Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : MMA (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Study of the Human Past
Entité participante : Université autonome de Barcelone — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499465.0 €

Material Authority (MMA) puts mines and mining at the center of the political, commercial, and social transformations within Japan from 1520–1720. The project hypothesizes that the boom in precious metals proved decisive in shaping early modern Japan’s domestic governance and foreign relations and proposes the first comprehensive study of Japan’s “mineral politics” at this time. Examining mines well-known (Iwami, Sado) and less-appreciated (Ikuno, Naganoburi) from across the archipelago, MMA departs from quantitative analyses prioritizing mineral production and investigates how authority materialized through mines, and how mines and mineral extraction authored power in Japan. Rich new silver deposits were first tapped in the 1520s; at the turn of the seventeenth century Japan’s silver production was second only to the mines of Spanish America, and at the turn of the eighteenth century it was the world’s largest producer of copper. Material Authority integrates and interrogates many of the landmark transitions in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: protracted conflict yielding to political unification, a rapid expansion and curtailment of foreign relations. Mines and mining occupy a niche in the accounts of these transformations but have never been offered as an organizing principle by which to examine each and their effects on one another. To this end, the project team will pursue three lines of research: exploring how mines shaped authority, catalyzed management, and facilitated exchange. A paleography seminar will facilitate collaboration and develop skills honed by research in Japan conducted at archives and through on-site visits. A parallel research seminar will spotlight scholarship on mineral politics and resource management across geographical specialty and model a final goal of Material Authority: to inform inquiry into the entangled transformations in material extraction and human power across the early modern world.

Mots-clés : early modern japan,mining history,technology history,geographies of power,cross cultural exchange,precious metals
Projet ERC : CAROLUS (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Studies of Cultures and Arts
Entité participante : Université autonome de Barcelone — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

CAROLUS responds to the urgent need to safeguard the endangered oral traditions related to Carolus Magnus and his heroes. The project addresses the imminent extinction of these cultural treasures in Europe and remote corners of South America and Africa. Through immersive fieldwork and interdisciplinary studies, CAROLUS aims to document, study, and revitalize these intangible heritages, ensuring their preservation for future generations.  The project employs a sophisticated research methodology, which weaves diachronic links between present-day local expressions and medieval origins, and conducts synchronic and comparative analyses on surviving performances, sung narratives and traditional theatre about Carolus Magnus. This comprehensive approach spans a millennium, and encompasses literature, performing arts, philology, sociology, and anthropology. CAROLUS is a transdisciplinary exploration of oral and written traditions from the Middle Ages to the present.  Focussed on the epic of Carolus Magnus, hailed as "the Father of Europe", the project boasts a transcultural scope, spanning three continents and different linguistic areas. Beyond research, it envisions an innovative "open science" portal providing unrestricted access to materials, academic outcomes and outreaches for a broader audience. CAROLUS aims to be a bastion for the preservation of this intangible heritage, ensuring its resonance within the tapestry of human culture. This project is not merely an academic pursuit; it is a commitment to safeguarding Europe’s rich heritage for future generations.

Mots-clés : intangible cultural heritage,medieval literature,cultural studies
Projet ERC : HOT-AND-COLD (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and R egeneration
Entité participante : Université suédoise des sciences agricoles — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : SLU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1382689.0 €

Ambient temperature above or below a threshold can adversely affect plant growth and development, and even lead to death. The tightly regulated distribution of the hormone auxin throughout the plant body controls an impressive variety of developmental processes that tailor plant growth and morphology to environmental conditions. Although non-optimal ambient temperature can alter auxin transport, the precise nature of this alteration and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain enigmatic. Hence, the aim of HOT-AND-COLD is to dissect the molecular mechanisms involved in auxin transport and its downstream signaling upon temperature stress, down to the tissue and cell-type-specific level, focusing on the root of the model organism Arabidopsis thaliana. To achieve this aim, I will combine high-resolution imaging techniques integrated with a temperature-controlled stage system, mass-spectrometry-based phosphoproteomics, TRAP-seq and chemical screens in a multifaceted approach that has never been used for such a study in plant root systems. Using this approach, I expect to reveal: (i) the temperature-responsive phosphoproteome of membrane proteins; (ii) the link between changes in membrane fluidity and the dynamics of auxin transport components within the plasma membrane; (iii) cell-type-specific translatomes that orchestrate auxin transport upon temperature shock as well as in the gradual temperature stress response; and (iv) sensors and components of the signaling pathways controlling plant acclimation to temperature stress. Taken together, the fundamental knowledge obtained through this research will contribute to the mechanistic understanding of plant responses to the temperature variability that will accompany climate change. Such understanding is key for anticipating the impacts of climate variability on agricultural and natural ecosystems.

