Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : HEAVYMETAL (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Université de Copenhague — Pays : Danemark — Rôle : CO-PI
Acronyme de l'entité : KU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2937182.0 €

The incredible density, gravity, and electromagnetic field strengths of neutron stars (NS) make them laboratories for physics under extreme conditions. But probing these exotic objects is difficult. With the 2017 gravitational wave detection of a NS-NS merger, the landscape changed, and we can now get high-quality spectra of the decompressed neutron-rich matter emerging from the collision. This is a new transient astrophysical phenomenon called a 'kilonova'. Kilonovae are a potential treasure trove of information on some of the biggest open questions in physics: understanding the nuclear and astrophysical pathways that created half of all the heavy elements (Z > 30) in the universe, and the physics of very hot and extremely dense matter. For this reason, they are considered a scientific priority and kilonova science is the target of several large new and upgraded facilities. But kilonovae are challenging: the phenomenon is short-lived, requiring rapid follow-up with large telescopes, the outflow is heavy element-dominated making it extremely demanding to model, and the merger itself covers a huge dynamic range and involves complex nuclear physics. To interpret the spectra we require new atomic data, which does not yet exist for most of the heavy elements. To tackle these challenges, HEAVYMETAL assembles experts in astrophysical observations, hydrodynamical merger simulation, numerical radiative transfer, and laboratory heavy element spectroscopy and atomic structure calculation. With this team we will be able to determine the structures and overall geometries of the merger outflow, the elemental abundances, and their stratification within the ejecta. By the full exploitation of kilonovae we will trace the nucleosynthesis pathways in NS mergers, and provide important insights on heavy nuclei, neutrino interactions, and the nature of high-density matter, and we will chart the role of compact object mergers as the cosmic forge of the heaviest elements.

Mots-clés : neutron stars kilonova radiative transfer laser produced plasma spectroscopy heavy ion spectroscopy gravitational waves r process origin of the elements
Projet ERC : TACY (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Université de Heidelberg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : CO-PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 3325421.0 €

Cyclacenes, i.e., cyclic versions of acenes consisting of linearly fused benzene rings, were first discussed in 1954 by Heilbronner, but - despite considerable synthetic efforts over decades - have remained an elusive class of compounds. Theoretical investigations suggest that cyclacenes are highly reactive due to pronounced polyradical character and significant ring strain. All prior attempts to synthesise cyclacenes failed, mainly because the final synthetic step of establishing a fully conjugated π-system was energetically prohibitive. Despite these challenges, cyclacenes remain intriguing synthetic targets because of their unique chemical, electronic, and structural properties as well as their potential applications in organic (opto-)electronics or spintronics. In this collaborative project, we will develop novel synthetic approaches, which synergistically combine efficient and high-yielding synthetic strategies of belt-type precursors that we will transform to cyclacenes by extrusion of suitable leaving groups under cryogenic matrix isolation conditions, on surfaces, in the solid state, and ultimately even in solution. Our synthetic approach is highly modular and allows to structurally vary the belt-type precursors, and thus the cyclacenes, by placing different substituents at the rims, including peri-annulation or isosteric substitution of CH units by heteroatoms. This research, combined with state-of-the-art computational investigations and characterization even on the single-molecule level, will provide unprecedented insight into the structure-property relationship of the fully conjugated zigzag topology present in cyclacenes and address fundamental questions of chemical reactivity and the interplay of aromaticity, strain and polyradical character. This knowledge will finally allow us to synthesise interlocked structures based on cyclacenes and to apply cyclacenes in controlled reactions on surfaces for creating further elusive materials such as polyacenes.

Mots-clés : polycyclic aromatic compounds,on surface synthesis,matrix isolation,nanobelts
Projet ERC : RESYDE (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Université de Sydney — Pays : Australie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 3156518.5 €

