Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : DISSECT (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Entité participante : Ghent University — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UGent
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2436592.5 €

Evidence is at the heart of adjudication, and adjudication at the heart of the international protection of human rights. Yet evidence in international human rights (IHR) adjudication has never been comprehensively studied. Benefiting from the support of highest-level figures in the relevant institutions, DISSECT is a ground-breaking research programme which will capture the evidentiary regimes in place in the world’s three regional human rights courts and in UN human rights quasi-judicial bodies. First, DISSECT will examine from a purely legal perspective the formal and informal rules and practices (‘regime’) which govern the treatment of evidence in IHR adjudication - burden and standard of proof and evidence admissibility, collection, submission, assessment and scope. It will do so across institutions, types of complaints and time. Second, it will examine the political underpinnings and uses of the IHR evidentiary regime, including dismissals of politically sensitive complaints on the pretext that they are not sufficiently evidenced by the victim. Third, it will identify ‘best’ and ‘worst’ practices and generate specific recommendations for use in IHR adjudication. Fourth, it will develop new insights on evidence, truth and power and thus create a new strand in Critical Legal Studies. These ambitious aims will be achieved by harnessing not only legal doctrinal methods of research but also, and crucially, the PI’s rare double training as a lawyer and an anthropologist. This will allow the IHR evidentiary regime to be studied as a social phenomenon (rather than merely ‘in context’). DISSECT is urgently needed by victims of human rights abuse who seek international redress without knowing exactly what evidence is required of them, as well as by IHR adjudicatory bodies at risk of losing their legitimacy if they cannot demonstrate that they are acting logically, consistently and fairly. Current concerns over ‘truth decay’ make it particularly timely.

Mots-clés : evidence,international human rights law,critical legal studies,anthropological study
Projet ERC : CUREORCURSE (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Entité participante : Université Libre de Bruxelles — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ULB
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1981589.0 €

Evidence of a growing disengagement of citizens from politics is multiplying. Electoral turnout reaches historically low levels. Anti-establishment and populist parties are on the rise. Fewer and fewer Europeans trust their representative institutions. In response, we have observed a multiplication of institutional reforms aimed at revitalizing representative democracy. Two in particular stand out: the delegation of some political decision-making powers to (1) selected citizens and to (2) selected experts. But there is a paradox in attempting to cure the crisis of representative democracy by introducing such reforms. In representative democracy, control over political decision-making is vested in elected representatives. Delegating political decision-making to selected experts/citizens is at odds with this definition. It empowers the non-elected. If these reforms show that politics could work without elected officials, could we really expect that citizens’ support for representative democracy would be boosted and that citizens would re-engage with representative politics? In that sense, would it be a cure for the crisis of representative democracy, or rather a curse? Our central hypothesis is that there is no universal and univocal healing (or harming) effect of non-elected politics on support for representative democracy. In order to verify it, I propose to collect data across Europe on three elements: (1) a detailed study of the preferences of Europeans on how democracy should work and on institutional reforms towards non-elected politics, (2) a comprehensive inventory of all actual cases of empowerment of citizens and experts implemented across Europe since 2000, and (3) an analysis of the impact of exposure to non-elected politics on citizens’ attitudes towards representative democracy. An innovative combination of online survey experiments and of panel surveys will be used to answer this topical research question with far-reaching societal implication.

Mots-clés : democracy,representative democracy,institutions,deliberative democracy,participatory democracy,reforms,citizens,political support,experts,political trust,surveys
Projet ERC : EvoluTEM (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : University of Manchester — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1755278.75 €

