Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : qMOTION (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and Processes Engineering
Entité participante : Université de Stuttgart — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 3499763.0 €

Being able to decode neural signals that control skeletal muscles with high accuracy will enable scientific breakthroughs in diagnostics and treatment, including early detection of neurodegenerative diseases, optimising personalised treatment or gene therapy, and assistive technologies like neuroprostheses. This breakthrough will require technology that is able to record signals from skeletal muscles in sufficient detail to allow the morpho-functional state of the neuromuscular system to be extracted. No existing technology can do this. Measuring the magnetic field induced by the flow of electrical charges in skeletal muscles, known as Magnetomyography (MMG), is expected to be the game-changing technology because magnetic fields are not attenuated by biological tissue. However, the extremely small magnetic fields involved require extremely sensitive magnetometers. The only promising option is novel quantum sensors, such as optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs), because they are small, modular, and can operate outside of specialised rooms. Our vision is to use this technology and our expertise in computational neuromechanics to decode, for the first time, neuromuscular control of skeletal muscles based on in vivo, high-density MMG data. For this purpose, we will design the first high-density MMG prototypes with up to 96 OPMs and develop custom calibration techniques. We will record magnetic fields induced by contracting skeletal muscles at the highest resolution ever measured. Such data, combined with the advanced computational musculoskeletal system models, will allow us to derive robust and reliable source localisation and separation algorithms. This will provide us with unique input for subject-specific neuromuscular models. We will demonstrate the superiority of the data over existing techniques with two applications; signs of ageing and neuromuscular disorders and show that it is possible to transfer these methodologies to clinical applications.

Mots-clés : biomechanics,quantum sensors,magnetic field recordings,skeletal muscle mechanics,continuum mechanics,in silico modelling,neuromuscular system
Projet ERC : LitAttention (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Texts and Concepts
Entité participante : Université de Stuttgart — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2498905.0 €

Literature knows a lot about attention – how it is gained and retained, how it is mastered and manipulated. As such it can contribute significantly to current research in interdisciplinary attention studies, transform debates about attentional crises, and offer deep insight into attention regimes we live by. LitAttention explores this fundamentally under-researched knowledge domain of literature about attention and attention politics by analysing ‘literary attention’ in short fiction. As LitAttention will show, short fiction does not only cater to short(er) attention spans: its development was driven by attention anxieties and struggles for attention control, which responded to technological innovation, new streams of information, the rise of attention studies, changing modes of reading, growing concerns about the limits of human attentional capacities, and intensifying struggles for attention sovereignty. Integrating approaches from educational psychology, computational linguistics, and literary and cultural studies, LitAttention has four key objectives. It will (1) examine the various ways in which short fiction has been shaped by but also shaped discourses on attention and attention management; (2) analyse the poetics and politics of attention in short fiction by identifying syntactic, semantic, and narrative strategies that elicit attention, and assess how these narratives reflect upon, support, or subvert attention regimes of their time; (3) develop (transferable) methodological and conceptual frameworks for examining literary attention; (4) introduce the important role of literary attention for education. The project is the first to conceptualize literary attention and propose a networked approach for its analysis. Its results will reveal the crucial role of short fiction in changing ecosystems of attention, have a deep impact on education, and change the way in which scholars, teachers, and the general public approach the knowledge and value of short fiction.

Mots-clés : literary attention,short fiction,short story,microfiction,attention economy,cultural ecology,digital culture,mind wandering,education
Projet ERC : META-LEARN (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : Université de Stuttgart — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2500000.0 €

Materials engineers have dreamed for decades of optimizing materials starting from the quantum mechanical laws of nature. Mastering the inherent chemical and microstructural complexity promises access to outstanding properties of structural and functional materials. Machine-learning interatomic potentials (MLIPs) ignited hope by offering quantum-mechanical accuracy for systems with many atoms. However, the full capacity of MLIPs remains untapped due to the complexity of the MLIP construction process and the required simulations.  META-LEARN will cut the MLIP Gordian knot and raise MLIP construction to the next level. Our vision is a meta-learning framework that unleashes the full strength of MLIPs for large-scale simulations to a broad community. We will meta-learn the optimal MLIP-construction processes by acquiring and exploiting domain-expert knowledge from various branches of advanced ab initio and large-scale simulations.  META-LEARN leverages a comprehensive pool of algorithms to ensure an optimal, task-oriented accuracy-efficiency trade-off. MLIPs that account for magnetic and electronic excitations will broaden the materials spectrum. MLIP-based sampling will boost the efficiency of thermodynamic predictions. Deciphering the microstructure genome will provide the optimal training for large-scale defects. Sustainability challenges will be tackled at the limit of chemical and microstructural complexity: Multicomponent H-storage and coating materials.  META-LEARN will encode the knowledge of the MLIP construction and make it openly available via the MLIP-COPILOT, a knowledge-graph-based artificial intelligence tool. The MLIP-COPILOT will provide the optimal combinations of MLIP algorithms, hyperparameters, training datasets, and training sequences for different materials and simulation tasks. The MLIP-COPILOT will remain flexibly extensible for the community beyond the project’s scope, allowing for the addition of new types of simulations, materials, and MLIPs.

