Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : COMBIOSCOPY (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : University Hospital Heidelberg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 116924.5 €

Key challenges in endoscopic tumor diagnosis and therapy consist of the detection and discrimination of malignant tissue as well as the precise navigation of medical instruments. Currently, a low level of sensitivity and specificity in tumor detection and lack of global orientation lead to both over- and undertreatment, tumor recurrence, intra-operative complications, and high costs. The goal of this multidisciplinary project is to revolutionize clinical endoscopic imaging based on the systematic integration of two new but independant fields of research up until this point: Biophotonics and computer-assisted interventions (COMputational BIOphotonics in endoSCOPY). For the first time, quantitative multi-modal imaging biomarkers based on structural and functional data are being developed to enhance the physician’s view by providing information that cannot be seen with the naked eye. To this extent, white light images co-registered with multispectral optical and photoacoustic images will be processed in a combined manner to dynamically reconstruct not only the visible surface in 3D but also subsurface anatomical and functional detail such as 3D vessel topology, blood volume and oxygenation. Spatio-temporal registration of multi-modal data acquired before and during the procedure will enable (1) the highly specific local tissue classification and discrimination based on tissue shape, texture, function and radiological contrast imagery as well as (2) global context-aware instrument guidance. This innovative approach to radiation-free real-time imaging will be implemented and evaluated by means of computer-assisted colonoscopy and laparoscopy. The potential socioeconomic impact of providing high precision minimally-invasive tumor diagnosis and therapy at low cost is extremely high.

Mots-clés : computer assisted interventions,computer aided surgery,interventional imaging
Projet ERC : HoloHair (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1497340.0 €

LIGO’s detection of merging black holes was a spectacular confirmation of general relativity (GR), yet it remains an open question whether black holes obey the same rules of quantum mechanics (QM) as all other known objects in the universe. Black holes are objects in GR which are known to have a vast entropy, but when QM is applied they evaporate by emission of Hawking radiation which carries no information about their microstates - this is the black hole information loss paradox which has evaded a resolution for over 40 years. The holographic AdS/CFT duality has provided indirect evidence that black holes are quantum mechanical systems that do not destroy information but the arguments are limited in scope to highly charged and/or spinning black holes and do not explain the gravitational dynamics near the horizon. To resolve the information paradox we need a better understanding of the information encoding, storage and flow between the horizon and the far asymptotic region where Hawking radiation escapes to, and more generally of how information is encoded in quantum gravity in asymptotically flat Minkowski spacetime. Achieving this is the overarching goal of this proposal. The novel research I propose combines two emergent ideas which could provide a paradigm changing picture of how black holes encode information: One is based on a thorough understanding of subtle long-distance effects in asymptotically flat spacetimes which give rise to “soft hair” and a horizon memory for black holes. The other is based on a mechanism in string theory, the most promising quantum completion of Einstein's theory of GR, which gives rise to horizon-scale microstructure, known as “fuzzballs”. The ground-breaking nature of this proposal is to bridge these two different approaches to develop a powerful new programme for solving the information paradox.

Mots-clés : black holes,holography,string theory,asymptotic symmetries,conformal field theory
Projet ERC : LINCE (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : Italian Institute of Technology — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1866250.0 €

