Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : PRIMATE-TE-IMPACT (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems
Entité participante : University of Amsterdam — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UvA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Throughout evolution, the human genome has been attacked by retrotransposons, parasitic DNA elements that spread through our genome by a copy-paste activity. I previously showed that SVA elements, the youngest class of retrotransposons in our genome, harbour a strong gene-regulatory potential which is normally repressed by KRAB zinc finger protein ZNF91 (Jacobs et al., 2014, Nature). However, for reasons unknown, repression of retrotransposons is much less efficient in the human brain, resulting in activation of the enhancer potential of SVA elements spread throughout the human genome. The importance of these SVA insertions for the evolution of human neuronal gene-regulatory networks, and how many genes have come to depend on SVA's regulatory influence, remains elusive. In this research program, I will use ‘cortical organoids’; three-dimensional brain tissues derived from human and primate stem cells, to investigate how recent SVA insertions have impacted human neuronal gene expression. Furthermore, I will investigate how changes of the epigenetic landscape in neurons affect the activity of retrotransposons in our genome and the influence they have on nearby neuronal genes. Finally, I will explore the possibility that loss of epigenetic silencing of retrotransposons is responsible for dysregulation of genes associated with neurological diseases. Preliminary findings suggest a potential role for retrotransposons in susceptibility loci for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Finding further support for this in the current research program, will form the basis of a novel concept which explains how changes in the epigenetic landscape can uncover a dormant genetic predisposition to disease.

Mots-clés : retrotransposons
Projet ERC : EMPhAsIS (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Proof of concept grants)
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 : 135952.5 €

Throughout history, the Li-ion battery technology has relied on cationic redox reactions as the sole source of energy storage capacity. This is no longer true since 2013, where our group had demonstrated that Li-driven reversible formation of (O2)n peroxo-groups in new layered oxides led to extraordinary increases in energy storage capacity. To fully exploit this discovery we were granted in 2015 an advanced ERC grant entitled "Anionic redox processes: A transformational approach for advanced energy materials (ARPEMA)", the goal being to rationalize the fundamental science underpinning this new concept. This calls for new paradigms in characterization techniques to fully track among others the stability of these new compounds as well as the side reactions that they could generate at both electrodes during cycling together with their transport and kinetic properties. To address this critical need we developed a new design test system which enables for monitoring potential, current, temperature, pressure as well as the nature and composition of the released gases together with the impedance built-up at each electrode. Owing to the relative simplicity, high versatility and great reliability of such a new-patented multi-function testing device we anticipate its rapid implementation to various battery technologies. The goal of this project is to develop a proof of concept prototype and a small series production, as well as performing an extensive market analysis and budgeting suppliers, all for establishing an accurate business proposition. This information will be consolidated in a business plan and will be used in the creation of a company together with potential investors. We believe that this device will enable a rapid development of the next generation of high energy density batteries and consists in a global market commercial opportunity.

Mots-clés : energy storage,battery materials,randd,testing tools,prototype,market analysis,marketing,commercialization
Projet ERC : ATTACK (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Social World and Its Diversity
Entité participante : Leiden University — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2490382.5 €

Throughout history, what has been causing tremendous suffering is groups of people fighting each other. While behavioral science research has advanced our understanding of such intergroup conflict, it has exclusively focused on micro-level processes within and between groups at conflict. Disciplines that employ a more historical perspective like climate studies or political geography report that macro-level pressures due to changes in climate or economic scarcity can go along with social unrest and wars. How do these macro-level pressures relate to micro-level processes? Do they both occur independently, or do macro-level pressures trigger micro-level processes that cause intergroup conflict? And if so, which micro-level processes are triggered, and how? With unavoidable signs of climate change and increasing resource scarcities, answers to these questions are urgently needed. Here I propose carrying-capacity stress (CCS) as the missing link between macro-level pressures and micro-level processes. A group experiences CCS when its resources do not suffice to maintain its functionality. CCS is a function of macro-level pressures and creates intergroup conflict because it impacts micro-level motivation to contribute to one’s group’s fighting capacity and shapes the coordination of individual contributions to out-group aggression through emergent norms, communication and leadership. To test these propositions I develop a parametric model of CCS that is amenable to measurement and experimentation, and use techniques used in my work on conflict and cooperation: Meta-analyses and time-series analysis of macro-level historical data; experiments on intergroup conflict; and measurement of neuro-hormonal correlates of cooperation and conflict. In combination, this project provides novel multi-level conflict theory that integrates macro-level discoveries in climate research and political geography with micro-level processes uncovered in the biobehavioral sciences