Mots-clés : machine learning,interatomic potentials,ab initio simulations,large scale atomistic simulations,thermodynamics,high entropy alloys,molecular dynamics
Projet ERC : DMoS (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Université de Stuttgart — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2498737.0 €

Moiré patterns are commonly observed phenomena across all length scales. A moiré pattern arises from the spatial modulation of stacked sublattices, which have slightly different lattice constants and/or orientations. This pattern forms a superlattice with a larger periodicity, spanning multiple unit cells of the sublattices. To date, moiré superlattices comprising sublattices with lattice constants of several nanometers have not been experimentally realized. Moiré superlattices at this length scale do not have counterparts in naturally occurring materials, but represent analogues to twisted van der Waals and twisted nanophotonic systems. This DMoS project aims to underscore a pinnacle in DNA nanotechnology by creating entirely new, artificial moiré superlattices that bridge the gap between the angstrom and submicron length scales. These DNA moiré superlattices with precisely engineered structural features will provide a fertile ground for addressing a fundamental question in nature: ‘How does structure influence function?’ By pushing the boundaries of what is possible in structural control at the nanoscale, DMoS is set to explore the intricate relationship between structure and function in both spintronic and optical systems - fields that require precise manipulation of spin and light. Specifically, DMoS will investigate how the structural features of DNA moiré superlattices influence spin polarization in chirality-induced spin selectivity and explore their structural impact on lattice-dependent optical chirality in moiré chiral metamaterials. This fusion of interdisciplinary expertise opens new frontiers in structural design and functionality, with implications beyond the current state of the art. Ultimately, DMoS aims to transform our understanding of how nanoscale features can be engineered to achieve targeted functionalities, setting the stage for a new generation of nanostructured devices with far-reaching applications in science and technology.
Projet ERC : NeuroSTARS (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : Université de Salamanque — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2467500.0 €

Cognitive impairment is a major source of disability and dependence during aging. Up to 40% of dementia cases are attributable to modifiable environmental risk factors, namely lifestyle, which can be actionable for prevention before the onset of cognitive decline. Physical activity and nutrition comprise promising modifiable factors affecting cognitive aging, but how the lifestyle affects cognition is not fully explained. Because of their unique location at the interface between blood vessels and synapses, astrocytes are strategically positioned to translate lifestyle contexts into specific cognitive shapes. Work from our group has demonstrated that astrocytic metabolism is remarkably dynamic and alternates lactate, ß-hydroxybutyrate and acetyl-coenzyme A production. Importantly, preliminary data indicate that these metabolites directly bind histones within astrocytes as epigenetic regulatory adaptive mechanisms. In NeuroSTARS, we will address whether such epigenetic adaptation is dictated by lifestyle-driven modulation of astrocytic metabolism to underpin cognitive performance across the lifespan. In mice subjected to controlled physical activity and dietary contexts, in combination with genetic manipulation of pivotal metabolic pathways in astrocytes, using cutting-edge metabolism and cognition assessment tools, we will (i) identify how astrocytic metabolism adapts to different lifestyle contexts throughout life, (ii) decipher the lifestyle-induced metabolic pathways that impact on metabolites-driven epigenetic regulation in astrocytes, and (iii) define the mechanism that causally links lifestyle-induced metabolism-driven epigenetic regulation within astrocytes with cognition across the lifespan. The expected output will reveal that the metabolism of astrocytes is instrumental in the coupling between lifestyle and age-associated cognitive decline, challenging the view that it merely serves to meet the energy needs of neurotransmission.

