Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : NANOFACTORY (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ETH Zurich
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2488190.0 €

The aim of this project is to translate the concept of production line to the nanoworld to develop what could become tomorrow’s nanofactory. So far, nanostructures are either chemically synthesized or produced using top-down approaches such as nanolithography, but no processes exist to take a few nanostructures and perform the basic operations required to assemble them into a more complex system. This proposal aims at addressing this need by realizing at the nanoscale the different functions that are required for a production line: receiving and moving raw nanomaterial in position, where it can be immobilized and worked on or transformed; combining different elements into more complex systems that support new functionalities. The project uses optical forces generated by plasmonic traps as enabling mechanism to act on raw material and the entire production line will be integrated into microfluidics, which will perform as an advanced conveyor belt. Local electrophoresis and photo-curable polymerization are used to locally modify and assemble raw nanoparticles. In addition to implementing challenging nanotechnologies, such as nanoscale electric contacts and perforated membranes, this project will also explore a fair amount of completely new physics, including the van der Waals interaction – which will be studied numerically and experimentally – the competition between optical and chemical forces or electrostatic attraction, and the detailed determination of the trapping potential produced by plasmonic nanostructures. The foreseen research is very comprehensive, including modelling, nanofabrication and explorations at the nanoscale. This ground-braking proposal will demonstrate how additive manufacturing can be implemented at the nanoscale.
Projet ERC : TROCONVEX (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : Eindhoven University of Technology — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TU/e
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1804543.75 €

The aim of this project is to understand the processes involved in heat and energy transfer of geostrophic turbulent convection, to identify the structure of this seemingly featureless flow, and to model its global convective heat transfer based on these new insights. The geostrophic regime of turbulent rotating convection is relevant for many geophysical and astrophysical flows. The flow behaviour in this regime displays significant and unexpected differences with the traditionally studied regime, making extrapolations impossible. Heat-transfer models of geophysical and astrophysical flows are an essential part of assessing their energy balance for e.g. climate modelling. Geostrophic turbulent convection is characterised by combined strong thermal forcing and rapid rotation, making it hard to replicate in experiments and computations.We propose a revolutionary experiment capable of covering an unprecedented part of this new regime. Heat-flux measurements and optical diagnostics of the flow using stereoscopic particle image velocimetry are featured. The experiment is complemented with highly optimised parallel computations to gain access to additional flow information in parts of the parameter range. The focus is on the small-scale energy transfer processes and the influence of presence or absence of (Ekman-type) boundary layers, both of which are decisive for the flow organisation into structures and subsequently for the global heat transfer. We will characterise the heat transfer and energy cascade processes in the flow as a function of the governing parameters quantifying buoyant forcing and rotation. We will address open questions on the heat-flux scaling of geostrophic convection and its dependence on the types of coherent structures being formed, effects of boundary-layer dynamics and energy cascade mechanisms in the flow. These insights will allow us to model the heat flux, a crucial result for the understanding of convection in geo- and astrophysics.

Mots-clés : turbulence,rotating flows,buoyancy driven flows,optical flow diagnostics,direct numerical simulation
Projet ERC : CNT-QUBIT (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : University of London — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. London
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1998574.0 €

The aim of this proposal is to use spin qubits defined in carbon nanotube quantum dots to demonstrate measurement-based entanglement in an all-electrical and scalable solid-state architecture. The project makes use of spin-orbit interaction to drive spin rotations in the carbon nanotube host system and hyperfine interaction to store quantum information in the nuclear spin states. The proposal builds on techniques developed by the principal investigator for fast and non-invasive read-out of the electron spin qubits using radio-frequency reflectometry and spin-to-charge conversion. Any quantum computer requires entanglement. One route to achieve entanglement between electron spin qubits in quantum dots is to use the direct interaction of neighbouring qubits due to their electron wavefunction overlap. This approach, however, becomes rapidly impractical for any large scale quantum processor, as distant qubits can only be entangled through the use of qubits in between. Here I propose an alternative strategy which makes use of an intriguing quantum mechanical effect by which two spatially separated spin qubits coupled to a single electrical resonator become entangled if a measurement cannot tell them apart. The quantum information encoded in the entangled electron spin qubits will be transferred to carbon-13 nuclear spins which are used as a quantum memory with coherence times that exceed seconds. Entanglement with further qubits then proceeds again via projective measurements of the electron spin qubits without risk of losing the existing entanglement. When entanglement of the electron spin qubits is heralded – which might take several attempts – the quantum information is transferred again to the nuclear spin states. This allows for the coupling of large numbers of physically separated qubits, building up so-called graph or cluster states in an all-electrical and scalable solid-state architecture.

