Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : kineticSHAPES (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : Université Friedrich-Alexander d'Erlangen-Nuremberg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1492415.0 €

The shape of nanocrystals is crucial in determining surface area, reactivity, optical properties, mechanical strength, and self-assembly behavior. The current theory on shape formation is based on thermodynamic equilibrium and predicts that each crystal structure should enforce a unique shape, with few morphological variations depending on solution chemistry. Whereas this theory succeeded in explaining crystal habits in mineralogy, it mispredicts many nanocrystals, pointing out the necessity of a non-equilibrium description of shapes. Critical to this project are robust and scalable simulation techniques that capture kinetic effects of ligands and ions in solution at the atomic/molecular scale, while enabling the formation of facets and shapes at mesoscopic scales. Research questions include understanding (i) kinetically trapped shapes in metastable equilibria, (ii) symmetry-breaking from the underlying crystal structure, (iii) the bifurcation of growth pathways leading to synthesis yield, (iv) the emergence of chiral and asymmetric features, and (v) the role of the concentration field in the solution. Central will be the finding of shape diagrams that pinpoint thermodynamic conditions and kinetic factors to tune crystallographic direction and surface area of facets with maximum synthesis yield. Shapes of interest include classic polyhedra, 1D and 2D geometries, multiply twinned particles, concave and high Miller index facets, and branched shapes. This project will allow theory- and computer-aided design and optimization of synthesis protocols of nanocrystals with kinetic shapes.

Mots-clés : nanocrystal shape,crystal growth,crystallization diffusion,mass transfer limited crystallization,kinetic monte carlo,molecular dynamics,simulation method development,multiscale modeling
Projet ERC : CountHom (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer Science and Informatics
Entité participante : University of Regensburg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 918676.18 €

This project addresses the computational complexity of counting problems in graphs; such problems ask to compute the number of certain structures rather than merely deciding their existence. Counting problems find applications in diverse areas like network analysis, machine learning, probabilistic databases, and statistical physics. They are linked to fundamental questions in complexity theory and give rise to algorithmic breakthroughs for decision problems.  The proposed project will go beyond the state of the art in computational counting by building bridges between algorithms/complexity and the mathematical theory of graph homomorphisms, which are structure-preserving maps between graphs. Already starting from the 1960s, Lovász and others showed that homomorphism numbers between graphs tie together disparate mathematical areas—similarly, the PI observed in the past 5 years that the computational problem of counting homomorphisms unifies a range of problems in computer science that were previously studied in isolation. This connection allows us to approach fundamental questions in parameterized and fine-grained complexity related to the complexity of counting small patterns in large graphs, which were out of reach for more combinatorial approaches. Secondly, it allows us to revisit problems in classical counting complexity from a new angle, especially for partition functions in discrete physical systems, with the aim of simplifying, unifying and extending known results. Thirdly, homomorphism counts give a surprising novel viewpoint on questions in algebraic complexity surrounding the “permanent versus determinant” problem, an algebraic variant of the “P versus NP” problem.

Mots-clés : theoretical computer science,algorithms,counting complexity,parameterized complexity,algebraic complexity,homomorphisms,subgraphs,partition functions,perfect matchings,permanent,determinant
Projet ERC : Walk and Talk (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : Université de Lund — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1287225.0 €

This project investigates human language in the very environment in which it has evolved, is acquired, and very frequently is used: while walking. Yet, moving communication contexts differ significantly from static ones, as they are dynamic: it is in this moving realm where the speech situation is fluid, where reference and topic environments unfold, and where our bodies interact in ever-changing ways with each other and with the environment. This unique fleeting character of walking and the challenges it yields for perception and experience is prone to impact grammar, lexicon, and verbal interaction profoundly. While linguistics extensively studies how humans talk about motion, the impact of motion on language remains underexplored. To bridge this gap, I ask: how can language be shaped by the unique perceptual nature of mobility, and how does this affect our understanding of language once we factor mobility into explanations of linguistic phenomena? Walk and Talk breaks new ground in the language sciences by introducing mobility as an underexplored realm to linguistic research. To this end, I and my team of language specialists will conduct a cross-linguistic investigation into grammar and lexicon as they unfold in real time when traditionally mobile Indigenous foragers are walking. My approach involves innovating methodologies for studying language in motion and a data collection from a diverse language sample to reach Walk and Talk’s overarching goal. That is, the development of an explanatory model describing how language takes shape in dynamic speech contexts. To accomplish these objectives, the research agenda is tailored to: describe, explore, and compare language use in moving speech settings, explain the relationship between mobility and language, and document language practices in moving contexts.