LINCE will develop light-sensitive devices based on organic semiconductors (OS) for optical regulation of living cells functions. The possibility to control the activity of biological systems is a timeless mission for neuroscientists, since it allows both to understand specific functions and to manage dysfunctions. Optical modulation provides, respect to traditional electrical methods, unprecedented spatio-temporal resolution, lower invasiveness, and higher selectivity. However, the vast majority of animal cells does not bear specific sensitivity to light. Search for new materials capable to optically regulate cell activity is thus an extremely hot topic. OS are ideal candidates, since they are inherently sensitive to visible light and highly biocompatible, sustain both ionic and electronic conduction, can be functionalized with biomolecules and drugs. Recently, it was reported that polymer-mediated optical excitation efficiently modulates the neuronal electrical activity. LINCE will significantly broaden the application of OS to address key, open issues of high biological relevance, in both neuroscience and regenerative medicine. In particular, it will develop new devices for: (i) regulation of astrocytes functions, active in many fundamental processes of the central nervous system and in pathological disorders; (ii) control of stem cell differentiation and tissue regeneration; (iii) control of animal behavior, to first assess device biocompatibility and efficacy in vivo. LINCE tools will be sensitive to visible and NIR light, flexible, biocompatible, and easily integrated with any standard physiology set-up. They will combine electrical, chemical and thermal stimuli, offering high spatio-temporal resolution, reversibility, specificity and yield. The combination of all these features is not achievable by current technologies. Overall, LINCE will provide neuroscientists and medical doctors with an unprecedented tool-box for in vitro and in vivo investigations.

Mots-clés : organic bio electronics,conjugated polymer,organic semiconductor,organic optoelectronic device,cell optical stimulation,bio organic interface,light
Projet ERC : LITCOM (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
Entité participante : University of Bristol — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499857.0 €

LITCOM explores the contours of literary activism in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It views literary activism as encoding a double meaning: both describing the act of opening spaces for literary expression, while also referring to the more explicit intersection of literary engagement and socio-political activism. LITCOM examines everyday encounters with and participation in literary activism as a form of social production creating new types of commons, networks of practice and sometimes-ephemeral publics which function outside of the normative sphere of the state and civil society. It offers a notion of the literary as a lived space of mediation, engagement with which itself produces new understandings of the horizons of the political in SSA. LITCOM asks: 1. What forms of civic participation are produced, contested and authenticated through the networks of practice and forms of commoning which arise from literary activism in SSA and what new publics does literary activism create? 2. How do the commons, networks of practice and publics produced by publishers, writers and readers function with respect to formalised civil society institutions and patrimonial structures in an era alternatively characterised as that of ‘late capitalism’ (Jameson) or ‘liquid modernity’ (Bauman)? 3. How does the literary, both as aesthetic practice and mediating form, enable a more expansive understanding of the political and its horizons? 4. What kinds of social and political claims does literary activism engender across its various instantiations in SSA? 5. In what ways do the ecologies of literary activism and its attendant social production make visible new topographies of affiliation in SSA? Operating across two primary strands with four cross-cutting case studies from Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda and Kenya, LITCOM combines fine-grained empirical analysis with broad-based literary and cultural readings to answer these questions.

Mots-clés : africa,literary activism,commons,publics,networks of practice,cultural memory
Projet ERC : Lacto-Be (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering
Entité participante : University of Antwerp — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UAntwerp
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499581.0 €

Lactobacillus bacteria have a strong, but underexplored potential as sustainable bio-based solutions for many food and health-related problems. Since Nobel-laureate Eli Metchnikoff hypothesized that lactic acid bacteria can promote human health in the gut, the research on lactobacilli and probiotics has mainly focused on the human gut and fermented dairy foods. However, a major knowledge gap exists on the beneficial potential of Lactobacillus species in other human body sites (vagina, skin, upper respiratory tract), animals (e.g. chickens, honey bees), plants, crops, and even on abiotic surfaces. In addition, lactobacilli play a key role in many plant- and vegetable-based fermentations, where they promote the shelf life and nutritional value of food and feed. Yet, why and how Lactobacillus species can be beneficial in such a wide variety of niches is currently underexplored. Therefore, the core aim of this project is a systematic and integrated analysis of the evolutionary history, ecology, and beneficial functions of Lactobacillus species. I propose an unconventional approach situated at the intersections of molecular microbiology (focusing on a single microbe), molecular ecology (focusing on microbial communities) and comparative genomics with an evolutionary perspective on niche adaptation of lactobacilli. By looking deeper into Lactobacillus biology, a paradigm shift can be made moving from a classical ad hoc base to a unique knowledge-based framework for strain selection and analysis of fitness and performance.

