Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : CHAMPAGNE (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CEA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1318145.0 €

For nearly thirty years, the search for a room-temperature superconductor has focused on exotic materials known as cuprates, obtained by doping a parent Mott insulator, and which can carry currents without losing energy as heat at temperatures up to 164 Kelvin. Conventionally three main players were identified as being crucial i) the Mott insulating phase, ii) the anti-ferromagnetic order and iii) the superconducting (SC) phase. Recently a body of experimental probes suggested the presence of a fourth forgotten player, charge ordering-, as a direct competitor for superconductivity. In this project we propose that the relationship between charge ordering and superconductivity is more intimate than previously thought and is protected by an emerging SU(2) symmetry relating the two. The beauty of our theory resides in that it can be encapsulated in one simple and universal “gap equation”, which in contrast to strong coupling approaches used up to now, can easily be connected to experiments. In the first part of this work, we will refine the theoretical model in order to shape it for comparison with experiments and consistently test the SU(2) symmetry. In the second part of the work, we will search for the experimental signatures of our theory through a back and forth interaction with experimental groups. We expect our theory to generate new insights and experimental developments, and to lead to a major breakthrough if it correctly explains the origin of anomalous superconductivity in these materials.

Mots-clés : cuprate superconductors,quantum critical points,doped mott insulators
Projet ERC : FLATLIGHT (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and communication engineering
Entité participante : Université Côte d'Azur — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : UCA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 53510.0 €

For the last 15 years, optics has undergone a remarkable evolution towards ever decreasing sizes, better integration in complex systems, and more compact devices readily available to mass markets. Whereas traditional optics is at the centimeter scale, newly developed techniques use nanoscale objects to control, guide, and focus light. From the capability to shape metallic and dielectric nanostructures has emerged the field of nanophotonics. Advances in nanophotonics offer the possibility to control the material’s optical properties to create artificial materials with electromagnetic properties not found in nature. Man-made 3D metamaterials have interesting fundamental aspects and present many advantages with respect to conventional devices. Unexpected effects have led to the development of interesting applications like high resolution lenses and cloaking devices. Inspired by this new technology, we have developed new 2D metamaterials. Our flat metamaterials (metasurfaces) are much simpler to manufacture than their 3D counterparts. By depositing a set of nanostructures at an interface, we can immediately control the light properties; unlike refractive optical components, the wavefront is modified without propagation. As of today, these interfaces are created using metallic nanostructures and work in the infrared. In this ERC, we plan to extend the concept of optical metasurfaces in the visible which is the most important wavelength range for applications. By combining with optically active semiconductors such as InGaAlN, we will add optical gain and modulation capability to the system to create new, efficient optoelectronic devices. The response of the metasurfaces is tunable by changing the environment surrounding the nanostructures. We will use this property to create ultrathin reconfigurable flat devices. Metasurfaces will be integrated with AlN/GaN to modulate light at high frequencies and further exploited to control polariton gases in solid state metasystems.

Mots-clés : metamaterials,metasurfaces
Projet ERC : EnviroTag (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
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 : 1809318.0 €

For the longest time, researchers assumed that stemness is a cell-intrinsic feature. However, recently my work and the work of others have shown that specific microenvironments can restore stem cell identity in differentiated epithelial cells or induce transitions from one mature cell type to another. This instructive capacity of niches is equally important in homeostasis and disease. Like stem cells, cancer cells only survive in particular environments that nurture and protect them. This is particularly evident in the process of metastasis where only 1 out of 10 000 circulating tumor cells will find a suitable niche to grow. Nevertheless, our understanding of stem cell and cancer niches is still very limited. The main reason for this knowledge gap is the lack of suitable analysis tools. In the course of the EnviroTag project my team and I will generate a novel type of in vivo reporter system, which can label and genetically engineer the cellular environment of any cell of interest. We will use a multidisciplinary approach that combines the EnviroTag system with single cell sequencing, 3D-reconstructed confocal microscopy and organoid technology to study the dynamic roles of niche composition during tissue regeneration and cancer progression. Focusing on the gastro-intestinal tract, we will investigate how changes in the stem or cancer cell microenvironment control success and failure during tissue repair and the earliest steps of metastasis. Thereby, we will generate a new understanding of microenvironmental dynamics and uncover new regulatory mechanisms, signals and cell types that can be targeted to stimulate tissue regeneration or prevent metastatic spread. Objectives: 1) Establish a spatial in vivo reporter system for microenvironmental labelling and manipulation 2) Map functional interactions of stem cells and their niches during homeostasis and active regeneration 3) Identify the minimal niche requirements for metastatic engraftment and proliferation

