Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : OOID (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : Weizmann Institute of Science — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1490596.0 €

The isotopic composition of O in seawater is a fundamental property of Earth's oceans, key to paleoclimate reconstructions and to our understanding of the origin of water on Earth, the water-rock reactions that govern seawater chemistry, and the conditions under which life emerged. Despite more than five decades of research, the geologic history of seawater 18O/16O remains a topic of intense debate. Without exception, well-preserved 18O/16O records from marine precipitates reflect both the minerals' formation temperature, and the isotopic composition of seawater. This duality has prevented unique interpretation of a long-term secular trend, in which 18O/16O in sedimentary rocks (e.g., carbonates, cherts) has increased by ~15 ‰ since the Archean. Here I outline an inter-disciplinary research program to address this fundamental problem, which integrates new geochemical observations, laboratory experiments, and numerical models. We will generate geologic records of 18O/16O in two previously untapped repositories: iron oxides and iron-bearing authigenic clays. Several characteristics of both, and preliminary results, suggest that these repositories hold the potential to settle the long-standing debate about seawater 18O/16O. We will determine the temperature dependence of mineral-water O isotope fractionation in laboratory experiments and observations of natural systems. We will experimentally test the resistance of these minerals to O isotope exchange under geologically-relevant conditions, with the aim of evaluating the potential for late-stage isotopic resetting. Finally, we will develop models of the marine O isotope cycle, which account for the processes that govern seawater 18O/16O over long timescales, and which will be used to provide a quantitative understanding of the new records. With these new insights, we will explore implications for the geologic history of seawater chemistry, atmospheric composition, climate and biology.

Mots-clés : earth systems evolution,ocean chemistry,oxygen isotopes
Projet ERC : PICOFORCE (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : University of Cambridge — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. Cambridge
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2451402.0 €

The key aim of this project is to understand and utilise optically-produced forces on the atomic scale through pico-photonics, in order to devise future nano-mechanisms and nano-machines. Key goals are to move individual metal atoms by light, twist and compress and flip individual molecules on demand, and provide a step-change in the comprehension of how ions, solvent, molecules and electrons interact at interfaces, which is critical in catalysis, molecular electronics, electrochemistry, and nano-assembly.

Mots-clés : plasmonics,sers,nanoparticles,nanophotonics
Projet ERC : TOPOCLIP (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : University of Bern — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : UB
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 633482.0 €

The lack of synthetic control over the chirality of curved carbon nanostructures derived from graphene, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), prevents the development of molecular electronics applications that require high purity and uniformity of these materials. Single- and multi-walled CNTs are typically formed as a mixture of chiral, armchair, and zigzag nanostructures that significantly differ in their properties. The urgency of controlled chirality-specific synthesis of CNTs advanced the synthesis of curved molecular nanocarbons – molecular precursors for a stepwise synthesis of uniform single-walled CNTs. Applications in bioimaging, sensing, catalysis, and organic electronics have been rapidly emerging on account of the unusual properties of these hoop-like molecular nanocarbons. To this date, no analogous molecular precursors for topologically more complex carbon nanostructures such as double-walled CNTs or carbon nanoscrolls exist because their topologies do not yet have a stable molecular representation. TOPOCLIP develops such stable molecular representations, enables their synthesis by using a molecular clip, and delivers unprecedented topological molecular nanocarbons. The molecular clip helps controlling the curvature, preserves the electronic communication throughout the molecular nanocarbon structure, or allows construction of the first molecular nanocarbon with a reversible dynamic behavior. TOPOCLIP (1) improves our understanding of strain and non-covalent interactions that (de)stabilize curved nanocarbons, (2) delivers responsive nanocarbons that can alter shape with an external stimulus, and (3) establishes design principles for tailor-made molecular nanocarbons for future nano- and biotechnology applications. Ultimately, TOPOCLIP takes the vital step to find a solution to a long-standing challenge: the chirality-specific synthesis of carbon nanostructures of complex topologies obtained by rolling-up a graphene sheet beyond the single-walled CNTs.

Mots-clés : physical organic chemistry,molecular carbon based materials,curved aromatic molecules,paracyclophane,polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,photoswitching,structure property relationships
Projet ERC : FutureLSS (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : University of Edinburgh — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1328066.0 €

The last 30 years have been a golden era of cosmological discoveries, which revolutionized our understanding of the physical concepts, which govern our Universe. New discoveries indicate that the beginning of our Universe might have been dominated by the inflaton field, which decayed during the first second of the Universe’s existence, introducing tiny ripples in the matter distribution, which ultimately sourced later galaxy formation. The future of our Universe is dominated by dark energy, which causes the current Universe to accelerate in its expansion. Both inflation and dark energy are theoretical constructs, which help to explain current observational results, but their fundamental role in physics is not yet understood. The distribution of galaxies in the Universe encodes an enormous amount of information, which holds the key to unravel new fundamental concepts of nature. The main goal of this proposal is to use galaxy surveys to uncover convincing evidence for the inflationary scenario and to reveal clues that will help to determine the nature of dark energy. My team will make use of data from the DESI and Euclid experiments, a new generation of galaxy surveys, which will provide datasets more than an order of magnitude larger than what is available today, thus allowing a decisive step forward with an exciting discovery potential. Such measurements will face significant challenges in systematics control, non-linear modeling, and computational limitations. In this proposal, I will outline my plan to develop new statistical estimators, apply cutting-edge modeling techniques, and access new observables to constrain cosmological models. This project will produce results going beyond cosmology, impacting particle- as well as high energy physics. With DESI starting in late 2019 and Euclid in 2021 this work is timely and my experience in the clustering analysis with such datasets puts me in a unique position to lead the cosmological exploitation of these experiments.
Projet ERC : HybReader (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems
Entité participante : Institute of Molecular Biology — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : IMB
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2000000.0 €

