Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : FILE (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : Collège de France — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1870231.0 €

This project is about the representation of particular objects in language and thought, a topic which has been at the forefront of philosophical attention for more than a century.  About fifty years ago, ‘descriptivism’ was demoted from its dominant position in philosophy in favour of the theory of ‘direct reference’. A similar shift away from descriptivism has been a noticeable feature of work on the representation of objects in cognitive science, where the notion of an ‘object file’ has made it possible to unify research on perception and on infant cognition. The object file construct is in many respects similar to the philosophical idea of direct (non-descriptive) grounding for thoughts about particulars, and this has given rise to a new research program: the generalization of the file idea from perception to thought. Thus the last decade has seen the development of the mental file framework, according to which nondescriptive thoughts about particulars (so-called ‘singular thoughts’), whether or not they are based on perception, involve mental files whose 'reference' does not depend on category information to be found in the file but on certain relations to the object the obtaining of which triggers the opening of the file. The mental file framework has attracted considerable attention not only in philosophy, but also in psychology (Perner) and linguistics (Kamp). It has also inspired work in aesthetics and the philosophy of fiction.  Successful though it is, the mental file framework currently faces what may be described as a foundational crisis. According to a recurrent piece of criticism, it fails to provide appropriate identity and persistence conditions for mental files. This threatens the credibility of the framework, reduced to a convenient metaphor, and puts it at risk despite its high promises and considerable appeal. The aim of this philosophical project is to end the crisis by entirely rethinking the foundations of the framework.

Mots-clés : singular thought,reference,mental representation,mode of presentation,individuation
Projet ERC : BIO-MX (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : Université de Padoue — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UniPd
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499752.0 €

WHY Visualizing, labeling, and tracking cells is critical for advancements in biomedical research, especially in areas like cancer treatment and cell therapy. Over the past two decades, practices for cell labeling strategies have remained unchanged, facing the same critical technological limitation: a lack of versatility. By using a multidisciplinary approach to create MX-tags, a new class of nanomaterials, BIO-MX aims to overcome this limitation to accelerate biomedical discoveries and protect human health.  WHAT MX-tags will create an exciting chemical scenario coupled with single-cell mass cytometry (CyTOF), a revolutionary technology in cell biology. Although CyTOF has shaped the current understanding of cellular matter, fundamental needs remain to be addressed to enable new discoveries: 1. To develop universal cell tags that preserve cell functionality, are compatible with all cell types, and integrate seamlessly with advanced single-cell approaches. 2. To produce highly abundant chemically versatile tags able to multiplex the information on cells going beyond current limited available chemistries. 3. To create sensitive and multi-function imaging tags to label, track, and provide spatial resolution of cells for cancer applications.  HOW My ground-breaking idea is based on transforming the chemistry of 2D materials called MXenes to create MX-tags, a new class of multi-modular materials involving the peculiar properties of cell-penetrating peptides and nanobodies that will open new horizons for mass cytometry-based discoveries. My unique expertise in CyTOF, immune cells, and 2D material development will drive the key steps of the project. My hypotheses rely on the future use of MX-tags as labeling, tracking, and multi-imaging tools. BIO-MX will provide transformative approaches and methods poised to contribute to human health.

Mots-clés : mxenes,single cell mass cytometry,cytof
Projet ERC : MADAM (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth System Science
Entité participante : Université de Padoue — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UniPd
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 3499978.0 €

