Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : VOLCANO (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : Radboud University Nijmegen — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2263490.0 €

Terrestrial mud volcanos are extreme environments with pH values below even 1, with temperatures up to 70 ºC. They represent ‘hotspots’ of greenhouse gas emissions. Despite the hostile conditions, mud volcanos harbour very unique microbial communities involved in the cycling of elements like carbon, hydrogen, sulfur, and nitrogen. Microbial communities in extreme environments are characterized by low biodiversity and as a consequence serve as good models to study linkages between genomic potential and environmental parameters. Metagenome studies have shown that most of the microorganisms in extreme environments are only distantly related to cultivated bacteria. Therefore, state-of the-art enrichment techniques using chemostat and sequencing batch cultivation with inocula from geothermal sites and driven by physiological information from metagenomic/metatranscriptomic data have a high potential to result in novel isolates. This was already demonstrated by our isolation of both mesophilic and thermophilic acid-loving methanotrophs. The aim of this project is to obtain a fundamental understanding of the microbial ecology of extremely acid terrestrial mud volcanos with special emphasis on the elemental cycles of sulfur, methane and nitrogen. After identification and isolation, the microbial key players will be investigated to unravel the molecular mechanisms by which they adapt to extreme (thermo)acidophilic conditions. To achieve this, several parallel and complementary state-of-the-art-approaches will be combined, e.g. meta-omics, microbial ecophysiology, cultivation techniques, cell biology/biochemistry, metabolism/gene expression studies. The project will profoundly increase the understanding of these natural hotspots of greenhouse gas production/degradation and newly isolated strains have a high potential for finding sustainable solutions for the most pressing grand challenges of the European society e.g. new green enzymatic catalyst and technologies for industry.

Mots-clés : geomicrobiology,volcano,nutrient cycles,sulfur,carbon,nitrogen,metagenomics,extremophiles,methane,methanotrophy
Projet ERC : ThoriumNuclearClock (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : TU Wien — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : CO-PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TUW
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 3964291.25 €

Th-229 has an exceptionally low-energy excited nuclear isomer state with an excitation energy of only a few electron volts, making it accessible to laser manipulation. With a predicted relative radiative linewidth of 1e-19, constructing a Thorium nuclear clock becomes possible that could rival todays most advanced optical atomic clocks. The few-eV transition emerges from a fortunate near-degeneracy of the two lowest nuclear energy levels. However, the Coulomb and strong-force contributions to these level energies differ on the MeV level. This makes the Th-229 nuclear level structure uniquely sensitive to variations of fundamental constants and ultralight dark matter. Very recently, the applicants have proven the long-sought existence of the low-energy isomer, determined the lifetime in different electronic environments, quantified the nuclear moments and charge radius based on the hyperfine splitting, and constrained the isomer energy. However, knowledge on the electronic and nuclear properties is still insufficient to exploit the Th-229 system for fundamental tests. This project aims to close this gap and realize three prototype nuclear Thorium clocks using complementary approaches in trapped ions and solids. We will develop customized VUV laser systems and perform precision spectroscopy of the Th-229 nuclear transition. Comparing these clocks among each other and with state-of-the-art optical clocks will allow us to benchmark the new frequency standard before ultimately applying it to test fundamental physics. This project requires a unique combination of experimental and theoretical expertise in atomic and nuclear physics, high precision metrology and fundamental symmetries. Furthermore, special infrastructure is required for (distributed) clock comparison, precision spectroscopy as well as processing of Th-229. The synergy team is composed to optimally respond to these challenges while being rooted in established and successful collaborations.

