Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : QD-NOMS (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and communication engineering
Entité participante : Leibniz University Hannover — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1397853.0 €

Is there any limit to the size of a quantum system? How large and how small can it be? Both questions are related to scalability, a most critical issue in quantum technologies. A scalable quantum network, which can be extended almost infinitely, is built by entangling individual quantum systems, e.g. atoms. It will provide thrilling opportunities across a range of intellectual and technical frontiers in quantum information science. Building such a network is however a great challenge, in both physics and engineering. Often referred to as artificial atoms, semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are among the most promising single and entangled photon sources to build a photonic quantum network. However there is a longstanding and yet unsolved challenge on scalability, since, unlike real atoms, every QD is different. By engineering individual QDs with an innovative nano-optomechanical system (NOMS), elementary QD networks will be built via scalable interactions of single or entangled photons, in a fashion similar to that of real atoms. The scientific goals are to upscale QD networks with the first demonstrations of (1) indistinguishable entangled photons from different QDs, (2) deterministic entanglement swapping, purification and graph states with multiple QDs (3) deterministic Boson sampling with more than 4 QDs on chip. The technological goals are (1) to downscale the footprint (<50 µm) of individual QD sources with full tunabilities, and to realize (2) arrays (>4×4) of tunable single and entangled photon sources, (3) waveguide integration on III-V/silicon chips, and (4) compact quantum LED demonstrators. QD-NOMS will address the physical and technological challenges in building a solid-state QD-based quantum network. Its success does not only provide a novel toolkit to realize scalable QD systems for cutting-edge fundamental researches but also brings the semiconductor QD based platforms, after a decade of development, to the attention of practical applications.

Mots-clés : semiconductor quantum dot,quantum photonics,single photon,entangled photons,entanglement,quantum light emitting diode
Projet ERC : GAS-WAT (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : Stockholm University — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2295625.0 €

Is there “hidden” structure in normal liquid water? Do nanoscopic structural heterogeneities in ambient water exist and affect solution chemistry? In this project we will focus on structural fluctuations in simulations of liquid water as observed through the enhancement of the isothermal compressibility. From both experiment and theory a two-state picture of water is emerging with fluctuations between high- (HDL) and low-density (LDL) local structures. The structure of these is unknown. Moreover, present simulation models require a pressure shift of one thousand atmospheres to reproduce the experimental compressibility maximum at ambient pressure. We propose to develop a unique description of the liquid that extends to take into account that the water molecule exists in two forms, ortho and para, with different rotational properties. We will use Argon dissolved in water as discrete probe of the LDL local environments in high-resolution EXAFS measurements to discern their structure in combination. Finally, in a two-state picture with LDL structures providing “pockets of stability” for dissolved oxygen, the question arises how fish entice the oxygen to leave the water and enter the gills. We will carry out a combined experimental X-ray spectroscopic and theoretical modeling study of water in polyelectrolyte and polysaccharide models of the mucous layer found outside lamella of fish gills and specifically determine how water structure there differs from the bulk. Has Nature through evolution found a way to restructure the water to enhance exchange of gases?

Mots-clés : liquid water,fluctuations,ortho and para water,x ray spectroscopy,clathrates,fish gills,oxygen dissolution
Projet ERC : MetabolismOrigins (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Fondation Jean-Marie Lehn — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CIRFC
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1056250.0 €

