Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : CarbOcean (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
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 : 1997651.0 €

The ocean’s biological carbon pump plays a crucial role in storing atmospheric carbon dioxide in the deep ocean, thereby isolating carbon from the atmosphere for decades to centuries. Yet, its capacity to do so is under-constrained and its mechanisms poorly understood. CarbOcean will develop a mechanistic and quantitative understanding of the biological carbon pump using a novel integrative approach that accounts for its two component pumps: (1) the organic carbon pump, which concerns the photosynthetic production of particulate organic carbon, POC, and (2) the carbonate pump, which concerns the production of particulate inorganic carbon, PIC. These pumps have opposite effects on the ocean-atmosphere exchange of carbon dioxide. I will nurture the development of a breakthrough autonomous robotic ocean profiler, uniquely capable of simultaneous observations of PIC and POC fluxes and physicochemical parameters from the well-lit surface ocean through the underlying twilight zone (roughly 100 – 1000 m depth) over a continuum of spatiotemporal scales. The robotic profilers will be deployed in a wide variety of oceanic environments and the collected data will allow investigation of links between the export and sequestration of POC and PIC, examination of pump interconnection, and detection of pump drivers. New parameterizations of carbon flux processes will be developed and implemented in a biogeochemical model. Lastly, the carbon flux data collected will be up-scaled to the global ocean using artificial intelligence approaches, thereby exploiting synergies among various observational platforms, including remote sensing. CarbOcean is a strongly interdisciplinary project, connecting fundamental and applied optical oceanography with biogeochemistry, carbonate chemistry, advanced statistics, and technological development that will allow a quantum leap in understanding the ocean’s biological carbon pump.

Mots-clés : biological carbon pump,autonomous ocean observations,biogeochemical model,remote sensing
Projet ERC : CarbOcean (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : Sorbonne Université — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : Sorbonne U
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 0.0 €

The ocean’s biological carbon pump plays a crucial role in storing atmospheric carbon dioxide in the deep ocean, thereby isolating carbon from the atmosphere for decades to centuries. Yet, its capacity to do so is under-constrained and its mechanisms poorly understood. CarbOcean will develop a mechanistic and quantitative understanding of the biological carbon pump using a novel integrative approach that accounts for its two component pumps: (1) the organic carbon pump, which concerns the photosynthetic production of particulate organic carbon, POC, and (2) the carbonate pump, which concerns the production of particulate inorganic carbon, PIC. These pumps have opposite effects on the ocean-atmosphere exchange of carbon dioxide. I will nurture the development of a breakthrough autonomous robotic ocean profiler, uniquely capable of simultaneous observations of PIC and POC fluxes and physicochemical parameters from the well-lit surface ocean through the underlying twilight zone (roughly 100 – 1000 m depth) over a continuum of spatiotemporal scales. The robotic profilers will be deployed in a wide variety of oceanic environments and the collected data will allow investigation of links between the export and sequestration of POC and PIC, examination of pump interconnection, and detection of pump drivers. New parameterizations of carbon flux processes will be developed and implemented in a biogeochemical model. Lastly, the carbon flux data collected will be up-scaled to the global ocean using artificial intelligence approaches, thereby exploiting synergies among various observational platforms, including remote sensing. CarbOcean is a strongly interdisciplinary project, connecting fundamental and applied optical oceanography with biogeochemistry, carbonate chemistry, advanced statistics, and technological development that will allow a quantum leap in understanding the ocean’s biological carbon pump.

Mots-clés : biological carbon pump,autonomous ocean observations,biogeochemical model,remote sensing
Projet ERC : Lost Frontiers (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : University of Warwick — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 490796.25 €

