Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : MCILRaP (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Texts and Concepts
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 : 2277790.0 €

This project launches a historical inquiry into the phenomenon of legal authority in Muslim religious law. Sharia, a term that designated, for centuries, the Muslim jurists’ law, is undoubtedly a major issue in the Muslim world and, to a different degree, in Western societies today. As representing God’s law in Muslim believes, Sharia is perceived as unchangeable, and, in Western scholarship often as a “deontology”. MCILRaP takes a radically new approach in explaining the obvious paradox between timeless law and observable legal adaptations by studying legal casuistry, not single rules. In casuistry, rules are fixed as laws; and adding rules for specific or other cases limits existing rules’ application and allows for different solutions, which may be viewed as a legal change. To describe the casuistry of the jurists’ law for the first time in detail, MCILRaP creates a new method of mapping rulings “in context”. Thousands of law books and other juridical texts constitute relics of legal thinking in its redaction period. MCILRaP pioneers a comprehensive survey of this source material that necessarily proceeds at different analytical levels, by: a) widely cataloguing works according to author and subject-matter, b) the in-depth mapping of juridical rules in selected law books, and c) determining the conceptual links between juridical rules and detailed real case practices. The project creates a dataset from original source material and devises tools for visualising legal casuistry. By its research on Islamic law, MCILRaP provides evidence for historical law developments that turned “Sharia”, formerly only Revealed Law, into a juridical rule system that lasted until the 19th century. The centuries-long impact of Sharia law on Muslim culture is what has triggered today’s understanding of sacred Sharia laws in the Qur’an and Prophetic Tradition. MILRaP will open new paths of inquiry, create methods and data, and by this fundamentally change the study of Islamic law.

Mots-clés : history of islamic law,sacred law,normativity,juridical literature in islam,schools of law in islam,arabic language,arabic text segmentation,arabic manuscript studies,arabic onomastics,muslim jurists,muslim legal thinking,arabic philology,muslim history,arabic legal documents,legal casuistry in islam,philosophy of law,islamicate digital humanities,machine learning
Projet ERC : Perla (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed Matter Physics
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 : 2430675.0 €

The PERLA project aims at developing electrically conductive fluids containing rod-like particles. Their novelty is based on the formation of dynamical system-spanning networks in fluid flow. It is well established that rod-like particles do not simply align, but do tumble and rotate in shear or elongational flow. However, the consequences of this tumbling on the percolation and electrical conductivity of suspensions are still unknown. This behaviour is expected to promote collisions and electrical connectivity throughout the suspension. PERLA will validate this fundamental hypothesis, and provide thereby new concepts for the development of conductive fluids with low viscosity, high and tunable conductivity. Systems of carbon nanotubes and short carbon fibers will be used as conductive Brownian and non-Brownian rods. They will be processed and optimized based on the longstanding expertise of the investigators in carbon chemistry and fiber processing. The structure, rheological and electrical properties of the suspensions will be characterized in depth in various flow conditions, from dilute to concentrated regimes. The latter will be of particular interest with the formation of liquid crystalline phases in which tumbling is also well established. The basic knowledge gained in PERLA will be exploited in examples of applications, including flow capacitors, capacitive water desalination and soft electronic sensors and vibrational energy harvesters. These applications are particularly promising regarding energy and environmental issues. However, they are currently limited by the use of highly viscous slurries made of spherical particles, or of heavy and poorly stable liquid metals. The fluids in PERLA will circumvent these limitations, and provide new degrees of freedom due to original effects related to their response to oscillatory pressures, or presence of particles of different sizes.

Mots-clés : percolation,liquid crystals,flowable electrodes,carbon,nanotubes,fibers
Projet ERC : MathBrain (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CEA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2857101.0 €

