Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : EMANCIPATE (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Individuals, Markets and Organisations
Entité participante : Université Paris Dauphine - PSL — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Dauphine-PSL
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1455750.0 €

Equity in education is a central and long-standing concern of countries around the world. Despite significant amounts of public resources invested over several decades towards disadvantaged children, the relationship between education outcomes and personal circumstances remains persistently strong in most countries. The objectives of my project EMANCIPATE is to make progress in our understanding of why there is such persistent social inequity in education. I will explore a new channel: perceptions and beliefs resulting from social stereotypes and leading to low confidence, lack of hope, and discouragement. I argue that how students perceive their capacity and the likelihood that they will succeed is an important driver of their motivation and effort, which might be just as important for academic performance as external factors such as class size or teacher salaries. Self-perceptions and anticipations may thus be one way social disadvantage perpetuates itself. The key questions that I will address are whether socioeconomic status creates low confidence, lack of hope, and resignation, whether this affects downstream educational attainment, labour market outcomes, and individual welfare, and how this negative feedback loop can be broken. EMANCIPATE will advance this research in three steps. First, I will use international assessment tools on nationally representative samples of adolescents to test the accuracy of their self-perceptions and anticipations, and the existence and scope of the resignation mindset. Second, I will use two interventions aimed at reducing the resignation mindset to examine its long-term impacts on educational attainment, labour market outcomes, and individual welfare. Third, I will develop and test two interventions targeting the main actors of the education system: the teachers and the parents, to foster students’ self-confidence, hope, and motivation, and ultimately reduce the achievement gap between disadvantaged and advantaged students.

Mots-clés : social inequality in education mindset aspirations self confidence randomized controlled trials
Projet ERC : GLUTENOMICS (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems E ngineering
Entité participante : Leibniz-Gemeinschaft — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WLG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1390366.04 €

Wheat is one of the pillars for nutrition security worldwide, but the prevalence of wheat-related disorders (WRD) is increasing. Taken together, coeliac disease, non-coeliac gluten sensitivity and wheat food allergy may affect up to 10% of European individuals. The causes for this increase are still unknown, but involve the intricate interaction of proteolytically resistant gluten immunoreactive peptides (GIP) from wheat, rye and barley, the human immune system and yet unknown adjuvants. Total GIP can be detected by immunoassays in human plasma, urine and faeces (biosamples) after gluten consumption, but the precise molecular structures have not been clarified so far, because specific analytical methods are missing. The project GLUTENOMICS aims to elucidate the molecular structures of GIP in human biosamples and analyse factors determining their identities and quantities. I aim to achieve this using a combination of different approaches to overcome the analytical challenges by i) creating a comprehensive database of GIP and elucidating factors affecting gluten protein digestibility, ii) developing and validating proteomics methods to detect GIP in human biosamples and iii) establishing relations between the GIP profile of raw materials, foods and human biosamples. My central hypothesis is that gluten structure and content determine its digestibility which, in turn, leads to different GIP profiles in biosamples from healthy individuals and WRD patients. The unique toolbox of methods that I will put in place will provide a fundamentally new understanding of how protein structures govern digestibility and how the resulting peptides pass through the human digestive system. My ambition is to use the findings to tailor grain-based foods towards better tolerability to prevent the initial onset of WRD. Beyond grains, GLUTENOMICS opens significant innovative potential to promote human health through systematically structured, isolated or designed dietary proteins.

Mots-clés : food hypersensitivities food proteomics protein digestibility
Projet ERC : POL_2D_PHYSICS (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed Matter Physics
Entité participante : Materials Center Leoben (Austria) — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : MCL
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 126775.0 €

