Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : SuTra (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Molecules of Life: B iological  Mechanisms , Structures  and Functions
Entité participante : Université de Heidelberg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499925.0 €

Proteostasis is a dynamic network integrating protein biogenesis, folding, trafficking, and degradation to build a functional proteome. Disrupted proteostasis resulting the accumulation and aggregation of aberrant proteins in neurons is a hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases. This project’s overall goal is to uncover molecular mechanisms that maintain proteostasis and protect against neurodegeneration, by taking a fresh look at these processes through the lens of Ribosome-associated Quality Control (RQC), a fundamental translational surveillance mechanism whose defect causes neurodegeneration. RQC targets incomplete proteins produced by stalled ribosomes for proteolysis through two pathways mediated by factors associated with the large (60S) subunit: the E3 ubiquitin ligase, Listerin/Ltn1, and NEMF, which tags the nascent-chains with polyAla-tails that act as degrons sensed by other E3 ligases. Our preliminary data uncover that Ala-tailing modifies neurodegeneration in Ltn1-mutant mice: while Ala-tailing provides initial protection against loss of Ltn1 function, Ala-tailed proteins that evade degradation eventually accumulate and aggregate, contributing to the disease. We will create mammalian cell models, develop methods to study endogenous RQC, and use state-of-the-art biochemical and functional approaches, to: elucidate how Ala-tailed protein accumulation contributes to cellular dysfunction and toxicity (Aim 1), investigate the role of RQC in proteostasis dysfunction and cytotoxicity caused by disease-associated gene mutations (Aim 2), and uncover novel factors that sense ribosomal stalling (Aim 3). The results will lay the foundation for understanding how defects in RQC cause neuronal dysfunction, whether RQC plays a broader role in human disease, and why neurons are especially susceptible to RQC defects. These insights will provide critical molecular understanding of proteostasis and disease, which is essential for developing new target-based therapies.

Mots-clés : proteostasis,ubiquitin,rqc,translational surveillance
Projet ERC : IMblack (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe Sciences
Entité participante : Université de Heidelberg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2497403.0 €

Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs), with masses ranging from 10^2 to 10^5 solar masses, are crucial for understanding the growth of supermassive black holes across cosmic ages, but their formation mechanisms remain an open question, despite being in the spotlight for several years. The recent detection of gravitational-wave (GW) events in the IMBH regime demonstrates the potential of GW astronomy to discover IMBHs, and underscores the need for new models to interpret this emerging population. IMblack aims to develop the theoretical framework to probe IMBH formation by exploiting both electromagnetic and GW data. My models will address i) whether, when, and where very massive stars collapse to IMBHs, ii) whether, when, and where runaway stellar collisions in clusters lead to IMBH formation, and iii) the properties of IMBHs born from hierarchical mergers of stellar-sized black holes. This will be key to reconstructing the IMBH mass function, predicting their formation efficiency, and estimating their merger rate density across cosmic time. To achieve these goals, I will implement new methods across various astrophysical domains, including stellar evolution, GW population analysis, star cluster formation, and dynamics. Specifically, I will interface an ambitious suite of stellar collision simulations with advanced stellar evolution calculations, direct N-body models of star cluster dynamics, a population-synthesis semi-analytic approach to explore the multi-dimensional parameter space, and a new framework for the hierarchical assembly of star clusters. I will use GW and electromagnetic data to set constraints on the models. The results of IMblack will pave the way for interpreting GW data from LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA and next-generation interferometers, such as the Cosmic Explorer, Einstein Telescope, and Laser Interferometer Space Antenna.

Mots-clés : intermediate mass black holes star clusters binary black holes n body simulations binary population synthesis gravitational wave sources massive stars
Projet ERC : BRICMEM (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and Communication Engineering
Entité participante : Université de Heidelberg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2493073.0 €

