Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : NOBIAS (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and Communication Engineering
Entité participante : University College Cork — Pays : Irlande — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1201052.7 €

During COVID-19, skin color bias in Optical Biomarkers Sensing (OBS) devices (e.g., pulse oximeter) was suspected to have contributed to the loss of lives in darkly pigmented people. The Continuous Wave (CW) technology used in these devices is limited in accuracy and results are biased by skin color and light scattering in tissue. NOBIAS aims to break through frontiers to create foundational multilayer fast Time Domain Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy (TDDOS) to eliminate color bias and inaccuracy shortcomings of current CW technology and revolutionize the future of bias-free, accurate optical biomarker sensing. To achieve this ambition, NOBIAS will create a multilayer TDDOS dynamic skin tissue model based on Monte Carlo to investigate the effect of skin type and anatomy on color bias, to optimize the concept, device and probe design to compensate and eliminate color bias and inaccuracies (WP1, Obj.1). 2 groundbreaking approaches (i) intermediate hybrid CW-TDDOS fusion approach (phase 1) is envisioned to compensate for skin color bias, followed by (ii) an ambitious new frontier fast TDDOS approach (phase 2) to eliminate color bias (WP2, Obj.2) and provide faster (100-250X), real time measurements at wearable footprint (100X). A first-of-a-kind compensation algorithm based on real-time instrument response function (IRF), and phantom arm aims to deliver groundbreaking accuracy (14X) (WP3, Obj.3). Early benchtop testing and feedback across work packages will mitigate risks of ambitious objectives. NOBIAS paradigm device/algorithm will be validated on tissue-mimicking phantoms and bias-free sensing will be demonstrated on blood biomarkers (haemoglobin (Hb, HbO), oxygen saturation (StO2, SpO2)) sensing at wrist location on healthy i) adults ii) infants (WP4, Obj.4). NOBIAS breakthrough lays the foundation for the world’s first bias-free and accurate OBS devices and sets its legacy to be the gold standard for bias-free clinical and personal biomarkers sensing applications

Mots-clés : time domain diffuse optical spectroscopy,near infrared spectroscopy,tissue optics,biomedical optics,biophotonics
Projet ERC : PolySpin (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : Institut Weizmann — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WIS
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1433796.0 €

The project focuses on two areas in the study of random functions in high-dimensions: mathematical Spin Glass theory and random systems of polynomial equations. Research in these fields is currently conducted by two separate mathematical communities. The study of algorithms for solving random systems has so far mostly focused on the well-known 17th problem of Steve Smale posed in 1998, which originally concerns complex polynomials. Mean-field spin glass models, on the other hand, deal with real random polynomial functions.  However, Smale also posed a real version of his problem, even more difficult and much less understood. The polynomials in the real version of the problem are exactly the spherical pure p-spin models of spin glass theory. This creates a bridge between the two theories.  One part of this project sets out to investigate how this can be exploited, by using the theory of spin glasses to gain insights into real random polynomial systems and the real 17th problem of Smale. We offer a new perspective by viewing the problem of solving a system as a problem of minimizing an appropriate ''energy function'' --- a common, general problem in statistical physics. Most importantly, this approach allows us to build on recent important developments on optimization of spin glasses, and specifically to adapt a Hessian Descent algorithm originally developed for the spherical models to variants of the real 17th problem of Smale.  These recent advances on algorithmic optimization were inspired by a new geometric analysis for the celebrated Thouless-Anderson-Palmer (TAP) approach to the mixed p-spin models from 1977. In another part of the project we wish to extend this analysis to various other spin glass models and use it to design new optimization algorithms. Other geometric problems we seek to solve concern the structure and critical points of full-RSB models, relations of the TAP approach to pure states, and properties of the Gibbs measure.

