Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : GeoLocLang (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
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 : 1301863.0 €

I formulated recently a conjecture that should allow to geometrize the local Langlands correspondence over a non-archimedean local field. This mixes p-adic Hodge theory, the geometric Langlands program and the classical local Langlands correspondence. This conjecture says that given a discrete local Langlands parameter of a reductive group over a local field of equal or unequal characteristic, one should be able to construct a perverse Hecke eigensheaf on the stack of G-bundles on the "curve" I defined and studied in my joint work with Fontaine. I propose to construct, study and establish the basic properties of the geometric objects involved in this conjecture, this stack of G-bundles being a "perfectoid stacks" in the framework of Scholze theory of perfectoid spaces. At the same time I propose to establish the first steps in the proof of this conjecture, study particular cases in more details and explore consequences of this conjecture.
Projet ERC : HISTROOTS (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Individuals, Markets and Organisations
Entité participante : Pompeu Fabra University — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UPF
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1699664.0 €

I plan to study the effect of history on conflict and economic development with two historical microscopes. Following the lead of the new institutional economics, part of the literature argues that institutions cause differences in productivity and factor endowments which, in turn, explain economic development. An alternative view assumes that human capital shapes institutional changes and, therefore, institutions are endogenous. In the first part of the project, which is the core of the research proposal, I will try to move one step further in this debate by taking an approach that uses administrative data on the first colonizers of Latin America. The data contain some personal characteristics on each of the settlers from 1492 to 1599 (town of origin in Spain, occupation, education, city of arrival in the Americas, etc). Using within-country analysis, since we have information on the precise destinations of the first “pobladores” (settlers), and the different institutional set-ups during the first years of colonization for different geographical areas in Latin America, I will reexamine the issue of institutions versus human capital in the explanation of economic development and conflict. The institutions in the initial times of colonization were not the same in all the regions of Latin America and, in many cases, represented an evolution of pre-Colombian institutions. The new data allows also the analysis of the interaction between human capital and institutions in the initial times. In addition the migrations and the evolution of institutions during the first century of colonization provide also some guidance for the research on the sources of institutional persistence. In the second part I plan to go further back in time to understand how very old conflicts influence current conflict. I will construct a dataset with the location of old conflicts using archaeological evidence to analyze the dynamics of conflict by regions in the very long run.

Mots-clés : historical roots,colonization,conflict,human capital and institutions
Projet ERC : GUPPYSEX (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : University of Exeter — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 619627.5 €

I propose an integrated programme of molecular genetic studies to fill fundamental gaps in our knowledge of sex chromosome evolution. Specifically, I will use a fish, the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), to test the sexual antagonism (SA) hypothesis of sex chromosome evolution, which is plausible, but lacks direct evidence. SA mutations (that benefit one sex but lower fitness of the other) are proposed to arise in a partially sex-linked (pseudo-autosomal region, or PAR) gene, and establish polymorphisms. To reduce the conflict between the sexes, suppressed recombination between X and Y chromosomes then evolves (unless sex-specific expression evolves first). The guppy is ideal for studying this hypothesis because SA polymorphisms are well documented: male coloration phenotypes make males attractive to females, but also make them conspicuous to predators (while females gain no compensating benefit). Moreover, guppies have a recombination-suppressed sex-linked region that carries multiple coloration genes, yet is thought to have evolved recently. However, no non-Y-linked coloration factor has yet been mapped, and the genetics is complicated by modifers making some XX individuals male, and by male-specific expression of some phenotypes. I will map coloration genes and identify PAR genes using DNA-based markers to take account of these problems. I will test for the predicted lower coloration allele frequencies in natural populations with high versus low predation rates, and do population genetic analyses to test for closer linkage under high predation. I will also use X-Y sequence divergence to estimate the age of the guppy sex chromosome. The project tests predictions that emerge from well-documented differing selection regimes in natural guppy populations. I have therefore assembled a team of collaborators experienced with guppies who can provide behavioural and ecological genetic expertise to complement the strength of my own group in molecular evolutionary genetics.

