Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : HyperK (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Université Paris-Saclay — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1764593.0 €

The space around us is curved. Ever since Einstein’s discovery that gravity bends space and time, mathematicians and physicists have been intrigued by the geometry of curvature. Among all geometries, the hyperkähler world exhibits some of the most fascinating phenomena. The special form of their curvature makes these spaces beautifully (super-)symmetric and the interplay of algebraic and transcendental aspects secures them a special place in modern mathematics. Algebraic geometry, the study of solutions of algebraic equations, is the area of mathematics that can unlock the secrets in this realm of geometry and that can describe its central features with great precision. HyperK combines background and expertise in different branches of mathematics to gain a deep understanding of hyperkähler geometry. A number of central conjectures that have shaped algebraic geometry as a branch of modern mathematics since Grothendieck’s fundamental work shall be tested for this particularly rich geometry. The expertise covered by the four PIs ranges from category theory over the theory of algebraic cycles to cohomology of varieties. Any profound advance in hyperkähler geometry requires a combination of all three approaches. The concerted effort of the PIs, their collaborators, and their students will lead to major progress in this area. The goal of HyperK is to advance hyperkähler geometry to a level that matches the well established theory of K3 surfaces, the two-dimensional case of hyperkähler geometry. We aim at proving fundamental results concerning cycles, at classifying Hodge structures and cohomological invariants, and at unifying geometry and derived categories. Specific topics in- clude the splitting conjecture, the Hodge conjecture in small degrees, moduli spaces in derived categories, geometric K3 categories, and special subvarieties. The ultimate goal of HyperK is to draw a clear and distinctive picture of the hyperkähler landscape as a central part of mathematic

Mots-clés : algebraic geometry,derived categories,cycles and subschemes,birational geometry,cohomology theory,complex manifolds,categories and geometry,symplectic geometry,string theory,mirror symmetry,surfaces and higher dimensional varieties
Projet ERC : BIVAQUM (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : University of Oslo — Pays : Norvège — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UiO
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499572.0 €

The standard variational principles (VPs) are cornerstones of quantum mechanics, and one can hardly overestimate their usefulness as tools for generating approximations to the time-independent and time-dependent Schröodinger equations. The aim of the proposal is to study and apply a generalization of these, the bivariational principles (BIVPs), which arise naturally when one does not assume a priori that the system Hamiltonian is Hermitian. This unconventional approach may have transformative impact on development of ab initio methodology, both for electronic structure and dynamics. The first objective is to establish the mathematical foundation for the BIVPs. This opens up a whole new axis of method development for ab initio approaches. For instance, it is a largely ignored fact that the popular traditional coupled cluster (TCC) method can be neatly formulated with the BIVPs, and TCC is both polynomially scaling with the number of electrons and size-consistent. No “variational” method enjoys these properties simultaneously, indeed this seems to be incompatible with the standard VPs. Armed with the BIVPs, the project aims to develop new and understand existing ab initio methods. The second objective is thus a systematic multireference coupled cluster theory (MRCC) based on the BIVPs. This is in itself a novel approach that carries large potential benefits and impact. The third and last objective is an implementation of a new coupled-cluster type method where the orbitals are bivariational parameters. This gives a size-consistent hierarchy of approximations to multiconfiguration Hartree--Fock. The PI's broad contact with and background in scientific disciplines such as applied mathematics and nuclear physics in addition to quantum chemistry increases the feasibility of the project.

Mots-clés : variational principles,bivariational principles,ab initio method development,wavefunction methods,coupled cluster,multireference coupled cluster,ab initio dynamics,electronic structure theory
Projet ERC : CONPOL (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Entité participante : Uppsala University — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1621940.0 €