Mathematics is a fundamental tool by which we understand the universe, yet its cognitive and brain mechanisms are vastly understudied. I propose a systematic study of the human representation of mathematical concepts and their growth with education. The project will test the “language of thought” theory according to which humans share core concepts with other animals (numbers, objects, shapes, spatial maps) but the growth of math relies on a human symbolic composition system that recursively recombines those concepts into arbitrarily more complex expressions. Work package (WP) 1 will generate maps of mathematical concepts in adults varying in education, using high-resolution single-subject 7T fMRI and MEG. The impact of education will be studied by testing concepts ranging from elementary to advanced, and by comparing adults whose education varies from high-school to professional math. Blind and high-functioning autism subjects will also be tested. WP2 will focus on 5 concepts of central importance in math (geometrical shape, pattern, set, number line, and graph). For each, we will map developmental change by acquiring behavioral and fMRI data in adults and children. The model predicts that concept acquisition can be modeled as a construction of increasingly complex mental expressions whose complexity is predicted by minimal description length (MDL). WP3 will map the brain changes during the acquisition of a math concept. Experiments will test the role of feedback, repetition, retrieval practice, sleep, conceptual diversity, and age, in facilitating behavioral and brain measures of conceptual change. Finally, WP4 will examine whether artificial neural networks can capture the above results and investigate how these networks can be enhanced to achieve human-like performance. Overall, the results will shed light on how mathematical education changes the human brain and how conceptual change occurs, thus paving the way to real-life educational applications in schools.

Mots-clés : mathematical cognition arithmetic
Projet ERC : MEM-CLONK (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Immunity, Infection and I mmunotherapy
Entité participante : Hôpital universitaire de la Charité de Berlin — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Charité
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1810110.0 €

The pool of innate immune effector cells is wired to rapidly respond to pathogens, whereas only few specificities within the naïve adaptive repertoire expand clonally, undergo epigenetic remodelling and differentiate into effector and memory cells. However, innate cells can differentiate upon pathogen encounter and remember past experiences as well, thereby challenging this strict dichotomy. In particular, us and others have shown that human memory Natural Killer (NK) cells with global epigenetic remodelling can be generated in response to specific signals during cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. We have recently identified two major types of open chromatin domains in human memory NK (mNK) cells ex vivo: first, a shared signature featured by all mNK cells across CMV-seropositive donors (“public memory”); second, a diverse set of unique open chromatin regions associated with the drastic expansions of individual and stable NK cell clones (“private memory”). Based on this unexpected finding, we hypothesise that the shared and the unique clonal memory might provide mNK cells with increased fitness and high effector potential, but also enhance the risk of oncogenic mutations.  The ultimate goal of this project is to identify the signals and molecular mechanisms driving acquisition, selection and maintenance of human NK cell public and private clonal memory. To this end, we will combine multiomic single cell assays and lineage tracing of human NK cells from healthy donors and patients ex vivo, or under various stimuli in vitro, with genome-wide CRISPR perturbation studies to directly link ex vivo features with functional read outs. Success of this project will not only lead to new insights into the key networks promoting persistence and effector functions of mNK cells, but also reveal promising novel targets for cellular anti-tumour therapies.
Projet ERC : ERMiD (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : Institut de recherches mathématiques Alfréd-Rényi — Pays : Hongrie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2019035.0 €

The probabilistic method, pioneered by Paul Erdős, can show the existence of combinatorial objects without hinting how to construct them effectively. Recent developments concerning the constructive version of Lovász Local Lemma (LLL) showed how to modify the probabilistic method to make it effective. This proposal lists four research directions in analysis, combinatorics, and cryptography, where this method opened new possibilities to go beyond our present knowledge. 1. The measurable version of LLL is the question whether the object, guaranteed by LLL, can additionally be measurable? In some special cases the answer is in the affirmative. What are the constraints which guarantee measurability, and when is it impossible to achieve this? Results are relevant for classical problems of measure group theory. 2. A novel approach improving the celebrated sunflower lemma also uses effective probabilistic tools. We will use a similar approach to improve the best estimates for multicolor Ramsey numbers, Schur numbers, and to explore a number of other classical problems. 3. Several new phenomena arise in extremal graphs when either the vertices or the edges are linearly ordered. To investigate them we use methods from effective probabilistic sampling. The answers would be relevant in discrete geometry, algorithm design, etc. 4. An emerging phenomenon in certain cryptographic primitives including secret sharing will be addressed: relaxing the strict requirements of correctness by allowing negligible errors can lead to significant improvement in efficiency. It is a direct consequence of the mostly unknown structure of the boundary of the entropy region. Using tools and results from the other parts of the project we will explore this boundary giving hints for why, and tools for where and when such efficiency gaps might occur.

