Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : GreenMethanol (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Cardiff University — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149994.0 €

The idea is to bring to pre-commercial stage a highly effective, economically feasible catalyst for the conversion of glycerol (a waste product from the manufacture of biodiesel) to methanol developed under the ERC Advanced Grant – ‘After the Goldrush’ (ERC-2011-AdG-291319). ‘After the Goldrush’ is aimed at developing cheap alternatives to precious metal catalysts, particularly those containing gold and palladium that can be difficult to commercialise due to their high cost. During our initial studies which focused on finding uses for waste glycerol produced from bio-diesel manufacture. We were exploring the use of glycerol as a starting point for the synthesis of valuable compounds using redox reactions involving oxygen and hydrogen transfer reactions. Biodiesel manufacture takes triglycerides and other fatty materials that can be derived from plant or animal sources and reacts this with methanol typically in the presence of liquid sodium hydroxide. The process produces high quality biodiesel together with glycerol as a waste product. Typically on a mass basis 10 tons of biodiesel produce 1 ton of glycerol as an undesired by-product. This waste glycerol is highly contaminated with residual sodium hydroxide and unconverted fats; it represents a huge environmental problem that keeps a brake on the future expansion of biodiesel production. Hence there has been much research dedicated to finding commercially viable uses for this waste glycerol. We have discovered that this waste glycerol can be converted into methanol in the presence of water and this new reaction is the proposal we wish to bring to a proof of concept demonstration stage.

Mots-clés : biodiesel,methanol,glycerol,catalysis,heterogeneous catalysis
Projet ERC : SOFTOX (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Cardiff University — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149380.0 €

The idea is to bring to pre-commercial stage a highly effective, economically feasible catalyst for the production of alkenes, while simultaneously utilizing CO2 as a soft oxidant, developed under the ERC Advanced Grant –‘After the Goldrush’ (ERC-2011-AdG-291319). Initial studies have identified novel catalysts that can be used for formation of propene from propane using CO2 as an oxidant. This has significant societal, environmental and economic benefits, as it makes the commercialisation of the oxidative dehydrogenation process more attractive over the current industrial routes for formation of alkenes, such as steam cracking and steam-activated reforming. The objectives of the project are to apply the principles learnt from the study of the catalytic transformation of alkanes into alkenes to produce a new generation of more stable catalysts that are cost-effective for use in large scale manufacturing processes. From the ERC work it has been discovered that by designing a catalyst for efficient use of CO2 as a mild oxidant for formation of alkenes, overall process efficiency can be increased significantly with a simultaneous decrease of use of precious metals. Thus a promising technological breakthrough has been identified that offers the prospect of selective and efficient catalysts which use cost-effective metals. The two most important alkenes, ethene and propene, are considered as main pillars of the petrochemicals market, since they are the starting point for the production of many chemicals and polymers.

Mots-clés : catalysis,alkenes,alkanes
Projet ERC : EUCLCORP (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : University of Birmingham — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The idea to be taken to proof of concept is to develop and test an innovative EU Case Law Corpus (EUCLCORP). EUCLCORP will be a standardised, multidimensional and multilingual corpus of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and of the constitutional/supreme courts of EU member states. Unlike databases, in which users can carry out only relatively straightforward searches, for the occurrence of specific terms or keywords, corpora allow users to search and track how particular linguistic expressions and features are used in context. The corpus will be coded linguistically and with metadata to enable stakeholders such as lawyers, legal translators, lexicographers and linguists, as well as academics to compare meanings of terms across languages and legal systems, to compare translation options and monitor the consistency of translation in EU case law. Furthermore, EUCLCORP will allow users to track the migration of terms between legal systems and to create data-driven legal dictionaries and terminological databases. No such corpus currently exists. By adding to the big data currently available in legal databases, EUCLCORP will contribute to a better understanding of EU law and of the Europeanisation of law as well as improved administration of justice.

