Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : REACT (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Soci al World and Its Interactions
Entité participante : Université de la Sabana — Pays : Colombie — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : UNISABANA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 165611.25 €

We live in a time of endemic uncertainty and accelerating socio-economic exclusion. The collapse of the extractivist ideology of the neoliberal model of development has led to needs for other worldviews. Young people in the Global South are particularly impacted by the socio-economic consequences, affecting their ability to control their livelihoods. This is indicated by high unemployment, gender and job market inequalities, and the decline of living standards despite general economic growth.  REACT emerges as an ambitious, feasible project. The ambition is empirical, methodological and theoretical. REACT uniquely focuses on sourcing everyday activism outside of conventional activist spaces. A qualitative study of 300 youth across 5 cities combined with a survey (12.000) from 20 cities will generate insights on how young people negotiate and act upon their life circumstances. REACT applies a critical-creative pedagogy to foster critical hope via artistic expression, scenario building, urban manifestos, networking and cultural encounters across the Global South. Uncovering individuals’ everyday practices of activism generates insights about the formation of subjectivities in urban contexts, practices of communication in everyday life, perceptions and forms of activism, connects hope with citizenship, and individual action with collective action. These elements are deeply intertwined, hence the need for an interdisciplinary framework. Embedded in communication for social change, and drawing on cultural studies, urban studies, critical pedagogy and critical development studies, REACT will develop a novel interdisciplinary theory for the study of COMmunication, PArticipation and Social Change (COMPAS). REACT’s ambition is also geographical and epistemological; Conducting a study of young people across the geographical Global South can amend the cognitive injustice seen in the imbalance of knowledge production about youth, communication and social change.
Projet ERC : NERPHYS (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer Science and Informatics
Entité participante : Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Inria
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2488029.0 €

While long restricted to an elite of expert digital artists, 3D content creation has recently been greatly simplified by deep learning. Neural representations of 3D objects have revolutionized real-world capture from photos, while generative models are starting to enable 3D object synthesis from text prompts. These methods use differentiable neural rendering that allows efficient optimization of the powerful and expressive ``soft'' neural representations, but ignores physically-based principles, and thus has no guarantees on accuracy, severely limiting the utility of the resulting content. Differentiable physically-based rendering on the other hand can produce 3D assets with physics-based parameters, but depends on rigid traditional ``hard'' graphics representations required for light-transport computation, that make optimization much harder and is also costly, limiting applicability.  In NERPHYS we will combine the strengths of both neural and physically-based rendering, lifting their respective limitations by introducing polymorphic 3D representations, i.e., capable of morphing between different states to accommodate both efficient gradient-based optimization and physically-based light transport. By augmenting these representations with corresponding polymorphic differentiable renderers, our methodology will unleash the potential of neural rendering to produce physically-based 3D assets with guarantees on accuracy.  NERPHYS will have ground-breaking impact on 3D content creation, moving beyond today's simplistic plausible imagery, to full physically-based rendering with guarantees on error, enabling the use of powerful neural rendering methods in any application requiring accuracy. Our polymorphic approach will fundamentally change how we reason about scene representations for geometry and appearance, while our rendering algorithms will provide a new methodology for image synthesis, e.g., for training data generation or visual effects.

Mots-clés : physically based rendering,neural rendering,generative models,differentiable rendering
Projet ERC : InfoEcoScience (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Individuals, Markets and Organisations
Entité participante : Université Bocconi — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1461050.0 €

Given the uncertainty shrouding even the most promising research projects, information plays a key role in the organization of science. The project develops foundational tools in the organizational economics oGiven the uncertainty shrouding even the most promising research projects, information plays a key role in the organization of science. The project develops foundational tools in the organizational economics of science, through two inter-linked packages: I. Comparing Information Researchers select questions to work on, choose sites for testing, and trim samples when analysing data. Editors select referees from a pool of potential reviewers. This package develops a general approach for comparing information structures, such as the selected experiments described above, for decision problems with certain properties. Once decision problems are restricted to a class satisfying properties such as monotonicity, more information structures can be compared than in Blackwell’s classic approach. The proposal presents some ideas for developing general characterization results and for applying the new method to the comparison of experiments produced in a social context. II. Supporting Science This package develops a framework for the design of science subsidy schemes with imperfect verification. Researchers have some noisy information about the chances of success of their project and go through a costly selection process. Research proposals are evaluated by reviewers with imperfect expertise. The aim is to characterize the optimal mix of push and pull incentives for financing knowledge creation and aligning researchers incentives with social objectives. A subproject develops a structural methodology for estimating research funding models and applies the method to a unique dataset from the Research Council of Norway (RCN) covering all fields of research and containing detailed information about applicants (whether they are awarded a grant or not) as well as evaluators.