Mots-clés : spin glasses,random systems of real polynomials
Projet ERC : FeSurveil (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Molecules of Life: B iological  Mechanisms , Structures  and Functions
Entité participante : Institut Weizmann — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WIS
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499999.0 €

Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters were ancient partners in the origin of life- spontaneously formed in the anaerobic primordial oceans, they likely helped catalyze carbon fixation and rudimentary metabolism. Highly versatile, Fe-S clusters unlock previously inaccessible abilities for their binding proteins, aiding in electron relay, catalysis, regulation, and structural stability. Over the past 20 years, it has become clear that Fe-S clusters must be formed de-novo within the cell by essential proteinaceous machineries and relayed directly to their binding proteins. During this time, huge strides have been made to delineate the components and molecular mechanisms of this pathway. However, our grasp of the regulation, client range and dynamics of Fe-S cluster biosynthesis in the human cell remains fragmented. These critical gaps of knowledge hinder our understanding of how Fe-S cluster biosynthesis supports healthy human cells and how its breakdown can lead to multiple diseases. We aim to break through to a new level understanding of human Fe-S cluster biosynthesis– catapulting our knowledge forward to encompass its holistic cellular state. In FeSurveil, we will broadly and unbiasedly identify the human Fe-S cluster proteome (Aim 1), uncover regulators of Fe-S cluster biosynthesis (Aim 2), and dissect client priorities for the relay proteins (Aim 3). FeSurveil will leverage our expertise in Fe-S cluster biology and capitalize on our unique interdisciplinary skills, spanning tool creation, state-of-the-art genetic profiling, proteomic analysis, cell biology and biochemical approaches. Together, these independent but synergistic lines of research will illuminate the complex reciprocal relationship between Fe-S cluster biosynthesis and the dynamic cellular environment. This comprehensive perspective is essential for understanding fundamental aspects of human Fe-S cluster biology, while also providing valuable information for disease intervention and bioengineering.

Mots-clés : fe s clusters iron co factors fe s cluster biosynthesis friedreich s ataxia
Projet ERC : ElectroBor (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Institut Weizmann — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WIS
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499643.0 €

Carbenoids (carbene and nitrene) have revolutionized the field of organic chemistry, reshaping and improving the molecular construction landscape and unveiling previously inaccessible reaction pathways. This chemistry has massively simplified the synthesis of complex molecular structures, such as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and polymers. In contrast with the essential role of carbenes and nitrenes, the boron analogue - borylene - has received limited attention in synthetic chemistry. A basic understanding of borylene reactivity has hindered its utilization in organic synthesis, primarily because of its synthetically challenging formation. This proposal aims to harness electrochemistry as a novel synthetic approach for the controlled generation of borylenes. This chemoselective platform will determine the critical factors that influence the reactivity of borylene intermediates and will enable the use of new borylation techniques previously out of reach of chemists. Having successfully demonstrated the first example of electrochemical borylene formation, we anticipate the emergence of various novel borylation techniques, among others, (i) the synthesis of underexplored strained three-membered boracycles by cycloaddition reactivity, unlocking access to novel classes of molecules, and (ii) the activation of ubiquitous bonds through boron insertion into C-C, which will utilize unprecedented retrosynthetic logic for ring expansion and 1,n-substituted chemical motifs, thus shortening the synthetic scheme of functional materials. Drawing inspiration from the remarkable impact of carbenoids across a multitude of chemistry domains, we envision that the electrosynthesis of borylenes will empower chemists to employ these reactive species to unlock access to entirely underexplored classes of molecules and will provide profound insights into borylene reactivity, consequently charting a captivating course towards undiscovered realms in chemical synthesis.

Mots-clés : borylene,electrosynthesis,borylation methods
Projet ERC : RegEvoHum (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative B iology : from Genes and Genomes to S ystems
Entité participante : Institut Weizmann — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WIS
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

While the phenotypes that set us apart from our closest extinct and extant relatives have been largely demarcated, we are still far from understanding the genetics of human adaptation, and how these changes affect our current anatomy, physiology, and health. Most human adaptations have likely occurred in regulatory regions, particularly in cis-regulatory elements, such as promoters and enhancers. However, our ability to study cis-regulatory evolution is limited due to the complexity of identifying cis-regulatory changes and linking them to phenotypes.  We believe these limitations can now be tackled by merging several cutting-edge approaches, primarily hybrid cells and massively parallel reporter assays (MPRAs), augmented by developing sorely needed new ones. In Aim 1, we will generate human-ape hybrid cells and use them to identify the gamut of cis-regulatory expression changes separating humans from other apes. In Aim 2, we will perform MPRAs to map the function of each of the variants that distinguish modern humans, Neanderthals, Denisovans and apes. In Aim 3, we will develop methMPRA, a novel method to map the role of DNA methylation in shaping gene expression. In Aim 4, we will synergize these data to study human evolution at the sequence, methylation, expression and phenotypic level.  The proposed project will: (a) generate comprehensive resources, including the first catalogs of the sequence and methylation changes that shaped human gene regulation; (b) Develop a novel method to characterize en masse the cis-effects of methylation on expression; (c) Develop novel platforms (human-ape hybrid cells) to map human cis-regulation; and (d) Identify genetic changes underlying human traits. Together, this will pave the way to understanding the role of gene regulation in human evolution.