Mots-clés : law and language,eu law,case law,european court of justice,cjeu,national courts,corpus linguistics,translation,legal translation,comparative law
Projet ERC : RandSCALES (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : Institute of Science and Technology Austria — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ISTA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1142899.0 €

The identification and justification of scaling limits is a central theme in modern PDE theory, reflected for instance in the theories of homogenization and singular limits. In many multiscale PDE models, randomness plays a crucial role: In random media, the quantitative homogenization process is driven by decorrelation and concentration of measure; for ill-posed evolution problems like many interface evolution equations, random noise may provide a regularization, potentially restoring well-posedness and hence approximability by numerical schemes. In the present project, we pursue a program to achieve a deeper understanding of the role of randomness in multiscale PDEs. We focus on three important, yet largely unexplored, aspects: A) We develop a quantitative stochastic homogenization theory for nonlinear material models, ranging from variational models for brittle fracture over models from statistical mechanics to the motion of interfaces in random media. A key challenge is posed by the non-convex structure of the models, giving rise to rough energy landscapes and the emergence of complex physical phenomena. B) We establish generalizations of homogenization in the absence of scale separation, a problem naturally posed in the framework of random media. By developing new high-dimensional approximability results, we will contribute to uncertainty quantification and the design of numerical homogenization schemes with lower computational complexity. C) We develop a theory of stability and approximability of interface evolution problems past topology changes, a setting in which randomness may lead to the regularization of ill-posed evolutions and thereby allow for the derivation of error estimates for numerical approximation schemes. By relying on energy methods, we avoid the use of comparison principles, greatly enhancing the scope of applicability of our theory.

Mots-clés : pdes with multiple scales,stochastic homogenization,nonlinear material models,numerical homogenization schemes,interface evolution equations,phase field approximations
Projet ERC : ENLIGHTEN (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy
Entité participante : Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Inserm
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499994.0 €

The immune system uses both short- and long-range communication mechanisms to mount the coordinated and sophisticated cellular responses required to control microbial infections or fight tumors. Yet, our understanding of how immunological signals are integrated and propagated by individual cells in complex tissue microenvironments remains largely limited. ENLIGHTEN is a research program dedicated to establish new mechanisms by which the immune system fight tumors or infections, based on the direct manipulation of immunological signals in vivo. In relevant mouse models of human disease, we will combine intravital imaging, fluorescent sensors and optogenetic actuators to control single cell functions in real-time. We wish to understand how T cells sense and interpret cell-contacts in lymphoid organs and in developing tumors at steady state or during immunotherapy. In addition, we aim to establish how cytokine and chemokine gradients form in tissues and are interpreted by immune cells during infection or cancer. By determining the functional contribution of single immune cells in vivo, we aim to identify new paradigms for information transfer in the immune system during cancer or infection and to establish the combination of optogenetics and intravital imaging as a powerful strategy for decoding immune reactions in the context of disease pathogenesis.

Mots-clés : tumor immunity,immunity to infection,intravital imaging,optogenetics,cytokines,chemokines
Projet ERC : ELDORADO (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : University of Göttingen — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : GAU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 0.0 €

The implementation of viable practices for the ecologically cognizant production and consumption of energy and renewable resources rank among the most pressing societal challenges of the 21st century. Against this background, the design and development of innovative concepts for the sustainable use of energy and energy-rich compounds from regenerative sources becomes a matter of profound technological and scientific pertinence. A promising approach that has been put forward in the context of chemical synthesis is the application of visible light as an inexpensive source of energy and air as an abundant and gratuitous oxidant for the derivatization of certain hydrocarbons. Despite the enormous economic and ecological benefits associated with the use of light and air as integral components of redox reactions, the realization of such processes is strikingly limited to very isolated applications. Consequently, this methodological deficit represents a momentous opportunity for modern chemical sciences to lastingly transform the routine lines of action for the oxidative manipulation of organic molecules. A key issue that needs to be taken into consideration for the design of efficient light-driven aerobic oxidation protocols is the identification of proper catalyst systems that allow for the site- and chemoselective activation of individual bonds within polyatomic frameworks. In this regard, the prime objective of the proposed research program is the rational design of non-metallic and in part cooperative catalysis regimes as enabling technologies for the electrophilic activation of non-aromatic carbon–carbon multiple- and carbon-chalcogen single bonds to facilitate a wide and diverse array of heretofore unprecedented oxidative coupling-, addition-, and rearrangement reactions. To demonstrate its utility in a superordinate context, this methodological concept will be applied in highly modular enantioselective syntheses of biologically relevant polyketide natural products.

