Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : MOSQUAREL (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering
Entité participante : Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CIRAD
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

MOSQUAREL (Aerial Release of Mosquitoes) The REVOLINC project (ERC Consolidator grant no. 682387) aims at developing environmentally-friendly alternatives to fight insects invasions through the development of biological technologies to control three types of pest insects (mosquitoes, tsetse flies and Mediterranean fruit flies), two of which are presently invading Europe. We want to improve the « sterile insect technique » which consists in mass rearing male insects, sterilizing them by radiation and releasing them into the environment, where they compete with their wild, non-sterile counterparts to reproduce. The « boosted sterile insect technique » consists in ensuring that the males also transmit biopesticides to the females that kill them or their progeny. It is mandatory to develop alternative methods to insecticides that raise concern for their toxicity for health and environment, particularly against mosquito vectors in the context of Zika virus epidemics. The proposed technology necessitates the release of sterile males, preferably by air. There is presently no aerial system to release mosquitoes which are all released by ground using obsolete methods (cages open at the back of a vehicle…). In the proposed PoC, we want to (1) initiate collaboration with a private company to produce two versions of mosquito releasing drones compliant with EU regulations (C1 and C2 classes), (2) confirm the efficiency of these systems to release sterile male Aedes albopictus in three sites (La Réunion island and Montpellier in France and Valencia in Spain) and (3) start the commercialization process for these drones. The system will become available for other mosquito control technologies involving the release of mosquitoes transfected with symbionts blocking virus transmission or transgenic mosquitoes.

Mots-clés : drone,automatic release,human health,vector borne diseases,aedes,tiger mosquito
Projet ERC : DiSCo MRI SFN (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Entité participante : University of London — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. London
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1721726.0 €

MRI is indispensable in the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases. These are poorly understood while their prevalence and socio-economic burden continue to rise. Structural and functional MRI can provide biomarkers for early diagnosis and potential therapeutic intervention. My research vision is to develop novel MRI methods for structural and functional mapping of tissue magnetic susceptibility and electrical conductivity as these show great promise for neuroimaging in diseases such as Alzheimer’s (AD). Susceptibility mapping (SM), which I pioneered, is uniquely sensitive to tissue composition including iron content affected in AD while conductivity mapping (CM) probably reflects cellular disruption in AD. Resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI) reveals how AD affects brain networks without any tasks or stimulation equipment. However, each technique currently needs a separate time-consuming MRI scan. I will develop an integrated scan for simultaneous structural SM and CM, and rsfMRI functional connectivity characterisation. This efficient scan, ideal for AD patients, will reveal totally new resting-state networks based on electromagnetic properties: resting-state functional SM and resting-state functional CM for the first time. As changes in blood susceptibility underlie fMRI, rsfSM should measure functional connectivity more directly. This also makes it sensitive to physiological noise so I will develop noise removal methods building on fMRI techniques I established. Initial fSM studies have been at 7 Tesla but I will target the more widespread 3T field to maximise applicability. As a leader in both SM and rsfMRI physiological noise removal I have the ideal background to integrate SM and CM with fMRI and extend them for ground-breaking functional electromagnetic connectivity. This research will yield a rich set of novel, multimodal MRI contrasts to allow development of new combined structural and functional biomarkers for early diagnosis of AD and other diseases.

Mots-clés : electromagnetism
Projet ERC : NOMA-MRI (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Leiden University Medical Center — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : LUMC
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2263692.0 €

MRI is one of the most important human clinical imaging modalities. Over the past decade many technological advances have improved image quality substantially. One of the critical trends has been the move towards higher magnetic fields, which has transformed many clinical applications, but has also introduced significant challenges. These higher fields correspond to higher operating frequencies, which lead to increased image non-uniformities, impairing clinical interpretation, and higher power deposition in the patient, posing significant safety issues. In addition, as the population as-a-whole becomes more obese, high quality MR images become increasingly difficult to acquire even on clinical 3 Tesla scanners. In order to tackle these challenges, MRI systems have become increasingly complicated and expensive. There are two concepts in this proposal which set out to address the issues outlined above. The first is the optimization of high permittivity materials to improve image quality for a number of different clinical applications on a person-by-person basis. This requires a full understanding of the effects of these materials, the ability to predict and manufacture the optimum material, and acquiring the best possible data. The second “high-risk high-gain”concept is a totally new way of constructing MR resonators, which is based on conducting and reconfigurable plasmas. This concept can significantly simplify MR resonator design, can enable completely new types of MR experiment to be performed, and has intriguing possibilities to improve hybrid imaging systems such as combined positron emission tomography/MRI scanners.