Deep neural networks (DNNs) have transformed the field of AI in recent years. However, a significant challenge persists in the form of inefficient hardware implementations of DNNs. Computation in memory (CIM) is an emerging approach that tackles the processor-memory divide in modern computing systems, enhancing their suitability for DNNs. CIM draws inspiration from certain computational principles found in the human brain, such as hard-wired neural networks and analogue processing.  A key question is whether other attributes of information processing in the mammalian brain could help overcome conventional CIM challenges and lead to a radically enhanced variant of CIM. In biological brains, information is holographically encoded, without distinctions between significant bits, potentially allowing computing-in-superposition on the same hardware. Biological neural networks also use randomness constructively for information representation and computation. Time is a valuable computational resource in the brain, used for information representation and processes. Unlike current CIM-based DNNs, biological neural networks operate in three spatial dimensions.  BRICMEM aims to develop a revolutionary brain-inspired computational memory by leveraging superposition, randomness, time, and space. For computing in superposition, the goal is to store multiple DNN models within the same computational memory. Randomness will be systematically used to enhance conventional DNN functionality and to develop new types of DNNs. Temporal encoding will be explored as an energy-efficient communication method between CIM cores, with novel mathematical functions operating on elapsed time. Additionally, we will utilize the third spatial dimension to improve weight capacity and to implement specific neural networks. Experimental validation will be conducted using current and future CIM prototypes developed by my team. If successful, BRICMEM could redefine the landscape of AI hardware.

Mots-clés : in memory computing,brain inspired computing,non volatile memory devices
Projet ERC : InnerMap (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Human Mobility, Environment, and Space
Entité participante : Université de la Ruhr à Bochum — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2498390.0 €

As people become more mobile, navigation systems in cars or mobile phones are playing an increasingly important role in spatial orientation and navigation. However, the "cognitive map" created in the user's mind when using such navigation devices is much more fragmented, incomplete and inaccurate, compared to the mental model of space created when reading a conventional printed map. As users become more dependent on digital devices that reduce orientation skills, there is an urgent need to develop more efficient navigation systems that promote orientation skills. In order to improve the performance of navigation systems, the proposed project aims to develop the theoretical framework for map-based interfaces that primarily take internal brain capacities into account instead of the usual landmark recognition. To meet this challenge, I suggest a new cartographic concept based on recent neuroscientific findings that link spatially tuned brain cells to navigation processes. Namely, the firing activities of grid cells can be influenced by environmental cues such as walls or boundaries. Based on this mechanism, I hypothesise that grid cell activities in the brain can be stabilised through map elements. Linking map-based navigation with neural mechanisms that play a crucial role in human orientation could thus significantly accelerate the construction of spatial mental representations. This research will develop a new approach to improving navigation performance by conducting a series of empirical studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalographic (EEG) measurements, virtual reality (VR) and behavioural studies (eye tracking). If successful, the proposed research could transform our understanding of navigation and map reading processes. The impact on human orientation ability can be enormous, as the project results could be applicable to the whole spectrum of cartographic visualisations e.g. in cars, airplanes or mobile devices.

Mots-clés : cognitive cartography,navigation,map reading,grid cells,orientation skills,navigation system,
Projet ERC : QUEST (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Entité participante : Université de Ljubljana — Pays : Slovénie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1944625.0 €

We shall develop methods and models for analyzing quantum ergodicity in many-body systems, proving its stability against small perturbations, and studying ergodicity-breaking transitions due to integrability, disorder, or localized impurities. Ergodicity is a cornerstone of statistical mechanics and a key manifestation of many-body quantum chaos, while manipulating ergodicity and engineering ergodicity-breaking transitions will have immense applications (cf.scarred states in Rydberg arrays, heating transitions in Floquet systems, time crystalline phases of matter). PI proposed groundbreaking methods for establishing quantum ergodicity by rigorous analysis of spectral statistics, correlation functions, dynamical complexity indicators and entanglement on the basis of space-time duality. Most of current understanding of many-body physics or quantum fields is based on perturbative expansions around free, integrable or localized models. Here we propose a twist of paradigm: We shall study weak perturbations of statistically exactly solvable ergodic models, such as dual-unitary chaotic quantum circuits proposed by PI. An intuitive expectation of structural stability of ergodic dynamics (in analogy to rigorous results in classical ergodic theory) implies that such expansions typically have, unlike expansions around free/integrable models, finite radii of convergence. Various order parameters of the ergodic phase shall be developed and compared in their utility to signal and characterize ergodicity-breaking transitions. A related goal is a construction of exactly solvable models in which the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis can be proven. Being of fundamental importance in mathematical and statistical physics, the results are expected to have widespread applications across fields: from studying localization transitions in disordered systems, benchmarking quantum simulators and certifying quantum supremacy, to rigorous proofs of chaos in holographic models of black holes.