Scientists have long sought to understand how complex multicellular organisms generate their final form. Yet despite considerable progress, demonstrating predictive knowledge sufficient to re-engineer development according to design, remains a grand challenge. Addressing this challenge is not only fundamentally important, but also critical to the future of regenerative medicine and agriculture. Development depends on coordinated symmetry breaking events resulting from diverse mechanisms, ranging from the asymmetric localisation of molecules and stochastic processes within cells to the formation of morphogen gradients across a tissue. A mechanistic understanding of complex patterning processes therefore requires gaining knowledge on the molecular basis of multiple types of symmetry breaking events occurring at different scales. RESYDE will address this challenge by integrating information from diverse approaches into a virtual, dynamic cellular template. Predictive modelling will then be used to explain symmetry breaking at different scales sufficient to re-engineer the system by design. We will use the Arabidopsis flower as a model system and apply an interdisciplinary approach that utilises fine-scale perturbation techniques together with in vivo live-imaging of key regulators along with spatially mapped multi omics data, hormonal gradients and tissue mechanics to monitor responses at multiple scales. To leverage these data we will establish a 4D virtual cell template together with multiscale models to generate and simulate hypotheses in silico on the precise molecular origins of symmetry breaking events within the flower. We will apply our knowledge using a re-engineering approach to alter multiple floral symmetry breaking processes to better understand evolutionary floral architectural changes. Ultimately, RESYDE will provide a fundamental step change in our understanding of concerted symmetry breaking events across scales in complex multicellular contexts.

Mots-clés : flower development,meristem patterning,organ polarity,evo devo
Projet ERC : Intellexus (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Université Reichmann — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : IDC
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2993735.0 €

A major legacy of the Indic and Tibetic great civilisations is the enormous corpora of preserved texts and the plethora of profound ideas transmitted therein. Intellexus focuses on three vast corpora of Buddhist texts: Indic works in Sanskrit, Indic works in Tibetan translation, and autochthonous Tibetic works with claimed Indic origin. Our hypothesis is that the Indic and Tibetic Buddhist intellectual cultures and their elements—including texts, ideas, and intellectual ecosystems (and their constituents)—arose and developed in dependence. Bringing to light the details of this dependent arising is essential for understanding the rich philosophical, religious, and literary traditions of these cultures and the subtle processes of transfer from the Indic to the Tibetic cultural sphere. These complex processes, we claim, involved interactions not only with other Buddhist elements, but also with non-Buddhist ones. The unique synergy within a broad team of scholars of Humanities and Computer Science makes it possible for the first time to develop methods and tools with which our hypothesis can be tested. We will map the three corpora, taking also Indic and Tibetic non-Buddhist material into consideration, with a focus on three aspects: (a) the geology (composition history) of texts and text corpora; (b) the genealogy of selected concepts; and (c) the intellectual ecosystems involved. The project will also devise sophisticated visualisations of the nexuses of interactions between texts, ideas, and people, which will uncover patterns of intertextuality and intersecting pathways of ideas, and will enable the profiling of the intellectual ecosystems. Our groundbreaking methodology and tools will revolutionise the way we think about and investigate these―and with some adaptations also other―intellectual cultures and the processes leading to the development of their rich traditions. We thus expect a major impact on our fields and beyond.

Mots-clés : intellectual ecosystems evolution of intellectual cultures cultural transfer buddhism india tibet
Projet ERC : CASTLE (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Université de Parme — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1972563.75 €

Chirality is a key property of molecules important in many chemical and nearly all biological processes. Recent observations have shown that electron transport through chiral molecules attached to solid electrodes can induce high spin polarization even at room temperature. Electrons with their spin aligned parallel or antiparallel to the electron transfer displacement vector are preferentially transmitted depending on the chirality of the molecular system resulting in Chirality-Induced Spin Selectivity (CISS). The long-term vision of the CASTLE project is to transform the CISS effect into an enabling technology for quantum applications. This will be accomplished by achieving four key objectives. 1) The occurrence of CISS will be studied at the intramolecular level by photo-inducing rapid electron transfer within covalent donor-chiral spacer-acceptor molecules to generate long-lived radical pairs (RPs). 2) Direct detection of RP spin polarization will be performed using time-resolved and pulsed electron and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. In addition, polarization transfer from one of the radicals comprising the spin-polarized RP to a stable molecular spin (Q) will be used to initialize the quantum state of Q, making it a good qubit for quantum applications, particularly sensing. 3) Quantum mechanical studies of the CISS effect will provide predictive models for molecular qubit design. 4) The CISS effect will be used to control, readout, and transfer information in prototypical devices embedding hybrid interfaces based on semiconducting or conducting substrates, thus dramatically advancing the use of molecular spins in quantum information technologies targeting high-temperature operation. These devices will be used also to prove molecule-based Quantum Error Correction. The knowledge acquired with CASTLE will impact a wide range of fields, including magnetless spintronics, dynamic nuclear polarization for NMR signal enhancement, catalysis, and light harvesting.

