Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : HIGH-HOPeS (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and Communication Engineering
Entité participante : Université technique de Rhénanie-Westphalie à Aix-la-Chapelle — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Network analysis has revolutionized our understanding of complex systems, and graph-based methods have emerged as powerful tools to process signals on non-Euclidean domains via graph signal processing and graph neural networks. The graph Laplacian and related matrices are pivotal to such analyses: i) the Laplacian serves as algebraic descriptor of the relationships between nodes; moreover, it is key for the analysis of network structure, for local operations such as averaging over connected nodes, and for network dynamics like diffusion and consensus; ii) Laplacian eigenvectors are natural basis-functions for data on graphs and endowed with meaningful variability notions for graph signals, akin to Fourier analysis in Euclidean domains. However, graphs are ill-equipped to encode multi-way and higher-order relations that are becoming increasingly important to comprehend complex datasets and systems in many applications, e.g., to understand group-dynamics in social systems, multi-gene interactions in genetic data, or multi-way drug interactions.  The goal of this project is to develop methods that can utilize such higher-order relations, going from mathematical models to efficient algorithms and software. Specifically, we will focus on ideas from algebraic topology and discrete calculus, according to which the graph Laplacian can be seen as part of a hierarchy of Hodge-Laplacians that emerge from treating graphs as instances of more general cell complexes that systematically encode couplings between node-tuples of any size. Our ambition is to i) provide more informative ways to represent and analyze the structure of complex systems, paying special attention to computational efficiency; ii) translate the success of graph-based signal processing to data on general topological spaces defined by cell complexes; and iii) by generalizing from graphs to neural networks on complexes, gain deeper theoretical insights on the principles of graph neural networks as special case.

Mots-clés : graph signal processing,complex systems,networks,cell complexes,algebraic topology,hodge laplacian
Projet ERC : MAPS (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : Université Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz de Hanovre — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499520.0 €

Scientific models often do more than predict or explain. Especially in the social realm, they can also influence their targets – a capacity that is called “performativity”. By influencing policy making and individual behavior, models from economics, epidemiology, or machine learning increasingly perform the social world in significant ways. This development should be of utmost importance to philosophers, for two reasons: First, performativity can impair scientific prediction and explanation. If, for instance, a model of the spread of COVID-19 predicts many deaths, people might reduce their social contacts in response, which may in turn lead to the predicted events not coming about! How should we evaluate such a prediction, and how should scientists deal with these effects? Second, the development raises difficult ethical questions about the legitimacy of science guiding human affairs, and the values that are implicit in this process. Should we welcome science’s increasingly practical role in shaping policy-making and individual behavior? Or should we regard such influence as manipulative, potentially undermining democratic decision making? These are difficult philosophical questions, but they also have significant practical import. Yet the philosophy of science hasn’t so far provided guidance on how performative science might be evaluated and managed. MAPS will close this lacuna. The core aims of the project are: (1) to develop a novel understanding of what performativity is and can do, by closely following scientific practice; (2) to understand the intricate relationship between science’s epistemic and performative roles, and to assess the ethical risks of performativity; and (3) to provide orientation to philosophers and practitioners for how to assess and manage performative science. By integrating insights from scientific practice with philosophical assessment, the project will establish performativity management as a central theme of philosophical inquiry.

Mots-clés : performativity,philosophy of economics,values in science,ethics,philosophy of social science
Projet ERC : MODEL TRANSFER (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : Université Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz de Hanovre — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499476.0 €

How can a single model be used to study predator-prey interactions in biology, the growth of cancer in medicine, and the business cycle in economics? And how is this practice supposed to contribute to progress in science? To answer those questions, we need to understand how models are transferred across domains. While model transfer is one of the most pertinent phenomena in modern science, philosophers have not yet given it due attention. Our project will fill this lacuna in a ground-breaking way: we will provide a comprehensive philosophical investigation of model transfer, its challenges, and its implications for scientific progress by innovatively combining approaches from philosophy and history of science with computational methods that are themselves new to philosophy. Because the literature so far neglects model transfer in the social sciences, we will focus on economics as an exemplary case that provides insights for the social and natural sciences alike. The main objectives of this project are to: (1) develop methodological and conceptual tools to study model transfer across scientific domains; (2) apply those tools to philosophically investigate model transfer and its challenges in science; (3) explore the implications of our results for the relationship between model transfer and scientific progress. This project will place model transfer upfront on the philosophical agenda. Thereby, our research will impact an extensive literature on scientific models and modelling in philosophy of science and the social sciences. By applying computational methods to study model transfer, it will push their use in empirical philosophy of science and Integrated History and Philosophy of Science. It will challenge established philosophical concepts of progress in light of such model transfers. Finally, it will inform scientific and science policy debates about how to overcome challenges to model transfer so that progress in model-based science can be ensured.