Mots-clés : probiotics,mode of action,evolutionary history,niche adaptation,niche flexibility,bacteria host interactions,exopolysacchariden,non ribosomal peptide synthetases
Projet ERC : TURNTAKING (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Entité participante : Osnabrück University — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999795.0 €

Language — the most distinctive human trait — remains a ‘mystery’1 or even a ‘problem’2 for evolutionary theory. It is underpinned by cooperative turn-taking3, which has been implicated with highly sophisticated cognitive skills such as mindreading4. Some have claimed that this turn-taking system is uniquely human5,6, but others argue that it provides the evolutionary ‘missing link’ between animal and human communication7. This debate has been constrained by a lack of comparative data, methodological confounds that often prevent meaningful comparisons, and a lack of information on key components of social relationships8,9 that might strongly impact upon turn-taking propensities. Objectives. TURNTAKING will quantify turn-taking production and comprehension in human children, chimpanzees, and two distantly related species — geladas and common marmosets. It will apply a powerful combination of systematic behavioral observations, eye-tracking paradigms, and established measures from Conversational Analysis3,10 and Primatology9 that allow the same type of data to be collected and analyzed in directly comparable ways across species. This will provide the first rigorous test of whether cooperative turn-taking is uniquely human, ancestral in the primate lineage, or evolved independently in different species. TURNTAKING will identify which hallmarks of human turn-taking are shared across different primate species, and which key components of relationship quality8,9 act upon turn-taking skills. Outcomes. This project will found the field of comparative turn-taking, and provide pioneering insights into the behavioral flexibility underlying different turn-taking systems. It will go beyond the state of the art by exposing whether cooperative turn-taking is the evolutionary ‘missing link’ between our species and our inarticulate primate cousins, and whether pro-social behaviors drove its emergence.

Mots-clés : language evolution,cooperative communication,interactive turn taking,comparative approach,gestures,vocalizations,nonhuman primates,pro social behavior
Projet ERC : ROCKY (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Entité participante : University of London — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : U. London
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 151403.75 €

Languages have various ways of referring to collections like families, herds and forests. The grammatical properties of collective expressions critically determine how we understand them. The sentences “this forest is old” and “these trees are old” categorize an arboreal collection using a concept (“old”), while conveying different meanings. This semantic difference correlates with the difference in grammatical number between the sentences: singular vs. plural. Such effects of collective categorization in language are crucial for understanding the connections between grammar and the mind, as well as for artificial intelligence. However, currently little is known about the mechanisms underlying our linguistic ability to conceptualize collections. This project aims to develop a novel linguistic theory of this ability, applied to a wide range of empirical phenomena and interdisciplinary challenges in computational semantics and comparative linguistics, benefiting from the recent synergy between linguistics and the psychology of concepts. The idea is that when classifying a collection, speakers rely on two inferential principles with mental concepts: (i) geometric inferences: a forest is considered “far away” if all of its trees are far; (ii) symmetric inferences: two trees are “similar” if each of them is similar to the other. The leading hypothesis is that uniform interactions between these inferential principles and the grammar of collective expressions account for collective categorization in language. This hypothesis is explored in three work packages, each of which develops the semantic theory and evaluates it on a different interdisciplinary domain: human interaction with geographic information systems, behavioral linguistic experiments, and comparative linguistics. Together, the three components of the project are expected to lead to a theoretical breakthrough in semantic theory and to enrich its interdisciplinary connections with neighboring disciplines.