Mots-clés : plasma membrane fluidity,microdomains,temperature stress,auxin transport,root
Projet ERC : HeliOS (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Université de St Andrews — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Helical architectures are prevalent in natural and artificial settings due to their mechanical robustness, chiroptical properties, and ability to assemble compactly through intra- and intermolecular interactions. We propose that reversible distortions to these structures can unlock new behaviors. Inspired by recent advancements in supramolecular chemistry and light-responsive molecules, we aim to couple light-responsive units (LRUs) to helical structures to drive them out-of-equilibrium (OOE), thereby modulating their functionality and achieving photoactuation. Adopting organic and metal-organic spring-like model systems, we aim to achieve compression, extension, and complete unwinding of the helices under photoirradiation. In the OOE state, we hypothesize that the systems can store and release energy, making them promising candidates for optomechanical work and offering an alternative design strategy for molecular solar-thermal (MOST) materials. Furthermore, our approach enables the precise placement of LRUs within the helical structure, which is anticipated to provide customized optomechanical responses, such as bending and twisting, and allow new light-gated reactivity and feedback loops. Expanding this concept, we will explore larger, polymeric versions of these materials in bulk, such as films and fibers, to achieve light-powered translation, rotation, and lifting of objects. This fundamental study establishes a new research area focused on using LRUs to perturb discrete helical structures OOE, advancing the current approaches to perform mechanical work on the macroscopic level and presenting a novel design approach for MOST materials. Success will undoubtedly catalyze interest in exploring other helical architectures beyond the model systems studied here, achieving photoactuators of greater complexity in their operation and function.

Mots-clés : photoswitches,dynamic covalent,supramolecular,self assembly,helical materials,systems chemistry,most,photoactuators
Projet ERC : Roads2SUSTAINABILITY (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Human Mobility, Environment, and Space
Entité participante : Université de St Andrews — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1367444.0 €

Roads2SUSTAINABILITY develops a new form of political ecology, infrastructural political ecology. This alters the theoretical work of political ecology (how culture, history and politics make natures), combining contemporary treatments of infrastructure (analyzing how hard infrastructures co-constitute social worlds) with theories of more-than-human assemblage (always changing human/ non‐human relations) and multi-species justice (extending principles of justice beyond humans). These will be led by political ecology’s attentiveness to dynamics of power and scale. Together, this transforms social science debates on infrastructure and political ecology with a new concern for how infrastructure co-constitutes socio-environmental worlds, creating new understanding of how trajectories of co-existence and sustainability are materialized. This is critical given accelerating climate change and global commitments to sustainable development. With a team of 2 post-doctoral researchers and 16 Indigenous researchers, the PI will investigate road building in the Western Amazon and the emancipatory possibilities of alternative infrastructures. Specifically, different types of transport infrastructure (top-down infrastructure, community roads and river networks) at three sites crucial for responses to climate change and sustainability – Indigenous territories, conservation areas and cities. Grounded in collaboration with four Indigenous territories, a core foundation is an innovative but reproduceable decolonial methodology. This is used to address three objectives 1. To investigate how different forms of road and river infrastructure co-constitute trajectories of sustainable development and to conceptualise sustainable development from these material geographies 2. To reveal, analyze and advance the emancipatory possibilities of infrastructure 3. To improve highest ethical standards of how research is undertaken, networked and communicated on Indigenous land.