EvoluTEM: Illuminating Atomic Scale Processes in Liquids and Gases Objective 1: To build new capability in atomic resolution environmental imaging and analysis. Objective 2: To apply this platform to synthesise new photonic nanomaterials with enhanced performance. The vision is to design, construct, and make available the next generation of multifunctional in situ specimen holders for the scanning /transmission electron microscope (S/TEM). This new experimental resource will enable ground-breaking characterisation of complex nanoscale reactions under realistic and relevant environmental conditions using a lab-on-a-chip configuration. By providing a platform with unparalleled atomic scale imaging and simultaneous elemental analysis capabilities, as well as flexible in situ (temperature, pressure, and illumination) environments, this effort will provide an experimental module for a wide range of breakthrough in situ nanomaterials experiments. Motivating this work is the goal of being able to fully characterize the synthesis of novel photonic 2D materials, optoelectronic nanoparticles, and photoactive organic-inorganic perovskites. This research could lead to a new level of mechanistic understanding, providing knowledge to realize routes for the production of new nanostructures, with properties that can be optimally tailored for photonic applications (photovoltaics, light emission or optoelectronics). This ambitious research program is only possible because of the principal investigators outstanding electron microscopy expertise, coupled with the world leading nanofabrication capabilities and in situ imaging facilities at the University of Manchester. The project has been structured into five work packages (WPs) with each having well-defined milestones and deliverables.
Projet ERC : resistance evolution (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : Hungarian Academy of Sciences — Pays : Hongrie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : MTA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1846250.0 €

Evolution of resistance towards a single drug simultaneously increases (cross-resistance) or decreases (collateral sensitivity) fitness to multiple other antimicrobial agents. The molecular mechanisms driving cross-resistance are relatively well described, but it remains largely unclear how frequently does genetic adaptation to a single drug increase the sensitivity to others and what the underlying molecular mechanisms of collateral sensitivity are. This proposal focuses on studying the bacterial evolution of resistance and collateral sensitivity against antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Beyond their modulatory roles in the immune system, these naturally occurring peptides provide protection against pathogenic microbes, and are considered as promising novel alternatives to traditional antibiotics. However, there are concerns that evolution against therapeutic AMPs can readily develop and as a by-product this might compromise natural immunity. Our knowledge of these issues is limited due to the shortage of systematic evolutionary studies. Therefore, the three central questions we address are: Do bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics become hypersensitive to certain antimicrobial peptides? What are the evolutionary mechanisms leading to AMP resistance and to what extent does this process induce cross-resistance/collateral sensitivity against other drugs? Last, are these evolutionary trade-offs predictable based on chemical and functional peptide properties? To investigate these issues rigorously, we integrate tools of laboratory evolution, high-throughput phenotypic assays, functional genomics, and computational systems biology. Our project will provide an insight into the evolutionary mechanisms that drive cross-resistance and collateral sensitivities with the aim to explore the vulnerable points of resistant bacteria. Another goal is to provide guidelines for the future design of antimicrobial peptides with desirable properties against bacterial pathogens.
Projet ERC : EE-Dynamics (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
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 : 1990733.75 €

Evolutionary and ecological processes can affect one another. For example, adaptation can affect population dynamics or species interactions in communities, and thus ecosystem functioning. Eco-evolutionary systems show periods of both stability and of sudden change, but the following general hypotheses for the causes of these complex dynamics are largely untested in natural settings. First, eco-evolutionary systems are thought to be governed by feedback loops, with positive feedback promoting rapid change and negative feedback stabilising dynamics. However, drivers with one-way effects likely also contribute, such as sudden environmental changes or mutations that do not interact with other genetic loci. Second, the capacity of meta-populations or communities to recover from disturbance (i.e., their resilience) can be affected by connectivity, with high connectivity making a system buffered and resilient to local change, but prone to system-wide change. Our understanding of how eco-evolutionary systems respond to environmental change will remain fundamentally limited until these hypotheses receive focused tests. This proposal outlines field-based, experimental, genomic, and model-based tests of these hypotheses, and also tests theories for the maintenance of genetic variation and the genetic basis of adaptation. The work uses meta-populations of Timema stick insects on different host plants and their associated arthropod communities. It tests how adaptation within species affects ecological dynamics across levels of biological organisation ranging from populations to ecosystems. It is novel via examining causal associations between ecology and evolution in nature, in light of theoretical predictions concerning feedback and connectivity. The results could help transform our understanding of complex systems in ecology, evolution, and beyond.

