Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : EVOTONE (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Entité participante : Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : LMU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 457786.56 €

This project will investigate the origins, acquisition, and evolution of linguistic tone: the use of pitch to distinguish between the meaning of words. Despite the typological ubiquity of tone, there is still no phonetic, structural, or psychological model that explains how and why tones emerge (or fail to emerge) in language after language, nor how they evolve once they are formed. This is because there has never been a systematic analysis of the principles that govern the evolution of tone systems. EVOTONE will provide the first comprehensive study of tonal emergence and evolution, combining detailed phonetic and perceptual studies of Himalayan and Southeast Asian minority languages with innovative experimental methodologies and large-scale computational analysis of the structural principles correlated with the emergence of tone. EVOTONE is guided by a novel hypothesis that, if correct, will have important repercussions for the study of sound change. The core idea is deceptively simple: rather than being the result of small, incremental changes in pronunciation, features like tone come about due to a sudden failure to articulate a particular aspect of a sound. If the risk of focusing on tone is to overemphasize a single feature, the potential reward is enormous: an opportunity to transform our understanding of how physical and cognitive pressures interact to shape human behavior and language change. The outcomes of this project will provide a new empirical foundation for the typology and evolution of tone systems; break new ground in the study of how structural and phonetic factors interact in sound change; and establish, for the first time, an empirically grounded set of principles of tonal evolution. In addition to resolving a number of outstanding questions about tonogenesis, the results will substantially advance our more general understanding of how language changes over time.

Mots-clés : phonetics,tone,sound change
Projet ERC : EVOTONE (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Entité participante : University of Edinburgh — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1023367.44 €

This project will investigate the origins, acquisition, and evolution of linguistic tone: the use of pitch to distinguish between the meaning of words. Despite the typological ubiquity of tone, there is still no phonetic, structural, or psychological model that explains how and why tones emerge (or fail to emerge) in language after language, nor how they evolve once they are formed. This is because there has never been a systematic analysis of the principles that govern the evolution of tone systems. EVOTONE will provide the first comprehensive study of tonal emergence and evolution, combining detailed phonetic and perceptual studies of Himalayan and Southeast Asian minority languages with innovative experimental methodologies and large-scale computational analysis of the structural principles correlated with the emergence of tone. EVOTONE is guided by a novel hypothesis that, if correct, will have important repercussions for the study of sound change. The core idea is deceptively simple: rather than being the result of small, incremental changes in pronunciation, features like tone come about due to a sudden failure to articulate a particular aspect of a sound. If the risk of focusing on tone is to overemphasize a single feature, the potential reward is enormous: an opportunity to transform our understanding of how physical and cognitive pressures interact to shape human behavior and language change. The outcomes of this project will provide a new empirical foundation for the typology and evolution of tone systems; break new ground in the study of how structural and phonetic factors interact in sound change; and establish, for the first time, an empirically grounded set of principles of tonal evolution. In addition to resolving a number of outstanding questions about tonogenesis, the results will substantially advance our more general understanding of how language changes over time.

Mots-clés : phonetics,tone,sound change
Projet ERC : FOUR ACES (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : University of Geneva — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UNIGE
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999475.0 €

This project will open a new path to characterise the atmospheres of exoplanets down to Earth-size objects, using the spatial extension of upper atmospheres as a magnifying glass to access the atmospheric properties. The tremendous energy received by exoplanets close to their stars leads to dramatic atmospheric expansion and escape, which could result in the formation of hot rocky super-Earths seen in recent years. While the escape mechanisms and evolutionary impact on planets and atmospheres remain debated, the atmospheric expansion gives rise to spectacular spectroscopic signatures in the UV, only detectable with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). In 2015, I discovered a huge extended atmosphere escaping from a “warm Neptune”, which represents a milestone on the road to the atmospheres of lower-mass, more temperate planets. Using HARPS spectroscopy from the ground, I revealed the extreme conditions in the upper atmosphere of a “hot Jupiter”, probing the onset of atmospheric escape in the optical, linking the upper and lower atmospheres. I propose to consolidate these breakthroughs via a thorough exploitation of the vast amount of observations I obtained for ~20 planets (100+ hours on HST and 250+ hours on HARPS and HARPS-N) in the wake of my results. I will use those data to bind theories describing the lower and upper atmospheres of exoplanets, and determine how these are impacted by stellar activity. In a second step, I will build and deliver a legacy archive of UV observations by the end of HST in ~2020. In an era where new transit surveys will provide hundreds of easier-to-study exoplanets transiting bright stars, I will use my priviledged access to the reconnaissance capabilities of the ESA CHEOPS mission (2018–2022) to cherry-pick the very best planets for atmospheric characterisation. I will combine the space-borne and ground-based high-resolution spectroscopic follow-ups of these planets to deliver a novel, comprehensive view of exoplanetary atmospheres.