Mots-clés : probabilistic method,lov sz local lemma,measured group theory,extremal graph theory,ordered graphs,probabilistic sampling,cryptography
Projet ERC : PFAS foreverywhere (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention,  Diagnosis and T reatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Université du Danemark du Sud — Pays : Danemark — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : SDU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2500000.0 €

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely used, persist in the environment and are present in all human populations. Many hot-spot areas across Europe in which humans are exposed through contaminated water or food has raised public concern due to the possible adverse health effects of PFAS. The overarching aim of my proposal is to determine, if PFAS exposure is causally linked to increased serum cholesterol and liver enzymes and if PFAS elimination can be enhanced. Pilot findings from our first ever randomized cross-over trial suggest that administration of the bile acid sequestrant cholestyramine significantly reduces serum PFAS in 34 high exposed individuals, probably by reducing intestinal reabsorption. In work package 1 (WP1) I will explore the promising pilot findings in a rigorously conducted randomized cross-over trial. A trial administering the food supplement psyllium, which also reduces bile reabsorption will be undertaken. PFAS exposure has been associated with increased serum cholesterol and liver enzymes, which pose a major impact to human health due to the causal link to cardiovascular diseases (CVD). It remains unclear whether the associations are causal and mechanisms by which PFAS affect lipid metabolism are not established. In WP2-3 I will study the causal relationships between child and adult PFAS exposure and serum lipids and liver enzymes in high quality prospective cohorts using a novel statistical approach (target trial emulation) to establish causal effects in observational data. In WP4 the mechanisms by which PFAS affect lipid metabolism in human liver cells will be investigated (overview see figure 2). The project will break new grounds for our understanding of the mechanism of action of PFAS on lipid metabolism and the relation with serum cholesterol and liver enzymes, as well as whether PFAS elimination can be enhanced, which will guide authorities in the handling and advise of hot-spots and regulation of PFAS to reduce future CVD.

Mots-clés : pfas,cholestyramine,rct,hepatocytes,cholesterol,liver enzymes,lipids,cohort,children,adults
Projet ERC : CAMOUFLAGE (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Entité participante : Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Société Max Planck
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499758.0 €

Cephalopod camouflage (or crypsis) is one of the most fascinating behaviors in the animal kingdom. It is also very relevant for neuroscience, for many reasons. First, the ability of cephalopods to escape detection by vertebrate predators or invertebrate prey indicates that the perception of textures must follow similar principles in most species; if they did not, crypsis would not be successful. Because cephalopods and vertebrates diverged over 550 M years ago from a primitive common ancestor, these principles must reflect functional convergence. Second, cryptic patterning gives observers a read-out of an animal’s perception of visual scenes, eliminating the need for complex behavioral paradigms to question the animal. Third, cephalopod camouflage is controlled neurally by the brain, through the action of motoneurons onto a large array of specialized pigment cells (chromatophores) and based on visual information received by single-lens eyes. The behavior thus consists in transforming a retinal image into a matching skin pattern, via a large central brain and ultimately in the form of a fine motor output. Fourth, crypsis works as a statistical approximation rather than faithful copy of a scene. Such statistical matching is non-trivial: convolutional neural networks, for example, need hundreds of thousands of training trials to reach good performance. Fifth, because skin chromatophores are controlled by motoneurons, a chromatophore-resolution read-out of the state of the skin is an indirect read-out of the brain’s output, enabling large-scale neural imaging by proxy. This observation led us to develop methods to describe the skin output of cuttlefish at sub-chromatophore resolution and 25-60 frames/s, over hours to months. Our results in turn led to functional and mechanistic predictions about camouflage control. This 5-year project will test some of these predictions using molecular, ultrastructural, computational, physiological and behavioral approaches.

Mots-clés : brain evolution,cephalopod nervous system,convergence,neural circuits
Projet ERC : NPC-MEM (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Molecules of Life: B iological  Mechanisms , Structures  and Functions
Entité participante : Université de médecine de Vienne — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499250.0 €

