Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : BOOST (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : Polytechnic University of Turin — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1977500.0 €

One out of 5 people in their fifties will experience a bone fracture due to osteoporosis (OP)-induced fragility in their lifetime. The OP socio-economic burden is dramatic and involves tens of millions of people in the EU, with a steadily increasing number due to population ageing. Current treatments entail drug-therapy coupled with a healthy lifestyle but OP fractures need mechanical fixation to rapidly achieve union: the contribution of biomaterial scientists in this field is still far from taking its expected leading role in cutting-edge research. Bone remodelling is a well-coordinated process of bone resorption by osteoclasts followed by the production of new bone by osteoblasts. This process occurs continuously throughout life in a coupling with a positive balance during growth and negative with ageing, which can result in OP. We believe that an architecture driven stimulation of the osteoclast/osteoblast coupling, with an avant-garde focus on osteoclasts activity, is the key to success in treating unbalanced bone remodelling. We aim to manufacture a scaffold that mimics healthy bone features which will establish a new microenvironment favoring a properly stimulated and active population of osteoclasts and osteoblasts, i.e. a well-balanced bone cooperation. After 5 years we will be able to prove the efficacy of this approach. A benchmark will be set up for OP fracture treatment and for the realization of smart bone substitutes that will be able to locally “trick” aged bone cells stimulating them to act as healthy ones. BOOST results will have an unprecedented impact on the scientific research community, opening a new approach to set up smart, biomimetic strategies to treat aged, unbalanced bone tissues and to reduce OP-associated disabilities and financial burdens.

Mots-clés : scaffold,mesoporous glasses,additive manufacturing,bone mimicking,osteoporosis
Projet ERC : OptnanoATcryo (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and communication engineering
Entité participante : Delft University of Technology — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TU Delft
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1911792.5 €

Optical nanoscopy is a powerful technique used in biology to study subcellular structures and function via specifically targeted fluorescent labels. Localization microscopy in particular offers a much better resolution (~10-50 nm) than conventional microscopy (~250 nm) while being relatively undemanding on the experimental setup and the subsequent image analysis. The next revolution in imaging to 1 nm isotropic resolution in 3D must realize a big increase in the number of collected photons from single fluorescent emitters as well as in the labelling density. Only then can subcellular structures be imaged at the molecular level to study the molecular machinery of the cell. Notably observations of DNA conformation in 3D at such resolutions would be spectacular and enable investigation of biophysical models ranging from chromosomal DNA packaging to gene regulation. I propose a new imaging technique based on fluorescence control at cryogenic temperatures in combination with novel data driven super-resolution reconstruction schemes employing prior knowledge that promises this unprecedented optical far-field resolution. I introduce a twofold technical leap by i) much higher photon counts due to negligible photobleaching at cryogenic temperatures while maintaining the sparsity required for single emitter localization and ii) relaxing the required labelling density using a priori information and the averaging of many identical entities. Orientational blinking ensures single emitter localization via a combination of polarization sensitive excitation, detection and stimulated depletion and triplet state shelving. Biophysical models of cell structures and data driven priors mean that fewer samples are needed to fully describe a structure. In a larger perspective, the outcome of this research will enable the combination of structural cryo-electron microscopy imaging at subnanometer resolutions with functional fluorescent imaging at the nanometer scale.

Mots-clés : incomplete data reconstruction,prior knowledge driven image processing,localization precision,3d isotropic resolution,polarization control,cryo fluorescence,super resolution microscopy
Projet ERC : RYD-QNLO (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : University of Bonn — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1201461.0 €