Mots-clés : political ecology,sustainable development,infrastructure,decolonial methods,land rights,territorial knowledges,latin america
Projet ERC : PLUSPHOTON (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Entité participante : Université autonome de Madrid — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1433125.0 €

The observation of the Higgs boson in 2012 marked a significant milestone in particle physics. Following its discovery, the Large Hadron Collider experiments have focused on an extensive characterisation of this scalar particle. However, key questions remain, such as the origin of the electroweak scale and phase transition in the early Universe. This project seeks to address a crucial gap in our understanding of the Higgs boson: a comprehensive study of the Higgs boson production in association with a photon, focusing on the diphoton decay channel, could potentially point to new physics beyond the Standard Model. This process has not yet been observed due to its low cross-section and the relative softness of the extra photon. For this work, four main research objectives are considered. The first is to develop a novel experimental photon isolation technique, soft-drop isolation, with the aim of improving photon isolation at low-transverse momentum. The second one is to produce a complete characterisation of the background from the strong interaction with differential cross-section measurements that can assess the modelling of state-of-the-art Monte Carlo event generators. The third one is to search for Higgs plus photon production in the diphoton decay channel, establishing a framework in which the rich phenomenology of this process can also be studied in other decays. The final one is to evaluate the results in terms of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory and shed light on the origin of potential new physics effects if any deviations from the current theory are found. The project will unlock deeper insights into the Higgs boson´s interactions with fundamental particles, sharpening our grasp of the electroweak symmetry breaking mechanism. It will lay the groundwork for searches in alternative Higgs decay channels and introduce a novel photon isolation technique that will transform the landscape of photon measurements.

Mots-clés : large hadron collider,higgs boson,electroweak symmetry breaking,photon isolation,monte carlo modelling,standard model effective field theories
Projet ERC : MAtCHLESS (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
Entité participante : Université autonome de Madrid — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 50000.0 €

Cellular organisms are complex machines whose health and functioning are dictated by parameters including temperature, oxygen concentration, and pH. Luminescence nanosensing is a technology that promises all the features required to reliably monitor these parameters at the intracellular level: minimal invasiveness, remote working principle, and submicrometric spatial resolution. These features are ensured by the use of sub-micrometric sensors (particles) whose luminescence is sensitive to changes in the parameters to be sensed. Yet, despite the hype about luminescence nanosensing, its reliability in the study of cells is limited by interparticle variability in optical properties and sensing performance, simultaneous response to several parameters (cross-sensitivity), and lack of a measurement technology that enables fast 2D mapping of multiple parameters with sub-second temporal resolution. MAtCHLESS tackles heads on these limitations to develop a reliable luminescence sensing technology for multiparameteric sensing in cell studies. This project entails: design of a novel family of composite submicrometric luminescent sensors, elimination of interparticle fluctuations in optical properties using a spectral sorting strategy, introduction of the paradigm shift of making cross-sensitivity a desirable feature via machine learning, and use of a novel optical technology to build a setup for 2D mapping of multiple parameters with high temporal and spatial resolution. MAtCHLESS will test the reliability of the sensing approach in mammalian cell lines and extremophiles – microorganisms that can withstand extreme conditions of, e.g., temperature, oxygen concentration, and pH. These investigations will show the potential of the developed technology to monitor both slight and extreme changes in biological parameters, towards a deeper understanding of, e.g., how cancer can be more effectively treated, as well as how Life evolved on Earth and can be adapted beyond our planet.

Mots-clés : luminescence sensing,submicroparticles,machine learning,intracellular
Projet ERC : HyperMaSH (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and Communication Engineering
Entité participante : Université de Naples - Frédéric-II — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1620500.0 €

Photonics, the science of harnessing light, has the potential to revolutionize many sectors of the society. The envisioned transition from electronics to photonic technologies requires advanced and miniaturized optical devices. Planar optical components, realized as micro- and nanoscale structured surfaces, are at the forefront of this transition. However, their fabrication by traditional methods is still a barrier to their widespread use in applications. A photolithographic process that fully exploits the multiple degrees of freedom of the light is part of the solution. HyperMaSH will introduce a radically new concept for surface photopatterning of advanced planar optical components: the Vector-Time-Color Hyper Lithography. I will define a multi-dimensional space of lithographic parameters, where the intensity pattern, the polarization distribution, the time evolution, and the wavelength of a holographic light field are simultaneously and synergically engineered. For HyperMaSH’s approach, I will leverage the peculiar vectorial and reversible photoresponse of azobenzene-containing materials in combination with Jones matrix holography and digital holographic microscopy. The result will be the dynamical and reversible manipulation of the surface morphology on micro and nano spatial scale. Operating diffractive optical components and metasurfaces will be directly produced without any of the post-exposure processes of the standard photolithography. I will realize a paradigm shift by developing an unprecedented direct and high-resolution patterning method with significantly reduced environmental impact and energy consumption. Results will have far-reaching implications beyond the fabrication of planar optical components to be used either directly or as reusable masters for surface templating. HyperMaSH envisions a general lithographic method for functional surfaces and contributes to the understanding of the complex light-matter interactions occuring in azomaterials.