Mots-clés : formal semantics,grammar,language and logic
Projet ERC : LANTHANOPHOR (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : LMU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 663833.4 €

Lanthanides (Ln) are critical raw materials and designated with a high supply risk by the European Commission. Their mining and purification have a considerable negative environmental impact and we urgently need sustainable and efficient recycling strategies for these elements. It was recently discovered that many bacteria use Ln for growth and utilize them in the active sites of enzymes. In addition, a Ln-binding protein with unprecedented affinities for Ln (Lanmodulin, LanM) has been isolated from one of these bacteria. The Ln-uptake mechanisms of these bacteria remain vastly underexplored, however, the involvement of polydentate ligands (chelators) to bind lanthanides — lanthanophores (lanthanide carriers) — has recently been established. For the first time, practical applications of chelators that were specifically designed by nature to bind, recycle and separate the technologically-indispensable lanthanides are in reach. Thus, the objective of LANTHANOPHOR is the identification and isolation of lanthanophores from the spent media of lanthanide-utilizing bacteria and the synthesis of short peptides based on the Ln-binding moiety in LanM. A comprehensive characterization of the lanthanophore including their lanthanide coordination chemistry, will contribute to our understanding how Ln are made bioavailable inside bacterial cells. The lanthanophore and the peptides will be evaluated for the use in Ln separation and recycling. I will further elucidate whether these ligands can be used in lanthanide bioremediation or for medical applications as chelators. The results of LANTHANOPHOR will advance the development of sustainable solutions and bioinspired applications that are urgently needed in the quest for new, environmentally friendly and faster Ln separation and recycling technologies. The unique combination of lanthanide biochemistry and coordination chemistry in my group opens unparalleled opportunities for discovery and characterisation of lanthanophores.

Mots-clés : lanthanides,siderophores,bacterial metabolism,bioinorganic chemistry
Projet ERC : QML (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : University of Basel — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 950101.25 €

Large and diverse property data sets of relaxed molecules and crystals, resulting from computationally demanding quantum calculations, have recently been used to train machine learning models of various energetic and electronic properties. We propose to advance these techniques to a level where they can also describe reaction profiles, i.e. reactive non-equilibrium processes which traditionally would require quantum chemistry treatment. The resulting quantum machine learning (QML) models will provide reaction profiles for new reactants in real-time and with quantum accuracy. The overall goal is to develop a predictive computational tool which allows chemists to easily optimize reaction conditions, develop new catalysts, or even plan new synthetic pathways.

Mots-clés : chemical compound space,quantum chemistry,density functional theory
Projet ERC : TerrACE (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : Autonomous University of Barcelona — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : UAB
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 0.0 €

Large areas of agricultural terracing have been abandoned and are being destroyed in Europe. TerrACE will develop a transferrable methodology of archaeological protocols for understanding the creation, maintenance and use of terraces over the longue durée, thereby informing strategies for the sustainable management of these environmental-fragility hotspots. Terraces and lynchets are hallmarks of complex Prehistoric to Post-Medieval societies and were critical for the sustainability of many European societies (including the Greeks & Romans). However, we typically know less about them than any other archaeological site type, although they were one of the first transformations of natural into cultural landscapes, which in many cases persisted to the 20th century. Key archaeological questions are: how old are terrace systems, how were they used, did they reduce soil erosion and are they carbon sinks? The answers to these questions have high relevance in Europe today as terraces can combine high yields with decreased erosion and fire risk, whilst increasing social resilience and food security in the face of environmental change. TerrACE will be a step-change in our archaeological approach by integrating a raft of new and innovative scientific techniques through an exemplary study of the creation, operation and abandonment of terraced landscapes on a N-S climatic transect of well-known/excavated terraces across Europe. TerrACE has 5 objectives; 1) improving terrace-landscape mapping, 2) multiple dating typical terrace systems, 3) determining history of use and management, 4) understanding the role of terraces in carbon storage, and 5) outreach to promote terraces as part of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Landscapes (UNESCO GIAHS). TerrACE is only now feasible due to the development of techniques including LiDAR, direct sediment dating, palaeoenvironmental proxies, soil carbon modelling and the innovatory use of ancient DNA on terrace palaeosols.

Mots-clés : environmental history,complex societies,social change,palaeoecology,archaelogical survey,biomolecular methods,sediment dating,agricultural history,rural sustainability