Mots-clés : chirality,electron transfer,molecular magnetism,spin selectivity,spintronics,supramolecular chemistry,coordination chemistry
Projet ERC : MUTAHOME (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Institut Francis Crick — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : CO-PI
Acronyme de l'entité : The Crick
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 6678559.5 €

Healthy tissues become progressively populated of clonally expanded cells that have acquired somatic mutations. Often these mutations modify cancer genes promoting cell plasticity, self-renewal, and growth, all features known to decline with ageing. Despite being pervasive across tissues and persistent throughout life, only rarely mutant cells become pathogenic. Here we hypothesise that somatic mutations enhance tissue integrity by increasing the fitness of stem/progenitor cells (SPCs) to counterbalance their age-induced decline. Increased SPC fitness at the cellular level increases the fitness at the tissue level, thus preserving the overall tissue regenerative potential. To test this hypothesis, we propose to investigate the effect of somatic mutations on SPC fitness in solid tissues and blood using complementary and synergistic approaches specific to our teams, bridging the historically distinct fields of evolutionary genetics and stem cell biology. Through the analysis of human tissues and the use of complex mouse models, we will dissect the interactions between mutant SPCs and their niche, at homeostasis and upon insults. We will determine whether the expansion of mutant SPCs over time leads to a progressive decline in SPC diversity, which eventually increases disease risk. We will adopt a progressive approach. We will first characterise the mutant clone (WP1) and its crosstalk with the niche (WP2) at homeostasis. We will then test the response of mutant clone and niche to physiological (WP3) and pathological (WP4) challenges. We will finally assess the occurrence of a multiorgan crosstalk conveyed by mutant blood on mutant solid tissues (WP5). This study will radically transform our understanding of tissue homeostasis and clarify the relationship between somatic mutations, ageing and disease. A deeper knowledge of the mechanisms that maintain the homeostatic equilibrium over time is the first step to guide intervention and disease prevention.

Mots-clés : somatic mutations,tissue stem cells,homeostasis
Projet ERC : MAGNESIS (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : CO-PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ICIQ
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 3335625.0 €

In the last years, electrochemistry and electrocatalysis are increasing their impact across several fields. A major driving force comes from the promise of substituting current fossil-fuel powered thermal methods in the industry by electrochemical alternatives, driven by renewable electricity. However, electrochemical methods are still far from reaching the desired target performance. In this landscape, the recent discovery of magnetic fields enhancing electrocatalytic processes offers a plausible new strategy. The idea of boosting an electrocatalytic reaction by an external magnetic field becomes highly persuasive. Still, the origin of this phenomenon is hardly understood, given its complexity: dealing with a magnetic field, in an electric field, on a dynamic surface, during a chemical reaction is a multiple-body problem.  Our objective is to foster magneto-electrocatalysis by exploring rigorously the interplay between magnetic fields and electrocatalytic performance from atomic resolution in model systems up to full cell devices. This can only be achieved by a synergetic effort between experts in catalysis, surface science, magnetism and theory. We will focus on two relevant reactions: the spin-restricted water oxidation and the carbon dioxide reduction, both potentially spin-sensitive. Our aim is to validate the structural, electronic and magnetic key descriptors controlling this phenomenon, assessed by complementary ex-situ and operando data within the corresponding theoretical framework. Computational tools will consolidate the understanding and quantify the different mechanistic contributions to microscopic and macroscopic observations. The ambition with MAGNESIS is to define, in a rigorous way, the first principles and ultimate possibilities of magnetic fields in the development of advanced electrocatalytic methods, pioneering the novel field of magneto-electrochemical science & technology.

Mots-clés : magnetoelectrocatalysis,electrocatalysis,dft calculations,microscopy,multiscale modelling,magnetism,water electrolysis,water splitting,co2 utilisation
Projet ERC : TASTADE (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Université Côte d'Azur — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UniCA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2211150.0 €

