Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : MASEPR (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
Entité participante : Université de Tel Aviv — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TAU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 3000000.0 €

Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) is the most widely applicable method for solving the main problem of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR): its low sensitivity. This is achieved by polarization transfer from electron spins to nuclear ones, allowing for up to two orders of magnitude signal enhancement, which enabled the expansion of NMR to multiple systems previously unamenable to it. Despite two decades of extensive research, DNP is yet to reach its full potential, the bottleneck being the quantum-mechanical understanding. While Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) experiments have provided multiple insights on static DNP mechanisms, leading to improved DNP experiments, analogous EPR experiments for Magic Angle Spinning (MAS)-DNP, the most prolific DNP variant, were never performed. Instead, our understanding of MAS-DNP relies on theoretical considerations and numerical simulations, which naturally cannot capture the entire picture. The main obstacle for MAS-EPR is the complexity of the instrumentation and lack of methodology to perform EPR experiments under characteristic MAS-DNP conditions: high magnetic fields, cryogenic temperatures, and MAS. This project aims to bridge this crucial gap. We have recently recorded the first high-field MAS-EPR spectra, using a unique high-field dual DNP/EPR spectrometer specifically tailored to the investigation of DNP mechanisms, designed and constructed in my lab. In this project, we will expand the experimental capabilities by developing the dedicated hardware and establishing the methodology for high-field, cryogenic MAS-EPR. This will allow, for the first time, to experimentally observe the electron spin dynamics in MAS-DNP, thus deciphering the DNP mechanisms. This will unlock the full potential of MAS-DNP, allowing for systems currently unamenable to NMR to benefit from the atomic-level structural and dynamical information NMR provides, having profound effects in chemistry, structural biology and material science.

Mots-clés : electron paramagnetic resonance epr,high field epr instrumentation,dynamic nuclear polarization dnp,dnp instrumentation,epr method development,dnp method development
Projet ERC : DecouplingIT (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Soci al World and Its Interactions
Entité participante : IT University of Copenhagen — Pays : Danemark — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999266.0 €

Climate change is one of the biggest existential issues of our time, and there is little global agreement on how to deal with it. Governments and private sector industries argue that ‘decoupling’ economic growth from carbon emissions is the best way to reduce climate impact while still maintaining a healthy economy. Yet, how to do so remains an unsolved question. Most proponents of decoupling see IT as playing a central role, whereas critics argue that IT itself is entangled with incessant capitalist growth and has a large and often unacknowledged climate impact. In addition, IT solutions frequently have the side-effect of creating new and unforeseen problems – social or climatic. The challenge of decoupling is thus broader than the management of the relationship between the economy and the climate. As much as decoupling is about how we imagine the climate crisis can be solved with technologies, trusting that they can create the changes we need, it is also about the cultural value of lifestyles that we do not want to change. The DecouplingIT Project thus approaches decoupling as a matter of how sociocultural change is generated in the spaces between IT, climate change and capitalism. We study these spaces through ethnographic explorations of how IT professionals and enterprises articulate climate change as a problem in demand of IT-generated change, and in particular how they practically deploy IT with the climate in mind. While both climate change and IT are manifested in globally diverse ways, their interrelationship must be studied comparatively with attention to how particular conditions in different locations give rise to disparate responses. Consequently, we conduct research in distinct but conceptually connected ‘climate-IT-hubs’ each facing climate change in their own ways. This addresses a major theoretical gap in qualitative social science research, namely how global change is driven through the intersecting roles of IT, climate change and capitalism.

Mots-clés : anthropology climate change information technology change value capitalism
Projet ERC : EvoViralMimicry (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Entité participante : Université de Tel Aviv — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TAU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2000000.0 €

