Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : REACT (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer science and informatics
Entité participante : Weizmann Institute of Science — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1193460.0 €

In a free society, there is persistent tension between utility and privacy. Citizens have the basic right to keep their personal information private. However, sometimes keeping our data private could significantly reduce our ability to use this data to benefit ourselves or society. This tension is multiplied many times over in our modern data driven society, where data is utilized using remote algorithms. State of the art research suggests that new advanced cryptographic primitives can mitigate this tension. These include computing on encrypted data via fully homomorphic encryption, fine grained access control to encrypted data via attribute based encryption, and most recently general purpose program obfuscation, which on paper can solve many of cryptography's long standing problems. However, these primitives are largely either too complicated or not sufficiently founded to be considered for real world applications. Project REACT will apply foundational theoretical study towards removing the barriers between advanced cryptographic primitives and reality. My viewpoint, supported by my prior research success, is that orders-of-magnitude improvement in efficiency and security requires foundational theoretical study, rather than focusing on optimizations or heuristics. My projection is that progress in this direction will both allow for future realistic implementation of these primitives, reducing said tension, as well as contribute to basic cryptographic study by opening new avenues for future research. To achieve this goal, I will pursue the following objectives: (i) Studying the computational complexity of underlying hardness assumptions, specifically lattice based, to better understand the level of security we can expect of proposed primitives. (ii) Simplifying and extending the LWE/trapdoor paradigm that underlies many of the new primitives, and that I find incomplete. (iii) Constructing cryptographic graded encoding schemes and obfuscators.

Mots-clés : lattice based cryptography,foundations of cryptography,attribute based encryption,computing on encrypted data,indistinguishability obfuscation
Projet ERC : CoMoQuant (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : Universität Innsbruck — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2356117.0 €

In a quantum engineering approach we aim to create strongly correlated molecular quantum gases for polar molecules confined in an optical lattice to two-dimensional geometry with full quantum control of all de-grees of freedom with single molecule control and detection. The goal is to synthesize a high-fidelity molec-ular quantum simulator with thousands of particles and to carry out experiments on phases and dynamics of strongly-correlated quantum matter in view of strong long-range dipolar interactions. Our choice of mole-cule is the KCs dimer, which can either be a boson or a fermion, allowing us to prepare and probe bosonic as well as fermionic dipolar quantum matter in two dimensions. Techniques such as quantum-gas microscopy, perfectly suited for two-dimensional systems, will be applied to the molecular samples for local control and local readout. The low-entropy molecular samples are created out of quantum degenerate atomic samples by well-established coherent atom paring and coherent optical ground-state transfer techniques. Crucial to this pro-posal is the full control over the molecular sample. To achieve near-unity lattice filling fraction for the mo-lecular samples, we create two-dimensional samples of K-Cs atom pairs as precursors to molecule formation by merging parallel planar systems of K and Cs, which are either in a band-insulating state (for the fermions) or in Mott-insulating state (for the bosons), along the out-of-plane direction. The polar molecular samples are used to perform quantum simulations on ground-state properties and dy-namical properties of quantum many-body spin systems. We aim to create novel forms of superfluidity, to investigate into novel quantum many-body phases in the lattice that arise from the long-range molecular dipole-dipole interaction, and to probe quantum magnetism and its dynamics such as spin transport with single-spin control and readout. In addition, disorder can be engineered to mimic real physical situations.

Mots-clés : quantum gases of molecules,quantum simulation
Projet ERC : GRANN (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : Aarhus University — Pays : Danemark — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : AU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1996147.0 €

