Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : COnNect (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention,  Diagnosis and T reatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Université de Padoue — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UniPd
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1070625.0 €

Brain injuries affecting the cerebral cortex result in devastating neurologic deficits from irreversible loss of neurons and still do not have any therapeutic option. The only possible treatment for these conditions would be the reconstruction of the lost neuronal circuits which could be achieved, in principle, by stem cell therapy. However, when stem cells are engrafted they only provide trophic effect and are incapable of substantial tissue replacement and rewiring the damaged tissue. With this project I aim at implementing a paradigm shift toward a new targeted therapeutic approach enabling restoration of functional neuronal network activity in cortical brain lesions. In this view, I aim at: i) Developing a human-specific hydrogel able to support cortical brain organoids (CBOs) engraftment; ii) Achieving in vitro guidance of functional neuronal connections between CBOs via 3 dimension (3D) bioprinting; iii) Connecting CBO and lesioned mouse visual cortex using intravital 3D bioprinting; iv) Achieving in vivo functional network restoration via guided CBO integration within the lesioned cortex circuit. I already developed in vivo fabrication of customized 3D hydrogels by 2-photon mediated crosslinking of photo-sensitive polymers in cortical brain of living mice adjacent to implanted CBOs, able to guide CBO’s growth in vivo. The ground-breaking nature of COnNect lays on the novel idea of i) creating in situ extra cellular matrix (ECM) mimic structures to re-establish in vivo the neuronal network and the lost neurological functions; ii) using brain organoids as an electrically active unit with defined organized structure to stimulate brain plasticity and reinforce synaptic connections with the host brain tissue. The proposed project has the potential to provide a new beyond state-of-the-art therapeutic option for cortical brain lesion therapy only possible combining multiple competences belonging to different fields: neuroscience, cell therapy, bioengineering.

Mots-clés : brain organoids stem cell therapy brain lesion repair
Projet ERC : PHENOMECHANICAL (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Molecules of Life: B iological  Mechanisms , Structures  and Functions
Entité participante : Université Louis-et-Maximilien de Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : LMU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1968378.75 €

Mechanical forces that steer protein interactions and folding play pivotal roles in biology. They shape cellular fate, and are critical factors in both pathogen adhesion and immune response. Catch bonds, atypical interfaces that increase their bound lifetime under mechanical force, play a central role in these processes. At present, we have no model nor datasets large enough to predict if an interaction is a catch bond from its structure without doing experiments, let alone design new catch bonds. Single molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) methods investigate the mechanics of proteins involved in these processes. These techniques typically have high force resolution, but extremely low throughput. An exhaustive database of proteins characterized by SMFS in the past 30 years contains only 85 entries. The overall aim of this proposal is to establish methods that allow large scale measurement of the mechanics of protein-protein interactions under force, first on hundreds, and finally on thousands of catch bonds: library-scale mechanical phenotyping. The key innovation proposed here is to link mechanostability, that is bond lifetime under an externally applied force, to a DNA-sequencing based readout by coupling phenotype to sequencing-readable genotype. Force resolution will be comparable to established flow-stretching assays, while throughput will increase by at least 2 orders of magnitude. The increased throughput will be leveraged to identify the design principles of catch bonds using de novo protein design. Ultimately, I aim to engineer new-to-nature de novo catch bonds with tunable lifetimes under force, which could find application in new biomaterials or as synthetic force-steered cell receptors. The interplay of design and high throughput testing will create large, hypothesis driven computational and experimental datasets of protein mechanics suitable to machine learning approaches, possibly opening ways to infer catch bonding behavior solely based on structure.
Projet ERC : FeFES (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and Processes Engineering
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 : 1570980.0 €