Viral mimicry is a prevalent evolutionary mechanism for the acquisition of host-protein domains in order to hijack cellular pathways. By leveraging the similarity between the original host and the mimicked domain, the viral mimic forms interactions with host proteins. This introduces genetic conflict since these interactions are advantageous for the virus and deleterious for the host. The host is limited in its capacity to avoid mimics because evolving to escape them can disrupt the host interactome. Elucidating the way in which hosts evolve in the face of mimicry, and the constraints placed on viral mimics, are central to understanding the evolution of genetic conflicts. To address these questions, we will uniquely combine advanced structural modelling, comparative interactomics, evolutionary analyses and functional validations to map the functions, interactions and constraints of viral mimics and their host-interacting proteins. Specifically, we will: (1) Map the landscape of mimicry occurrence in viral proteomes to find which domains are mimicked and which viral families tend to acquire such domains, (2) Characterize the cellular interactomes of both mimics and host-mimicked domains to identify shared targets between host and mimic, and to find mimic-specific interactions, pointing to neo-functionalization, (3) Study the sequence evolution of interface residues between mimics and their host targets, and (4) Characterize evolutionary mechanisms, such as gene duplication, that may be adaptive for the host or the virus. Using these novel techniques and integrative analyses, we will unravel the factors shaping the evolution of mimics and their resulting genetic conflicts with the host. These principles are important for understanding the evolution of mechanisms by which viruses acquire new functions, and ultimately for predicting zoonotic potential and viral emergence.

Mots-clés : evolution of host virus interactions,protein protein interactions,viral mimicry,genetic conflicts
Projet ERC : OverSign (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Entité participante : Université de Tel Aviv — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TAU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1611550.0 €

Tensor networks, and particularly projected entangled pair states (PEPS), are special quantum many-body states that describe strongly-correlated systems well due to their entanglement structure. They have been successfully applied in various scenarios and recently to lattice gauge theories (LGTs) where they outperformed conventional Monte-Carlo calculations and overcame the sign problem in some examples, but mostly in single-space dimensions due to limitations of tensor network methods. A fundamental analogy between PEPS and gauge theories suggests that PEPS are suitable for studying LGTs and that gauge symmetry, often seen as complicating the numerics, can help in overcoming the sign problem and perform efficient tensor network computations in higher dimensions. The overarching goal of this project is to use this analogy in analytical and numerical ways, aiming to (1) analytically devise a comprehensive new formalism for LGT PEPS and the physics they describe by allowing one to construct the optimal PEPS to be used as variational ansatz states when combined with numerical techniques; (2) devise numerical methods for studying LGTs with such PEPS thanks to the analogy, based on sign problem-free variational Monte-Carlo; (3) apply these methods numerically to challenging, non-perturbative models, culminating in SU(3) in 3+1-D, with finite fermionic density, towards quantum chromodynamics. This is expected to overcome the sign problem of such models, thus closing an important, challenging and long-standing gap in the field of non-perturbative physics in general, and gauge theories in particular. The developed methods can be generalized for studying real-time dynamics of quantum field theories, models of quantum gravity, thermal quantum field theories and many other puzzling questions. They will also advance the parallel contemporary approach to LGT - quantum simulations and computations - as some open problems are shared by both approaches.

Mots-clés : tensor networks,lattice gauge theory,entanglement,variational monte carlo,sign problem,qcd,fermions
Projet ERC : SingViroPhys (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
Entité participante : Université catholique de Louvain — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UCL
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2867346.0 €

The current pandemic demonstrates how viruses represent a major threat for human health. Viral infection is a complex multistep process involving both the virus and the host cell machinery. The very first stage consists of landing and binding of the virus, followed by host cell entry, and then the release of the viral genetic material into the cell. Entry pathways are largely defined by the preliminary interactions between viruses and their receptors at the cell interface. Elucidating this complex interplay is a crucial step towards establishing a full picture of the infection process and may lead to the discovery of new antiviral drugs targeting viral entry. Our current knowledge of virus-host interactions mainly relies on the use of cancerous model cell lines cultured in 2D that far from mimic the 3D in vivo conditions of tissue, such as cell heterogeneity and complex organization. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop an innovative platform to monitor and quantify the molecular forces and dynamics at play during the entry pathways in such complex environments. The ambition of this proposal is to unravel virus-host interactions under physiologically relevant 3D conditions by combining single-virus atomic force microscopy and optical tweezer techniques. By means of cellular models of increasing complexity, we will decipher the complex relationship between the organization and heterogeneity of epithelium and the early stages of viral infection. At the frontiers of nanobiophysics and virology, this project will push the limits of advanced nanotechniques to understand the molecular mechanisms of virus entry in unprecedented 3D in vivo conditions. This project will have strong scientific and medical impacts. In virology, it will strongly enhance our molecular understanding of virus-host interactions. In medicine, our new methodology will contribute to the identification of new compounds that target viral infection and the innate immune response.
Projet ERC : AUTISMS-3D (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : University of California System — Pays : Etats-Unis — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 778875.0 €