Mots-clés : ergodicity,many body dynamics,non equilibrium dynamics,quantum chaos,exactly solved models,integrability,structural stability,open quantum systems
Projet ERC : ChemForce (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
Entité participante : Université de Liège — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2496838.0 €

During the last three decades, physicists and biophysicists have largely exploited single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) to advance many fields of physics, nanotechnology, and biology. The ability to probe one molecule at a time allows us to ask and answer questions that are impossible, or extremely difficult, to approach by ensemble techniques. Chemists did not fall into steps behind physicists and biologists and have benefited little from the advent of SMFS. The mechanics of bonds, which is still in its infancy, could largely benefit from SMFS. A big question like how forces and chemistry affect each other? merits special attention. Major questions, especially concerning the mechanical reversibility of bonds and bond lifetime under tension, could be elucidated. Over the last years, my group has acquired the needed expertise and has developed a range of pioneering SMFS approaches that now allow us to tackle this big question requiring a considerable joint effort between synthetic chemists, chemical physicists and engineers. The extreme difficulty to probe bond reformation after its rupture has been a major failure of SMFS for the last 25 years. We propose here to solve this problem and adapt SMFS to obtain a detailed picture of the mechanics and reversibility of bonds. We will design, synthesize and probe a series of supramolecular and (dynamic) covalent tethered bonds in various geometries and chemical environments. The tethered structure will ensure that the partners of the bond stay in close proximity after being broken open, leaving the possibility of rebinding. This will offer remarkable opportunities to investigate in detail how mechanical forces and proximity can trigger chemical reactions. If we wish to gain a deeper understanding of how forces and chemistry affect each other and open new possibilities for chemical synthesis and materials science, the development of SMFS adapted to detailed chemistry investigations remains a frontier to be conquered.

Mots-clés : single molecule force spectroscopy atomic force microscopy optical tweezers mechanics of bonds single molecule mechanochemistry
Projet ERC : GEOCLOUD (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Entité participante : Université Aalto — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499458.0 €

Today’s digital superpowers, the United States and China, exploit other countries’ reliance on their digital infrastructures for foreign policy and national security advantage. Governments in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere try to navigate this great power competition to retain “digital sovereignty”. A pivotal moment in these technology geopolitics is the ongoing “shift to cloud”. Instead of data being stored and processed on users’ own devices and on servers situated at organizations’ own premises, storage and processing are increasingly moving into “hyperscale” cloud data centres dotted around the world. This concentration generates significant economies of scale, decreases capital costs for firms and public sector organizations, and improves energy efficiency. However, it also creates new systemic risks, and since most of these data centres belong to U.S. and Chinese technology giants, will dramatically deepen other states’ technological dependence on them—unless smaller states succeed in shaping the shift to their advantage. In the GEOCLOUD project we will for the first time map this changing geography of computation and examine how different states are attempting to shape it with policies. Focusing on the digital superpowers’ key battlegrounds of Northern Europe and East/Southeast Asia, we will develop ways of measuring on a country level how exposed public sector and financial sector digital services are to cloud providers and how this exposure is evolving over time. We will use statistical analyses and interviews with policy makers and cloud executives to assess how effective government policies have been at shaping this exposure and at influencing the ownership and locations of hyperscale data centres. We will moreover theorize how government policies are interacting with large technology firms’ business strategies to generate new geopolitical dynamics that shape this geography of computation—and with it our prospects of digital sovereignty and dependence.

Mots-clés : technological dependence,innovation policy,distributed computing
Projet ERC : SMARTWAVES (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Entité participante : Université de Séville — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2511038.0 €

The interplay between energetic particles and magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) fluctuations plays a paramount role in a modern society with growing energy demands and active interaction with the space weather. The prediction of space weather and viability of fusion as a virtually unlimited source of energy rely on a good understanding of fundamental wave-particle interactions. Although the sources of energetic particles are quite different for space, astrophysical and laboratory plasmas, the main challenges remain the same: 3D multi-scale physics and non-linear wave-particle interactions. In the framework of SMARTWAVES, a potentially revolutionary plasma regime for future burning fusion plasma devices with tailored MHD activity will be developed. Novel diagnostic techniques to monitor the temporal evolution of the energetic ion distribution in phase-space will allow the identification of the fundamental wave-particle resonances responsible for the experimental observations. Combined with the next generation of electron fluctuations diagnostics, I will provide a complete physics basis of currently inaccessible wave phenomena. This will pave the way towards a high-confinement plasma regime that closes the burning plasma performance and exhaust gap, simultaneously maximizing the fusion gain and minimizing the plasma-wall interaction. Advanced 3D non-linear codes validated in tokamak plasmas will be applied to relevant solar events paving the way to a space weather forecast station. I will apply the basic knowledge gained in tokamaks with advanced in-situ diagnostics to test and further develop hybrid models and numerical tools shared by the fusion, space and astrophysical communities. This project will represent a gateway between the space, astrophysical and fusion communities opening new horizons for a common ground science.

