Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : COM (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : LMU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149875.0 €

Visualization of material objects is instrumental for our perception and understanding of nature. Nanoscale matter, however, escapes direct visualization by optical imaging due to weak interaction with light. Thus, studies of nanoparticles and molecules with common light absorption or emission microscopes are predominantly limited to macroscopic samples. Our recent developments of cavity-enhanced light-matter coupling provide means to boost the sensitivity of optical microscopy to the level of single nanoparticles and molecules. Our innovative technology enables detection, spectroscopy and label-free imaging of individual nano-objects that are instrumental for the development of novel functional materials and devices. In contrast to most alternative techniques of sensitive visualization, it operates with versatile and affordable light sources and detectors. Moreover, the technological platform is not limited to specific materials or sophisticated sample preconditioning and thus is applicable to fields as diverse as quantum physics and medicine. It capitalizes on the enhancement of light-matter coupling by an optical cavity to enable direct and quantitative optical absorption imaging of nanoscale matter. This ERC Proof of Concept project aims at leveraging the vast potential of our innovative technology towards its commercialization with the ultimate goal to create a consistent product concept and to advance our highly sensitive cavity-enhanced optical microscope into an affordable and widely spread enabling analytic tool.

Mots-clés : optical microscopy instrumentation,cavity enhanced absorption and emission,imaging of nanoparticles and molecules
Projet ERC : MAST (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : Geofyzikalni ustav av cr, v.v.i. — Pays : Rép. Tchèque — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : Ig ascr
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 17500.0 €

Volcanic unrest can give warning of impending eruptions, thus monitoring and appropriate emergency management saves lives. However, the ability to accurately forecast the future behaviour of individual volcanoes relies on interpreting changes in the underlying magmatic system. The conceptual understanding of magmatic systems has evolved rapidly and there is now ample geophysical and petrological evidence that a fluid-dominated ‘magma chamber’ is only one component of a much larger system with a heterogeneous distribution of melts, crystals and gases. The opportunity exists to use these advances to interpret monitoring signals, to improve forecasting skills and in turn contribute to the paradigm shift in understanding. In particular, satellite technology has revolutionised the coverage, resolution and frequency of deformation measurements and is increasingly used for volcano monitoring. Dense time-series of high-resolution images reveal complexity and diversity than was not apparent when only infrequent point measurements were available. The latest images are more compatible with the paradigm of extensive multiphase, magmatic systems, but even the most recent models still rely on spheroidal chamber geometries. The aims of MAST are thus 1) to analyse and model volcano deformation independent of constraints on geometry or rheology and 2) to link the long-term evolution of the temperature and melt fraction to patterns of surface deformation. These aims capitalise on the rise of satellite data, and recent advances in machine learning, strain imaging and the modelling of multiphase systems. The outputs will provide a scientific basis for observatories to interpret signals observed during unrest and to forecast future activity. Most importantly, the outputs will be consistent with – and contribute to - the latest understanding of magmatic systems. This multidisciplinary proposal is inherently high risk, but builds on my experience leading a broad team of investigators.
Projet ERC : MAST (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : University of Bristol — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1919020.0 €

Volcanic unrest can give warning of impending eruptions, thus monitoring and appropriate emergency management saves lives. However, the ability to accurately forecast the future behaviour of individual volcanoes relies on interpreting changes in the underlying magmatic system. The conceptual understanding of magmatic systems has evolved rapidly and there is now ample geophysical and petrological evidence that a fluid-dominated ‘magma chamber’ is only one component of a much larger system with a heterogeneous distribution of melts, crystals and gases. The opportunity exists to use these advances to interpret monitoring signals, to improve forecasting skills and in turn contribute to the paradigm shift in understanding. In particular, satellite technology has revolutionised the coverage, resolution and frequency of deformation measurements and is increasingly used for volcano monitoring. Dense time-series of high-resolution images reveal complexity and diversity than was not apparent when only infrequent point measurements were available. The latest images are more compatible with the paradigm of extensive multiphase, magmatic systems, but even the most recent models still rely on spheroidal chamber geometries. The aims of MAST are thus 1) to analyse and model volcano deformation independent of constraints on geometry or rheology and 2) to link the long-term evolution of the temperature and melt fraction to patterns of surface deformation. These aims capitalise on the rise of satellite data, and recent advances in machine learning, strain imaging and the modelling of multiphase systems. The outputs will provide a scientific basis for observatories to interpret signals observed during unrest and to forecast future activity. Most importantly, the outputs will be consistent with – and contribute to - the latest understanding of magmatic systems. This multidisciplinary proposal is inherently high risk, but builds on my experience leading a broad team of investigators.
Projet ERC : FastVolt (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer science and informatics
Entité participante : Leibniz Association — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : LG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 145000.0 €

