Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : S-FOAM (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and Processes Engineering
Entité participante : Université de Trente — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1930096.0 €

Technological progress and increasingly environmental-related problems call for new cutting-edge design strategies to improve materials’ functionalities. The S-FOAM's challenge is to breakthrough metamaterial design by implanting origami/kirigami capabilities within architected cellular structures at different scales, thus bringing metamaterials to unprecedented mechanical performance. The resulting metamaterials will combine multistability, anisotropy, geometrical frustration, control of localized deformation, and ellipticity loss to achieve a new capability: self-foldability and shape-morphing induced by external stimuli. Unlike what happens in currently available origami, the location of the creases is not a priori imposed, but self-guided by ellipticity loss, occurring in the homogenized material, equivalent to the kirigami/origami, and self-controlled by embedding within the microstructure topological point and line defects. This introduces an unexplored field of research in which a material element will become able to mechanically react to actions from the surroundings through a direct change in its shape, thus reaching a configuration that optimizes its stiffness, strength, toughness, and, in a word, its environmental resilience. The research project S-FOAM will develop modelling based on the mechanics of solids and structures, numerical simulations, and experimental tools for the optimal design of origami/kirigami-lattice metamaterials. Applications are envisaged in soft robotics where grippers grasp and manipulate objects without damaging them, and in wearable devices where materials gently adapt to humans’ movements. Moreover, the design principle provided by S-FOAM is of great interest in developing adaptive medical devices and in maximizing solar power intake through flexible PVs integrated into metamaterials capable of changing shape depending on the sun motion.

Mots-clés : solid mechanics structural mechanics origami engineering architected materials structural metamaterials
Projet ERC : eGRIDE (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative B iology : from Genes and Genomes to S ystems
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1961573.0 €

Living systems are the product of evolution in a dynamically changing world; they endlessly adapt to new challenges imposed by their environment. Yet, our understanding of evolutionary mechanisms involved in adaptation to dynamic environments is very sparse. Even though gene regulation is well-known to endow cells with the ability to adjust their phenotype according to environmental fluctuations, we know little about genetic changes that fuel regulatory evolution or about the benefits and costs of regulatory changes. This lack of knowledge impacts several fields in biology: from the biomedical challenge of cancer plasticity where evolved gene regulations allow cancer cells to escape treatment, to the challenge of synthetic biology where gene circuits must be controlled despite environmental fluctuations. This project builds on genomic advances to determine how the evolution of gene regulation depends on 1) mutational effects – “what can happen?”, and 2) the selective advantage of regulatory changes in dynamic environments – “who can survive?”. These fundamental questions will be addressed at the transcriptomic scale by combining innovative experimental and computational approaches in a powerful model organism: the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using a novel high-throughput method by which the transcriptomes of thousands of genotypes can be profiled in different environments, we will determine how random mutations potentiate or constrain regulatory evolution and we will identify genetic variants altering gene regulation. By competing random mutants and performing functional assays under diverse regimes of selection, we will determine when and for which genes the evolution of expression regulation is beneficial. This work will advance our understanding of the genetic mechanisms underlying regulatory differences and of their adaptive value in dynamic environments, providing an empirical foundation for the development of predictive models of regulatory evolution.

Mots-clés : dynamic environments quantitative genetics gene expression plasticity functional genomics cellular adaptation fate of mutations
Projet ERC : Give-Me-Five (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999984.0 €