The only lands on Earth that have not been explored in any depth by science are those that have been lost to the oceans. Global warming at the end of the last Ice Age led to the inundation of vast landscapes that had once been home to thousands of people. These lost lands hold a unique and largely unexplored record of settlement and colonisation linked to climate change over millennia. Amongst the most significant is Doggerland. Occupying much of the North Sea basin between continental Europe and Britain it would have been a heartland of human occupation and central to the process of re-settlement and colonisation of north Western Europe during the Mesolithic and the Neolithic. Within this submerged landscape lies fragmentary yet valuable evidence for the lifestyles of its inhabitants including the changes resulting from both the encroaching sea and the introduction of Neolithic technologies. This inundated landscape cannot be explored conventionally, however pioneering work by the applicant’s research group has led to the rediscovery of Doggerland through the creation of the first detailed topographic maps relating to human occupation in the Early Holocene. Within this project world-leading innovators in the fields of archaeo-geophysics, molecular biology and computer simulation will develop a ground-breaking new paradigm for the study of past environments, ecological change and the transition between hunter gathering societies and farming in north west Europe. It will: 1) use the latest seismic reflectance data available to generate topographical maps of the whole of early Holocene Doggerland that are as accurate and complete as possible. 2) reconstruct and simulate the palaeo-environments of Doggerland using ancient DNA extracted directly from sediment cores. 3) explore the Mesolithic landscapes and also identify incipient Neolithic signals indicating early contact and development within the region of Doggerland.

Mots-clés : marine archaeology,palaeolandscapes,coastal shelf prehistoric research
Projet ERC : CellularLogistics (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Cellular, Developmental and Regenerative Biology
Entité participante : Utrecht University — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2000000.0 €

The organization and dynamics of the MT (MT) cytoskeleton underlies the morphology, polarization and division of most cells. The structural polarity of MT determines the directionality of motor proteins, which move selectively towards either the MT plus (most kinesins) or minus end (dynein) to control the transport and positioning of proteins and organelles. Understanding how different cellular MT arrays, such as the mitotic spindle or neuronal MT networks, are built and utilized to ensure proper cellular logistics is a central challenge in cell biology. Recently, our lab has introduced a new technique, motor-PAINT, to directly resolve MT polarity and the relation between MT orientations, stability and modifications. This revealed that in neurons, the mixed polarity MT network in the dendrites is much more ordered than previously anticipated. MTs with opposite orientations have different properties and are preferred by distinct kinesins, revealing an architectural principle that could explain why different plus-end directed motors move towards distinct destinations. Nevertheless, the mechanisms by which this specialized organization is established and the different ways in which it modulates intracellular transport have remained unknown. To resolve how cytoskeletal organization guides transport, I propose to explore the form, formation and functioning of the neuronal MT cytoskeleton. We will combine advanced microscopy, molecular biology, and mathematical modelling to: 1) Create a complete 3D map of the dendritic MT cytoskeleton – form. 2) Unravel the mechanisms that establish MT organization in dendrites – formation. 3) Explore how specific MT configurations modulate intracellular transport – function. This research will uncover key mechanisms of cytoskeletal organization and transport in neurons. In addition, our techniques and concepts will aid understanding intracellular transport in other cellular systems.

Mots-clés : intracellular transport,microtubule organization,super resolution microscopy
Projet ERC : Autocat (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : University of Oxford — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2278073.0 €

The origin of life is not well understood, and is one of the great remaining questions in science. Autocatalytic chemical reactions have been extensively studied with the aim of providing insight into the principles underlying living systems. In biology, organisms can be thought of as imperfect self-replicators, which produce closely related species, allowing for selection and evolution. Autocatalysis is also an important part of many other biological processes. This project aims to develop new autocatalytic reactions where two simple chemical building blocks come together to give a more complex product, and then the product aggregates to give primitive cell-like structures or "protocells" such as micelles or vesicles. The protocells allow the starting materials to mix more efficiently, speeding up the reaction in time and giving rise to complex behaviour of the protocells. These reactions will serve as models that I hope will contribute to understanding how cell-like systems can emerge from simpler chemicals and be relevant to how life started on earth. This project will give the opportunity to study chemical systems that may be able to evolve in time, allow development of useful chemical models of important biological processes, and provide ‘bottom-up’ approaches to synthetic biology. This research will potential allow the study evolution in a new ways, develop technology useful to a number of scientific fields, and potentially shed light on the processes that allowed chemistry to become biology on the primitive Earth.