Mots-clés : sex chromosomes,recombination suppression,sexual antagonism
Projet ERC : CheSSTaG (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : IBEC;IBEC-CERCA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 770912.0 €

I propose here a research program aimed to the design a completely new platform for drug delivery. I will combine our existing repertoire of molecular engineering tools based around our established approach to design responsive nanoparticles known as Polymersomes to integrate new features using clinically safe and biodegradable components that will make them super-selective and chemotactic toward glucose gradients so to deliver large therapeutic payload into the central nervous systems and the brain in particular targeting cancer cells harbouring within the healthy. We will do so by engineering components using supramolecular interaction inspired by biological complexity equipping carriers with the ability to self-propelled as a function of glucose gradient. I will complement our proposed design with advanced biological characterisation associating functional information arising form the physiological barrier to structural parameters integrated into the final carrier design.

Mots-clés : drug delivery,blood brain barriers,active colloids,multivalent targeting
Projet ERC : PANDORA (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : University of Milan — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UNIMI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1194658.0 €

I propose here a research vision that aims to revolutionise the way we cure infections caused by intracellular pathogens, with the aim to find a universal therapy to infectious diseases that will also counteract the development of drug resistance. In PANDORA, I will specifically focus on eradicating human tuberculosis, one of the worst pandemics so far. To do this, I will first probe what are the molecular ‘bar-codes’ of infected cells, namely those specific membrane proteins that cells express upon infection. I will use this to reversely engineer a repertoire of super-selective polymeric nanoparticles - known as Polymersomes - that will carry ligands to recognise, bind, and selectively attack infected cells only, while leaving non-infected cells completely untouched. Such nanocarriers will access the infected cells and locally deliver their payload, which is the core technology of the therapy. Such technology will be inspired by what nature invented: I will reproduce the binding sequence of autolisins, proteins expressed by bacteriophages that specifically bind the wall of Mycobacteria species (the agent causing tuberculosis). I will thus create fusion antibodies (Ab) characterized by (i) the binding sequence of mycobacteriophages autolisins (for selective recognising intracellular Mycobacterial wall) and (ii) an effector region promoting bacterial clearance through either the macrophage-triggered phagocytosis or an ubiquitin-proteasome system. This therapy will represent a complete revolution in the field of new antimicrobial development, as it will combine complete bacterial eradication, development of memory immunity and fight against drug resistance, the three core pillars of this project. The super-selective polymersomes carrying the Abs-based universal therapy will be combined with the development of chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR-T) against infection. These T-cells will be designed to chase and eradicate circulating infected cells in model organism.

Mots-clés : intracellular pathogens,host pathogens interactions,fight drug resistance,precise nanomedicine,human,tuberculosis
Projet ERC : ME4OER (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499980.0 €

I propose innovative strategies to elucidate and engineer the electrocatalytic mechanism of earth-abundant transition metal oxides with the aim of enhancing the low efficiency of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Mastering multi-electron reactions such as the OER is critical for the transition from dwindling fossil fuels to ecologically and economically sustainable fuels based on renewable energy. Water is the most abundant source of hydrogen bonds on earth and fuels based on these bonds have the highest energy densities, which makes water an attractive resource for sustainable fuels production. However, the production of any hydrogen-based fuel from water is currently thwarted by the low efficiency of the OER. Improved catalysts are presently designed by optimizing a single step in the reaction sequence. In contrast, I target the low efficiency of the OER by engineering multiple steps of the mechanism to (i) control the number of electron transfers before the limiting step; and (ii) enforce a reaction path close to the thermodynamic limit. Combining these two strategies increases the catalytic current of transition metal oxides at typical overpotentials by a factor of 100,000. Rational design of the mechanism on this fundamental level calls for unprecedented insight into the active state of electrocatalysts. My team will achieve this firstly by novel approaches to prepare catalytically limiting states for their elucidation by synchrotron-based X-ray spectroscopy and secondly by studying transitions between these states in pioneering time-resolved experiments. Both the required breakthroughs in method development and the innovative scientific strategies are generalizable to other multi-electron reactions, which opens the door for industrial catalysts that store energy sustainably in hydrogen-based fuels on a global scale.