The statement that individuals’ immediate social circumstances influence how they think and act in the political sphere is a truism. However, both theoretical and empirical considerations have often prevented political scientists from incorporating this logic into analyses of political behavior. In the CONPOL project we argue that it is necessary to return to the idea that politics follows a social logic in order to push the theoretical and empirical boundaries in explaining political behavior. That is, people do not act as isolated individuals when confronting complex political tasks such as deciding whether to vote and which party or candidate to vote for. Instead politics should be seen as a social experience in which individuals arrive at their decisions within particular social settings: the family, the peer group, the workplace, the neighborhood. In what way do parents and other family members influence an individual’s political choices? What is the role of workmates and neighbors when individuals arrive at political decisions? Do friends and friends’ friends affect how you think and act in the political sphere? To answer such questions the standard approach to gather empirical evidence on political behavior based on national sample surveys needs to be complemented by the use of population wide register data. The empirical core of the CONPOL project is unique Swedish register data. Via the population registers provided by Statistics Sweden it is possible to identify several relevant social settings such as parent-child relations and the location of individuals within workplaces and neighborhoods. The registers also allow us to identify certain network links between individuals. Furthermore, Statistics Sweden holds information on several variables measuring important political traits. A major aim for CONPOL is to complement this information by scanning in and digitalizing election rolls with individual-level information on turnout across several elections.

Mots-clés : political participation,contexts,networks
Projet ERC : FIBRING (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : University of Oxford — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1498660.0 €

The study of manifolds that fibre over the circle has a long and exciting history at the core of modern manifold topology, starting with Farrell's work on the problem in high ('surgery') dimensions, and running through the celebrated work of Stallings and Thurston in dimension 3, to Agol's 2013 solution of Thurston's virtual fibring conjecture. Parallel developments in group theory have placed the study of Bieri-Neumann-Strebel (BNS) invariants, which emerged in the 1980s, at the heart of the subject; these invariants describe when a group fibres, i.e. admits a map onto Z with finitely generated kernel. In the research outlined here a powerful new set of algebraic invariants - agrarian polytopes - will be used to establish a new frontier in the theory of fibring. The main goal is to achieve a complete description of all possible fibrings over the circle for aspherical manifolds in surgery dimensions. An agrarian polytope is a subset of the vector space H_1(X;R), where X is a group or a manifold. It is defined in the novel framework of agrarian invariants that I am developing, a theory that has already borne remarkable fruit. The theory provides algebraic counterparts to the (analytic) L2-invariants that have proved so powerful in geometric topology, group theory and global analysis over the last four decades. The primary focus of the research proposed here lies in establishing new deep connections between the algebra of group rings and their completions, and global properties of aspherical manifolds and groups. Three further goals of the proposal are: to develop the theory of agrarian invariants in positive characteristic; to show that agrarian invariants are profinitely rigid; to apply the new technology to the study of dynamical zeta functions. Each of these goals promises a breakthrough in its respective domain.

Mots-clés : fibring over the circle,bns invariants
Projet ERC : DynaQuanta (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : TU Dortmund University — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1840898.0 €

The study of non-equilibrium dynamics of magnetic degrees of freedom has shown remarkable progress over the past two decades. This is in particular true concerning the understanding of ultrafast magnetization dynamics in classical magnets. In contrast, the field of non-equilibrium spin dynamics of many-body quantum magnetic systems is still in its infancy. Despite a number of ground-breaking recent theoretical proposals, experimental studies in this direction are truly scarce and this research field is a largely unexplored territory. Here I propose to study non-equilibrium dynamics in a number of well-selected quantum spin systems, utilizing a novel and powerful experimental technique – time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy under extreme conditions. By carrying out the here proposed program of non-equilibrium and nonlinear studies on low-dimensional and/or frustrated quantum magnets, I aim to explore and reveal novel physics and the governing fundamental principles for the non-equilibrium quantum spin dynamics. Firstly, I aim to realize novel quantum phenomena and quantum effects, which are difficult to be detected in the equilibrium state, such as complex many-body bound states. Secondly, I will explore novel characteristics for exotic quantum states like quantum spin liquids and quantum critical phases in the nonlinear response regime, by driving the quantum disordered states far from equilibrium. Thirdly, I aim to tune and control the non-equilibrium and nonlinear response of the quantum spin states either by the terahertz electromagnetic fields directly or via coupling to other degrees of freedom, such as phonons. Gaining momentum from the on-going intensive theoretical studies and based on my previous work in the field of quantum spin systems, I anticipate a productive, impactful, and successful research project exploring the new physics offered by non-equilibrium quantum spin systems.