Voltage droops are unpredicted drops in the supply voltage of computer chips, which often occur as a result of nearby bursts of high intensity circuit activity. This proposal is concerned with fast voltage droops, where voltage drops within a few clock cycles. This means that any dynamic response must take place within one or at most two clock cycles. A promising direction for combining the advantages of a stable reference clock with a small response time are mixed-signal control loops, in which voltage measurements are digitized and control decisions are taken by digital logic. However, digitally measuring a dynamically changing voltage may cause metastability of the sampling circuit. Conventional approaches employ synchronizers to make the probability of metastable upsets negligible, which costs 2-3 clock cycles of additional delay. Based on results of the ERC starting grant project "A Theory of Reliable Hardware,'' we provide a simple, compact circuit that guarantees the desired behavior without incurring synchronizer delay. This yields a practical method for adaptive response to fast droops, which bears the promise of increasing computational efficiency. Conservative estimates suggest performance improvements of at least 5%, which would be of substantial economical interest. The main obstacle to commercialization is a gap between theory and practice: Without an existing implementation, it takes a long time to develop a product and the associated risks are high. In this project, we will overcome this hurdle by developing, producing, and evaluating an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) demonstrator for our approach. We complement this primary goal by tasks aiming at maximizing impact: publication of results in high-profile scientific venues, patent protection to facilitate commercialization, and outreach to potential industry partners for developing products.

Mots-clés : metastability containment,voltage droops,mixed signal control loops
Projet ERC : DynaMo (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : Max Planck Society — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : MPG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2474500.0 €

Water drops sliding over hydrophobic surfaces can lead to surface charging. In contrast to charging caused by friction between two solid phases, drop slide electrification is largely unexplored. Slide electrification has been consistently reported, but results are difficult to reproduce. No theory or quantitative explanation currently exists. One reason for the lack of quantitative understanding is that the deposition of charge is a non-equilibrium effect and depends essentially on microscopic processes at the contact line. Slide electrification is relevant for the friction of drops and possible corrosion due to ions deposited on surfaces. It has potential as a means of power generation. Based on a recently developed lateral adhesion force apparatus (DAFI) and a new theoretical approach to describe slide electrification, we aim for a fundamental understanding of charge separation at sliding drops. Thus we plan to • identify important parameters for slide electrification (surface chemistry, substrate material, thickness, slide distance, velocity, drop rate, pH value, salt, atmosphere), and • construct a fast, inverted Reflectance Interference Microscope (RIM) to image the movement of the sliding contact line with unprecedented temporal and spatial resolution. RIM will be combined with DAFI and electronics to detect charge transfer. • Experiments using macroscopic drops will be complemented by moving micron-sized drops (<1 pL) over surfaces using a liquid probe microscope and simultaneously measuring the charge transfer. • Based on the microscopic processes identified above we develop a theory to predict charge transfer. Using this fundamental understanding, we will explore the potential of slide electrification for electric energy generation. Our objectives are to design a nano- and microstructured surface, which provides maximal power output, and build small scale devices to generate electric energy.

