Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : Atlas (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Entité participante : University of Amsterdam — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UvA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The human subcortex is a highly crowded brain area, which consists of hundreds of unique, small grey matter nuclei constituting approximately ¼ of total human brain volume. Importantly, only approximately 7% of these nuclei are currently accessible in standard human brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) atlases (Forstmann et al., 2016). This low percentage can have several imaging related causes, including the small size of subcortical nuclei as compared to the voxel size, which is particularly relevant when applying 1.5 or 3 Tesla (T) MRI. Additionally, the challenges posed by the large distance of the subcortex from the head coil may be a cause. In light of the vast amount of uncharted brain areas, one can also think of the human subcortex as ‘terra incognita’. The aim of this proposal is to chart ‘terra incognita’ to create a tool to identify and localize new targets for DBS. Major efforts of my group have already been directed towards resolving at least part of the challenges of imaging the human subcortex through the development of ultra-high field resolution 7T magnetic resonance imaging (UHF-MRI) sequences tailored to image the subcortex. Within our project ‘Atlasing the human subcortex’, collaborations with world-leading companies in DBS technology such as Boston Scientific (http://www.vercise.com/index.cfm) have been established. Here, we aim to extend these efforts by applying for funding for research personnel that will execute the manual segmentations and validation of new potentially more efficient target areas for DBS neurosurgery. These efforts will lead to creating probabilistic atlas maps for DBS surgery with unprecedented detail as well as a 3D app for educational purposes both in the clinical and basic neurosciences. These efforts will ultimately lead to commercial products that have already attracted attention of world-leading DBS companies.

Mots-clés : atlasing,the human subcortex,ultra high field mri
Projet ERC : SEXHUM (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Entité participante : Aix-Marseille Université — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : amU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 258235.0 €

The humanitarian fight against trafficking in the sex industry legitimizes the enforcement of increasingly restrictive migration laws and controls, which often exacerbate sex workers’ vulnerability to being trafficked. SEXHUM adopts an art-science interdisciplinary approach bringing together visual anthropology, sociology, gender and queer studies and human geography to study the relationship between migration, sex work, exploitation and trafficking. It contextualizes this relationship within the global onset of sexual humanitarianism, a concept coined by the PI. It refers to the ways migrants are increasingly represented, understood and targeted by the media, policymakers and social interventions as vulnerable to exploitation and abuse in relation to their sexual orientation or behaviour. SEXHUM adopts a migration studies perspective and a participative approach to focus on migrant sex workers addressed by sexual humanitarianism as victims of trafficking. It reappraises the concepts of exploitation, slavery and trafficking through the lens of how they are understood and experienced by migrants. The project analyses the global emergence of humanitarian migration governance by examining the impact of sexual humanitarianism across six strategic urban settings in Europe (France – Marseille and Paris), the US (New York and Los Angeles), Australia (Sydney) and New Zealand (Auckland) that are characterized by different policies on migration, sex work (criminalisation, regulation, de-criminalisation) and trafficking. The innovative method developed by the PI combines ethnographic observations, semi-structured interviewing and participative filmmaking to address the narrated as well as the affective, relational and performative dimensions of migrants’ experiences of agency and exploitation. The research will generate needed user-based data on the impact of anti-trafficking initiatives that will be highly relevant to policymaking.

Mots-clés : migration,prostitution,trafficking,social interventions,agency,exploitation
Projet ERC : SOCIALBOND (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Social World and Its Diversity
Entité participante : University of Cologne — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1489916.0 €