Mots-clés : carbon nanotubes,spin qubits,quantum information,quantum dots
Projet ERC : HOLOVIS (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
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 : 2500000.0 €

The aim of this research program is to produce novel all-optical technologies to explore brain functions at the mesoscopic scale with cellular resolution opening a new phase in optogenetics that I named circuit optogenetics. Revealing the neural codes supporting specific mammalian brain functions is a daunting task demanding to relate in vivo the individual activities of large numbers of neurons recorded jointly within collectives that form distinct nodes of a network and to perform precisely targeted and calibrated interventions in the spatiotemporal dynamics of neural circuits on the scale of naturalistic patterns of activity. Despite recent technical advances, these experiments remain out of reach because we lack a comprehensive approach for large-scale, multi-region, in depth, single cell and millisecond precise manipulation of neural circuits. HOLOVIS will tackle these limitations through the construction of an innovative paradigm combining optogenetics with cutting-edge technology of wave front shaping, compressed sensing, microendoscopy, wave-guide probes, laser developments and opsin engineering. My lab has pioneered the use of wave front shaping for neuroscience and developed in the past years a number of new optical methods, for patterned optogenetic neuronal stimulation. Here, we will push forward this technology and first demonstrate the performances of these breakthrough systems to reveal how inter, intra-laminar and cortical/sub-cortical wiring construct and refine visual orientation selectivity in mice. We will focus on the visual system of mice, whose input-output responses to controlled sensory stimulations have been characterized in decades of studies. However, we are persuaded that our approach can be used to reveal the connectivity rules that underlie specific patterns of activity of any neuronal circuit, thus defining the functional building blocks of distinct brain areas.

Mots-clés : optogenetics,multiphoton microscopy,holographic illumination,microendoscopy,wave front shaping,mice visual circuits
Projet ERC : PreSynPlast (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Entité participante : Leipzig University — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1609937.0 €

The ambitious goal of this project is to reveal the molecular mechanisms of presynaptic plasticity in the vertebrate brain. Synaptic plasticity occurs in the form of alterations in both presynaptic neurotransmitter release and postsynaptic receptor function. However, due to technical reasons and in contrast to intensely studied postsynaptic plasticity, the presynaptic half of the brain’s synaptic plasticity remains enigmatic. This is a crucial knowledge gap for our understanding of learning and memory. My ambitious aim is therefore to uncover the molecular and biophysical mechanisms of presynaptic plasticity. Building on my strong track record in presynaptic research, my group made a technical breakthrough by establishing patch-clamp recordings from small nerve terminals of cultured neocortical neurons with unprecedented high resolution. In addition, we use an innovative super-resolution-microscopy approach resolving the rearrangement of proteins within the presynaptic neurotransmitter release site, which allows high-throughput screening of all major classes of synaptic genes for their involvement in presynaptic plasticity. To reveal the neuron- and plasticity-type specificity, the identified molecular pathways will be analysed in different types of neurons in culture and acute brain slices. Building on these unique abilities, I will also investigate physiological and pathophysiological modulations of presynaptic plasticity. Specifically, I will test the hypothesis that metabolic constraints regulate presynaptic plasticity and that the amyloid pathology of Alzheimer’s disease impacts presynaptic plasticity. Thus, for the first time in the history of neuroscience, neocortical nerve terminals can be investigated with direct electrophysiological recordings and super-resolution microscopy providing unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution for the analysis of presynaptic plasticity. The results could pave the way for new approaches treating neurological diseases.