The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is a defining component of eukaryotic cells. Its role as a selective transport channel is well-documented, but NPCs also remodel the nuclear envelope, bending and fusing the inner and outer nuclear membranes to form a pore without rupturing the cell nucleus. The underlying mechanism of this process is poorly understood, despite its profound implications for cellular function. My proposal addresses how nuclear pore complexes function as membrane remodelling machines, which remains a fundamental question in eukaryotic biology. Despite its significance, this question has been scarcely explored, primarily due to technical challenges. These include the need for detailed knowledge of NPC protein structure, which has only recently emerged, the lack of tools for NPC membrane biochemistry, and the requirement for a deeper understanding of the inner nuclear membrane (INM), where NPC biogenesis begins during interphase. The process by which NPCs sculpt membrane pores is tied to lipid chemistry, which is the output of lipid metabolism. Therefore, the core strategy of this proposal is to study the nexus between nucleoporins, lipids, and lipid metabolism in an integrated manner, through biochemical reconstitution and system-wide approaches. Using newly developed tools, we will reconstitute and structurally characterize the largest NPC assembly on a membrane to date, revealing how stepwise NPC assembly drives progressive membrane remodelling. This will enable us to reveal the principles of pore membrane formation. Concurrently, we will identify every lipid metabolism enzyme at the INM and use new technology to catalogue all INM lipids. This will provide a foundational reference for nuclear envelope biology and enable us to test how specific lipids impact NPCs and the cell nucleus. This proposal aims to offer pioneering insights into NPC biogenesis and how nuclear lipid metabolism affects NPC function.

Mots-clés : nuclear pore complex,nuclear envelope,inner nuclear membrane,lipid metabolism
Projet ERC : MuSES (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe Sciences
Entité participante : Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Société Max Planck
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2799989.0 €

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are among the most powerful particle accelerators in the Universe. They convert the gravitational energy of matter accreted by supermassive black holes (SMBHs) into electromagnetic and kinetic energy, producing highly relativistic electrons and protons. They are most likely originated from the vicinity of SMBHs, but the exact mechanism of their production remains elusive. Electrons are predominantly found in jets, whose acceleration and collimation are still poorly understood. Even less clear is how and where protons are accelerated and how this process is connected to neutrino production. The importance of investigating such high-energy particles transcends astrophysics, as they probe regimes that particle accelerators on Earth will likely never reach.  The recent detection of a high-energy neutrino signal from the blazar TXS 0506+056 by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory has brought up new multi-messenger opportunities for AGN studies which can be now most efficiently explored. This proposal sets its main aim on carrying out such an exploration and addressing the pivotal questions about proton acceleration, jet formation and collimation, and neutrino production in AGN. To achieve these goals, we will perform and utilize observations of AGN across the electromagnetic spectrum, with a particular focus on high-resolution very-long-baseline interferometry and data collected by high-energy neutrino telescopes.  The information and insight gathered through these investigations will provide the most accurate clues about the extreme energy output in AGN and transform these objects into well-understood cosmic laboratories which can probe physical conditions unachievable in any experiments performed on Earth.

Mots-clés : multi messanger astronomy,high energy neutrino,agn,blazars,vlbi,radio astronomy
Projet ERC : eCMZs (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe Sciences
Entité participante : Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Société Max Planck
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2436250.0 €

Gas-rich galaxy centers like our own Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) are amongst the most extreme, yet poorly understood, environments for star formation. These regions are affected by large-scale in- and out-flows of gas, by nuclear starburst and/or active galactic nuclei, which makes them unique laboratories in the local universe to study star formation at the highest gas and stellar mass densities, intense radiation fields, and short (<50 Myr) dynamical timescales. CMZs are compact (<1kpc) and subject to high extinction, which requires near- to mid-infrared observations to study their individual star-forming sites. The lack of data that resolves the molecular gas reservoirs and star formation sites has prevented establishing a coherent picture of this star formation regime – a situation that has now radically changed by JWST. At the same time, ALMA has both the sensitivity and spatial resolution to map the underlying gas distribution. This ERC project will develop a first synthetic view of extragalactic CMZs (eCMZs) by zooming in to centers of 37 nearby galaxies from a sample that has been globally well characterized through the PI's PHANGS survey. The PI has assembled in a set of observational campaigns an absolutely unique ALMA+HST+JWST dataset, with unprecedented 5-30pc resolution. Rigorous analysis of these data will provide the urgently needed observational framework to distinguish between theories for star formation under extreme CMZ conditions: it may either argue for a highly time-variable star formation dominated by local processes, or for a more steady-state evolution regulated by the larger-scale environment.

Mots-clés : galaxy centers,star formation process,multi wavelength observations