Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : Bottled lightning (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth System Science
Entité participante : Université de technologie d'Eindhoven — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2479429.0 €

Despite the huge impact of lightning, its fundamental properties are still very poorly understood. With this project I want to build an infrastructure of carefully designed laboratory experiments in a novel physical regime, that will provide the conditions required to understand lightning phenomena. I will use this to answer some of the major open questions in lightning and high voltage discharge research. I will provide major scientific breakthroughs to answer the questions on 1) how lightning is initiated, 2) how lightning propagates by so-called leaders and 3) how these leaders emit energetic radiation (X-rays). The experiments will be complemented by dedicated numerical simulations for the best interpretation. Initiation of lightning within thunderclouds involves a complex, yet not understood interplay between electric fields, ice particles, charges and cosmic rays. I will have ice-like particles fall through varying electric fields in the novel discharge chamber and observe when discharges form and when they are strong enough to initiate lightning. Once initiated, lightning propagates through so-called leader discharges, but the exact mechanism has only been hypothesized. I want to understand how this is controlled by streamer discharges around it. During inception and propagation, lightning emits X-rays and other energetic radiation with energies far above expected electron energies. I will pinpoint the location and mechanism of such emissions with high reproducibility. The experiments will be unique in the world, due to the large discharge chamber, its highly controlled atmosphere, and its accompanying pulse source surpassing existing experiments by orders in voltage risetime and amplitude. This will expose new physical phenomena and thereby lead to great insights and uses: for the lightning community, validation of simulations and theories and understanding of lightning radio emissions, and for high voltage engineers tools to improve their devices.

Mots-clés : lightning,hydrometeors,gas discharge,laboratory experiments
Projet ERC : SOUND-PC (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and Communication Engineering
Entité participante : Université Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz de Hanovre — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2657372.5 €

In contemporary times, intricate challenges, whether they pertain to climate dynamics or economic processes, necessitate the handling of big data and sophisticated intelligent systems. At the core of these systems are digital neural networks that can undergo training. Neural networks based on photonic connections can be an adequate alternative, as they come with a broad bandwidth, high processing speed, and integrability with existing electronic chips. However, so far optical neural networks are mostly based on fixed elements whose connections are difficult to reconfigure. In my project SOUND-PC, I aim at creating an alternative architecture to control the photonic siblings of neural networks and will pioneer the approach of using light-sound interactions for the implementation of an optical neural network. The basis for this project lays in nonlinear optics, optoacoustics, stimulated Brillouin scattering, and optical computing.  The main goal of SOUND-PC is to experimentally demonstrate several approaches which use the interaction of traveling acoustic waves with light waves for optical neural networks. This concept has the potential to enable a highly reconfigurable computing architecture in one single optical waveguide that can use inputs in the frequency, spatial or time domain with flexible connection of nodes based on optoacoustic interaction. These approaches can potentially be transferred to the quantum domain and contribute to the new emerging field of quantum neural networks.  To achieve the main goal of SOUND-PC, I will harness nonlinear optical effects and optoacoustic interactions to address the following objectives:  1) Optoacoustic computing in the frequency domain 2) In-network computing realized by a distributed optoacoustic approach 3) Mode-processor in the spatial domain via topological-selective Brillouin scattering 4) Feasibility study of transferring optical computing architectures to the quantum domain.

Mots-clés : nonlinear optics,stimulated brillouin scattering,optoacoustics,optical computing,optical signal processing,optical neural networks,fiber optics,integrated optics
Projet ERC : FORECAT (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
Entité participante : Université de technologie d'Eindhoven — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999582.5 €

