Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : CLIMB (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Entité participante : Université de Barcelone — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1622273.0 €

The Standard Model (SM) of particle physics is one of the most complete theories in science with a hugely successful predicting power. However, it is unable to explain critical observed phenomena, such as the dominance of matter over antimatter in the universe, and thus needs to be extended. Rare decays of b quarks to an s quark and two leptons (b to sll) are very sensitive to the existence of New Physics (NP). Recent measurements of their properties show intriguing deviations with respect to SM predictions that could be the first clear hint of NP in decades. In this project, I will explore the related and even more suppressed b-quark decays to a d quark and two leptons (b to dll), which are so far poorly known and will shed light on the type on NP that could explain the observed discrepancies. For this purpose, my team will develop innovative analysis tools and exploit the uniquely large sample of b hadrons from the LHCb experiment.  The CLIMB project will address two specific questions: are the deviations observed in b to sll decays also present in b to dll transitions? Are there new sources of matter-antimatter asymmetry beyond the SM in b to dll processes? The first will be addressed by measuring differential decay probabilities and lepton universality ratios in b to dll decays for the first time. In the SM, these transitions are related by the quark-mixing matrix, the hierarchy of which is not fully understood. NP models aim to provide an explanation for the structure observed in nature. Knowing the properties of b to dll decays precisely is a critical input in this endeavour. The second question will be answered by measuring matter-antimatter asymmetries in b to dll decays with unprecedented precision, providing very strong constraints to NP models predicting an enhanced quantity. The main challenge of this programme lies in the study of very suppressed decays. Innovative reconstruction and selection techniques will be developed to access them.

Mots-clés : flavour physics,b hadron physics,electro weak interaction,lepton universality,reconstruction and trigger techniques
Projet ERC : DE-CRIPT (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Studies of Cultures and Arts
Entité participante : Université de Barcelone — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1492305.0 €

In today’s age of post-normal science and fragmentation of the public sphere, truth itself has become an increasingly contentious and contested concept. De-CRIPT will introduce theoretical and methodological innovations into research on truth-making processes to expand current understandings of the nexus between controversial truth claims (particularly those labelled conspiracy narratives) and socioeconomic disadvantage. Comparing four paradigmatic communities subject to longstanding or newly-emerging processes of downwards social mobility across four different countries of Western Europe, the project seeks to understand: - the conflicts between mainstream and conspiracist discourses in the online sphere and in everyday offline interactions; - the conditions that make controversial truth claims acceptable or appealing among disadvantaged groups; - connections and disconnections between the communicative intentions of the main creators and propagators of controversial truth claims online, on the one side, and the pragmatic uses of the same claims by ordinary social actors in everyday life, on the other. Theoretically, De-CRIPT will introduce into research on truth-making processes: 1) the philosophical tradition of pragmatism (with its linguistic and sociological legacies) in order to focus on social actors’ pragmatic uses of truth claims to justify their practices and/or produce specific effects, and 2) a feminist epistemological lens, which examines processes of knowledge production and circulation by paying attention to different forms of oppression, in order to expand current understandings of the conditions of acceptability of controversial truth claims among low-status groups. Methodologically, it will encompass both conspiracy narratives and the narratives opposing them, across both digital and non-digital environments, by combining critical discourse analysis of online sources and feminist ethnography.

Mots-clés : conspiracy theories social inequalities social conflicts feminist epistemology speech acts practice theory
Projet ERC : STOIKOS (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Entité participante : Université de Barcelone — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 94300.0 €

Life on Earth, as we have known it for millennia, is at stake. Human activities are putting all kinds of ecosystems under increased stress because of land-use change and the alteration of the biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and carbon (C), thus inducing climate warming. Functionally diverse ecosystems are more productive and stable than less diverse ones, and biogeochemical changes affect both biodiversity and the elemental composition of organisms (their elementome), changing how they and their ecosystems function. It is, therefore, imperative to provide evidence about how the interactions between elementomes, biodiversity, and climate drive ecosystem functioning if we are to avoid the serious threat of reducing essential resources for life within the context of global change. STOIKOS will achieve an in-depth understanding of the interaction between elementomes and biodiversity in determining ecosystem functioning by introducing the concept of elemental diversity, and moving functional ecology from using functional traits to elementomes, an easy and universal way to compare all sort of organisms. STOIKOS will particularly test the hypothesis that community-weighted elementomes and elemental diversity explain ecosystem functioning better than functional traits and their diversity. STOIKOS will integrate data from observations (field campaigns), long-term monitoring sites, microcosm experiments and theoretical modelling to provide synergies amongst their outputs to build the foundations of an elemental-based ecology. This will allow STOIKOS’ hypotheses to be tested at the individual, species and community/ecosystem scales using new and game-changing methodologies and study systems. The cutting-edge science of STOIKOS will not only provide the foundations of an elemental-based ecology, but will also deliver new ecological theory and methodological tools that will help us predict the future of ecosystems and assess the fragility of our biosphere.