Mots-clés : model transfer in science,integrated history and philosophy of science,philosophy of the social sciences,philosophy of economics,empirical philosophy of science in practice,economics,scientific progress
Projet ERC : SecMessFunctions (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Molecules of Life: B iological  Mechanisms , Structures  and Functions
Entité participante : Université Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz de Hanovre — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1478373.0 €

Sophisticated signalling systems enable bacteria to occupy almost every single niche on our planet. In such systems, second messengers are crucial information carriers that elicit cellular adaptation to diverse signals. Current dynamics in signalling research have led to the discovery of an exquisite collection of nucleotides that bacteria use as second messengers, including cyclic dimeric adenosine monophosphate (c-di-AMP). A unique feature of c-di-AMP is its essentiality, making it an attractive target for antibiotics.  The main objective of this proposal is to uncover the full repertoire of c-di-AMP functions and metabolism in bacteria by using Streptomyces as a model. Streptomyces are our most prolific antibiotic producers and represent an excellent system to study multicellular differentiation. They live in soil, where they encounter diverse environmental cues that trigger antibiotic production and a complex transition from multicellular filaments to spores. c-di-AMP enables Streptomyces to survive osmotic stress caused by rainfall and drought, but interferes with development. How c-di-AMP affects differentiation and how these bacteria adapt to stress signalled by c-di-AMP is unknown.  Here, we propose that bacteria use a novel transmembrane signalling pathway to remodel their cell wall for surviving stress mediated by c-di-AMP. We will challenge the current view in the field by showing that the set of enzymes involved in c-di-AMP dynamics is larger than it is currently believed and we will identify new c-di-AMP effectors. Finally, we will explore the potential of c-di-AMP for manipulation of natural product biosynthesis and address the function of a linear di-AMP molecule that is new to signalling research. Our proposed research will not only lead to the discovery of fundamental new principles in bacterial signalling and differentiation but might also identify new cell wall associated targets for drug design and tools for triggering antibiotic biosynthesis.

Mots-clés : second messenger,natural products,cell differentiation,streptomyces
Projet ERC : URISAMP (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting 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 : 1499265.0 €

The ability to easily obtain appropriate and reliable biological samples is critical to advance life sciences and public/personal health. Having a sample that is non-invasive and can be self-collected at home has major acceptance and feasibility advantages. Our team demonstrated that first-void urine (FVU) samples can replace clinician collected cervical samples to prevent cervical cancer caused by the Human Papilloma virus (HPV). Using the initial or first void urine stream is crucial here. Indeed, the outer layers of the epithelium of the genital tract exfoliate and together with the genital mucus form the utero-cervico-vaginal-smear, it accumulates between the labia minora, around the urethral opening and upon initiation of urination this discharge is washed away with the FVU. URISAMP uses HPV infection and vaccination models to prove the hypothesis that FVU is the ideal liquid genital tract biopsy to monitor immune response for women. URISAMP will 1) identify and validate analytical methods to detect the relatively low and fluctuating concentration of potential biomarkers in FVU; 2) provide protocols to study neutralizing antibodies and look at antigen-antibody interaction; 3) demonstrate how FVU sampling can enhance our knowledge regarding the biology of HPV, genital tract immunology, mechanisms of infection and transmission, the biological basis of prevention and potential correlates of protection. URISAMP will contribute to simplify and facilitate sexually transmitted infection (STI) vaccine research and provide valuable data for disease modelling. Moreover, if URISAMP proves successful, and FVU can also replace other samples types (e.g.blood), applications will largely extend the STI field, and its impact as a novel diagnostic and prognostic tool for health assessment will be substantial.

Mots-clés : self sample,non invasive,human papilloma virus,vaccination,monitoring
Projet ERC : DigID (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Soci al World and Its Interactions
Entité participante : Leuphana University of Lüneburg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1495050.0 €

We are witnessing the most significant change in statist identification practices since the consolidation of the international passport regime in the 19th century. Digital ID devices like electronic ID cards providing access to government services via PINs, biometric databases, and blockchain-secured digital identity wallets are increasingly complementing, or even replacing, paper-based means of identification. Yet so far, the implications of digital ID devices have mostly been studied in relation to criminal suspects and migrant 'others', not the normalized majority of citizens. This project uses this unique moment of change to assess how material citizenship - i.e. the technologies and infrastructures used to enact citizenship as a political subjectivity and a formal relation to the state - is reshaped in the digital age. Its principal research question is: How does the digitization of identification practices reconfigure relations between citizens and state authorities? The project investigates transformations of citizen-state relations through digital ID devices at three sites: birth registration, citizen-government transactions, and border controls. Theoretically, the project draws on science and technology and data studies to propose a conception of material citizenship as performative and sociotechnical and to advance a research agenda that focuses on the practical, epistemic, political, and ethical implications of digital identification. Methodologically, the project combines multi-sited ethnographies, textual analysis, and mapping to study the design, implementation, and use of digital ID devices in one international and four national case studies. In this way, DigID sheds light on the much-neglected material dimension of citizenship and shows how digital ID devices reshape the lived experience of citizenship - understood as a legal status, a form of membership in a political community, and a set of bottom-up practices enacting the 'right to have rights'.

