Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : MaGMa (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Study of the Human Past
Entité participante : Université Pompeu Fabra — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UPF
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2586948.0 €

The proposed project will be the first to investigate the intimate connection between material culture, quotidian life, and gender in the making of and resistance to early modern colonial globalization. The 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries witnessed the rise of historical processes vital to moulding the world to its present shape. While scholars have extensively studied the worldwide translocations of people, goods and ideas, the fact that this globalization also took shape through the cross-continental circulation of engendered ideologies, policies, knowledge, material culture, technologies and skills has not been sufficiently explored; equally under-investigated has been how this same constellation worked in resisting globalization. Through a synergistic transdisciplinary approach, MaGMa will fully address these weaknesses by examining the material worlds constructed at the crossroads of Modern Colonialism, Gender Systems, and Maintenance Activities. The latter is a concept born in Spanish archaeology to highlight the foregrounding nature of a set of structural everyday practices (e.g. care-giving, food-processing, weaving, hygiene and health, the socialization and rearing of children, and the arrangement of living spaces) essential to social continuity and community wellbeing. Bringing into focused dialogue prehistoric and historical archaeology; history; anthropology, geography; and postcolonial, anticolonial, decolonial, and gender studies, and binding archaeological science, archaeological fieldwork, and archival research, MaGMa will analyse cultural changes and continuities in the Mariana Islands revealing otherwise undetected cultural features. The ground-breaking combination of this array of disciplines and methods will facilitate the ultimate goal of the project: a sound and holistic understanding of how maintenance activities and gender transformations became structural in configuring early modern colonial “new normalities” across the globe.

Mots-clés : archaeology of colonialism archaeology of gender archaeology of everyday life global archaeology social archaeology community oriented archaeology indigenous communities decolonial archaeology pacific archaeology,historical archaeology mariana islands
Projet ERC : ICDD (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Entité participante : Université Pompeu Fabra — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UPF
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1234685.0 €

This project takes as its starting point the profound crisis that is affecting constitutional democracies all over the world. The crisis is manifested both through a growing lack of confidence in constitutionalism and a dramatic increase in citizen dissatisfaction towards democracy. The project is mainly motivated in that crisis and focuses on one of its causes: the constitutional structure itself. It is grounded on the acknowledgement that our constitutions were written in order to serve societies that no longer exist -an “obsolete political sociology”- and based on theoretical assumptions that we no longer share -an “elitist political philosophy”. This would explain the widespread feelings of civic disengagement that would be distinctive of our time -and of which (“populist”) politics frequently take advantage In the face of the present crises, numerous scholars have proposed weakening even further the democratic elements of our constitutional structure, as if there existed a zero-sum relationship between democracy and constitutional rights. Contrary to such views, this project wants to make constitutionalism more sensitive to the increasing democratic demands upon it. The project aims to offer concrete institutional alternatives devised to channel the demands of democracy, and engage with activists and members of civil society, in order to discuss and disseminate the projects’ outcomes. For that purpose, this project will first gather information on both contemporary constitutional reforms and the recent Citizen Assemblies’ movement; then compare and analyze that information with the help of experts and social activists; and finally evaluate that material from the "regulatory ideal" that guides the project, which is that of democracy as a "conversation among equals." The ultimate goal of the project is to design institutional proposals that are at the same time respectful of individual rights, and respectful of the decisions resulting from democratic dialogue.

Mots-clés : constitutional change citizens assemblies deliberative democracy democratic erosion
Projet ERC : NovoGenePop (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Entité participante : CERCA Institution — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CERCA;I-CERCA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2453751.0 €

