Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : IMAGINE (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Entité participante : University of Copenhagen — Pays : Danemark — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UCPH
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1497685.0 €

While scholars have presented and promoted a series of specific theories of EU constitutionalism, no one has yet attempted to analyse their wider intellectual context and the relationship among them – what we call here ‘European constitutional imaginaries’ (ECIs). In addition, IMAGINE does not limit this general analysis to the mainstream thinkers writing for the audience located at the supranational/transnational level. It includes the perspective of thinkers writing in particular EU member states. IMAGINE seeks to uncover whether there are individuals and ideas that have made important, yet often overlooked, contributions to ECIs. Crucially, IMAGINE puts emphasis on post-communist Europe’ experience, hitherto mostly ignored in EU constitutional scholarship. As a result, IMAGINE will provide the first-ever synthesis and critical evaluation of the core theories of EU constitutionalism, theorizing their mutual relationship and the way in which they have influenced each other. The overarching objective is to provide a novel account of ECIs: one informed by their intellectual history, which comprises both Old and the post-communist Europe, and which seeks to understand the various problems that lead some people to reject EU constitutionalism and its core values, seeing them as mere utopias or oppressing ideologies. IMAGINE employs an innovative combination of research methods: empirical surveys, citation network analyses and elite in-depth interviews, together with traditional legal analysis. It will involve experts from particular member states though a number of workshops and a conference organized by the IMAGINE Team. The PI is uniquely placed to realise IMAGINE: now based as a Professor of EU law at an elite socio-legal research centre iCourts (University of Copenhagen), he has participated in EU constitutional discourse both as a scholar and practitioner in one of the member states of post-communist Europe for more than 10 years.

Mots-clés : eu constitutional law and theory,history of postwar european constitutional thought,post communist europe
Projet ERC : SBS3-5 (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and communication engineering
Entité participante : University of Bristol — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1712581.0 €

While the detection of weak signals (down to the single photon level) in the optical frequency range is routine on account of the high photon energy (compared to thermal excitation energy kBT) and the availability of efficient detectors, this is not the case in the radio frequency (RF) and microwave frequency regimes wherein thermal (Johnson) noise in detectors swamps out the faint RF signals (in applications from radio astronomy, MRI to radar) and requires the use of cryogenic amplifiers. The ability to map signals efficiently from the microwave to optical regime becomes paramount for distant systems to communicate with each other using low loss telecom fibers. Both classical (radio over fiber systems) and quantum (linking two superconducting qubit processors in two dilution fridges) information processing systems will benefit greatly from the development of an efficient RF to optical signal transducer. I have been developing efficient RF to optical transduction schemes in GaAs cavity optomechanical systems (KC Balram et al., Nature Photonics (2016)) by exploiting its favorable piezoelectric (for coupling RF signals to propagating acoustic waves) and elasto-optic (for engineering strong acousto-optic interactions) properties. In this project, I would like to extend this work and address the issue of weak RF signal detection by up-converting RF signals to the optical domain using integrated Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) and shot-noise limited optical detection. Piezoelectric SBS systems can also be used to build high frequency, high gain RF amplifiers with noise figures that can be lower than conventional RF amplifiers. Working in a novel GaAs on insulator platform helps provide some unique advantages (tightly confined acoustic and optical modes with large modal overlap and a large elasto-optic coefficient leading to significant Brillouin gain) while holding the potential for interfacing complex circuitry in a well-established III-V materials platform.
Projet ERC : Opto-Sleep (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Entité participante : University of Bern — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UB
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1915000.0 €

