Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : EPIPAT (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative B iology : from Genes and Genomes to S ystems
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 : 2124895.0 €

Plant-pathogen interactions are complex processes involving molecular and physiological changes in both the host and the pathogen. An increasing number of reports are pointing towards the role of epigenetics in plant defense against pathogens. However, several gaps currently prevent us from fully understanding the extent of chromatin changes as well as their functions during infection. We recently showed that a bacterial virulence factor induces global changes in DNA methylation. My research group also discovered that genes encoding epigenetic factors typically expressed solely during the reproductive phase of the plant life cycle are induced by pathogen infection (abbreviated “RePat” genes). Surprisingly, mutations affecting RePat genes reduce infection suggesting that RePat genes enhance susceptibility to the pathogens. Here, I hypothesize that pathogens hijack the expression of RePat genes to counter-act the innate plant epigenetic defense. In EPIPAT, I will determine the precise spatial and temporal changes in epigenetic marks during infection. We will investigate how RePat genes are induced during infection as well as characterize their function in regulating the epigenome during infection. In EPIPAT, I aim to shed light on a neglected battlefield of host/pathogen interactions, the epigenetic arms race between plants and pathogens. EPIPAT will generate essential data and insights that will open the field's understanding of how epigenetic changes contribute to the plant's defense. The induction of reproduction-specific epigenetic factors during infection suggests that similar nuclear reprogramming mechanisms might be at play in both situations. Exploring their role during infection is bound to provide invaluable insights into their role during reproduction and help us establish evolutionary parallels between reproduction and defense.

Mots-clés : epigenetic reprogramming,bacterial infection,small rna,dna methylation,plant
Projet ERC : NoDiCE (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, 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 : 2000000.0 €

Diffusion is at the root of a huge number of microscopic structural and transport processes. During the last century, Einstein and Boltzmann's theories were successful in describing equilibrated systems, but they are not applicable to numerous strongly non-equilibrium conditions in nano-technological and macromolecular-scale biological contexts. Notably, many systems involve energy injection at an interface, either under dissipative shear flows or chemical reactivity. These common non-equilibrium situations are difficult to observe with precision and describe with statistical theory. NoDiCE’s purpose is thus to design model experiments placing functional colloidal particles in complex, non-equilibrium environments with quantitative assessment based on delicate and simultaneous observations of the particles’ advective and diffusive motions, along with their precise spatial organization. Our observations exploit evanescent- wave microscopy to observe fluorescent nanoparticles driven out-of-equilibrium in microfluidic devices, providing 3D nanometric precision at kHz temporal scales. Fluorescence correlation and atomic force spectroscopies complement these measurements, providing DC to MHz bandwidth and similar spatial precision. We will demonstrate how non-trivial interactions of hydrodynamic origin with a boundary reveal novel nanoscale self-organization strategies, and learn how to integrate a hydrodynamic component into the statistical theory. We then enter the recent scientific debate about the extent to which Brownian motion can be impacted by reactive environments with catalysis. Lastly, we combine these elements with particles that present specific surface binding and are driven out of equilibrium by an external flow. The insights provided by our model experiments open a path for the developments of breakthrough self-assembly strategies, reaction- pathway analysis based on particle dynamics, and possible next-generation diagnostic tools.

Mots-clés : micro and nanofluidics,dynamic surface interaction,intermolecular forces,colloidal dynamics
Projet ERC : QurCan (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Texts and Concepts
Entité participante : Université de Leyde — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999818.0 €

The perfect preservation of the Quran back to the time of Muhammad, Islam’s founder, is a contentious topic. In the popular imagination, each syllable printed in the Quran today is believed to be identical to the way Muhammad taught his followers. One easily gets this impression from modern printed Qurans, the vast majority of which are based on the reading tradition of Hafs in the transmission of Asim. A reading tradition instructs the reader how to pronounce each syllable in the Quranic text. But, this uniformity is a recent development. All sects of Islam recognize at least 7 canonical, equally valid, reading traditions. The reading traditions emerged to alleviate the ambiguities of the early Arabic script of the Quran in the middle of the 7th c. CE. At that time, the Arabic script could not express short vowels or distinguish between many consonants, leading to significant differences in pronunciation and in some cases even wording. Without a tradition of instruction, the Quranic text would be—in some cases—impossible to decipher. The canonisation of these reading traditions, however, does not go back to the time of Muhammad, rather it was the 10th c. scholar ibn Mujahid who established the canon. Up until recently, it was thought that his work functioned as our historical horizon—everything we can know about the pre-canonical situation is filtered through his choices and thinking. However, there are hundreds of Quranic manuscripts from the time preceding the canonisation stretching back at least to the beginning of the 8th c. that make use of diacritics to instruct the reader. These pre-canonical reading traditions provide a vista into the pre-history of Quranic recitation, yet they have so far gone almost entirely unstudied. QurCan aims to mine these rich historical sources to understand what Quran recitation was like before ibn Mujahid, how the reading traditions developed, and how this led to the crystallized canon that we know today.

