Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : ICEBREAKER (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : CERCA Institution — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CERCA;I-CERCA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149954.0 €

In the ICEBREAKER Proof of Concept (PoC) we will explore the industrial applicability and potential for commercialization of the computational technology developed in the SAFECON Advanced Grant project (www.cimne.com/safecon ) for the study of the navigation of a ship in an iced-sea and the determination of the ice drag of the vessel and the ice-induced resistance on the vessel hull. Up to date a commercial simulation tool including such features for the study of ice-ship interaction situations is simply not available. The ICEBREAKER PoC will help move the SAFECON software technology towards the initial steps of an innovation process leading to a new simulation software for helping naval architects to improve the design of vessels that should be operating efficiently and safely in iced seas. The activities in the ICEBREAKER PoC will include: a) Benchmarking the SAFECON software technology for simulating the navigation of a ship in an iced-sea. b) Establishing the technical viability of application of the software by public and private organizations and companies specialized in ship design, as well as in shipyards and the maritime transport industry. c) Study the possible implementation of the software in existing commercial ship hydrodynamics analysis codes. d) Perform market research for quantifying the potential for the commercial exploitation of the SAFECON software for ice-ship interaction problems. e) Dissemination plan for the software. f) Definition of IPR position. g) Study different exploitation models for the application of the SAFECON software technology for the enhanced design of ships cruising in iced-seas.

Mots-clés : breakwater ships,ice ship interaction,icy waters,naval engineering,maritime transport
Projet ERC : bioSPINspired (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator 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 : 1907767.0 €

In the bioSPINspired project, I propose to use my experience and skills in spintronics, non-linear dynamics and neuromorphic nanodevices to realize bio-inspired spin torque computing architectures. I will develop a bottom-up approach to build spintronic data processing systems that perform low power ‘cognitive’ tasks on-chip and could ultimately complement our traditional microprocessors. I will start by showing that spin torque nanodevices, which are multi-functional and tunable nonlinear dynamical nano-components, are capable of emulating both neurons and synapses. Then I will assemble these spin-torque nano-synapses and nano-neurons into modules that implement brain-inspired algorithms in hardware. The brain displays many features typical of non-linear dynamical networks, such as synchronization or chaotic behaviour. These observations have inspired a whole class of models that harness the power of complex non-linear dynamical networks for computing. Following such schemes, I will interconnect the spin torque nanodevices by electrical and magnetic interactions so that they can couple to each other, synchronize and display complex dynamics. Then I will demonstrate that when perturbed by external inputs, these spin torque networks can perform recognition tasks by converging to an attractor state, or use the separation properties at the edge of chaos to classify data. In the process, I will revisit these brain-inspired abstract models to adapt them to the constraints of hardware implementations. Finally I will investigate how the spin torque modules can be efficiently connected together with CMOS buffers to perform higher level computing tasks. The table-top prototypes, hardware-adapted computing models and large-scale simulations developed in bioSPINspired will lay the foundations of spin torque bio-inspired computing and open the path to the fabrication of fully integrated, ultra-dense and efficient CMOS/spin-torque nanodevice chips.

Mots-clés : spin torque,non linear dynamics,bio inspired computing
Projet ERC : PentaBrain (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions
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 : 1437000.0 €

In the brain, Cys-loop receptors mediate fast neurotransmission. They function as allosteric signal transducers across the plasma membrane: upon binding of one or more neurotransmitter molecules to an extracellular site, the receptors undergo complex conformational transitions that result in transient opening of an intrinsic ion channel. The Cys-loop family comprises receptors activated by serotonin, acetylcholine, glycine and GABA. Mammalian receptors are also the targets of a legion of psycho-active and therapeutic compounds (including nicotine, benzodiazepines, anti-emetics, general anaesthetics). Our structural knowledge is currently limited to invertebrate homologues. Atomic structures mammalian receptors are therefore acutely missing in order to understand their physiological role in molecular terms, and to be able to develop new drugs targeting them. The project proposes to decipher the operation mechanism, the pharmacology and conformational transitions of mammalian Cys-loop receptors. Starting with a solid body of preliminary results, we will obtain new high-resolution structures, taking advantage of antibody-based crystallization chaperones. We will try and record for the first time a ‘molecular movie’ of the gating conformational transition in cristallo. On the way, we will also investigate the potential of antibody-based modulators of Cys-loop receptors for biomedical applications. The applicant has solved in the past the structures of a bacterial Cys-loop receptor and of the mouse serotonin receptor. The proposed research will take place at the CNRS in Grenoble, France, in a very favourable environment for structural biology.
Projet ERC : ProDIS (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer science and informatics
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 : 1306250.0 €

