Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : RevMito (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Cellular, Developmental and Regenerative Biology
Entité participante : University of Helsinki — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UH
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1033640.93 €

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) encodes several proteins playing key roles in bioenergetics. Pathological mutations of mtDNA can be inherited or may accumulate following treatment for viral infections or cancer. Furthermore, many organisms, including humans, accumulate significant mtDNA damage during their lifespan, and it is therefore possible that mtDNA mutations can promote the aging process. There are no effective treatments for most diseases caused by mtDNA mutation. An understanding of the cellular consequences of mtDNA damage is clearly imperative. Toward this goal, we use the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a cellular model of mitochondrial dysfunction. Genetic manipulation and biochemical study of this organism is easily achieved, and many proteins and processes important for mitochondrial biogenesis were first uncovered and best characterized using this experimental system. Importantly, current evidence suggests that processes required for survival of cells lacking a mitochondrial genome are widely conserved between yeast and other organisms, making likely the application of our findings to human health. We will study the repercussions of mtDNA damage by three different strategies. First, we will investigate the link between a conserved, nutrient-sensitive signalling pathway and the outcome of mtDNA loss, since much recent evidence points to modulation of such pathways as a potential approach to increase the fitness of cells with mtDNA damage. Second, we will explore the possibility that defects in cytosolic proteostasis are precipitated by mtDNA mutation. Third, we will apply the knowledge and concepts gained in S. cerevisiae to both candidate-based and unbiased searches for genes that determine the aftermath of severe mtDNA damage in human cells. Beyond the mechanistic knowledge of mitochondrial dysfunction that will emerge from this project, we expect to identify new avenues toward the treatment of mitochondrial disease.

Mots-clés : yeast,mitochondrial dna,mitochondrial disease,proteostasis,molecular genetics,model organisms,unbiased screens and selections
Projet ERC : EAR (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer science and informatics
Entité participante : University of Cambridge — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. Cambridge
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2493724.0 €

Mobile health is becoming the holy grail for affordable medical diagnostics. It has the potential of associating human behaviour with medical symptoms automatically and at early disease stage; it also offers cheap deployment, reaching populations generally not able to afford diagnosis and delivering a level of monitoring so fine which will likely improve diagnostic theory itself. The advancements of technology offer new ranges of sensing and computation capability with the potential of further improving the reach of mobile health. Audio sensing through microphones of mobile devices has recently being recognized as a powerful and yet underutilized source of medical information: sounds from the human body (e.g., sighs, breathing sounds and voice) are indicators of disease or disease onsets. The current pilots, while generally medically grounded, are potentially ad-hoc from the perspective of key areas of computer science; specifically, in their approaches to computational models and how the system resource demands are optimized to fit within the limits of the mobile devices, as well as in terms of robustness needed for tracking people in their daily lives. Audio sensing also comes with challenges which threaten its use in clinical context: its power hungry nature and the fact that audio data is very sensitive and the collection of this sort of data for analytics violates obvious ethical rules. This work proposes models to link sounds to disease diagnosis and to deal with the inherent issues raised by in-the-wild sensing: noise and privacy concerns. We exploit these audio models in wearable systems maximizing the use of local hardware resources with power optimization and accuracy in both near real time and sparse audio sampling. Privacy will arise as a by-product taking away the need of cloud analytics. Moreover, the framework will embed the ability to quantify the diagnostic uncertainty and consider patient context as confounding factors via additional sensors.

Mots-clés : mobile systems,audio sensing,mobile health
Projet ERC : MeaningfulMobility (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Social World and Its Diversity
Entité participante : University of Groningen — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : RUG
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499225.0 €

