Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : PR1ME (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
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 : 150000.0 €

Europe is the second largest global producer of hydrocarbon products. Unavoidably, significant greenhouse gas emissions occur due to the present process implementations. A proper simulation of these processes is crucial to better understand them and, hence, to propose solutions for the present challenges in CO2 emissions abatement. The PR1ME simulation framework for chemical process will combine the fundamental understanding of the occurring reactions at the microkinetic level with molecular reconstruction techniques allowing to bridge the gap between global properties and detailed composition of the complex streams involved. By doing so more adequate simulations of chemical process performance are obtained than what is possible with conventional process simulation software essentially relying on global kinetics between groups of molecules (also denoted as lumps). Given the fundamental nature of the kinetics and reconstruction module in the framework, its applicability spans already a wide range of operating conditions and feed compositions. In the course of the PR1ME project, starting from conventional hydrocarbons as converted in Crude Oil To Chemicals (COTC) processes, the necessary innovation will be embedded in the modules to be applicable too within the circular economy scenario and be capable to simulate the behavior of renewables and plastics derived oils. The ultimate target of PR1ME is to develop patentable process configurations in the area of chemicals production from alternative feeds and/or to license (parts of) the software framework.

Mots-clés : chemical process simulation,microkinetic modelling,complex mixtures conversion,renewables,circularity
Projet ERC : ArtEmpire (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : Universidad del Norte — Pays : Colombie — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 417250.0 €

European incursions onto the narrow isthmian pass that divided and connected the Atlantic and Pacific oceans made it a strategic node of the Spanish Empire and a crucial site for early modern globalization. On the front lines of the convergence of four continents, Old Panama offers an unusual opportunity for examining the diverse, often asymmetrical impacts of cultural and commercial contacts. The role of Italian, Portuguese, British, Dutch, and French interests in the area, as well as an influx of African slaves and Asian merchandise, have left a unique material legacy that requires an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to its varied sources. Bones, teeth and artifacts on this artery of Empire offer the possibility of new insights into the cultural and biological impact of early globalization. They also invite an interdisciplinary approach to different groups’ tactics for survival, including possible dietary changes, and the pursuit of profit. Such strategies may have led the diverse peoples inhabiting this junction, from indigenous allies to African and Asian bandits to European corsairs, to develop and to favor local production and Pacific trade networks at the expense of commerce with the metropolis. This project applies historical, archaeological and archaeometric methodologies to evidence of encounters between peoples and goods from Europe, America, Africa and Asia that took place on the Isthmus of Panama during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Forging an interdisciplinary approach to early globalization, it challenges both Euro-centric and Hispano-phobic interpretations of the impact of the conquest of America, traditionally seen as a demographic catastrophe that reached its nadir in the so-called seventeenth-century crisis. Rather than applying quantitative methods to incomplete source material, researchers will adopt a contextualized, inter-disciplinary, qualitative approach to diverse agents involved in cultural and commercial exchange.

Mots-clés : conquest,commerce,cultural exchange,global history,globalization
Projet ERC : CASTECON (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : University of Sussex — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 0.0 €

Eusociality, in which workers sacrifice their own reproduction to rear the offspring of queens, is a major focus of interest in evolutionary biology. A key aim during recent decades has been to understand the conflicts of interest within eusocial groups. In contrast, however, little is known about the underlying genetic architecture. In this proposal, we will use a mixture of field experiments and transcriptomics to address novel questions about the evolutionary dynamics of queen-worker interactions. Borrowing concepts from the field of sexual conflict, we will investigate a new idea: that the productivity of social groups is limited because castes are constrained by inter-caste genetic correlations from simultaneously reaching their optimal (dimorphic) phenotypes. We will also quantify caste dimorphism across an environmental gradient, and investigate the plasticity of dimorphism using transplants and social manipulations. In addition, we will cross-foster individuals between nests to test for coadaptation between queens and workers. And we will test a long-standing hypothesis experimentally for the first time: that queens manipulate worker phenotype in their own interests. The proposed research will force us to look at eusociality in a completely new way. How caste dimorphism can evolve, the possibility that its evolution could be limited by genetic constraints, and the processes that could resolve those constraints, are topics that have hardly been considered. Recent research has strongly emphasized conflict between queens and workers, but the coadaptation of complementary phenotypes may be just as important. Our approach will be multidisciplinary: we will capitalize on state-of-the-art transcriptomic technology in combination with innovative field methods, and use study systems that allow exceptional sample sizes to be obtained in the wild, where natural selection operates. The overall result will be a new and exciting perspective on queen-worker coevolution.

