Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : DARKHORIZONS (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : University of London — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. London
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1947665.0 €

The discovery of a Higgs like particle in its first science run shows that we are truly in the LHC era and when collisions resume we will learn more about the physics of the TeV scale. There are two main areas at the interface of particle physics and cosmology that the LHC will shed light on - If dark matter is a thermal relic then we naturally expect new particle physics close to this TeV energy range. The LHC will also help us learn about the nature of the electroweak sector and its behaviour during the early Universe. In this proposal we present a body of work which will combine information from the LHC with dark matter experiments and astronomical observations to understand both the nature of dark matter and the role of the Higgs sector in the first moments after the big bang. We will investigate dark matter by developing a new categorisation of interactions between the dark sector and the standard model. This will enable us to perform detailed collider and direct detection phenomenology in a more comprehensive way than current approaches while avoiding the problems which occur when those methods breakdown. Different schemes for mitigating against the upcoming problem of the neutrino floor in direct detection experiments will also be investigated. Many of the keys to understanding the particle nature of dark matter lie in astrophysics, and we will develop new techniques to understand the distribution of dark matter in the Universe, its behaviour and density in distant galaxies and its velocity dispersion in the Solar system, critical to predict event rates in detectors. We will use LHC and CMB data to answer important questions - Can the electroweak phase transition be first order? What is the role of the Higgs field during inflation? Can we use the electroweak sector to infer information about physics at high energy scale or the nature of inflation? The interdisciplinary experience of the PI will ensure the ambitious project is a success.

Mots-clés : direct detection,indirect detection,inflation,vacuum stability
Projet ERC : HighPHun (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : Technical University of Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TUM
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1502483.0 €

The discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC has confirmed the Standard Model of Particle Physics up to the highest energies ever tested in a laboratory. The Standard Model is based on a rich mathematical framework, Quantum Field Theory. Among the most powerful instruments to extract precise theoretical predictions for physical observables in Quantum Field Theory are the so-called scattering amplitudes: remarkably involved mathematical objects which encapsulate the probabilities of particle collisions. The calculation of scattering amplitudes remains an outstanding mathematical problem, which has become the object of intense study both from physicists and mathematicians. In the last decade many unexpected connections have been discovered between distant fields such as number theory, algebraic geometry, string theory and particle physics. These apparently formal developments have proven to be decisive to investigate fundamental physics at unprecedented energies and precisions. HighPHun positions itself in this exciting context and has two major and intertwined goals: 1- To extend our understanding of the mathematical properties of scattering amplitudes and, in this way, help to unravel long-standing puzzles in perturbative Quantum Field Theory. 2- To perform currently out-of-reach calculations in the Standard Model and help to uncover precious details about the most fundamental laws of physics. At the heart of HighPHun is the ambitious goal of combining cutting-edge ideas in physics and mathematics to solve outstanding problems in high-energy physics. The synergies generated by this project will, on the one hand, extend the reach of the LHC and of future colliders searches for elusive signs of New Physics and, on the other, help us develop a deeper mathematical understanding of Quantum Field Theory.

Mots-clés : scattering amplitudes,feynman integrals,higher orders,collider phenomenology
Projet ERC : MICROCLIM (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : University of Vienna — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Univie
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2002653.75 €

The diversity of organisms, one of the most striking features of life on Earth, is under threat, and climate change may become a major driver of the biodiversity crisis in the decades to come. However, climate effects on species will vary across ecosystems and regions. The fate of the rich and peculiar alpine flora in a warming world is particularly contentious. While some researchers expect massive loss of cold-adapted plants because they have little options to escape the heat (‘mountaintop extinction’), others assume low sensitivity of high-mountain floras due to widespread microclimatic refugia in the topographically complex alpine terrain. MICROCLIM aims to assess the evidence for these contradictory expectations by linking so far separated research strands of monitoring and predictive modelling of alpine plant distribution. In particular, we will, first, provide a comprehensive evaluation of standard modelling approaches by comparing their predictions with Europe-wide monitoring of mountain top floras and analyse the role of spatial scale for possible mismatches between models and observations of change. Second, we will develop a novel modelling framework that simulates the simultaneous range dynamics of many interacting species. We will parameterise this model by means of experiments and observational data and evaluate it against monitoring data on an exemplary mountain. We will then apply the model to simulate the dynamics of the flora of this mountain over the 21st century at a very fine spatial resolution to evaluate the proposed rescue effect of microclimatic variation in alpine terrain. We will finally generalize the results achieved in these dynamic simulations to all summits included in the European mountaintop monitoring network. The results of MICROCLIM will help understanding how threatened the unique alpine flora of Europe actually is in a warming world and whether mitigating conservation measures will be required to secure its long-term survival.