The Give-Me-Five project will provide the next generation of fluorinated molecules that found plethora of applications in life science. Currently up to 50% of agrochemicals as well as 20% of pharmaceuticals contain a fluorinated motif. As an example, the trifluoromethyl (CF3) group is one of the most used fluorinated motifs in research and development. Although several research programs have been dedicated to the synthesis of CF3-molecules with numerous CF3-reagents being developed, recent reports pointed out a major stability drawback of the CF3 moiety impacting its usefulness. Thus, developing more stable fluorinated motifs that could replace the CF3 group is urgent. In this context, pentafluorosulfanyl (SF5) motif is considered as a “super trifluoromethyl motif” since it is more stable than the CF3 motif. However, two major drawbacks should be overcome to unlock the potential of SF5 molecules: (i) current direct methodologies to introduce the SF5 motif rely on scarcely commercially available and highly toxic SF5Cl – a SF5 radical precursor, and (ii) this precursor features a very limited reactivity. Although the availability and toxicity concerns have been recently addressed in my lab by developing an in situ protocol to generate and use SF5Cl, the problem of poor reactivity remains. Here, I propose to tackle this challenge by designing new, more sustainable and stable electrophilic SF5 sources To provide the first general direct synthesis of SF5-molecules we will: 1. Synthesize the first shelf-stable family of reagents prone to be SF5 electrophile donor 2. Apply the new shelf-stable reagents to forge heteroatom-SF5 bonds 3. Develop a copper catalyzed approach to forge C-SF5 bonds using our shelf-stable reagents This endeavour could provide the first direct general synthesis of SF5-molecules, paving the way to the next generation of fluorinated molecules. Hence, it will foster developments of agrochemical, pharmaceutical as well as material containing SF5 motif

Mots-clés : organofluorine,catalysis
Projet ERC : HumanSUBthreat (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : Université de Barcelone — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1900285.0 €

Fast detection of threats is one of the most important abilities for survival, as it allows efficiently responding to potential harms. In humans, such advantage extends well into other cognitive domains, including social communication. Threat detection is paramount in all sensory modalities, but is probably most adaptive in audition. However, research on the neural substrates of fast threat detection in humans has been almost exclusively dedicated to vision. The key neural pathway for visual fast threat detection is the so-called subcortical route for emotion. Having pulled through millions of years of evolution, this shortcut conveys crude direct sensory inputs from the thalamus to the amygdala, facilitating a prompt emotional response. In the auditory domain, evidence from non-human animals suggests that a similar fast route may exist, but it has never been described in humans. Here, I aim at testing the hypothesis that this auditory subcortical route indeed exists in our species, with neuroanatomical and functional properties that support an optimal response to threat. Using state-of-the-art electrophysiological and neuroimaging techniques (scalp and intracranial electroencephalography, functional magnetic resonance and diffusion-weighted imaging), I will identify a pathway compatible with this route and test its functional and temporal dynamics, relative to a cortical route. Each technique will provide essential information for thoroughly depicting the route. Beyond its function, I will examine its link to traits associated to psychiatric conditions. Then, to confirm its anatomical existence in humans, I will microscopically track its connections directly in postmortem brains. HumanSUBthreat will restructure current dominant models of human affective neuroscience, strongly biased towards vision, and provide a novel view towards the understanding of disorders associated to amygdala dysfunction.

Mots-clés : emotion,auditory cognition,amygdala,scalp electroencephalography,intracranial electroencephalography,functional magnetic resonance imaging,diffusion weighted imaging,human postmortem brain
Projet ERC : SSNSD (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : Université de Barcelone — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1682500.0 €

The concept of diffusion is ubiquitous in the physical sciences. From the mathematical point of view, its study started in the early 19th century with the development of PDE theory, and has many connections to Physics, Probability, Geometry, and Functional Analysis. This project aims to answer several outstanding questions related to the mathematics of diffusion.  The proposal is divided into two blocks. The first one corresponds to the study of stable solutions to reaction-diffusion PDE, and more precisely the classification of global stable solutions in the physical space (i.e., in 3D) for a general class of problems including the Allen-Cahn, the Alt-Phillips, or the thin Alt-Caffarelli equations. We will also investigate the same question for complex-valued solutions in 2D, which arises in the construction of travelling waves for the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. The second block corresponds to nonstandard diffusions. In particular, we will study the Boltzmann equation (a fundamental model in statistical mechanics), nonlocal diffusions (deeply related to Lévy processes and "anomalous diffusions''), as well as the porous medium equation (a classical nonlinear PDE that arises in various physical models in which diffusion is "slow''). The highly ambitious goals of the project are motivated by some recent results obtained by the PI in these areas.
Projet ERC : AMIGO (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : Université de Barcelone — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1840581.0 €