While the functions of sleep are still a matter of debate and may include memory consolidation, brain clearance, anabolism and plasticity, the neural substrates of sleep and wake states are the subject of intense study. Successive sleep-wake cycles rely on an appropriate balance between sleep-promoting nuclei of the brain located in the anterior hypothalamus and, arousal-promoting nuclei from the posterior hypothalamus and the brainstem. My laboratory identified different subsets of hypothalamic cells that controls wakefulness and rapid-eye movement (also called paradoxical) sleep using optogenetics in combination with high-density electrophysiology in freely-behaving mice. We further identified their connections with (and functional modulation of) other sleep-wake circuits throughout the brain. Although we and others have dissected important subcortical and cortical sleep-wake circuits in the brain, the precise mechanism bridging sub-cortical circuits to thalamic and cortical networks remains unclear. I hypothesizes that the thalamus represents a hub that integrates sleep-wake inputs of both subcortical and cortical origin into stable sleep-wake states, through topographically distinct sub-cortical inputs and temporally precise circuit dynamics (spiking pattern, coherence). To test this hypothesis, my experimental objectives are divided into three specific aims: 1) Identify the simultaneous cellular dynamics of thalamo-cortical network activity across sleep-wake states (Observational approach; Year 1-3) 2) Characterize the subcortical modulation of thalamic structures across sleep-wake states (Perturbational approach; Year 2-4) 3) Study the role of TRN/CMT circuits in sleep homeostasis and consciousness (Functional approach; Year 4-5) Completion of this project will provide a mechanistic perspective on sub-cortical, thalamo-cortical and cortical control of sleep-wake states, sleep homeostasis and consciousness in the mammalian brain.

Mots-clés : neural circuits,thalamus,thalamo cortical circuits,arousal,anesthesia,consciousness,innate behaviour,optogenetics
Projet ERC : HOTSPOT (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : University of Nottingham — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 672894.93 €

Whole genome duplication (WGD) occurs in all eukaryotic kingdoms and is implicated in organismal complexity, adaptation and speciation. WGD is an especially important force in plant evolution and domestication. Nevertheless, despite the evolutionary potential of WGD, a sudden duplication of all chromosomes poses challenges to key processes, especially the reliable segregation of chromosomes at meiosis. Nonetheless, nature reveals solutions: the many polyploid species with diploid-like meiosis show that difficulties can be overcome. However, the molecular basis of this is mysterious: only one causal gene has been cloned to date. Our work in autotetraploid Arabidopsis arenosa revealed clear WGD-associated selective sweeps on meiosis genes with roles in crossover regulation. Natural variation in at least one of these genes has a dramatic effect on meiotic chromosome pairing. Here we assess whether species that independently adapted to the challenges attending WGD evolved similar solutions, whether crossover regulation is a common target of WGD-associated adaptation and whether standing variation in diploid populations contributes to adaptation to WGD. Aims of this programme are to: 1) produce quality reference genome assemblies for Cardamine amara and Arabis pumila, both of which harbor extant intraspecific ploidy variation; 2) test for the repeatability of adaptation mechanisms to WGD by genome scanning both species as well as three other independent WGDs in Arabidopsis lyrata and Mimulus guttatus; and 3) determine the causes and consequences of divergence of meiosis genes using functional analyses. We will utilize diverse genetic, genomic, and cytological approaches to understand repeatability and constraint in the context of intense selection on a conserved process. Further, this will provide insight into how organisms adapt to the altered cellular environment following WGD, a prevalent ongoing force in evolution and in the domestication of globally important crops.
Projet ERC : DOUBLE ADAPT (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : Charles University — Pays : Rép. Tchèque — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1993750.0 €