Abstract  From the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, slave traders of mostly European origin violently transported more than 12.5 million African men, women, and children to the Americas. This was the largest forced transoceanic migration in human history. Scholars have focussed on the effects of this migration on African and American history, while treating the slave trade’s effects on European societies as marginal. This supposition of marginality stems from two biases in existing research: a focus on the companies and individuals who directly outfitted slaving voyages instead of on the far larger group of people who invested in these voyages, and an over-emphasis on slave trade profits, leaving out many other relevant indicators of the economic, political, and cultural significance of slave traders. The trans-Atlantic slave trade and the development of Europe project (TASTADE) will correct this imbalance by identifying thousands of men and women who financed the slave trade and scrutinizing their embeddedness in their local, regional, national, and transnational contexts, to answer the following research question: How did the investors in the trans-Atlantic slave trade based inside and outside Europe shape the economies, politics, and cultures of Europe? TASTADE will transform existing scholarship by delivering a ground-breaking assessment of the national and trans-national networks that facilitated this trade and by linking these networks to key aspects of European development. In realising this overarching objective, TASTADE will reshape our understanding of the history of capitalism, colonial and commercial politics, and European culture. Our unique pan-European perspective relies on the distinctive synergy of approaches provided by the members of the core research team, who will inscribe the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade fully into the story of European development and help European society confront, disclose, and memorialise the sl

Mots-clés : slavery,slave trade,trading companies,prosopography,investment,transnational analysis,legacies of empire
Projet ERC : OxytocINspace (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Université hébraïque de Jérusalem — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : HUJI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Orienting in space recruits brain mechanisms well conserved across mammalian species. Within the entorhinal-hippocampal network, a core system of spatially-selective cells supports spatial geometry computations. Yet, when navigating familiar surroundings, neural computations of space usually escape our attention. Instead, we parse space into socially meaningful territories. Territorial boundaries are social in nature since they capture the location of utilities available to individuals tied to group hierarchy and affiliation. How does our brain integrate geometry and territory? We propose that this process is regulated by the oxytocin (OT) system, acting on the entorhinal-hippocampal regions. OT, a hypothalamic neuropeptide known for its pro-social effects in mammals, modulates neural activity in the hippocampal formation, but its potential role in territorial representations has not yet been studied. Here, experts in complementary fields – social behaviors, spatial navigation, neurophysiology, anatomy, and cell signaling – will study brain similarities and differences of socio-territorial strategies in five mammalian species: bats, mice, rats, marmosets, and macaques. Our central goal is to investigate how neurons coding for space (e.g. place cells, boundary cells, grid cells) respond to perceived socio-spatial parameters of ownership, utility, and social hierarchies. We expect spatial cells to be sensitive to territorial manipulations (ownership, proximity, intrusion), regulated by OT in a context-dependent manner. OT inhibition may enhance territorial defense when territories are challenged (e.g., conspecific approaches or transgresses borders) and may sharpen territorial boundary representations. Conversely, OT stimulation could blur the boundaries of territorial perception. Our cross-species perspective will be the first to provide information on possible species-specific vs. shared neural mechanisms for territorial maps and OT-induced hippocampal plasticity.

Mots-clés : oxytocin,oxytocin receptors,entorhinal cortex,hippocampus,place cells,territorial behavior,rodents,bats,non human primates,social behavior
Projet ERC : MANTRAMS (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Université d'Oxford — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 3134621.0 €

Over 4 million people in Europe, including Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh minorities and Yoga practitioners, use mantras—sacred utterances, formulas, or syllables—for the purposes of ritual, prayer, contemplation and wellness. The term “mantra” itself has entered the vocabulary of most modern European languages. But how do mantras work? Where do they come from, and how did they spread around the globe? Despite their ubiquity and relevance, mantras have seldom been studied in their own right. This project will produce an unprecedented global history and anthropology of mantras, grounded in the PIs’ expertise on the very places and traditions where mantras originate–southern Asia, where mantras have been used in rites, meditation, worship, and healing for more than 3000 years. As mantras have been transmitted through diasporic networks, new religious movements, yoga and the internet, they have become central to religion and culture worldwide, while they also play a key role in traditional medicine and identity politics. Most scholarship to date has approached mantras through language and philology, privileging Sanskrit texts from elite contexts. Yet mantras have always been diverse, multimodal and multisensory, manifesting in manuscripts, on stones, in the voice through chanting, in the mind through meditation, and on the body through amulets, tattoos, and clothing. Bringing together leading scholars working across disciplines and cultural regions, this 6-year project will create sonic, visual and digital textual archives on the transcultural and multisensory lives of mantras, together with an exceptional array of academic deliverables and a museum exhibition. Raising awareness of mantras’significance from their origins in ancient South Asia to their modern ramifications in the global North, the MANTRAMS project will produce the first-ever scientific project entirely dedicated to understanding the relevance of mantras at a global scale.

Mots-clés : asian studies indology sound studies cultural anthropology