Mots-clés : presynaptic function and plasticity,presynaptic patch clamp recordings,super resolution microcopy,biophysical and molecular mechanisms
Projet ERC : ENCOPOL (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Radboud University Nijmegen — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2498076.0 €

The amount of information trafficking internet nowadays is enormous and will increase further in the near future. It can be expected that in the next decennia the current technologies to store and process data will no longer suffice and that other strategies to handle information have to be developed. One approach is to explore chemical routes, which nature has also followed during evolution: our brain can store and handle very large amounts of data and process them in a way silicon-based computers cannot do. Although brain-like chemical computers are still far beyond reach, it is of interest to explore how atom and molecule-based systems that can write, read, and store information might be designed and constructed. In this proposal we aim at developing a new technology to write, store, and read information, i.e. on a single polymer chain with the help of a molecular machine that is inspired by the hypothetical device (Turing machine) proposed by the British mathematician Alan Turing in 1936 as the general basis for the operation of a computer. The molecular machine is composed of a chiral catalytic cage compound (tape-head) that moves unidirectionally along a chiral polymer chain (tape) while writing a binary code in the form of (R)- (symbol 0) and (S)- (symbol 1) epoxide functions. This writing process is controlled by light or electrons. The information on the tape will be read by single molecule spectroscopy using a reading device that is also based on a chiral cage compound. It moves along the encoded tape and produces left- or right-handed polarized fluorescence light depending on whether it reads a 0 (R-epoxide) or 1 (S-epoxide). As part of this project we will also make the first steps towards chemical computing by arranging two circular tapes (one left-handed and the other one right-handed), each with an attached writing head, in a teller set-up, which allows them to be addressed separately with light according to a set of instructions (Minsky machine).
Projet ERC : UNIFLUVAC (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : University of Oxford — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149297.0 €

The antigenic evolution of influenza is conventionally assumed to occur by ‘antigenic drift’ where new strains arise through the incremental addition of mutations in surface glycoproteins. However, the antigenic drift model can only explain the epidemiology and limited genetic diversity observed among influenza virus populations by imposing constraints on the mode and tempo of mutation. We have shown that an alternative model known as ‘antigenic thrift’ successfully models the epidemiology and genetic diversity of influenza by assuming that the antigenic evolution of the virus population is primarily driven by natural immune responses against epitopes of limited variability. We have identified epitopes of limited variability in H1, H3 and influenza B. Each epitope has between 3 and 4 different conformations. These epitope conformations are all in the head domain of the HAs of various subtypes, making them naturally highly immunogenic. The epitope are also limited in variability, often due to their position adjacent to the receptor binding site, cycling through their limited repertoire of conformations as host population immunity changes. By vaccinating against these epitope conformations for each subtype, we can induce immunity against all past and present H1, H3 and influenza B. This approach will remove the need to vaccinate each year and have much higher levels of efficacy. The vaccine can also be made using the established methods of inactivated or attenuated influenza vaccine production. This maintains a price threshold of 5 USD per dose, making the vaccine attractive to pharmaceutical companies, and by reducing the number of doses required to confer immunity and while maintaining production cost, the vaccine is attractive to healthcare providers.

Mots-clés : influenza,vaccine,evolution,biotechnology,interdiscpinary,novel
Projet ERC : ContraVib (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : University of Manchester — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1945994.0 €

The applicant has an outstanding track record and a growing international reputation as an independent early-career researcher. This StG proposal combines computational and experimental themes in an integrated project, and will open a new research field of vibronic control. Coupling of molecular vibrations to electronic states (vibronic coupling) is a fundamental process that affects the outcome of chemical reactions and physical processes, but it is remarkable how little we know about it. For example, it is thought to be central in the photosynthetic process, it is implicated in catalysis, and it is crucial in the operation of single-molecule magnets and molecular qubits, but we currently have no means to control it. Recently I showed that four localised vibrations are responsible for magnetic relaxation in a high-performance single-molecule magnet (Nature, 2017, 548, 439); this exciting preliminary result demonstrates that chemical control of vibronic coupling is possible. I propose an integrated computational and experimental research programme to determine general rules for controlling this phenomenon, facilitating targeted improvements in functional molecular materials. This will be achieved by building a computational framework for calculation of vibronic coupling, accounting for anharmonicity, delocalised modes, environmental influences, and quantum effects, and supported by detailed benchmarking experiments measuring magnetisation dynamics, electronic structure and vibrational spectra of selected molecules. A StG will provide funding to build a world-leading team to investigate chemical control of vibronic coupling. This will enable design criteria for high-performance magnetic memories and qubits within the time-frame of the project, and improved catalysts and optical materials in the near future, addressing priority areas in Horizon2020 and the Quantum Flagship, and provide a cohort of curious, high-calibre and inter-disciplinary scientists for the EU.
Projet ERC : Dust2Planets (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : Université Paris-Saclay — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1409445.0 €