In a truly cross-disciplinary research project encompassing surface science, optics, nano-science, astrophysics and chemistry we will synthesize a novel family of high quality mono-layer graphene coated nanoparticles and graphene nanograins with new chemical and optical properties and investigate their catalytic activity, chemical stability and optical characteristics to gauge their relevance for and applicability in industrial catalysis, solar cells, and interstellar chemistry. This will be accomplished by extending existing expertise, knowledge and methods developed by us and by international colleagues for graphene synthesis, graphene reactivity and chemical functionalization, graphene coatings on industrially relevant samples and interstellar surface astrochemistry on carbonaceous materials, into the nanoparticle regime. Combined with state-of-the-art surface science characterization methods with emphasis on scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and thermal desorption mass spectrometry, complemented by Raman and transmission spectroscopy, this will enable us to design, characterize, and understand the properties of this new family of particles at the atomic level. The vision is to harness and combine the remarkable properties of graphene and nanoparticles to create systems with entirely new and unexplored characteristics, to tune these characteristics to be useful for real-world applications, and to exploit the new systems as the first realistic laboratory models of catalytic nanoparticles for interstellar surface chemistry. This ambitious and cross-disciplinary research program will predominantly take place at the Surface Dynamics Laboratory at Aarhus University which is headed by the applicant, but will also involve local, national and international collaborators.

Mots-clés : graphene,nanoparticles,astrochemistry,coatings,interstellar dust grains,interstellar reactions,surface reactions,chemical functionalization of surfaces,optical properties
Projet ERC : Graff-IT (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : University of Chieti-Pescara — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2232213.82 €

In all modern languages, the word ‘graffiti’ is associated with social criticism, protest movements and vandalism. On the contrary, what historians call graffiti is unrelated to transgression. Nonetheless, contemporary and ancient graffiti share one important aspect: both are public writings, produced spontaneously and beyond any control from authorities. Graffiti give us access to the worldview of individuals in the past: this is why they are an important historical source, worthy of being considered, alongside the conventional sources. The Graff-IT project aims to develop a new interdisciplinary approach to the study of medieval and Renaissance graffiti (7th-16th c.) as a historical source, in order to allow a correct contextualization of graffiti within their space-time and social production frame. The project will focus on the following objectives: 1) Giving graffiti full dignity as a written source and asserting the study of graffiti as intrinsic to palaeography; 2) Overcoming the atomistic approach to graffiti, in order to identify new textualities and new languages; 3) Reading graffiti as a source for the history of devotional practices; 4) Interpreting graffiti as signs of the socio-cultural identity of people and places; 5) Exploring graffiti to change our perception of historical artworks, shifting the focus from the creation stage to its social function and use over time. The project will have an innovative and groundbreaking effect on the established method of historical investigation: different perspectives will merge towards an integrated approach that takes the multifaceted complexity of graffiti (writing, image, language, and material aspects) into account. Innovative tools and methods will be used to build out the first national graffiti survey and the related digital Archive. Other outputs are expected: 5 workshops; 2 international conferences and proceedings; a monograph; at least 15 open access articles; a virtual exhibition and a documentary.

Mots-clés : graffiti,public lettering,literacy,historical method,palaeography
Projet ERC : IRiMaS (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
Entité participante : National University of Ireland — Pays : Irlande — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : NUI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 115496.0 €

In an age when technology is revolutionizing the ways in which music is made and distributed, this project proposes correspondingly to transform approaches to musicology, moving from a primarily fixed, text-based approach to one that incorporates as an integral feature the interactive and aural. It brings skills and expertise from music technology to assist in the development of research strategies and software to enable musicological research to engage more directly with sound. It will pioneer a ground-breaking approach to music research in which dynamic interaction with sound is fundamental and music’s temporal and transient nature are central to research investigations and their dissemination, presenting a significant conceptual challenge to the traditional textual bias of much musical research and leading to new enhanced modes of musicological knowledge. Unlike current Digital Musicology, rather than using software primarily to extract quantized data, IRiMaS facilitates research through dynamic interactive engagement with sound. The interactive approach will be developed in the context of three Case Studies in specific areas where prioritizing the aural is of particular significance. The Case Studies will focus on Spectralism in the field of Contemporary ‘Art’ Music; Tracking the Creative Process in Free Improvisation; and Folk Songs in Performance in the field of Ethnomusicology. Each study will produce substantial ground-breaking musicological outcomes in the form of software packages (as is appropriate to the nature of the project) and associated articles discussing the approach taken. They will also assist in working towards the development of models and generic tools to help establish the wider adoption of this interactive approach. Building on the PI's previous experience in related areas, researchers from musicological and technical backgrounds will come together to help realize these ambitious aims.