Mots-clés : experimental games,intergroup conflict,group dynamics,psychophysiology
Projet ERC : QUENCH (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : University of Cambridge — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. Cambridge
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2484531.0 €

Throughout the whole life of the universe only 4% of the baryons have been converted into stars, implying that some physical processes must be responsible for suppressing star formation in galaxies. Within this context, one of the most hotly debated open questions is the identification of the process responsible for quenching star formation in galaxies and transforming them into passive and quiescent (gas poor) systems. Theories of galaxy formation have proposed various possible mechanisms, such as: gas removal by powerful outflows or ram pressure stripping, heating and photoionization of the interstellar medium, turbulent or gravitational quenching, halting of the gas supply inflow (often referred to as "strangulation"). The relevance and relative role of these mechanisms (as a function of cosmic epoch, galaxy properties and environment), especially at high redshift, are not yet understood because the constraints provided by current observational data have not yet been able to discriminate between different scenarios. In the proposed project I will make use of some of the most advanced observational facilities that will be available in the coming years to tackle this major outstanding open issue. More specifically, I will exploit the James Webb Space Telescope, MOONS (the next generation multi-object spectrograph at the ESO-VLT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). Observing programs making use of these unique facilities will provide an unprecedented amount of information, with unprecedented quality, that will enable us to discriminate between various quenching and feedback processes proposed by theories. More specifically, the aim of this project is to identify and quantify the dominant quenching and feedback mechanisms in galaxies as a function of redshift, as a function of galaxy properties and as a function of environment. The groundbreaking results of this project will be a benchmark for any model of galaxy evolution.

Mots-clés : galaxy outflows,metallicity evolution,galaxy enviroment
Projet ERC : Brain circRNAs (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Entité participante : Hebrew University of Jerusalem — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : HUJI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1971750.0 €

Tight regulation of RNA metabolism is essential for normal brain function. This includes co and post-transcriptional regulation, which are extremely prevalent in neurons. Recently, circular RNAs (circRNAs), a highly abundant new type of regulatory non-coding RNA have been found across the animal kingdom. Two of these RNAs have been shown to act as miRNA sponges but no function is known for the thousands of other circRNAs, indicating the existence of a widespread layer of previously unknown gene regulation. The present proposal aims to comprehensively determine the role and mode of actions of circRNAs in gene expression and RNA metabolism in the fly brain. We will do so by studying their biogenesis, transport, and mechanism of action, as well as by determining the roles of circRNAs in neuronal function and behaviour. Briefly, we will: 1) identify factors involved in the biogenesis, localization, and stabilization of circRNAs; 2) determine neuro-developmental, molecular, neural and behavioural phenotypes associated with down or up regulation of specific circRNAs; 3) study the molecular mechanisms of action of circRNAs: identify circRNAs that work as miRNA sponges and determine whether circRNAs can encode proteins or act as signalling molecules and 4) perform mechanistic studies in order to determine cause-effect relationships between circRNA function and brain physiology and behaviour. The present proposal will reveal the key pathways by which circRNAs control gene expression and influence neuronal function and behaviour. Therefore it will be one of the pioneer works in the study of this new and important area of research, which we predict will fundamentally transform the study of gene expression regulation in the brain

Mots-clés : circrnas mirnas drosophila circadian brain rna metabolism
Projet ERC : KRANK (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : Queen's University Belfast — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : QUB
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1161677.0 €