Mots-clés : citizenship,digitization,identification,legal identity,performativity,political belonging,rights claims,statecraft
Projet ERC : INTERSPEC (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Entité participante : Université de Lund — Pays : Suède — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 968397.75 €

Multiple species of fungi co-exist in soils and play an important role in biogeochemical cycles. To survive in a resource limited environment, they have developed the means for interspecific communication and warfare via an arsenal of secreted secondary metabolites. Specific ecological role of those metabolites and the extent to which they affect biogeochemical cycling during fungal interactions remains unknown. Because they are secreted and act at a single-cell scale, tracing them ‘then and there’ can aid in identifying potential triggers for their production and clarifying their function. Currently used methods have either insufficient resolution or are destructive, and are not suitable for such analyses. Here, I will use my expertise in spectroscopy techniques to (1) establish experimental protocols for the single-cell scale fungal secondary metabolite identification and characterization using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) microspectroscopy - a method that employs optical properties of gold nanoparticles for molecule specific sensing and that has been shown in biomedical research to have an extraordinary potential for studying microbial metabolic processes. I will combine it with microfluidics based soil chips, that provide visual access to and mimic real ecosystems via control over biotic and abiotic environment of soil microbes. Ultimately, my aim is to offer the community of soil fungal ecologists with a game-changing new tool to study ecosystem functions of secondary metabolites in more realistic settings. I will then use the approach to (2) determine how interspecific fungal interactions under varying nutrient conditions affect the composition of their secondary metabolome and its functions live and at single-cell scale. Additional transcriptome analysis will (3) reveal fungal genes involved in up- or downregulation of the metabolite biosynthesis, but also extracellular enzyme production for organic matter degradation and nutrient acquisition.

Mots-clés : surface enhanced raman scattering spectroscopy sers soil fungal interactions secondary metabolites microfluidic soil chips fungal warfare
Projet ERC : HeteroGenius4D (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : Université technique de Berlin — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499999.0 €

Superior high-performance materials and CO2-free production technologies are key enablers to solving Europe’s current and future societal challenges [1]. In this context, additive manufacturing (AM) as one of the disruptive, green production technologies of our time “is expected to become a key manufacturing technology in the sustainable society of the future” [2].  However, alloys specifically designed for AM are rarely available, which prohibits AM from reaching its full potential. In contrast to conventional alloys and processing, alloys processed by AM are highly microstructurally heterogeneous. It is the aim of HeteroGenius4D to use the process-inherent conditions of highly precise, bottom-up AM approach to tailor these heterogeneous structures (e.g. grains/phases and their boundaries and orientations, chemical gradients, etc.) locally and spatially on various length scales. This is the basis for the novel design concept of heterogeneities-guided alloy design for AM. The potential to print local microstructures and properties in AM adds a 4th dimension to the design of 3D printed components; i.e. enables 4D printing.  AM-processed metals with increasing degree of heterogeneity (from pure element over solid solutions with chemical gradients to multi-phase alloys with further phases and gradients) are studied systematically. The process-structure-properties-performance linkages are identified and quantified by combining high-throughput material synthesis (using extreme high-speed laser material deposition) and characterization with physics-based simulation tools, enabling a comprehensive integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) framework. The generated data serves as a basis for sophisticated data-driven (machine learning, ML) materials modelling and enables the establishment of an Experiments-ICME-ML optimal design approach for metal AM. Finally, the concept of heterogeneities-guided alloy design is generalised and transferred to graded components.

Mots-clés : materials science,high performance alloys,additive manufacturing,microstructure,plasticity,design,integrative computational materials engineering,machine learning,experiments
Projet ERC : MOOVA (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Texts and Concepts
Entité participante : Université libre de Bruxelles — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ULB
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1493339.0 €

What do old porcelain, wooden furniture, and silverware have in common? All of these antiques fall into the category of informal heritage. Regardless of their cultural significance, many of these objects remain on the margins, both in cultural institutions and scholarly research. As a result, the question of how antiques are safeguarded, valued, traded, perceived, and consumed remains largely underexplored. By studying the contemporary economy of antiques, MOOVA’s prime objective is to highlight the potential of these objects regarding the safeguarding and promotion of informal heritage, sustainable consumption, new business models for ageing sectors, and local city development. More specifically, MOOVA aims to: 1) demonstrate the patrimonial role of antique dealers as vital safe-guarders of informal heritage; 2-3) explore the market structures at play within the antiques trade, its economic impact, and the supply and demand for antiques in a digital economic context; 4) understand how antiques are perceived by younger generations (Gen Z); and 5) develop a theoretical and practical model for renewing the meaning and value of these complex objects. Through selected case studies (European decorative arts) and a multi-transversal approach (cross-markets, objects, countries), the project will combine theories, data, and methods from art history, cultural economics, cognitive science, and arts marketing to investigate this topic holistically. The first stage will consist in data collection and processing, using new databases of evidence drawn from primary and secondary sources (incl. interviews and sales results), while the second will be dedicated to the development of the reevaluation model. MOOVA's overreaching goal is to progress towards more advanced scholarship in art market studies by providing tools that better fit the idiosyncrasies of markets for complex cultural goods, and to address issues related to art education, audience renewal, and job opportunities.

Mots-clés : cultural consumption cultural perception art markets informal heritage cultural and creative industries