Mots-clés : musicology,music technology,music analysis,contemporary music,ethnomusicology
Projet ERC : IRiMaS (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
Entité participante : University of Huddersfield — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2215331.0 €

In an age when technology is revolutionizing the ways in which music is made and distributed, this project proposes correspondingly to transform approaches to musicology, moving from a primarily fixed, text-based approach to one that incorporates as an integral feature the interactive and aural. It brings skills and expertise from music technology to assist in the development of research strategies and software to enable musicological research to engage more directly with sound. It will pioneer a ground-breaking approach to music research in which dynamic interaction with sound is fundamental and music’s temporal and transient nature are central to research investigations and their dissemination, presenting a significant conceptual challenge to the traditional textual bias of much musical research and leading to new enhanced modes of musicological knowledge. Unlike current Digital Musicology, rather than using software primarily to extract quantized data, IRiMaS facilitates research through dynamic interactive engagement with sound. The interactive approach will be developed in the context of three Case Studies in specific areas where prioritizing the aural is of particular significance. The Case Studies will focus on Spectralism in the field of Contemporary ‘Art’ Music; Tracking the Creative Process in Free Improvisation; and Folk Songs in Performance in the field of Ethnomusicology. Each study will produce substantial ground-breaking musicological outcomes in the form of software packages (as is appropriate to the nature of the project) and associated articles discussing the approach taken. They will also assist in working towards the development of models and generic tools to help establish the wider adoption of this interactive approach. Building on the PI's previous experience in related areas, researchers from musicological and technical backgrounds will come together to help realize these ambitious aims.

Mots-clés : musicology,music technology,music analysis,contemporary music,ethnomusicology
Projet ERC : RAMSES (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : TU Dortmund University — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1982500.0 €

In biochemical systems, combinations of specialized molecular entities are precisely arranged to give highly complex architectures. Sophisticated functionality, such as the selective chemical transformation of substrates in enzymes, emerges from the interplay of the individual components that are often grouped around a nanoscopic cavity. Control mechanisms based on the cooperative binding of signal substances regulate the enzyme’s action, and complicated feedback loops may apply. Since the advent of supramolecular chemistry, scientists construct artificial systems with ever increasing complexity and functionality that promise to serve as the basis for future developments in bottom-up nanotechnology with applications in medicine (drug delivery), diagnostics, catalysis, material science and molecular photonics/electronics. Self-assembly of functional entities with pre-programmed connectivities has produced an impressive line-up of nanoscopic architectures such as coordination cages that recognize and transform molecular substrates. Most of these systems are based on one sort of ligand, joined by one kind of metal ion. My group has reported a number of cages, each equipped with a unique, single function such as chirality, redox-activity, light-switching, allosteric regulation or endohedral binding sites. While all these mono-functionalized cages contribute to the progress of supramolecular architecture, nature demonstrates that the key to the most sophisticated systems lies in multi-functionalized structures. As breakthrough strategies for achieving this level of complexity with artificial systems we propose: 1) Heteroleptic coordination of ligands by a [Pd2Ligand4]-platform-specific way of steric fine-tuning 2) Biopolymer-inspired folding of a modular chain of covalently joined building blocks Combined with our recent achievements in host-guest switching, we aim at adjustable receptors, controllable molecular reaction chambers and multifunctional photo/redox systems

Mots-clés : self assembly,coordination cages,host guest chemistry,systems chemistry,multifunctionality
Projet ERC : Enhancer3D (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1770375.0 €

In eukaryotes, the complex regulation of temporal- and tissue-specific gene expression is controlled by the binding of transcription factors to enhancers, which in turn interact with the promoter of their target gene(s) via the formation of a chromatin loop. Despite their importance, the properties governing enhancer function and enhancer-promoter loops in the context of the three-dimensional organisation of the genome are still poorly understood. My recent work suggests that (i) developmental genes are often regulated by multiple enhancers, sometimes located at great linear distances, (ii) the spatio-temporal activity of a large fraction of those enhancers remains unknown, (iii) enhancer-promoter interactions are usually established before the target gene is expressed and are largely stable during embryogenesis, and (iv) stable interactions seem to be associated with the presence of paused RNA Polymerase II at the promoter before gene activation. Building upon these results, we propose to advance to the next level in the dissection of enhancer-promoter interaction functionality in the context of Drosophila embryogenesis. Specifically, we will address three important questions: (i) What determines the specificity of promoter-enhancer interactions in a complex genome? (ii) Are enhancer-promoter interactions tissue-specific, and what are the drivers of this specificity? (iii) Are all enhancer-promoter interactions functional, and how does the activity of an enhancer relate to the expression of the gene it interacts with? To this end, my group will apply an interdisciplinary approach, combining state-of-the-art methods in genetics and genomics, including novel single-cell techniques, using Drosophila embryogenesis as a model system. Our results will provide a unique view of the functionality of enhancer-promoter interactions in a developing embryo, a significant step towards understanding the link between chromatin organisation and transcription regulation.