Time-domain astronomy will soon be transformed by powerful instrumentation: the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) and upgraded gravitational wave detectors. We will finally be able to build large samples of rare and multi-messenger transients, allowing new scientific breakthroughs. But to do so, we must overcome the substantial difficulty of identifying the important events among an expected sea of contaminants. I will solve this problem by developing novel image classification techniques before LSST begins, and then use this with LSST data to answer some of the most pressing questions about stellar evolution, nucleosynthesis, and high energy physics. I will discover hundreds of superluminous supernovae (SLSNe), key to unknown physics in massive stars, and tidal disruption events (TDEs) of stars around supermassive black holes, probing black hole accretion in usually inaccessible regimes. By folding in the sky maps from GW detections of neutron star mergers, I will rapidly find kilonova counterparts in LSST follow-up searches. With 10-100 kilonovae (compared to 1 well-studied event now), we will understand the nucleosynthesis of all heavy (r-process) elements, determine the equation of state for nuclear matter, and pin down what these mergers leave behind. Moreover, I will determine the progenitor stars and power source of SLSNe, and the emission mechanisms in TDEs and relation to black hole mass, using even larger samples of those events. We may even find whole new transient classes. This project could not be more timely as the upgrades in GW detectors, the start of LSST, and the brief era of JWST will overlap in just a few years (and within the time of an ERC-funded project). Everything is in place for success, from guaranteed data access and follow-up resources, to public/prototype codes. The legacy datasets for rare transient classes will dwarf those from pre-LSST, and our inference framework will lead to an unprecedented understanding of these populations.

Mots-clés : gravitational waves,kilonova,supernova,transient,time domain,lsst,ligo
Projet ERC : KRANK (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : University of Birmingham — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 316666.0 €

Time-domain astronomy will soon be transformed by powerful instrumentation: the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) and upgraded gravitational wave detectors. We will finally be able to build large samples of rare and multi-messenger transients, allowing new scientific breakthroughs. But to do so, we must overcome the substantial difficulty of identifying the important events among an expected sea of contaminants. I will solve this problem by developing novel image classification techniques before LSST begins, and then use this with LSST data to answer some of the most pressing questions about stellar evolution, nucleosynthesis, and high energy physics. I will discover hundreds of superluminous supernovae (SLSNe), key to unknown physics in massive stars, and tidal disruption events (TDEs) of stars around supermassive black holes, probing black hole accretion in usually inaccessible regimes. By folding in the sky maps from GW detections of neutron star mergers, I will rapidly find kilonova counterparts in LSST follow-up searches. With 10-100 kilonovae (compared to 1 well-studied event now), we will understand the nucleosynthesis of all heavy (r-process) elements, determine the equation of state for nuclear matter, and pin down what these mergers leave behind. Moreover, I will determine the progenitor stars and power source of SLSNe, and the emission mechanisms in TDEs and relation to black hole mass, using even larger samples of those events. We may even find whole new transient classes. This project could not be more timely as the upgrades in GW detectors, the start of LSST, and the brief era of JWST will overlap in just a few years (and within the time of an ERC-funded project). Everything is in place for success, from guaranteed data access and follow-up resources, to public/prototype codes. The legacy datasets for rare transient classes will dwarf those from pre-LSST, and our inference framework will lead to an unprecedented understanding of these populations.

Mots-clés : gravitational waves,kilonova,supernova,transient,time domain,lsst,ligo
Projet ERC : THZCALORIMETRY (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : Weizmann Institute of Science — Pays : Israël — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 400000.0 €

Time-resolved THz-Calorimetry Explores Molecular Recognition Processes Definition: “THz-calorimetry is the science of measuring low frequency density of states kinetics for the purpose of deriving the entropy changes associated with biological processes in real time.” Goal: Our scientific vision is to introduce time-resolved “THz-Calorimetry” to access the entropy changes of the protein and the solvent accompanying enzymatic reactions or more general molecular recognition processes, i.e. under non-equilibrium conditions with envisioned time resolutions of nanoseconds. Advances in THz technology will make it possible to develop strong, ultrafast THz sources in the frequency range up to 10W that allow the detection of frequency-resolved transient low frequency spectra of biological samples with μsec or even nsec time resolution. We will correlate the transient THz spectra with changes in the entropy and enthalpy, both experimentally and theoretically. Ultrafast THz-calorimetry is an innovative tool to access to the specific transient entropy changes of molecular recognition processes under non-equilibrium conditions. Objectives of the proposal: 1. Monitor transient low frequency spectra (0-300cm-1) during molecular recognition processes. 2. Develop cutting edge experimental methods which allow the separation of protein and solvent modes under ambient conditions. Determine Delta S(protein(t)), Delta S(ligand(t)), Delta S(solvent(t)), thus specify the role of changes in the solvent entropy (hydrophobic effect) for biomolecular recognition. 3. Apply ultrafast THz-calorimetry: Explore the entropy changes of the enzyme, the ligand and the solvent for a family of MMP enzymes and substrates and correlate these results with biological function. Deduce underlying molecular mechanisms. 4. Develop new models for molecular recognition processes which are quantitative and predictive.