Mots-clés : epigenetics,astrocytes,metabolism,cognitive decline
Projet ERC : Aquiverse (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Human Mobility, Environment, and Space
Entité participante : IHE Delft Institute for Water Education — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2489655.52 €

Groundwater resources are under threat from overexploitation, with nearly a third of the world’s largest aquifers being depleted faster than they can be replenished. Initiatives to curb depletion so far have been ineffective. This is because they narrowly attribute it to individual pumping behaviors without questioning the government-promoted intensification of agriculture that pushes farmers to use ever more groundwater in the first place. This project, Aquiverse, reframes groundwater governance by conceiving it as part of a politics of transformation that is anchored in what irrigators themselves do to care for and share the aquifers that they depend on for their livelihoods. Premised on acknowledging how the over-exploitation of aquifers is linked to neo-liberal processes of agricultural intensification, I propose conducting collaborative studies of six initiatives of caring for aquifers – of recharge, protection, conservation, recovery - in three countries (India, Peru and Morocco) where pressures on groundwater are particularly acute. How do these initiatives re-shape people’s connections with aquifers and with each other, and how, in the process, do possibilities of living and relating become reconfigured? The studies provide the empirical material for an exciting re-theorization of society-groundwater dynamics in relational terms, informed by a deep appreciation – both methodologically and epistemologically – of the co-constitution of hydrogeological and societal dynamics. This advances the science of groundwater governance by firmly inserting it in the broader transformations needed to continue to live healthily and well together on this planet, and by expanding government-led ‘command-and-control’ approaches with appreciation for the care, tinkering and community efforts that governing groundwater also entails. Aquiverse’s overall aim is to amplify possibilities for more harmonious – sustainable and just - ways of living with and making use of groundwater.

Mots-clés : aquifers,sustainability,care,transformation
Projet ERC : MINDSEYE (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : Université de Maastricht — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2498288.0 €

How do we create mental images? Despite extensive research, we still miss an overarching mechanistic understanding of mental imagery: How do the various brain regions involved in mental imagery contribute to the unified percept in our mind's eye? Why do we experience imagery so differently ranging from no to extremely vivid mental images? In this project, we propose a novel perspective on mental imagery, viewing it as a personalised computational process that takes into account individual brain characteristics. The task of this computational process is to progressively transform abstract object descriptions (input) into sensory-like visual representations (output) through feedback connections in the brain’s processing hierarchy. To unravel the stages of this conversion process, we will employ advanced fMRI techniques to measure neural activity across the entire brain at an unparalleled level of detail. Using sophisticated analysis methods, we will decode topographic and semantic information about the content of mental images from activated brain areas. To investigate the causal involvement of specific areas, we will transiently disrupt their activity using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Informed by the fMRI and TMS data, we will develop the first personalized AI-inspired neural network model of mental imagery. This model will simulate the emergence of sensory representations backwards through the processing hierarchy and predict the perceived vividness of generated images for each individual. By implementing the model into a Brain Computer Interface, we will enable participants to see imagined objects on a screen during fMRI scanning. This opens up new applications, such as training the strength of mental imagery by providing neurofeedback based on predicted vividness. This interdisciplinary project, at the intersection of psychology, neuroscience, and AI, will provide an integrative framework of the generation of subjective experiences in the mind's eye.

Mots-clés : mental imagery,deep neural networks,brain stimulation,functional magnetic resonance imaging fmri,brain computer interface bci,cortical layers,visual hierarchy
Projet ERC : MECCANO (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and Processes Engineering
Entité participante : Université de Maastricht — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 3500000.0 €

Regenerative medicine aims at repairing damaged tissues in our body. To do so, stem cells are often used. My research has been focused on biofabrication innovations for tissue engineering, which aims to direct stem cell fate to steer tissue regeneration. While mechanical loading play a determinant role in the organization of adult cells and tissue development, and my past work with 3D scaffolds demonstrated the importance of mechanical cues to direct stem cell fate, very little is known about its influence on pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). PSCs are a powerful resource for tissue engineering whose application currently suffers from many limitations. One such limitation is the reliance on added biological factors to induce iPSC differentiation, which do not reflect accurately what occurs in vivo. MECCANO aims to establish a new research program that focuses on the systematic understanding of the influence of mechanical loading on tissue development from PSCs in 3D cultures. I will design mechanically active metamaterial scaffolds, which are porous 3D materials that can morph their shape in response to mechanical loading, thus providing defined dynamic stresses and deformations to cells hosted on them. I will then develop a library of mechanical metamaterial scaffolds able to maintain PSCs undifferentiated or to direct their differentiation into the three germ layers of embryological development (ecto-, meso-, endoderm lineages) through mechanical loading. This knowledge will be fed back into a mathematical model to enable the rational design and fabrication of scaffolds for the regeneration of a targeted tissue, here vascularized and conductive cardiac tissue, which has not yet been accomplished and provides a proof of concept. MECCANO will deliver a new paradigm for PSC differentiation, based on the optimization of 3D scaffolds' mechanical and structural properties. This solution holds the potential to generate more targeted, complex products for tissue replacement.