It has long been assumed that biological metabolism must have been an invention of life since its many reactions are catalyzed by enzymes, complex proteins that did not exist at life’s origins. However, my group and others have recently discovered that transition metals alone can mediate reactions of life’s most central metabolic pathways in the absence of enzymes (Wood-Ljungdahl pathway, glycolysis, parts of the Krebs cycle and reverse Krebs cycle, etc.). In contrast to ideas about the origin of life that focus only on genetics, this realization brings experimental support to a radically different vision in which biological metabolism arose from geochemical reaction networks, before enzymes or life itself, and created the molecules of genetics in the process. This proposal aims to find out how much of core biological metabolism might have emerged without enzymes and whether it could have given rise to genetics. I propose an experimental research program to identify conditions that would trigger the spontaneous emergence of metal-catalyzed versions of the biosynthetic pathways for sugar, amino acid and ribonucleotide synthesis. In contrast to approaches to prebiotic chemistry that need human intervention to direct their outcome and whose chemistries are very different from those used by life, this approach will aim, as much as is possible, for one-pot chemistry that is deeply rooted in metabolism. This tactic will ensure that what is discovered is likely to be relevant to life’s origins and even predictive about the way life operates today. This metabolism-guided approach to prebiotic chemistry will furnish deep understanding of how and why life’s biochemistry emerged and explain why it operates the way that it does today, rooted in fundamental principles of catalysis and organic chemistry.

Mots-clés : metabolism,systems chemistry,prebiotic chemistry,catalysis
Projet ERC : MetabolismOrigins (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Université de Strasbourg — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : UNISTRA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1096770.0 €

It has long been assumed that biological metabolism must have been an invention of life since its many reactions are catalyzed by enzymes, complex proteins that did not exist at life’s origins. However, my group and others have recently discovered that transition metals alone can mediate reactions of life’s most central metabolic pathways in the absence of enzymes (Wood-Ljungdahl pathway, glycolysis, parts of the Krebs cycle and reverse Krebs cycle, etc.). In contrast to ideas about the origin of life that focus only on genetics, this realization brings experimental support to a radically different vision in which biological metabolism arose from geochemical reaction networks, before enzymes or life itself, and created the molecules of genetics in the process. This proposal aims to find out how much of core biological metabolism might have emerged without enzymes and whether it could have given rise to genetics. I propose an experimental research program to identify conditions that would trigger the spontaneous emergence of metal-catalyzed versions of the biosynthetic pathways for sugar, amino acid and ribonucleotide synthesis. In contrast to approaches to prebiotic chemistry that need human intervention to direct their outcome and whose chemistries are very different from those used by life, this approach will aim, as much as is possible, for one-pot chemistry that is deeply rooted in metabolism. This tactic will ensure that what is discovered is likely to be relevant to life’s origins and even predictive about the way life operates today. This metabolism-guided approach to prebiotic chemistry will furnish deep understanding of how and why life’s biochemistry emerged and explain why it operates the way that it does today, rooted in fundamental principles of catalysis and organic chemistry.

Mots-clés : metabolism,systems chemistry,prebiotic chemistry,catalysis
Projet ERC : SCALEFORES (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Social World and Its Diversity
Entité participante : University of Southampton — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1483096.0 €

It is now widely recognized that sustainably managing ecosystem services – the benefits humans obtain from nature – is essential for humanity’s prospects in the 21st century and beyond. However, at present there is little data on the distribution of most services in most places. To date, the discipline of ecosystem service mapping has tried overcome this lack of data by using proxies to map ecosystem services based on our perceived understanding of ecosystem services from small-scale studies. However, the most commonly used proxies have been shown to be inaccurate, particularly for understanding policy-relevant trade-offs and win-wins between ecosystem services. The challenge therefore remains - how do we reliably map such relationships between multiple ES, thereby enabling multifunctional, ES-based management of our landscapes? In the SCALEFORES project, I will address this challenge head-on by developing and testing a novel methodological framework that enables the use of existing data to produce accurate maps of the relationships between ES in previously unmapped regions. The overarching idea underpinning SCALEFORES is that we can use information on the scale-dependency of relationships between existing social and ecological datasets (e.g. land cover, soil type, human population density) to create maps of trade-offs and win-wins between ecosystem services. The SCALEFORES project will systematically examine the scale-dependency of relationships between ecosystem services and the social and ecological variables that underpin them. It will then use this knowledge to enable a step change increase in our ability to accurately map both relationships between ES and the distributions of ecosystem services themselves. The methodology developed in SCALEFORES will be validated against existing maps of ecosystem services in Europe, as this is the region with the best data on ecosystem services globally.