Mots-clés : planar optical elements digital holographic photolithography dynamic structured light direct surface patterning azobenzene containing materials super resolution lithography reconfigurable flat optics
Projet ERC : In-phase (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
Entité participante : Université complutense de Madrid — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1489128.0 €

The spatiotemporal organization of the cell material represents one of the great wonders in physics, chemistry and biology. Compartmentalization plays a key role in such precise molecular coordination and enables cellular function. Over the past decade, transformative experiments have revealed that most intracellular compartments are not enclosed by membranes, but instead they are dynamical assemblies, termed condensates, and thought to occur via liquid-liquid phase separation of biomolecules. Nevertheless, the misregulation of these condensates—mostly formed by proteins and nucleic acids—can give rise to deleterious solid-like aggregates, which are associated with the proliferation of age-related and neurodegenerative disorders.  In-phase aims to develop an innovative computational approach to resolve the dynamical behaviour of molecules inside functional condensates that drift their complex physicochemical behaviour into pathological solid aggregates. To this end, we plan to develop a multiscale modelling platform—combining coarse-grained force fields and atomistic simulations—which will address the following critical questions: What are the encoded molecular features in RNA and protein sequences regulating phase behaviour? What pushes biomolecular condensates to shift their material properties over time? Can we prevent the proliferation of pathological aggregates induced by condensate misregulation? The overarching goals of this project are: (1) to understand the thermodynamic and intermolecular forces driving condensates out-of-function; and (2) devise potential strategies for preventing RNA/protein aberrant phase transitions in biomolecular condensates. This alone is ground-breaking because it will reveal the underlying mechanisms and interactions by which the structure and sequence of RNA and proteins dictate the material properties of intracellular condensates, and their implication in cellular dysfunction.

Mots-clés : biomolecular phase separation,biomolecular condensates,liquid to solid transitions,ageing,multiscale simulations,coarse grained modelling
Projet ERC : INERTIA (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Entité participante : Université complutense de Madrid — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499950.0 €

Resilience (the ability of ecosystems to withstand disturbances without losing its structural or functional properties) is crucial to confront changes imposed by climate change such as ongoing increases in aridity. This is especially relevant for drylands, which have been shown to exhibit abrupt changes in their structure and functioning once that certain aridity thresholds are crossed. However, we have very little understanding on the drivers and patterns of resilience around aridity thresholds, which hinders our ability to monitor, preserve and restore degraded ecosystems under climate change. Existing uncertainties arise from the complexity of studying resilience (which is multifaceted concept and operates at contrasting levels of organization of ecosystems), and from the lack of studies addressing the resilience of drylands around and across aridity thresholds. INERTIA will combine long-term experiments, remote sensing, multiple spatiotemporal scales and global field surveys to address all facets of resilience across contrasting levels of organization of ecosystems around and across global aridity thresholds. In particular, I aim to: i) evaluate the multi-faceted nature of resilience to boost remote sensing monitoring schemes, ii) unveil drivers of global resilience across levels of organization (from climatic to physiological drivers), specifically around aridity thresholds and iii) evaluate and improve our capacity to restore ecosystems across aridity thresholds. By doing so, INERTIA will provide cutting-edge advances in our understanding of resilience and its potential to monitor, evade and recover from abrupt shifts triggered by crossing aridity thresholds. The knowledge gained by INERTIA will underpin international initiatives aimed at mitigating global change and desertification or restoring degraded drylands and may open new research avenues on ecology of ecosystems at the edge of thresholds, a topic of increasing relevance due to ongoing climate change.

Mots-clés : resilience,thresholds,desertification,drylands