Mots-clés : transcriptomic and quantitative genetic approach to conflict in social groups
Projet ERC : CASTECON (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : University of Exeter — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2424263.0 €

Eusociality, in which workers sacrifice their own reproduction to rear the offspring of queens, is a major focus of interest in evolutionary biology. A key aim during recent decades has been to understand the conflicts of interest within eusocial groups. In contrast, however, little is known about the underlying genetic architecture. In this proposal, we will use a mixture of field experiments and transcriptomics to address novel questions about the evolutionary dynamics of queen-worker interactions. Borrowing concepts from the field of sexual conflict, we will investigate a new idea: that the productivity of social groups is limited because castes are constrained by inter-caste genetic correlations from simultaneously reaching their optimal (dimorphic) phenotypes. We will also quantify caste dimorphism across an environmental gradient, and investigate the plasticity of dimorphism using transplants and social manipulations. In addition, we will cross-foster individuals between nests to test for coadaptation between queens and workers. And we will test a long-standing hypothesis experimentally for the first time: that queens manipulate worker phenotype in their own interests. The proposed research will force us to look at eusociality in a completely new way. How caste dimorphism can evolve, the possibility that its evolution could be limited by genetic constraints, and the processes that could resolve those constraints, are topics that have hardly been considered. Recent research has strongly emphasized conflict between queens and workers, but the coadaptation of complementary phenotypes may be just as important. Our approach will be multidisciplinary: we will capitalize on state-of-the-art transcriptomic technology in combination with innovative field methods, and use study systems that allow exceptional sample sizes to be obtained in the wild, where natural selection operates. The overall result will be a new and exciting perspective on queen-worker coevolution.

Mots-clés : transcriptomic and quantitative genetic approach to conflict in social groups
Projet ERC : OWNERS (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Social World and Its Diversity
Entité participante : Utrecht University — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499082.0 €

Even in the absence of legal ownership, people tend to experience objects, places, and ideas as belonging to them (‘mine’). This state of mind is called psychological ownership. Research has shown that experiences of ownership are very important for individuals, but can also lead to interpersonal conflicts. What we know almost nothing about is collective psychological ownership (CPO): a shared sense that something is ‘ours’. CPO might be especially relevant with regard to territories and in the context of intergroup relations. Statements like ‘we were here first’ or ‘we built this country’ are increasingly used by right-wing politicians in immigration countries to claim ownership on historical basis for the dominant ethnic group, and to exclude newcomers. There are also contexts where two established groups disagree about territorial ownership, such as Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo. While CPO might strengthen solidarity within groups, it might worsen intergroup relations, thus threatening social cohesion. It is important to establish where a sense of CPO comes from, and how it shapes intergroup relations, so that interventions could be implemented. This ground-breaking project examines 1) the extent to which people perceive their ethnic group as historically owning the country, 2) the psychological needs that motivate them to claim collective ownership, and 3) the implications of collective ownership claims for attitudes towards ethnic groups. My approach is multidisciplinary, combining social psychological theories on intergroup relations with the literature on ownership and territoriality from organizational science and anthropology. I will develop an instrument to measure CPO and provide first empirical evidence about the importance of CPO by collecting representative survey data in European immigration countries (Netherlands, UK, France), settler societies (Australia, New Zealand, USA), and countries with clear territorial disputes (Kosovo, Cyprus, Israel).

