Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : e-Cat (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : University of Münster — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WWU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2490000.0 €

Is the electron a catalyst in synthesis? This fundamental question will be addressed within the frame of the suggested ERC-project. Brönsted acid catalysis is well established in organic synthesis. The electron, as compared to the proton about 1800 times smaller and omnipresent, is currently not recognized as a potential catalyst in synthesis. The concept of using the electron as a catalyst is nearly unexplored. In the suggested, challenging project this kind of catalysis and its potential in synthesis will be the target of the investigations. The aim is to establish catalysis with the electron as an independent research branch in organic synthesis. To this end, the generality and broad applicability of the concept has to be documented. Different reactions, which are currently conducted as non-chain reactions by using transition metals as redox catalysts, will be performed via electron-catalyzed radical chain processes. In view of the foreseen shortage of transition metals we consider the development of transition-metal-free chemistry as important. Guided by Mother Nature we plan to develop synthetic dehydrogenases. Unactivated aliphatic sites in complex substrates will be selectively oxidized to the corresponding alkenes. Remote regioselective C-H functionalization in complex molecules comprising C-C- and C-X-bond formation will be investigated and also transition-metal-free radical arene and alkene C-H functionalization will be explored. Furthermore, the potential of electron-catalysis in asymmetric synthesis will be elucidated. Preparative and kinetic experimental studies will be supported by theoretical chemistry, new methods for initiation of electron-catalyzed processes will be developed and also mechanistic studies will be performed.

Mots-clés : radical chemistry
Projet ERC : QD-NOMS (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and communication engineering
Entité participante : Leibniz Association — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : LG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 376840.0 €

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

Mots-clés : semiconductor quantum dot,quantum photonics,single photon,entangled photons,entanglement,quantum light emitting diode
Projet ERC : TIAMO (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : University of Freiburg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1792500.0 €

Isolating ions and atoms from the environment is essential in experiments on a quantum level. For decades, this has been achieved by trapping ions with radiofrequency (rf) fields and neutral particles with optical fields. Our group demonstrated the trapping of ions by interaction with light. We see these results and our proposal as starting point for finally combining the advantages of optical trapping and ions. In particular, ions provide individual addressability, high fidelities of operations and long-range Coulomb interaction, significantly larger compared to those of atoms and molecules The aim of this proposal is to (i) study and establish optically trapping of ions and atoms in general, to (ii) demonstrate the substantial improvement of our approach in the context of interaction and reaction at ultra-low temperatures and to (iii) explore further perspectives by adapting methodology of quantum optics to gain control and state-sensitive detection on the level of individual quanta within the merged ion-atom system. The field of ultra cold chemistry is perfectly suited as a showcase for this purpose. We will embed optically trapped ions into quantum degenerate gases to reach temperatures, 4-5 orders of magnitude below the current state of the art. Our approach circumvents the currently inevitable excess kinetic energy in hybrid traps, where ions are kept but also driven by rf-fields. It permits to enter the temperature regime where quantum effects are predicted to dominate, (i) in many-body physics, including the potential formation and dynamics of mesoscopic clusters of atoms of a Bose-Einstein-Condensate, binding to the “impurity ion”, as well as (ii) the subsequent two-particle s-wave collisions, the ultimate limit in ultra-cold chemistry. Further development of our novel and generic tools for “quantum engineering can be expected to propel several other striving fields of research, such as, experimental quantum simulations
Projet ERC : Earth core (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : University of Edinburgh — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1891765.0 €

It is known that the Earth’s core is less dense than pure iron by about 7%, which is due to the presence of a light element(s) such as Si, S, C, O, and H. The goal of this project is to construct a thermodynamic model of the Earth’s central core. A particular focus is on the identification of the light element because the inclusion of these elements in iron liquid depends on the pressure (P), temperature (T), and chemical environment and hence provides us invaluable information about the origin and evolution of the solid Earth. We will examine phase relations and density of phases in Fe-light element systems by conducting high-P-T experiments and employing thermodynamic calculations based on the experimental data. High-P-T experiments will be conducted in a diamond anvil cell with three different kinds of heating techniques: laser heating, external-resistive heating, and internal-resistive heating. Of the three, the internal-resistive heating system is a special technique that I have developed and employed and I am currently generating 5000 K at 200 GPa with it. Structure of phases will be analysed by in-situ X-ray diffraction. Chemical analysis will also be employed on samples to determine element partitioning between the phases. I will also employ thermodynamic calculations based on the experimental data to fully understand the thermodynamic properties of the materials and obtain physical properties which are difficult to directly determine by experiment such as sound velocity of liquids. From the thermodynamic models, I will calculate the physical properties of light element-bearing iron liquids and compare them with seismologically constrained values of the Earth’s core to find out the best matching composition. From these results, I will discuss the physical and chemical environments during the core formation and implicate in the origin and evolution of the Earth. Also the results will be applied to other terrestrial planets which have metallic cores.
Projet ERC : TrackingTumorStates (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
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 : 2500000.0 €