Mots-clés : macronutrients,trace elements,competition,niche partitioning,ecosystem functioning
Projet ERC : PHAGECONTROL (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Entité participante : Université de Ljubljana — Pays : Slovénie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2255511.0 €

The idea of parasite manipulation is well known in animal behaviour, with famous examples like the cordyceps ?zombie? fungus of ants. Yet, the most abundant and diverse parasites on earth do not target animals but rather bacteria. They are the bacteriophages, or phages. My hypothesis is that it is in phages that we will find the most important examples of parasite manipulation, examples that will help us both understand and control bacteria, and their impacts. I will focus on the recently-discovered Regulatory Switch (RS) phage, which reversibly excise and reintegrate into the bacterial chromosome to shift the host between different physiological states. I, and others, have shown that RS phages influence a wide variety of bacterial traits including sporulation, biofilm formation, mutation rates or bacteriocin production. However, we do not understand when, how or why these viruses cause such large changes to bacterial behavior. The goal of my project, therefore, is to understand how and why RS phage evolve as a new candidate model of parasite manipulation. Specifcally, I will answer: 1) When and how do RS phages alter host behavior? 2) What is the molecular basis for the effects of RS phage? 3) Why have RS phage evoved to change bacterial behaviours, and is there evidence of counter strategies in their bacterial hosts? I will work with the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, which is strongly affected by RS phage and a model organism, allowing me to employ the very latest molecular methods. My goal is to demonstrate that parasite manipulation is a major factor in the ecology and evolution of bacteria, whereby many bacteria are essentially puppets of their phage masters. Understanding how phage achieve this manipulation also has the potential for broad impacts in an era when the need to find new ways to control bacteria becomes ever greater.

Mots-clés : prophage,regulatory switch,imaging,transmission,experimental evolution
Projet ERC : QEAST (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Studies of Cultures and Arts
Entité participante : Université de Ljubljana — Pays : Slovénie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499500.0 €

In the In the 21st century, a new wave of anti-LGBT+ sentiments have emerged in global and local politics, often framing queerness as newly invented and imported from outside the local borders. Challenging this erasure from collective memory are queer memory activists and grassroot infrastructures such as archives and cultural festivals, which store, curate and circulate queer memories and resist heteronormative histories. Research into memory activism’s role in (re)imagining local and transnational pasts and futures has become a focal point of queer archival turn two decades ago. However, histories, memories, and meanings of queerness outside the global West are still chronically underexplored. QEAST fills this research gap by engaging with queer memories from the Southeastern and Eastern Europe (SEEE), a site of both anti-LGBT+ backlash and vibrant queer memory activism. Using tools from queer, memory, and festival studies and ethnography, QEAST zooms in on the SEEE’s grassroot past and current memory stakeholders, archives, and cultural festivals to O1) build a digital database of regional stakeholders and memory activism strategies; O2) map and analyse the mnemonic strategies of memory pioneers during socialism, how these efforts are historicized, preserved, and inherited; O3) develop a conceptual grid for understanding the dynamic of transcultural queer memory and queer theory travel, adopting globalized terms and narratives as well as original production, decolonization, and localization processes in the SEEE. By exploring how queer memory stakeholders preserve, produce, curate, and circulate queer memories, QEAST will deepen the understanding of queer memory’s role in community-building and challenging dominant local and global historical narratives. Ultimately, QEAST aims to decolonize Western-centric queer frameworks by uncovering alternative SEEE queer genealogies, providing insights for future research on queer memory activism in other peripheral regions.