Mots-clés : organocatalysis,method development,oxidation reactions,alkenes,alkynes,selenium,sulfur,total synthesis
Projet ERC : CRYOMATH (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : Tel Aviv University — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TAU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1751250.0 €

The importance of understanding the functions of the basic building blocks of life, such as proteins, cannot be overstated (as asserted by two recent Nobel prizes in Chemistry), as this understanding unravels the mechanisms that control all organisms. The critical step towards such an understanding is to reveal the structures of these building blocks. A leading method for resolving such structures is cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), in which the structure of a molecule is recovered from its images taken by an electron microscope, by using sophisticated mathematical algorithms (to which my group has made several key mathematical and algorithmic contributions). Due to hardware breakthroughs in the past three years, cryo-EM has made a giant leap forward, introducing capabilities that until recently were unimaginable, opening an opportunity to revolutionize our biological understanding. As extracting information from cryo-EM experiments completely relies on mathematical algorithms, the method’s deep mathematical challenges that have emerged must be solved as soon as possible. Only then cryo-EM could realize its nearly inconceivable potential. These challenges, for which no adequate solutions exist (or none at all), focus on integrating information from huge sets of extremely noisy images reliability and efficiently. Based on the experience of my research group in developing algorithms for cryo-EM data processing, gained during the past eight years, we will address the three key open challenges of the field – a) deriving reliable and robust reconstruction algorithms from cryo-EM data, b) developing tools to process heterogeneous cryo-EM data sets, and c) devising validation and quality measures for structures determined from cryo-EM data. The fourth goal of the project, which ties all goals together and promotes the broad interdisciplinary impact of the project, is to merge all our algorithms into a software platform for state-of-the-art processing of cryo-EM data.

Mots-clés : cryo electron microscopy,single particle reconstruction,3d reconstruction,medical and biological imaging,heterogeneity
Projet ERC : Aware (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : Hungarian Academy of Sciences — Pays : Hongrie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : MTA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The inappropriate use of antibiotics has rapidly accelerated antibiotic resistance evolution in pathogens, rendering several existing antibiotics ineffective. However, many pharmaceutical companies have discontinued their antibiotic research programs. This is foremost due to the rapid spread of multi-drug resistant bacteria, which makes the commercial success of new antimicrobial drugs unpredictable. Antibiotic developers do not have a toolset to appropriately test antibiotic candidates for resistance evolution. Specifically, in the early phase of drug development, researchers typically identify numerous lead molecules with antimicrobial activities. It would be imperative to estimate the rate of resistance evolution at this early stage of development to all lead candidates in order to choose those that are the least prone to resistance evolution. The applicant and his team developed a technology, they term DIvERGE. It enables the exploration of resistance in a manner that is more comprehensive and effective than any other currently used approach. In a nutshell, DIvERGE finds resistance mutations in antibiotic resistance genes at an unprecedentedly comprehensive manner . DIvERGE offers a unique opportunity for pharmaceutical companies to identify antimicrobial agents with potentially longer clinical efficacy at an early stage of drug development. Thus, the goal is simple and bold – to identify antibiotics that are less prone to resistance development. Here the team aims to commercialise the technology.

Mots-clés : antibiotic resistance,antibiotic development
Projet ERC : Diet-namic (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy
Entité participante : Universität Hamburg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UHH
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499695.0 €