The global transition to renewable energy is one of the most critical challenges of our time. Iron powder has been proposed as a new sustainable energy carrier to replace fossil fuels in energy management. During its oxidation, heat is released and can be stored by reducing the resulting iron oxide using renewable energy. However, significant challenges remain for Fe fuel, such as transport and storage safety, ignition efficiency, micro-explosions, particle inflation, nanoparticle emissions, and particle agglomeration. To date, these issues have only been addressed by adjusting extrinsic combustion parameters like pressure, temperature, and gas composition, an approach that falls short of solving the fundamental limitations. FeFES offers a groundbreaking solution by focusing on controlling the microstructure, morphology, and chemistry of Fe particles. By combining combustion engineering with materials science, FeFES will design Fe particles specifically tailored for sustainable energy storage. Their microstructure will be optimized to meet the needs of the Fe fuel cycle and naturally regenerate. Using novel experimental approaches, including in situ X-ray synchrotron studies, FeFES will quantify the microstructural evolution of burning iron fuel for the first time. These experimental insights will be paired with advanced phase field models to comprehensively understand the impact of the particle design on its combustion behavior. The breakthroughs from FeFES will have wide-reaching benefits, including accelerating the development of renewable energy production through efficient energy storage and transport, expanding the use of metal fuels beyond pure metals, and advancing our understanding of liquid-state metal oxidation. This project holds the potential to reshape energy storage technologies and make a profound contribution to global sustainable energy efforts.

Mots-clés : alloy design metal combustion liquid state oxidation high density energy storage
Projet ERC : EpiCblood (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention,  Diagnosis and T reatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Université Louis-et-Maximilien de Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : LMU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499999.0 €

Early cancer detection could increase curative treatment and long-term survival. Dying cells release small DNA fragments wrapped around a core of histone proteins into the bloodstream, so-called circulating cell-free nucleosomes (cf-nucleosomes). They carry DNA sequence information and histone modifications stable in blood, reflecting promising epigenomic disease biomarkers. But, the low proportion of cf-nucleosomes originating from cancerous cells versus the large background of nucleosomes arising from dying blood cells poses significant challenges for early cancer detection using circulating cf-nucleosomes. In EpiCblood, I will tackle these challenges and propose two complementary strategies to increase the number of “cancer-signature” cf-nucleosomes for cancer detection and tumor classification. In the first strategy, I will employ my previously developed synthetic histone modification readers to profile abundant histone modifications on cf-nucleosomes allowing me to seize up to 35 percent of the human genome non-invasively. I will prove this technology’s concept by detecting earlier stages of pancreatic cancer and simultaneously classifying molecular tumor subtypes. Furthermore, I hypothesize that tumorigenesis gives rise to cancer-specific genomic sites decorated with combinatorial histone marks, so-called “bivalent” regions, found explicitly in cancer and not in healthy adult cell types. In the second strategy, I will employ a computational pipeline to map cancer-specific bivalent sites across multiple cancer genomes. I will use my well-established combinatorial histone mark readers to test their diagnostic potential as cancer-specific biomarkers in blood plasma from healthy donors and cancer patients. My genomics expertise and proven technology provide an excellent basis for accomplishing the planned goals. EpiCblood will be a major step towards developing precise and rich liquid biopsy assays for multiple clinical applications in cancer management.

Mots-clés : liquid biopsy,cancer diagnostics,cancer predictive biomarkers,epigenetics,genomics
Projet ERC : ThePlantWaterPump (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth System Science
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 : 1566998.75 €

With global warming, climate zones are projected to shift poleward, and the frequency and intensity of droughts to increase, driving threats to crop production and ecosystems. Plant hydraulic traits play major roles in coping with such droughts, and process-based plant hydraulics (water flowing along decreasing pressure or total water potential gradients) has newly been implemented in land surface models. An enigma reported for the past 35 years is the observation of water flowing along increasing water potential gradients across roots. By combining the most advanced modelling tool from the emerging field of plant micro-hydrology with pioneering cell solute mapping data, I found that the current paradigm of water flow across roots of all vascular plants is incomplete: it lacks the impact of solute concentration (and thus negative osmotic potential) gradients across living cells. This gradient acts as a water pump as it reduces water tension without loading solutes in plant vasculature (xylem). Importantly, water tension adjustments in roots may have large impacts in leaves due to the tension-cavitation feedback along stems. With The Plant Water Pump I will combine for the first time cutting-edge osmotic mapping and micro-hydrological modelling approaches to (1) characterize water status and osmotic responses to water deficit in diverse crop and tree species, (2) revolutionize the current paradigm of plant water uptake, and (3) increase the accuracy of plant water status functions for land surface models. By creating a continuum between key cell-scale variables and plant-scale water fluxes, this project lays the foundations for future multidisciplinary research encompassing plant physiology and ecohydrology. Besides its groundbreaking contribution to the fundamental understanding of plant water relations, this effort embodies a much-needed step toward the accurate forecasting of land water fluxes and decision support under future climates.