Since the last decade, the number of isolated two dimensional (2D) materials keeps growing exponentially. The research community relies predominantly on synthetic single crystals, remaining limited to the variations of only several material classes. Naturally occurring van der Waals (vdW) crystals – 2D minerals – offer wider structural and compositional variety, but remain largely unexplored. Further, developing nanotechnology based on non-toxic and abundant surface minerals found in soils and clays will ensure sustainable, environmentally friendly, and biodegradable electronics.  Recently, the focus of 2D electronics is largely on novel semiconductors, and spontaneously polarized materials. The number of vdW insulators is extremely disproportional to both semiconductors and metals. Almost exclusively the entire field relies on hexagonal boron nitride. Surely, this cannot be the only technologically relevant system, and new members would also open unexplored pathways in device design and functionality.  With my project POL_2D_PHYSICS, I aim to introduce and establish a class of phyllosilicates as a multifunctional 2D materials platform. My project will explore their limits with respect to three applications: as gate dielectrics, as magnetic insulators, and as ferroelectric insulators. Starting from minerals, I will study their structure property relation. To bridge the gap between an interesting concept and a potential future technology, I will develop pathways to synthesize phyllosilicate single crystals and thin films with targeted properties for applications in 2D electronics.  If successful, the project will develop scalable novel concepts in charge transfer doping, and implement the proposed materials class into multifunctional 2D polarization electronics. With high risk goals of delivering novel and air stable multiferroic and neuromorphic systems, POL_2D_PHYSICS has the potential to fundamentally impact the future of 2D electronics.

Mots-clés : 2d materials nanoelectronics van der waals heterostructures 2d insulators gate dielectrics 2d magnetic insulators 2d ferroelectrics 2d multiferroics phyllosilicates layered minerals charge transfer doping
Projet ERC : VetValues (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Soci al World and Its Interactions
Entité participante : Université d'Amsterdam — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UvA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499884.0 €

VetValues is a comparative ethnographic study of how European livestock farming juggles food security and economic viability with mounting concerns about biodiversity loss and global warming, the development of antimicrobial resistance and zoonotic diseases, and the compromised welfare needs of farm animals. It approaches the wicked problems of livestock production as questions of valuation and valuing—of what to value, when, and how. Specifically, it explores how the values of economic production, food safety, public health, animal welfare and ecology come together and are negotiated in animal husbandry, both in assessments and in practices of feeding, housing, and treating animals.  We focus on veterinarians, professionals at the heart of the institutional and regulatory arrangements that shape the politics and governance of human and farm animal life. Previous studies have focused on the ethical dilemmas of veterinarians. VetValues decentres individual deliberations, foregrounding instead how farming’s socio-material contexts shape ways of negotiating values. We develop the concept of value-scapes to explore how values are enacted in care practices and embedded in regulatory frameworks, veterinary knowledge, landscapes, animal bodies, barns and farming traditions.  Ethnographic research will compare veterinary care on farms in the Netherlands, Sweden and Italy. Contrasting different national, industrial and regulatory contexts will allow us to discern variations in the value-scapes of farm animal care in Europe. VetValues will thus advance our understanding of how the broader tensions within European food production are comprised—and sometimes resolved—in situated ways. It will provide a nuanced picture of the industry’s troublesome biopolitical projects that will inform theorizing on contentious multi-species relations in a world facing myriad pressing challenges to the health and well-being of humans, animals and the planet.

Mots-clés : multi species ethnography valuation studies material semiotics veterinary care one health biopolitics agriculture
Projet ERC : MappingPerimenopause (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : Hôpital universitaire de la Charité de Berlin — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Charité
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499935.0 €

Most women will transition to menopause, but no two experiences are the same. While some women embrace the end of their reproductive years, many others struggle with the broad system level changes that first emerge during perimenopause; the years leading up to the final menstrual period. Up to 80% of women will experience debilitating symptoms during perimenopause which are largely neurological in nature, including vasomotor symptoms (i.e., hot flashes and night sweats), as well as mood, sleep, and cognitive disturbances. The presence and severity of perimenopausal symptoms have been proposed as warning signs for an increased risk of neurodegenerative disease later in life. Yet, women’s brain health is historically understudied, and current knowledge about the brain during perimenopause is largely based on animal work or underpowered cross-sectional human studies, often comparing women pre- and post-menopause without capturing the transition period.  The objective of MappingPerimenopause is to close this critical knowledge gap by mapping the effects of perimenopause on the female brain in unprecedented detail and in a well-powered sample. I propose a multi-level investigation that will provide a mechanistic understanding of the in-vivo temporal dynamics of the female brain across perimenopause and contributing factors. I will test the main hypothesis that how women experience perimenopause matters for their brain and mental health. This will be achieved by the use of big data and by adopting an accelerated longitudinal multi-modal neuroimaging design, following women during their perimenopausal years, together with the rich assessment of biological measures, cognitive and mood symptom profiles, and psychosocial factors. By combining big data mining and comprehensive phenotyping, MappingPerimenopause is a pioneering effort with the potential to transform our understanding of the well-being and brain health of women navigating this critical transitional phase.