Mots-clés : ecosystem services
Projet ERC : HUNAYNNET (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
Entité participante : Austrian Academy of Sciences — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : OAW
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1019977.0 €

It is often taken for granted that the Greek-Arabic translation movement (8th-10th c.) that made the whole bulk of Classical Greek scientific and philosophical literature available in Arabic (and that was later handed over to Europe in Latin translations) owes much to the preceding period in the history of transmission of this scientific and philosophical literature, namely translations into the Syriac language that were implemented by Aramaic-speaking Syriac Christians. The problem of continuity between the two periods however has not been tackled thoroughly in scholarship and thus the actual impact of the Syriac translations on later methods of translation has so far not been measured and assessed. One feasible solution to this problem in our understanding of the background to the Greek-Arabic translation movement is to implement a comprehensive comparison of Syriac and Arabic translations by means of lexicographical analysis. This project offers a research tool capable of allowing this comparison. It will combine methods of online lexicography and of corpus linguistics with the aim of presenting in a systematic and rationalized way the lexical data from the entire corpus of Syriac scientific and philosophical translations, comparing and analyzing its terminology and translation techniques, first, with the extant Greek originals and, secondly, with Arabic versions. The lexicographic database will be an effective instrument providing definite data for the study of Syriac and Arabic translations and their close connections. It will reveal how the Syriac translations along with underlying methods and tools that were put to use for the first time ever by Syriac Christians eventually determined the prosperity of the Islamic sciences. Fully endorsing a principle of open access the database creates a new instrument for a study of the history of the transmission of Greek scientific literature in Antiquity and the Middle Ages.

Mots-clés : syriac studies,greek syriac arabic translations,transmission history of greek science and philosophy,lexicography
Projet ERC : EXC3ITE (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : Forschungszentrum Jülich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : FZJ
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 580673.65 €

It is ozone that primarily heats and therefore creates the stratosphere. Human emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) have however led to dramatic stratospheric ozone losses for decades. This global problem is ongoing and of renewed concern due to recent unexpected changes. It is also likely affecting the nature of the stratosphere itself, with implications for global health and economy. In addition, emissions of greenhouse gases have been proposed to lead to a long-term acceleration of the stratospheric overturning circulation. In summary, significant stratospheric changes are to be expected from both, ozone losses and global warming. Indications for such changes have been reported, but there are substantial uncertainties and limitations connected with these studies. In addition, current technologies to explore stratospheric composition and chemistry are very expensive and often offer only infrequent data. There is clearly a need for new and improved tools to correctly detect and quantify changes from observations. This project will open 3 novel avenues to explore stratospheric chemistry, composition and circulation: 1) A newly developed low-cost technology to retrieve and analyse air from the stratosphere. This will be a new way to derive budgets of all important and newly emerging ODSs directly in the stratosphere; while at the same time providing observations of many strong greenhouse gases. 2) I have found new evidence for substantial past changes in stratospheric chemistry and circulation. An unprecedented investigation of stratospheric air archives spanning 40 years and >50 trace gases will allow new insights into these changes 3) New diagnosis tools and a detailed comparison with state-of-the-art models will identify the implications for future climate. The EXC3ITE project will result in a breakthrough in the understanding of stratospheric changes which are of high importance for society through their impact on climate prediction and ozone recovery.
Projet ERC : EXC3ITE (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : University of East Anglia — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : UEA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 915765.1 €