Mots-clés : queer memory,memory activism,queer grassroot archives,queer cultural festivals,southeastern europe,eastern europe
Projet ERC : TAMP (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Texts and Concepts
Entité participante : Université de Barcelone — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1487023.75 €

While it is sometimes suggested that we are living in a 'post-truth' age wherein the concept of truth is increasingly less relevant, truth nonetheless remains a central concept in science, ethics, and ordinary life. However, what precisely is truth? One common view, the so-called 'correspondence theory of truth', maintains that truth is simply correspondence with the facts. However, such a view faces a number of difficulties and potential objections. For instance, what exactly is correspondence? And what exactly are facts? Moreover, if truth is simply correspondence then why it is the case that correspondence comes in degrees whereas truth is usually agreed not to? And how should we deal with certain semantic paradoxes, such as liar paradoxes, which suggest that our conceptions of truth are internally inconsistent? The notion that truth consists in correspondence goes back to antiquity and the Middle Ages. However, although past philosophers discussed the nature of truth in significant detail and with considerable philosophical sophistication, our understanding of past theories of truth is surprisingly limited and we lack a clear idea of how notions of truth developed in later antiquity or in the Arabic and Latin medieval traditions. This project will offer the first focused and systematic examination of philosophical conceptions of truth in ancient and medieval philosophy. It will examine the origins, motivations, and challenges faced by conceptions of truth in this period and how these challenges led to the development of alternative theories of truth. By holistically examining both 'major' and 'minor' figures and texts in this period and combining metaphysical approaches to truth with logical and semantic approaches, this project will offer us a better understanding of a central philosophical issue across the Greek, Arabic, and Latin traditions and greater insight into an extremely rich but often neglected period of philosophy.

Mots-clés : correspondence theory of truth greco roman philosophy arabic philosophy medieval latin philosophy metaphysics philosophy of language logic semantics
Projet ERC : SingSymp (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
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 : 1474995.0 €

Symplectic topology is a central part of modern geometry, with historical roots in classical mechanics. Symplectic structures also arise naturally in low-dimensional topology, in representation theory, in the study of moduli spaces of algebraic varieties, and in quantum mechanics. A fundamental question is to understand the automorphisms of a symplectic manifold. The most natural ones are symplectomorphisms, i.e., diffeomorphisms preserving the symplectic structure. I propose to study structural properties of their group of isotopy classes, called the symplectic mapping class group (SMCG).  In dimension two, the SMCG agrees with the classical mapping class group; in higher dimensions, our understanding is very sparce. I propose to systematically study SMCGs for the family that I believe to be the key `building blocks? for developing a general theory: smoothings (i.e., Milnor fibres) of isolated singularities. I first propose to give complete descriptions of categorical analogues of SMCGs for two major, complementary families:  - Milnor fibres of simple elliptic and cusp singularities (Project 1);  - Stein varieties associated to two-variable singularities and quivers (Project 2). These capture two different generation paradigms: one where the classical story generalises, and one for which it systematically breaks. This will inform Project 3, in which I propose to describe the categorical SMCGs of `universal Milnor fibres', introduced here. Progress on these projects will also bring questions about the dynamics of SMCGs within reach for the first time; Project 4 will study these applications. The proposed constructions combine insights from different viewpoints on mirror symmetry with ideas from representation theory and singularity theory, and I also plan to apply symplectic ideas to answer classical questions in singularity theory. Beyond this, the proposal borrows ideas from, inter alia, geometric group theory, algebraic geometry, and homological stability.

Mots-clés : symplectic manifolds homological mirror symmetry symplectic automorphisms mapping class groups stability conditions fukaya categories isolated singularities discriminant complements
Projet ERC : CLASS-UP (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Study of the Human Past
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 : 1498897.0 €