The last decade has revolutionized our thinking about regulatory RNAs and yet we are still at the beginning of understanding their biology. One such challenge is presented by R-loops, prevalent DNA:RNA hybrids, which lie at the interface of different nuclear processes, including transcription, RNA processing, lncRNAs, DNA damage, chromatin, and neurodegenerative disease. Long-time considered a threat to genomic integrity, recent evidence indicates that certain R-loops can act as epigenetic gene regulators. The hypothesis is that nascent RNAs retained at their site of transcription may function as sequence-specific component of mammalian chromatin to shape gene expression. Notably, R-loops found at GC-enriched promoters are implicated in preventing DNA methylation and promote transcription, but how this might occur has remained obscure. In a breakthrough discovery, we identified the first epigenetic R-loop reader. This protein binds directly and specifically to DNA:RNA hybrids in vitro and in vivo, and mediates local DNA hydroxymethylation and demethylation via TET (Ten-Eleven Translocation) cytosine oxidases. Using the R-loop reader as a tool provides a unique entry point to address fundamental questions regarding mechanisms and regulation of the epigenetic function and biological role of these DNA:RNA hybrids. Applying genome-wide approaches and studying the biology of embryonic stem cells (ESCs), we will 1) systematically identify regulatory R-loops, 2) characterize their common features, 3) address how R-loops are decoded in ESC pluripotency and differentiation, 4) investigate how regulatory R-loops are erased, and (5) screen for additional R-loop binders/readers and characterize their epigenetic role. The HybReader project will allow for ground-breaking discoveries regarding the emerging epigenetic function and regulation of these poorly understood regulatory hybrids in the control of gene expression.
Projet ERC : TRANSPORT (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
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 : 1438750.0 €

The last decade has witnessed a revolution in the prediction and understanding of new phases of matter characterized by topology and entanglement. This includes topological insulators, semimetals, superconductors, quantum spin liquids, topological Kondo systems, etc.. However, most of the theory is directed at the classification of ground state properties and elementary excitations, and most successful experiments are spectroscopic. The big frontier is transport. The latter is the key for nearly all applications in condensed matter. It is also the most sensitive probe, and gives access to the lowest frequencies and energies. Yet its understanding remains much more primitive than that of many techniques, at a time when the body of transport experiments is rapidly growing. Responding to the need to tackle this problem extensively, the proposed ERC will provide a broad and detailed understanding of heat and electrical transport in a wide variety of quantum systems in various regimes: quantum magnets at low/high temperatures, near critical points, and semimetals. It will provide key tools and guidelines to study and understand transport in experiments. I propose to focus on two goals that I deem most direly needed for the understanding of transport: 1. Develop the theory of thermal conductivity in complex magnets, both in quantum spin liquids and more generally at high temperatures and quantum critical points, 2. Investigate transport in novel conducting and superconducting states with controllable topology induced by spontaneous symmetry breaking phenomena. Achieving these goals will enable informed interpretation of a growing body of modern experiments on correlated states. The proposed work will add to fundamental theory, develop new tools and methodologies, and forge ties to specific experiments, laying the groundwork for future applications. It will train students and postdocs in cutting-edge theory and the art of applying it to quantum materials.

Mots-clés : quantum materials,thermal conductivity,critical transport,frustrated quantum magnetism,quantum spin liquids,itinerant magnets,interactions in topological semimetals,spin lattice coupling,magnetoresistance
Projet ERC : IntRanSt (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : University of Warwick — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 116376.51 €

The last few years have seen significant advances in the discovery and development of integrable models in probability, especially in the context of random polymers and the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation. Among these are the semi-discrete (O'Connell-Yor) and log-gamma (Seppalainen) random polymer models. Both of these models can be understood via a remarkable connection between the geometric RSK correspondence (a geometric lifting, or de-tropicalization, of the classical RSK correspondence) and the quantum Toda lattice, the eigenfunctions of which are known as Whittaker functions. This connection was discovered by the PI and further developed in collaboration with Corwin, Seppalainen and Zygouras. In particular, we have recently introduced a powerful combinatorial framework which underpins this connection. I have also explored this connection from an integrable systems point of view, revealing a very precise relation between classical, quantum and stochastic integrability in the context of the Toda lattice and some other integrable systems. The main objectives of this proposal are (1) to further develop the combinatorial framework in several directions which, in particular, will yield a wider family of integrable models, (2) to clarify and extend the relation between classical, quantum and stochastic integrability to a wider setting, and (3) to study thermodynamic and KPZ scaling limits of Whittaker functions (and associated measures) and their applications. The proposed research, which lies at the interface of probability, integrable systems, random matrices, statistical physics, automorphic forms, algebraic combinatorics and representation theory, will make novel contributions in all of these areas.
Projet ERC : IntRanSt (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : University of Bristol — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 175061.06 €