It is ozone that primarily heats and therefore creates the stratosphere. Human emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) have however led to dramatic stratospheric ozone losses for decades. This global problem is ongoing and of renewed concern due to recent unexpected changes. It is also likely affecting the nature of the stratosphere itself, with implications for global health and economy. In addition, emissions of greenhouse gases have been proposed to lead to a long-term acceleration of the stratospheric overturning circulation. In summary, significant stratospheric changes are to be expected from both, ozone losses and global warming. Indications for such changes have been reported, but there are substantial uncertainties and limitations connected with these studies. In addition, current technologies to explore stratospheric composition and chemistry are very expensive and often offer only infrequent data. There is clearly a need for new and improved tools to correctly detect and quantify changes from observations. This project will open 3 novel avenues to explore stratospheric chemistry, composition and circulation: 1) A newly developed low-cost technology to retrieve and analyse air from the stratosphere. This will be a new way to derive budgets of all important and newly emerging ODSs directly in the stratosphere; while at the same time providing observations of many strong greenhouse gases. 2) I have found new evidence for substantial past changes in stratospheric chemistry and circulation. An unprecedented investigation of stratospheric air archives spanning 40 years and >50 trace gases will allow new insights into these changes 3) New diagnosis tools and a detailed comparison with state-of-the-art models will identify the implications for future climate. The EXC3ITE project will result in a breakthrough in the understanding of stratospheric changes which are of high importance for society through their impact on climate prediction and ozone recovery.
Projet ERC : AMP-Alarm (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : University of Konstanz — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2491235.0 €

It is puzzling that the human genome has only slightly more genes than the fruit fly and only half the number of cauliflower. Obviously, the sheer number of genes alone cannot determine the complexity of human development and the sophisticated signalling systems that maintain homeostasis. In fact, the complexity of information from genome to proteome is greatly increased. Drivers for the complexity of the proteome are posttranslational modifications (PTMs), i.e. covalent modifications of polypeptides after translation. The aim of this project is to shine light on a scientific mystery known for decades. We will elucidate the cellular roles and functions of diadenosine polyphosphates (ApnAs), which are formed in response to stress and are therefore called "alarmones", and their interactions with the PTM processes "AMPylation", i.e. the covalent modification of the target protein by adenosine monophosphate. Although both topics are known for more than 60 years, their molecular mechanism and functions are poorly understood. Based on our preliminary results, which unambiguously show the interplay of ApnAs and AMPylation for the first time, we will search for, identify and characterize new protagonists of AMPylation and clarify their interactions with ApnAs. Therefore, new chemical tools will be developed and applied in the proteome-wide studies in living cells. We will also investigate the molecular function of a protein that we have already identified with ApnA-based probes. We have discovered that this protein is a "5'-3' RNA ligase", the first one found in human cells! The available data indicates the involvement of this RNA ligase in cancer and neurodegeneration, and we will therefore elucidate the molecular mechanisms and functions of this protein in detail. Overall, this project will bring significant new and previously unexplored advances and will provide a guideline for future translational research in the fight against diseases.

Mots-clés : chemical biology,nucleotide,post translational modifications,chemical proteomics,rna ligase
Projet ERC : STORM (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Delft University of Technology — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TU Delft
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1998985.0 €

It is the overall aim of this project to use responsive catalysts to introduce signal transduction cascades in soft materials, enabling autonomous, programmable and amplified response of soft materials to chemical signals from their environment. 'Smart' soft materials could find many important applications ranging from personalized therapeutics to soft robotics. However, as most molecular materials are unable to communicate, or even respond to, changes in their environment, truly smart materials are still far out of reach. Signal transduction is one of the primary processes used by living cells to react to events taking place in their environment, often involving a signal triggering enzymatic activity, leading to a cellular response. Such rudimentary communication is entirely non-existent in synthetic materials. I here propose the introduction of catalysis-based signal transduction between chemical systems to enable synthetic materials to respond autonomously to events taking place in their environment. Key to achieving this objective will be the development of switchable catalysts, using signals originating from chemical events to change catalytic activity, and coupling changes in catalytic activity to responses in soft materials. In achieving these objectives, I will develop new design strategies for responsive soft materials, enabling control over material formation and response in time and space, through autonomous reaction to chemical signals. This will allow the development of new actuators, self-healing materials, sensors, therapeutics and self-regulation and self-correction of material assembly. It will also constitute an entirely new role for catalysis, as catalysis will be engaged to constitute a first step towards achieving communication between artificial chemical systems.

Mots-clés : catalysis,active materials,responsive materials