Mots-clés : qur anic studies,canonisation,digital humanities
Projet ERC : Homologic (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative B iology : from Genes and Genomes to S ystems
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 : 1999999.0 €

DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) repair by homologous recombination (HR) entails identification of an intact homologous template DNA molecule in the genome. Homology search is guided by the DSB-flanking ssDNA sequence assembled into a RecA-family nucleoprotein filament (NPF). A biased version of this process, regulated in an ill-defined manner by chromosomes’ structure and meiosis-specific HR proteins, also underlies homolog recognition and recombination during meiosis I in most examined eukaryotes. Despite its centrality for genome maintenance and sexual reproduction, how homology search operates in cells and the nature of its meiotic regulations are largely unknown. Our goal is to solve these two major biological conundrums with a simple idea: that substrate properties (chromatin composition and motion) provide cues for search simplification and regulation. First, we will address the existence of a homology search facilitation mechanism based on combined (i) DNA occlusion by nucleosome and (ii) seeding of homology search by pioneer transcription factors (WP1). These insights will be applied to accelerate yeast evolution and improve gene-editing. Second, we will address how uncoordinated movements of semi-rigid meiotic chromosomes can generate mechanical cues underlying HR regulations that result in patterned recombination between homologs (WP2). The experimental strategy will involve extensive genetic engineering and large synthetic chromosomal regions for targeted alteration of chromatin composition, chromosome physical properties and chromosome motion in cis. Novel genomic and molecular approaches we developed to directly detect transient HR intermediates in yeast make this project uniquely feasible. This work should elucidate enigmatic interplays between chromosome biology and conserved DNA metabolic processes in mitosis and meiosis, broadens the current paradigm of facilitated target search by proteins in DNA, and yield tools of broad biotechnological interest.

Mots-clés : dna recombination meiosis chromosome
Projet ERC : ORION (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
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 : 2000000.0 €

Patterns of species distribution across space, time, and taxonomic groups have long fascinated scientists. The origins of species diversity lie in speciation events, and uneven species richness is evidence of different rates of speciation. Understanding the drivers of biodiversity has taken two approaches: either focusing on allelic frequency variation and quantitative trait evolution within species (microevolution) or examining speciation rates and phenotypic evolution across species (macroevolution). However, a conceptual gap persists between these fields that questions the ability of microevolutionary processes to explain macroevolutionary rates. The concept of speciation is a critical link between these scales, with population-level processes theoretically influencing macroevolutionary rates. Reconciling micro- and macroevolution has produced conflicting evidence on the relationship between population-level processes and macroevolutionary rates, highlighting the need for further investigation. In this context, the ORION project will bridge the gap between micro- and macroevolution to address a pressing question in biodiversity research: can microevolutionary processes reliably predict macroevolutionary rates? Using a multidisciplinary approach focused on swallowtail butterflies (Papilionidae) – an iconic insect family with well-understood systematics and taxonomy of 640 globally distributed species – we will collect and integrate genomic, phenotypic, and ecological data at both species and subspecies levels. We will test whether population isolation, reproductive isolation, ecological and phenotypic differentiation, and population persistence (microevolutionary processes) play a role in controlling speciation rate and rates of phenotypic and niche evolution (macroevolutionary rates). The project aims to elucidate the intricate connections between micro- and macroevolutionary processes and to provide insights into the mechanisms that shape biodiversity gradients.

