Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : IMMUNEDIVERSITY (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy
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 : 2500000.0 €

Why do vaccines protect some people but not all? Why can some people develop potent neutralizing antibodies to infections, while others cannot? Why do some people develop immune-associated diseases such as allergy, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and diabetes over their lifetimes, when the body has evolved to tolerate self? The answer lies in the adaptive immune system. B and T lymphocytes of the adaptive system express highly polymorphic receptors that allow for the recognition of large numbers of antigens. Our research is now uncovering an enormous heterogeneity in the germline genes that encode our B and T cell receptors. This fact has not been well appreciated because of the high complexity of the genomic regions that encode these receptors, with the presence of large insertions and deletions, a high degree of repetitiveness and gene copy number variations, which cannot be adequately met with conventional whole genome sequencing approaches. We have developed a state-of-the-art approach we call IgDiscover, which comprises novel molecular library preparation approaches, next generation immune repertoire sequencing, computational analysis and a software that allows rapid construction of personalized antibody gene databases encompassing the hundreds of germline gene segments that rearrange to make up each individual’s naïve B cell repertoire. Thus, IgDiscover offers new possibilities to define human genetic diversity in these loci. This proposal also describes our development of ImmuneDiscover, a high throughput approach enabling personalized immune-profiling of very large numbers of individuals (>1000), encompassing not only Ig genes but also T cell receptor genes and the genes encoding the human major histocompatibility complexes. Here, we will use IgDiscover and ImmuneDiscover to elucidate global diversity in adaptive immune genes and we will investigate potential associations between antibody germline genes and the development of rheumatoid arthritis.

Mots-clés : antibody,b cell,germline antibody genes,allelic diversity,personalized immunedatabase
Projet ERC : EUROPOPULISM (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Individuals, Markets and Organisations
Entité participante : Bocconi University — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1276250.0 €

Why is it so difficult to achieve further European political integration? This question motivates the first part of the project. The standard approach in economics presumes that integration of countries reflects a tradeoff between economic benefits and the cost of cultural heterogeneity. To assess this tradeoff, we exploit survey data to quantify cultural heterogeneity within and between EU countries, comparing it to the US. We also investigate time variation, to assess whether economic integration led to cultural convergence. Finally, exploiting regional variation, we seek to identify a cultural core and compare it to the economic core of the EU. We conjecture the following conclusion: although European economic integration has not led to cultural convergence, the primary obstacle to integration is not cultural heterogeneity per se, but the presence of other barriers, such as national identities or national institutions, which amplify its effects. The second part of the project studies the causes and implications of two related phenomena: the diffusion of nationalism and of political populism, with behavioral voters. We study nationalism as endogenous identification with one’s nation, and analyze how it interacts with political institutions and political processes in a setting of international policy coordination. We study populism as due to the reaction of disappointed voters who behave according to Prospect theory. Our main goal is to explain these behavioral phenomena, and to derive predictions about the effect of institutional reforms. The third part of the project examines Europe in the very long run. It studies the formation of clusters of creative élites within Europe, in a historical perspective. The main goal is to explain how local self-government institutions and the migration of upper tail human capital between different European cities contributed to the formation of clusters of innovation and creativity in the XI-XIX centuries.

Mots-clés : culture,behavioral political economy,identity,innovation,european integration,populism
Projet ERC : BABE (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : Czech Academy of Sciences — Pays : Rép. Tchèque — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : AVČR;CAS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1455031.75 €