Whole genome duplication (WGD, polyploidization) is arguably the most massive genome-wide mutation whose ubiquity across eukaryotes suggests an adaptive benefit, though no mechanism has been identified. Consequently, a large controversy dominates the field whether WGD represents net benefit or detriment to evolutionary success. I will test if WGD promotes adaptation in natural populations and address the underlying mechanism by estimating net fitness benefit of WGD vs. the role of post-WGD accumulation of adaptive variation. This question has not been satisfactorily addressed before because experimental studies of WGD were disconnected from field surveys and population genomics avoided complex polyploid genomes. Only recently, we have shown a proof-of-concept that WGD can increase the capacity of populations to accumulate adaptive variation in wild Arabidopsis. Yet the underlying mechanism still remains unknown. I will address the adaptive consequences of WGD over a hierarchy of levels: genome, phenotype, population and species. In six naturally ploidy-variable plant species I plan to test if (i) natural polyploid populations accumulate larger adaptive variation than diploids (ii) WGD per se or post-WGD evolution brings important adaptive novelties (iii) rates of positive selection increase after WGD To achieve these goals, I will combine ecological genomics of natural populations with evolve-and-resequence experiments. To move beyond single-species correlative studies, I will manipulate the mutation itself via synthesis of neo-polyploid individuals and populations in six species. Then I will compare adaptation signals in genomes and phenotypes of synthetic polyploids and their natural diploid and tetraploid relatives. This project will determine the adaptive value of WGD, an important force in evolution and crop domestication, with the ambition to improve our understanding of the role of large genomic mutations in natural selection and adaptation.

Mots-clés : flowering plants,evolution experiments,polyploidy,population genomics
Projet ERC : CRIMETIME (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Social World and Its Diversity
Entité participante : Leiden University — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 878373.32 €

Why are some people more likely to commit crime than others? Answers to this question, which is at the heart of criminology, can be grouped into two broad views. On the one hand, dispositional perspectives argue that stable factors within the individual, such as lack of self-control, lie at the roots of criminal conduct. Sociogenic perspectives, on the other hand, put the locus of study outside the individual and point towards factors such as rough neighborhoods, parental unemployment, and deviant peers, as the main causes of crime. In spite of ample empirical support for both views, there has been relatively little constructive engagement with each other. Capitalizing on my multidisciplinary background and drawing on social psychology and evolutionary theory, I outline a new perspective on criminal behavior –Time Frame Theory (TFT)– that integrates both views. TFT is premised on the idea that short-term mindsets encourage crime and specifies how both individual dispositions and sociogenic variables can encourage such mindsets. I test this theory using a combination of longitudinal research and behavioral field experiments. Besides aiming to mend the current theoretical disconnect in criminology and providing the foundation for a common paradigm, the proposed research program goes a step further by using TFT as the basis for a behavioral intervention to reduce crime. Building on recent pilot research, I use virtual reality technology in combination with a smartphone application to instill a future-oriented mindset in offenders. I am convinced that this combination of novel theory and innovative methodology may lead not only to a breakthrough in our understanding of delinquency but can also provide a blueprint for a scalable and evidence-based intervention to reduce it.

Mots-clés : crime,delinquency,future self,self control
Projet ERC : ParadOX (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : Lund University — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Why complex life evolved on Earth has puzzled scientists for as long as sufficient oxygen has been deemed vital. Motivated by recent discoveries, however, this project will investigate the dawning paradox that multicellular life requires low oxygen (hypoxia) internally to thrive in the oxic niche. Central biological mechanisms in animals and plants need protection from oxygen and appears to depend on hypoxic niches. I have previously reconciled geological and medical observations to demonstrate how biological innovation to harness hypoxia would have allowed animals to conquer the previously inaccessible oxic niche. Although life must have invented several solutions to the paradox, the only known is the recent Nobel Prize-awarded mechanism of how cells sense oxygen. Earth history can uniquely evaluate its evolutionary importance through a geologic lens. In ParadOX, I propose to build a transdisciplinary team that provides a novel geobiological evaluation of the role of innovations that harness hypoxia and the processes that led to them. ParadOX will: 1) Experimentally define a) Paleozoic oxygenation as kill-mechanism for species with limited access to hypoxia b) Role of hypoxia for invertebrate longevity and life cycle 2) Theoretically explore a) Changes in Neoproterozoic shelf area and daily O2 fluctuations as drivers of hypoxia-machineries b) Co-evolution of hypoxia-machineries in animals and plants The project uniquely integrates knowledge from geology, biology, medicine, and numerical modeling. ParadOX’s inquiries groundbreakingly shift our perspective from a simplistic to a dualistic view on the role of oxygen for complex life. Insight to the evolutionary importance and processes that underpin biological innovations to harness hypoxia will advance our view on the rise of multicellularity on Earth, on other planets, and even within us as tumor multicellularity. ParadOX opens a new horizon of investigations into the drivers and the hardships of complex life.