Mots-clés : autocatalysis,self reproduction,origins of life,protocells,phase behaviour,chemical evolution,systems chemistry,supramolecular
Projet ERC : EARTHBLOOM (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : Lakehead University — Pays : Canada — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 131250.0 €

The origin of oxygenic photosynthesis is one of the most dramatic evolutionary events that the Earth has ever experienced. At some point in Earth’s first two billion years, primitive bacteria acquired the ability to harness sunlight, oxidize water, release O2, and transform CO2 to organic carbon, and all with unprecedented efficiency. Today, oxygenic photosynthesis accounts for nearly all of the biomass on the planet, and exerts significant control over the carbon cycle. Since 2 billion years ago (Ga), it has regulated the climate of our planet, ensuring liquid water at the surface and enough oxygen to support complex life. The biological and geological consequences of oxygenic photosynthesis are so great that they effectively underpin what we think of as a habitable planet. Understanding the origins of photosynthesis is a paramount scientific challenge at the heart of some of humanity’s greatest questions: how did life evolve? how did Earth become a habitable planet? EARTHBLOOM addresses these questions head-on through the first comprehensive scientific study of Earth’s first blooming photosynthetic ecosystem, preserved as Earth’s oldest carbonate platform. This relatively unknown, >450m thick deposit, comprised largely of 2.9 Ga fossil photosynthetic structures (stromatolites), is one of the most important early Earth fossil localities ever identified, and EARTHBLOOM is carefully positioned for major discovery. EARTHBLOOM will push the frontier of field data collection and sample screening using new XRF methods for carbonate analysis. EARTHBLOOM will also push the analytical frontier in the lab by applying the most sensitive metal stable isotope tracers for O2 at ultra-low levels (Mo, U, and Ce) coupled with novel isotopic “age of oxidation” constraints. By providing new constraints on atmospheric CO2, ocean pH, oxygen production, and nutrient availability, EARTHBLOOM is poised to redefine Earth’s surface environment at the dawn of photosynthetic life.

Mots-clés : geobiology,paleoredox,metal isotopes
Projet ERC : PRO2EUK (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : Wageningen University & Research — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WUR
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2000000.0 €

The origin of the eukaryotic cell, with its complex structural features, marks one of the prime hallmarks in the evolution of life on Earth. Still, the events that led to the emergence of cellular complexity in eukaryotic cells are a matter of hot debate. Current data supports scenarios in which an archaeal host cell and an alphaproteobacterial (mitochondrial) endosymbiont merged, triggering the emergence of the first eukaryotic cell. The host cell was recently shown to share a common ancestry with the Asgard archaea, an archaeal superphylum uniquely displaying a number of eukaryotic features. However, important details about the nature of the archaeal host and the presumed syntrophic interaction between this host and the alleged mitochondrial endosymbiont remain elusive, limiting our current understanding about the early stages of eukaryogenesis. In the current proposal, I aim to gain new insights in the emergence of eukaryotic cellular complexity by focusing on the newly discovered Asgard archaea. First, I will acquire and screen numerous environmental samples and employ state-of-the-art genome-resolved metagenomics approaches to lay out the diversity of the Asgard superphylum at the genomic level. By performing in-depth phylogenomic analyses of the newly generated genomic data, I will pinpoint the position of eukaryotes in the Tree of Life, and reconstruct the evolutionary history of eukaryotic genome content using advanced ancestral genome reconstruction algorithms. Next, I will develop in situ culturing and innovative cell extraction techniques that allow me to determine metabolic and syntrophic properties of Asgard archaeal cells, and to study their cells in ultra-high resolution. Altogether, the proposed research will provide novel insights into the genomic and cell-biological identity and nature of our closest prokaryotic relatives, and reveal, in more detail than ever before, the events that led to the emergence of complex cell types on Earth.

Mots-clés : archaea,eukaryogenesis,endosymbiosis,metagenomics,mitochondria,origin of eukaryotes,microbial evolution,microbial diversity,cellular complexity,tree of life,phylogenomics,phylogenetics
Projet ERC : SLOW_SOURCE (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : Université de Toulouse — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : UT
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 57970.0 €