The idea of boundary making has moved to the centre of influential agendas in immigration research. While many studies show the location and meaning of ethnic boundaries to vary across contexts, the conditions under which actors pursue different strategies of boundary making and produce different configurations of boundaries remain largely unknown. A major reason is the lack of a contextual unit of analysis that allows one to look at a large number of comparable social fields in which processes of boundary making unfold. My project is based on the idea that studying peer dynamics across a large number of schools constitutes strategic research material for understanding boundary making. I aim to develop a theory of boundary making that explains which combinations of attributes tend to become the basis of peer group affiliation and identities depending on school context. Realising this agenda has recently become possible through advances in multilevel longitudinal social network analysis and the collection of unique panel data on complete networks of over 18,000 students in more than 900 Dutch, English, German, and Swedish classrooms in 2010 and 2011. In order to investigate how the current influx of refugees transforms the configurations of boundaries, I will strategically complement this data by conducting a new three-wave panel study in one third of the original German schools. As part of this data collection, I will conduct the first smartphone-based experience sampling study on adolescents’ everyday boundary work, which allows me to capture its everyday salience as well as the impact of public discourse and political events. Aside from breaking new ground in the interdisciplinary fields of boundaries studies, immigration research, and network science, my project will potentially have an important social impact by identifying new factors that support or hinder the social integration of minority students.

Mots-clés : social networks,boundaries,adolescence,migration and integration,ethnic studies,ethnicity,analytical sociology
Projet ERC : SAFEIMMUNOSUPPRESS (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Inserm
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The idea of the proposal is to prove the relevance of the development a novel class of immunosuppressive drugs with a better safety. These agents will aim at selectively inhibit the proliferation of T (and B) lymphocytes by targeting a medically relevant target (named CTPS1) recently identified by Dr Latour in the team of Pr Fischer. Proliferation of T lymphocytes is a normal component of the immune reaction toward an antigen, but in certain circumstances, the proliferation of activated T lymphocytes is deleterious including in the context of organ transplantation, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Accordingly, several classes of immunosuppressive agents have been developed to inhibit and control these excessive and pathological responses. Actually, most of these inhibitors known are associated with toxicity due to their nonspecific broad effects. A promising future application of immunosuppressive drugs is to search for agents that inhibit unwanted lymphocyte responses by novel and more specific mechanisms. The aim of the project is to conduct a feasibility study for the development of such drugs that could selectively inhibit the proliferation of activated lymphocytes by targeting CTPS1 (without broad side effects as currently used inhibitors). The excepted outcomes of the project are to amass the weight of data needed for achieving a technology transfer to an industrial partner active in drug discovery. These data represent key points to address needed for advancement of the idea to high throughput drug screening and design stage (that will be realized by the industrial partner). This background work includes pre-clinical studies in cellular and animal models and a technical feasibility study validating the plan for drug discovery, as well as IPR finalization, contacts with potential industrial partners and finalization of the commercialization strategy.

Mots-clés : immune response,immunosupressants,lymphocyte proliferation
Projet ERC : Load Slice Core (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer science and informatics
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 : 2499500.0 €

The ideal processor building block is a power and cost-efficient core that can maximize the extraction of memory hierarchy parallelism, a combination that neither traditional in-order nor out-of-order cores provide. We propose the Load Slice Core microarchitecture, a restricted out-of-order engine aimed squarely at extracting memory hierarchy parallelism, which, according to preliminary results, delivers a nearly 8 times higher performance per Watt per euro compared to an out-of-order core. The overarching objective of this project to fully determine the potential of the Load Slice Core as a key building block for a novel multi-core processor architecture needed in light of both current and future challenges in software and hardware, including variable thread-level parallelism, managed language workloads, the importance of sequential performance, and the quest for significantly improved power and cost efficiency. We anticipate significant improvement in multi-core performance within the available power budget and cost by combining chip-level dynamism to cope with variable thread-level parallelism along with the inherent power- and cost-efficient Load Slice Core design. If we are able to demonstrate the true value and potential of the Load Slice Core to address future hardware and software challenges, this project will have a long-lasting impact on the microprocessor industry moving forward.