It is now widely recognized that within a tumor, not all cancer cells are alike and different tumor states (TS) exist. This process is known as tumor heterogeneity. Some cancer cells actively proliferate, while others differentiate, migrate and give rise to metastasis, or enter in a dormant state and resist to chemotherapy. The identification of distinct TS and the mechanisms that regulate their identities and functions is critical for our understanding of tumor heterogeneity. The different TS can acquire distinct phenotypes responsible for tumor progression, metastasis, and therapy resistance. In this project, using multidisciplinary approaches that combine single-cell lineage tracing, single-cell genomics, epigenomics and transcriptomics together with pharmacological treatment and genetic perturbations, we will define in a comprehensive and integrated manner the identities and functions of distinct TS at single-cell resolution in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Then, we will develop new genetically engineered tumor models expressing different fluorescent proteins to visualize the dynamics of TS in real time in vivo using intravital microscopy. Moreover, we will assess the roles of the identified TS by lineage ablation and identify the intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms that regulate their transitions and functions, which will help to define new tumor vulnerabilities and provide new therapeutic opportunities.
Projet ERC : SOAR (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Social World and Its Diversity
Entité participante : Cardiff University — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 52690.16 €

It is undeniable that social connections and interactions are key to the human experience. Perhaps for this reason, laypeople and scientists alike have assumed that being alone is aversive, a state inexorably tied to lonely emotions and sense of isolation. Yet solitude is experienced daily by nearly everyone, and though it can be negative it can also be a constructive and rewarding time. What makes some more psychologically resilient to solitude and why do some experience fewer of the negative and more of the positive emotions associated with this potentially challenging state? The SOAR project will integrate fragmented literatures and model contributions of predictors at event, individual, and cultural levels. This ambitious three-part project consists of complementing qualitative and quantitative approaches and will be the first to build a conceptual model through open science methods, offering intrinsic value to research conducted outside of the field of solitude. WP1 explores what solitude, and psychological resilience within it, means to people in different circumstances through semi-structured interviews, imagery, and written narratives. WP2 tests predictors of psychological resilience within solitude to develop a conceptual model, first with a novel diary study approach to capture solitude as it occurs, then with a large-scale multi-nation assessment, and finally with older adults. Finally, WP3 develops a resilience in solitude intervention as an experimental test of the model, and conducts a field experiment with older adults. The radical shift in theory, and use of novel, multifaceted approaches, will guide our understanding of how humans respond in the immediate absence of social connections, and pave the way for further understanding self-processes, the role of the self in relation to interpersonal interactions and society, and psychological resilience more broadly.

Mots-clés : well being,flourishing,solitude,aging,culture
Projet ERC : JANET (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : Izmir Kâtip Çelebi University — Pays : Turquie — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : IKCU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 210711.25 €

JaNet investigates the economic and sociopolitical role of the Janissaries in the 18th and early 19th centuries through their examination as a complex of interconnected networks in the ‘extended Mediterranean’ (including major Black Sea and Danubian ports). By studying the Janissary corps, the project brings forward a radically new historical analysis concerning, on the one hand, the role of Muslims in the Ottoman and wider Mediterranean commercial economy – a role largely ignored by the bibliography – and, on the other, the processes that led to the creation of diasporas and the dissemination of people and ideas among various Muslim communities in the area. According to our thesis, in the period under examination, the Janissary corps became one of the main channels for the participation of various Muslim social strata of the Ottoman periphery in the Empire’s developing credit market and commercial life, as well as a gateway for their involvement in local and imperial politics. Moreover, it became a platform for the exchange of people, goods, and ideas between different localities covering a vast geographical area. When examined from a Mediterranean perspective, this view allows us to look beyond the information provided by Europe-centered sources and to drastically redefine the sociopolitical and financial role of Muslims in the area, an approach which historical analysis sorely lacks. The project uses a comparative approach to examine a large number of port-cities in North Africa, Egypt, the Aegean, the Adriatic, the Danube, and the Black Sea. The research team – composed of the PI, three senior researchers, five post-doctoral fellows, and two PhD candidates – will study a variety of unpublished sources in Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, Greek, Russian, French, and English. The team will produce a main monograph, a collective volume, several articles, two PhD dissertations, four workshops, one international conference, and a website.