Mots-clés : synthetic biology,organoids,single cell sequencing,cell signaling,mouse genetics,microenvironment,intestine,stomach,colon,regeneration,cancer
Projet ERC : MONITOR (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : University of Cyprus — Pays : Chypre — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UCY
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Forecasting and monitoring key economic variables is one of the main activities of financial and government institutions, forecasting agencies, and investment companies. In the ERC-funded starting grant (ERC-2007-StG: Change-Point Tests) we developed novel models and tests for forecasting key economic indicators (such as economic activity, financial volatility and others) as well as evaluating the reliability of model predictions. In many cases our methods improve upon the current-state-of-art. The idea of this ERC Proof of Concept (PoC) grant is to use these novel models and tests to develop a software/toolbox that forecasts and monitors economic indicators. Most available forecasting software lack real-time monitoring and predictive breakdown tests which are important for reliable forecasts especially in periods of instability. Our forecasting and monitoring toolbox can improve the reliability of forecasts as follows: (1) using a novel family of models and high frequency information (2) monitoring forecasts in real-time (3) using new predictive tests of potential breakdowns. Such economic forecasts are at the heart of economic decision making made by governments, Central Banks, and firms that are potential users of our toolbox. In this ERC PoC we will initially work with a forecasting agency and a Central Bank, given contacts have already been established, in order to examine various aspects of the development of this toolbox such as: building a user-friendly software, developing a three-dimensional graphical representation of the monitoring and predictive breakdown tests, and generally making our new methods accessible to decision makers. The overall objective of this ERC PoC grant is to provide a software with innovative techniques that can improve economic forecasts and thereby economic decision making. Reliable economic forecasts can lead to prudent economic policy making and affect the growth, economic and social welfare of countries, firms and individuals.

Mots-clés : forecasting,sequential tests,on line testing,predictive tests,structural breaks,time series models,financial volatility models,high frequency information
Projet ERC : FAMEC (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
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 : 1996830.0 €

Forensic Architecture is an emergent field that refers to the presentation of architectural evidence in legal contexts. As contemporary conflicts increasingly take place within urban areas, homes and neighbourhoods become targets and a growing number of civilian casualties occur within cities and buildings. Architectural investigation thus becomes an essential tool of conflict analysis, not only for its crucial role in the pursuit of accountability, but also because it enables ground breaking methodological and theoretical inquiries into the context and conduct of urban conflicts. Forensic Architecture (FA), as developed by the PI, employs a novel set of research techniques to analyse violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights (HR) as they bear upon the built environment. FA employs architecture in three distinct ways: as an object of analysis; as a method of research; and as a mode of presentation. As such FA is able to provide unique, solid, and clear evidence about incidents that other methods of investigation cannot engage with. This proposal, Forensic Architecture: The Media Environments of Conflict (FAMEC) will further develop the field of FA in response to a set of newly evolved challenges. These are concerned with the way in which new modes of documentation and analysis – based on social and environmental media – have shifted the relation between conflict and built spaces. Working closely with leading HR organizations, the project will provide novel types of architectural evidence in the context of a number of high profile IHL and HR investigations, in such places as Syria, Israel/Palestine and Amazonia/Brazil. Our forensic work will be the starting point for a set of theoretical reflections – articulated in books, articles, journal special issues, conferences and exhibitions – that will ground FA in the histories of forensics, architecture, and human rights.