Mots-clés : indigenous languages mobility hunter gatherers language of space typology action cameras language documentation
Projet ERC : separatingSexes (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Entité participante : Université de Lund — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1447995.0 €

Life on earth has undergone several major evolutionary transitions, but perhaps none so striking or relevant to our daily lives as the origin of separate sexes. Yet, despite intense study for over 100 years, understanding how and why genes determining sex evolve - and the consequences for the chromosomes harboring them - remains an open problem in evolutionary biology. One obstacle is that most previous work has focused on ancient sex chromosome systems, like those found in mammals, where recombination suppression and genetic degeneration has obliterated any signs or signals of how genetic sex-determination evolved in the first place. But here, flowering plants (Angiosperms) come to the rescue! Compared to animals, Angiosperms exhibit a staggering diversity of reproductive forms, and have transitioned from combined (hermaphroditism) to separate sexes (dioecy) many times in their evolutionary history. The goal of this project is to understand the genomic changes giving rise to at least two and possibly three parallel transitions from hermaphroditism to dioecy via the evolution of new sex chromosomes within an endemic Hawaiian radiation of the flowering plant genus Wikstroemia (Thymelaeaceae; 12 spp.). Using a combination of genomics, bioinformatics, gene expression, and greenhouse experiments, I aim to achieve three key objectives: (1) locate and fully annotate sex-linked regions of the genome associated with each form of dioecy; (2) clarify the systematics of this radiation and study the biogeography of sex-linked genes, and the relative times of origin and whether/how recombination suppression has evolved for each form; and (3) determine what genes/developmental pathways are involved in sex-determination in these closely related lineages. This fascinating radiation offers a unique snapshot of repeated evolution of genetic sex-determination from a common genetic starting point, shedding new light on how and why evolutionary transitions to separate sexes occur.

Mots-clés : major evolutionary transitions,sex chromosomes,mating systems,angiosperms
Projet ERC : Good-by-Devicing (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Soci al World and Its Interactions
Entité participante : Université technique du Danemark — Pays : Danemark — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : DTU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1475751.0 €

While the climate crisis accentuates the need to decouple economies from fossil fuels, local opposition in Europe increasingly delays the transition to renewable energy. Arguing that the energy transition has been organised as an expert issue pursued by design tools based in techno-economic valuation, Good-by-Devicing proposes that resistance to renewable energy cannot be solved when opposition has already solidified in the phase of project planning and development. Instead, this project seeks to accommodate broader social concerns over the impacts of the energy transition much earlier, by inquiring into the design phase where experts develop and use critical design tools such as energy scenarios, digital simulations, and procurement schemes. These devices incorporate expert decisions on what concerns to include and exclude in the design of the energy transition. Hypothesising that rising opposition has roots in colliding valuations of the value of energy transition and what concerns should be accounted for in devices, Good-by-Devicing probes a position where renewable energy can be deployed with sufficient pace, but where broader social values are encompassed in the design tools that shape our energy future. To shed light on how value comes to matter in the energy transition, the project uses the case of the contested development of the world's first 'energy islands' in Denmark. The natural island of Bornholm is used as a strategic research site to ask how the energy transition could be valued otherwise, encompassing broader social concerns. Combining perspectives in Science & Technology Studies of Valuation Studies and the Sociology of Expertise, the project provides a new understanding of local opposition to renewables, contributing to the Social Acceptance literature, as well as to Valuation Studies and its new notion of the good economy, exploring how the ‘good fossil-free society’ could be re-devised to account for social concerns, thereby reducing conflict.