Mots-clés : atomic clocks and frequency standards,fundamental constants,dark matter search
Projet ERC : SWIP (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and communication engineering
Entité participante : Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ETH Zurich
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The 2+ um short-wave infrared spectral band has been gaining constant momentum in the recent years, driven by a plethora of potential applications whose performances could be improved either in terms of sensitivity, security, reach or efficiencies. Opening this wavelength range for widespread usage necessarily requires developing new technologies such as fibre lasers, which have already found wide use at 1.0 and 1.5 um. We propose in this ERC Proof of Concept project SWIP to move our nanosecond pulsed 2+ um fibre laser technology closer to commercialization. Advanced prototypes will be tailored to satisfy user needs such as portability, affordability and versatility while delivering the required performances to fully exploit the 2+ um spectral band. The project will push the operation of extremely simple, compact 2 um fibre lasers with customized pulsing and towards wavelengths yet un-exploited by utilizing novel co-doped fibres. More specifically, the objectives of this PoC are therefore to A) optimize and tailor our prototype to user needs, B) assess our competitive advantages in key and emerging markets, C) investigate various commercialization avenues and business models as to establish a sound exploitation strategy.

Mots-clés : fibre laser,short wave infrared,pulsed laser
Projet ERC : FALCONER (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : Leiden University — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499522.0 €

The 39-m European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) has the potential to directly observe and characterize habitable exoplanets, but current technologies are unable to sufficiently suppress the starlight very close to the star. I propose to develop a novel instrumental approach with breakthrough contrast performance by combining coronagraphs based on brand-new liquid crystal technology, and sensitive imaging polarimetry. The novel coronagraphs will provide an achromatic rejection of starlight even right next to the star such that exoplanets can be imaged efficiently in broadband light and characterized through spectropolarimetry. The coronagraphs will incorporate focal-plane wavefront sensing and polarimetry to achieve an ultimate contrast of 1E-9, which will enable the E-ELT to observe habitable exoplanets. We will prototype coronagraph designs of increasing contrast performance, validate them in the lab, and apply them on-sky using 6-8 meter class telescopes. With our coronagraphs that offer a contrast improvement by a factor of 10 as compared to current systems in 360-degree dark holes, we will search for self-luminous exoplanets very close to stars at thermal infrared wavelengths, and characterize known targets with multi-wavelength observations. Through accurate photometry and polarimetry, we will study their atmospheric hazes. By combining liquid-crystal coronagraphy with sensitive polarimetry, we will study the inner regions of protoplanetary disks to find signs of planet formation. By manipulating both phase and amplitude in pupil and focal planes, we will establish hybrid coronagraph systems that combine the strengths of individual concepts, and that can be adapted to the telescope mirror segmentation and the observational strategy. The proposed research will demonstrate the technologies necessary for building an instrument for the E-ELT that can successfully study rocky exoplanets in the habitable zones of nearby stars.

Mots-clés : high contrast imaging,exoplanet characterization,liquid crystal devices
Projet ERC : ARCTIC CULT (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
Entité participante : University of Cambridge — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. Cambridge
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1996250.0 €

The Arctic has risen to global attention in recent years, as it has been reconfigured through debates about global environmental change, resource extraction and disputes over sovereign rights. Within these discourses, little attention has been paid to the cultures of the Arctic. Indeed, it often seems as if the Circumpolar Arctic in global public understanding remains framed as a 'natural region' - that is, a place where the environment dominates the creation of culture. This framing has consequences for the region, because through this the Arctic becomes constructed as a space where people are absent. This proposal aims to discover how and why this might be so. The proposal argues that this construction of the Arctic emerged from the exploration of the region by Europeans and North Americans and their contacts with indigenous people from the middle of the eighteenth century. Particular texts, cartographic representations and objects were collected and returned to sites like London, Copenhagen, Berlin and Philadelphia. The construction of the Arctic thereby became entwined within the growth of colonial museum cultures and, indeed, western modernity. This project aims to delineate the networks and collecting cultures involved in this creation of Arctic Cultures. It will bring repositories in colonial metropoles into dialogue with sites of collection in the Arctic by tracing the contexts of discovery and memorialisation. In doing so, it aspires to a new understanding of the consequences of certain forms of colonial representation for debates about the Circumpolar Arctic today. The project involves research by the Principal Investigator and four Post Doctoral Researchers at museums, archives, libraries and repositories across Europe and North America, as well as in Greenland and the Canadian Arctic. A Project Assistant based in Oxford will help facilitate the completion of the research.

