Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : FamilyComplexity (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Social World and Its Diversity
Entité participante : University of Amsterdam — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : UvA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1461438.54 €

One of the important consequences of the Second Demographic Transition has been the increasing complexity of families. The aim of this project is to study how rising family complexity has affected two fundamental aspects of intergenerational relationships: reproduction and solidarity. Theoretically, family complexity is distinguished into four dimensions: (a) the length, timing and nature of exposure to the child, (c) biological relatedness to the child, and (c) characteristics of parent-parent ties (triadic effects), (d) characteristics of the wider family network. Using insights from several disciplines, I develop a common theoretical framework for understanding intergenerational reproduction and solidarity. To test the theory, an innovative multiactor survey is developed with an oversampling strategy in which for each adult child, information is collected on all parent figures, and for each parent, information on all adult children. In addition, register data are used to analyze one aspect of reproduction in a dynamic fashion (educational reproduction) and vignette data are used to analyze one aspect of solidarity in more depth (norms prescribing solidarity). By studying reproduction and solidarity as outcomes, I shift the traditional focus from examining how the SDT has affected individual well-being, to the question of how the SDT has affected relationships. In doing so, I analyze a new problem in demography and sociology and contribute to classic debates about population ageing and social inequality. Theoretically, the study of family complexity yields unique opportunities to test ideas about the nature of intergenerational relationships and will shed new light on the traditional dichotomy of social vis-à-vis biological bases of intergenerational relationships. Methodological innovation is made by developing solutions for well-known problems of multiactor data, thereby strengthening the theoretical relevance of survey data for the social sciences.

Mots-clés : intergenerational solidarity,social stratification,educational inequality,divorce,intergenerational relationships,life course,multipartner fertility
Projet ERC : StableIF (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : Basque Center for Applied Mathematics — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : BCAM
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 50000.0 €

One of the main drivers of development for the theory of nonlinear elliptic PDE during the second half of the XX century has been the mathematical analysis of physical models for “inter- faces”. Depending on the specific model, these “interfaces” are called minimal surfaces, phase transitions, free boundaries, etc. These models are very important in applications and, due to their strong geometric content and the interdisciplinary methods required for their study, also from a “pure mathematics” perspective. One of the simplest semilinear PDE exhibiting an interface is the classical Allen-Cahn equation. Originally proposed as a model for metal alloys, it gained mathematical notoriety due to its deep connection with the minimal surface equation and many other important PDE. It is very related to the Cahn-Hiliard equation (phase separation in binary fluids), to the Peierls-Nabarro equation (crystal dislocations), and to the Ginzburg-Landau theory (phase transitions, super-conductivity). In addition, it has similarities with other important models such as Bernoulli’s free boundary problem (flame propagation and shape optimization) or the Eriksen-Leslie system (liquid crystals). In the last four decades, outstanding works led to a very deep understanding of the structure of (absolute) energy minimizers for most of the previous models. Still, up to very few exceptions, almost nothing is known today on the structure of stable solutions —i.e. (roughly speaking) minimizers with respect to sufficiently small perturbations. Since stable solutions are “the ones observable in Nature”, their understanding is a fundamental question. Even though it is a very challenging mathematical problem, all the new analysis tools developed in the last decades plus some recent progress give us now an excellent opportunity to address it. In three words, the very ambitious goal of this ERC project is to “understand stable interfaces”.

Mots-clés : allen cahn equation,stable minimal hypersurfaces,phase transitions,free boundaries
Projet ERC : StableIF (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
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 : 1348125.0 €