Mots-clés : group identities,ethnic attitudes,psychological ownership,immigrants,minority rights
Projet ERC : ImPRESS (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Oslo University Hospital — Pays : Norvège — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499638.0 €

Even the perfect cancer drug must reach its target to have an effect. The ImPRESS project main objective is to develop a novel imaging paradigm coined Restricted Perfusion Imaging (RPI) to reveal - for the first time in humans - vascular restrictions in solid cancers caused by mechanical solid stress, and use RPI to demonstrate that alleviating this force will repair the cancerous microenvironment and improve therapeutic response. Delivery of anti-cancer drugs to the tumor is critically dependent on a functional vascular bed. Developing biomarkers that can measure how mechanical forces in a solid tumor impair perfusion and promotes therapy resistance is essential for treatment of disease. The ImPRESS project is based on the following observations; (I) pre-clinical work suggests that therapies targeting the tumor microenvironment and extracellular matrix may enhance drug delivery by decompressing tumor vessels; (II) results from animal models may not be transferable because compressive forces in human tumors in vivo can be many times higher; and (III) there are no available imaging technologies for medical diagnostics of solid stress in human cancers. Using RPI, ImPRESS will conduct a comprehensive series of innovative studies in brain cancer patients to answer three key questions: (Q1) Can we image vascular restrictions in human cancers and map how the vasculature changes with tumor growth or treatment? (Q2) Can we use medical engineering to image solid stress in vivo? (Q3) Can RPI show that matrix-depleting drugs improve patient response to conventional chemo- and radiation therapy as well as new targeted therapies? The ImPRESS project holds a unique position to answer these questions by our unrivaled experience with advanced imaging of cancer patients. With successful delivery, ImPRESS will have a direct impact on patient treatment and establish an imaging paradigm that will pave the way for new scientific knowledge on how to revitalize cancer therapies.

Mots-clés : magnetic resonance imaging,longitudinal radiographic monitoring,treatment resistance,human brain cancers,clinical diagnostics of physical forces and impaired vasculature,image guided surgery
Projet ERC : CENNS (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
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 : 1495000.0 €

Ever since the Higgs boson was discovered at the LHC in 2012, we had the confirmation that the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics has to be extended. In parallel, the long lasting Dark Matter (DM) problem, supported by a wealth of evidence ranging from precision cosmology to local astrophysical observations, has been suggesting that new particles should exist. Unfortunately, neither the LHC nor the DM dedicated experiments have significantly detected any exotic signals pointing toward a particular new physics extension of the SM so far. With this proposal, I want to take a new path in the quest of new physics searches by providing the first high-precision measurement of the neutral current Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CENNS). By focusing on the sub-100 eV CENNS induced nuclear recoils, my goal is to reach unprecedented sensitivities to various exotic physics scenarios with major implications from cosmology to particle physics, beyond the reach of existing particle physics experiments. These include for instance the existence of sterile neutrinos and of new mediators, that could be related to the DM problem, and the possibility of Non Standard Interactions that would have tremendous implications on the global neutrino physics program. To this end, I propose to build a kg-scale cryogenic tabletop neutrino experiment with outstanding sensitivity to low-energy nuclear recoils, called CryoCube, that will be deployed at an optimal nuclear reactor site. The key feature of this proposed detector technology is to combine two target materials: Ge-semiconductor and Zn-superconducting metal. I want to push these two detector techniques beyond the state-of-the-art performance to reach sub-100 eV energy thresholds with unparalleled background rejection capabilities. As my proposed CryoCube detector will reach a 5-sigma level CENNS detection significance in a single day, it will be uniquely positioned to probe new physics extensions beyond the SM.

Mots-clés : low energy and rare event searches for astroparticle physics
Projet ERC : GrDyAp (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : TU Dresden — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TUD
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2000000.0 €

Eversince, the study of symmetry in mathematics and mathematical physics has been fundamental to a thourough understanding of most of the fundamental notions. Group theory in all its forms is the theory of symmetry and thus an indispensible tool in many of the basic theoretical sciences. The study of infinite symmetry groups is especially challenging, since most of the tools from the sophisticated theory of finite groups break down and new global methods of study have to be found. In that respect, the interaction of group theory and the study of group rings with methods from ring theory, probability, Riemannian geometry, functional analyis, and the theory of dynamical systems has been extremely fruitful in a variety of situations. In this proposal, I want to extend this line of approach and introduce novel approaches to longstanding and fundamental problems. There are four main interacting themes that I want to pursue: (i) Groups and their study using ergodic theory of group actions (ii) Approximation theorems for totally disconnected groups (iii) Kaplansky’s Direct Finiteness Conjecture and p-adic analysis (iv) Kervaire-Laudenbach Conjecture and topological methods in combinatorial group theory The theory of `2-homology and `2-torsion of groups has provided a fruitful context to study global properties of infinite groups. The relationship of these homological invariants with ergodic theory of group actions will be part of the content of Part (i). In Part (ii) we seek for generalizations of `2-methods to a context of locally compact groups and study the asymptotic invariants of sequences of lattices (or more generally invariant random subgroups). Part (iii) tries to lay the foundation of a padic analogue of the `2-theory, where we study novel aspects of p-adic functional analysis which help to clarify the approximation properties of (Z/pZ)-Betti numbers. Finally, in Part (iv), we try to attack various longstanding combinatorial problems in group theory with tools from algebraic topology and p-local homotopy theory.