Mots-clés : contact angle,friction,tribocharging,wetting,contact angle hysteresis
Projet ERC : WAAXT (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Ifremer
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2000000.0 €

Wave-modulated Arctic Air-sea eXchanges and Turbulence (WAAXT) is a project designed to improve our understanding of ocean boundary layer processes in a changing Arctic Ocean. Sea ice extent in the Arctic Ocean has been decreasing since the beginning of the satellite era, meaning that open-water, as opposed to under-ice, oceanographic processes are becoming increasingly important for Arctic dynamics. One of the most fundamental differences between the open and ice-covered oceans is the presence of surface waves. Surface waves and wave-driven processes drastically alter air-sea fluxes, upper-ocean turbulence, and the dominant dynamical balance in the upper ocean. WAAXT will be based on a series of field experiments to study the small-scale processes associated with this emerging wave climate, with a particular focus on near-surface turbulence. Three major effects of wave processes will be targeted: 1) Modification and suppression of ice formation by wave motions and the associated elevated near-surface turbulence. 2) Physical breakup of sea ice by wave motions, and the associated contributions to the modification of air-sea fluxes, upper-ocean structure, and melt rates. 3) Interactions between wave-driven turbulence, especially breaking and Langmuir circulations, with the unique salinity-based stratification in the Arctic basin. A key aspect of these processes is their horizontal variability, which will be captured using a multi-platform approach. Experimental work will begin in a natural laboratory in the Saint Lawrence Estuary and move to the Arctic as scientific and technical capacity is developed. The long-term goal for WAAXT is to produce the data and parameterizations needed to understand climate-scale feedbacks associated with the emerging wave climate in the Arctic basin.

Mots-clés : air sea interactions,sea ice,waves,upper ocean turbulence,breaking
Projet ERC : GalNUC (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : University of Oxford — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 320286.96 €

We address some of the major unsolved questions of galactic nuclei using methods of condensed matter physics. Galactic nuclei host a central supermassive black hole, a dense population of stars and compact objects, and in many cases a bright gaseous disk feeding the supermassive black hole. The observed stellar distribution exhibits both spherical and counterrotating disk-like structures. Existing theoretical models cannot convincingly explain the origin of the stellar disks. Is there also a “dark cusp” or “dark disk” of stellar mass black holes? Are there intermediate mass black holes in the Galactic center? We examine the statistical physics of galactic nuclei and their long term dynamical evolution. A star orbiting a supermassive black hole on an eccentric precessing orbit covers an axisymmetric annulus. The long-term gravitational interaction between such annuli is similar to the Coulomb interaction between axisymmetric molecules constituting a liquid crystal. We apply standard methods of condensed matter physics to examine these astrophysical systems. The observed disk and spherical structures represent isotropic-nematic phase transitions. We derive the phase space distribution and time-evolution of different stellar components including a population of black holes. Further, we investigate the interaction of a stellar cluster with a gaseous disk, if present. This leads to the formation of gaps, warps, and spiral waves in the disk, the redistribution of stellar objects, and possibly the formation of intermediate mass black holes. We explore the implications for electromagnetic and gravitational wave observatories. Dark disks of black holes could provide the most frequent source of gravitational waves for LIGO and VIRGO. These detectors will open a new window on the Universe; the proposed project will open a new field in gravitational wave astrophysics to interpret the sources. We also explore implications for electromagnetic observations.

Mots-clés : black hole physics,gravitational waves,nonlinear dynamical systems,hamiltonian physics,mean field theory,active galactic nuclei,accretion disks,disordered systems,quenched states
Projet ERC : UnReal (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Entité participante : University of Haifa — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1263045.75 €