In the context of data-intensive systems, data provenance captures the way in which data is used, combined and manipulated by the system. Provenance information can for instance be used to reveal whether data was illegitimately used, to reason about hypothetical data modifications, to assess the trustworthiness of a computation result, or to explain the rationale underlying the computation. As data-intensive systems constantly grow in use, in complexity and in the size of data they manipulate, provenance tracking becomes of paramount importance. In its absence, it is next to impossible to follow the flow of data through the system. This in turn is extremely harmful for the quality of results, for enforcing policies, and for the public trust in the systems. Despite important advancements in research on data provenance, and its possible revolutionary impact, it is unfortunately uncommon for practical data-intensive systems to support provenance tracking. The goal of the proposed research is to develop models, algorithms and tools that facilitate provenance tracking for a wide range of data-intensive systems, that can be applied to large-scale data analytics, allowing to explain and reason about the computation that took place. Towards this goal, we will address the following main objectives: (1) supporting provenance for modern data analytics frameworks such as data exploration and data science, (2) overcoming the computational overhead incurred by provenance tracking, (3) the development of user-friendly, provenance-based analysis tools and (4) experimental validation based on the development of prototype tools and benchmarks.

Mots-clés : data provenance,data modeling,data intensive systems
Projet ERC : PArtCell (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering
Entité participante : Leibniz Association — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : LG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 909706.0 €

In the crowded cell, nonspecific interactions between biomolecules alter biochemical equilibria. This matrix of weak nonspecific interactions is composed of hydrophobic, electrostatic, H-bonding, van der Waals, and steric interactions, and is “the dark matter of biology”. Inaccurate prediction of the behaviour of biomolecules inside cells hampers drug discovery: A high throughput drug screen against a purified target protein in dilute buffer ignores the presence of these weak interactions and results are less relevant. High throughput screens directly in cells are however more difficult to control, interpret and measure. PArtCell provides a key advance by combining the high level of control and ease of high-throughput screening on purified proteins, with the relevance of screening in the native environment. The aim is to construct artificial cells that provide a physiologically relevant drug-screening platform. We will achieve this aim by constructing artificial cells with a matrix of weak nonspecific interactions akin living cells as verified with newly engineered fluorescent probes. The probes measure hydrophobicity, electrostatics and steric effects, as well as the physicochemical state of pathogenic condensates, in healthy and stressed living cells. With this information, we will benchmark artificial cells. Drug screens are applied against pathogenic oligomers that we now can observe in these well-characterized artificial cells. This research will update textbook knowledge and provide the molecular origin of the matrix of weak nonspecific interactions in living cells. It provides a platform that allows screening against targets under native-like conditions not achievable with other methods. This research thus provides a new opportunity to screen drugs against diseases for which we have no cure yet.