Mots-clés : thz spectroscopy
Projet ERC : AQUARAMAN (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
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 : 0.0 €

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) is often described as the most powerful tool for optical characterization of surfaces and their proximities. It combines the intrinsic spatial resolution of scanning probe techniques (AFM or STM) with the chemical information content of vibrational Raman spectroscopy. Capable to reveal surface heterogeneity at the nanoscale, TERS is currently playing a fundamental role in the understanding of interfacial physicochemical processes in key areas of science and technology such as chemistry, biology and material science. Unfortunately, the undeniable potential of TERS as a label-free tool for nanoscale chemical and structural characterization is, nowadays, limited to air and vacuum environments, with it failing to operate in a reliable and systematic manner in liquid. The reasons are more technical than fundamental, as what is hindering the application of TERS in water is, among other issues, the low stability of the probes and their consistency. Fields of science and technology where the presence of water/electrolyte is unavoidable, such as biology and electrochemistry, remain unexplored with this powerful technique. We propose a revolutionary approach for TERS in liquids founded on the employment of pipet-based scanning probe microscopy techniques (pb-SPM) as an alternative to AFM and STM. The use of recent but well established pb-SPM brings the opportunity to develop unprecedented pipet-based TERS probes (beyond the classic and limited metallized solid probes from AFM and STM), together with the implementation of ingenious and innovative measures to enhance tip stability, sensitivity and reliability, unattainable with the current techniques. We will be in possession of a unique nano-spectroscopy platform capable of experiments in liquids, to follow dynamic processes in-situ, addressing fundamental questions and bringing insight into interfacial phenomena spanning from materials science, physics, chemistry and biology.
Projet ERC : BIOMITRAL (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : Istituto Mediterraneo per i Trapianti e Terapie ad Alta Specializzazione — Pays : Italie — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : ISMETT
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 91250.0 €

Tissue Engineered Heart Valves (TEHVs) can restore function in the pulmonary and aortic positions and have shown capacity for tissue regeneration and growth in pre-clinical models. Yet, this concept has not been extended to the Mitral Valve (MV), whose pathologies affect >25% of the valve disease patients in Europe. In this proposal, we introduce a bio-inspired design methodology and bioprocessing technology to engineer BIOMITRAL: a polymeric, stent-less, tissue engineered MV that recapitulates native structure-function. Key to our approach is the engineering of MV leaflets and chordal apparatus. In the native MV, this set of tendon-like appendages mechanically connects the leaflets to the left ventricle (LV) and allows for harmonization of the valve kinematics, coaptation and ventricle contractile dynamics. Commercial MV prostheses used for MV replacement, as well as most existing TEHVs are mounted on synthetic stents that lack of this important structure and consequently neglect this physiological mechanism. In addition, non-degradable stents cannot adapt to patient's growth, de-facto negating a key advantage in TEHVs. Our specific hypothesis is that recapitulating native leaflet structure-function and incorporating engineered chordal apparatus will lead to an engineered MV with enhanced functional and remodeling performances. To verify our hypothesis, we will: Aim 1. Characterize the structure-function of freshly isolated human valve tissue and use the derived properties to fabricate stented (control) and stentless BIOMITRAL prototypes; Aim 2. Assess prototypes mechanics and kinematics in silico via finite element modeling and in vitro in a pulse duplicator; Aim 3. Evaluate BIOMITRAL in vivo functional performance and assess remodeling in a chronic ovine model. Engineering a “living” MV with bioinspired leaflets and chordae that connect engineered leaflets with the LV is a revolutionary concept that can fundamentally transform the design of MV prostheses.

Mots-clés : tissue engineering heart valve,heart valve biomechanics,biomaterials