Mots-clés : valuation studies,sociology of expertise,the good economy,energy islands,renewable energy,power to x,energy transition,living lab experiments
Projet ERC : PROMETHEUS (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : Université de Lund — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1875938.0 €

The time is right for light-emitting colloidal nanocrystals to meet the demands of the second quantum revolution. The cooperative emission (superfluorescence) was recently observed in the micron-sized solids of colloidal lead halide perovskite nanocrystals, offering a path to low-cost, solution-processed sources of bright and coherent light. Superfluorescence, characterized by high-intensity and ultrashort bursts of indistinguishable photons, makes nanocrystal solids desired targets for photonics and quantum information applications. However, the exact origin of the superfluorescence is debated, and the rules of nanomaterial design for on-demand cooperativity are unknown. PROMETHEUS tackles these issues by combining nanochemistry with spectroscopy and tools of quantum optics. The project's approach consists of 1) synthesis and judicious selection of emissive metal halide nanocrystals with minimal exciton energy inhomogeneity, 2) accelerated self-assembly of nanocrystals into binary solids with a tunable fraction of emitters, 3) cryogenic micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy at the level of individual nanocrystal solids. The control of the coupling between emissive nanocrystals is achieved by diluting optically-dense nanocrystal solids with a second, transparent nanocrystal component. Measurements of spectroscopic observables, coherence, and photon statistics on single nanocrystal solids are used to dissect the roots and properties of cooperative emission. The project introduces a concept of light-coupled nanocrystal solids where light-matter interactions are engineered through structure and composition. This concept goes beyond metal halides and applies to emissive nanocrystals of any shape, opening a class of colloidal nanomaterials with light emission controllable between single-particle and many-body regimes. Such materials are expected to expand applications of emissive nanocrystals in quantum technologies and yield new uses in materials science.

Mots-clés : metal halide nanocrystals,lead halide perovskites,colloidal self assembly,colloidal superlattices,nanocrystal solids,accelerated discovery,high throughput fabrication,optical spectroscopy,cryogenic photoluminescence,cooperative emission,superfluorescence,lasing,structure property relationship
Projet ERC : ConSequentIAL (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer Science and Informatics
Entité participante : University of Technology Nuremberg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UTN
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1259375.0 €

Machine Learning systems, while promising, lack the autonomy needed for many real-world applications beyond mere proof-of-concept stages. The key challenge lies in enabling AI to continuously adapt to shifting data distributions and proactively seek information under high uncertainty. Fields such as drug discovery and micro-chemistry are expecting breakthroughs from AI, given the vast and intricate search spaces they deal with, coupled with expensive data acquisition. It is vital for algorithms to steer this search, assimilate new data, and strategically explore promising zones.  Reinforcement Learning (RL) offers tools and methods for agents to autonomously learn from their actions, but its efficacy has been largely confined to stationary, single-task settings. ConSequentIAL's vision is a Continual and Sequential Learning AI that marries supervised and unsupervised learning with advanced data gathering and RL-driven discovery mechanisms. To achieve these goals, I propose to bridge the theory of constrained and non-stationary RL to build a sound and useful mathematical formulation of the problem. On these new solid grounds, I develop novel algorithmic principles that allow the agent to detect and respond to external shifts, while remaining aware of her own impact on the system she interacts with. I address the memory-versus-stability trade-off central to continual learning by enabling agents to actively plan their skill acquisition in accordance with their long-term goals. The ambition of this project is to position AI to tackle the consequential scientific challenges ahead.

Mots-clés : reinforcement learning,learning theory,continual learning,lifelong learning
Projet ERC : STRAINSWITCH (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
Entité participante : Université de Gand — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UGent
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

It is often easy to observe the ability of polymorphic materials to undergo a phase transition through changes in colour, conductivity, photovoltaic efficiency, or other functional properties. In contrast, it is challenging to control under which external stimuli–stress, temperature, adsorption–these materials switch. Yet, enabling such polymorphic material design would be a game changer for pressing societal challenges, from access to drinkable water to producing green energy. This requires a firm understanding of how changing a material’s structure impacts its polymorphism and macroscopic function.  In STRAINSWITCH, I aim to transform polymorphic material design by establishing the strain engineering concept. The central characteristic in my in silico approach is strain: the extent to which a material deforms due to external or internal triggers. On the one hand, external stimuli generate strain, even before they activate a phase transition. On the other, spatial disorder in a structure, tuneable from the atom to the device scale, also induces strain that interferes with external strain fields. My key hypothesis is that it is possible to systematically predict which disorder is needed to ensure polymorphism only occurs under well-defined external triggers by balancing these internal and external strain fields.  To confirm this hypothesis, I will develop new in silico methods with the goal to: i. understand how disorder induces strain fields in a material that propagate through both space (3D) and time (+1D) to enable 4D design; ii. predict which internal strain fields activate a material’s polymorphism under specific external stimuli.  In STRAINSWITCH, I will combine both goals to establish fundamental disorder-strain-function relationships that can be validated experimentally for metal-organic frameworks and metal halide perovskites. They will pave the way for 4D polymorphic material design with application in water harvesting, photovoltaic devices, and more.