Mots-clés : magnetic resonance imaging,high permittivity materials,enhanced image quality,plasmas,rf invisibility
Projet ERC : MUTE (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
Entité participante : Anotati scholi kalon technon — Pays : Grèce — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : Askt
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 118975.0 €

MUTE’s main objective is to investigate for the first time empirically and theoretically the use of music and sound in situations of confinement and displacement from the Cold War to contemporary times. It explores their weaponization in light of transnational developments in technologies of terror. At the same time, it carefully attends to how music/sound can become a tool of survival, even in the same setting in which they are weaponized. Also explored are ethical challenges of such research, and of music programmes for prisoners and refugees, highlighting their shortcomings and providing alternative models. MUTE innovates through a theoretical framework that investigates the interlocking of politics, ethics, and aesthetics, focusing on the ethics of sound and ethics of witnessing. Its comparative approach extends to (post)colonial Cyprus, Greece, Serbia, Germany, Soviet Union and contemporary Russia, Iraq, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay. MUTE will critically analyse this complex phenomenon across the disciplines of (ethno)musicology, social anthropology, history, critical theory, human rights law and sound art, since it cannot be fully grasped through the methods of any one alone. The PI’s extensive immersion into all disciplinary components over the last decade, evident in her novel approach, ensures the successful implementation of research objectives. MUTE’s findings and results will transform scientific discourse, changing current perceptions about music’s social function. This historical recovery is important in revisiting and assessing detention-related policies and current definitions of torture. Given recent mass asylum seeking in Europe and the growing number of music research projects with refugees, it will offer the needed ethical, methodological and theoretical foundations for present and future research, ensuring the well-being of participants and researchers, research excellence, and critically nuanced scholarship.

Mots-clés : musicology,ethnomusicology,trauma studies,sound studies,social anthropology,ethics,witnessing,trauma memory,detention,displacement,acoustic violence,torture,aesthetics,research based art
Projet ERC : Medulloblastoma (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : Uppsala University — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1497059.0 €

MYC proteins like MYC and MYCN are transcription factors that are mis-regulated in more than half of all types of human cancer including medulloblastoma, the most common brain malignancy in children. The two main challenges that can guide research in the field of pediatric brain tumors is improving survival and reducing long-term detriments due to treatment toxicities, especially from craniospinal radiotherapy. Medulloblastoma is suggested to originate from specific cells in the small brain, cerebellum. These brain tumors have recently been classified into four distinct molecular subgroups and subgroup-specific driver genes have been suggested. However, the precise role of such drivers in tumor initiation and their importance in specifying particular subgroups has not been sufficiently evaluated in proper cells of medulloblastoma origin. We have generated clinically relevant animal models that carefully resemble some of the defined subgroups of medulloblastoma. In this proposal we intend to use the models to identify the specific cell type these brain tumors originates from. We also aim to refine our medulloblastoma models and develop novel models to define and study cells involved in brain metastasis and tumor recurrence; the main cause of death in brain tumor patients. We have managed to culture normal human cerebellar stem cells and we now plan to model human medulloblastoma development by overexpressing oncogenes or silencing suppressor genes that are defined as clinically relevant medulloblastoma drivers. We will use a forward genetics screen to identify novel drivers and specifiers of various subtypes of medulloblastoma. We hope these combined efforts will help us better model human medulloblastoma formation and we expect to generate tumors that correlate well, both pathologically and molecularly, with primary cell cultures derived from medulloblastoma patients.