The incidence of chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases is continually increasing. Chronic inflammation has been linked to intestinal carcinogenesis, which is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. The cause of this increase could be the unprecedented dietary abundance typical of “Western” countries. Different types of diets shape the genetic composition and metabolic activity of human intestinal microorganisms; microbiota. There is a continuous cross talk between the microbiota and the immune system. For these reasons, the hypothesis that a “bad” diet promotes a chronic state of intestinal inflammation by shaping the microbiota and in turn carcinogenesis could be supported. However, this hypothesis and whether this is a reversible process remain to be tested. It has recently been shown that the composition and metabolism of the microbiota is plastic and it can be rapidly “reprogrammed” by switching to a healthier diet. This plastic behaviour has also been attributed to T helper cells. We have shown that Th17 cells, originally thought to be a stable T helper linage, can convert into a more pathogenic phenotype contributing to chronic inflammation or can acquire regulatory functions promoting the resolution of the inflammation. This project aims to reveal whether mouse and human Th17 cells can quickly adapt to the microbiota as the microbiota does to the diet and in turn mediate the diet effects. By using a unique set of sophisticated transgenic mice we will also test whether the immune system can be corrected by a “simple” change in diet – a widely held belief not yet substantiated. Studying the potential "synchronized ballet" of the diet and the immune system will reveal both the enormous dynamism and the revolutionary therapeutic opportunities intrinsic to T cell biology. This project will furthermore identify molecular targets for pharmacological treatments to reverse inflammatory diseases when a simple diet change no longer suffices.

Mots-clés : t cells,cd4 t helper cells,th17,treg cells,immun mediated diseases,tumor immunology,diet,microbiota
Projet ERC : ExtreFlow (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : Delft University of Technology — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TU Delft
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 386929.96 €

The increasing demand for environmentally friendly, healthier, and better performing formulated products means that the process industry needs more than ever predictive models of formulation performance for rapid, effective, and sustainable screening of new products. Processing flows and end use produce deformations that are extreme compared to what is accessible with existing experimental methods. As a consequence, the effects of extreme deformation are often overlooked without justification. Extreme deformation of structured fluids and soft materials is an unexplored dynamic regime where unexpected phenomena may emerge. New flow-induced microstructures can arise due to periodic forcing that is much faster than the relaxation timescale of the system, leading to collective behaviors and large transient stresses. The goal of this research is to introduce a radically innovative approach to explore and characterize the regime of extreme deformation of structured fluids and interfaces. By combining cutting-edge techniques including acoustofluidics, microfluidics, and high-speed imaging, I will perform pioneering high-precision measurements of macroscopic stresses and evolution of the microstructure. I will also explore strategies to exploit the phenomena emerging upon extreme deformation (collapse under ultrafast compression, yielding) for new processes and for adding new functionality to formulated products. These experimental results, complemented by discrete particle simulations and continuum-scale modeling, will provide new insights that will lay the foundations of the new field of ultrafast soft matter. Ultimately the results of this research program will guide the development of predictive tools that can tackle the time scales of realistic flow conditions for applications to virtual screening of new formulations.

Mots-clés : structured fluids,complex fluids,interfacial rheology,surface viscoelasticity,bubble dynamics
Projet ERC : PEM-SPrint (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : KU Leuven — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : KUL
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1263250.0 €

The increasing miniaturization and integration of numerous components in electronic devices and the booming use of wireless technologies leads to an explosion in the amount of electromagnetic waves and resulting crosstalk. In addition, with the recent 5G mobile network, a major challenge is to enhance the range of the electromagnetic waves, which could be accomplished by suitable wave bending around obstacles. To make these upcoming technologies viable for the future, a novel class of materials is needed. These materials need to fulfil two major requirements namely processability into complex and customized shapes and local interactions with selected electromagnetic waves. The aim of this research is to develop polymeric multi-phasic electromagnetic metamaterials generated by a novel processing method, i.e. flow-induced structure printing. The novel method, featuring a complex static mixer in the nozzle of the printer, will make it possible to create 3-dimensional materials having substructures that are up to 100 times smaller than the dimension of the printer nozzle. By using polymeric materials with conductive and magnetic inclusions, 3D structures will be generated that allow to induce electromagnetic metamaterial responses such as wave bending or complete absorption. To enable these groundbreaking developments in material design and processing, fundamental understanding should be generated on the relations between microstructure and electromagnetic properties in 3D structured materials with conductive and magnetic inclusions combined with their flow-induced structure development. My extensive background in rheology, fluid mechanics, material design and equipment development will allow to tackle the diverse challenges in realizing these unique materials and processing method. The general design strategies and processing method will also enable to generate hierarchical materials for other high-end applications such as interdigitated batteries and solar cells.

Mots-clés : rheology,polymer,suspension,nanocomposite,processing,dielectric and magnetic properties