Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : AngstroCAP (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : University of Manchester — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1619466.0 €

I will construct and apply next generation capillary devices as an exciting experimental platform to enable ground-breaking investigation of structure and dynamics of water at the ultimate molecular scale. These devices are in a lab-on-a-chip type configuration with angstrom-scale channels and atomically smooth walls. I am making them by scrupulous assembly tools in a controllable and reproducible fashion and they are extremely stable. Myself and my team will assemble capillaries of a few microns in length, by sandwiching two blocks of layered crystals, e.g., mica, graphite, boron nitride, separated by an atomically thin 2D-crystal spacer. Inside these channels, we will image water condensation along with simultaneous structure analysis by spectroscopy, under in-situ (temperature, pressure) environments. Another key aim of the project is to produce 2D slit-like pores on a large scale by slicing the pre-made 2D capillaries using sharp diamond knives, and explore their applications in size selective separation and biomolecular translocation. This ambitious research program is only possible because of my extensive angstrom-scale fabrication expertise, coupled with world leading fabrication capabilities at the University of Manchester. Objectives 1: To utilize angstrom-scale capillaries constructed out of two-dimensional (2D) materials as a versatile platform for studying confinement effect on structure and dynamics of water. 2: To construct new types of angstrom-scale 2D-pores from these capillaries for studying size-selective molecular separation, biomolecular sequencing and translocation. The project will have a lasting impact in understanding what the angstrom-scale confinement offers in terms of active control of molecular transport. Such confinement effects are efficiently utilized in various natural systems (e.g., protein channels) and the results could even aid in designing elementary building blocks of stimuli responsive artificial fluidic circuitry

Mots-clés : angstrom,2d materials,angstrofluidics,water,nanopores,sequencing,molecular separation
Projet ERC : IASI-FT (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : Université Libre de Bruxelles — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : ULB
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 522850.0 €

IASI - Flux and temperature July 2016 was Earth's warmest month on record. The first six months of 2016 were also the warmest six-month period since modern meteorology observations began. This, along with the recent so-called “hiatus” in the warming trend, and the Paris climate agreement, all attracted scientific and public attention as to how reliable the historical temperature record is, and to the level of confidence in future model climate projections. Although the role of satellites in observing the variability and change of the Earth system has increased in recent decades, remotely-sensed observations are still underexploited to accurately assess climate change fingerprints. The IASI - Flux and Temperature (IASI-FT) project aims at providing new benchmarks for top-of-atmosphere radiative flux and temperature observations using the calibrated radiances measured twice a day at any location by the IASI instrument on the suite of MetOp satellites. The main challenge is to achieve the stringent accuracy and stability necessary for climate studies, particularly for climate trends. Building upon the expertise accumulated by my group during the last 10 years, I propose the development of innovative algorithms and statistical tools to generate climate data records at the global scale, of (1) spectrally resolved outgoing radiances, (2) land and sea skin surface temperatures, and (3) temperatures at selected altitudes. Time series of these quantities will be compared with in situ and other satellite observations if available, atmospheric reanalyses, and climate model simulations. The observed trends will be analyzed at seasonal and regional scales in order to disentangle natural (weather/dynamical) variability and human-induced climate forcings. This project, while clearly research-oriented, will lead towards an operational integrated observational strategy for the Earth climate system, given that the IASI program started in 2006 and will last until 2040 at least.

Mots-clés : thermal infrared remote sensing,remote sensing spectroscopy,radiative flux,surface temperature,stratospheric temperature,ozone,climate forcings,iasi
Projet ERC : INCOMMON (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
Entité participante : Sapienza University of Rome — Pays : Italie — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 54000.0 €