The origins and release mechanisms of stellar winds are long-lasting open challenges in astrophysics. Stellar winds play a fundamental role in the long-term evolution of stars and the habitability of their orbiting planets. In the solar case, the wind is observed in at least two states, fast and slow winds, that differ in their bulk properties and composition, pointing to different coronal origins. A theoretical explanation for the slow wind must explain both its variable bulk properties and its peculiar composition. This includes the measured high charge states of minor ions, the abundance variation of Helium during the solar cycle and the high abundance of elements with low first ionisation potential (so called FIP effect) reaching four times the photospheric abundance. SLOW_SOURCE is a comprehensive research project that will use current and upcoming observations as well as completely novel models of the solar atmosphere to determine the origin of the slow wind. We will develop plasma transport models coupling major and all known important minor constituents along realistic coronal magnetic field lines. This model will be the first of its kind producing modelled observations (spectroscopy, imagery) and expected in situ signatures directly from the modelled minor constituents. Combined with data from space and ground-based observatories, our new multi-species, multi-temperature 3-dimensional modelling of coronal plasma will provide new ways to infer the properties of stellar winds and tools to study the fundamental transport and heating processes of stellar plasmas. Determining the enigmatic release mechanism(s) of the slow solar wind constitutes a key objective of the upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission that will obtain radically new observations right from the start of the project. The project (2019-2024) will also be an excellent preparation for the Solar Orbiter mission that should obtain its first data during the second half of the project (2022-2024).
Projet ERC : INDUCE (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : British Museum — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : BM
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1706078.29 €

The origins, adoption and use of pottery vessels are among archaeology’s most compelling issues. Pottery vessels are no longer viewed in western archaeology as a material correlate of sedentary farming life in the Neolithic. Despite recognition of pottery vessels in hunter-gatherer contexts in some parts of northern Europe and the former Soviet Union, their impact on, and role in, hunter-gatherer lifeways has been regarded as peripheral to mainstream European prehistory. This proposal seeks to rebalance the evidence and the debate, placing the innovation, dispersal and use of pottery vessels among hunter-gatherers in NE Europe at the heart of the enquiry. Virtually nothing is known of the choices underlying the adoption of pottery vessels or the uses to which they were put. Similarly, there is little understanding of the environmental contexts that led to the emergence of pottery or the timing and dynamics of its apparent westward dispersal across NE Europe, nor its legacy following the introduction of food production. Addressing these lacunae is the motivation for this proposal. INDUCE will tackle these important challenges with an integrated approach to reconstructing the contextual life histories of over 2000 pottery vessels, enhancing chronological control of early pottery horizons through 600 14C dates, investigating the typology of several thousand vessels from across the study region, creating spatio-temporal models for the spread of different pottery traditions and documenting the impact of the introduction of farming on the use of vessels for resource utilisation. This new understanding of pottery manufacture, dispersal and use across NE Europe will inspire a fundamental re-evaluation of later hunter-gatherer prehistory and culminate in an alternative narrative for the ‘Neolithisation’ of Europe.

Mots-clés : hunter gatherers,pottery vessels,organic residues
Projet ERC : IMMUNOTHROMBOSIS (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : LMU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2321416.0 €

The overall aim of the IMMUNOTHROMBOSIS project is to clarify the mechanisms underlying the recently identified synergism between thrombosis and inflammation. Thrombus formation and inflammation are vital host responses that ensure homeostasis, but can also drive cardiovascular disease, including myocardial infarction and stroke, the major causes of death in Europe. My group and others discovered, that thrombosis and inflammation are not to be considered separate processes. They are tightly interrelated and synergize in immune defence, but also in inflammatory and thrombotic diseases in a process we termed immunothrombosis. Targeting this synergism has great potential to identify innovative and unconventional strategies to more specifically prevent undesired activation of thrombotic and inflammatory pathways. However, this requires a deeper mechanistic understanding of immunothrombosis. I recently identified two ground-breaking novel immunothrombotic principles: I discovered that platelets have the ability to migrate autonomously, which assists immune cells in fighting pathogens. Further, I revealed that immune cells play a central role in controlling the production of platelets from their megakaryocyte precursors. The physiological and pathophysiological relevance of both processes is unclear. This is the starting point and focus of the IMMUNOTHROMBOSIS project. My aim is to define how platelets use their ability to migrate to support immune cells in protection of vascular integrity (objective 1) and to identify the contribution of platelet migration to different cardiovascular diseases involving immunothrombotic tissue damage (objective 2). Finally, I will clarify how inflammatory responses feedback to the production of thrombotic effectors and dissect inflammatory mechanisms that control platelet production (objective 3). IMMUNOTHROMBOSIS will identify new options for specific prevention or treatment of thrombotic and inflammatory cardiovascular diseases.

Mots-clés : thrombosis,inflammation,haemostasis,platelets,innate immunity