Mots-clés : quantum magnetism,nonequilibrium dynamics,nonlinear response,time resolved terahertz spectroscopy,quantum phase transition
Projet ERC : CRASK (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Entité participante : University of Trento — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1472502.0 €

The study of semantic memory considers a broad range of knowledge extending from basic elemental concepts that allow us to recognise and understand objects like ‘an apple’, to elaborated semantic information such as knowing when it is appropriate to use a Wilcoxon Rank-Sum test. Such elaborated semantic knowledge is fundamental to our daily lives yet our understanding of the neural substrates is minimal. The objective of CRASK is to advance rapidly beyond the state-of-the-art to address this issue. CRASK will begin by building a fundamental understanding of regional contributions, hierarchical organisation and regional coordination to form a predictive systems model of semantic representation in the brain. This will be accomplished through convergent evidence from an innovative combination of fine cognitive manipulations, multimodal imaging techniques (fMRI, MEG), and advanced analytical approaches (multivariate analysis of response patterns, representational similarity analysis, functional connectivity). Progress will proceed in stages. First the systems-level network underlying our knowledge of other people will be determined. Once this is accomplished CRASK will investigate general semantic knowledge in terms of the relative contribution of canonical, feature-selective and category-selective semantic representations and their respective roles in automatic and effortful semantic access. The systems-level model of semantic representation will be used to predict and test how the brain manifests elaborated semantic knowledge. The resulting understanding of the neural substrates of elaborated semantic knowledge will open up new areas of research. In the final stage of CRASK we chart this territory in terms of human factors: understanding the role of the representational semantic system in transient failures in access, neural factors that lead to optimal encoding and retrieval and the effects of ageing on the system.
Projet ERC : 5D-NanoTrack (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and communication engineering
Entité participante : Technion – Israel Institute of Technology — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1802500.0 €

The sub-cellular processes that control the most critical aspects of life occur in three-dimensions (3D), and are intrinsically dynamic. While super-resolution microscopy has revolutionized cellular imaging in recent years, our current capability to observe the dynamics of life on the nanoscale is still extremely limited, due to inherent trade-offs between spatial, temporal and spectral resolution using existing approaches. We propose to develop and demonstrate an optical microscopy methodology that would enable live sub-cellular observation in unprecedented detail. Making use of multicolor 3D point-spread-function (PSF) engineering, a technique I have recently developed, we will be able to simultaneously track multiple markers inside live cells, at high speed and in five-dimensions (3D, time, and color). Multicolor 3D PSF engineering holds the potential of being a uniquely powerful method for 5D tracking. However, it is not yet applicable to live-cell imaging, due to significant bottlenecks in optical engineering and signal processing, which we plan to overcome in this project. Importantly, we will also demonstrate the efficacy of our method using a challenging biological application: real-time visualization of chromatin dynamics - the spatiotemporal organization of DNA. This is a highly suitable problem due to its fundamental importance, its role in a variety of cellular processes, and the lack of appropriate tools for studying it. The project is divided into 3 aims: 1. Technology development: diffractive-element design for multicolor 3D PSFs. 2. System design: volumetric tracking of dense emitters. 3. Live-cell measurements: chromatin dynamics. Looking ahead, here we create the imaging tools that pave the way towards the holy grail of chromatin visualization: dynamic observation of the 3D positions of the ~3 billion DNA base-pairs in a live human cell. Beyond that, our results will be applicable to numerous 3D micro/nanoscale tracking applications.

Mots-clés : fluorescence microscopy,single particle tracking,3d microscopy,localization microscopy,chromatin dynamics,live cell imaging
Projet ERC : QUESS (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : Aalto University — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1949570.0 €