INCOMMON will be the first study to systematically analyse the field of performing arts as resulting from the practice of commonality both theorized and experienced over the 1960s and the 1970s.In particular, the project is aimed to study the history of the ‘laboratory Italy’ as the place where artistic counterculture expressed by performing arts arose in a milieu characterized by a profound relation between philosophy, politics, and revolutionary practices. The overall objectives of INCOMMON are i) to study, collect and contextualize those encounters between theatre, music, visual arts, cinema and video art that assumed the form of performances, especially those created as collaborations between artists; ii) to apply the concept of ‘will-to-the-common’ to the art field of the counterculture; iii) to underline the significance of artistic communities in the local and international scene; iv) to create a digital archive of the performances of the Italian artists of the period. The project will connect historical, philosophical and artistic debates to those in other sciences, sociology and in particular Social Network Theory,in order to reveal significant structures of meanings in the artistic community and to reveal the peculiar characteristics of shared creative processes.The methodology that will be developed is meant 1) to produce new ways of modelling the knowledge and interpretation of performing arts and 2) to create an innovative form of digital archive visualization, where rich interfaces will sustain and improve the understanding of the context and relationships analysed. INCOMMON will produce a comprehensive approach, oriented toward collection, digitization, restoration and dissemination of direct documentation and related materials of the Italian performing arts production of the great creative, political, existential wave of the counterculture, preserving and making accessible a patrimony that otherwise will continue to be lost to future generations.

Mots-clés : networking between artists,counterculture,intangible heritage,digital archives
Projet ERC : PRicelessCOAT (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Eindhoven University of Technology — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TU/e
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Ice accretion of car windshields is a road safety concern in fall and wintertime as frost impairs the vision of drivers that do not sufficiently de-ice their car windshields, which may cause serious road accidents. Windshield washer fluids are crucially important for rapid car windshield de-icing which is most efficient through a combination of thermal, mechanical, and chemical action; i.e., local heating, scraping, and the application of appropriate windshield washer fluids. At present, windshield washer fluids rely solely on colligative antifreezes. The current formulations are (highly) flammable which requires precautionary measures in stores and cars, and the ethanol used is derived from sugarcane which is a valuable food resource. The challenge is to develop a commercially viable solution to replace these colligative antifreezes by an innovative screenwash formulation that is highly effective, but not flammable, does not present a health risk, and does not use food resources. In ‘PRicelessCOAT’ scientists will develop new biocompatible and biodegradable chemical building blocks for de-icing and anti-icing of car windows.

Mots-clés : physical chemistry,protein polymer,polymeric material,macromolecular chemistry,colloid chemistry,soft materials,interface science,antifreeze protein
Projet ERC : F-BioIce (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : Aarhus University — Pays : Danemark — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : AU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999936.0 €

Ice active bacteria can promote the growth of ice more effectively than any other material known. Using specialized ice nucleating proteins (INPs), they attack plants by frost damage and, when airborne in the atmosphere, they drive ice nucleation within clouds and control global precipitation patterns. The control INPs exert over water phase transitions has relevance for disciplines as diverse as climatology, plant pathology, biomedicine and material science. Despite the apparent importance, the molecular mechanisms behind INP freezing have remained largely elusive. This lack of our knowledge can be traced back to the challenges in studying protein and water structure and dynamics at the very interface between monolayers of proteins and water. With F-BioIce my team and I want to reveal the molecular details of INP function. We ask the questions: What is the structural basis for protein control of freezing? What structural motifs do proteins use to interact with water, and what is the configuration of water molecules that INPs imprint into interfacial water layers? What is the role of structural dynamics and for surface freezing? We will develop new methods based on sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy to determine mode of action by which INPs interact with and manipulate water. The INPs and water structure will be obtained by combining three rising methods in the field: SFG techniques that I have been spearheading, computer simulations and cryo-electron microscopy. We will study model water surfaces and, for the first time, realistic water aerosols interacting with INPs. These new strategies could lead to a paradigm shift in the entire field of ice nucleation and a search for similar processes in ice active fungi and pollen and abiotic ice nucleators – feldspar, silica and soot. The obtained information will provide critical input for climate models and revolutionary new freezing technologies for food preservation, cryomedicine and cloud seeding.