Mots-clés : perimenopause,women s health,neuroimaging,sex steroids,immunology,gut microbiota
Projet ERC : EnhanceSex (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative B iology : from Genes and Genomes to S ystems
Entité participante : Université Bar-Ilan — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : BIU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1651868.0 €

During mammalian sex determination, the bipotential embryonic gonad adopts either testicular or ovarian cell fates. This process highly relies on precise expression of several pro-male versus pro-female factors, most of which are transcription factors (TFs) and signalling pathway components. Yet, we still do not understand the interplay and hierarchy among these factors, their direct target genes, the regulatory elements they bind to, nor do we have an in vitro system to address these questions. We recently explored the complex gene expression regulation of Sox9, a key pro-male factor, and identified several active testis-specific enhancers. Remarkably, deletion of one of these led to XY male-to-female sex reversal in mice. The presence of several functional enhancers highlights the complex gene expression regulation present during sex determination, which we aim to address here in a systematic manner. Furthermore, we recently developed a system to generate mouse and human gonadal progenitors from embryonic stem cells. Building on our exciting results, we seek to decipher the gene regulatory networks governing mammalian sex determination using in vivo and in vitro approaches. This proposal will pursue three complementary aims: (i) Identify target genes of the key factors controlling gonad formation; (ii) Map the regulatory elements bound by these factors; (iii) Develop an in vitro organoid system to model testis development. Using cutting edge techniques as CUT&RUN ChIP-Seq, ATAC-Seq, Promoter Capture Hi-C, CRISPR genome editing, organoid culture and 3D scaffolding development, we will address the complex gene expression regulation governing sex determination. Insights gained from this basic research will shed light on cell fate decisions in general, allow better diagnosis of many patients with Disorders of Sex Development, and offer an in vitro system to study gonad development and function with implications for understanding and treating infertility.

Mots-clés : mammalian sex determination,gene regulation,cell fate decisions,gene regulatory networks,enhancers,testis,sertoli cells,stem cells,organoids
Projet ERC : INSOLIT (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 948945.56 €

Various models encountered in mathematical physics possess special solutions called solitary waves, which preserve their shape as time passes. In the case of dispersive models, small perturbations of the field tend to spread, so that their amplitude decays. The Soliton Resolution Conjecture predicts that, generically, a solution of a nonlinear dispersive partial differential equation decomposes into a superposition of solitary waves and a perturbation of small amplitude called radiation.  Our study will focus on topological solitons appearing in models motivated by Quantum Field Theory: kinks in the phi4 theory and rational maps in the O(3) sigma model. We expect that the developed techniques will have applications in the study of other topological solitons like vortices, monopoles, Skyrmions and instantons.  Our general ultimate objective goes beyond the Soliton Resolution, and consists in obtaining an asymptotic description in infinite time, in both time directions, of solutions of the considered model. Such a description should be correct at least at main order, and reflect interesting features of the problem, which are the soliton-soliton interactions and soliton-radiation interactions.  We pursue this general goal in various concrete situations, namely: the problem of unique continuation after blow-up for the equivariant wave maps equation, the collision problem for the phi4 equation, the study of pure multi-solitons in the regime of strong interaction, and the multi-soliton uniqueness and stability problem. Their solution requires a mixture of non-perturbative and perturbative techniques. While the former rely heavily on the concrete model, the latter will be applicable to any dispersive equation having solitary waves.

Mots-clés : soliton,scattering,long time behavior
Projet ERC : BIOBOND (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : Université hébraïque de Jérusalem — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : HUJI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499875.0 €