The arrival of ALMA and JWST could revolutionize our understanding of planet formation from the observations of protoplanetary disks. But in order to interpret such observations, better models fed by robust laboratory data are urgently needed. However, laboratory experiments designed to study cosmic matter have mostly focused on the first stages of stellar evolution, where molecular clouds are irradiated by ultraviolet (UV) photons from OB stars. The subsequent protoplanetary stage, where young stars vigorously emit X-rays, has been rarely addressed by experiments. Yet X-rays have a larger penetration depth in solids than UV photons, and could enable important photochemical pathways in the evolution of protoplanetary matter. In this project, we aim to quantify the impact of X-rays on protoplanetary dust via laboratory astrophysics. Our goal is to give closure to the question: how do X-rays impact disk evolution and early planet formation? This project will go beyond the state-of-the-art in two directions: via the laboratory simulation of the X-ray spectrum of T Tauri stars, and by pioneering the use of heterogeneous analogs to protoplanetary dust. We will perform a coupled study of both the dust and gas phases following irradiation to quantify the full impact of X-rays. Complex organic molecules resulting from X-ray irradiation and desorption will be compared to cometary and ALMA detections to clarify the disk-comet connection. Analysis of the X-irradiated solids will elucidate the physico-chemical mechanisms of dust growth, key to the evolution of primordial seeds to planetesimals. X-ray photochemical rates on both the dust and gas phases will be consolidated in a new X-ray Astrochemical Database (XRAD). Our laboratory data will shed light on the photochemical evolution of protoplanetary disks and more generally, on other X-ray Dominated Regions in the universe.

Mots-clés : astrochemistry,laboratory astrophysics,exobiology
Projet ERC : LOVE-NEST (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : Norwegian University of Science and Technology — Pays : Norvège — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : NTNU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1997625.0 €

The astrophysics field of compact binary millisecond pulsars is thriving. This growing class of rapidly spinning neutron stars – also known as "spiders"– constitutes the most promising place to find massive pulsars. Super-massive neutron stars, with a mass significantly higher than two Solar masses, cannot contain exotic particles. Finding such stars would have profound implications for nuclear physics. The maximum neutron star mass has also important consequences for the fate of supernovae and the gravitational wave signal from neutron star mergers. In addition, spiders offer a unique probe of the pulsar's innermost wind and a nearby site for particle acceleration. The past years have seen exciting discoveries in this field, in which I have been closely involved. As a result, a new way has opened up to study fundamental astrophysical phenomena from compact binary millisecond pulsars. The purpose of this project is to find the most massive neutron stars and to understand the interaction between accretion flows, pulsar winds and neutron star magnetospheres. LOVE-NEST will first uncover a hidden population of millisecond pulsars, with a targeted search of gamma-ray candidate sources. We will then measure accurately the masses of the heaviest pulsars, using a novel technique that we have recently established. We will also investigate nearby spiders as potential sources of cosmic rays and astrophysical neutrinos, placing unprecedented constraints on particle acceleration in relativistic pulsar wind shocks. LOVE-NEST will have a strong impact on gravitational wave astronomy, nuclear physics, astrophysics and astro-particle physics. As a leader in the field, and having developed a new method to measure pulsar masses, I am in an excellent position to achieve these ambitious goals.

Mots-clés : neutron stars,millisecond pulsars,accretion flows,compact binaries,relativistic shocks,ultradense matter,cosmic rays