Mots-clés : planetary atmospheres,ultraviolet astronomy,space sciences
Projet ERC : TRANSPACIFIC (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : Ghent University — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : UGent
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 218750.0 €

This project will provide a radically new history of early modern trans-Pacific trade, by critically re-evaluating conventionally-used sources, examining hitherto neglected historical archives and records in a range of Asian and European languages, and analysing recent archaeological evidence using new methodologies and perspectives. An interdisciplinary team, comprising specialists in Chinese, Japanese, Latin American, Southeast Asian, economic, environmental, and medical history, maritime archaeology, and geographical sciences, will, for the first time, systematically investigate the roles of actors, objects, side-effects, and exchanges that were 'invisible' or marginal to conventional histories of the Manila Galleon trade (1565 to 1815). They will also examine informal trade routes and networks in this trans-Pacific trade connection, concentrating on the 16th to 18th centuries. To achieve this goal, this project will expand upon the structure and impacts of contraband, informal, accidental, and undesired exchanges of cargoes, people, knowledge, technologies, and diseases across the Pacific, to evaluate, first, the complexity, nature, and degree of the global interconnectivity of Asian and European sub-regional networks, and, second, to reassess both their positive and negative impacts on trans-Pacific trade generally, and on indigenous actors and societies in China, Japan, and the Viceroyalty of Peru specifically. Our aim is to replace the outdated image of the galleon trade as being a pure exchange of silks, ceramics, and spices for silver between Acapulco and Manila, and to create a novel and more comprehensive bottom-up narrative that places human-environment interaction at the core of analysis. TRANSPACIFIC will substantially transform the understanding of the trans-Pacific Manila Galleon trade and its impacts, and, in so doing, will open the way for the re-evaluation of other major trans-maritime networks.

Mots-clés : trans pacific trade,manila galleons,informal trade,smuggling,maritime archaeology,seafaring,human environment interaction,hinterlands,historical geography,medical history,environmental history,commercial networks
Projet ERC : DYNAMIN (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : University of Leeds — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2632375.0 €

This project will take inspiration from biomineralisation to achieve exceptional, dynamic control over crystallisation processes. Understanding the fundamental mechanisms which govern crystallisation promises the ability to inhibit or promote crystallisation as desired, and to tailor the properties of crystalline materials towards a huge range of applications. Biomineralisation provides a perfect precedent for this approach, where organisms achieve control currently unparalleled in synthetic systems. This is achieved because mineralisation occurs within controlled environments in which an organism can interact with the nascent mineral. Thanks to recent advances in microfabrication techniques and analytical methods we finally have the tools required to bring such control to the laboratory. DYNAMIN will exploit microfluidic and confined systems to study and interact with crystallisation processes with outstanding spatial and temporal resolution. Flowing droplet devices will be coupled to synchrotron techniques to investigate and control nucleation, using soluble additives and nucleating particles to direct the crystallisation pathway. Static chambers will be used to interact with crystallisation processes over longer length and time scales to achieve spatio-temporal control to rival that in biomineralisation, while a unique confined system – titania nanotubes – will enable the study and control of organic-mediated mineralisation, using fresh reagents and proteinases to interact with the process. Finally, a key biogenic strategy will provide the inspiration to develop a simple and potentially general method to trigger and control the transformation of amorphous precursor phases to single crystal products. This will generate a new framework for studying and controlling crystallisation processes, where these new skills will find applications in sectors ranging from the Chemical Industry, to Healthcare, Advanced Materials, Formulated Products and the Environment.