We all rely on our senses to convey veridical information about the world around us, which we call “Reality”. However, distortions of reality in the form of hallucinations or illusions originating from neurological, psychiatric, pharmacological or psychological origins are prevalent. Thus, the sense of reality which is the ability to discriminate between true and false perceptions of the world, is a central criterion for neurological and psychiatric health. Despite the critical role of the sense of reality in our daily life, little is known about how this is formed in the mind and brain. This project proposes novel theoretical and technological frameworks to uncover the phenomenological, computational and neural processes underlying the Sense of Reality (SoR). The proposed experiments employ a specialized virtual reality environment allowing precise and controlled manipulations of visual reality across different domains (AliceVR). Using this VR platform, we will first test the impact of parametrically manipulating visual reality on judgments of reality in order to build a phenomenological and computational model of SoR (WP1). We will then investigate the neural mechanisms underlying SoR by combining our VR paradigm with high resolution fMRI (WP2). Finally, WP3 will investigate conditions of altered SoR, either of psychiatric origin or pharmacological origin. Here, we will empirically test SoR under conditions of altered reality processing in schizophrenia patients with hallucinations and in a pharmacological model through administration of ketamine in healthy participants. This ambitious project will thus reveal how humans discriminate reality at the phenomenological, cognitive and neural levels. The results will have important implications not only in defining a neurocognitive model of reality in healthy and clinical populations, but also shedding new light upon the fundamental philosophical question of “how do we know what is real?”.

Mots-clés : sense of reality,reality monitoring,virtual reality
Projet ERC : BASTION (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer science and informatics
Entité participante : Ruhr University Bochum — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : RUB
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1472268.75 €

We are in the midst of the shift towards the Internet of Things (IoT), where more and more (legacy) devices are connected to the Internet and communicate with each other. This paradigm shift brings new security challenges and unfortunately many current security solutions are not applicable anymore, e.g., because of a lack of clear network boundaries or resource-constrained devices. However, security plays a central role: In addition to its classical function in protecting against manipulation and fraud, it also enables novel applications and innovative business models. We propose a research program that leverages binary analysis techniques to improve the security within the IoT. We concentrate on the software level since this enables us to both analyze a given device for potential security vulnerabilities and add security features to harden the device against future attacks. More specifically, we concentrate on the firmware (i.e., the combination of persistent memory together with program code and data that powers such devices) and develop novel mechanism for binary analysis of such software. We design an intermediate language to abstract away from the concrete assembly level and this enables an analysis of many different platforms within a unified analysis framework. We transfer and extend program analysis techniques such as control-/data-flow analysis or symbolic execution and apply them to our IL. Given this novel toolset, we can analyze security properties of a given firmware image (e.g., uncovering undocumented functionality and detecting memory corruption or logical vulnerabilities,). We also explore how to harden a firmware by retrofitting security mechanisms (e.g., adding control-flow integrity or automatically eliminating unnecessary functionality). This research will deepen our fundamental understanding of binary analysis methods and apply it to a novel area as it lays the foundations of performing this analysis on the level of intermediate languages.

Mots-clés : binary analysis,program analysis,software security,retrofitting security
Projet ERC : MIRASPEC (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Ghent University — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UGent
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149609.0 €

We aspire to build the smallest and most lightweight Raman spectrometer in the world, with a target size of 5x10x1 mm3 and a weight of only 0.1 g. The innovation builds on the combination of three key results of the ERC Advanced Grant project InSpectra (2011-2017): 1. Demonstration of Nanophotonic waveguide Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (NERS); 2. Demonstration of a novel on-chip Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS); 3. Demonstration of the integration of III-V light sources on a silicon platform through bonding or transfer printing technologies. By using a standard CMOS process toolset for fabricating the Raman spectrometer, a cost-effective and high yield product can be guaranteed with a price level at least an order of magnitude lower than current commercial systems. The exceptional form factor of the spectrometer will generate a rich variety of innovative applications of Raman spectroscopy. A spectrometer this small can be implanted, incorporated in smartphones or smartwatches and fits into textiles, drones etc. In this ERC PoC project, we will build this miniature spectrometer and use it for the target application of detecting volatile organic compounds (VOC) for personal safety monitoring, both at work and at home.

Mots-clés : on chip raman spectroscopy,silicon photonics,volatile organic compound  voc  monitoring,miniaturized spectrometer