Mots-clés : alpine plant diversity,climate change,distribution modelling,monitoring,microrefugia,microclimate,plant demography,plant species interaction,remote sensing
Projet ERC : MICROCLIM (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : Universität Innsbruck — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 362982.5 €

The diversity of organisms, one of the most striking features of life on Earth, is under threat, and climate change may become a major driver of the biodiversity crisis in the decades to come. However, climate effects on species will vary across ecosystems and regions. The fate of the rich and peculiar alpine flora in a warming world is particularly contentious. While some researchers expect massive loss of cold-adapted plants because they have little options to escape the heat (‘mountaintop extinction’), others assume low sensitivity of high-mountain floras due to widespread microclimatic refugia in the topographically complex alpine terrain. MICROCLIM aims to assess the evidence for these contradictory expectations by linking so far separated research strands of monitoring and predictive modelling of alpine plant distribution. In particular, we will, first, provide a comprehensive evaluation of standard modelling approaches by comparing their predictions with Europe-wide monitoring of mountain top floras and analyse the role of spatial scale for possible mismatches between models and observations of change. Second, we will develop a novel modelling framework that simulates the simultaneous range dynamics of many interacting species. We will parameterise this model by means of experiments and observational data and evaluate it against monitoring data on an exemplary mountain. We will then apply the model to simulate the dynamics of the flora of this mountain over the 21st century at a very fine spatial resolution to evaluate the proposed rescue effect of microclimatic variation in alpine terrain. We will finally generalize the results achieved in these dynamic simulations to all summits included in the European mountaintop monitoring network. The results of MICROCLIM will help understanding how threatened the unique alpine flora of Europe actually is in a warming world and whether mitigating conservation measures will be required to secure its long-term survival.

Mots-clés : alpine plant diversity,climate change,distribution modelling,monitoring,microrefugia,microclimate,plant demography,plant species interaction,remote sensing
Projet ERC : MICROCLIM (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : Austrian Academy of Sciences — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : OAW
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 128158.75 €

The diversity of organisms, one of the most striking features of life on Earth, is under threat, and climate change may become a major driver of the biodiversity crisis in the decades to come. However, climate effects on species will vary across ecosystems and regions. The fate of the rich and peculiar alpine flora in a warming world is particularly contentious. While some researchers expect massive loss of cold-adapted plants because they have little options to escape the heat (‘mountaintop extinction’), others assume low sensitivity of high-mountain floras due to widespread microclimatic refugia in the topographically complex alpine terrain. MICROCLIM aims to assess the evidence for these contradictory expectations by linking so far separated research strands of monitoring and predictive modelling of alpine plant distribution. In particular, we will, first, provide a comprehensive evaluation of standard modelling approaches by comparing their predictions with Europe-wide monitoring of mountain top floras and analyse the role of spatial scale for possible mismatches between models and observations of change. Second, we will develop a novel modelling framework that simulates the simultaneous range dynamics of many interacting species. We will parameterise this model by means of experiments and observational data and evaluate it against monitoring data on an exemplary mountain. We will then apply the model to simulate the dynamics of the flora of this mountain over the 21st century at a very fine spatial resolution to evaluate the proposed rescue effect of microclimatic variation in alpine terrain. We will finally generalize the results achieved in these dynamic simulations to all summits included in the European mountaintop monitoring network. The results of MICROCLIM will help understanding how threatened the unique alpine flora of Europe actually is in a warming world and whether mitigating conservation measures will be required to secure its long-term survival.