Mots-clés : computer architecture
Projet ERC : ThDEFINE (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems
Entité participante : Wellcome Trust — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WT
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1778456.25 €

The immune system consists of a complex continuum of cell types that communicate with each other and non-immune tissues in homeostasis, and during infections, autoimmunity and cancer. Conventional transcriptional and functional profiling enabled by cell surface marker sorting has revealed a great deal about how specific cell types operate en masse, yet important transcriptional heterogeneity that exists within cell populations remains unexplored. High-throughput single cell RNA-seq can overcome this limitation by profiling entire transcriptomes of thousands of individual cells, revealing cell-to-cell variation by decoding patterns within populations masked in bulk transcriptomes. We will exploit this to dissect the mouse CD4+ T cell compartment, a heterogeneous white blood cell population that initiates adaptive immune responses. In AIM 1, we will chart the dynamics of in vivo CD4+ cell states in mouse before, during and after immune response challenges. By sequencing thousands of single cell transcriptomes, we will map the landscape of CD4+ T cell states in an unbiased, quantitative and comprehensive way. In AIM 2, we will predict key transcription factors, cell surface markers, and signalling molecules, including cytokines/chemokines in each cell state through novel computational approaches. Furthermore, our analyses will establish regulatory modules and networks of gene-gene interactions active in immune responses. In AIM 3, we will (a) confirm the in vivo impact of new cell states by performing adoptive cell transfer assays; and (b) validate our predictions of regulatory molecules and interactions using a massively parallel CRISPR/Cas knockout screen in vitro. This powerful integrated approach combines single cell RNA-sequencing, bioinformatics and genetic engineering to dissect CD4+ T cell states, a central compartment of mammalian adaptive immunity, and reveal basic principles of gene regulation.

Mots-clés : single cell genomics,bioinformatics,t helper cells
Projet ERC : CRISBREED (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering
Entité participante : Karlsruhe Institute of Technology — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : KIT
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499981.0 €

The implementation of CRISPR/Cas technology has already revolutionised biology and biotechnology. However, for plant breeding its full potential has hardly been applied. The gene pool of a plant species carries a tremendous amount of information regarding how to survive best under various biotic and abiotic stresses. Although countless wild varieties of crops have been safeguarded in gene banks worldwide, much of their genetic information cannot be used in agriculture. Often, adverse and/or favourite traits are linked due to the fact that respective genes are located within close proximity, on the same chromosome. Breeding aims not only to break linkages between such traits but also to tightly fix favourable linkages. In cereals, half of the genome cannot be accessed by classical breeding. The aim of this proposal is to develop techniques based on CRISPR/Cas technology, to engineer plant breeding on the molecular level. With the use of the Cas9 nuclease of S. pyogenes and multiple sgRNAs, it became possible to induce several genomic changes at the same time. The aim of this proposal is to perform genome engineering on a multidimensional level by not only inducing multiple DNA lesions (single and double stranded breaks) but also by applying different Cas9 orthologues to simultaneously target DNA recombination factors directly to the sites of action, or indirectly by influencing their expression. Thus, site-specific initiation of recombination should be coupled with pathway choice, resulting in novel approaches for breaking or fixing linkages. Techniques for genome restructuring, like inversions and translocations, should be established as well as efficient induction of somatic and meiotic crossovers. Therefore, the basis should be laid for combining the best available traits of a species, resulting in transgene free crop plants for a sustainable agriculture. Furthermore, the Cas9-controlled transfer of chromosomal segments between species will also be addressed.
Projet ERC : MC2 (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : University of Oslo — Pays : Norvège — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UiO
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

The importance of mixed-phase clouds (i.e. clouds in which liquid and ice may co-exist) for weather and climate has become increasingly evident in recent years. We now know that a majority of the precipitation reaching Earth’s surface originates from mixed-phase clouds, and the way cloud phase changes under global warming has emerged as a critically important climate feedback. Atmospheric aerosols may also have affected climate via mixed-phase clouds, but the magnitude and even sign of this effect is currently unknown. Satellite observations have recently revealed that cloud phase is misrepresented in global climate models (GCMs), suggesting systematic GCM biases in precipitation formation and cloud-climate feedbacks. Such biases give us reason to doubt GCM projections of the climate response to CO2 increases, or to changing atmospheric aerosol loadings. This proposal seeks to address the above issues, through a multi-angle and multi-tool approach: (i) By conducting field measurements of cloud phase at mid- and high latitudes, we seek to identify the small-scale structure of mixed-phase clouds. (ii) Large-eddy simulations will then be employed to identify the underlying physics responsible for the observed structures, and the field measurements will provide case studies for regional cloud-resolving modelling in order to test and revise state-of-the-art cloud microphysics parameterizations. (iii) GCMs, with revised microphysics parameterizations, will be confronted with cloud phase constraints available from space. (iv) Finally, the same GCMs will be used to re-evaluate the climate impact of mixed-phase clouds in terms of their contribution to climate forcings and feedbacks. Through this synergistic combination of tools for a multi-scale study of mixed-phase clouds, the proposed research has the potential to bring the field of climate science forward, from improved process-level understanding at small scales, to better climate change predictions on the global scale.