Why is the world green? Because predators control herbivores, allowing plants to flourish. This >50 years old answer to the deceptively simple question remains controversial. After all, plants are also protected from herbivores physically and by secondary chemistry. My goal is to test novel aspects of the “green world hypothesis”: ● How the importance of top-down effects varies with forest diversity and productivity along a latitudinal gradient? ● How the key predators, birds, bats and ants, contribute to top-down effects individually and in synergy? I strive to understand this because: ● While there is evidence that predators reduce herbivore abundance and enhance plant growth, the importance of top-down control is poorly understood across a range of forests. ● The importance of key predatory groups, and their antagonistic and synergic interactions, have been rarely studied, despite their potential impact on ecosystem dynamics in changing world. I wish to achieve my goals by: ● Factorial manipulations of key insectivorous predators (birds, bats, ants) to measure their effects on lower trophic levels in forest understories and canopies, accessed by canopy cranes, along latitudinal gradient spanning 75o from Australia to Japan. ● Studying compensatory effects among predatory taxa on herbivore and plant performance. Why this has not been done before: ● Factorial experimental exclusion of predatory groups replicated on a large spatial scale is logistically difficult. ● Canopy crane network along a latitudinal gradient has only recently become available. I am in excellent position to succeed as I have experience with ● foodweb experiments along an elevation gradient in New Guinea rainforests, ● study of bird, bat and arthropod communities. If the project is successful, it will: ● Allow understanding the importance of predators from temperate to tropical forests. ● Establish a network of experimental sites along a network of canopy cranes open for follow-up research.

Mots-clés : tropical ecology,latitudinal diversity gradients,plant insect interaction,predator exclusions,predation
Projet ERC : GREATDIGINTHESKY (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
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 : 102487.5 €

Why most of the matter in the Universe appears to be dark, and constituted of some unknown particles, is one of the most important open questions in physics today. Here we propose to investigate the relative merits of different possibilities for the nature of this dark matter, as well as alternative proposals for the nature of the gravitational interaction, by comparing their predictions to new high spatial resolution measurements of the 3D acceleration field in the Milky Way. These measurements will be achieved primarily by finding and analysing the many stellar streams that criss-cross our Galaxy. We have already built a stream-finding prototype that we have used with the Gaia mission’s second data release (DR2) to detect 13 new beautiful phase-space streams in the Milky Way. This project aims to develop analysis techniques that will allow us to combine data from all relevant sky surveys together with future Gaia releases to identify many other Galactic star streams. It is plausible that 100 or more streams may be identified by the end of our project. The conjoint analysis of these interwoven structures will provide us with the means to derive, for the very first time, the three-dimensional acceleration field on scales of 1-100 kpc. The streams will be used to probe the granularity of the dark matter distribution, testing whether their kinematics and sub-structure are consistent with interaction with the expected sub-halos of the standard Λ Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) paradigm. We will also simulate star streams in several alternative scenarios, including fuzzy dark matter, dipolar dark matter, superfluid dark matter, and modified Newtonian dynamics, and quantify their relative merits to simulations in ΛCDM. Together, these studies will test theories of gravity and dark matter theories, place the best constraints on the distribution of dark matter in our Galaxy, and probe the substructure of the dark matter, thereby setting the state of the art for the next decade.

Mots-clés : dark matter,gravitation
Projet ERC : CHROMIUM (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : Dutch Research Council — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : NWO
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 905000.0 €

Why the Universe is void of anti-matter is one of the remaining Big Questions in Science.One explanation is provided within the Standard Model by violation of Charge Parity (CP) symmetry, producing differences between the behavior of particles and their anti-particles.CP violation in the neutrino sector could allow a mechanism by which the matter-anti matter asymmetry arose.The objective of this proposal is to enable a step change in our sensitivity to CP violation in the neutrino sector. I have pioneered the concepts and led the deployment of a small prototype using a novel approach which could eventually lead to the construction of a revolutionary Mega-ton scale Water Cherenkov (WC) neutrino detector.The goal of my research program is to demonstrate the feasibility of this approach via the construction of an intermediate sized prototype with an expandable fiducial mass of up to 10-20kt. It will use a low-cost and lightweight structure, filled with purified water and submerged for mechanical strength and cosmic ray shielding in a 60m deep flooded mine pit in the path of Fermilab’s NuMI neutrino beam in N. Minnesota.The European contribution to this experiment will be profound and definitive.Applying the idea of fast timing and good position resolution of small photodetectors, already pioneered in Europe, in place of large-area photodetector, we will revolutionize WC design.The game-changing nature of this philosophy will be demonstrated via the proof of the detector construction and the observation of electron neutrino events form the NuMI beam.The successful completion of this R&D program will demonstrate a factor of up to 100 decrease in cost compared to conventional detectors and the proof that precision neutrino measurements could be made inside a few years rather than the presently needed decades. The project describes a five year program of work amounting to a total funding request of €3.5M, including an extra €1M of equipment funds.