Mots-clés : alpine plant diversity,climate change,distribution modelling,monitoring,microrefugia,microclimate,plant demography,plant species interaction,remote sensing
Projet ERC : DEMETER (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1447800.0 €

The domestication of plants and animals marks a major transition in human history and is a key element in the development of modern societies. Local and traditional domestic breeds and varieties are the result of millennia of selection of landraces by farmers. However, we are now experiencing a major crisis with a drastic loss in the diversity of food production systems and the progressive disappearance of traditional practices. The local knowledge and culture of farmers are under threat, as well as the diversity of harvested species, varieties and breeds. In this context, DEMETER’s objective is to trace how societies influenced crop and breed evolution under different farming and environmental regimes, and socio-economic contexts since the onset of agriculture. More specifically, DEMETER aims at identifying: 1) how and why the diversity of domestic forms evolved and led to the large number of breeds and varieties that exist today, and 2) how this diversity allowed societies to adapt to the environmental and socio-economic changes that occurred repeatedly since the onset of agriculture. DEMETER aims at studying the evolution, from the Neolithic until the present of a selection animal and plant models: pigs, sheep, goats and barley, in a given region, the Northwestern Occidental Mediterranean basin, i.e. outside their primary ‘domestication centre’. DEMETER will be based on an unprecedented and unconventional combination of approaches, including phenomics (through geometric morphometrics), databasing, zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, climate modelling, palaeoproteins (ZooMs) and statistical analyses, implemented to analyse 10,000 domestic specimens (i.e. mammal teeth and barley grains). DEMETER will produce an unprecedented regional synthesis of the relationships between humans and domesticates over the last 8 millennia in a new way and at a fine-scale resolution never envisioned before.

Mots-clés : domestication,husbandry practices,farming,bioarchaelogy
Projet ERC : CalorieRL (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Entité participante : Champalimaud Foundation — Pays : Portugal — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499945.0 €

The drive to eat is one of the strongest in the modulation of behaviour. Selection of food is guided by sensory feedback, including post-ingestive information about energy content, that has been studied across several species, paradigms and nutrients. In rodents, post-oral administration of sugar is associated with striatal dopamine release and conditions robust preferences, in part as a result of viscerosensory information transmitted through the vagus nerve. Consistently, in humans there is evidence that pairing a flavour with a tasteless carbohydrate will enhance pleasantness of the pre-ingestive stimulus and increase its consumption. However, available data in humans have provided limited mechanistic underpinnings for this process and, in our own experiments, performed with greater control of pre-ingestive stimulation, while we reproduced increased consumption of conditioned flavours, we found no evidence for post-ingestive mediated changes of pleasantness. Critically, this suggests that the impact of nutrient conditioning on behaviour and choice reflects the modulation of the value of actions, rather than that of associated stimuli. The application of computational reinforcement learning theory to human probabilistic decision-making tasks, which has allowed for renewed sophistication and progress to understand the mechanisms of appetitive learning, is yet to be applied to address this question. In CalorieRL, we will use computational reinforcement models applied to instrumental conditioning, in addition to brain functional and molecular imaging and peripheral nerve stimulation, to study post-ingestive reinforcement of food-seeking behaviour. We hypothesize such behaviour has a dopaminergic substrate and is associated with neural activity in brain reward circuits, resulting from sensory information transmitted through the vagus nerve. Importantly, we will also address if post-ingestive reinforcement is relevant in the context of obesity.

Mots-clés : reinforcement learning,post ingestive,feeding,dopamine,fmri,functional connectivity,vagus nerve,neuromodulation,obesity,weight gain
Projet ERC : SCHOOLPOL (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Social World and Its Diversity
Entité participante : University of Oxford — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1376080.0 €