Genes are fundamental units of life and their origin has fascinated researchers since the beginning of the molecular era. Many of the studies on the formation of new genes in genomes have focused on gene duplication and subsequent divergence of the two gene copies. But, in recent years, we have learnt that genes can also arise de novo from previously non-genic sequences. The discovery of de novo genes has become possible by the sequencing of complete genomes and the comparison of gene sets between closely related species. Here we wish to test a novel hypothesis, we propose that de novo gene formation dynamics in populations results in substantial differences in gene content between individuals. If they exist, these differences would be not be visible by the current methods to study gene variation, which are based on the comparison of the sequences of each individual to a common set of reference genes. To test our hypothesis, we will need to develop novel computational approaches to first obtain an accurate representation of all transcripts and translated open reading frames in each individual, and then integrate the information at the population level. We propose to apply these methods to two very distinct biological systems, a large collection of Saccharomyces cerevisiae world isolates and a human lymphoblastoid cell line (LCL) panel. For this, we will collect and generate RNA (RNA-Seq) and ribosome profiling (Ribo-Seq) sequencing data. In order to identify de novo originated events occurred within populations, as opposed to phylogenetically conserved genes that have been lost in some individuals, we will also generate similar data from a set of closely related species in each of the two systems. Combined with genomics data, we will identify the spectrum of mutations associated with de novo gene birth with an unprecedented level of detail and uncover footprints of adaptation linked to the birth of new genes.

Mots-clés : molecular evolution
Projet ERC : ORIG_STATE (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Individuals, Markets and Organisations
Entité participante : Université Pompeu Fabra — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UPF
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2370000.0 €

My research project proposes studying the origin of state capacity, democracy and political dynasties using the colonial conquest of Latin America as a natural experiment. Much of the recent work on comparative politics and development uses large historical events as fruitful experimentation laboratories. However, the colonial experience looks more similar to a "bundle treatment" than a single treatment. It is difficult to disentangle the role of differences in legal origin from the influences of human capital, etc. To try to overcome this problem, past empirical approaches use a variety of methods like case studies, panel data, country-fixed effects, and instrumental variables. I will try to move one step further in this debate by considering the initial years of the Spanish colonization of Latin America as a natural experiment. My methodological approach has four advantages. First, since I only analyse the initial years of colonization, my empirical strategy is based on the fact that the initial conquerors had no knowledge of the land that they intended to conquer. The second advantage is that, in working with the colonization of Latin America, we only have one colonial power, Spain, which avoids the traditional problems of diversity of legal origins. The third advantage is that the contracts (“Capitulaciones”), that the conquerors signed with the King before embarking to America, and before even knowing anything about the land that he would conquer, and other documents from the Archivo de Indias, provide very rich details on the rules that governed the early institutions (power to tax and rule, the use of military power, the treatment of indigenous groups, etc.). Finally, these documents contain information to locate the initial settlements at the subnational level. The colonization of the Americas and the information contained in the “Capitulaciones” found in the Archivo de Indias provides a unique opportunity to advance the debate on these crucial questions.

Mots-clés : colonization,early institutions,state capacity,democracy,dinasties,natural experiment
Projet ERC : Off-Bench (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Entité participante : Southern african institute for policy and research limited — Pays : Zambie — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : SAIPAR
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 116187.5 €

Off-Bench adopts an innovative approach to the study of judges and judicial politics. Rather than focusing on judicial rulings (the mainstay of academic study) it undertakes the first systematic study of what judges do outside of their courtrooms as part of their official duties and public engagements (hereon off-bench activities), why, and with what impact. This politics project adopts this approach for five reasons: off-bench activities are inherently political; judges engage in a wider range of off-bench activities than has hitherto been recognised; what judges do off-bench is highly revealing of their role understandings; what judges do off-bench matters for the roles that they play both on and off the bench; and judges are critical political actors who can help to promote or undermine the rule of law, accountability, and human rights. The project focuses on contemporary Africa as a most likely case for such off-bench significance and to build theory from the Global South. To facilitate the complex mix of qualitative and quantitative research required to map and then analyse off-bench activities the project will undertake extensive research in two countries. Kenya and Zambia are selected as most similar cases that display different levels of off-bench activism and judicial independence. To test theory developed and evaluate the broader applicability of findings the project will conduct additional research in five ancillary cases – Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda – selected for differences in levels of authoritarianism, conflict, and off-bench activities, and common and civil law traditions. This ambitious project will transform how we study and understand the political role, strategies, and significance of this critical democratic actor and make ground-breaking contributions to our understanding of African politics, institutional theory, and role of performance in politics and inform and enhance judicial reform and democracy support efforts.