Optical photons, for all practical purposes, do not interact. This fundamental property of light forms the basis of modern optics and enables a multitude of technical applications in our every-day life, such as all-optical communication and microscopy. On the other hand, an engineered interaction between individual photons would allow the creation and control of light photon by photon, providing fundamental insights into the quantum nature of light and allowing us to harness non-classical states of light as resource for future technology. Mapping the strong interaction between Rydberg atoms onto individual photons has emerged as a highly promising approach towards this ambitious goal. In this project, we will advance and significantly broaden the research field of Rydberg quantum optics to develop new tools for realizing strongly correlated quantum many-body states of photons. Building on our successful work over recent years, we will greatly expand our control over Rydberg slow-light polaritons to implement mesoscopic systems of strongly interacting photons in an ultracold ytterbium gas. In parallel, we will explore a new approach to strong light-matter coupling, utilizing Rydberg superatoms made out of thousands of individual atoms, strongly coupled to a propagating light mode. This free-space QED system enables strong coupling between single photons and single artificial atoms in the optical domain without any confining structures for the light. Finally, we will experimentally realize a novel quantum hybrid system exploiting the strong electric coupling between single Rydberg atoms and piezo-electric micro-mechanical oscillators. Building on this unique coupling scheme, we will explore Rydberg-mediated cooling of a mechanical system and dissipative preparation of non-classical phonon states. The three complementary parts ultimately unite into a powerful Rydberg quantum optics toolbox which will provide unprecedented control over single photons and single phonons.
Projet ERC : open-TOP (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and communication engineering
Entité participante : University of Twente — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Organ-on-Chips, and more general microphysiological systems, are believed to revolutionize the way we develop drugs or select personalized therapies. Recapitulating human response both from healthy and diseased individuals potentially even enables ‘clinical trials in-a-dish’. While research in this field is thriving and commercial start-ups have been founded, adoption from end users is staying behind due to a number of reasons: i) lack of standardization making chips not compatible with each other, ii) lack of automation which limits the throughput and user-friendliness of the systems and iii) lack of support for sensor integration. The Twente Organ-on-Chip Platform (TOP) is designed to overcome these hurdles and has been developed for internal use during the ERC project VESCEL. During interaction with other researchers and companies within the Organ-on-Chip field they expressed their interest in a more standardized, automated platform that also supports sensor integration. Since it would require a number of steps for them to be able to use the platform in their existing environment we here suggest the ‘open-TOP’ ERC Proof of Concept project where we aim to commercialize the application of the Twente Organ-on-Chip Platform (TOP) and facilitate end users to use TOP in real world contexts. To reach this objective we need to develop a robust interconnect, validate and identify difficulties in making a third party chip TOP-compatible, validate the use of TOP for a biological experiment and finally determine the commercialization strategy for TOP. We believe TOP can help more end users to adopt Organ-on-Chip as a technology in their lab because in contrast to current setups, the open technology of TOP supports chips from third parties are inter compatible, multiplexable and controlled automatically. If ‘open-TOP’ is granted, TOP will be the standardized Organ-on-Chip infrastructure allowing users to stop worrying about control systems and only focus on chips and biology.

Mots-clés : organ on chip,standardization,platform technology,automation
Projet ERC : B-Brighter (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : University of Manchester — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149662.0 €

Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) are attractive for use in high efficiency illumination and flexible displays. The current state of the art OLED materials use Ir or Pt based phosphorescent materials, which whilst achieving impressive efficiencies have significant cost, and supply issues associated with rare precious metals. Metal free OLEDs are preferable based on low relative cost and ease of fabrication but to date have not been competitive with Ir / Pt based OLEDs. This is because metal free OLEDs have relatively low efficiency as light emission is due to fluorescence inherently limiting the systems to 25% of excitons. A new approach has now enabled metal free OLEDs to break this efficiency barrier – using the phenomena of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). However, TADF emitters in the deep red / Near infra red (NIR) region of the spectra (desired for applications in optical communications, night vision devices and sensors) are rare and currently sub-optimal. ERC funded research led us to discover a new methodology for forming fused pi conjugated materials that possess desirable properties for OLEDs this includes small band gaps, excellent emission in the deep red and NIR-region of the spectra and good stability. Whilst these materials exhibit excellent solid state photoluminescence quantum yields for emitters in the deep red and NIR region of the spectra their performance in OLED devices was only moderate. This is due to the absence of TADF in the materials studied to date. This work program will modify our current materials to maintain the desirable properties but to incorporate moieties that switch on TADF. Materials will be selected based on calculations (of relative S1/T1 energies), synthesised and assessed for TADF (lifetimes / effect of O2 etc.), with best in class used to fabricate OLED devices. This will lead to increases in OLED device efficiency hopefully to a level that is commercially viable.