Chronic pain is endemic and difficult to treat. The first surge occurs in adolescence, a critical period for brain development associated with high vulnerability. The number of adolescents with disabling pain has soared, and in most cases, pain persists into adulthood, strongly impacting long-term wellbeing. The impact of chronic pain in adolescence urgently calls for a better understanding of its causes, longitudinal predictors, and underlying biopsychosocial mechanisms. Psychosocial and physical stress in youth are critical risk factors for chronic pain in adolescence. Yet it is unknown how they interfere with individual brain physiology to predict who will develop chronic pain. I will use a longitudinal design involving adolescents undergoing major surgeries, coupled with an experimental neuroimaging approach, precision fMRI and machine learning methods to: (i) test the directionality of the association between risk factors, brain physiology and future onset of chronic pain (WP1); (ii) identify a neurophysiological multi-ingredient model that predicts, before surgery, who will (and via what mechanisms) develop chronic postsurgical pain (WP2); and, in a subset of pre-selected patients, (iii) test whether target neurophysiological pathways track pain along subacute and chronic pain phases and after treatment (WP3). I hypothesize that target brain pathways during pain, multisensory unpleasantness and self-evaluation in an affective context will: (i) synergistically predict future onset of pain at the individual adolescent level; (ii) be associated with major risk sources, (iii) exacerbate with chronic pain and attenuate after effective treatment. The results will lay foundational tools that can be used prospectively for early identification of (patho)physiology predicting future pain and patient subtypes. AMIGO has the potential for a profound impact on understanding, early detection, and mechanistically informed treatment recommendations in high-risk adolescents.

Mots-clés : chronic pain stress adolescence brain affective neuroscience fmri prediction
Projet ERC : DENGEN (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Entité participante : Université nationale de Singapour — Pays : Singapour — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : NUS
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 43686.25 €

Across pathogens, it remains unclear why some lineages persist while others die out. Population immunity pressure coupled with relative abilities to infect and disseminate in hosts are likely to play a critical role. There are key data and methodological gaps that prevent us from identifying and quantifying drivers of pathogen fitness. We need robust measures of fitness and be able to apply these measures to sequences from the same ecological disease system over many years. We also need to understand how an individual's immunity responds, if at all, to ongoing exposures by continuously changing pathogens. Finally, we need appropriate methods that can integrate candidate drivers of fitness within the same analytical framework. Using dengue virus as a model system, I will use annual sequence data from Thailand collected from 1973 to today alongside long term measurements of immune responses in the same individuals over 25 years apart to answer the following questions:   - How does individual immunity change over decadal time frames? I will re-recruit individuals who were infected with dengue virus during participation in cohort studies in the 1990s. I will measure their antibody response today to viruses that have circulated over the past 58 years, including the specific virus that infected them in the 1990s. I will compare their responses today to those in stored samples from the original cohort study.  - What are the drivers of fitness? I will quantify the changing fitness of circulating dengue viruses from 1973 to today. I will then explore how changes in viral dissemination in mosquitoes, changes in kinetics in human cells and the build up of strain-specific population immunity interact to determine viral fitness. By studying the dynamic interplay between pathogen fitness, host immunity and vector, this project will explore a fundamental concept of disease ecology, as well as providing insights into a major threat to global public health.

Mots-clés : dengue virus,antibody dynamics,viral diversity
Projet ERC : CityLife (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Study of the Human Past
Entité participante : Université Démocrite de Thrace — Pays : Grèce — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1543750.0 €

CityLife explores, from a bioarchaeological perspective, how historical populations adapted to an urban environment and developed resilience to the disadvantages of urban life. By exploiting the vast amount of information contained in human skeletal remains, the project will clarify the roles of biological factors in the durability and sustainability of pre-industrial urban societies. Newly developed osteological, chemical isotope, and genomic methods will be used in this project, together with cutting-edge tools for statistical evaluation. CityLife will evaluate the living conditions, economy, population structure, pathogen load, and immune defenses in a sample of more than 4,500 skeletons from a hotspot of European urban culture: Thessaloniki. This city in northern Greece still exists today, and in historic times it formed a bridge between the Roman West and the Byzantine East. Thessaloniki offers the unique constellation to study urban life from 300 BC to AD 1,500 and thus to draw inference about an urban population in a single place continuously over 1,800 years. The main objectives of the project are to a) infer urban living standards by studying secular changes in anthropometric indexes, infant diet, childhood stress, and trauma in a combined manner; b) investigate the resilience and sustainability of urban food systems by reconstructing individual diets and local supply networks; d) investigate social structures, religious cohabitation, and migration by genetically reconstructing the degree of kin and non-kin relationships; and e) explore the effects of pathogen exposure on human evolution and health by studying genes associated with increased immunological response and the oral microbiome. CityLife will examine empirically tangible aspects of biocultural development to answer the simple question of how humans became urban species.