Mots-clés : judges judicial politics african politics democratisation hybrid regimes
Projet ERC : APROSUS (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : Université technique de Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 499999.06 €

Asthma and allergies are the epidemic of the 21st century after a sharp rise in prevalence since the middle of the last century. Asthma is the most common chronic condition for children – at school age about every 10th pupil is affected in westernized countries. Likewise, allergic illnesses are very prevalent with 30- 50 % of the paediatric population being affected. Currently, there is neither cure nor effective prevention. However, asthma and allergies are illnesses, which are largely environmentally determined. Exposures to the environmental microbiome greatly determine risk and protection from onset of illness in populations of common genetic make-up. My team and I have described relevant taxa of the environmental microbiome in the unique farm studies we pioneered. Very recently, we discovered the microbiome-derived functional agents conferring protection. These epidemiological findings while being scientifically cutting edge, cannot be back translated to children’s and their families’ benefit. My vision is thus to move the field of microbiome research forward towards in depth characterization of microbe-derived metabolite complexes to better understand their associated asthma- and allergy protective properties by advancing both the experimental and the human population-based studies. The interdisciplinary APROSUS Project addresses this research gap. The aims are to characterize and synthetize these functional agents (aim 1), to understand the underlying mechanisms of protection (aim 2) and to validate the findings in the population-based farm studies (aim 3). Thereby we will lay the ground for translation into innovative and effective prevention strategies to stop the asthma and allergy epidemic.
Projet ERC : Tree2Globe (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth System Science
Entité participante : Université technique de Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 142620.0 €

Three trillion trees lie behind a carbon sink that has taken up about 30% of humanity’s carbon emissions over recent decades. Yet whether we can continue to rely on this huge natural subsidy is highly uncertain. The sink emerges from systematic perturbations in the dynamics of growth, death and establishment of individual trees. Taken together across the forest, these lead to the net uptake or release of carbon. Both theory and recent observations point towards profound changes in these dynamics of the world’s forests being underway, potentially causing the sink to saturate and decline. But our ability to accurately assess and quantify such on-going changes worldwide is severely limited. The reasons for this are twofold: a lack of standardised measurements of the sink and the dynamics that cause it across the world, and the difficulty of modelling the dynamics of trillions of trees. Tree2Globe solves both of these limitations, using a novel model-data assimilation approach to consistently integrate the dynamics of millions of observations of individual trees collected under disparate protocols worldwide and link together this information in space and time based on physically-consistent principles. The resulting global forest reanalysis system will (a) provide a step-change in capability to make accurate and timely assessment of the rates of tree growth, death and establishment globally and (b) quantify how these combine with the legacies of past land-use and disturbance to explain the size, location and trajectory of the global carbon sink in trees over the period 1990-2027. This will enable us to make a definitive assessment of whether hypothesised changes in forest dynamics and the resulting carbon sink are coming to pass. This unique insight into how the world’s forests and their contribution to climate change mitigation are changing will provide key information to help guide the world to meet its net zero emissions policy commitments.

Mots-clés : forest carbon sink forest dynamics reanalysis vegetation modelling
Projet ERC : breakingBAC (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Université technique de Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499785.0 €

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are on the rise and could trigger the next global pandemic. For some pathogens no treatment options are left, leading to steadily increasing death tolls. The limited scope of bacterial targets, all essential for growth, has favored resistance build-up whilst also being ineffective against non-growing persister cells. To overcome this threat, innovative concepts are required to effectively and sustainably kill bacteria via unprecedented mechanisms. My team and I tackle this challenge by deliberately going beyond established modes of action (MoA). To achieve this, we present breakingBAC: a three-tiered chemical strategy to dysregulate bacterial physiology. First, we will develop small molecule activators of crucial bacterial hydrolases to deregulate the degradation of proteins, leading to devastating physiological effects. Although enzyme stimulation has several advantages over inhibition, this concept is still in its infancy. We thus showcase principles of activator discovery and demonstrate their potency against diverse pathogens. Second, we recently discovered the complexation of free cellular heme by antibiotic isonitriles leading to a dysregulation of porphyrin biosynthesis and a corresponding induction of oxidative stress. Although these isonitriles are too large to access protein bound heme, we will tailor their structure to additionally target hemedependent enzymes of the stress response. The aim is to develop molecules bearing a dual MoA: a) stress induction and b) inhibition of stress response. Third, we will combine our learnings to create bifunctional compounds consisting of a hyperactivating protease recruiter linked to a bait which delivers the large class of essential heme-dependent enzymes for proteolysis. As these protein degraders are hyperactive, catalytic in nature, and specific for bacterial proteases, we anticipate potent antibiotic effects combined with low resistance frequencies and lack of human toxicity.