Mots-clés : skeletal gene regulation,molecular evolution,noncoding changes,human,archaic humans,neanderthal,denisovan,ape,gene expression,selection,cis regulation,phenotype
Projet ERC : CONJEXITY (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer Science and Informatics
Entité participante : Institut Weizmann — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WIS
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499250.0 €

Fine-grained complexity theory identifies a small set of conjectures under which a large number of hardness results hold. The fast-growing list of such conditional hardness results already spans many diverse areas of computer science. Improved algorithms for some of the most central problems in these domains are deemed impossible unless one of the core conjectures turns out to be false, terminating decades-long quests for faster algorithms. Much research is going into closing the remaining gaps, addressing more domains, and achieving beyond-worst-case results.  But should these conjectures, that are the foundation of this entire theory, really be treated as laws of nature? In addition to three primary conjectures, the community has put forth about ten others. These ``secondary conjectures'' are often stronger variants of the primary conjectures, stating that the core problems remain hard despite introducing new assumptions on the input; they let us prove more hardness results but are also less extensively studied (and less likely to be true) compared to the original conjectures.  Stepping away from current research that is hustling towards achieving tight bounds for all important problems under such conjectures, this project aims to investigate the conjectures themselves. Our main objective is to resolve the secondary conjectures; either by falsifying them or by establishing their equivalence to a primary conjecture. Either of these two outcomes would be satisfying: Refuting a conjecture must involve disruptive algorithmic techniques, impacting numerous other problems. Unifying a secondary conjecture with an original (primary) conjecture reinforces the validity of the conjecture and all its implications, solidifying the very foundations of Fine-Grained Complexity. We believe that there is a pressing need for such an investigation of this rapidly growing theory.

Mots-clés : fine grained complexity,conditional lower bounds,reductions,graph algorithms
Projet ERC : Q-CIRC (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed Matter Physics
Entité participante : Institut Weizmann — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WIS
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2275797.5 €

Quantum computers use highly entangled qubits to achieve their exceptional computational power. However, the qubits also easily entangle with their environment, leading to errors. Future quantum computers can be protected against such errors by encoding each logical qubit redundantly in thousands of physical qubits. This daunting overhead can be reduced exponentially by improving the quality of the physical qubits. We can also replace the two-level physical qubits with cavities, which are described by continuous variables. This built-in redundancy can further reduce the overhead for fault-tolerant quantum computation.  In this proposal, I aim to develop a qubit based on superconducting cavities with a coherence time of 1 second - three orders of magnitude higher than the current state of the art. I will achieve this goal by tackling the problem of errors in quantum computers on three fronts. The first front is developing a qubit with suppressed intrinsic loss mechanisms by harnessing recent developments in cavities for particle accelerators. The second is using quantum control to mitigate the effect of dominant error mechanisms. In the final front, we will develop and implement bosonic rotation codes, a novel blueprint for quantum error correction tailored to the error structure of the cavity qubit. These codes are unique in that they treat photon loss errors and phase noise errors on equal footing. My proposal requires a radical rethinking of the cavity design, its interaction with quantum circuits, and how quantum information is encoded and manipulated. It combines advances in quantum information science, superconductivity, and materials science. Beyond providing a novel approach to quantum computing, the proposal will impact a broad range of fields ranging from quantum-enhanced sensing to the simulation of photochemical reactions.

Mots-clés : bosonic qubits,rotation codes,schrodinger cat code,quantum error correction,teleportation,superconducting circuits,decoherence,fault tolerance,superconducting resonators,bosonic codes,quantum computation,transmons,phase estimation,superconducting cavities,quantum optics,circuit qed
Projet ERC : GanESS (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Entité participante : Donostia International Physics Center — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : DIPC
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1496205.0 €