The superconducting quantum computer has very recently reached the theoretical thresholds for fault-tolerant universal quantum computing and a quantum annealer based on superconducting quantum bits, qubits, is already commercially available. However, several fundamental questions on the way to efficient large-scale quantum computing have to be answered: qubit initialization, extreme gate accuracy, and quantum-level power consumption. This project, QUESS, aims for a breakthrough in the realization and control of dissipative environments for quantum devices. Based on novel concepts for normal-metal components integrated with superconducting quantum nanoelectronics, we experimentally realize in-situ-tunable low-temperature environments for superconducting qubits. These environments can be used to precisely reset qubits at will, thus providing an ideal initialization scheme for the quantum computer. The environment can also be well decoupled from the qubit to allow for coherent quantum computing. Utilizing this base technology, we find fundamental quantum-mechanical limitations to the accuracy and power consumption in quantum control, and realize optimal strategies to achieve these limits in practice. Finally, we build a concept of a universal quantum simulator for non-Markovian open quantum systems and experimentally realize its basic building blocks. This proposal provides key missing ingredients in realizing efficient large-scale quantum computers ultimately leading to a quantum technological revolution, with envisioned practical applications in materials and drug design, energy harvesting, artificial intelligence, telecommunications, and internet of things. Furthermore, this project opens fruitful horizons for tunable environments in quantum technology beyond the superconducting quantum computer, for applications of quantum-limited control, for quantum annealing, and for simulators of non-Markovian open quantum systems.

Mots-clés : quantum electronics,superconducting qubit,single electron tunneling,josephson junction,quantum computer,open quantum system,decoherence,fluctuation relations,non markovian quantum evolution
Projet ERC : GLYCONOISE (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems
Entité participante : Max Planck Society — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : MPG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1067156.11 €

The surface of every living cell is covered with a dense matrix of glycans. Its particular composition and structure codes important messages in cell-cell communication, influencing development, differentiation, and immunological processes. The matrix is formed by highly complex biopolymers whose compositions vary from cell to cell, even between genetically identical cells. This gives rise to population noise in cell-cell communication. A second level of noise stems from glycans present on the same cell that disturb the decoding of the message by glycans binding receptors through competitive binding. Glycan-based communication is characterized by a high redundancy of both glycans and their receptors. Thus, noise and redundancy emerge as key properties of glycan-based cell-cell communication, but their extent and function are poorly understood. By adapting a transmitter-receiver model from communication sciences and combining it with state-of-the-art experimental techniques from biophysics and cell biology, we will address two fundamental questions: What is the role of the redundancy in glycan-based communication? How much ‚noise’ can it tolerate, before the message is lost? To do so, we first establish a simplified model system for glycan-based communication. Biophysical rate constants are determined for lectin-glycan interactions and expanded to glycosylated microparticles that trigger a biological response in lectin expressing receiver cells. Next, single cell glycomes are reconstructed from ultra-high dimensional flow cytometry data using lectin mixtures enabled by recent advancements in instrumentation and glycobioinformatics software. Glycomes accessible on single cell level allow replacing the microparticles with transmitter cells and employ a cell-cell interaction model. Our transmitter-receiver model is used to quantify the noise and reveals how redundancy provides robustness of messaging by cell surface glycans in cellular communication.
Projet ERC : SYNPATH (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Entité participante : Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Inserm
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

The synapse is a nanoscale machine, which transfers, integrates and stores information in brain circuits. Its function relies on multimolecular networks of interactions whose composition and dynamics shape synaptic transmission. A large body of evidence indicates that synapses specialized in humans. Human synapses are more densely distributed along dendrites and their period of maturation is protracted compared to rodent or non-human primate synapses. The rules governing their plasticity also differ from the other mammalian species studied so far. These traits contribute to the formation and function of complex circuits supporting human cognitive abilities. Yet, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not known. Here we will investigate the role of molecular pathways linked to human evolution in the regulation of synaptic development and plasticity. The proposed research takes advantage of my previous work on Slit-Robo Rho GTPAse-activating protein 2 (SRGAP2), one of the few genes specifically duplicated in humans, and the only one implicated at synapses so far. We will use the duplications of SRGAP2 as a thread to uncover i) fundamental mechanisms of synaptic development and plasticity, and ii) regulations specific to human synapses. To achieve our goals, we will employ a multi-disciplinary approach based on in vivo manipulations in intact mouse cortical circuits, mass spectrometry, live-cell single-molecule super-resolution microscopy, electrophysiology, and engineering of cortical neurons derived from human pluripotent stem cells. The combination of mouse and human models will allow us to establish a robust framework to bridge the gap in knowledge between cellular neurobiology and human brain evolution, and better understand synaptic dysfunctions in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Mots-clés : molecular and cellular neuroscience,synapse,postsynaptic scaffolds,signaling pathways,synaptic development,synaptic plasticity