Mots-clés : antibiotics,antimicrobial resistance,proteolysis,small molecules,chemical proteomics
Projet ERC : LEGACIES (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Soci al World and Its Interactions
Entité participante : Université d'Helsinki — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1726281.0 €

Human legacies are more important and influential than ever before because the window of opportunity for generational interaction has been greatly extended due to longer life expectancies, and because legacies assume unprecedented importance in a world marked by inequality and environmental degradation. The LEGACIES project arises from my original proposition that legacies are not only posthumous and concern older people and their heirs, but they are dynamic intergenerational processes comprising material and immaterial dimensions. Material legacies (wealth, assets) that are transferred from one generation to the next are growing, greater in volume than ever, and highly influential in shaping life courses. In addition to material inheritance we also leave immaterial legacies (values manifest in actions), the most pressing of these being our environmental legacies. The LEGACIES project will break new ground in understanding the intertwined material and environmental legacies that pass between co-existing generations. My approach is inherently high-risk due to its novelty in straddling multiple generations and the societal and environmental spheres in diverse contexts. The potential scientific gains from this research connect to wide-reaching implications. Shedding light on what drives older generations’ legacy-making practices will allow a better understanding of the dynamics of inequality. Understanding the interconnectedness of environmental and material legacies will elucidate choices such as deciding against having children and their ramifications on inheritance practices. Illuminating how environmental legacies are shaped through generational interaction will better equip us to formulate effective agendas for combating environmental degradation. The LEGACIES project will yield concepts and theory essential for explicating how strategies and practices at the micro level reflect and shape the greatest challenges that humans and the natural environment face.

Mots-clés : legacy,generation,family,inequality,ageing,intergenerational solidarity,environmental degradation,climate change,inheritance,theory building,qualitative methods,environmental legacies,legacies and megatrends,material and immaterial legacies,legacy making,young adults,older adults,parents,grandparents,grandchildren,generational legacies
Projet ERC : ALMEDA (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Texts and Concepts
Entité participante : Université de Leyde — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 153130.0 €

Recent years have seen something of a renaissance in African literature, with African novelists becoming global best-sellers and achieving the world’s highest literary accolades. But published novels are restrictively expensive in Africa itself and the novel form is ill-suited to African everyday life, where people are more likely to spend their leisure time engaging with informal, ephemeral and not-for-profit literary and oratory cultural forms, such as spoken-word poetry, street theatre, and a variety of online genres. These informal African literatures are rarely catalogued and therefore exist outside of any structured metadata system. The consequence is that formally published English and French African novels are hyper-visible globally, while the rich literary and oratory cultures of the continent itself are caught in a perpetual state of structural ephemerality. The ALMEDA project addresses this problem in three ways. First, by providing the first history of literary metadata on the African continent, the project will provide a diachronic understanding of how colonial cataloguing systems came to construct the idea of the ‘literary work’ as book-based and thus dismissive of Africa’s oral cultures. Secondly, ALMEDA aims to develop and publish a metadata scheme specifically designed for these informal literary materials. This scheme will be multilingual, which will enable a unique descriptive model that allows African-language genres to inhabit their own categories, rather than having to be forced into European literary ontologies. Thirdly, the project will develop a linked open metadata repository, populated via an interface that allows non-specialist entry of metadata on literary materials. By creating and linking metadata on this body of work, this repository will constitute a major intervention in African literature by making these literatures searchable and their records enduring, thereby opening up entirely new possibilities for scholarship.

Mots-clés : african literature,literary metadata,bibliographic metadata,informal literature