Efficient catalytic materials are essential for the sustainable energy transition. To design such materials, we have a lot to learn from Nature, where bio-catalysts enzymes can perform many reactions that are virtually impossible for chemists to replicate. Enzymes operate by dynamically confining reactants and transition states, during the catalytic reaction, with high geometric and chemical precision. While we can mimic static confinement with existing nanoporous catalysts, we do not have in-situ control over the confinement geometry inside these generally rigid materials. I aim to bridge this material gap by developing the first catalytic system with externally tunable confinement. My original approach is based on soft graphene-based materials – zeolite-templated carbons (ZTC). The unique property of these materials is that their pore size can be finely tuned within the sub-nanometer range by external mechanical force. This feature enables the precise modulation of the confinement geometry by simply varying the compression degree. In FORECAT, my team and I will: ▪ Synthesize a library of catalytic transition metal nanoparticles inside the pores of ZTCs ▪ Explore the force-responsive performance of these catalysts in selective CO2 hydrogenation and N2 fixation ▪ Link the geometry of confinement with i) diffusivity of reactants, intermediates, and products; ii) their adsorption strength and coverage on active sites; and iii) reactivity and selectivity of the catalysts ▪ Utilize oscillatory compression–release of ZTC-based catalysts to drastically enhance their performance through catalytic resonance The new field of force-responsive catalysis will provide unique fundamental insights and deep understanding of the chemistry of confinement. This understanding will enable designing better functional porous materials for catalysis and other applications. Eventually, the results of this project will contribute to bridging the gap between artificial and natural catalysts.

Mots-clés : catalytic resonance theory zeolites microporous catalysts operando spectroscopy nanoconfinement heterogeneous catalysts co2 hydrogenation
Projet ERC : EXCEPTIONAL (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and Processes Engineering
Entité participante : Technion - Institut de technologie d'Israël — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1594166.0 €

The properties of artificial materials can be tailored to exhibit extraordinary properties by cleverly engineering their composition. The development of such metamaterials is a prominent thrust in engineering today. One of the greatest challenges is to engineer metamaterials that manipulate waves by design. Of particular interest are elastic waves, since numerous mechanical applications require their control; vibration isolation, ultrasonography, energy harvesting and cloaking, to name a few. The forefront of research in wave control emerged from a seemingly unrelated theory, quantum mechanics, with the development of its non-Hermitian formalism, describing nonconservative systems that exchange energy with their environment. By drawing analogies between this formalism and those of classical systems, researchers have discovered phenomena that defy intuition, phenomena such as zero reflection and chiral absorption, and have exploited them to control light, sound, and elastic waves. Can we go beyond these analogies? I suggest that the answer is hidden in the tensorial nature of elastodynamics, a nature that is unparalleled in other physics. This conjecture is motivated by my group's recent discovery that even conservative stratified solids can generate non-Hermitian features, such as negative refraction and exceptional points. The mechanism that obviates external energy is the coupling between shear and pressure waves that is unique to elastodynamics. What happens when judiciously exploiting this distinctive mechanism together with concepts from non-Hermitian quantum mechanics? In tackling this question I expect to unveil novel phenomena that are inaccessible in other physics. Understanding the mechanics will lead to exceptional ways of shaping waves, thereby benefiting engineering applications that require robust control of elastic motion.

Mots-clés : continuum mechanics,solid mechanics,mechanics of materials,elastodynamics,wave propagation,elastic waves,shear waves,pressure waves,negative refraction,composites,laminates,active materials
Projet ERC : STUDACT (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Soci al World and Its Interactions
Entité participante : Technion - Institut de technologie d'Israël — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1887500.0 €

Global Citizenship Education (GCE) is a key target to be achieved by 2030 as part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. It is claimed to have the potential to transform education systems, empowering learners to build more peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, and secure societies, while fostering mutual understanding, especially in interactions between indigenous and migrant populations. Many education systems now expect students to appropriate GCE in their day-to-day. Extant research has addressed challenges in developing GCE, examining capacity building (teachers’ readiness to teach GCE) or mapping inconsistencies in theoretical approaches. However, with no systematic baseline research to show how GCE is understood and appropriated by students, there is little hope of real progress by 2030. STUDACT starts afresh, hypothesising that students are not mere passive recipients of learning – they differ in their desire to engage with GCE, based on personal traits or context. It will explore and contextualise how students receive, understand and appropriate GCE, treating them as core partners and agentic participants. Data will be collected in Russia, the US, Italy, Australia, Germany, and the UK – all countries with a high migrant influx. Four work packages give students a voice to develop meaningful GCE, using group discussions, photovoice activism, and social media analysis. Policies and curricula on GCE at various levels of governance will be analysed. STUDACT will answer four questions to ensure a strong foundation for GCE to deliver on its promise of educating the next generation: (1) how do students of different backgrounds understand GCE? (2) how do students appropriate GCE? (3) how do understandings differ within and between countries, curricula, contexts, student characteristics, and education systems? (4) how are student attitudes aligned with those inferred by international organisations, teacher training programmes, curricula developers, or teachers?