Diamonds are the only geological materials able to travel hundreds of kilometres vertically, horizontally and through time for billions of years, being un-modified since the day of their formation. Not just a time capsule, when diamonds incorporate mineral inclusions captured from the deep mantle, they represent an open window into otherwise inaccessible regions of Earth. Based on their formation depths, diamonds are classified as lithospheric (formed between about 120 and 200 km depth) and sublithospheric (formed much deeper, between 300 up to 1000 km depth). However, a third class of diamonds - “fibrous diamonds” - is much less studied and the origin of such enigmatic diamonds is still contentious. While lithospheric and sublithospheric diamonds can capture mineral inclusions providing crucial information about the deep Earth, fibrous diamonds are typically characterized by the presence of billions of submicrometric fluid inclusions. Such inclusions provide information about the composition of the diamond-forming fluid, but the scarcity of mineral inclusions means that their formation depths and rock substrates are poorly constrained.  Based on the PI’s recent pilot study, the MADAM project will, for the first time, investigate the structure and nature of nanometric mineral inclusions in fibrous diamonds, providing unprecedented information about these enigmatic diamonds. If funded, the MADAM project will enable the PI to acquire the first electron diffractometer applied to geoscience worldwide. This quantum leap in technology now allows the determination of the structure of any crystalline material at nanometric scale in less than 2 minutes. Application to fibrous diamonds this technique will allow the study of a large number of samples (> 100 diamonds per year) from a global distribution of sources, providing a definitive resolution of their depth of formation and geological significance.

Mots-clés : diamonds,nanominerals,electron diffraction,earth s mantle
Projet ERC : INNORES (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Soci al World and Its Interactions
Entité participante : Université de Vienne — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Uni Wien
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2497210.0 €

Innovation residues designate those left-behinds of innovations that profoundly shape human lives as they stay with us for a long time–well beyond moments of production and consumption, and well beyond the time horizons considered when assessing the worth of innovations. Residues are material witnesses to culture and practice of innovation, to diverse politics at work, and to the limited attention to long-term sustainable futures in a world predominantly shaped by short-term impact thinking. Today, as technological innovations are seen as foundational to the future development of contemporary societies, the entanglements of innovation and society require closer scrutiny more than ever. INNORES offers a novel, empirically and theoretically rich approach to do so through a radically switched perspective. It does not put innovations themselves centre-stage, assigning to residues the role of potentially disruptive side-effects, but takes residues as the lens to study democratic innovation societies. It investigates how societies conceptualise, make sense of, live with, and care for innovation residues, and how this shapes their relations to innovation. Studying innovation societies through the complex networks and manifestations of residues, INNORES opens up new perspectives on how local choices and global impacts relate, on intergenerational justice and responsibility, on whose future imaginaries, values, and knowledges count when making choices, on how benefits and risks are distributed, and on modes and infrastructures of care for environmental futures. INNORES engages with three very different kinds of residues–nuclear waste, microplastics and data waste. Using a specifically tailored qualitative, comparative mixed-method approach, it investigates them in different arenas spanning three European countries and the EU. Studying these particular sites in detail will then allow to trace out connections to and implications for innovation societies more generally.

Mots-clés : responsible innovation valuation waste innovation residues anticipation futures matters of care
Projet ERC : DIGIHATE (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Soci al World and Its Interactions
Entité participante : Université de Vienne — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Uni Wien
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499591.0 €

The skyrocketing rise of digital hate can be considered the dark side of the democratizing power of the internet. Despite growing interest in the topic, there has never been a systematic investigation about the perpetrators, audiences, and targets of digital hate. To discover why digital hate emerges, why it is often tolerated, and what kind of effects it has, DIGIHATE will analyze the reasons, perceptions, and consequences of digital hate for all involved actors. In particular, DIGIHATE will cause a paradigm shift by systematically looking at both disempowered and empowered targets of digital hate as well as their complex intersections. Nine work packages (WPs) will form a unique multidisciplinary, multi-language, mixed-method approach, including computational analysis, qualitative work, large comparative (panel) surveys, experiments, and a longitudinal measurement burst design in four countries. WP 1 will conceptualize digital hate based on a context-rich netnographic analysis of online communities. WPs 2-3 will examine the actual perpetrators of digital hate using innovative methodologies. WPs 4-5 will study the perceptions and moderation strategies by the witnessing audience and explain why audiences remain silent. WPs 6-7 will comprehensively examine the effects on and the responses by the disempowered (i.e., women and Muslims) and empowered targets (i.e., politicians, journalists, and scientists) as well as their intersections. WPs 8-9 will develop a novel multi-platform, multi-issue comparative computational analysis of digital hate that is built upon the actual perceptions of digital hate by those who receive it, rather than using predefined, potentially biased AI algorithms. A project of this scale and disciplinary breadth has never been attempted before. DIGIHATE will not only move significantly beyond the state-of-the-art in the literature, its findings will also be helpful for building and maintaining dignified societies in the digital world.