Mots-clés : genetically encoded fret sensors,macromolecular crowding,biochemical organization,artificial cells
Projet ERC : Ecol of interactions (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ETH Zurich
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499930.0 €

In the face of the alarming pace of recent environmental change we lack the tools to accurately predict how biodiversity and ecosystem services will respond. One key gap in knowledge that limits our predictive ability is uncertainty concerning how the biotic interactions will change. Developing a predictive science of species interactions requires integrating evolutionary, biogeographic and ecological mechanisms acting at different spatial and temporal scales. We will use a hierarchical cross-scale approach, combining phylogeography, network ecology, statistical modelling and experiments, to disentangle the mechanisms governing species richness and mutualistic interactions in tropical hummingbirds and their food plants. Hummingbirds and their food plants are an excellent model system because they are highly diverse, highly specialized, and logistically feasible to study. Our objectives are to (1) evaluate the influence of factors, such as trait-matching, environmental conditions and relatedness, on network structure; (2) quantify how and why interaction beta-diversity (i.e., reflecting the change in both species composition, and in interacting partners) changes across elevation gradients in each of three biogeographic regions with distinct evolutionary histories (mountain regions in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Brazil); (3) evaluate the importance of multiple factors, such as trait-matching, environmental conditions, relatedness and abundance, on species interactions and network structure; and (4) develop a predictive model of species interactions and evaluate its performance using cross-validation and experimentation. Together, these tasks will provide new insight into one of the central enigmas in ecology, namely, why species diversity and its interaction architecture change across space and time. We will also be able predict how species interactions will change from present to the future, which is essential for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Mots-clés : tropical ecology,avian ecology,network ecology,beta diversity,species interactions,maintenance of diversity,spatial variation
Projet ERC : REGENERBONE (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 11500.75 €

In the field of orthopedics and maxillo-facial surgeries, there is still no satisfying solution to repair critical size bone defects. Autograft, which is the current gold standard, presents several drawbacks, including prolonged pain on donor site and higher infection risks. It needs to be replaced by efficient, safe and easy-to-use strategies. Some synthetic bone grafts are providing mechanical and osteoconductive properties, but there is a need to introduce a bioactive molecules, such as a growth factor or a peptide, to trigger actively bone repair. These “orthobiologics” products are appealing since they trigger stem cell activation in situ. There are several approved products containing orthobiologics on the market for bone regeneration, but the physiological delivery of orthobiologics remains a challenge: severe adverse effect have been reported due to the supra-physiological dose of biologics used. In addition these product do not provide structural properties which is necessary for critical size defect reconstruction. Ideally the carrier for the bioactive molecules should be appropriate and enable a spatially/temporally-controlled molecules delivery with physiological dose. Our nanomedicine technology consists of an osteoinductive biomimetic films that can be deposited on architectured implant of any shape and material (ceramics, polymers, metals). The aim of REGENERBONE is to advance our technology toward a clinical application in maxilla-facial surgery and orthopedics. This will be done by conducting pre-clinical trials in large animals, doing a market search, securing the sourcing of the film components and building a business model. The successful results we obtained recently in the frame of the ERC BIOMIM and Proof-of-Concept OSCODI are the basis for REGENERBONE, which goes a step beyond in the long process of introducing an innovative medical device to the market in an era of personalized medicine.

Mots-clés : implants,bone repair,nanomedicine,biomimetic coating,personnalized medicine,scaffold,growth factor
Projet ERC : FUTURE-PRINT (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
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 : 2213316.88 €

In the future, even the most mundane objects will contain electronic circuitry allowing them to gather, process, display and transmit information. The resulting vast network, often called the Internet of Things, will revolutionise society. To realise this will require the ability to produce electronic circuitry extremely cheaply, often on unconventional substrates. This will be achieved through printed electronics, by the assembly of devices from solution (i.e. ink) using methods adapted from printing technology. However, while printed electronics has been advancing rapidly, the development of new, nano-materials-based inks is required for this area to meet its true potential. We believe recent developments in liquid exfoliation of 2D nanosheets have given us the ideal family of materials to revolutionise electronic ink production. Liquid exfoliation can transform layered crystals into suspensions of nanosheets in very large quantities. In this way we can produce liquid-dispersed nanosheets of a wide range of types including conducting (e.g. graphene, MXenes, TiB2 etc), semiconducting (e.g. MoS2, WSe2, GaS, Black phosphorous etc), insulating (e.g. BN, talc) or electrochemically active (e.g. MoO3, Ni(OH)2, MnO2 etc). These nanosheets can be deposited from liquid to form porous networks of defined electronic type. While these networks have huge applications potential, a large amount of work must be done to translate them into working printed devices. In this project, we will develop methods to transform large volume suspensions of exfoliated nanosheets into bespoke 2D inks with properties engineered for a range of specific printed device applications. We will learn to use this 2D ink to print patterned or large area 2D nanosheet networks with controlled structure, allowing us to tune the electrical properties of the network during printing. We will combine networks of different nanosheet types into complex heterostructures. This will allow us to print all device components (electrodes, active layers, dielectrics, energy storage layers) from one contiguous, multi-component network. In this way we will produce 2D network transistors, solar cells, displays and energy storage systems. FUTURE-PRINT will revolutionise electronic inks and will offer a new path forward for printed electronics.