Mots-clés : biological anthropology,urban history,human evolution,paleodiet,paleogenetics,biological standards of living,population genetics,epidemiology
Projet ERC : EVAPORATOR (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe Sciences
Entité participante : Leibniz-Gemeinschaft — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WLG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2034375.0 €

The aim of this ambitious project is to use stellar physics to overcome a roadblock in our understanding of how exoplanets lose their primary hydrogen-helium atmospheres and make space for secondary, life-enabling ones. The best observing window for evaporating primary atmospheres are transit observations in the near-infrared metastable helium lines. However, correctly interpreting the observed absorption is extremely challenging. How much of the planetary helium is in the metastable state is controlled by a very small, but incredibly hard to observe part of the host star's extreme-ultraviolet spectrum. Not knowing this controlling factor makes quantitative estimates of the planet's evaporating atmosphere currently impossible. In this project my team and I will put helium triplet spectroscopy on a solid stellar physics footing for the first time, leveraging my extensive background in stellar X-ray astronomy. We will develop a procedure to reconstruct the crucial part of the stellar extreme-UV spectrum accurately from observed coronal X-ray spectra of stars, vastly outperforming the current highly uncertain estimation methods. We will model the outflowing planetary atmosphere to predict helium absorption as a function of stellar extreme-UV irradiation, and for the first time add accurate physics of X-ray bright stellar flares. We will use an unprecedented approach to test our predictions: We will conduct transit observations of exoplanetary helium during different phases of a host star's activity cycle, i.e. observationally isolating the changing stellar extreme-UV irradiation as a driver of helium absorption for the first time. This high risk - high gain project will turn the phenomenology of the helium window to the exoplanetary atmosphere into true understanding, by paying equal attention to the stellar window in the extreme-UV that controls how much we can see of the planet's escaping atmosphere.

Mots-clés : stellar coronae,x ray astronomy,exoplanet evaporation,exoplanet atmospheres
Projet ERC : LifeLongFit (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : Leibniz-Gemeinschaft — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WLG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2000000.0 €

Aging represents gradual organismal decline driven by accumulation of cellular and molecular damages including DNA damage and metabolic failures. At young and middle age, these damages are mitigated by tailored repair systems, such as autophagy and DNA damage response. The repairs can be triggered through adaptive stress responses induced by anti-aging interventions such as dietary restriction (DR) and DR mimetic metformin. Recently, we found that loss of metabolic plasticity and repair activities due to aging abrogate longevity benefits of adaptive stressors at old age. Specifically, we found that aging-linked failures of mitochondria and lipid catabolism limit metformin benefits and confer metformin toxicity in late life, and others showed comparable limitations for DR and exercise. Our findings demonstrate that anti-aging treatments do lose efficacy in old organisms, and new approaches are required to promote healthy aging in late life. Here, we will use multi-omics, and functional tests in C. elegans, short-lived killifish and long-lived mammals to (a) probe the origin of aging-linked adaptive failures and (b) find molecular and therapeutic solutions for overcoming these failures. Omics tests and survival screens will be used to uncover mechanisms of intrinsic resilience against late life toxicity of metformin and other adaptive stressors in nematodes. Additional omics data will be analyzed to probe adaptive basis of the exceptional mammalian longevity in NMR and whale, followed by attempted replication of uncovered differences in shorter-lived species (nematodes and fish) by drugs and gene changes, with an outlook of triggering superior stress resilience and metabolic plasticity in late life. Our expertise will allow testing late life responses to diverse adaptive interventions from moderate genotoxic stress to DR mimetics and microbiome manipulation. This innovative program will illuminate novel treatments for healthy longevity that are not limited by aging.

Mots-clés : adaptive stress responses,metabolic plasticity,mitochondria,lipid metabolism