Mots-clés : ecohydrology,plant hydrodynamics,multiscale modelling,land surface models,root water uptake,soil hydraulics,cavitation,xylem,water deficit
Projet ERC : MOUNTAIN (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed Matter Physics
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 : 1771875.0 €

Heat engines are an integral part of our daily lives. They power cars or produce electricity by converting heat into work. Increasing their efficiency is very difficult and only marginal improvements have been achieved over the last decades. Thus, to reach the ambitious climate goals, it is necessary to go beyond conventional technologies. Atom-sized systems where quantum mechanical effects come into play could enable this: theory predicts that their efficiency can be boosted beyond the classical limits imposed by thermodynamics. However, so far, this has not been tested in practice due to a lack of suitable model systems.  I propose to build a molecular heat engine of only a few atoms in size, with such high control over its structure and properties that these predictions can finally be tested. The engine's quantum properties will be robust at experimentally accessible temperatures, its coupling to the environment will be controllable, and electrical transport through it will be quantum coherent. I seek to exploit the full gamut of their physical properties to boost efficiency, including spin entropy and vibrational coupling. Practically, I will 1) implement a scanning probe setup into a dilution refrigerator, 2) fabricate single-molecule junctions with micro-heaters and ultra-sensitive superconducting thermometers, and 3) perform and interpret caloric experiments on single molecules at unprecedented precision. The results will teach us about the fundamental properties of atom-scale quantum systems and heat flowing through single molecules. It will inspire new ways to increase the performance of thermoelectric applications such as waste heat harvesters, nanoscale spot-cooling devices, or even thermal rectifiers and transistors. I am one of the forerunners in molecular thermoelectrics, with extensive hands-on experience in material sciences, nanotechnology, and mesoscopic physics. This multidisciplinary background is needed to make this ambitious project a success.

Mots-clés : single molecule electronics,thermoelectric effects,heat transport
Projet ERC : MacDrive (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Entité participante : Université Louis-et-Maximilien de Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : LMU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1495579.0 €

Biodiversity is modeled by the process of speciation and extinction. There is clear evidence both from living and extinct species that biodiversity is extremely variable through time and among species. However, we still do not know what factors, e.g., environmental or species intrinsic, drive speciation and extinction rates on a macroevolutionary level. To complicate matters, species diversification models are not identifiable, that is, there are infinitely many combinations of continuous speciation and extinction rate functions that are statistically indistinguishable. First, I will extend previous diversification models to jointly infer time-varying and lineage-specific diversification rates using phylogenies of extinct and extant taxa. Second, I will tackle the non-identifiability problem and explore which patterns, e.g., rapid increases in diversification rates and mass extinctions, can be inferred. Third, I will use a combined paleo-phylogenetic approach and estimate diversification rate from phylogenies with extinct and extant taxa. Thus, I will combine statistical, computational, neontological and paleobiological approaches to study macroevolutionary dynamics. I will produce species-level phylogenies each Carnivora, Cetartiodactyla, Crocodyliformes and Squaliformes using novel morphological datasets and models. I will test if diversification rates are correlated with environmental factors (e.g., CO2 or temperature) or species specific traits (e.g., body size and life history traits). Ultimately, we will test if specific traits are correlated with mass extinction survival probabilities, as for example the Lilliput Effect predicts smaller species to have higher survival probabilities.