Mots-clés : oleds,thermally activated delayed fluorescence,borylation,fused materials
Projet ERC : LAB-TECH (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Spanish National Research Council — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CSIC
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149999.0 €

Organic-based devices have recently emerged in the market beginning to replace amorphous silicon in some applications, and also with great perspectives to find their place in a wide range of new applications that require low cost, flexibility and large area coverage. However, high and long-term performing organic semiconductors compatible with cheap solution-processed techniques are scare and thus, the achievement of processability and stability in organic devices is still a current challenge that must be overcome. Researchers from the ERC project e-GAMES, following one of its milestones towards the final fabrication of organic devices for sensing applications in water, have successfully developed a novel organic semiconductor deposition technique, namely Bar-Assisted Meniscus Shearing (BAMS), that leads to materials with unique properties for the fabrication of highly performing organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). Under the framework of LAB-TECH, the potential exploitation of this innovative technology by means of the technological validation of the up-scaling process of BAMS will be analysed. Additionally, an in depth study of the different market niches, financial needs, and stakeholders required for its commercialization will be taken into account on a dedicated business plan.

Mots-clés : organic field effect transistors,up scaling,production technology,organic semiconductors,blends
Projet ERC : BioSilica (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Weizmann Institute of Science — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Organisms evolved the ability to form a magnificent array of functional materials, which surpass any man-made product. A prominent example is diatoms, marine microalgae that form an intricate cell-wall made of meso-porous silica. Diatom silica is a tough, hierarchically built, and biocompatible material that is environmentally friendly and cheap, making it an exciting target for nanotechnology. Nevertheless, the principles of this regulated formation mechanism remain elusive. A persistent obstacle for elucidating biomineralization processes is the inaccessibility of the cellular environment for structural and chemical investigations. Recently, far-reaching developments in electron microscopy have revolutionized our abilities to investigate chemical processes inside living organisms. It is now becoming feasible to image and analyze, with nanometer-scale resolution, an intracellular mineralization process. This proposal aims to elucidate the intracellular mechanism of silica formation by diatoms. We will study cells undergoing the silicification process in situ, using a suite of state-of-the-art electron and X-ray imaging and spectroscopy tools. The combination of structural and chemical data will enable us to elucidate: 1) The concentration and stabilization mechanism of transient Si phases in the cell. 2) The nanoscale environment in which silica condensation takes place. 3) Genetic and environmental strategies to engineer the silicification process for designed outcomes. Diatom silica is a promising material for applications such as photonics, pharmaceuticals, and catalysis, which require hierarchical, high-surface area, nano-materials. The achievements of this project will inspire synthetic methodologies to produce and design nano-patterned silica, and genetically-engineer the biological silicification process to produce custom-made materials.

Mots-clés : diatom,silica,cryoem,biomineralization,electron tomography,biosilicification,morphogenesis
Projet ERC : SIMBIONT (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems
Entité participante : Centre for Genomic Regulation — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : CRG;CRG-CERCA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 582251.18 €

Organogensis is the process by which multiple different cell types grow, differentiate and interact with each other (both molecularly and physically) to create large complex structures with integrated functions, such as the heart, brain or limb. Understanding this process has enormous potential impact, both scientifically and medically. The SIMBIONT project represents both a grand technical challenge, and a fundamental scientific question. The grand technical challenge is to build the first ever multi-scale computer model of mammalian organogenesis, specifically limb development. This purpose of the model is to help us address the deep scientific question: How are the complex interactions at multiple scales (genes, molecules, cells and tissues) coordinated so as to build a carefully constructed 3D organ? So far, computer modelling has helped to understand some of the pieces of this puzzle, eg. morphogen gradients, or control of tissue growth. However, putting multiple pieces together into a single multi-scale simulation remains a challenge. We will use the latest state-of-the-art quantitative data-generation techniques (including Tomo-Seq and OPTiSPIM), to gather 3D data at multiple levels: gene expression patterns, cell signaling, cellular growth rates, intercalation patterns, and global tissue movements. In parallel we will develop a new multi-scale modeling framework which can integrate this quantitative data, to simulate both the molecular patterning and the mechanical growth of the developing limb bud. Doing so will allow us to ask new systems-level questions about (i) the molecular control of organ shape, (ii) coordination of patterning and growth, and (iii) the multi-scale robustness of the system. We will test the key predictions of the model experimentally (both with mouse mutants, and in vitro perturbations). SIMBIONT will serve as an example for modeling other complex multicellular processes in the future, eg. tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Mots-clés : multiscale modelling,gene regulatory network,organogensis,dynamic modelling,morphogenesis,spatial transcriptomics,limb develoment,finite element modelling
Projet ERC : MechAGE (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ETH Zurich
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2500000.0 €