Mots-clés : hate speech,social media,sexism,stereotyping,incivilty
Projet ERC : ClassicPlus (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Entité participante : Université d'Édimbourg — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2491053.0 €

Recently, an entirely new class of observable in quantum field theory has been discovered. These observables, which I discovered with my collaborators, make contact with the exciting physics of gravitational waves, and have been used to determine the state-of-the-art expression for the gravitational waveform emitted as two black holes scatter. Yet these observables, given in terms of scattering amplitudes, also lead to a number of major open questions:  1. How can we compute bound state gravitational waveforms from quantum field theory? 2. What is the infrared physics of the new observables? 3. The observables are quantum-mechanical at their heart. Can we use them to compute the Hawking radiation, for the first time, in full quantum field theory?  Answers to these questions will transform our understanding of the quantum field theory of gravity.
Projet ERC : NEXUS (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
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 : 2491730.5 €

In an era of rapid green transition changes, interfaces lie at the heart of the advances in most energy conversion and storage technologies, including batteries, Power-to-X and electrolysis. Depending on the type of device, these technologies rely upon the fast transport of atomic and electronic species across the solid-solid, solid-liquid and solid-gas interfaces. Developing viable solid-state devices requires a fundamental understanding of how ions move at the interface between two solid materials stacked together. Despite half a century of sustained research into interfaces, we still cannot answer the most critical questions about the role of interface symmetries and finding pathways for engineering fast ionic transport at room temperature. The underlying motivation to find the answers is clear: fast transport of ions provides an opportunity to accelerate energy technology. However, the fundamental science required is extremely challenging: (1) the interfaces are buried in bulk structures and (2) possible combinations of materials are limited by the rules of epitaxy. Imagine a future where the precise tuning of materials can take place according to our aspirations by assembling ultrathin layers into new artificial heterostructures. NEXUS is the epitome of this future. In NEXUS I seek to take a leap from our present knowledge by creating artificial oxide heterostructures and hybridizing their physical properties by directly stacking freestanding membranes with different crystal structures and orientations (Figure 1). In this way I will realize novel structures with fast ionic paths potentially breaking fundamental limitations of existing energy devices. During the last decade I pioneered and matured new sets of oxide-based interfaces, exhibiting an exceptionally colourful palette of properties. The approach of NEXUS is radically different from the past work and will provide fundamental breakthroughs in the study of fast ionic transport across interfaces.

Mots-clés : epitaxial films complex oxides freestanding membrane energy materials interfaces ionic transport
Projet ERC : DECIDE (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer Science and Informatics
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 : 2491210.0 €

Many important decisions are taken under uncertainty since we do not know the development of various parameters. In particular the ongoing green transition requires large and urgent societal investments in new energy modes, infrastructure and technology. The decisions are spanning over a very long time-horizon, and there are large uncertainty towards energy prices, demand of energy, and production from renewable sources. Such problem can be described as two-stage stochastic optimization problems, where we first decide which facilities to establish, and then we have to schedule the production/transportation for a stochastic demand, using the given facilities. If the decision variables are discrete, such problems are extremely difficult to solve. In this project we will develop a new framework for investment decision making under uncertainty based on a combination of machine learning and operations research. Instead of solving a complex stochastic optimization problem defined on a fixed set of forecasted scenarios, we propose to use an iterative process: We repeatedly generate new scenarios, solve them using advanced optimization methods, and find the corresponding investment solutions. Our novel way of optimization will use deep generative models (DGMs) to generate small sets of scenarios matching the real distribution, and use a guided local search process to select scenarios that properly reflect properties of the full set of scenarios. The outcome of the iterative process is a palette of near-optimal solutions, which can be analyzed using data science methods to extract associations in investments, outrank dominated choices, and organize investments according to urgency. Knowing the full spectrum of possible choices opens up for a much broader discussion of investments, while allowing soft constraints to also be taken into account. This will enable a more transparent and inclusive decision process, while ensuring well-founded and more robust investment decisions.