Mobility or physical movement contributes to health and well-being in later life and is a key issue in gerontological research. Most studies have focused on the contribution of outdoor mobility to active ageing, but physical and cognitive impairments restrict the mobility of many older adults. MeaningfulMobility will take a more comprehensive approach than previous research. It will be the first to connect the capability approach to mobility research to study diversity in movement within and between places by healthy and impaired older adults. MeaningfulMobility aims to develop and employ an integrative approach to explain mobility practices in later life in relation to well-being. The research objectives are: 1. To compare objectively measured mobility patterns of older adults within and between places, and between impaired and healthy older adults in three socio-cultural contexts; 2. To conduct an in-depth study of the subjective mobility experiences within and between places of impaired and healthy older adults, in three socio-cultural contexts; 3. To use these insights to connect mobility research with the capability approach to gain comprehensive understanding of the diversity in mobility practices in later life in relation to well-being. An in-depth comparative study will be carried out of three categories of older adults: healthy older adults; older adults with early stage Alzheimer’s; and older stroke survivors in three socio-cultural contexts of the Netherlands, the UK and India. The study will apply an innovative convergent mixed-methods design to measure objective mobility patterns and subjective mobility experiences. Data will be subject to geographic, regression, and thematic analysis, and the findings integrated using advanced grounded visualisation methods. This study has the potential to transform gerontological mobility research and to provide policy inputs on the mobility, well-being and health of our ageing population.

Mots-clés : health geography
Projet ERC : BET3D (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and communication engineering
Entité participante : Ghent University — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UGent
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999900.0 €

Modelling almost entirely replaced prototyping as a design methodology. In electromagnetics and optics, it has played a central role in the rapid development of communication and imaging, with applications in medicine, security, and energy. New technological requirements have always been met by breakthroughs in modelling. Advances in THz technology have driven researchers to consider systems that are highly non-linear and strongly radiating. Modelling these systems requires methods that are based on time-stepping, and that can accurately describe unbounded regions. These requirements can only be met by time-domain boundary element methods (TD-BEMs). The use of other methods such as the finite element method, the method of moments, or the finite difference time-domain method – if at all applicable – results in unacceptable computational costs, and large errors in dispersion and radiation characteristics. Unfortunately, TD-BEMs are not nearly as mature as other methods. They lack the ability to model all but the simplest systems. Attempts to use TD-BEMs to model realistic devices containing multiple materials, ports, coatings, or two-dimensional materials like graphene lead to instabilities, rendering the result of simulations completely useless. This state of affairs has persisted for over 50 years but has become an urgent problem now. BET3D will aggressively accelerate the development of the time-domain boundary element method into a method that can model highly non-linear, strongly radiating systems and that unlocks the capability to model emerging technologies in THz communications and imaging, and beyond. As part of the benchmarking and validation for this project, we will model the generation of THz radiation by an array of graphene resonant tunnelling diode oscillators, including feeds, ports, packaging, and antenna structure. Results of BET3D will enable modelling of non-linear, radiating systems, also in acoustics, elastodynamics, and fluid dynamics.
Projet ERC : FirstDawn (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : Imperial College London — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1495220.0 €

Modern astrophysics has pushed the observational frontier to a time a billion years after the Big Bang. Lying beyond this frontier is the period when the first stars and galaxies formed, whose light heated and ionized the Universe in the process known as reionization. Understanding this "epoch of reionization" would fill in a key missing period in our picture of the history of the Universe. Existing observational techniques have scratched the surface, but new observational techniques are required to truly understand this early period of galaxy formation. My work will lay the theoretical foundations for three novel probes of this period - 21 cm tomography, the 21 cm global signal, and line intensity mapping - that would enable three dimensional maps of the epoch of reionization. If realized through challenging radio-frequency observations, these techniques would transform our understanding of the first galaxies. Through this ERC starting grant, I will build the theoretical framework needed to predict and interpret observations of line emission from gas in and surrounding the first generation of galaxies. My team will aim to develop models of the interplay between radiation from the first galaxies and the heating, ionization, and illumination of hydrogen gas that lies in the space between galaxies. At the same time, we will build models of the formation and properties of the atomic and molecular gas that fills the space inside galaxies. By combining probes of this "inner" and "outer" space a complete nature of galaxy formation during the first billion years might be achieved. Analysis of sky averaged 21 cm observations will complement this with a broad overview of galaxies back to a few hundred million years after the big bang. This work will provide a clear theoretical road map to guide the design of next generation radio telescopes, such as the Square Kilometer Array, to achieve this ambitious goal.