Osteoporosis, one of the most prevalent degenerative diseases, is characterized by a reduction in bone mass and increased fracture risk and has been partly attributed to the decrease in mechanical usage of the skeleton. A detailed understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing load-regulated bone remodeling could therefore lead to the identification of molecular targets for the development of novel therapies. Bone remodeling is a multiscale process mediated through complex interactions between multiple cell types and their local 3D environments. However, the underlying mechanisms of how cells respond to mechanical signals are still unclear. By combining single-cell “omics” technologies with well-established tissue-scale models of bone mechanobiology, MechAGE proposes to develop the technology required to allow spatially resolved in vivo single-cell mechanomics of bone adaptation and regeneration. CRISPR/Cas technology will be exploited to generate fluorescent reporter mice to identify the different cell types involved in the bone remodeling process. By combining RNA-sequencing of single cells isolated by laser-capture microdissection with micro-finite element analysis and time-lapsed in vivo micro-CT, MechAGE will link the transcriptome of hundreds of single cells to their local mechanical in vivo environment (LivE). This will allow investigation of molecular responses of the cells to LivE changes with aging in established mouse models of bone adaptation and regeneration. In addition to in vivo mechanomics, MechAGE proposes to use cellular and multiscale computational modeling to run in silico simulations of real-world events for better understanding of diseases of aging in mice and to maximize the use of the high quality in vivo mechanomic data. Findings from MechAGE will lead to a systems level understanding of the spatio-temporal regulation of gene expression during the process of load-induced bone adaptation and regeneration in the aging mouse.

Mots-clés : bone,osteoporosis,fracture,mechanobiology,biomechanics,tissue engineering,regenerative medicine,omics,micro computed tomography,imaging,computational modeling,cell,adaptation,regeneration
Projet ERC : MicroBone (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : University of Aveiro — Pays : Portugal — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Osteosarcoma is a rare but devastating bone tumour that mainly affects children, adolescents and elderly. This type of tumour is very resistant to therapy, being thus urgent to find new effective treatments. In vitro tumour models can recapitulate many aspects of the natural tumour environment, and could be used to improve the predictive value of the effect of anticancer drug candidates. The aim of MicroBone is the development of biological relevant spherical-based 3D disease models that could be used as an enabling tool for personalized and precision drug discovery, increasing our understanding of the mechanisms behind bone cancer and testing new drug-based therapies.

Mots-clés : disease models,hydrogels,encapsulation technology,cancer,business plan
Projet ERC : DELPHI (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : University of Groningen — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : RUG
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Our Universe started as a dark featureless sea of hydrogen, helium, and dark matter of unknown composition about 13 and a half billion years ago. The earliest galaxies lit up the Universe with pinpricks of light, ushering in the era of ‘cosmic dawn’. These galaxies represent the primary building blocks of all subsequent galaxies and the sources of the first (hydrogen ionizing) photons that could break apart the hydrogen atoms suffusing all of space starting the process of ‘cosmic reionization’. By virtue of being the smallest bound structures in the early Universe, these galaxies also provide an excellent testbed for models wherein Dark Matter is composed of warm, fast moving particles as opposed to the sluggish heavy particles used in the standard Cold Dark Matter paradigm. Exploiting the power of the latest cosmological simulations as well as semi-analytic modelling rooted in first principles, DELPHI will build a coherent and predictive model to answer three of the key outstanding questions in physical cosmology: - how did the interlinked processes of galaxy formation and reionization drive each other? - what were the physical properties of early galaxies and how have they evolved through time to give rise to the galaxy properties we see today? - what is the nature (mass) of the mysterious Dark Matter that makes up 80% of the matter content in the Universe? The timescale of the ERC represents an excellent opportunity for progress on these fundamental questions: observations with cutting-edge instruments (e.g. the Hubble and Subaru telescopes) are providing the first tantalising glimpses of early galaxies assembling in an infant Universe, required to pin down theoretical models. The realistic results obtained by DELPHI will also be vital in determining survey strategies and exploiting synergies between forthcoming key state-of-the-art instruments such as the European-Extremely Large Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope and the Square Kilometre Array.