Mots-clés : ecology,evolution,genetics,adaptation
Projet ERC : QUANTA (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Synergy grants)
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 : 2034570.0 €

Exact quantification, including the ability to count, depends on both conceptual breakthroughs and cognitive tools such as numeral systems. These tools appear in striking diversity across cultures and manifest in different modalities (verbal, body-based, written, or material). To address the tantalizing questions of when, why, and how they emerged and evolved, we test two previously untestable key hypotheses: that conceptual breakthroughs and tools co-evolved, with different modalities coactively scaffolding the breakthroughs; and that the tools diversified in response to changing cultural requirements. Reconstructing this evolution is the prime goal of QUANTA. Addressing its ambitious objectives requires an unprecedented synergetic combination of (i) archaeological, ethnographic, and linguistic insights into numeral systems worldwide, including prehistoric artefacts and symbols, and on contemporary contexts in which quantification occurs and changes; (ii) a cognitive framework for deriving evolutionary hypotheses from system properties; (iii) powerful computational (phylogenetic) methods for testing these hypotheses and thereby reconstructing cultural evolution; and (iv) innovative means to substantially extend the temporal scope of these methods into the past, to include the first attested instances of quantification. To achieve this goal, QUANTA brings together four leading PIs with unique and complementary expertise in exactly these means. By integrating an evolutionary approach with a cognitive perspective on quantification, QUANTA will transform this research field. Its novel strategy will, for the first time ever, yield substantiated insights into the emergence and evolution of numeral systems, thus advancing our understanding of human cognition and its dependence on cultural tools. While the highly interdisciplinary, multi-method approach renders this a high-risk project, QUANTA has the potential to bridge the gap between previously incommensurable fields.

Mots-clés : numbers,language,and mind,evolutionary anthropology,cultural evolution,phylogenetics,numerical cognition and culture,numeral systems,diversification of languages,distributed cognition,cognitive evolution,prehistory,quantification,counting devices,experimental archaeology,history of writing,notational systems
Projet ERC : WANDERINGMINDS (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Entité participante : University of York — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1800000.0 €

Experience does not always arise from the events in the immediate environment; research has shown that states such as mind-wandering occupy almost half of our waking thought. Although mind-wandering has gained a foothold in cognitive science, our understanding of this core form of cognition is piecemeal and disjointed, making it a regular topic of theoretical debates in high-profile journals (e.g. Science and Psychological Bulletin). I have argued that these controversies are due to the lack of a coherent framework in which to explore mind-wandering’s role in cognition. In particular, a key problem is overcoming simple views that propose that mind wandering is merely a state that leads to errors, or unhappiness; accounts that persist in the face of evidence that it contributes foresight and originality to human thought. This project will allow me to assemble a team of researchers and develop an account of how mind-wandering contributes to creative and novel thinking and how it can be regulated to prevent interference with ongoing action. We will explore the experiential categories of the state using novel experience-sampling methods I have developed and explore its neural basis using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Using these measures, we will: (i) identify the neural correlates of different categories of mind-wandering experiences, (ii) use these metrics to explore the mechanisms that underlie the creative properties of thinking during mind-wandering, (iii) identify how this creative mode of thought is managed so as not to disrupt important goals in the here and now (such as learning) and (iv) explore these processes in the context of both controlled laboratory studies and longitudinally in the real world by assessing their beneficial role in academic performance. This project will redefine our understanding of mind-wandering as a vital and dynamic element of the mental lives of every member of our species.