Mots-clés : geobiology,hypoxia,multicellularity
Projet ERC : Econ_Prejudice (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Individuals, Markets and Organisations
Entité participante : École d'économie de Paris — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : EEP
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1598307.5 €

Why do ethnic differences matter in some cases and not in others? What determines the strength of ethnic self-identification? This question is central to understanding the consequences of ethnic divisions for conflict and economic development and their policy implications but it was neglected by economic research until now. This project aims at filling this gap by endogenizing ethnic identity. We study how the salience of ethnic differences depends on economic and social context and policies of nation building. Our research program is organized around 3 pillars focusing on social, economic, and political determinants of ethnic tensions, respectively. The first pillar tests social psychology theories of ethnic identity using natural experiments, generated by forced mass movements of ethnic groups in Eastern Europe and from Eastern Europe to Central Asia as a result of WWII. The second pillar studies how market interactions between representatives of different ethnic groups and, in particular, ethnic occupational segregation affects ethnic tensions in the context of historical anti-Jewish violence following agro-climatic income shocks in the 19th and 20th century Eastern Europe. The third pillar focuses on the effects of political manipulation on ethnic conflict in the context of the historical experiment of nation building in Central Asia. It studies how political empowerment of a certain ethnic elite in a multi-ethnic traditional society coupled with a set of nation-building policies affects ethnic conflicts depending on the pre-existing ethnic mix and the distribution of political power among ethnic elites. This research will shed light on factors that make ethnic diversity important for conflict and economic development.

Mots-clés : ethnic diversity,ethnic conflict,ethnic prejudice,migrations,pogroms,nation building,endogenizing identity
Projet ERC : AISLES (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : Geisteswissenschaftliche Zentren Berlin — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : GWZ
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1912016.0 €

Why does humanitarianism take the form of an archipelago, an aggregation of “single issues,” selective, resistant to generalization, and even at times inconsistent? In order to answer this question, which is crucial to, but has been sidelined in histories of humanitarianism, the project develops a novel approach. This approach homes in on the rupture of humanitarian morality with quotidian moral norms and values. For this purpose, the project investigates the history of a particular moral norm, the imperative of saving lives from shipwreck, that emerged in the ambit of volunteer lifeboat movements from the 1820s onward. Such movements had emerged first in Britain and the Netherlands, then elsewhere, most prominently France and Germany. The imperative in question took the form of a novel unconditional norm that demanded taking counterintuitive risks in order to save lives. Previously, assistance to the shipwrecked had been situational. Moral detachment from suffering had been recognized as a value. Existential risk had constituted an exemption from lifesaving duty. Lifeboat movements overturned this quotidian moral rationale. This shift was neither determined by economic incentives nor by technological or legal innovation. The saving of lives from shipwreck thus provides an ideal laboratory, with a rich and varied source base, for understanding humanitarian-moral innovation on its own terms. The intervention of the project is twofold. On the plane of historical knowledge, it provides a model for the deep contextual analysis of moral culture in terms of the emergence, sustenance, representation, and insular distinctness of humanitarian imperatives. On the plane of theoretical knowledge, the project develops innovative answers to questions of moral theory, especially about the generality of norms and the conflicted relation of humanitarianism and everyday morality. The project develops novel methodological tools for combining moral theorizing and historical research.

Mots-clés : humanitarianism,moral culture,history of moral thought,history of maritime cultures
Projet ERC : CHROMIUM (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
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 : 2595000.0 €

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