One of the main drivers of development for the theory of nonlinear elliptic PDE during the second half of the XX century has been the mathematical analysis of physical models for “inter- faces”. Depending on the specific model, these “interfaces” are called minimal surfaces, phase transitions, free boundaries, etc. These models are very important in applications and, due to their strong geometric content and the interdisciplinary methods required for their study, also from a “pure mathematics” perspective. One of the simplest semilinear PDE exhibiting an interface is the classical Allen-Cahn equation. Originally proposed as a model for metal alloys, it gained mathematical notoriety due to its deep connection with the minimal surface equation and many other important PDE. It is very related to the Cahn-Hiliard equation (phase separation in binary fluids), to the Peierls-Nabarro equation (crystal dislocations), and to the Ginzburg-Landau theory (phase transitions, super-conductivity). In addition, it has similarities with other important models such as Bernoulli’s free boundary problem (flame propagation and shape optimization) or the Eriksen-Leslie system (liquid crystals). In the last four decades, outstanding works led to a very deep understanding of the structure of (absolute) energy minimizers for most of the previous models. Still, up to very few exceptions, almost nothing is known today on the structure of stable solutions —i.e. (roughly speaking) minimizers with respect to sufficiently small perturbations. Since stable solutions are “the ones observable in Nature”, their understanding is a fundamental question. Even though it is a very challenging mathematical problem, all the new analysis tools developed in the last decades plus some recent progress give us now an excellent opportunity to address it. In three words, the very ambitious goal of this ERC project is to “understand stable interfaces”.

Mots-clés : allen cahn equation,stable minimal hypersurfaces,phase transitions,free boundaries
Projet ERC : TBTF (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Individuals, Markets and Organisations
Entité participante : University of London — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. London
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1489518.0 €

One of the main unresolved challenges of the recent financial crisis is how society should deal with global banks that are “too big to fail.” The collapse of Lehman Brothers vividly demonstrated the costs of the failure of such an institution, with sweeping repercussions for the financial system and the broader economy. Yet, implicit public guarantees that would prevent such failures are equally costly, creating moral hazard in the form of increased risk taking and incentives for financial institutions to become larger and more complex. The research in this proposal will address this dilemma. From a methodological perspective, my research will advance the state of the art in financial intermediation theory by explicitly modeling the failure and resolution of global banks, emphasizing crucial elements that are absent from leading theories: the design of mechanisms that allow for an orderly resolution of struggling global financial institutions, the incentives of national authorities in the regulation and resolution of global banks, the role of the corporate and organizational structure of global banks, as well as their optimal size and scope. The proposed approach is interdisciplinary; it will generate novel insights by drawing on different subfields within economics (corporate finance theory, organizational economics) and aspects of bankruptcy law. Moreover, the research will take a holistic view that explicitly recognizes the two-way feedback between the rules that govern bank resolution and decisions on funding, investment, and size taken by banks prior to a potential resolution. Overall, the findings from this research will be directly relevant for regulators and policymakers. For example, they will inform currently debated legislation regarding the regulation and resolution of global banks, such as the Single Resolution Mechanism in the EU.
Projet ERC : iPhotoreceptors (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Proof of concept grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering
Entité participante : University Hospital Bonn — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 130644.65 €

One of the major causes of adult visual impairment and blindness in industrialized countries is the progressive dysfunction and death of photoreceptor cells (PR) as a result of retinal degenerative diseases. Current treatment options are still insufficient to counteract these forms of blindness. The development of many drugs and therapies fail in preclinical stages because the used animal models are suboptimal for translating results from the bench to the bedside. Especially, for testing the transplantation of human PRs, which is currently extensively explored as a treatment option for late stages of retinal degeneration, the biggest bottleneck is the lack of PR material in sufficient quantity and quality. Within the ERC Starting Grant ProNeurons, my team and I have developed a disruptive technology to differentiate human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) to PR precursor cells by overexpressing three transcription factors yielding in up to 60% in only 10 days. Our technology allows fast, efficient and unlimited production of PRs essential as testbeds for drug screenings, for further disease research and for photoreceptor replacement therapies. Within the PoC actions, we strive for bringing the induced PRs closer to the market. We will finalize the last product development steps and FTO reviews to define the final products such as PR differentiation kits and/or cryopreserved PRs for research, development and therapy. We will identify and approach industrial exploitation partners for out-licensing or further funding. The final goal of commercializing the induced PRs is to aid the development of new drugs to treat retinal degenerative diseases.