Mots-clés : cultural geography,historical geography,arctic anthropology,history of arctic exploration
Projet ERC : AutoEngineering (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy
Entité participante : Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : MDC
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1489500.0 €

The AutoEngineering project aims to develop an innovative strategy for B cell engineering by exploiting natural DNA breaks to generate antibodies that surpass common reactivity profiles. The project is based on our surprising finding that in B cells endogenous AID (activation-induced cytidine deaminase) activity can lead to the insertion of a pathogen receptor resulting in broadly reactive antibodies. To unravel this new mechanism of diversification, my laboratory established and developed new methodologies to identify insert-containing antibodies in genomic DNA, mRNA, proteins and cells. We found that insertions in antibody transcripts derive from distant genes, occur across individuals and are inducible in vitro, and we have preliminary evidence that in vitro activation of AID enables integration of a nucleofected DNA substrate. Avoiding exogenous nucleases, this project aims at developing efficient and safe engineering of B cells to produce antibodies by design. Aim 1. By screening for genomic insertions in antibody genes of healthy donors, DNA-repair deficient patients, and manipulated in vitro B cell cultures, we will gain insights into the mechanism of insertion and define biomarkers of DNA repair. Aim 2. The knowledge gained will be used to optimize substrate design and insert integration, while minimizing the potential for off-target integration. We will also explore the possibility to guide AID to target sites using RNAs, and design substrates that allow efficient splicing of an inserted exon. Aim 3. To gain breadth on pathogen recognition and to circumvent the limitation of the heterodimeric antibody binding site, we will use the above approach to engineer B cells to produce antibodies containing receptors for HIV (CD4) and HCV (CD81). Insertion of slim receptor-domains with precise targeting of crucial sites may generate B cells with exceptional potency to reduce the risk for escape mutants, thereby paving a way for artificial immunity.

Mots-clés : b cell,human antibodies,cell engineering,antibody diversity,broadly reactive antibodies,infectious diseases,dna repair
Projet ERC : CarbSens (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : University of Manchester — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149817.0 €

The CO2Volc project (ERC n.279802) has produced an active remote sensing instrument based on the differential absorption LIDAR principle, called CO2DIAL. It is designed to measure column averaged CO2 concentrations for path lengths between 500 and 2000 m. A key advantage over other open-path techniques is that no retroreflector or separate active source is required for fence-line monitoring. It therefore fills a key operational gap in CO2 sensing technologies. In addition, through a laser replacement, the instrument can be used to measure also CH4, allowing both main carbon gas species to be quantified, and producing the name of this project, CarbSens. An affordable greenhouse gas (GHG) sensing platform with spatial coverage of 2000 m that fits into a backpack, can be mounted on an aircraft, car, mast or even a drone would have a wide variety of commercially attractive applications. These include efficient monitoring of CO2 leakage from CO2 storage sites or urban traffic, quantification of fugitive CH4 upon hydraulic fracturing (fracking), CH4 leakage from pipelines or biogas tanks, or refining regional GHG budgets for improved climate modeling. A system with the features of the CO2DIAL is not commercially available. We believe that our technology has the potential to create a new market for affordable, man-portable remote gas sensors, and carbon quantification services. In the initial project phase we will define an adequate commercialization strategy, focusing on user groups in the hydrocarbon and carbon sequestration industries. A commercial prototype will then be derived from the CO2DIAL. A focus will be to make the system affordable (<40 k€) and even more compact and lightweight (< 10 kg) to arrive at an instrument that is suitable for a large group of users. The final goal of the proposal is to produce a portfolio consisting of a working commercial prototype and a marketing strategy, including either secured licensing or the initiation of a spin-out company.