The last few years have seen significant advances in the discovery and development of integrable models in probability, especially in the context of random polymers and the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation. Among these are the semi-discrete (O'Connell-Yor) and log-gamma (Seppalainen) random polymer models. Both of these models can be understood via a remarkable connection between the geometric RSK correspondence (a geometric lifting, or de-tropicalization, of the classical RSK correspondence) and the quantum Toda lattice, the eigenfunctions of which are known as Whittaker functions. This connection was discovered by the PI and further developed in collaboration with Corwin, Seppalainen and Zygouras. In particular, we have recently introduced a powerful combinatorial framework which underpins this connection. I have also explored this connection from an integrable systems point of view, revealing a very precise relation between classical, quantum and stochastic integrability in the context of the Toda lattice and some other integrable systems. The main objectives of this proposal are (1) to further develop the combinatorial framework in several directions which, in particular, will yield a wider family of integrable models, (2) to clarify and extend the relation between classical, quantum and stochastic integrability to a wider setting, and (3) to study thermodynamic and KPZ scaling limits of Whittaker functions (and associated measures) and their applications. The proposed research, which lies at the interface of probability, integrable systems, random matrices, statistical physics, automorphic forms, algebraic combinatorics and representation theory, will make novel contributions in all of these areas.
Projet ERC : ISEProD (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Individuals, Markets and Organisations
Entité participante : Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : LUISS
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1944581.0 €

The last two decades have witnessed substantial progress in the measurement of productivity. However, our understanding of the deep determinants of productivity growth is still limited. This is important in the face of both the global productivity slowdown emerged since mid 2000s and the large productivity growth divide in Continental Europe between the North and the South. I hypothesize that ownership, control and finance (in short "industrial structure'', IS) play a key role and that their importance, due to technological change, has grown over time. I plan to merge insights and state-of-the-art techniques from industrial organization and corporate finance to assess the causes and consequences of different ISs. Methodologically, I will use a combination of unique data sources (credit register, matched employer-employee data, firm input-output relationships), quasi-experimental design (changes in the banking regulation, executives mortality shocks in local labor markets) as well as structural techniques (selection models and Bayesian learning models) to address the fundamental identification issues that plague the literature. I also plan a major data collection effort in four European countries to study succession in family firms. The project will pursue four specific objectives in four deeply integrated work packages: a) The role of firm ownership and control on skill acquisition and risk taking; b) Skills supply: the effects of the education of entrepreneurs and managers; c) Industrial structure, input/outut relationships and IT adoption; d) Access to finance with asymmetric information and imperfectly competitive financial markets. The ambition is to generate a discontinuous change in our understanding of the relationship between corporate governance/finance and productivity growth. On the way, I expect to contribute to the key debate for the future of the European Union on the diverging productivity performance of European economies.

Mots-clés : productivity growth,corporate governance,european divergence
Projet ERC : IntelGlazing (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and communication engineering
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 : 1762823.0 €

The latest forecast by the International Energy Agency predicts that the CO2 emissions from the built environment will reach 15.2Gt in 2050, double their 2007 levels. Buildings consume 40% of the primary energy in developed countries with heating and cooling alone accounting for 63% of the energy spent indoors. These trends are on an ascending trajectory - e.g. the average energy demand for air-conditioning has been growing by ~17% per year in the EU. Counterbalancing actions are urgently required to reverse them. The objective of this proposal is to develop intelligent window insulation technologies from sustainable materials. The developed technologies will adjust the amount of radiation escaping or entering a window depending upon the ambient environmental conditions and will be capable of delivering unprecedented reductions to the energy needed for regulating the temperature in commercial and residential buildings. Recognising the distinct requirements between newly built and existing infrastructure, two parallel concepts will be developed: i) A new class of intelligent glazing for new window installations, and, ii) a flexible, intelligent, polymer film to retrofit existing window installations. Both solutions will be enhanced with unique self-cleaning properties, bringing about additional economic benefits through a substantial reduction in maintenance costs. Overall, we aim to develop intelligent glazing technologies that combine: i) power savings of >250 W/m2 of glazing capable of delivering >25% of energy savings and efficiency improvements >50% compared with existing static solutions; ii) visible transparency of >60% to comply with the EU standards for windows ,and, iii) self-cleaning properties that introduce a cost balance. A number of technological breakthroughs are required to satisfy such ambitious targets which are delivered in this project by the seamless integration of nanotechnology engineering, novel photonics and advanced material synthesis.

Mots-clés : nanophotonics,large scale fabrication of nanostructures,manufacturing processes for photonic systems,energy efficient coatings,smart windows,energy efficiency improvement in the built environment