Mots-clés : retinal degenerative disease,hipsc technology,human photoreceptors,drug screening,cell therapy,research and development,biomedicine,vision restoration
Projet ERC : EPIC (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : Uppsala University — Pays : Suède — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 100000.0 €

One of the most ambitious goals of modern astrophysics is to characterise the physical and chemical properties of rocky planets orbiting in the habitable zone of nearby Sun-like stars. Although the observation of planetary transits could in a few limited cases be used to reach such a goal, it is widely recognised that only direct imaging techniques will enable such a feat on a statistically significant sample of planetary systems. Direct imaging of Earth-like exoplanets is however a formidable challenge due to the huge contrast and minute angular separation between such planets and their host star. The proposed EPIC project aims to enable the direct detection and characterisation of terrestrial planets located in the habitable zone of nearby stars using ground-based high-contrast imaging in the thermal infrared domain. To reach that ambitious goal, the project will focus on two main research directions: (i) the development and implementation of high-contrast imaging techniques and technologies addressing the smallest possible angular separations from bright, nearby stars, and (ii) the adaptation of state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to the problem of image processing in high-contrast imaging. While the ultimate goal of this research can likely only be reached with the advent of giant telescopes such as the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) around 2025, the EPIC project will lay the stepping stones towards that goal and produce several high-impact results along the way, e.g. by re-assessing the occurrence rate of giant planets in direct imaging surveys at the most relevant angular separations (i.e., close to the snow line), by conducting the deepest high-contrast imaging search for rocky planets in the alpha Centauri system, by preparing the scientific exploitation of the ELT, and by providing the first open-source high-contrast image processing toolbox relying on supervised machine learning techniques.

Mots-clés : exoplanets,high contrast imaging,image processing,deep learning,stellar coronagraphy,wavefront control,infrared instrumentation
Projet ERC : ACROSS (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The study of the human past
Entité participante : University of Huddersfield — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 308275.94 €

One of the most exciting research questions within archaeology is that of the peopling of Australasia by at least c.50,000 years ago. This represents some of the earliest evidence of modern human colonization outside Africa, yet, even at the greatest sea-level lowstand, this migration would have involved seafaring. It is the maritime nature of this dispersal which makes it so important to questions of technological, cognitive and social human development. These issues have traditionally been the preserve of archaeologists, but with a multidisciplinary approach that embraces cutting-edge marine geophysical, hydrodynamic and archaeogenetic analyses, we now have the opportunity to examine the When, Where, Who and How of the earliest seafaring in world history. The voyage from Sunda (South East Asia) to Sahul (Australasia) provides evidence for the earliest ‘open water’ crossing in the world. A combination of the sparse number of early archaeological finds and the significant changes in the palaeolandscape and submergence of the broad north western Australian continental shelf, mean that little is known about the routes taken and what these crossings may have entailed. This project will combine research of the submerged palaeolandscape of the continental shelf to refine our knowledge of the onshore/offshore environment, identify potential submerged prehistoric sites and enhance our understanding of the palaeoshoreline and tidal regime. This will be combined with archaeogenetic research targeting mtDNA and Y-chromosome data to resolve questions of demography and dating. For the first time this project takes a truly multidisciplinary approach to address the colonization of Sahul, providing an unique opportunity to tackle some of the most important questions about human origins, the relationship between humans and the changing environment, population dynamics and migration, seafaring technology, social organisation and cognition.

Mots-clés : marine,maritime,palaeolandscape,seafaring,migration
Projet ERC : PUMA (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : Technical University of Darmstadt — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2218298.0 €

One of the most fascinating quantum phenomena in nuclear physics is the occurrence of neutron halos and neutron skins in very neutron rich atomic nuclei. Thick neutron skins and halos, not yet evidenced in medium mass nuclei, would be unique low-density neutron matter accessible in the laboratory. Nuclear shell structure is also known to change with the number of protons and neutrons. The nuclear structure of very heavy nuclei at and above Z=100 is barely known, and the existence of new long-lived heavy isotopes is still an open question. The above fundamental phenomena related to the unbalance of neutron and protons in unstable nuclei are essential to understand the complex nature of nuclei and related astrophysical processes. We propose a new physics program to determine the neutron over proton densities at the nuclear surface for the most exotic nuclei that can be produced today, to evidence and to characterize neutron halos and skins in medium and heavy mass regions. PUMA will also allow the spectroscopy of single-particle states in heavy-nuclei above Z=100 will offer a new insight into the unknown shell structure at the top of the nuclear landscape. To address these questions, PUMA explores a new way to study radioactive nuclei produced at very low kinetic energy: the interaction of antiprotons with unstable nuclei. PUMA is based on a new apparatus: a transportable magnetic trap to store antiprotons and maximize their interaction with slow rare isotopes in order to trigger annihilations and measure the following radiations. The PUMA methodology is based on two steps. (i) The storage of antiprotons will be performed at the new AD/ELENA facility of CERN in collaboration with the GBAR collaboration. (ii) The PUMA physics program is to take place at CERN/ISOLDE and, on a later stage beyond the ERC grant period, at the new SPIRAL2 facility in Europe. PUMA will open new horizons for nuclear structure research.
Projet ERC : Scan2CAD (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer science and informatics
Entité participante : Technical University of Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TUM
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