Mots-clés : electrocatalysis,water splitting,water oxidation,oxygen evolution reaction,epitaxial thin films,x ray absorption spectroscopy,soft x rays,operando spectroscopy
Projet ERC : ECLAIR (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : Ministry of Transport and Communications — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : LVM
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999511.25 €

I propose to develop an innovative interdisciplinary model framework to refine the estimate of aerosol indirect effect (i.e. influence of atmospheric aerosol particles on cloud properties), which remains the single largest uncertainty in the current drivers of climate change. A major reason for this uncertainty is that current climate models are unable to resolve the spatial scales for aerosol-cloud interactions. We will resolve this scale problem by using statistical emulation to build computationally fast surrogate models (i.e. emulators) that can reproduce the effective output of a detailed high-resolution cloud-resolving model. By incorporating these emulators into a state-of-the-science climate model, we will for the first time achieve the accuracy of a limited-area high-resolution model on a global scale with negligible computational cost. The main scientific outcome of the project will be a highly refined and physically sound estimate of the aerosol indirect effect that enables more accurate projections of future climate change, and thus has high societal relevance. In addition, the developed emulators will help to quantify how the remaining uncertainties in aerosol properties propagate to predictions of aerosol indirect effect. This information will be used, together with an extensive set of remote sensing, in-situ and laboratory data from our collaborators, to improve the process-level understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions. The comprehensive uncertainty analyses performed during this project will be highly valuable for future research efforts as they point to processes and interactions that most urgently need to be experimentally constrained. Furthermore, our pioneering model framework that incorporates emulators to represent subgrid- scale processes will open up completely new research opportunities also in other fields that deal with heterogeneous spatial scales.

Mots-clés : aerosol cloud interactions,climate modelling,statistical emulation,aerosol indirect effect
Projet ERC : NanoBioNext (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : University of Gothenburg — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2500000.0 €

I propose to develop and apply state of the art analytical methods to investigate cell membrane and vesicle substructure to elucidate the chemistry of the closing regulatory phase of individual exocytosis events. The general goal of this proposal is to develop a new brand of analytical nanoelectrochemistry (nanogap and nanopore electrochemical cytometry), combined with chemical nanoscopy imaging methods with STED and nanoscale mass spectrometry imaging. I propose to apply this to the questions of the nature of exocytosis and the chemistry that initiates the process of a short-term memory. We have recently discovered that most neurotransmitter release is partial via an open and closed vesicle release process and this allows new mechanisms of plasticity and synaptic strength to be hypothesized. I propose to (i) test if partial release is ubiquitous phenomenon, (ii) develop new nanoscale analytical methods to measure exocytotic release from pancreatic beta cells and a neuron in Drosophila, and to elucidate the substructure of nanometer vesicles, (iii) use these analytical methods in model cells and neurons to test the hypothesis that lipid membrane changes are involved in the initiation of the chemical events leading to short-term memory, and (iv) test the effects of drugs and zinc on plasticity of vesicles and exocytosis. This work combines new method development with a revolutionary application of chemical analysis to test the hypothesis that lipids play a previously unanticipated role in synaptic plasticity and the chemical structures involved in the initiation of short-term memory. As long-term impact, this will provide sensitive analytical tools to understand how changes in these chemical species might be affected in relation to diseases involving short-term memory loss.

