and develop a model of the molecular events underlying adipocyte tissue plasticity.

Mots-clés : brite,beige,adipocytes,interconversion,transdifferentiation,obesity,combined single cell readouts,cellular heterogeneity
Projet ERC : CORPORATOCRACY (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
Entité participante : Utrecht University — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2000000.0 €

Business corporations exercise political power, both internally (towards their employees) and externally (towards states, consumers and others). However, corporations have often fallen from the radar in the dominant theories of legitimacy in political philosophy/political theory, i.e. the social contract tradition. The latter has been wedded since the Westphalian era to an individual/state dualism in which there is no evident place for intermediate associations. The dominance of economic theories, understanding corporations as merely private, commercial actors operating in competitive markets, has reinforced this neglect of corporations’ political role. This neglect is untenable in the modern, globalized economy. For better or worse, contemporary societies must be interpreted as ‘corporatocracies’: societies in which corporations (increasingly) exercise political power. This raises the philosophical question of whether – and if so, how – such power can be legitimated, and hence whether corporations can be understood as part of a contemporary, updated, social contract theory. The aim of this proposal is to determine the conditions that underpin the legitimacy of corporate political power. The project studies this question by focusing on three legitimacy conditions: the exercise of authority should be bound to (1) respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights of citizens, (2) democratic mechanisms of decision-making, and (3) requirements of social justice. It pays special attention to the role of transnational corporations, and to the interaction between the corporation’s political role and its economic functions. The scientific urgency of the project lies in the need to have a better normative understanding of the role of the corporation in the 21st century political order. Its social urgency lies in clarifying if and how corporations can be forces which strengthen societies’ capacities to solve urgent social challenges.

Mots-clés : corporations,political authority,legitimacy,social justice,democracy
Projet ERC : BUCCAC (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Individuals, Markets and Organisations
Entité participante : University of London — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. London
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1729806.0 €

Business cycles impact on a large cross-section of the population simultaneously and matters for welfare. Gordon Brown stated in 2002: “There will be no return to boom and bust” but in 2007/08 the Global Financial Crisis triggered the Great Recession, the deepest recession since the 1930s. Mainstream macro (representative agents, complete markets, competitive/monopolistic behavior, full information) was criticized rightly or wrongly for failing to predict the crisis. But the field is now undergoing a significant change introducing financial frictions, partial information, heterogeneous agents, non-competitive behavior etc. to study macroeconomic fluctuations. This high-risk project will make fundamental contributions to this new agenda and will do so in an ambitious and unusual integrative fashion using both empirical and theoretical approaches. The proposal has three aims each of which has several sub-projects. The first focuses on methods for dynamic causal analysis. We develop methods for dynamic causal analysis in the face of permanent and transitory shocks using external instruments. The second provides new evidence on the sources of business cycles and their propagation. We examine the dynamic macroeconomic effects of “market power” by producing a new narrative record of regulatory changes. We will also study the macroeconomic impact of expectational shocks unrelated to “fundamental” shocks. The third aim builds quantitative theory. Dynamic general equilibrium models will be used understand the impact of market power focusing on intangible customer market effects. We apply heterogeneous agents models with aggregate shocks to examine financial frictions and macro prudential regulation in models with idiosyncratic risk. We study expectations-driven fluctuations in incomplete markets models. We estimate models with incomplete markets and price rigidities which provides a contribution across the three aims.

Mots-clés : dynamic causal analysis,heterogeneous agents,incomplete markets,imperfect competition,expectations,financial frictions
Projet ERC : So2Sat (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : German Aerospace Center — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : DLR
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 56250.0 €

By 2050, around three quarters of the world’s population will live in cities. The new dimension of ongoing global migration into the cities poses fundamental challenges to our societies across the globe. Despite of increasing efforts, global urban mapping still drags behind the geometric, thematic and temporal resolutions of geo-information needed to address these challenges. Nowadays diverse sets of incomplete data exist. For example, Earth observation (EO) satellites reliably provide geodetically accurate large scale geo-information of the cities on a routine basis from space. But the data availability is limited by resolutions and acquisition geometries of the sensors. Complementarily, massive imagery, text messages and GIS data from open sources and social media are temporally quasi-seamless, spatially multi-perspective, but with diversely unknown qualities. With So2Sat I will jointly exploit big data from social media and satellite observations for global urban mapping, and aim at breakthroughs in 3D/4D urban modelling, infrastructure occupancy classification, and very high resolution population density mapping on a global scale for revolutionizing urban geographic research. The following methodological and application objectives will be addressed: improving urban-related information retrieval from EO satellite data (MO1), mining urban imagery and text messages from social media data (MO2), information fusion from heterogeneous data sources (MO3), big data processing (MO4), as well as pilot applications in informal settlements classification (AO1) and global population density estimation (AO2). The outcome of So2Sat will be the first and unique global and consistent spatial data set on urban morphology (3D/4D) of settlements, and a multidisciplinary application derivate assessing population density. This is seen as a giant leap for urban geography research as well as for formation of opinions for stakeholders based on resilient data.

Mots-clés : remote sensing,earth observation,urban geographic research,global urban mapping,signal processing,big data fusion,social media data