Mots-clés : information,evaluation,selection,research bias,research funding
Projet ERC : CALIX (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth System Science
Entité participante : CSC - IT Center for Science — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : CSC
Type d'entité : Autres
Financement ERC de l'entité : 80960.0 €

Global sea levels will continue to rise as ice sheets shrink in response to climate change, but predictions vary widely on how much ice will be lost in different carbon futures. The single largest source of uncertainty is iceberg calving rates. Calving can cause more rapid ice loss than any other process, but no reliable method currently exists for representing calving in numerical models. CALIX seeks to find and apply the elusive universal calving law, by adopting a radical new approach based on the self-organising nature of glacier systems. The calving law will be formulated using bulk statistical properties of calving events, and will be rooted in both detailed observations and sound theory. The calving law will be implemented in leading ice-sheet models, throughly tested, and used in model run ensembles to determine the most-probable Antarctic Ice Sheet contribution to sea level into the 22nd Century under different mitigation and business-as-usual carbon scenarios. CALIX will address a major knowledge gap in glacier science, and will revolutionise our ability to understand ice-sheet stability, predict ice-sheet response to climate change and anticipate the global consequences.

Mots-clés : ice sheet model,iceberg calving,calving law,greenland,antarctic ice sheet
Projet ERC : Evo-immuno (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Immunity, Infection and I mmunotherapy
Entité participante : Université de Strasbourg — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UNISTRA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1910227.19 €

As we have seen with the emergence of viral pathogens like Ebola, ZIKA and SARS-CoV2, our societies are, and will continue to be, confronted to unknown and perilous viruses. To prepare for this, we propose to explore the diversity of antiviral genes in animals. Important signaling nodes have been conserved throughout evolution and regulate expression of antiviral genes that evolve dynamically in response to viral pressure. Because this occurs in parallel between different lineages, each animal has a unique arsenal of antiviral genes, with a core of conserved genes, but also taxon-specific genes, which represent an unexplored resource of potentially unique antiviral mechanisms. Insects, the largest group of animals, present high potential for such project but lack of information on the viruses infecting most of them prevented broad investigation up to now. Our discovery that the cyclic dinucleotide (CDN) cGAMP triggers a strong STING- and NF-B-dependent antiviral protection in drosophila, provides for the first time a handle to access the repertoire of induced antiviral genes in insects. We will exploit the assets of the drosophila model to address the function of cGAS-like receptors and the CDNs they produce. We will use RNA sequencing of cGAMP-stimulated insects and evolution-guided paradigms to identify among the STING-regulated genes candidates for functional antiviral screens in insect and human cells. Hits will be characterized to understand their mode of action. As proof of principle, we will study the function of Nazo, a fast-evolving STING-regulated gene duplicate in drosophila also strongly upregulated by interferons in bats. Overall, this project will provide a unique evolutionary perspective on the STING pathway and will lay the foundations for exploitation of rapidly increasing genomic data to document original antiviral strategies, with the long-term goal of inspiring innovative therapeutic approaches against viral infections.