Mots-clés : keywords  electrochemistry,nano,vesicles,exocytosis,chemical imaging
Projet ERC : UnIntUniBd (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : Leibniz University Hannover — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1364063.5 €

I propose to investigate the following long expected but widely open uniform bounds on rational and algebraic points. (1) Mazur’s conjecture on the number of points on curves, which implies the following two strong bounds: (1.i) the number of rational points on a smooth projective curve of genus g at least 2 defined over a number field of degree d is bounded above in terms of g, d and the Mordell- Weil rank; (1.ii) the number of algebraic torsion points on a smooth projective curve of genus g at least 2 is bounded above only in terms of g. (2) Generalize the bound in (1) to higher dimensional subvarieties of abelian varieties. (3) Extend the bounds to semi-abelian varieties. Compared with existing results, the Faltings height is no longer involved in the bounds. The proofs I propose are via Diophantine estimates. Functional transcendence and unlikely intersections on mixed Shimura varieties play important roles in the proofs. Hence as pre-requests and extensions of the three goals listed above, I will also continue investigating on functional transcendence and unlikely intersection theories as well as their potential other interesting applications in Diophantine geometry.
Projet ERC : 2DNanoSpec (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
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 : 2311696.0 €

I propose to investigate the nanometer scale organization of delicate 2-dimensional molecular materials using nanoscale vibrational spectroscopy. 2D structures are of great scientific and technological importance, for example as novel materials (graphene, MoS2, WS2, etc.), and in the form of biological membranes and synthetic 2D-polymers. Powerful methods for their analysis and imaging with molecular selectivity and sufficient spatial resolution, however, are lacking. Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) allows label-free spectroscopic identification of molecular species, with ≈10 nm spatial resolution, and with single molecule sensitivity for strong Raman scatterers. So far, however, TERS is not being carried out in liquids, which is the natural environment for membranes, and its application to poor Raman scatterers such as components of 2D polymers, lipids, or other membrane compounds (proteins, sugars) is difficult. TERS has the potential to overcome the restrictions of other optical/spectroscopic methods to study 2D materials, namely (i) insufficient spatial resolution of diffraction-limited optical methods; (ii) the need for labelling for all methods relying on fluorescence; and (iii) the inability of some methods to work in liquids. I propose to address a number of scientific questions associated with the spatial organization, and the occurrence of defects in sensitive 2D molecular materials. The success of these studies will also rely critically on technical innovations of TERS that notably address the problem of energy dissipation. This will for the first time allow its application to study of complex, delicate 2D molecular systems without photochemical damage.
Projet ERC : QuThenS (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : University of Oxford — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1990397.0 €

I propose to realize an electromechanical engine in the solid state, opening a new era of experimental exploration of thermodynamics in open quantum systems. This project leverages recent breakthroughs in the nanoscale, my own advances in quantum devices and the extraordinary control and measurement of the vibrations and displacement which I have established in carbon nanotubes. The theory of thermodynamics, commonly associated with the steam engines of the 19th century, is a universal set of laws that governs everything from black holes to the evolution of life. With modern technologies miniaturising devices to the atomic scale, thermodynamics has to be put to the test in a completely new realm. Quantum thermodynamics is a rapidly advancing field of physics, but its theoretical development is presently far ahead of experimental tests. However, rapid breakthroughs in nanoscale fabrication and measurement are now presenting us with the opportunity to develop concrete experimental foundations for exploring quantum-thermodynamic processes. Understanding the peculiarities of thermodynamics in the quantum arena will be key for the construction of nanomachines, for energy harvesting, and to master the dissipation and thermalisation of quantum systems. It will also improve the engineering basis of quantum technologies by allowing fully informed choices on device design and optimisation and it may reveal possibilities for entirely novel technologies. Realising these experiments, while now within reach, remains challenging due to the sophistication of the devices and the high-level control and measurement sensitivity that are required. My vision is to combine semiconductor qubit technology with my recent advances in nanoelectromechanical devices, to build an on-chip electromechanical engine that can access the quantum regime. My aim is to achieve unprecedented access to the particularities of thermodynamics at the nanoscale and pave the way for quantum nanomachines.

Mots-clés : quantum dots,carbon nanotubes,electron transport,radio frequency reflectometry,thermodynamics