Mots-clés : plasma physics,magnetized plasmas,magnetic confinement,wave particle interactions,particle transport and acceleration,magnetohydrodynamics,solar physics
Projet ERC : DiSrupT RR-TB (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention,  Diagnosis and T reatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Université d'Anvers — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499855.0 €

The DiSrupT RR-TB pragmatic cluster randomized trial (CRT) will tackle the ongoing public health threat of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (RR-TB) and prevent the emergence of bedaquiline-resistant tuberculosis (BDQR-TB) as a new public health crisis. The trial aims to evaluate an innovative all-in-1 solution for whole genome sequencing (WGS): the recently launched QIAseq xHYB Mtb assay for WGS directly on sputum (dWGS) in combination with Illumina sequencing and the novel digital MAGMA-MICK platform for automated analysis, interpretation, and communication of dWGS results to health care workers. The intervention aims to provide optimal treatment for all patients (precision medicine) and to reduce transmission of RR-TB in high-burden settings by breaking transmission chains in hotspots and superspreading events (precision public health). The trial will take place in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and address four objectives to provide a holistic evaluation of the intervention's impact: (1) reduction in the recent transmission rate of RR-TB, (2) prevention of a rise in the proportion of cases of BDQR-TB that are due to transmission versus acquisition, (3) increase in timely initiation of effective treatment regimens for patients with BDQR-TB and (4) improved treatment outcomes of BDQR-TB. Data analysis will employ causal inference methodologies, including the difference-in-difference method for the cluster-level analyses (objectives 1 and 2), and inverse probability weighting for the individual-level analyses (objectives 3 and 4). The methodological rigor of the pragmatic CRT design will generate results with high internal and external validity, which is needed to inform policy and practice. If the intervention is shown to be effective and feasible, the trial will represent a paradigm shift in how genomic data can be utilised in public health interventions in low-resource countries and make a transformative contribution to infectious disease control efforts.

Mots-clés : global health,personalized medicine,tuberculosis
Projet ERC : ANBIT (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and Communication Engineering
Entité participante : Université polytechnique de Valence — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2491250.0 €

For over 5 decades, digital electronics has covered the increasing demand for computing power thanks to a periodic doubling of transistor density in integrated circuits. Currently, such scaling law is reaching its fundamental limit, leading to the emergence of a large gamut of applications that cannot be supported by digital electronics, specifically, those that involve real-time analog multi-data processing, e.g., medical diagnostic imaging, drug design and robotic control, among others. Here, an analog computing approach implemented in a reconfigurable non-electronic technology such as programmable integrated photonics (PIP) can be more efficient than digital electronics to perform these emerging applications. However, actual computing models were not conceived to extract the benefits of PIP. The aim of ANBIT is to develop an entirely new class of computation theory – termed Analog Photonic Computation (APC) – specifically designed to unleash the full potential of PIP technology. The core concept revolves around the idea of performing analog operations on a new unit of information, the analog bit or anbit, conceived as a two-dimensional analog function and matched to the building block of PIP circuits. ANBIT will reach its objectives by: 1) developing the theory of APC based on operations (gates) of anbits, 2) translating the principles of APC to the design of PIP circuits by concatenating single- and multi-anbit gates, 3) fabricating, packaging, testing and validating silicon PIP chips capable of implementing complex APC architectures, 4) designing, coordinating, setting and performing experiments that will prove the unique potential of APC in computational and signal processing applications with huge takeover. ANBIT will deliver a new computing paradigm that extracts the full potential of PIP technology, which in turn will have a crucial impact on fundamental and applied research and on our information society.

Mots-clés : integrated photonics,photonic computing,signal processing,programmable photonics