Mots-clés : medulloblastoma,mycn,neural stem cells,cerebellum
Projet ERC : MYKI (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and communication engineering
Entité participante : Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1475269.0 €

MYKI aims at developing and clinically evaluating a dexterous hand prosthesis with tactile sensing which is naturally controlled and perceived by the amputee. This will be possible by overcoming the conventional approaches based on recording electrical signals from the peripheral nervous system (nerves or skeletal muscles) through the development of a radically new Human-Machine Interface (HMI) based on magnetic field principles, both able to decode voluntary motor commands and to convey sensory feedback to the individual. Core of this system is a multitude of magnets implanted in independent muscles and external magnetic readers/drivers (MRDs) able to (i) continuously localize the movements of the magnets and, at specific times, (ii) induce subtle movements in specific magnets. In fact, as a magnet is implanted it will travel with the muscle it is located in, and its localization will provide a direct measure of the contraction/elongation of that muscle, which is voluntarily controlled by the central nervous system. In this way it will be possible to decode the efferent signals sent by the brain by observing a by-product of the muscle fibres recruitment. On the other hand, a movement induced in the implanted magnet by the external MRD, could provide a perceivable stimulus, conveyed to the brain by means of the peripheral sensory receptors present in the muscle (e.g. muscle spindles or Golgi tendon organ) or in the neighbouring skin (tactile mechanoreceptors). In this way we aim to provide tactile and/or proprioceptive sensory information to the brain, thus restoring the physiological sensorimotor control loop. Remarkably, with passive magnetic tags (that do not require to be powered-on) and wearable readers/drivers, it will be possible to implement a wireless, bidirectional HMI with dramatically enhanced capabilities with respect to the state of the art interfaces, as illustrated in this proposal.

Mots-clés : upper limb prosthetics,sensory feedback,natural control of prehension,myokinetic interface,implanted interfaces,magnetic field
Projet ERC : X-TAM (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : IRCCS
Type d'entité : Organismes privés (hors enseignement)
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1498125.0 €

Macrophages are specialized innate immune cells with central roles in homeostasis and disease. Upon exposure to micro-environmental stimuli, these cells can adopt a variety of phenotypes ranging from immune stimulation and cytotoxicity to immune suppression and tissue repair. Dynamic transitions between these functional properties in response to tumor signals is thought to underlie the generally pathogenic role of macrophages in cancer. At the same time, macrophage plasticity could be exploited to therapeutically reprogram the phenotype of these cells by pharmacological, cell and gene therapy approaches. Current models of macrophage activation are based on in-depth analyses of the effect of individual stimuli, such as pro- or anti-inflammatory cytokines, on the biochemical, cell biological, epigenetic, transcriptional and post-transcriptional landscape of macrophages. However, these studies do not take into consideration the interplay that these stimuli may have when present at the same time. This project aims to elucidate how macrophages integrate incoherent environmental stimuli at the genomic level, and translate them into context-specific gene expression programs. Because concomitant activation of antagonistic pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory pathways is almost invariably observed in cancer, we propose that these interplays are critical determinants of the biology of tumor-associated macrophages. Our approach integrates cutting-edge genomics and computational modelling with in vitro functional screenings and in vivo manipulation of macrophages, building on uniquely available gene therapy platforms. Successful completion of this project will generate widely exportable paradigms of gene regulation in the immune system, and deliver innovative cell and gene therapy strategies to manipulate the behaviour of macrophages in cancer.

Mots-clés : macrophage polarization,myeloid cells in cancer,tumor microenvironment
Projet ERC : HP4all (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 178750.0 €

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and are two well-established powerful and versatile tools that are extensively used in many fields of research, in clinics and in industry. Despite considerable efforts involving highly sophisticated instrumentation, these techniques suffer from low sensitivity, which keeps many of today’s most interesting problems in modern analytical sciences below the limits of MR detection. Hyperpolarization (HP) in principle provides a solution to this limitation. We have recently pioneered breakthrough approaches using dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (d-DNP) for preparing nuclear spins in highly aligned states, and therefore boosting sensitivity in several proof-of-concept reports on model systems. The proposed project aims to leverage these new advances through a series of new concepts i) to generate the highest possible hyperpolarization that can be transported in a persistent state, and ii) to demonstrate their use in magnetic resonance experiments with > 10’000 fold sensitivity enhancements, with the potential of revolutionizing the fields of MRI and NMR. By physically separating the source of polarization from the substrate at a microscopic level, we will achieve polarized samples with lifetimes of days that can be stored and transported over long distances to MRI centers, hospitals and NMR laboratories. Notable applications in the fields of drug discovery, metabolomics and real-time metabolic imaging in living animals will be demonstrated. These goals require a leap forward with respect to today’s protocols, and we propose to achieve this through a combination of innovative sample formulations, new NMR methodology and advanced instrumentation. This project will yield to a broadly applicable method revolutionizing analytical chemistry, drug discovery and medical diagnostics, and thereby will provide a powerful tool to solve challenges at the forefront of molecular and chemical sciences today.