Mots-clés : forensic architecture,architecture,urban warfare,human rights violations,data visualisation,innovative dissemination practices,architectural evidence,social media,environmental data
Projet ERC : Ampl2Einstein (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CEA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2297571.25 €

Four years ago, the LIGO/Virgo observation of a black-hole binary merger heralded the dawn of gravitational-wave astronomy. The promise of future observations calls for an invigorated effort to underpin the theoretical framework and supply the predictions needed for detecting future signals and exploiting them for astronomical and astrophysical studies. Ampl2Einstein will take ideas and techniques from recent years' dramatic advances in Quantum Scattering Amplitudes, creating new tools for taking their classical limits and using it for gravitational physics. The powerful `square root' relation between gravity and a generalization of electrodynamics known as Yang--Mills theory will play a key role in making this route simpler than direct classical calculation. We will transfer these ideas to classical General Relativity to compute new perturbative orders, spin-dependent observables, and the dependence on the internal structure of merging objects. We will exploit symmetries and structure we find in order to extrapolate to even higher orders in the gravitational theory. We will make such calculations vastly simpler, pushing the known frontier much further in perturbation theory and in complexity of observables. These advances will give rise to a new generation of gravitational-wave templates, dramatically extending the observing power of detectors. They will allow observers to see weaker signals and will be key to resolving long-standing puzzles about the internal structure of neutron stars. We will apply novel technologies developed for scattering amplitudes to bound-state calculations in both quantum and classical theory. Our research will also lead to a deeper understanding of the classical limit of quantum field theory, relevant to gravitational-wave observations and beyond. The transfer of ideas to the new domain of General Relativity will dramatically enhance our ability to reveal new physics encoded in the subtlest of gravitational-wave signals.

Mots-clés : gravitational waves,scattering amplitudes,gravitational scattering
Projet ERC : FricLess (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : University of Padua — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UNIPD
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1819985.0 €

Friction and wear are liable for enormous losses in terms of energy and resources in modern society. Costs related to unwanted friction in industrialised countries are estimated to be about 3% of the gross domestic product. Urgency is even greater nowadays as friction between micro-components has become the bottleneck of several applications for which miniaturisation is critical. Lubrication is a commonly adopted solution to reduce friction. Graphite is a broadly used solid lubricant for large scale applications, while the lubricating properties of a few-layers graphene hold great promise especially for smaller scale applications. At present, our knowledge of the friction and lubrication of rough surfaces is essentially phenomenological. This is because friction is only deceivingly a simple mechanisms, which instead requires understanding of physical phenomena simultaneously acting at different length scales. The change in contact size, which controls the friction stress, depends on nano-scale phenomena such as atomic de-adhesion, sliding, dislocation nucleation in metals, but also on micro- and macro-scale phenomena as (size-dependent) plastic deformation. The objective of this proposal is to reach an unprecedented understanding of metal friction and lubrication by accounting, for the first time, for all relevant phenomena occurring from the atomic to the macro-scale, and their interplay. To this end, a seamless concurrent multi-scale model will be developed. The power of this new model lies in its capability of describing three-dimensional bodies with realistic roughness in sliding lubricated contact, with the accuracy of an atomistic simulation. This research builds towards a complete picture of metal friction and lubrication. The materials chosen for the proposed research are copper and multi-layer graphene. However, the model that will be developed is general and can be used to study different materials, lubricants and environmental conditions.

Mots-clés : computational mechanics,friction,lubrication,plasticity,graphene
Projet ERC : FricLess (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : Delft University of Technology — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : TU Delft
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 180000.0 €