Mots-clés : nanosheet,network,device
Projet ERC : ImmRisk (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems
Entité participante : University Medical Center Groningen — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UMCG
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1496690.0 €

In the last few years genome-wide association studies have revealed thousands of genetic variants associated to immune-mediated diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease. Although it is evident that non-genetic factors can also trigger these diseases, presumably by interacting with the risk SNPs, we do not know what these factors are or how they affect risk-SNPs. I hypothesize that environmental factors that increase disease risk also mediate the downstream molecular effects of disease-associated genetic variants. Since I am able to identify the downstream molecular effects of many risk-SNPs, and can identify molecular pathways regulated by specific exogenous factors like viral, bacterial or fungal stimuli, I now propose to combine these two approaches into a new analytical framework that will allow me to identify some of the exogenous factors that interact with risk-SNPs and together predispose to immune-mediated diseases. My aim is to determine how exogenous triggers alter molecular pathways that are critical in immune-mediated diseases. For this we will generate single-cell RNA-seq data on white blood cells from 100 individuals (~1,000 cells per person) and conduct expression QTL analyses. We will then use this information to identify exogenous risk factors for immune-mediated diseases by re-analysing public RNA-seq data from >20,000 samples generated in the presence and absence of different (disease) stimuli. This project is given direction by three developments by my research group: (1) our collection and integration of large functional genomics datasets, (2) our ability to develop computational frameworks for identifying the downstream consequences of SNPs using such datasets, and (3) my methodology to identify context-specific eQTLs. This research will improve insight into the complex interplay between risk-SNPs and exogenous factors in modulating the molecular pathways that are crucial for the development of immune-mediated diseases.

Mots-clés : gene environment interaction,expression quantitative trait loci,immune mediated diseases
Projet ERC : MARKET POWER (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Individuals, Markets and Organisations
Entité participante : Pompeu Fabra University — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UPF
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1439000.0 €

In the last four decades, there have been a number of significant secular trends in the advanced economies around the world. Wage inequality has risen sharply, and most of the wage gains have been appropriated by the top 1%. In addition, labor market dynamism and new startups have declined, the labor share of total output has fallen, low skilled wages have stagnated, and there has been reallocation of production from small to superstar firms. During the same four decades, there has also been a sharp secular increase in market power. Firms set higher prices, profit rates are higher, and scale economies are up. In this proposal, I address the question whether these secular trends are related. Specifically, I ask whether the rise of market power has caused these profound macroeconomic changes. The objective is to uncover economic mechanisms that help understand this fundamental transformation and the implications for efficiency and welfare. I propose to investigate both the causes of the rise in market power and its macroeconomic consequences. I distinguish between causes that stem inherently from the market structure (such as antitrust enforcement and Mergers & Acquisitions) and those that result from technological change (economies of scale, intangible assets, and network externalities). Methodologically, this research proposal aims to contribute to the literature on three fronts: 1. the measurement of markups, 2. to derive theoretical results linking market power and macroeconomic consequences, 3. to estimate and quantitatively evaluate these models. The close link between the macroeconomic consequences and the causes of market power renders this a research proposal at the intersection of macro/labor, industrial organization and law & economics. The objective is to inform the policy debate: how to keep market power under control in order to remediate its macroeconomic consequences that were hitherto considered independent.