The recent detection of the coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEnNS) opens the possi- bility of using neutrinos to explore physics beyond the Standard Model deploying small detectors. However, the CEnNS process generates signals at the few keV level, requiring very sensitive detection technologies. The European Spallation Source (ESS) has been identified as an optimal source of low energy neutrinos offering an opportunity to explore at depth the physics of CEnNS, with large discovery potential. In this project, I propose to apply the high-pressure noble gas TPC technology to the detection of the CEnNS process at the ESS. This will require the detection techniques sensitive to very low-energy depositions as well as improving the current knowledge of the quenching factor for nuclear recoils in xenon, argon and neon gas at keV energies. This project proposes the development of a novel detector able to hold 20 kg of xenon gas at high pressure. The device will operate at the ESS, providing more than 7,000 CEnNS events per year, potentially overtaking the sensitivities of much larger detectors in current spallation sources. Operation with xenon will explore most of the possible new physics associated with the CEnNS process. Furthermore, the high pressure technology offers the possibility to operate the same detector with different gases at minimal extra costs, thus providing a unique tool to further explore any signatures of new physics at the ESS.

Mots-clés : neutrino,gas detectors,coherent scattering
Projet ERC : UnivKPZ (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : Université d'Édimbourg — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1402866.0 €

This proposal aims to solve central open problems in the study of the Kardar–Parisi–Zhang (KPZ) class as well as develop new tools to study its models.  The KPZ class consists of a large set of models, sharing common microscopic dynamical features and aiming at modeling the physical phenomena of random growth interfaces. The two main goals in my proposal are 1) Show that the KPZ-scaling is universal in a large family of non-integrable models in the KPZ class.  It is believed that models in the KPZ class should converge, under what is called the KPZ-scaling, to a universal random object. Although widely believed, that the KPZ-scaling is universal is still largely conjectural and was shown mostly for a handful of exactly-solvable (integrable) models using deep connections to representation theory, combinatorics and random matrix theory. My plan is to show that, under the assumption of differentiability and curvature of the shape function, the KPZ-scaling exponents are universal in a large class of non-integrable models called Last Passage Percolation. The principal tools to address this problem will be probabilistic-geometric in nature, using objects such as geodesics and ideas from queuing theory. 2) Construct a new limiting object that will open new paths to study the KPZ equation.  The KPZ equation is a central model in the KPZ class for a couple of reasons - firstly, it is believed to be the universal scaling limit in the intermediate disorder regime, and secondly, it is the crossover between two important physical phenomena - the Edwards-Wilkinson class and the KPZ class. I propose to introduce a new scaling limit that will shed light and enable us to study in new ways these two important aspects of the KPZ equation, as well provide new tools to address existing open problems.  To achieve this, I plan to take the perspective of scaling limits of random walks in random environment (RWRE), and develop new and complementing tools within that theory.

Mots-clés : kpz universality class,kpz equation,last passage percolation,first passage percolation,scaling exponents,queue,tandem queuing networks
Projet ERC : SteerMEM (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Entité participante : Université de Parme — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1450000.0 €

The overlap between the neural substrates and processes underlying perception and memory makes it difficult to dissociate them, and the complexity of high-level visual processing further complicates this task. By leveraging large-scale electrophysiology, intracortical microstimulation, and artificial intelligence, I will disentangle the complex relationship between visual perception and memory in monkeys, and develop innovative techniques for steering the visual content of memories and dissociate sensations from perception.  First, I will record and manipulate the neural activity of the inferotemporal cortex (IT) and perirhinal cortex (PrC) in macaque monkeys to provide a comprehensive and systematic investigation of the neural mechanisms underlying visual perception and memory. Then, I will provide causal evidence on the role of conscious perception in shaping the visual content of memories, and the importance of the IT-PrC circuitry in this process. Furthermore, I will determine the threshold between visual perception and memory, testing the hypothesis that a subsets of neurons in PrC can elicit a sense of familiarity independently of any visual input. Finally, I will demonstrate how memory gates visual information to control behavior in a closed loop experiment, employing state-of-the-art wirelles recording and microstimulation in freely behaving monkeys.  SteerMEM has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of visual perception and memory, paving the way to significant advancements for both neuroscience and clinics. SteerMEM will test a groundbreaking approach to manipulate long-term visual memory in a controlled and quantifiable fashion, and test the long-term applicability of this approach in ecological conditions. Finally, SteerMEM will lay the ground for AI-powered microstimulaiton in cognitive cortical prostheses for the potential treatment of memory impairments, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Mots-clés : non human primates monkeys object recognition vision perception inferotemporal cortex intracortical microstimulation electrophysiology object memory artificial intelligence