Mots-clés : crystallization,biomineralization,calcium carbonate,bio inspired,microfluidic
Projet ERC : LESTRA (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Social World and Its Diversity
Entité participante : Ghent University — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UGent
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1483000.0 €

This project's key question is how can learning fruitfully contribute to Sustainability Transitions (ST). Its objectives are 1) to develop a new analytical and conceptual framework for investigating the connections between learning processes, the transformation of habits and customs, and (potential) STs; 2) to identify the key conditions for learning to contribute to STs; and 3) to develop a roadmap for future research in diverse settings and contexts. Achieving a breakthrough requires us to successfully connect the process and outcomes of micro learning processes to the emergence of macro societal transitions. Transactional pragmatism provides valuable inspiration to investigate the learning that takes shape in response to sustainability problems that are increasingly disturbing our habitual way of acting. It will be used to develop a novel analytical and conceptual framework by building on earlier work in environmental and sustainability education research, didactics and sustainability transition studies (WP1). The newly developed analytical toolbox will be applied to empirical data collected in three case studies: a sustainable food system in Ghent, sustainable mobility in Wetteren and a sustainable way of handling plastics in Flanders (WP2). The analyses focus on identifying key patterns of how learning through engagement with sustainability problems results in the consolidation, enrichment or (trans)formation of habits and customs (WP3), assessing and categorising the outcomes of learning episodes in terms of their potential to contribute to STs (WP4), and analysing (changes in) the socio-technical systems in the three cases in order to identify and describe potential STs in-the-making (WP5). Synthesis should result in succesfully tracing the connections between the learning process, outcomes of learning and (potential) STs (WP6). Finally, we will develop hypothesis and a research agenda as a roadmap for future research (WP7)

Mots-clés : environmental and sustainability education,didactics,pragmatism,transaction,practical epistemology analysis,sustainable development,sustainability transitions,multi level perspective
Projet ERC : D5S (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : University of Leeds — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499899.0 €

This proposal (D5S) addresses a key problem of astrophysics – the origin of magnetic activity in the sun and solar-type stars. This is a problem not only of outstanding theoretical importance but also significant practical impact – solar activity has major terrestrial consequences. An increase in activity can lead to an increase in the number and violence of solar flares and coronal mass ejections, with profound consequences for our terrestrial environment, causing disruption to satellites and power. Predictions of magnetic activity are highly desired by government and industry groups alike. A deep understanding of the mechanisms leading to solar magnetic activity is required. The variable magnetic field is generated by a dynamo in the solar interior. Though this mechanism is known to involve the interaction of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence with rotation, no realistic model for dynamo action currently exists. D5S utilises two recent significant breakthroughs to construct new models for magnetic field generation in the sun and other solar-type stars. The first of these involves an entirely new approach termed Direct Statistical Simulation (DSS) (developed by the PI), where the statistics of the astrophysical flows are solved directly (enabling the construction of more realistic models). This approach is coupled to a breakthrough (recently published by the PI in Nature) in our understanding of the physics of MHD turbulence at the extreme parameters relevant to solar interiors. D5S also uses the methodology of DSS to provide statistical subgrid models for Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS). This will increase the utility, fidelity and predictability of such models for solar magnetic activity. Either of these new approaches, taken in isolation, would lead to significant progress in our understanding of magnetic field generation in stars. Taken together, as in this proposal, they will provide a paradigm shift in our theories for solar magnetic activity.

Mots-clés : magnetic fields,dynamo action,solar cycle,stars,astrophysical turbulence,direct statistical simulation  numerical astrophysics,planetary atmospheres,general circulation model
Projet ERC : CHIMERA (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Politecnico di Milano — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : POLIMI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 134375.0 €