Mots-clés : biofabrication,additive manufacturing,scaffolds,stem cells,mechanical metamaterials
Projet ERC : SUSCON (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Soci al World and Its Interactions
Entité participante : Université de la Ruhr à Bochum — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2497526.0 €

Unsustainable consumption is a key driver of the climate crisis and must be urgently addressed to stay within planetary boundaries. Despite widespread awareness, personal lifestyle changes have proven insufficient and difficult. Rather than relying on individual self-control alone, major structural policy solutions addressing the systemic roots of the social dilemma of unsustainable consumption are needed. Thus, citizens, as well as policymakers, need to become more aware of the significant constraints to sustainable lifestyles and to support and actively promote such policy solutions. I argue that this very process is psychologically hindered by an individual autonomy mindset, characterized by an emphasis on personal autonomy, a neglect of the pervasive influence of structural factors on choice (structural blindness), and a focus on individual solutions for self-optimization.  SUSCON aims to expose the limitations of this mindset for advancing the sustainability transformation and to understand the psychological mechanisms needed to shift towards an alternate mindset—one that better recognizes structural influences on behavior and the benefits of more systemic policy solutions. Using a diverse set of methods including public goods games, ecological momentary assessment, policy scenarios, and natural language processing, I will demonstrate how these opposing mindsets influence structural awareness, cooperation, and policy support in citizens and policymakers, and explore novel avenues for fostering a shift in mindset.  By intertwining psychology with sociology, economics, and political science, SUSCON seeks to deepen our understanding of mental barriers to sustainable consumption and to chart the foundations for more effective governance. The project challenges conventional narratives and provides valuable insights for policymakers, contributing to the development of more effective climate policies.

Mots-clés : sustainable consumption,autonomy,policy support,structural awarness,climate change
Projet ERC : UniLase (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and Communication Engineering
Entité participante : Université de la Ruhr à Bochum — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2500000.0 €

Lasers are ubiquitously used to cut, drill, mark, texture, 3D print materials. Material-processing lasers remain divided into CW, nanosecond- and ultrafast-pulsed, each excelling and falling short differently. CW lasers reach the highest powers, cost the least, and are far more common but cause heat damage, and their utility is material-specific. Ultrafast lasers achieve supreme precision on any material but remain niche as they are inefficient and expensive. Nanosecond lasers fall in between. We propose to overcome this categorisation by inventing a universal laser that can process any material, from metals to living tissue, exceed the efficiency limit of equilibrium thermodynamics, approach the quantum mechanical limit and surpass the speed of industrial CW lasers. It will do so by taking our invention of ablation-cooled laser-material removal (Nature 2016) to uncharted territory where electrons and atoms will be kept perpetually far from mutual equilibrium even between successive pulses. The same laser will perform 3D printing or tissue welding by switching to quasi-CW operation. To this end, we need the unprecedented combination of 30-fs pulses at 1-kW average power and on-the-fly tunable repetition rates of 0.1-1 THz. The latter implies an impossibly short laser cavity. The alternative is to support multiple pulses in the same cavity but this has long suffered from poor performance due to fundamental reasons. Regular modelocking generates ultrashort pulses by locking cavity modes via nonlinear feedback but it has no mechanism to mutually lock multiple pulses. We fill this conceptual gap by introducing a nonlinear time filter. This innovation underlies the new laser concept of second modelocking, which will create thousands of ultrafast pulses in perfect periodic arrangement to reach extreme repetition rates with a disruptive potential for not only material processing and laser surgery, but also microwave, THz generation, beyond-5G communications, laser ranging.

Mots-clés : laser material processing,optical frequency combs,modelocking of lasers