Mots-clés : cosmic dawn,reionization,square kilometer array,21cm theory
Projet ERC : DEEPVISION (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and communication engineering
Entité participante : University of Twente — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Modern biology could not exist without the optical microscope. Hundreds of years of research have seemingly developed microscopes to perfection, with one essential limitation: in turbid biological tissue, not even the most advanced microscope can penetrate deeper than a fraction of a millimetre. At larger depths light scattering prevents the formation of an image. DEEP VISION takes a radically new approach to microscopy in order to lift this final limitation. Microscopes are based on the idea that light propagates along a straight line. In biological tissue, however, this picture is naive: light is scattered by every structure in the specimen. Since the amount of ‘non-scattered’ light decreases exponentially with depth, a significant improvement of the imaging depth is fundamentally impossible, unless scattered light itself is used for imaging. In 2007, Allard Mosk and I pioneered the field of wavefront shaping. The game-changing message of wavefront shaping is that scattering is not a fundamental limitation for imaging: using a spatial light modulator, light can be focused even inside the most turbid materials, if ‘only’ the correct wavefront is known. DEEP VISION aims to initiate a fundamental change in how we think about microscopy: to use scattered light rather than straight rays for imaging. The microscope of the future is no longer based on Newtonian optics. Instead, it combines new insights in scattering physics, wavefront shaping, and compressed sensing to extract all useful information from a specimen. Whereas existing microscopes are ignorant to the nature of the specimen, DEEP VISION is inspired by information theory; imaging revolves around a model that integrates observations with statistical a-priori information about the tissue. This model is used to calculate the wavefronts for focusing deeper into the specimen. Simulations indicate that my approach will penetrate at least four times deeper than existing microscopes, without loss of resolution.

Mots-clés : wavefront shaping,microscopy
Projet ERC : RiboLife (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering
Entité participante : TU Dortmund University — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1234227.61 €

Modern cellular life strictly depends on DNA as genetic material. However, a large body of evidence infers the existence of a previous, more primitive biology in which RNA also stored information in cellular entities. Recreating a living cellular fossil representing this transition from an ancient RNA world to modern DNA-based life would fundamentally advance our understanding of our biology’s history, and enable us to explore its biological properties experimentally. However, the reengineering of existing molecular systems into a viable doppelganger of the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) or one of its precursors is extremely challenging. I propose to use a novel, combined top-down and bottom-up approach to create a modern-day doppelganger of LUCA by engineering bacterial hybrids with core cellular functions encoded on RNA. Using Darwinian Evolution as driver, my team and I will prototype and refine synthetic RNA-replicons through alternating replication in both cell-free and intracellular environments. This “dual evolution” approach will shape increasingly complex RNA networks capable of encoding complex genetic information. Following this, we will use these networks to create information-rich RNA chromosomes, enabling the transfer of essential genomic information from DNA to RNA. Finally, we will address this intergenomic transplantation by combining a novel RNA-delivery strategy with iterative rounds of genome deletion and complementation using state-of-the art CRISPR-Cas9 assisted genome editing. The proposed research will fundamentally advance synthetic biology, and could positively answer the transformative questions: Can we create, program and evolve life-like systems that can survive in both cell-free and intracellular environments? Can we use these entities to construct an alternative biology in which central cellular activities are encoded on genomes not made of DNA?

Mots-clés : synthetic cells,in vitro self replication,rna replication,directed evolution,genome transplantation,rna phages,origin of life
Projet ERC : 2D-LOTTO (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : University of Cambridge — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. Cambridge
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499948.0 €