CLASS-UP proposes a qualitative comparative study of upward mobility (UM) under socialism, comparing Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia. UM was a crucial social battleground in postwar Europe. Yet, we don’t understand how UM worked in socialist states, which differed from the West because of the historical post-feudal and post-imperial trajectory, the upheaval of WWII, and the geopolitical changes after 1945. The latter resulted in a dramatic redistribution of welfare and socialist visions of UM which promised the collective advancement of the working classes and a new egalitarian society. First, (RQ1) how was UM defined, and what were its indicators? How was it presented in official discourses and the press, and how did these shape people’s horizons of expectations? CLASS-UP traces diverse layers of social reality to propose a socialist understanding of UM. It also critically revises sociological research from the period, which diagnosed and defined UM. After building context and a localized understanding of UM, CLASS-UP examines (RQ2) how UM shaped biographies and family histories. An innovative method of intergenerational class biographies follows advancing citizens and traces transfers of social, cultural, economic, and political privileges, along with the costs of mobility over generations. While new divisions based on welfare stratification, politics, and education shaped postwar socialist societies, persistent prewar distinctions remained: advancement and reproduction collided. Sensitive to gender, rural-urban divide, and ethnic diversity, CLASS-UP also includes provincial socialism, moving beyond the industrial hubs and cities. It reexamines postwar history focusing on those who experienced UM thanks to authoritarian regimes. With most of today’s population coming from the working classes, the story of UM is the story of most of us.

Mots-clés : upward mobility,socialism,eastern europe
Projet ERC : GalFlow (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe Sciences
Entité participante : Université de l'Insubrie — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499281.0 €

Gas accreting onto supermassive black holes that sit at the centres of galaxies fuels the most powerful engines in the universe, Active Galactic Nuclei, shaping the formation and evolution of their host galaxies. Yet, we have a poor understanding of how the gas is transported from typical galactic radii, R=several kpc, down to the area of influence of the black holes, less than a few pc. The centre of the Milky Way can be studied in much greater detail than any other galactic nucleus and is a Rosetta Stone to understand the physical processes that occur in all galaxies. Interstellar gas is transported from the Galactic Disc down to the central black hole SgrA* through a sequence of steps. The Galactic Bar performs the first step by efficiently transporting gas from the Disc (R=3kpc) down to the ring-like accumulation of gas known as the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) at R=120pc. In the last few years I have led major theoretical efforts to understand and quantify this first step. However, these efforts have also demonstrated that the bar is ineffective in driving the gas further inwards. A long-standing question is how the gas continues from the CMZ to SgrA*. For the first time we have the possibility to answer this question thanks to new datasets and advances in numerical simulations. I propose here an unprecedented effort to solve this important problem through a unified analysis of all the relevant physical processes based on novel data and methodologies. I will combine recent and upcoming high-resolution astrometric and spectroscopic data with advanced stellar dynamical models to constrain the gravitational potential in the Galactic centre (GC). I will then use this potential to run cutting-edge numerical simulations to systematically quantify the contribution of all the mechanisms that can drive inward mass transport. This will solve the problem of the inward mass transport in the GC and will give us fundamental insights that can be applied to all galaxies.
Projet ERC : REFINE2LASE (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : Université de Palerme — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1984992.0 €

Materials discovery is a central theme in science. The right material may solve grand challenges such as the energy problem or the colonization of other planets. Often this discovery of a new material occurs when scientists find conditions to stabilize new structural arrangements at the nano- or mesoscale. One versatile approach relies on artificial building blocks known as nanocrystals (NCs). NCs are nanometer-scale atomic crystals with size-tunable physical properties. Their hierarchical assembly into crystalline lattices, superlattices, has the potential to integrate orthogonal physical properties, such as photoluminescence and magnetism, unlocking a vast and unexplored design space for multifunctional materials.  So far, significant advances in this direction have been hindered by the inherent distribution in size and shape of NCs, polydispersity. The polydispersity of as-synthesized NCs frustrates superlattice formation and affects the performance of the resulting optoelectronic devices, such as lasers. All previous efforts to optimize synthetic protocols have been unable to eliminate NC polydispersity. As a result, modern NC ensembles still show restrictive levels of polydispersity exceeding 10%: A radically different strategy is needed to obtain monodisperse NCs. Here, I propose to develop a universal thermal refinement strategy to reduce the polydispersity of NC ensembles, resulting in the separation and exploitation of monodisperse NCs.  The proposed NC refinement strategy relies on a crystallization process engineered to isolate a single NC size from a polydisperse ensemble. My experience in nanoscience will allow me to reach a profound understanding of NC refinement by establishing a robust link between experiments and simulations. I will exploit the superior optical properties of refined NCs to build a new device concept based on the reinforcing optical feedback between colloidal microlasers with sub-mJ lasing thresholds and single-mode operation

Mots-clés : colloidal nanocrystals,crystallization,x ray scattering,self assembly,lasing,microresonators,photonics,metamaterials,in situ,in operando