Mots-clés : sum frequency generation,ice nucleation,surface spectroscopy,biosurfaces
Projet ERC : VirtualSeis (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : Delft University of Technology — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TU Delft
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499474.0 €

If it were possible to place seismometers and seismic vibrators anywhere below the ground in, for example, an induced-earthquake-sensitive area, we could measure the source mechanism of actual earthquakes, monitor the geomechanical state of the area over time, and quantify the ground motion caused by possible future earthquakes. Moreover, we could monitor fluid flow in aquifers, geothermal reservoirs or CO2 storage reservoirs, with unprecedented resolution. Unfortunately, placing seismic instruments anywhere below the ground is not practically feasible. I propose to develop groundbreaking methodology for creating virtual seismic sources (earthquakes or seismic vibrators) and virtual seismometers anywhere in the subsurface, from seismic reflection measurements carried out at the surface of the earth. I call this Virtual Seismology (VS). VS accurately mimics the responses to actual earthquakes that would be recorded by actual buried seismometers, including all multiple scattering effects. In particular I will develop VS for: (1) Investigating induced-earthquake problems. (a) I will develop high-density multi-component seismic acquisition methodology, using the latest technology of controllable seismic vibrators and seismic sensing with fibre-optic cables, and apply it in an actual induced-earthquake sensitive area. (b) I will use these data to create virtual sources and receivers in the subsurface to characterize induced earthquakes, quantify the ground motion of actual and possible future earthquakes, and monitor the geomechanical state of the area over time. (2) Imaging and monitoring subsurface fluid flow. I will develop highly repeatable VS methodology for time-lapse 3D reflection data to monitor fluid-flow processes in the subsurface with excellent spatial and temporal resolution. With my track record in pioneering seismic interferometry, I am in an excellent position to develop VS, which will have major impact on the field of seismic imaging and monitoring.

Mots-clés : seismic imaging and monitoring,seismic interferometry
Projet ERC : HCG (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
Entité participante : University of Edinburgh — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1893626.0 €

If ‘honour’ is an outmoded term, its modern analogues – esteem, respect, recognition, dignity, status, prestige, deference, face, image, etc. – still shape the dynamics of human social interaction. But modern understandings of honour in the societies and literatures of the past – especially the literature of ancient Greece – tend to present it as a single, specific, and more or less monolithic notion especially associated with zero-sum competition between alpha-males, a notion that is typically superseded by more co-operative, inclusive, and egalitarian values, whether in fifth-century BC Athenian democracy or in the eighteenth-century AD enlightenment. Where honour survives in popular perception as a characteristic of modern communities it is typically ghettoized in the world of inner-city gangs, in the Muslim East, or in the traditional machismo of the Mediterranean. These and similar perceptions are erroneous, and their application to ancient Greek literature, society, and thought is deeply misleading. Using the findings of contemporary sociology and philosophy, with contributions from other disciplines from economics to literary studies, cognitive linguistics, and psychology, this project will lead to a root and branch transformation of the idées fixes that still mould the understanding of honour (Greek timê) in our ancient Greek sources. Far from being one value among many, timê is a pluralist, inclusive, and flexible notion, as important to ancient values of justice, friendship, and social solidarity as it is to the violence of heroic self-assertion and the pursuit of vengeance. It underpins not only the wrath of Achilles in the Iliad but also the community standards that seek to restrain and assuage that wrath. In Athenian law and politics it is as much about the rights that the law protects as it is about the pursuit of rivalry and competition through litigation. It pervades ancient Greek literature, thought, and society. This project will write its history.

Mots-clés : honour,esteem,classical athens,greek literature,greek political thought,athenian law,greek history
Projet ERC : WILDTRADE (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : University of Helsinki — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UH
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499900.0 €

Illegal wildlife trade is one of the major threats driving the global extinction crisis. Despite political will to halt the problem, the magnitude and scale of illegal wildlife trade have been relatively poorly studied compared to other threats affecting biodiversity conservation. Lack of data and complexities in determining illegal trade volumes and the availability of illegal wildlife products in the marketplace have thus far limited progress in research. The socio-ecological and economic drivers underlying the illegal wildlife trade remain unclear. The goal of this project is, for the first time with this extent and detail, to quantify global patterns and trends of the illegal wildlife trade and how market forces shape them. The deluge of information from digital technologies in the ‘Information Age’ combined with the development of new artificial intelligence techniques will allow me to quantify the global patterns and trends of the illegal wildlife trade at an unprecedented spatio-temporal detail. Illegal wildlife trade is booming online and I hypothesize that Big Data mined from social media platforms can help identify which wildlife products are traded and to assess motivations behind the trade. I plan to combine such novel, geotagged and temporally accurate, information with other spatio-temporal datasets on law enforcement and human pressure, to identify the global hotspots under pressure from illegal wildlife trade and quantify the flow of wildlife products between these hotspots and the marketplaces in demand countries. I also plan to investigate how pervasive market forces underline the global patterns and trends of the illegal wildlife trade. The proposed research will provide (i) novel concepts and methods for conservation science and identify (ii) species and areas most under pressure from illegal wildlife trade globally, (iii) the trade routes and flow of wildlife products; and (iv) the drivers underlying the illegal wildlife trade.
Projet ERC : TAKHAYYUL (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Social World and Its Diversity
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 : 1416916.25 €