Mots-clés : history of the ottoman empire,history of the early modern mediterranean,muslim networks,political and economic history
Projet ERC : KITAB (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : Aga Khan Development Network — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : AKDN
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1994536.17 €

KITAB (an acronym that also means “book” in Arabic) undertakes a highly innovative and transregional study of the Arabic book (700–1500) and its role in shaping cultural memory in the Islamic world. One of the most spectacularly prolific traditions in human history, the medieval Islamic world witnessed a literary outpouring surpassing the textual output of classical Antiquity and medieval Europe. Our knowledge of the Arabic book, however, is restricted and anecdotal along linguistic and historical lines. This project will be the first to treat holistically this medieval tradition as a cultural phenomenon, and will offer a major new investigation of historical texts as mediators of memory. Its ingenuity derives from the application of pioneering digital technology which detects how Arabic texts were repurposed to suit an evolving present and imagined future. The project will provide the first open-access platform for studying the reuse of historical texts in Arabic and this platform can be then redeveloped for any other language in any other time period. The result will be the first ever comprehensive view of no less than 6,350 Arabic texts that narrate the human past in the Islamic world and that belong to an Islamic historiographical tradition that continues to shape the identity of Muslims worldwide today, including in the European Union. A multi-disciplinary team of 8 researchers and software developers, plus a user group of 12 peer historians, will carry out the research and build upon the successful British Academy-sponsored pilot carried out in 2015 and 2016.

Mots-clés : history of the book,arabic textual tradition,cultural memory
Projet ERC : COALA (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : University of Helsinki — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UH
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1892221.25 €

Key words: Atmospheric secondary organic aerosol, chemical ionization mass spectrometry The increase in anthropogenic atmospheric aerosol since the industrial revolution has considerably mitigated the global warming caused by concurrent anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. However, the uncertainty in the magnitude of the aerosol climate influence is larger than that of any other man-made climate-perturbing component. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is one of the most prominent aerosol types, yet a detailed mechanistic understanding of its formation process is still lacking. We recently presented the ground-breaking discovery of a new important compound group in our publication in Nature: a prompt and abundant source of extremely low-volatility organic compounds (ELVOC), able to explain the majority of the SOA formed from important atmospheric precursors. Quantifying the atmospheric role of ELVOCs requires further focused studies and I will start a research group with the main task of providing a comprehensive, quantitative and mechanistic understanding of the formation and evolution of SOA. Our recent discovery of an important missing component of SOA highlights the need for comprehensive chemical characterization of both the gas and particle phase composition. This project will use state-of-the-art chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS), which was critical also in the detection of the ELVOCs. We will extend the applicability of CIMS techniques and conduct innovative experiments in both laboratory and field settings using a novel suite of instrumentation to achieve the goals set out in this project. We will provide unprecedented insights into the compounds and mechanisms producing SOA, helping to decrease the uncertainties in assessing the magnitude of aerosol effects on climate. Anthropogenic SOA contributes strongly to air quality deterioration as well and therefore our results will find direct applicability also in this extremely important field.

Mots-clés : atmospheric aerosol,chemical ionization mass spectrometry
Projet ERC : RENOIR (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : University of Florence — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1772718.75 €

Kidney disorders represent a major global health issue and new tools are needed to expand disease modeling and therapeutic options. The identification of renal progenitors (RPC) opens a wide range of possibilities to support progress in several fields of nephrology. Indeed, RPC have become a key player in the pathogenesis of kidney disorders, and their study is increasing knowledge about the mechanisms of kidney response to injury. In this project we propose new lineage tracing models to identify and characterize mouse RPC system. We then will use these models to establish RPC role in progression or resolution of glomerular and tubular injury, and the mechanisms involved in these processes. Furthermore, the role of abnormal RPC function in the pathogenesis of renal cell carcinoma will be established. We will proceed to validate RPC as therapeutic targets to improve podocyte regeneration and disease regression. Lineage tracing of the murine RPC system from development to adult life and characterization of the RPC niche will be performed through observation of RPC at various stages of nephron formation during development as well as during kidney growth, homeostasis and aging. RPC isolation and culture from kidney tissue being limited due to their inaccessibility, the recent development of a method for culturing them specifically from urine finally opens the perspective of personalized medicine of the kidney and the development of patient-specific treatment strategies. In addition, patient-specific RPC can be useful for screening of new drug compounds, developing disease-modifying assays, as well as for evaluation of drug toxicity, with particular regard to nephrotoxicity. Finally, RPC represent potential tools and/or targets for therapeutic purposes and to promote innovative renal replacement strategies for kidney disorders.

Mots-clés : acute kidney injury,chronic renal failure