Mots-clés : data collection,ecological niche modeling,genomics,global scale,insects,multidisciplinary research,papilionidae,phenotypic evolution,rates estimation,speciation
Projet ERC : LaDy (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
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 : 1997048.0 €

Current research in linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience predominantly focuses on the individual, neglecting the dynamic interplay between interlocutors as the primary form of communication. This project aims to address this limitation by investigating language and the brain in their most functional context, the dyad. The objective is to connect the cognitive mechanisms of dialogue with the neurophysiology of interacting brains.  The central theme of this project is the concept of alignment, since it is observed in both behaviour and brain activity. Linguistic alignment concerns the convergence of language use between interlocutors. Neural alignment refers to correlated brain activity between speakers and listeners. While tempting to assume both phenomena are related, at present this is an open question. This project sets out to investigate whether neural alignment is the brain's signature of linguistic alignment, and whether prediction is the mechanism that can link neural and linguistic alignment.  To achieve these objectives, the project employs a novel paradigm combining EEG hyper-scanning with interactive dyadic language games. Preliminary results highlight the feasibility of this novel paradigm to assess interactive naming behaviour. Using this approach, three work packages will explore (1) neural alignment for basic linguistic components, (2) the impact of prediction on alignment, and (3) the emergence of neural alignment in spontaneous linguistic interactions. This interdisciplinary proposal has ground-breaking potential: If successful, the project will significantly advance our understanding of language in interaction, shed light on the role of prediction in the dyad, and provide a brain basis for models of dialogue and conversation. In sum, this comprehensive approach seeks to unravel the intricate connections between neural and linguistic alignment while exploring the role of prediction as a fundamental driver of these phenomena.

Mots-clés : psycholinguistics,cognitive neuroscience,dialogue,prediction,interaction,speech perception,speech production,words,behaviour,brain,eeg,hyper scanning
Projet ERC : CONFSTAT (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : Université d'Helsinki — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1994761.0 €

The goal of this proposal is to study the interplay between models of modern probability theory and quantum field theory (QFT). The proposal has two main lines of research:  - Conformal field theory (CFT) and the Ising and Liouville models. In the physics literature, there is a far reaching conjecture that the scaling limits of critical lattice models can be described in two ways: either as a CFT or as a fixed point of a renormalization group transformation (RGT). Mathematically, this remains far from understood. In this proposal, these questions will be studied in two of the most canonical CFTs: the Ising model and the Liouville model. Basic properties of CFTs will be established for the critical Ising model and the Liouville model will be showed to be a fixed point of a (RGT). - Scaling limits of near critical models and bosonization. In the physics community, it is believed that also near critical models of statistical mechanics should have scaling limits that are described by QFTs that are perturbations of CFTs. Moreover, these QFTs are special in the sense that despite losing the conformal invariance of CFTs, they retain some of the exact solvability and enjoy other interesting properties. In this proposal, these themes are explored in the setting of the near-critical Ising model (a perturbation of the critical Ising CFT), the sine-Gordon (SG) model, and the massive Thirring model (MTM). An important theme being bosonization, namely that correlation functions of the near critical Ising model and the MTM are conjectured to be given in terms of SG correlation functions. In addition to this, fundamental properties of the SG model will be studied, such as operator product expansions, exponential decay of correlations, and construction of the model on Riemann surfaces.  The problems solved in this program will lay the foundations of a mathematically rigorous understanding of QFT in statistical mechanics and some of the most important near critical models.

Mots-clés : conformal field theory,integrable quantum field theories,fermionic field theories,bosonization,ising model
Projet ERC : GraviPULSE (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe Sciences
Entité participante : Université de Leyde — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999219.0 €