This proposal aims at bringing to the market a revolutionary device to uniquely identify the chirality of molecules. An object is chiral if it differs from its mirror image, like our left and right hands. Chirality plays an extremely important role in two main fields: (1) Many drugs are chiral and selecting one of the two forms often enables the pharma industry to extend patent franchise, thus increasing profitability, and to improve the quality, safety and efficacy of the drug. (2) Researchers in the chemistry and biophysics labs use chirality as an indication of the 3D structural conformation of proteins and DNA, to study e.g. their secondary structure and stability under external stimuli. Spectrometers for measuring chirality already exist in the market. Many customers in the two aforementioned sectors could be interested in the new product we propose because it presents several advantages, namely a 2-fold reduction of the price, a 4-fold shrinking of the footprint and an increased information content. The ground-breaking concept (under patenting) behind this new spectrometer is to employ an ultra-stable interferometer to measure the chiral spectrum of molecules via a Fourier-transform approach and a heterodyne amplification of the signal. A first working prototype has already been realized and tested. The CHIMERA project has two main goals. (1) We aim at unleashing the innovation potential of the approach, by technically validating two prototypes in a pharmaceutical company and a biochemistry research lab, thus pushing the Technology Readiness Level of the system to the ultimate maturity required to approach the market, corresponding to TRL9. (2) We will design a complete exploitation plan, performing a thorough analysis of the market, developing a financing strategy, benchmarking our instrument against the competitors’ ones, profiling strategic partners and drafting a first version of a Business Plan to decide on the opportunity to found a start-up company.

Mots-clés : chirality,circular dichroism,optical activity,spectropolarimeters,spectroscopy,protein structure,enenatiomers
Projet ERC : SPENmr (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Weizmann Institute of Science — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

This proposal aims at commercializing a new method that can improve the detection and diagnosis of breast cancer. Using ultrafast magnetic resonance (MR) acquisition schemes that span off our UltraNMR ERC AdG award, we have found ways to exploit our Spatiotemporally-Encoded (SPEN) principles together with diffusion measurements, for the rapid, safe and non-invasive diagnosis of breast malignancies. This SPENmr PoC could provide much cleaner, artifact-free alternatives than existing standards; porting these methods into clinical use could reduce unnecessary biopsies, eliminate side-effects associated from contrast agent injections, expand the base of subjects that can be diagnosed without surgery, and improve the specificity of methods based on either mammography, ultrasound or contemporary MRI. All these benefits would simply require operating acquisition and processing software packages that will arise from this project, on any of the tens-of-thousands of clinical MRI scanners used nowadays worldwide for breast scanning. We consequently envision a large potential market, and a product whose successive refinements could have a lifetime of decades. Moreover, preliminary results indicate that the principles discussed in this proposal could be extended from breast to other human organs possessing an organized ductal/glandular structures –kidneys, prostate, pancreas– to analyses of stroke and to functional MRI.

Mots-clés : diffusion weighted mri,cancer diagnosis,ultrafast magnetic resonance,medical imaging
Projet ERC : B-DOMINANCE (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy
Entité participante : University of Gothenburg — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1481697.0 €

This proposal aims at understanding how B cell specificity and immunodominance shape primary and secondary humoral responses to influenza A virus. Influenza A virus is a relevant human pathogen causing a considerable yearly death toll and economic burden to society. Immunodominance is a major driving force of adaptive immunity and defines the hierarchical recognition of epitopes on the same antigen. Previous studies analysing B cell dynamics in primary and secondary responses have been mainly focusing on simple antigens and competition between B cell clones of the same family. Investigation using complex antigens and examining interclonal competition are surprisingly scarce. Influenza hemagglutinin (HA) is a prime candidate to study immunodominance in B cells. I have generated a set of mutant viruses that will allow for an unprecedented investigation into immunodominance and B cell interclonal competition in primary and secondary responses. These viruses can be used to isolate and enumerate antibody and B cells specific for different epitopes on the same complex antigen (HA). I will use these unique tools in combination with state-of-the-art immunological methods, multi-colour flow cytometry and single cells RNA sequencing paired with B cell receptor sequencing to gain fundamental insights into B cell regulation and anti-viral humoral responses. I will i) study the link between B cell receptor characteristics, specificity and B cell fate decisions in primary responses, ii) characterize the relative contribution of pre-existing B cells, serum antibodies and CD4 T cells for immunodominance of secondary responses, iii) define immunodominance in human individuals, repeatedly exposed to influenza virus. I expect this project to critically improve our understanding of basic B cell biology with the long-term benefit of improving current vaccination against variable viral pathogens.

Mots-clés : influenza,b cell,germinal center,antibodies,memory b cells,humeral immunity