Mots-clés : macroevolution,diversification,phylogenetics,birth death process,modeling,theory,bayesian inference
Projet ERC : STORIES (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Human Mobility, Environment, and Space
Entité participante : Université Louis-et-Maximilien de Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : LMU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Existing studies on flood-society relations overwhelmingly concentrate on risk, exposure, vulnerability, damage, loss, and adaptation needs, most of which adopt a negative perspective. The fact that various human societies have well survived and continuously developed in flood prone areas (e.g., coasts, river deltas, flood plains, hilly valleys) is far less studied. Closing this research gap requires a deeper historical perspective to investigate the resilience of human society to floods, i.e., flood resilience and its changes. The Tea-Horse Road (THR) area, a flood hotspot across the mountainous Southeast Tibetan Plateau, is an ideal natural laboratory to study the spatial-temporal dynamics of flood resilience due to its long and uniquely documented history with extensive hazard experiences. STORIES will set up a theoretical framework on the multi-spatial-temporal features of flood resilience at the THR region, which covers the spatial differences (household, community, city and region) over the past 600 years regarding the governance, technology, society, and culture perspectives of flood resilience. A set of quantitative proxy data, historical archives, literature re-analysis, statistical data, observation data and field survey data will be integrated into both the empirical study in the case areas and the agent-based modelling across the cases. Specifically, STORIES aims to 1) establish a theoretical understanding of the spatial-temporal scales of flood resilience; 2) investigate the spatial patterns and temporal evolution of flood resilience at the THR cases; 3) model the spatial-temporal dynamics of flood resilience using agent-based models; 4) transfer and generalize the research findings of the THR cases to the Mekong River Delta and beyond. By doing so, STORIES will present pioneering work to shape the emerging research field of flood resilience, offering new and multi-dimensional knowledge on the dynamic nature of flood-society relations.

Mots-clés : human geography,climate resilience,social vulnerability,sustainability,socio ecosystem,historical geography,rural development,developing asia
Projet ERC : DINO-DIGEST (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Entité participante : Université d'Uppsala — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

The early radiation of dinosaurs, spanning approximately 30 million years from their emergence to dominance of terrestrial ecosystems, remains a complex and poorly understood evolutionary event. While previous studies have focused mainly on phylogenetic aspects, less attention has been given to the ecological dynamics that drove their success. This project aims to fill that gap by employing a novel, multidisciplinary approach to investigate the early evolution of dinosaurs through the lens of their dietary and trophic interactions. By analysing bromalites (fossil digestive remains) using cutting-edge methods like synchrotron microtomography, I will infer the food webs in which early dinosaurs participated, shedding light on how their diets and ecological roles evolved. Comparative analysis across Pangean regions and different time periods will enable the construction of a comprehensive palaeoecological model, highlighting key factors in their rise to dominance. Furthermore, I will apply biomolecular techniques adapted from archaeological geochemistry to identify preserved organics within these fossils, providing unprecedented insights into predator-prey relationships. These findings will be integrated into a holistic eco-evolutionary model, offering new perspectives on dinosaur success with broader implications for understanding mass extinction dynamics and current biodiversity crises. To achieve this, I will collaborate with leading experts and engage a team of PhD students and postdocs, ensuring the project’s multidisciplinary goals are met.

Mots-clés : coprolites,food webs,early dinosaurs,mass extinction,triassic jurassic transition,synchrotron microtomography
Projet ERC : HORNET (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer Science and Informatics
Entité participante : Université d'Uppsala — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1498976.0 €

My goal is to make rigorous numerical verification widely applicable and practically usable. Rigorous verification proves at compile-time that a program computes for all valid inputs what it is expected to. It is especially important for numerical programs, which are widely used across application domains and are often safety-critical. However, automated verification of numerical programs over finite-precision (e.g. floating-point) numbers is currently limited. Finite precision introduces rounding errors w.r.t. an ideal, real-valued specification and poses unique challenges for verification of program accuracy and other kinds of desirable properties. As a result, verification of non-trivial numerical programs today requires extensive expert knowledge and mostly manual proofs. Additionally, when verification fails, e.g. because a program is buggy, developers have little debugging help available.  I will rethink automated verification and debugging techniques for numerical programs from the ground up with accuracy as a core property. I propose a novel approach for accuracy verification based on deductive relational reasoning that will be able to effectively bound the difference between the specified (real-valued) and actually computed (finite-precision) program results. My verification approach will be modular, automated, integrate with verification of non-accuracy properties and allow safe program optimizations for real-world programs. To further ensure the practical usability of the verifier, I will develop complementary techniques that will help developers to debug unsuccessful verification attempts, by helping to fix specifications, localize faults in the program and communicate effectively with the verifier.  I will build on my comprehensive expertise with automated rigorous accuracy analysis and optimization of finite-precision arithmetic, and my recent efforts in deductive verification of floating-point runtime errors and numerical specification inference.

Mots-clés : automated verification,debugging,deductive verification,floating point arithmetic,accuracy,static analysis,dynamic analysis,specification inference,fault localization