Autism is an early developing condition diagnosed on the basis of difficulties in the domains of social-communication and restricted repetitive behaviors. However, the single label of ‘autism’ masks a large degree of heterogeneity at multiple scales, from genome to phenome, and may not signal differential needs and services required for some types of profoundly affected individuals. In order to better understand autism and develop more impactful ways to facilitate positive outcomes at an individualized-level, we need better models that help to explain how autism may be differentiated in meaningful ways that help explain variability in developmental paths, responses to treatment, and differential underlying neurobiological mechanisms. This research program develops and tests the AUTISMS-3D model – disability versus difference over development - as a first-level major distinction for explaining heterogeneity within the autism population. AUTISMS-3D postulates that the major first-level split within the autism population is between subtypes described by profound disability versus difference in developmental outcomes. Stratification models using standardized clinical measures of intellectual functioning, language, and adaptive behavior will be used to predict ‘disability’ versus ‘difference’ subtypes. These stratification models are based on highly reproducible data-driven clustering analyses from very large phenotypic datasets. We will then test how the subtypes may develop differently with analyses of big clinical longitudinal datasets and also within the context of early intervention. Finally, we will test the subtypes for neurobiological differences via neuroimaging (MRI, fMRI, DTI) and electrophysiological (EEG) and gaze phenotypes (e.g., eye tracking) under static and naturalistic viewing conditions. The research will help refine our understanding and concepts of autism and will be an important next step on the path to precision medicine for the autisms.

Mots-clés : autism,heterogeneity,precision medicine,neuroimaging,electrophysiology,eye tracking,early intervention
Projet ERC : INTER-ET (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and Processes Engineering
Entité participante : KTH Institut royal de technologie — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2000000.0 €

Transport and handling of complex fluids is an important contributor to World energy consumption (10% is estimated to come from pumping suspensions), and improving their mixing and heat transfer is a key for new applications from process industry to medicine. A tiny amount of polymers, making the fluid viscoelastic, can completely change its flow, reducing turbulent friction and pumping power by around 70 % at large scales, but creating a whole new kind of turbulence at small scales. Elastic turbulence has recently received exponentially increasing attention, as a promising way to increase mixing and heat transfer at small scales (e.g. lab-on-a-chip applications), efficient cleaning and storage of fluids in the ground, but also as undesired source of chaotic flow paths and friction (cell sorting, blood flow). However, large gaps exist in understanding elastic and elasto-inertial turbulence, between conflicting experiments and theories, and multiscale interactions needed to sustain it. The INTER-ET proposal will revolutionize the state-of-the-art understanding of elastic fluids turbulence and its interaction with material microstructure, by synergetic simulations and experiments that were impossible until now. This will be achieved by our high-fidelity methods that for the first time enabled three-dimensional studies of elastoviscoplastic fluid turbulence, suspensions of tens of thousands of particles, and experimental time-resolved measurements on microscale. Theories for Newtonian turbulence do not hold for elastic fluids, and there is an urgent need for improved theories and models in wall-bounded turbulence of complex fluids. INTER-ET proposal aims to: i) perform the first simulations and experiments of EIT in matching wall-bounded geometries, ii) apply methods for direct experimental measurement of time-resolved stress fields and compare with simulations, iii) improve microscopic models and predictions of elastic instability and turbulence.

Mots-clés : complex fluids,direct numerical simulation,rheology,viscoelastic fluid,yield stress material,microfluidics
Projet ERC : OTTOMANCORE (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Study of the Human Past
Entité participante : Université Koç — Pays : Turquie — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150375.0 €