The educational context that children are born into dramatically shapes their life chances, affecting not only their future economic well-being but also their propensity to participate in civic and political life. That education matters is hardly a new insight; however, an increasing body of research points to the importance of varying educational contexts on a range of outcomes. Despite these insights, we have little systematic comparative data on the educational contexts in which most the current adult population was actually educated, the political determinants of these contexts, or their long-term impact on a range of social and political outcomes. SCHOOLPOL proposes three innovative and high-reward work streams aimed at filling these lacunae. It will create the first systematic database of a) educational policy from 1945-2015 and b) regional educational performance from 1980-2015 across advanced democracies. Building on insights from both sociological studies of educational choice, economic analyses of geographic sorting, and recent work in political science on educational investment, SCHOOLPOL will reshape our understanding of education politics, showing how broad public objectives (growth, equality) in educational provision interact with the private objectives of organized groups and voters in particular communities to shape different distributions of educational resources and quality. Finally, SCHOOLPOL investigates the consequences of earlier political choices over education on long-term social and economic outcomes, examining the link between varying cohort educational experiences and social mobility and political participation using new and existing surveys. This innovative project breaks new ground in both the study of education and advanced political economies, providing crucial resources to policymakers and academics alike in understanding and crafting school reform.

Mots-clés : education policy,local education reform,historical data,social mobility
Projet ERC : LANGARCHIV (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : University of Birmingham — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 0.0 €

The eighteenth and nineteenth century history of the central Sahara and Sahel has primarily been written using European or jihadist Arabic sources. This has led to an overwhelming emphasis on religion, politics, and geography as core themes that shaped social and cultural dynamics in this region. By focusing on sources in African languages—until now largely forgotten by historians—the project LANGARCHIV aims to enrich and expand this narrative. Hausa and Kanuri material collected by Germanophone, British, and French scholars for linguistic study between 1772 and 1913 in West and North Africa, England, and Brazil cries out for collaboration between historians, linguists, and anthropologists. This rich body of primary sources remains under-studied, having been rejected as colonial even though the majority were collected before colonial occupation. A general reconsideration of this material will enable a major shift in our understanding, toward a ‘history from below’ that will make it possible to explore the history of Sahelian societies through the stories that Sahelians told about themselves. Serving as linguae francae, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Hausa and Kanuri were spoken from Tripoli to Kano and Bahia, and today Hausa remains the most widely spoken language in West Africa, with 50 million speakers scattered over more than 6 countries LANGARCHIV will be the first project to explore materials in African languages as sources for African history. Combining an epistemological analysis of European scientific interest in African languages with the will to write a social history that overcomes the jihadist bias, the project aims to bring about a paradigmatic shift in the history of the central Sahara and Sahel. It will achieve this goal by revealing a rich body of primary sources and by developing an innovative analytical framework for using documents generated by early students of African languages and cultures as historical sources.

Mots-clés : history of africa
Projet ERC : PowFEct (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : PTB
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1471225.0 €

The electrification of powder flows is one of the most pervasive phenomena in environmental processes and of tremendous importance for technical applications. In industrial plants, excessive electrostatic charges can even lead to hazardous sparks, which have caused numerous catastrophic dust explosions in the past. However, despite its long history of investigation, it is not currently possible to predict the buildup, transport, and accumulation of charge. Starting from 2015, I developed a numerical approach with the important capability to couple the involved scientific disciplines – fluid mechanics (turbulent carrier flow), surface science (triboelectric particle charging), and electrostatics (forces between charges). The first ever fully-resolved simulations revealed that the occurrence of distinct physical flow mechanisms determines the charging rate of powder. This knowledge opens a new way to control the electrification through triggering these mechanisms and, thus, to solve the problem finally. To this end, this proposal aims to develop a novel interdisciplinary computational tool. This task includes establishing several new numerical concepts, such as a single-particle charging model. Beyond the state-of-the-art single-particle and powder flow electrification experiments which both employ innovative measurement methodologies will support the theoretical efforts. The proposed test set-ups will bring about a paradigm shift by quantifying, for the first time, reproducible, facility independent data, tailored specifically to complement the model formulation. The successful project will provide an open-source tool that enables the prediction, evaluation, and limitation of electrostatic charges. To this respect, the research aims not only to prevent accidents in industrial facilities but also to understand the physics of other kinds of electrifying powder flows and to solve a long-standing scientific riddle.

Mots-clés : electrostatics,triboelectricity