Mots-clés : strain fields,molecular dynamics,phase transformations,metal organic frameworks,metal halide perovskites,stability,functional material design,nanostructured materials,electronic structure methods,force field methods
Projet ERC : ASHES (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe Sciences
Entité participante : Université de Gand — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UGent
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

The chemical evolution of galaxies is driven by mass loss from stars at the end of their lives. The majority of stars will go through an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase, losing their outer layers by means of a stellar outflow and enriching the interstellar medium with the building blocks for the next generation of stars and planets. The outflow is triggered by stellar pulsations that aid dust formation, which then launches a dust-driven wind. Large-scale structures, like spirals and disks, are widely observed and thought to be caused by binary interaction with a (sub)stellar companion.  Despite the importance of dust to launching the outflow, we still do not know exactly how it is formed. Dust formation is a fundamentally chemical process: gas-phase molecules form larger clusters, condense into a seed particle and grow by accreting more molecules. Existing dust formation models either assume an initial number of seed particles to be already present at the start of the model or use classical nucleation theory, which is not applicable to AGB outflows as it assumes thermal equilibrium. Now, thanks to a decade of quantum chemical calculations, it is finally possible to model dust formation in a chemical kinetic way in AGB outflows. ASHES will develop the first comprehensive chemical network that includes dust nucleation and growth, allowing us to quantify the effects of large-scale structures and a stellar companion’s UV field on the amount, composition, and size of the dust.  Using machine learning to emulate the network, we will build the first comprehensive 3D hydrochemical model. This model will quantify the impact of a binary companion on shaping the outflow and, for the first time, on the chemistry and dust formed within the outflow. The observational tracers generated by the model will be used to determine the dusty output of observed outflows. ASHES will transform our understanding of dust formation in AGB outflows and impact AGB research and beyond.

Mots-clés : astrochemistry,dust nucleation,evolved stars,astrochemical modelling,hydrodynamical simulations
Projet ERC : ARCHAEBOLIC (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Entité participante : Université de Münster — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Universität Münster
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1485968.0 €

Archaea are remarkable microorganisms that form next to bacteria and eukaryotes one of the three domains of life and have shaped Earth’s biogeochemistry and climate for billions of years. These microorganisms are the main producers of the greenhouse gas methane. Especially in view of climate change, it is crucial to understand all factors impacting greenhouse gas emissions. Methanogenic archaea are at the center of my research. Recent breakthroughs in this field have been driven by the discovery of many new archaeal lineages via (meta)genomic sequencing. However, physiological characterization and isolation attempts of archaea lag far behind and the evolution of methanogenic archaea is still heavily debated. Now is the right time to investigate the still underexplored metabolic capabilities of (methanogenic) archaea, their impact on greenhouse gas emissions and to enrich novel archaea. I recently discovered a metabolic pathway enabling archaea to produce methane and/or CO2 from wood components and, in silico, from prevalent methylated compounds such as chloromethane. The novel enzyme systems involved are widespread and new metabolic pathways involving a variety of methylated substrates can be predicted, suggesting an important role of archaea in anaerobic conversions of lignin and various methylated compounds to methane and/or CO2. Therefore, I aim to (i) characterize these novel enzyme systems biochemically and in regard to their evolution, (ii) study the physiology of the archaea using these systems and (iii) evaluate the role of these archaea in the environment and for methane and CO2 emissions. This proposal has the potential to revolutionize our view on the metabolic versatility of archaea by unraveling novel mechanisms of methane and CO2 production in a ground-breaking manner. Identifying new archaeal substrates involved in methane and CO2 production enables us to assess the impact of these conversions on the environment and global methane and CO2 budgets.

Mots-clés : microbial metabolic pathways,methanogenesis,methane and co2 emissions,archaea