Imagine a first date, where partners feel an immediate bond, versus an awkward date, where partners feel disconnected. BioBond asks whether there is a biological mechanism that is set to differentially favour bonding in the first date over the second. Despite substantial research on social bonding, we are still without an understanding of what drives social animals to bond and prefer selected individuals. BioBond aims to provide, for the first time, a novel and empirically-validated biological theory of sociality, tying fundamental physiological processes, like glucose metabolism, arousal or temperature, to social bonding, where physiological efficiency during interactions impacts bonding probability. This is not limited to romantic partners, but rather is suggested as a unifying principle that explains bonding: any social interaction that advances physiological gains reinforces bonding. Empirically validating such a unifying principle would demonstrate how complex behaviour emerges from a simple biological feature. Importantly, since physiological gains are quantitative, they can implement selective bonding, where interactions with higher physiological gains are more strongly reinforced. My approach is interdisciplinary, lying at the intersection of neuroscience, biology and psychology, with four mutually-informative lines of research: (1) Demonstrate how social interactions impact physiology by quantifying glucose metabolism, arousal and temperature during interactions v. alone in two major human bonds- parental and romantic; (2) Map the neurobiological pathway via which interactions impact physiology in real-time social interactions; (3) Demonstrate a causal effect of physiological gains on bonding by altering physiology during interactions; (4) Provide an evolutionary perspective by demonstrating it in an additional social species. BioBond is ground breaking in offering a novel, theory-based, testable biological mechanism for bonding across bonds and species.

Mots-clés : homeostasis,allostasis,sociality
Projet ERC : UEPP (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Entité participante : Université hébraïque de Jérusalem — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : HUJI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1118262.16 €

The basic maxim of the law of unjust enrichment states that a person should not be unjustly enriched at another’s expense. This broad principle is currently primarily used to solve local problems and disputes between specific individuals through private litigation. The proposed project offers a paradigm shift and the use of the fundamental principle prohibiting unjust enrichment to solve broad societal issues, both as a private and a public law doctrine. This is a double paradigm shift. From the direction of the law of unjust enrichment, it requires a reconceptualization of this area of law, to adjust it to solve entirely new types of problems. From the direction of public law, it offers to refresh the way we currently look at deep societal ills such as global warming, the spread of fake news or the production of harmful goods and services. In all these contexts, and many others, current legal frameworks tend to focus on the harmfulness of certain activities. The proposed framework offers, instead, to start the analysis with undeserved and ill-obtained gains. Phenomena like global warming and fake news are problematic because they are harmful, but persistent, and so difficult to regulate, because they are immensely beneficial to strong interest groups. A regulatory perspective focusing on gains can therefore prove instrumental in fighting some of the most important legal battles of our time. This paradigm shift involves a broad project and requires a multistage research program, conducted by the PI together with a team of post-doctoral researchers. This is a high-risk high reward project; if successful, it can provide critically missing elements in the legal toolkit, that will improve our ability to solve pressing legal issues.

Mots-clés : private law,public law,regulation,unjust enrichment
Projet ERC : Understanding DL (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer Science and Informatics
Entité participante : Université hébraïque de Jérusalem — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : HUJI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499750.0 €

While extremely successful, deep learning (DL) still lacks a solid theoretical foundation.  In the last 5 years the PI focused almost entirely on DL theory, yielding a strong publication record with 7 papers at NeurIPS (the leading ML conference), including 2 spotlights (top 3% of submitted papers) and one oral (top 1%), 2 papers at ICLR (the leading DL conference), and 1 paper at COLT (the leading ML theory conference). These results are amongst the first that break a 20 years hiatus in NN theory, thereby giving some hope for a solid deep learning theory. This includes 1) the first poly-time learnability result for non-trivial function class by SGD on NN, 2) the first such result with near optimal rate, 3) new methodology to bound the sample complexity of NN, that established the first sample complexity bound that is sublinear in the number of parameters, under norm constraints that are valid in practice, 4) an explanation to the phenomena of adversarial examples.  We plan to go far beyond these and other results, and to build a coherent theory for DL, addressing all three pillars of learning theory: Optimization: We plan to investigate the success of SGD in finding a good model, arguably the greatest mystery of modern deep learning. Specifically our goal is to understand what models are learnable by SGD on neural networks. To this end, we plan to come up with a new class of models that can potentially lead to new deep learning algorithms, with a solid theory behind them. Statistical Complexity: We plan to crack the second great mystery of modern deep learning, which is their ability to generalize with fewer examples than parameters. Our plan is to investigate the sample complexity of classes of neural networks that are defined by bounds on the weights’ magnitude. Representation: We plan to investigate functions that can be realized by NN. This includes classical questions such as the benefits of depth, as well as more modern aspects such as adversarial examples.