Mots-clés : stochastic optimization,combinatorial optimization,decision support,machine learning,deep learning generative models,data science
Projet ERC : ANAEROB (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and Processes Engineering
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 : 2494159.0 €

ANAEROB aims to generate a platform that enables linking of microbial ecology to biotechnology. This platform should be general and applicable to a very wide range of conditions and applications. Anaerobic processes are performed by a well-structured microbial community and have a great potential for upcycling organic wastes and industrial/agricultural residual resources to achieve circular bioeconomy. Upcycling of residual resources through production of materials, biochemicals and energy is a promising way towards a more sustainable production. Pure culture fermentations are not appropriate when wastes are the substrate and therefore mixed culture microbial consortia are required. Currently inocula for biological processes utilizing wastes as substrates are random self-established cultures. Comprehensive knowledge about the microbial interactions of the anaerobic microbiome is needed for valorization and remediation of biowastes. The overall aim of ANAEROB is to understand how to create “designer microbial consortia” for specific bioengineering processes based on genetic information of anaerobic microorganisms. The aim will be achieved by: 1. Elucidating the syntrophic mutualistic symbioses of the anaerobic microbiome, and clarifying the role of specific compounds exchanged by microbes; 2. Developing models for prediction of desired pathways; 3. Developing methods for isolation of new unculturable anaerobes; 4. Developing a novel method for designing and establishing microbial “cocktails” for specific functions and 5. Validating the concept of creating specific anaerobic consortia for upcycling gas streams of carbon-intensive industries. ANAEROB takes a multidisciplinary approach to use both engineering and microbiology to reach at the next level of understanding for exploitation of the anaerobic microbial “treasure”. The project’s successful completion will have major benefits in industrial sectors and environmental applications.

Mots-clés : anaerobic,syntrophic,microbial consortia,mixed culture fermentation,waste valorisation
Projet ERC : GrInSun (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems E ngineering
Entité participante : Université de Vérone — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2418313.0 €

Life on earth feeds on photons. Photosynthesis in green algae and land plants has been the world’s most successful biological process and has conquered the most diverse environments. Photosynthetic reaction centres are extremely well conserved, an unlikely basis for the ability to adapt. Antenna systems are widely diversified and yet only the Light-Harvesting Complexes (LHCs) have been selected for growth in the land environment. The distinctive property of GreenCut organisms lies in their light-harvesting mechanisms, which ensure efficient photon harvesting and photoprotection. Despite being the most abundant membrane proteins on earth, binding most of chlorophyll that makes the planet green, the secrets of LHCs are still concealed because we lack experimental systems that make possible the reverse and forward genetic analysis of LHCII proteins. Indeed, the clustered-genes encoding LHCII has resisted targeting by classic genetics. I propose an in-depth analysis of LHCII proteins in algae and plants by deploying a new technology that we have developed with our experience in studying LHCs. Firstly, we deleted all genes-encoding LHCII in model species of both land plants and green algae by genome editing and complemented plant ΔLHCII lines with site-directed, mutated sequences, demonstrating that reverse genetics can reveal the domains involved in the regulation of photon harvesting, photoprotection and growth. Secondly, forward genetics, on the other hand, will enable the identification of protein determinants by selecting specific phenotypes on complementing mixotrophic algal ΔLHCII lines with randomly mutagenized sequences. This will lead to a map of structures and functions that identifies the specific biological role of each component of the antenna system in vivo and in vitro. The project’s outcome will be the ability to design in a rational way the light-harvesting systems of plants and algae in the context of sustainable agriculture and bio-industry.

Mots-clés : photosynthesis,photoprotection,light harvesting,light energy,global change