Mots-clés : clouds,climate,aerosols,thermodynamic phase
Projet ERC : DATAJUSTICE (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Entité participante : Tilburg University — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TiU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1495986.0 €

The increasing adoption of digital technologies worldwide creates data flows from places and populations that were previously digitally invisible. The resulting ‘data revolution’ is hailed as a transformative tool for human and economic development. Yet the revolution is primarily a technical one: the power to monitor, sort and intervene is not yet connected to a social justice agenda, nor have the organisations involved addressed the discriminatory potential of data technologies. Instead, the assumption is that the power to visualise and monitor will inevitably benefit the poor and marginalised. This research proposes that a conceptualisation of data justice is necessary to determine ethical paths through a datafying world. Its two main aims are: first, to provide the first critical assessment of the case for, and the obstacles to, data justice as an overall framework for data technologies’ design and governance. Second, to present a conceptual framework for data justice, refining it through public debate. The project will develop an interdisciplinary approach integrating critical data studies with development studies and legal philosophy. Using Sen's Capabilities Approach, it will conceptualise data justice along three dimensions of freedoms: (in)visibility, digital (dis)engagement, and nondiscrimination. Multi-sited ethnography in combination with digital methods will be used to build a conceptual framework, which will then be tested and shaped by debates held in nine locations worldwide. The research is groundbreaking in terms of 1) its use of the Capabilities Approach to address the social impacts of data technologies; 2) its integrative approach to problems previously addressed by the fields of law, informatics and development studies, and 3) its aim to reconcile negative with positive technologically-enabled freedoms, integrating data privacy, nondiscrimination and non-use of data technologies into the same framework as representation and access to data.

Mots-clés : critical data studies,ict4d,privacy,informatics
Projet ERC : SULFOSOL (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : University of Göttingen — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : GAU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1997500.0 €

The increasing demand of complex organic molecules, either by their biological activity or technical interest, and the need for the development of sustainable chemical processes are opening a new period in Organic Synthesis, which is mainly focused on the discovery of novel transformations that more intensively explore concepts such as atom-economy and redox-neutrality. As part of this trend, the development new reagents capable to transfer new functional groups at the desired positions of advanced synthetic intermediates is winning a crucial role. Areas such as crop science and drug discovery make extensive use of this working methodology for the identification of new targets. Several families of “Group Transfer Reagents” are known, the most prominent ones being arguably those based on hypervalent I(III) structures. However, their transfer ability is confined to a restricted number of functionalities, and in addition, their implementation in industrial processes is seriously limited by their highly reactive nature. Hypervalent iodine (III) compounds are known to be potentially explosive and for this reason, they usually require working in relatively small scale and under restricted safety conditions. To circumvent these drawbacks, I present in SULFOSOL a novel and general approach for the straightforward preparation of electrophilic group transfer reagents based on the use of sulphur-containing platforms. The low prize and chemical stability of these reagents make their use feasible at any step of a synthetic sequence, and render them highly appealing for large-scale applications. In addition, the combination of these new reagents with the power of actual metal catalysis will lead to an array of useful synthetic routes that will decisively enrich the toolbox of the synthetic chemist.

Mots-clés : sulfur chemistry,main group chemistry,development of new reactions,organic synthesis