Mots-clés : nuclear magnetic resonance  nmr,magnetic resonance imaging  mri,hyperpolarization,dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization
Projet ERC : MagnonCircuits (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : University of Vienna — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Univie
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 378044.18 €

Magnons – quanta of spin waves – propagating in magnetic materials having nano-scale wavelengths and carrying information in the form of a spin angular momentum, can be used as data carriers in next-generation nano-sized low-loss information processing systems. The low losses of magnonic systems can be reached due to the absence of translational electron motion associated with Joule heat-ing and extremely low magnetic damping in the dielectric Yttrium-Iron-Garnet (YIG) material used. The recent revolutionary progress in the growth of high-quality YIG films with nanometer thickness, and in the patterning of these films, opened a way to the practical development of nano-scale mag-nonic computing systems. However, the decrease in sizes of YIG structures to sub-100 nm requires the development of the physical knowledge base for understanding linear and nonlinear magnetization dynamics in nanostructures. The strategic goal of the proposed MagnonCircuits research program is to make a transformative change in the data processing paradigm from traditional electronics to magnon spintronics. The ingre-dients required for such a transformation and addressed by MagnonCircuits are: (i) The fabrication of magnon conduits of sub-100 nm width, the development of a toolbox enabling excitation and de-tection of fast exchange magnons, and the understanding of the physics underlying magnon dynamics at the nano-scale in the exchange interaction regime. (ii) Employment of such novel physical phenom-ena as spin pumping, spin transfer torque and spin Hall effect to overcome the fundamental limita-tions of the state-of-the-art approaches in magnon spintronics, and to compensate the dissipation in magnonic circuits. (iii) Realization of two-dimensional magnonic circuits required for transport and processing of magnon-carried data. A proof-of-concept models of two nano-scale devices – majority gate and magnon transistor – will be developed in the course of MagnonCircuits.

Mots-clés : magnons,spin waves,magnetization dynamics on nano scale,spin pumping,spin transfer torque,spin hall effect,yttrium iron garnet  yig
Projet ERC : MagnonCircuits (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : RPTU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1109924.82 €

Magnons – quanta of spin waves – propagating in magnetic materials having nano-scale wavelengths and carrying information in the form of a spin angular momentum, can be used as data carriers in next-generation nano-sized low-loss information processing systems. The low losses of magnonic systems can be reached due to the absence of translational electron motion associated with Joule heat-ing and extremely low magnetic damping in the dielectric Yttrium-Iron-Garnet (YIG) material used. The recent revolutionary progress in the growth of high-quality YIG films with nanometer thickness, and in the patterning of these films, opened a way to the practical development of nano-scale mag-nonic computing systems. However, the decrease in sizes of YIG structures to sub-100 nm requires the development of the physical knowledge base for understanding linear and nonlinear magnetization dynamics in nanostructures. The strategic goal of the proposed MagnonCircuits research program is to make a transformative change in the data processing paradigm from traditional electronics to magnon spintronics. The ingre-dients required for such a transformation and addressed by MagnonCircuits are: (i) The fabrication of magnon conduits of sub-100 nm width, the development of a toolbox enabling excitation and de-tection of fast exchange magnons, and the understanding of the physics underlying magnon dynamics at the nano-scale in the exchange interaction regime. (ii) Employment of such novel physical phenom-ena as spin pumping, spin transfer torque and spin Hall effect to overcome the fundamental limita-tions of the state-of-the-art approaches in magnon spintronics, and to compensate the dissipation in magnonic circuits. (iii) Realization of two-dimensional magnonic circuits required for transport and processing of magnon-carried data. A proof-of-concept models of two nano-scale devices – majority gate and magnon transistor – will be developed in the course of MagnonCircuits.

Mots-clés : magnons,spin waves,magnetization dynamics on nano scale,spin pumping,spin transfer torque,spin hall effect,yttrium iron garnet  yig