Mots-clés : mind wandering,neurophenomenology,creativity,prospection
Projet ERC : FASTCORR (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Universität Hamburg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UHH
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2128750.0 €

Experimental activities at advanced photon sources, such as pulsed lasers, high harmonic generation facilities, and X-ray free electron lasers, generate results that challenge our understanding of light-matter interaction and ultrafast dynamics at the femtosecond and sub-femtosecond timescales. These results are particularly difficult to interpret for materials with correlated electrons, where a driving pulse can produce strong non-linear effects. In FASTCORR, we answer this challenge with the development of a theory for driven quantum many-body systems that goes well beyond existing methods. This will be accomplished by developing dynamical mean-field theory and its generalizations, e.g., the dual fermion and dual boson theory, to cover out-of-equilibrium phenomena. We aim to create a solid theoretical foundation on which we will build practical tools that allow to interpret and predict ultrafast time-resolved phenomena of correlated electron systems. This involves (i) the development of fundamental mathematical and physical concepts, (ii) software implementation, and (iii) numerical simulations that will be compared to experiments. Synergies between the three applicants are crucial to achieving the goals of this project. FASTCORR will result in novel high-performance software that we will distribute freely. These computational tools will enable designed and targeted calculations for driven materials where the electronic structure is determined by strong correlation effects. The developed theory will be used hand in hand with world-leading experimental works in the field of pump-probe measurements and spectroscopy, e.g., as investigated at X-ray free-electron laser laboratories.

Mots-clés : dynamic mean field theory,correlated electrons,ultra fast phenomena,spectroscopy
Projet ERC : FASTCORR (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Örebro University — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 387127.5 €

Experimental activities at advanced photon sources, such as pulsed lasers, high harmonic generation facilities, and X-ray free electron lasers, generate results that challenge our understanding of light-matter interaction and ultrafast dynamics at the femtosecond and sub-femtosecond timescales. These results are particularly difficult to interpret for materials with correlated electrons, where a driving pulse can produce strong non-linear effects. In FASTCORR, we answer this challenge with the development of a theory for driven quantum many-body systems that goes well beyond existing methods. This will be accomplished by developing dynamical mean-field theory and its generalizations, e.g., the dual fermion and dual boson theory, to cover out-of-equilibrium phenomena. We aim to create a solid theoretical foundation on which we will build practical tools that allow to interpret and predict ultrafast time-resolved phenomena of correlated electron systems. This involves (i) the development of fundamental mathematical and physical concepts, (ii) software implementation, and (iii) numerical simulations that will be compared to experiments. Synergies between the three applicants are crucial to achieving the goals of this project. FASTCORR will result in novel high-performance software that we will distribute freely. These computational tools will enable designed and targeted calculations for driven materials where the electronic structure is determined by strong correlation effects. The developed theory will be used hand in hand with world-leading experimental works in the field of pump-probe measurements and spectroscopy, e.g., as investigated at X-ray free-electron laser laboratories.

Mots-clés : dynamic mean field theory,correlated electrons,ultra fast phenomena,spectroscopy
Projet ERC : High-Spin-Grav (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : Université Libre de Bruxelles — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ULB
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1841868.0 €

Extensions of Einstein’s gravity containing higher spin gauge fields (massless fields with spin greater than two) constitute a very active and challenging field of research, raising many fascinating issues and questions in different areas of physics. However, in spite of the impressive achievements already in store, it is fair to say that higher spin gravity has not delivered its full potential yet and still faces a rich number of challenges, both conceptual and technical. The objective of this proposal is to deepen our understanding of higher spin gravity, following five interconnected central themes that will constitute the backbone of the project: (i) how to construct an action principle; (ii) how to understand the generalized space-time geometry invariant under the higher-spin gauge symmetry – a key fundamental issue in the project; (iii) what is the precise asymptotic structure of the theory at infinity; (iv) what is the connection of the higher spin algebras with the hidden symmetries of gravitational theories; (v) what are the implications of hypersymmetry, which is the higher-spin version of supersymmetry. Holography in three and higher dimensions will constitute an essential tool. One of the motivations of the project is the connection of higher spin gravity with tensionless string theory and consistent theories of quantum gravity.