Mots-clés : neutrinos
Projet ERC : SUNCOAT (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes 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 : 150000.0 €

Wind energy is a vital component in meeting EU’s the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) plan and Europe’s ambition to become number one producer of renewables. Reducing operation and maintenance (O&M) costs are of paramount importance. The most serious problem affecting the wind industry is water erosion of the turbine blades. The blade leading edges are most susceptible, particularly in offshore turbines that are often battered by the water hammering mechanism of rain and seawater splash impact, exposure to the solar (UV) radiation and harsh fluctuations in temperature which lead to accretion of dirt, contaminants and ice. Progressive increase in the size of the blades has increased tip-speed of the blades exacerbating these erosion issues and increasing O&M costs for wind farms. Therefore, robust and environment friendly surface treatment solutions are urgently required to solve this most significant problem in an industry critical for Europe to meet its energy security and sustainability goals. Through PI’s ERC Grant (NICEDROPS), a robust and flexible nanoengineered coating formulation was developed. These coatings are applied through scalable approaches. They combine flexibility and superhydrophobicity to achieve exceptional liquid impalement resistance without compromising the mechanical robustness; the breakthrough published as a cover article in Nature Materials. In SUNCOAT we will advance this by one more crucial step – by introducing water based coatings formulations, to make our solution environment friendly and VOC-free. The technology is an innovative solution to the wind energy industry’s number one problem and it can deploy on existing infrastructure during routine maintenance cycles as well as in-factory at point of manufacture. Given the expense of blade replacement, and lifetime costs of efficiency losses, this is a product that can command significant margins while still offering a cost-effective solution to the industry.

Mots-clés : nanoengineered coatings,wind energy,environment friendly
Projet ERC : SONATA (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and communication engineering
Entité participante : EURECOM — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1991598.0 €

Wireless connectivity is traditionally viewed as an opaque data pipe carrying content and messages, whose meaning, impact upon receipt, and usefulness for achieving a goal, have been deliberately set aside. This paradigm, although suitable for classical communication, is inefficient and inadequate to support the data-intensive and timely communication needs of networked intelligent systems. Generating, processing, and attempting to send an excessive amount of distributed real-time data, which ends up being stale, redundant, or useless to the end user/application, will cause unnecessary communication bottlenecks and safety issues. The SONATA project envisions a radically new communication paradigm that accounts for the semantic importance of information being generated, processed, and transmitted. In sharp contrast to joint source-channel coding, the communication process starts with data generation at will and active sampling of the source signal. Our key scientific challenge is to pursue the mathematical convergence between signal processing and goal-oriented information transmission by exploiting source/signal properties, process variability, and semantic information attributes. This is a structurally new joint approach, which holds promise to reveal deep connections between sampling theory, communication theory, and real-time systems, for a variety of envisioned wireless networked architectures. A direct gain is the unprecedented reduction in unnecessary data traffic and the associated required communication, processing, and energy resources. The success of the project relies on the establishment of concrete and insightful information semantics metrics and on the development of novel sampling, transmission, multi-criteria scheduling, and real-time source reconstruction techniques. SONATA will transform our fundamental understanding of when, what, and how to process and transmit data, as well as of the actual significance of the information bits communicated.

Mots-clés : wireless communications,time critical communications,semantic information,real time systems
Projet ERC : UFOS (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : Max Planck Society — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : MPG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1618125.0 €