Imagination and dreams are often at the heart of political formations. The dream of reviving the Islamic empires has gained the Islamist political actors currency and a large following in the homes of the three greatest Islamic Empires (aka Islamdom: Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal/Timurid), even though the most recent of these ceased to exist almost a hundred years ago. Today, Islamist actors, across what is now called the Balkan-to-Bengal complex, tap into their followers’ various historical references, religious cosmologies, nationalist resentments, and other affective and imaginative registers to further their politics at the most ambitious scale, to resurrect the empire. In the former centres of Islamic Empires, the imaginative references emerge with elements of imperial nostalgia, post-imperial malaise, and political rage. The existing work has failed to capture the interconnected imaginative forces in the formation of Islamist politics for the following reasons: A) The region does not fit into foci of area studies. B) Eurocentric theories are limited to grasp and analyse the imaginative forces. This project builds on an Islamic concept takhayyul: terrestrial imagination that informs both doxastic and futuristic thinking towards developing an Islamic shared vision. C) An anthropological work with its fine-grained ethnographic method and comparative heritage, is poised to make a substantive contribution for the first time to excavate the imaginative forces in the formation of Islamist imperial dreams. The project aims: 1) To lay the conceptual ground for an anthropology of imagination, by developing the in-depth and comparative formulation of the concept takhayyul. 2) To expand anthropological knowledge on Islamisms by pushing against the limits of modernist rationality; instead, exploring the historical, ethical, and aesthetic. 3) To experiment with an innovative comparative research design that combines historical and ethnographic excavations on the imaginative.

Mots-clés : islamist politics,imagination
Projet ERC : SINCAT (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : Chalmers University of Technology — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Imagine a sustainable society where clean energy is produced from sunlight, and water is converted into hydrogen to fuel a fuel cell, which produces electric energy to power the electric motor in a car. At the same time, CO2 emissions are captured and converted to hydrocarbons that are again used as fuel or as resource for fine chemical synthesis. At the heart of this vision is heterogeneous catalysis. Hence, for it to become reality, tailored highly efficient catalyst materials are of paramount importance. The goal of this research program is therefore to establish a new experimental paradigm, which allows the detailed scrutiny of individual catalyst nanoparticles and their reaction products under application conditions. The catalytic performance of nanoparticles is directly controlled by their size, shape and chemical composition. Current studies are, however, conducted on ensembles of nanoparticles. Therefore, such studies are plagued by averaging effects, which deny access to the key details related to how size, shape and composition control catalyst performance. To eliminate this problem, we will nanofabricate a unique nanofluidic reactor device that will enable us to scrutinize catalytic processes and products at the individual catalyst nanoparticle level. In a second step, we will integrate plasmonic optical probes with the nanoreactor to be able to simultaneously monitor the dynamics of the catalyst particle state during reaction. Finally, we will apply the nanoreactor to investigate the role of the catalyst oxidation state in Fischer-Tropsch catalysis. In parallel, we will explore novel plasmon-induced hot electron-mediated reaction pathways for catalytic CO2 reduction, as part of a carbon-neutral energy cycle. We anticipate unprecedented insight into the role of catalyst particle state, size and shape in these processes. This will facilitate the development of more efficient catalyst materials in the quest for an energy-efficient and sustainable future.

Mots-clés : colloid chemistry,nanofluidics,self assembled materials,new materials  nanoparticles,nanoplasmonics,method development in catalysis,first principles theory,multiscale modeling