Mots-clés : evolution insects arthropods
Projet ERC : UnMiss (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative B iology : from Genes and Genomes to S ystems
Entité participante : Université de Strasbourg — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UNISTRA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499625.0 €

Understanding the genetic causes of phenotypic diversity in natural populations is a major challenge. While advances have been made in identifying the genetic basis of complex traits, our knowledge remains incomplete. Whole-genome sequencing has enabled genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to link genetic variants to traits, including human diseases. However, even with thousands of causal variants identified, they often account for only a small fraction of phenotypic variation. Uncovering the sources of this "missing heritability" is essential for predicting complex traits from genome sequences. The sources of missing heritability are largely unknown but may include: (i) incomplete variant catalogs focusing on single nucleotide variants (SNVs) while neglecting structural variants (SVs), (ii) limited power to detect rare variants in GWAS, (iii) difficulties in accounting for environmental effects and stochastic phenotypic variation, and (iv) complex gene-by-gene and gene-by-environment interactions. The UnMiss project aims to address these gaps using yeast as a model organism, allowing for systematic exploration of missing heritability. By developing a genetic variant atlas and a phenotype panel from 1,011 natural yeast isolates, we will examine how different variants contribute to trait heritability. Comparative GWAS analyses of these isolates and a panel of 1,000 hybrids will help clarify the role of low-frequency and rare variants. Gene expression data across conditions and single-cell analyses will further explore the genetic basis of environmental and stochastic trait variation. By deeply phenotyping the same population, we ensure that all traits are analyzed in the same individuals, allowing for the integration of data across different trait types. This comprehensive approach sets the foundation for large-scale network integration and mediation analyses, aiming to uncover hidden patterns that can facilitate the prediction of complex traits.

Mots-clés : population genomics,pangenome,genetic diversity,heritability,structural variants,yeast
Projet ERC : InSpeGMos (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : Université de Strasbourg — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UNISTRA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1686575.0 €

Each physical object possesses specific frequencies of vibrations, called its “eigenfrequencies”, at which it enters in resonance under an external stimulus. In mathematical terms these frequencies are the “eigenvalues” of a linear operator; they form the “spectrum” of the object. Spectral geometry is concerned with understanding how the spectrum of an object, as well as the modes of vibration (eigenfunctions) associated to each eigenfrequency, are related to its geometric shape. This is a wide area of research, with applied and interdisciplinary aspects (electromagnetic waves, vibrating solids, seismic waves, wave functions in quantum mechanics... ), but also involving very theoretical mathematics, with many natural questions still open: What can we learn about the topology or geometry of an object by observing its spectrum? Can we predict if the vibrations will be localized in a small part of the object or on the contrary, if they will take place everywhere ? Can we construct an object and be sure that certain frequencies are in the spectrum, or, on the opposite, be sure to avoid certain sets of frequencies ? Can there be objects of arbitrarily large size, with no small eigenfrequencies ? Project InSpeGMoS deals with a specific mathematical model : hyperbolic surfaces. The Moduli Space is a space of parameters of these surfaces that we can tune, and observe how the geometry and the spectrum vary. In the semiclassical regime (when the wavelength is small compared to the size of the object), it is expected that certain spectral features are universal. We will adopt a probabilistic point of view: try to exhibit spectral and geometric phenomena that happen in 99$% of cases. The project is focussed on developing new integration techniques on Moduli Space. We shall look for new coordinates, generalize Mirzakhani’s study of volume functions, and seek inspiration in Random Graph Theory to develop new probabilistic methods in the spectral theory of random surfaces.

Mots-clés : random geometry,spectral theory on manifolds,teichm ller theory
Projet ERC : EDO (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : Italian Institute of Technology — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2930312.0 €

EDO will develop protocols for intentional, spatially controlled, and stable electronic doping in metal halide semiconductors. Electronic doping implies engineering of carrier density in semiconductors through the intentional introduction of a defect and it is necessary to achieve high performances in micro and optoelectronic technologies. Unlike established semiconductors, which are typically covalent solids, those belonging to the class of soft materials, such as molecules and polymers, forming van der Waals solids, and metal halide perovskites, forming ionic solids, host complex doping mechanisms. As a result, the design of free carrier density is far from being established and exploited in metal halides perovskites thin films. Intrinsic challenges, such as compensation and migration of defects, charge localization, phase segregation and the strong doping−processing relationship, may hide or hamper the designed doping process. Characterization and control of such phenomena require the combined knowledge of electronic, chemical and morphological/structural information, which is often missing. As a result, reports are often contradictory and advanced tools are in demand to draw a complete picture. Synchrotron facilities may help reaching the target, however, their limited access hampers direct feedback between synthesis and characterization. EDO will develop an unprecedent multimodal experimental tool, in laboratory environment, to quantitatively assess the doping and examine its impact on the optoelectronic properties of metal halides perovskites semiconductors. A photoemission microscope will be coupled to tunable coherent sources, covering the entire spectrum from NIR to soft X-ray radiation to map at nanometer scale the Fermi level shift, the electronic structure and the elemental composition and organization of thin films, and the relative optoelectronic dynamics, transferring the secured knowledge to the development of materials processing.