With each newly detected exoplanet system, the planet formation theory is constantly gaining weight in the astrophysical research. The planets origin is a mystery which can only be solved by understanding the protoplanetary disks evolution. Recent disk observations by the new class of interferometer telescopes are challenging the existing theory of planet formation. They reveal astonishing detailed structures of spirals and rings in the dust emission which have never been seen before. Those structures are often claimed to be caused by embedded planets, which is difficult to explain with current models. This growing discrepancy between observation and theory forces us to realize: a novel disk modeling is essential to move on. Separate gas or dust evolution models have reached their limit and the gap between those has to be closed. With the UFOS project, I propose an unique and ambitious approach to unite gas and dust evolution models for protoplanetary disks. For the first time, a single global model will mutually link self-consistently: a) the transport of gaseous disk material, b) the radiative transfer, c) magnetic fields and their dissipation and d) the transport and growth of the solid material in form of dust grains. The development, performing and post-analysis of the models will initiate a new age for the planet formation research. The project results will achieve 1) unprecedented self-consistent precision to answer the question if those novel observed structures are caused by embedded planets or by the gas dynamics itself; 2) to find the locations of dust concentration and growth to unveil the birth places of planets and 3) to close the gap and finally unify self-consistent models of the disk evolution with the new class of observations. Only such advanced models combined with multi-wavelength observations, can show us the process of planet formation, and so explain the origin of the various of planets and exoplanets in our solar neighborhood and beyond.
Projet ERC : GENECLOCKS (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : Eötvös Loránd University — Pays : Hongrie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ELTE
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1453542.0 €

With the advent of genome-scale sequencing, molecular phylogeny, which reconstructs gene trees from homologous sequences, has reached an impasse. Instead of answering open questions, new genomes have reignited old debates. The problem is clear, gene trees are not species trees, each is the unique result of series of evolutionary events. If, however, we model these differences in the context of a common species tree, we can access a wealth of information on genome evolution and the diversification of species that is not available to traditional methods. For example, as horizontal gene transfer (HGT) can only occur between coexisting species, HGTs provide information on the order of speciations. When HGT is rare, lineage sorting can generate incongruence between gene trees and the dating problem can be formulated in terms of biologically meaningful parameters (such as population size), that are informative on the rate of evolution and hence invaluable to molecular dating. My first goal is to develop methods that systematically extract information on the pattern and timing of genomic evolution by explaining differences between gene trees. This will allow us to, for the first time, reconstruct a dated tree of life from genome-scale data. We will use parallel programming to maximise the number of genomes analysed. My second goal is to apply these methods to open problems, e.g.: i) to resolve the timing of microbial evolution and its relationship to Earth history, where the extreme paucity of fossils limits the use of molecular dating methods, by using HGT events as “molecular fossils”; ii) to reconstruct rooted phylogenies from complete genomes and harness phylogenetic incongruence to answer long standing questions, such as the of diversification of animals or the position of eukaryotes among archaea; and iii) for eukaryotic groups such as Fungi, where evidence of significant amounts of HGT is emerging our methods will also allow the quantification of the extent of HGT.

Mots-clés : horizontal gene transfer,molecular dating,phylogenomics,gene tree species tree methods,genome evolution
Projet ERC : ARCHAIC ADAPT (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : Trinity College Dublin — Pays : Irlande — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TCD
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

With the advent of new sequencing technologies, population geneticists now have access to more data than ever before. We have access to thousands of human genomes from a diverse set of populations around the globe, and, thanks to advances in DNA extraction and library preparation, we now are beginning to have access to ancient DNA sequence data. These data have greatly improved our knowledge of human history, human adaptation to different environments and human disease. Genome-wide studies have highlighted many genes or genomic loci that may play a role in adaptive or disease related phenotypes of biological importance. With these collections of modern and ancient sequence data we want to answer a key evolutionary question: how do human adaptations arise? We strongly believe that the state-of-the-art methodologies for uncovering signatures of adaptation are blind to potential modes of adaptation because they are lacking two critical components – more complete integration of multiple population haplotype data (including archaic, ancient and modern samples), and an account of population interactions that facilitate adaptation. Therefore I plan to develop new methods to detect shared selective events across populations by creating novel statistical summaries, and to detect admixture-facilitated adaptation which we believe is likely a common mode of natural selection. We will apply these tools to new datasets to characterize the interplay of natural selection, archaic and modern admixture in populations in the Americas and make a comparative analysis of modern and ancient European samples to understand the origin and changing profile of adaptive archaic alleles. As a result our work will reveal evolutionary processes that have played an important role in human evolution and disease.