Mots-clés : drosophila,enhancer,chromatin organisation,transcription,development
Projet ERC : CRYOREP (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions
Entité participante : The Francis Crick Institute — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2000000.0 €

In eukaryotic cells, DNA replication is tightly regulated to ensure that the genome is duplicated only once per cell cycle. Errors in the control mechanisms that regulate chromosome ploidy cause genomic instability, which is linked to the development of cellular abnormalities, genetic disease and the onset of cancer. Recent reconstitution experiments performed with purified proteins revealed that initiation of eukaryotic genome duplication requires three distinct steps. First, DNA replication start sites are identified and targeted for the loading of an inactive MCM helicase motor, which encircles the double helix. Second, MCM activators are recruited, causing duplex-DNA untwisting. Third, upon interaction with a firing factor, the MCM ring opens to eject one DNA strand, leading to unwinding of the replication fork and duplication by dedicated replicative polymerases. These three events are not understood at a molecular level. Structural investigations so far aimed at imaging artificially isolated replication steps and used simplified templates, such as linear duplex DNA to study helicase loading or pre-formed forks to understand unwinding. However, the natural substrate of the eukaryotic replication machinery is not DNA but rather chromatin, formed of nucleosome arrays that compact the genome. Chromatin plays important regulatory roles in all steps of DNA replication, by dictating origin start-site selection and stimulating replication fork progression. Only by studying chromatin replication, we argue, will we understand the molecular basis of genome propagation. To this end, we have developed new protocols to perform visual biochemistry experiments under the cryo-electron microscope, to image chromatin duplication at high resolution, frozen as it is being catalysed. Using these strategies we want to generate a molecular movie of the entire replication reaction. Our achievements will change the way we think about genome stability in eukaryotic cells.

Mots-clés : dna replication,atpase motors,visual biochemistry,in vitro reconstitution
Projet ERC : GENOMIS (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems
Entité participante : Karolinska Institutet — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : KI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499808.0 €

In human cells, two meters of DNA sequence are compressed into a nucleus whose linear size is five orders of magnitude smaller. Deciphering how this amazing structural organization is achieved and how DNA functions can ensue in the environment of a cell’s nucleus represent central questions for contemporary biology. Here, I embrace this challenge by establishing a comprehensive framework of microscopy and sequencing technologies coupled with advanced analytical approaches, aimed at addressing three fundamental highly-interconnected questions: 1) What are the design principles that govern DNA compaction? 2) How does genome structure vary between different cell types as well as among cells of the same type? 3) What is the link between genome structure and function? In preliminary experiments, we have devised a powerful method for Genomic loci Positioning by Sequencing (GPSeq) in fixed cells with optimally preserved nuclear morphology. In parallel, we are developing high-end microscopy tools for simultaneous localization of dozens of genomic locations at high resolution in thousands of single cells. We will obtain first-ever genome-wide maps of radial positioning of DNA loci in the nucleus, and combine them with available DNA contact probability maps in order to build 3D models of the human genome structure in different cell types. Using microscopy, we will visualize chromosomal shapes at unprecedented resolution, and use these rich datasets to discover general DNA folding principles. Finally, by combining high-resolution chromosome visualization with gene expression profiling in single cells, we will explore the link between DNA structure and function. Our study shall illuminate the design principles that dictate how genetic information is packed and read in the human nucleus, while providing a comprehensive repertoire of tools for studying genome organization.

Mots-clés : genome organization,chromosomes,gene expression,fluorescence in situ hybridization,next generation sequencing,single molecule studies