Mots-clés : global citizenship education students agency
Projet ERC : TWIST (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
Entité participante : Université de technologie d'Eindhoven — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999100.0 €

Chirality, a fundamental property in chemistry and physics, plays a pivotal role in determining drug efficacy, advancing biomolecular analysis, and guiding the development of chiral optoelectronic devices. This concept becomes even more intriguing when integrated with halide perovskites, which are renowned for their exceptional optoelectronic properties. This integration gives rise to emergent phenomena such as chiral optical activity and chiral induced spin selectivity. These phenomena provide novel methods for manipulating light and electron spin, enabling advancements in quantum computing and innovative optoelectronic devices, including highly sensitive detectors and energy-efficient light-emitting diodes. However, fully harnessing this potential entails overcoming significant challenges in deciphering the complex quantum interactions underlying these phenomena. This necessitates a profound understanding of the interplay between light, charge, spin, and lattice vibrations within chiral perovskites.  Addressing this challenge, the project pioneers an innovative computational framework that seamlessly integrates electronic structure theory, statistical physics, and molecular simulations. This multidisciplinary approach ensures computational efficiency while maintaining flexibility to incorporate additional theories and models. It provides access to gaining profound insights into the intricate physico-chemical mechanisms, as well as diverse structures and compositions to establish a robust structure-property relationship. Through this framework, this project aims to design unique chiral perovskites, which are expected to enhance the sensitivity of photodetectors and increase the energy efficiency of spin LEDs. Moreover, the fundamental insights from studying these materials extend beyond optoelectronics, influencing related disciplines in chemistry, biology, and the natural sciences, by offering new perspectives on chirality in both man-made and natural systems.

Mots-clés : halide perovskites,chiral materials,chiral optical activity,chiral induced spin selectivity,lattice dynamics,density functional theory,molecular dynamics
Projet ERC : RIBORESCUEPHAGY (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and R egeneration
Entité participante : Université de Heidelberg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 338744.14 €

Multiple ribosomes simultaneously move along the mRNAs to translate the genes into proteins. Cellular stress triggers collisions of ribosomes and disrupts protein synthesis. Eukaryotes have evolved multi-tiered quality control mechanisms that monitor ribosomes and rescue them on collision. While much is known about the rescue of cytosolic ribosomes, how the cell rescues stalled endoplasmic reticulum bound (ER-bound) ribosomes remains unknown. We recently discovered that the stalling of ER-bound ribosomes induces autophagy, a major cellular degradation pathway. We discovered two autophagy receptors that are induced upon stalling of ER-bound ribosomes and these proteins are conserved between plants and humans. We also showed that ufmylation, an elusive posttranslational modification system regulates ER-bound ribosome stalling-induced autophagy. These two discoveries indicate that autophagy plays a major role in the maintenance of a functional ER-bound ribosome population. Based on these discoveries, I hypothesize that autophagy rescues stalled ER-bound ribosomes by selectively degrading harmful polypeptides and RNAs that clog the ribosomes during collisions. Here, I propose to define and characterize this conserved quality control mechanism. I will establish a suite of complementary methods in the model plants Arabidopsis thaliana and Marchantia polymorpha to explore the physiological significance of autophagy-mediated ribosomal rescue (RiboRescuePhagy) in complex multicellular organisms. In parallel, I will carry out unbiased genetic screens in human cell lines to discover the molecular components that mediate RiboRescuePhagy. Finally, I will perform structure-function analysis of a key ufmylation enzyme to untangle the connection between ufmylation and autophagy. At the completion of this project, we will have defined a new quality control mechanism that rescues stalled ER-bound ribosomes to maintain cellular homeostasis in eukaryotes.