How does gravity work on cosmological scales? Starting from July 2023, for the very first time in the history of space science, the geometry of the Universe Large Scales will be mapped by the Euclid mission, providing the scientific community with a wealth of cosmological data of unprecedented quantity and quality. It will be a transformational moment that will open a new ground for testing gravity; yet, unless combined with a theoretical framework able to translate wonderful numbers into concepts, this is bounded to be a missed opportunity. This research program - whose proponent is currently serving in the role of co-Lead of Euclid Theory Working Group - aims at constructing such a framework. Euclid will compare the action of gravity on light with that on non-relativistic particles, in a regime vastly different from where General Relativity has been confirmed. Any significant detection of a deviation, will have profound consequences. But how to confidently dissect and decipher these potential signals? In the past years I have laid the ground work for cosmological tests of gravity, culminating recently in a first reconstruction of gravity from available data. These results are at their infancy and a leap beyond the current state of the art is urgently required to breach into the smaller, nonlinear scales where statistical errors will be at their lowest. The timing could not be better, with data releases of Euclid expected during the tenure of this proposal. From an exhaustive exploration of the gravitational landscape under criteria of theoretical viability, we will create predictions of the Large Scales phenomenology by broad classes of theories, with an accuracy that meets Euclid requirements. These will be used to construct a comprehensive phenomenological framework extending into the nonlinear regime and inform bayesian non-parametric reconstructions of gravity from the latest data. As a result, we will provide a completely new view into gravity on Large Scales

Mots-clés : gravity,tests of gravity,modified gravity
Projet ERC : RENOME (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Molecules of Life: B iological  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 : 1998595.0 €

The content of the cell nucleus is highly organized at different levels. Chromatin is partitioned into domains that carry different post-translational histone modifications, and it exhibits a multiscale structural organization from small loops to large compartments. Nuclear RNAs and proteins recognize cues on chromatin, forming different types of chromatin-associated complexes and condensates. The nucleus as a whole is the largest and stiffest organelle of the cell and modulates its mechanical properties. Dysregulation of the nucleome at any level goes along with altered gene- and mechano-regulation in diseases such as metastatic cancers. Currently, the functions of the different organizational levels of chromatin, their mutual relationships and the impact on cellular phenotypes are poorly defined. Progress in this field has been hindered by several technical limitations. One is the inability to study chromatin folding in single living cells, which would allow to interrogate its dynamics, to assess its response to perturbations in real-time, and to relate it to the mechanical properties of the same cell. Another limitation is the lack of tools to selectively reengineer different levels of the nuclear organization to test their function. With the RENOME project, I propose to overcome these limitations by developing systems to study chromatin compartments in real-time and to reshape different organizational levels of the nucleome in a tunable manner. These tools will make it for the first time possible to define the functional impact of nuclear organization across scales, from single molecules to mammalian cultured cells and 3D organoids. RENOME links chromatin regulation, phase separation and nuclear mechanobiology, with the goal to connect molecular mechanisms to cellular behavior. By providing a multi-scale predictive model for the organization of the nucleome and a toolbox for its reengineering, it will lay the groundwork for future epigenetic therapies.

Mots-clés : chromatin organization chromatin condensates histone modifications nuclear mechanics
Projet ERC : JEC4HL-LHC (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Entité participante : Université d'Helsinki — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1955918.0 €

The 2020 update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics puts the HL-LHC at the focal point, “together with continued innovation in experimental techniques”. Its primary goals include searching for new physics at high energy, exploration of the Higgs potential and precision tests of the Standard Model.  At a hadron collider such as LHC, practically all measurements rely on jet energy corrections (JEC). Many important benchmark channels, such as top quark decaying to b jets and ud or cs jet pairs and inclusive jets produced with numerous gluon jets, have JEC as their limiting uncertainty. At present, the JEC uncertainties are at a level of 1% overall, with similar additional uncertainties from flavor-specific JEC from simulation only.  However, evidence suggests that the simulation is biased at the level of these uncertainties, and that these biases will become the decisive factor for further progress. Here we show how to correct these biases with data-driven methods and bring the total uncertainties toward 0.1% level.  We found that with integrated luminosity of more than 100/fb, the Z+flavor channel can be used to precisely measure all flavor-JEC, when combined with our novel techniques to address flavor-dependent biases from initial and final state radiation, underlying event and heavy-flavor neutrino production. Furthermore, we found that inclusive jet production can be used to monitor further drifts of JEC at 0.1% precision and that our observations can be motivated with a parameterized model of particle flow jet response.  Our results plot a path to JEC at the HL-LHC high pileup environment, and show how to systematically control the leading simulation uncertainties with data and allow many physics analyses to improve their JEC-related systematic uncertainties.  We anticipate our work will be a starting point to transition to 0.1%-level precision in JEC across the field and that it will lead to a number of precision jet physics measurements as a result.

Mots-clés : jet energy scale,jet energy corrections,jes,jec,lhc,hl lhc