Modern electronics consume a huge amount of world’s energy – currently ~ 5% and rising to > 20% in 2030. Field effect transistors (FETs) account for a large fraction of the energy consumed in electronics due to high OFF state (leakage) currents and large operating voltage (~ 0.8V). Tunnel FETs (TFETs) based on two-dimensional semiconductors (2D SCs) provide unique and game-changing solutions for both of these problems and can be engineered using industry compatible complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processes. However, despite the intense effort over the past decade, serious challenges remain in realizing high performance TFETs. The challenges, related to achieving high quality p- and n-type contacts, practical ON state currents and scalability, arise from the lack of precise control of material interfaces. Therefore, completely new approaches in materials and process engineering are needed to reap the benefits of 2D SCs for TFETs. 2D-LOTTO provides these frontier approaches to TFET challenges by designing and engineering vertical heterostructures of 2D SCs with novel ultra-clean, low resistance p- and n-type near ideal van der Waals (vdW) contacts that allow operation at ~ 100 mV. Internal electric field amplification to boost ON state currents to practical levels will be achieved for the first time by using negative capacitance (NC) gate dielectrics. The integration of vdW contacts, NC gates and 2D SC heterostructures with ideal interfaces will provide ultra-low power, CMOS compatible TFETs that have the potential to transform the technology landscape in IoT, Big Data and computing. Initially, automated mechanical exfoliation of 2D SC vertical heterostructures will be used to design and test TFETs. Then, CMOS compatible metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) will be used to realize wafer scale devices. The viability of proposed approach is confirmed by proof of concept demonstrations reported by the PI in engineering 2D SCs for FETs.

Mots-clés : 2d materials,vdw contacts,2d fets
Projet ERC : INtheSELF (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Complexity
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 : 1998393.75 €

Modern psychology has long focused on the importance of the body as the basis of the self. However, this focus concerned the exteroceptive body, that is, the body as perceived from the outside, as when we recognize ourselves in the mirror. This influential approach has neglected another important dimension of the body, namely the interoceptive body, that is, the body as perceived from within, as for example when one feels her racing heart. In psychology, research on interoception has focused mainly on its role in emotion. INtheSELF, however, goes beyond this approach, aiming instead to show how interoception and interoceptive awareness serve the unity and stability of the self, analogous to the role of interoception in maintaining physiological homeostasis. To test this hypothesis we go beyond the division between interoception and exteroception to consider their integration in self-awareness. INtheSELF will develop novel, pioneering methods for the study of causal relationships between interoceptive and exteroceptive awareness (WP1), allowing us to test how these two sources of information about the self interact to reflect the balance between stability and adaptation (WP2); how their inter-relation is built in parallel to the development of self-awareness in early childhood and adolescence (WP3); and the role that their interaction has for social relatedness (WP4). INtheSELF provides an alternative to existing psychological theories of the self insofar it goes beyond the apparent antagonism between the awareness of the self from the outside and from within, to consider their dynamic integration. In doing so, INtheSELF aims to elucidate for the first time how humans navigate the challenging balance between inside and out, in terms of both the individual’s natural (interoception vs. exteroception) and social (self vs. others) embodiment in the world.

Mots-clés : interoception,self,awareness,multisensory,exteroception,psychophysiology,social,body awareness,body ownership,empathy
Projet ERC : PolyHeal (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Autonomous University of Madrid — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UAM
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Modern society demands for materials that are reliable, for safety reasons, durable, to offer prolonged service lifetimes, and cost- and energy-efficient, to preserve natural resources and produce minimum waste and environmental impact. In this context, self-healing polymers are “smart” materials with the ability to repair themselves autonomously or to heal on-demand upon exposure to an external stimulus. However, the broad commercialization and universal use of self-healing thermoplastic polymers is still hampered by a main problem that resides in the balance between self-healing ability and mechanical properties at working conditions. Along the ERC-StG project PROGRAM-NANO, we found a quite promising solution by introducing cooperative effects in supramolecular polymers. In this way, thermoplastic materials were obtained that combined toughness and resistance with self-healing ability at ambient temperature. This PoC Project now focus on evaluating the viability of our approach for producing commercial self-healing thermoplastic coatings by addressing 3 strongly interconnected milestones: 1) Test and Validate the technical characteristics of the materials and the self-healing process; 2) Design and implement a market analysis and study the best IPR strategy for this new technology; and 3) Optimize an efficient methodology toward a primary commercial product with optimum performance and minimum cost. These tasks require the assembly of a team comprising experienced researchers on one hand, to validate PolyHeal performance through well-established standard tests, and management, market and IPR experts on the other, to find the suitable market niches and develop the most convenient strategy for the exploitation of our technology. Due to its innovative nature and versatility, PolyHeal has a great potential to open up important technological and commercial opportunities by the design and application of plastic coatings with the ability to heal autonomously.

Mots-clés : supramolecular chemistry,noncovalent molecular interactions,polymer chemistry,self healing materials,plastic coatings