Mots-clés : carbon,remote sensing,compact,light weight,portable,greenhouse gas,monitoring,fence line monitoring,volcanic co2,carbon quantification services
Projet ERC : CONTROL (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : University of Glasgow — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2488162.0 €

The CONTROL programme I propose here is a five-year programme of frontier research to develop a novel platform for the manipulation of phase transitions, crystal nucleation, and polymorph control based on a novel optical-tweezing technique and plasmonics. About 20 years ago, it was shown that lasers can nucleate crystals in super-saturated solution and might even be able to select the polymorph that crystallises. However, no theoretical model was found explaining the results and little progress was made. In a recent publication (Nat. Chem. 10, 506 (2018)), we showed that laser-induced nucleation can be understood in terms of the harnessing of concentration fluctuations near a liquid–liquid critical point using optical tweezing. This breakthrough opens the way to a research programme with risky, ambitious, and ground-breaking long-term aims: full control over crystal nucleation including chirality and polymorphism. New optical and microscopic techniques will be developed to allow laser manipulation on a massively parallel scale and chiral nucleation using twisted light. Systematically characterising and manipulating the phase behaviour of mixtures, will allow the use of the optical-tweezing effect to effectively control the crystallisation of small molecules, peptides, proteins, and polymers. Exploiting nanostructures will allow parallelisation on a vast scale and fine control over chirality and polymorph selection through plasmonic tweezing. Even partial success in the five years of the programme will lead to fundamental new insights and technological breakthroughs. These breakthroughs will be exploited for future commercial applications towards the end of the project.

Mots-clés : crystal nucleation,phase transitions,optical tweezing,microscopy,plasmonic tweezing
Projet ERC : IsoCAN (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : University of La Laguna — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : ULL
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 266022.5 €

The Canary Islands were settled 2,000 years ago by farming populations from North Africa representing the westernmost limits of Eurasian human colonisation until European contact with the Americas. This is a superlative example of colonisation because the first colonists remained isolated until the arrival and colonization of Europeans in the 15th century AD. When Europeans arrived, Canarian populations spoke distinct dialects and did not have the seafaring skills needed to navigate between islands. The colonisation of the Canary Islands is an example of adaptation and sustainability because people were able to create anthropogenic landscapes capable of supporting increasing human populations on diverse and isolated island ecologies with a low density of food resources. Nevertheless, how first colonisers transformed pristine islands into domestic landscapes to make islands more habitable for humans remains unresolved. IsoCAN project will explore the first colonisation of the Canary Islands from the beginning of the Common Era to the 15th century AD, which represent the last expansion of the Mediterranean farming package, This project will (1) establish the chronology of the initial colonisation of the Canary Islands; (2) determine the geographic origins and the genetic variability of the human population, domesticates (animals and plants) and parasitic species (insects); (3) define the process of adaptation and resilience of the first settlers; and (4) investigate human impact on landscape and the management of natural resources. This set of evidence will enable us to investigate two transcendental questions: how do humans colonise new territories, and what are the cultural and biological adaptations? This ambitious project will provide insights about the adaptive mechanisms through which isolated and fragile insular ecosystems were successfully colonised by human societies, focusing on social complexity, subsistence practices and landscape transformation.

Mots-clés : island archaeology,bioarchaeology,colonisation,human environmental interactions
Projet ERC : CureTheCloves (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université Paris Cité — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UP Cité
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 148750.0 €

The Congenital Lipomatous Overgrowth, Vascular Malformations, Epidermal Nevi, Scoliosis/Skeletal and Spinal (CLOVES) syndrome is a genetic disorder due to a gain of function mutation of the PIK3CA in a mosaic fashion. This rare condition is associated with severe deformation and poor survival. We identified a new drug able to dramatically improve the outcome of patients with this rare disease. The purpose of the Proof of Concept grant is to better understand the molecular effect of this drug and to rapidly accede to Orphan drug designation.

Mots-clés : pik3ca,podocyte,kidney dysfunction,tumors,venous dilation
Projet ERC : RNAging (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 109950.0 €

The DNA damage response (DDR) is a set of cellular events that follow the generation of a DNA damage. We have previously discovered a novel class of small non-coding RNAs, named DNA damage RNAs (DDRNAs), which are necessary for the full DDR activation upon a DNA double-strand break generation. Our preliminary data show that also at damaged/dysfunctional telomeres telomeric transcrips are produced. By using antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) targeting them, we aim at modulating DDR in cultured cells and in vivo in animal models.

Mots-clés : 1  ageing,2  telomeres,3  non coding rna,4  dna damage response,5  infertility,6  tissue atrophy,7  pulmonary fibrosis