Mots-clés : plant proteostasis,arabidopsis thaliana,marchantia polymorpha,selective autophagy,ribosome stalling
Projet ERC : RNAPhotoCat (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems E ngineering
Entité participante : Université de Heidelberg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999525.0 €

RNA is a fundamental component of life. Complex, dynamic, and spatial networks of molecular interactions between RNAs and other biomolecules are essential for maintaining cellular homeostasis. Disruptions in the RNA interactome have been linked to a number of human diseases, implying that these molecular interactions could represent a new family of unexploited therapeutic targets. Despite the growing appreciation of the importance of RNA, discovery, and characterization of RNA interactions at the transcriptome level is lagging behind, mainly due to the limitations of the existing methods including low precision, low throughput, low coverage, biased analysis, complicated protocols involving cumbersome biochemical fractionation or cell-line engineering. With the present technology, many more years may pass before a comprehensive list of their functions, localizations, and interactions can be assembled, considering the immense size and complexity of the human transcriptome and RNA interactome. This ERC project aims to establish a simple, versatile, and low-cost technology based-on photocatalytic proximity-labeling and the biRhoBAST aptamer for deciphering RNA-RNA and RNA-protein interactions with high precision for any given RNA at different resolutions, ranging from single-molecule to macromolecular complex level. Owing to its innovative design, this technology will seamlessly integrate with advanced super-resolution RNA imaging techniques, providing valuable insights into the intricate interaction networks of RNA with high temporal and spatial resolution. By applying this massively multiplexable technology to numerous biological settings and disease-related RNAs, we will expand our understanding of interactomes, uncover new insights into subcellular RNA structures and unravel fundamental molecular mechanisms of RNA diseases, leading to the discovery of novel functions for both RNA and proteins, and potentially unlocking new therapeutic targets.

Mots-clés : rna imaging,super resolution microscopy,probe,fluorophore,rna interactome,proximity labeling
Projet ERC : ProbeQG (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Entité participante : Université de Heidelberg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1987603.0 €

To understand the quantum structure of spacetime, we must confront proposed theories of quantum gravity with experimental data. This is a challenge, because quantum-gravity effects are generally assumed to manifest at the Planck length, which lies far beyond current experimental reach. I challenge this assumption by probing quantum gravity at different scales. To achieve this, I propose to use lever arms that translate predictions of quantum gravity at the Planck scale into predictions at larger distances, where we can compare them to experimental data. I have identified such lever arms in particle physics, black holes and cosmology. The proposal’s first testing ground for quantum gravity is particle physics, where the scale dependence of couplings is a lever arm that translates Planck-scale predictions into testable predictions at larger distances. Using this lever arm, I will predict the values of couplings in the Standard Model and models of dark matter. The second testing ground is black holes, where the spin can act as a lever arm that translates Planckian physics into horizon-scale effects. To use this lever arm, I will derive spinning black-hole spacetimes and explore their image features. The third testing ground is late-time cosmology, where the dark energy is a lever arm that translates a microscopic interplay of scalar fields with gravity into an accelerated expansion of the universe. To use this lever arm, I will predict the properties of dark energy. The proposal’s main objective – to confront quantum gravity theory with observational data – will thus be achieved by forging new connections between quantum gravity and other research fields. These novel connections also provide a fresh perspective on long-standing questions in these other fields, for example on the nature of dark matter and dark energy. To demonstrate the power of these lever arms, I will work in the framework of asymptotic safety, a compelling framework for a quantum theory of gravity.

Mots-clés : quantum gravity phenomenology asymptotically safe quantum gravity interplay of quantum gravity with matter quantum effects in black holes