Mots-clés : defects,metal halide perovskites,optical and electronic spectroscopy and microscopy,optoelectronics
Projet ERC : SocBond (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : University College de Londres — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UCL
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2073442.0 €

Friendship is a bidirectional affiliative bond that helps people live longer healthier lives, while loneliness is linked to poor physical and mental health. SocBond is a large-scale investigation of the brain, behavioural and cognitive mechanisms that build social connections. Studies of whether two people will become friends suggest that synchrony (moving together), homophily (similarity of culture and cognition), and task (opportunities to coordinate and share ideas) are the three strongest factors predicting affiliation. We bring these together in the SyncShareBond model where task and homophily create conditions that allow people to synchronise brain and behaviour when they meet and this synchrony builds affiliations. SocBond will test this with experimental studies of affiliation in small groups (4 people with fNIRS brain imaging) and large groups (10-30 people with motion and heart-rate sensors). Research Question 1 asks How does synchrony create affiliation? Multimodal recordings of brain, behavioural and physiological synchrony in small groups of participants doing a variety of tasks will reveal what causes affiliation and thus define the cognitive mechanisms of social bonding. RQ2 asks What methods best model synchrony? and will use cutting-edge analysis methods from different domains to answer our questions. RQ3 asks Do cognitive differences and homophily impact social bonding? Using large-group studies with measures of social skills in each person, we will test if some people find it hard to make friends and if being in a homophily-group can help. RQ4 asks How does friendship develop over time? Tracking synchrony in cohorts who meet regularly over 8 months with additional brain imaging will reveal the dynamics of friendship formation and the neural mechanisms that underlie this. Overall, SocBond is a novel detailed examination of the mechanisms of affiliation with broad implications for reducing loneliness and improving human wellbeing.

Mots-clés : human social cognitive neuroscience,social cognition,social brain,wearables,real world behaviour,prosocial,bonding,
Projet ERC : HaplotypeStructure (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Entité participante : Institute of Science and Technology Austria — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ISTA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499851.0 €

An organism's phenotype depends on a multitude of genetic variants, spread over a linear genome. This is widely understood, and yet in practice, has hardly been incorporated into population genetic analysis. Recent developments in theory, computation, and sequencing technology now make it possible to obtain and analyse whole haploid genomes on a large scale. This proposal is to develop and apply a theoretical analysis of genetic variation that is spread over continuous linear genomes. Theory and methods will be developed in close interaction with empirical data from artificial selection experiments and from an intensely studied hybrid zone in Antirrhinum; for both, we have a known pedigree, and phased whole-genome sequence. Population structure will be analysed by following blocks of genome through pedigrees, and across two-dimensional landscapes. Selection on discrete loci will be analysed by finding its effect on surrounding haplotypes, by analysing how favoured alleles become disentangled from heterogeneous backgrounds, and by seeing how haplotype blocks flow past selected clines. The contribution of variants that are spread across the genome to GWA, to selection response, and to hybrid zones will be modelled, and the overall effect of inherited fitness variance on haplotype structure will be determined. This work will establish a new framework for population genomics that goes beyond the current focus on individual loci. It will help bridge the distinct communities within genomics, quantitative genetics, and population genetics, which currently tackle these problems largely in isolation. The project will develop better tools for inferring selection and population structure from DNA sequence data, and more fundamentally, will give us a deeper understanding of how the abundant variation that is carried on linear genomes is shaped by evolution.

Mots-clés : population genomics population structure genome evolution infinitesimal model quantitative genetics