Friction and wear are liable for enormous losses in terms of energy and resources in modern society. Costs related to unwanted friction in industrialised countries are estimated to be about 3% of the gross domestic product. Urgency is even greater nowadays as friction between micro-components has become the bottleneck of several applications for which miniaturisation is critical. Lubrication is a commonly adopted solution to reduce friction. Graphite is a broadly used solid lubricant for large scale applications, while the lubricating properties of a few-layers graphene hold great promise especially for smaller scale applications. At present, our knowledge of the friction and lubrication of rough surfaces is essentially phenomenological. This is because friction is only deceivingly a simple mechanisms, which instead requires understanding of physical phenomena simultaneously acting at different length scales. The change in contact size, which controls the friction stress, depends on nano-scale phenomena such as atomic de-adhesion, sliding, dislocation nucleation in metals, but also on micro- and macro-scale phenomena as (size-dependent) plastic deformation. The objective of this proposal is to reach an unprecedented understanding of metal friction and lubrication by accounting, for the first time, for all relevant phenomena occurring from the atomic to the macro-scale, and their interplay. To this end, a seamless concurrent multi-scale model will be developed. The power of this new model lies in its capability of describing three-dimensional bodies with realistic roughness in sliding lubricated contact, with the accuracy of an atomistic simulation. This research builds towards a complete picture of metal friction and lubrication. The materials chosen for the proposed research are copper and multi-layer graphene. However, the model that will be developed is general and can be used to study different materials, lubricants and environmental conditions.

Mots-clés : computational mechanics,friction,lubrication,plasticity,graphene
Projet ERC : SoSGlobal (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : University of Oxford — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499985.0 €

From Lebanese immigrants in Argentina to Iraqi refugees in Sweden, Eastern Christians can be found today scattered across the entire world. Too often, however, this global migration has been seen purely as a modern development, one arising from contemporary political and confessional events in the Middle East, while in fact this phenomenon had its roots in the early modern period. From the sixteenth century onwards, Christians from the Ottoman Empire set out for distant worlds and foreign lands, travelling as far as Europe, India, Russia, and even the Americas and leaving traces of themselves across countless European and Middle Eastern archives, chanceries, and libraries. This transnational, ground-breaking project will gather all of these disparate sources into a single analytical frame to uncover, for the first time, the global and connected histories of Eastern Christianity in the early modern world. Through the work of a team of researchers under the close supervision of the PI, the project will reconstitute and analyse a ‘lost archive’ of literary, documentary, and printed sources in three continents, ten languages, and dozens of archives. Under the expert leadership of the PI, the project will include a robust strategy for dissemination, which will successfully bridge the fields of Middle Eastern, European, and global history. In doing so, this project will respond directly to one of the most pressing conceptual challenges facing global history today, that is, how to link the study of the micro-scale level of everyday life to the macro-narratives emphasised by global historians. Underlying this project, therefore, is a major intervention that seeks to advance a rigorous form of global history, and one which preserves philology and source criticism at the heart of its methodology. The outcomes of the project will include print-publications, workshops, and a searchable database of all writings by Eastern Christians from 1500 to 1750.

Mots-clés : ottoman empire,early modern europe,middle east,reformation,eastern christianity,islam
Projet ERC : SYGMA (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : Sapienza University of Rome — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1018750.0 €

From a Physics and Engineering standpoint, swimming bacteria are a formidable example of self-propelled micro-machines. Together with their synthetic counterpart, self-propelled colloids, they represent the “living” atoms of active matter, an exciting branch of contemporary soft matter and statistical mechanics. Differently from synthetic colloids, however, each bacterial cell contains all the molecular machinery that is required to self-replicate, sense the environment, process information and compute responses. Breaking down these biological functions into basic genetic parts has been one of the greatest triumphs of molecular biology. Today, synthetic biologists are assembling these parts into new genetic programs and exploiting bacteria as computing micro-machines. Project SYGMA will employ the synthetic biology toolkit to provide the building blocks for a light controllable active matter having reliable, reconfigurable and interactively tunable dynamical properties. We will first engineer transmembrane photoreceptors to wire RGB external light signals to cellular physical responses like speed, tumbling, growth and death rates. These genetic parts will allow the modular design of customized active particles to build active materials with unprecedented optical control capabilities. Using these new tools we will address, with experiments and theory, fundamental questions like: how fast can we drive particle density using spatio-temporal motility modulations? what is the force on a body suspended in a bath of bacteria with non uniform motility? how do physical forces contribute to morphogenesis in bacterial colonies? Finding quantitative and experimentally validated answers will eventually allow us to engineer structured illumination protocols to mold living microstructures, transport colloidal cargos by shaping active pressure, control swarms of biohybrid microcars and shape bacterial microcolonies.

Mots-clés : active matter