The OTTOMANCORE project seeks to redefine the understanding of how the Ottoman Empire was governed during its much-debated formative period (14th–16th centuries). It challenges the prevalent statist narrative in historiography that envisages Ottoman rulership as a top-down, preordained construct and proposes a novel regional perspective to examine governance practices from a spatially aware and actor-centered viewpoint. Leveraging a robust analytical foundation that assimilates information from a diverse array of Ottoman and Central European narrative and documentary sources, as well as archaeological data, the project explores the local mechanisms and socio-economic grounding of Ottoman governance. OTTOMANCORE proposes to ‘deconstruct’ the essential constituents of governance and ‘deanonymize’ numerous provincial stakeholders to unearth the grassroots of Ottoman rulership. The project is structured into three interlocking modules. The first is dedicated to developing innovative Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) models and automated data extraction from Ottoman sources. The second module delves into a complex geospatial analysis of diverse data, probing the local governance practices, landholding patterns, and socio-economic dynamics by examining several interrelated components: i) land regime; ii) settlement network; iii) population geography; iv) connectivity and communication; v) revenue distribution. The final module aims to synthesize these findings into a coherent spatial narrative, rearticulating the history of Ottoman governance from a regional standpoint. OTTOMANCORE’s approach, blending history with cutting-edge technology, pushes the boundaries of Ottoman historiography and sets a new standard for empirical research. By challenging existing narratives and introducing novel methodologies, it holds the potential to foster a more nuanced appreciation of Ottoman governance and reshape our understanding of the ruling practices of pre-modern empires.

Mots-clés : ottoman empire balkans land ownership settlement geography landscape archaeology population geography connectivity taxation htr historical gis spatial analysis
Projet ERC : divENSify (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and R egeneration
Entité participante : Institut Karolinska — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999981.0 €

The enteric nervous system (ENS) contains a large range of neural subtypes that collectively controls essential gut functions independently of the central nervous system (CNS). Although the ENS is capable of forming new neurons following injury or inflammation, it fails to regenerate completely. My lab recently established a molecular classification of enteric neurons and discovered that they diversify through a conceptually new principle during development. Only two neuronal identities form during neurogenesis while all other classes emerge through subsequent differentiation at the postmitotic stage. This stepwise conversion process contrasts from the better understood CNS development where spatial patterning of stem cells predominates cell fate decisions. Dissecting the molecular basis for the sequential acquisition of cell identities in the ENS will advance our fundamental understanding of cell heterogeneity emergence. In divENSify we propose to push new frontiers in neuronal identity formation to facilitate constructive regeneration in the adult gut. Combining single cell RNA and chromatin profiling we will assess the role of pioneering transcription factors and competent cell states in each step of differentiation. We will dissect gene regulatory networks and identify key determinants using ultrasound-guided gene manipulation, a novel method we recently developed to target the otherwise inaccessible ENS in utero. We will determine how injury-induced adult neurogenesis correlates with developmental paradigms and leverage knowledge on latent potentials and intrinsic transcriptional regulators to engineer specific neuron types through viral gene manipulation in the adult gut. The proposed project will transform our comprehension of neuron identity formation and maintenance and provide proof-of-principle experiments that open for self-repair strategies to treat neurological gut disorders.

Mots-clés : enteric nervous system,single cell rna sequencing,neurogenesis,epigenetic sequencing,cell type specification
Projet ERC : LIMITLESS (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems E ngineering
Entité participante : Institut Karolinska — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2265000.0 €

Mouse models are a gold standard for life sciences research, spanning developmental biology, cancer studies, and pre-clinical testing, but they also have important limitations. Mouse colony maintenance is expensive, and the large colonies needed are ethically problematic. Approaches aiming for cell-type specific manipulations can be confounded by leaky promoters, off-target/unknown promoter expression, endogenous Cre sites, and Cre toxicity. Finally, mouse strains generated in different inbred genetic backgrounds yield confounding results when interbred, or necessitate extensive back-crossing, and again - large usage of mice. An alternative strategy to generate mouse models, circumventing these issues, is direly needed. To solve this problem for the mouse nervous system, we previously developed neural plate targeting with in utero nano-injection (NEPTUNE). NEPTUNE targets 95% of cells in the brain, can recapitulate established mouse models, and can be used flexibly for cell-type specific manipulations. In LIMITLESS, my lab will leverage our expertise in ultra-high titer viral production, developmental biology, and technology development to go beyond the state of the art and develop a technology for whole-embryo editing in utero. We will combine this technology with next generation single cell lineage tracing, to resolve the “family tree” of all cell types in developing embryos, providing both fundamental new knowledge and information that is leverageable for further development of the technique. In sum, my lab will go develop a much-needed technology for whole embryo genetic manipulation, opening the door to limitless new types of experiments. Direct in utero whole-embryo gene editing would accelerate life sciences research, reduce the financial and ethical costs of animal work, and enable experiments currently beyond reach with existing technology.

Mots-clés : mouse models,transgenics,lineage tracing