Mots-clés : group theory,functional analysis,ergodic theory,algebraic topology
Projet ERC : ProtonPump (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : University of Gothenburg — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2500000.0 €

Every breath you take delivers oxygen to mitochondria within the cells of your body. Mitochondria are energy transducing organelles that accept electrons liberated from the food that you eat in order to generate a transmembrane proton concentration gradient. Cytochrome c oxidase is an integral membrane protein complex in the mitochondria that accepts four electrons and reduces molecular oxygen to two water molecules while simultaneously pumping protons against a transmembrane potential. Cytochrome c oxidase homologues are found in almost all living organisms. Because oxygen is the final destination of the transferred electrons, this enzyme family is referred to as the terminal oxidases. Crystal structures of terminal oxidases have been known for more than two decades and these enzymes have been studied with virtually all biophysical and biochemical methods. Despite this scrutiny, it is unknown how redox reactions at the enzyme’s active site are coupled to proton pumping. Here I aim to create a three dimensional movie that reveals how proton exchange between key amino acid residues is controlled by the movements of electrons within the enzyme. This work will utilize state-of-the-art methods of time-resolved serial crystallography, time-resolved wide angle X-ray scattering and time-resolved X-ray emission spectroscopy at European X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) and synchrotron radiation facilities to observe structural changes in terminal oxidases with time. I will develop new approaches for rapidly delivering oxygen or electrons into the protein’s active site in order to initiate the catalytic cycle in microcrystals and in solution. This project will yield completely new insight into one of the most important chemical reactions in biology while opening up the field of time-resolved structural studies of proteins beyond a handful of naturally occurring light-driven systems.

Mots-clés : protein structural dynamics,x ray free electron laser,terminal oxidases,time resolved,serial femtosecond crystallography,time resolved wide angle x ray scattering
Projet ERC : eHONESTY (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Entité participante : Italian Institute of Technology — Pays : Italie — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1084970.84 €

Every day, everywhere, people make unethical choices ranging from minor selfish lies to massive frauds, with dramatic individual and societal costs. Embodied cognition theories posit that even seemingly abstract processes (like grammar) may be biased by the body-related signals used for building and maintaining self-consciousness, the fundamental experience of owning a body (ownership) and being the author of an action (agency), that is at the basis of self-other distinction. Applying this framework to morality, we hypothesize that strengthening or weakening participants’ bodily self-consciousness towards virtual avatars or real others will influence dishonesty in real, virtual, and web-based interactions. To test this hypothesis, we will measure: i) individual dishonesty after modifying body ownership (e.g., by changing the appearance of the virtual body) and agency (e.g., by changing the temporal synchrony between participant’s and avatar’s actions) over an avatar through which decisions are made; ii) intergroup dishonesty after inducing inter-individual sharing of body self-consciousness (e.g., blur self-other distinction via facial visuo-tactile stimulation); iii) individual and intergroup dishonesty by manipulating exteroceptive (e.g., the external features of a virtual body) or interoceptive (e.g., changing the degree of synchronicity between participant’s and avatar/real person’s breathing rhythm) bodily inputs. Dishonesty will be assessed through novel ecological tasks based on virtual reality and web-based interactions. Behavioural (e.g., subjective reports, kinematics), autonomic (e.g., heartbeat, thermal imaging) and brain (e.g., EEG, TMS, lesion analyses) measures of dishonesty will be recorded in healthy and clinical populations. Our person-based, embodied approach to dishonesty complements cross-cultural, large-scale, societal investigations and may inspire new strategies for contrasting dishonesty and other unethical behaviours.