One of the most fundamental challenges in the digital age is to automatically create accurate, high-quality 3D representations of the world around us. This would have far-reaching impact, from enabling advances entertainment and immersive technologies (e.g., mixed reality) to medical applications and industrial manufacturing pipelines. Despite remarkable progress in scanning devices and 3D reconstruction algorithms, the resulting models remain highly impractical for display or use in virtual environments. This is due to the limited quality of these reconstructed 3D models, which is still far from the quality of assets designed by professional artists in countless of working hours. We believe that the key to addressing these shortcomings is understanding the design process of artist-created assets. We can then learn the correlation to real-world observations and replicate the process conditioned on these real-world input scans. In this proposal, we will answer the question "How can we turn 3D scans into CAD-quality 3D assets?".
Projet ERC : ScaleOpt (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer science and informatics
Entité participante : University of London — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. London
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1488674.14 €

One of the most important open questions in optimization is to find a strongly polynomial algorithm for linear programming. The proposed project aims to tackle this problem by combining novel techniques from two different domains: discrete optimization and continuous optimization. We expect to contribute to exciting recent developments on the interface of these two fields. We use and develop new variants of the classical scaling technique. From the discrete optimization side, recent work of the PI on generalized flows extends classical network flow theory and opens up new domains for strongly polynomial computability beyond integer constraint matrices. We will apply this novel scaling technique to obtain strongly polynomial algorithms for broad classes of linear programs. From the continuous optimization side, we aim to build the theory of geometric rescaling algorithms for linear and convex optimization. This approach combines first-order methods with geometric rescaling techniques to obtain a new family of polynomial-time algorithms. We expect to devise variants efficient in theory and in practice, which we will use in a wide range of applications. Our discrete and continuous techniques will have important applications in submodular function minimization. We will develop new, efficient algorithms for the general problem as well as for specific applications in areas such as machine learning and computer vision. In summary, the project will develop novel approaches for some of the most fundamental optimization problems. It will change the landscape of strongly polynomial computability, and make substantial progress towards finding a strongly polynomial algorithm for linear programming.

Mots-clés : linear programming,strongly polynomial algorithms,network optimization,first order methods,submodular functions
Projet ERC : TONALITy (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Spanish National Research Council — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CSIC
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149953.0 €

One of the results obtained under the project nano-TEC (ERC-StG-240497) is an alumina template with three-dimensional nanopore architecture. This novel structure and its fabrication procedure have been the subject of a patent that has been recently filed. This structure has the novelty of being composed not only by vertically aligned pores, but also by tailor-controlled horizontal pores interconnecting them with their closest neighbour creating a three-dimensional net of nanopores. This template can also be used for the fabrication of highly ordered three-dimensional network of nanowires. Controlled and uniform assembly of nanowires with high scalability is still one of the major bottleneck challenges in fields such as energy harvesting, sensing, and device integration for electronics or catalysis. Moreover, since the spacing between horizontal interconnected nanopores is tuneable the colour of the alumina film can be controlled showing rainbow-like luminous colours that change with the angle of view, like in a Morpho butterfly wing. The work already undertaken under the nano-TEC project requires further investment in order to explore larger area, mass-production of these templates, for a further understanding of target markets and their limitations (regarding cost, aluminium purity, sizes, etc.). Finally, the objective will be to place some of the ERC-StG Nano-TEC results at market level.

Mots-clés : alumina,tridimensional network,colour