Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : MECHANOJAS (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and R egeneration
Entité participante : Leibniz-Gemeinschaft — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WLG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1984565.0 €

Both animals and plants produce potently active mediators in response to tissue injury. These oxygenated lipid derivatives include leukotrienes and prostaglandins in animals, and jasmonates (JAs) in plants with JA-Ile serving as the bioactive phytohormone in angiosperms. JAs are synthesized from poly unsaturated fatty acids residing in plant-specific plastidial membranes, and are essential to protect plants against numerous biotic and abiotic challenges including insect herbivory and temperature extremes. Despite the vital roles of JAs in sustaining plant fitness and although JA-Ile biosynthesis and signalling are well characterized, it is still unknown how are damage signals transmitted to plastids to initiate phytohormone production and what is the nature of the transmitted signal(s). Our previous work in Arabidopsis uncovered that osmotically-induced turgor pressure changes elicit JA-Ile biosynthesis. We hence hypothesise that JA-Ile biosynthesis initiation may result from the transmission of mechanical signals through tissues and cell compartments leading to biophysical changes of plastidial membranes granting substrate accessibility to JA biosynthesis enzymes. To address these central questions in plant biology we aim to:  1. Quantify the mechanical forces and osmotic pressure changes required to induce JA biosynthesis 2. Characterize cellular events that transduce mechanical and osmotic stress signals to plastids for JA-Ile precursor production 3. Alter plastidial biophysical parameters and study the consequences on JA-Ile precursor production 4. Identify genetic components involved in sensing and decoding biophysical stimuli for JA-Ile production  This proposal thus intends to fill a critical gap in knowledge on stress phytohormone biology regulating plant acclimation and, concomitantly, expand our understanding on fundamental aspects of plant mechano- and osmo-sensing.

Mots-clés : plant mechanobiology,osmosensing,jasmonate,environmental stress
Projet ERC : SCIPOL (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe Sciences
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 : 1998750.0 €

Observational cosmology is moving towards its next major milestone: high-precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background polarization with the goal of detecting and characterizing the primordial B-modes. These polarization patterns would provide a unique picture of the early Universe, shedding the light on the conditions at that time, be it cosmic inflation, gauge fields, or more exotic possibilities. In a regime of energy where standard models are expected to break, such observations could revolutionize our current picture of cosmology and high energy physics. Characterizing such signal requires (1) reaching extremely low instrumental sensitivity levels and (2) controlling instrumental and astrophysical systematic effects with unprecedented fidelity. While (1) is about to be reached with the planned deployment of funded, cutting-edge observatories such as the Simons Array/Observatory, CMB-S4 and LiteBIRD, (2) is already limiting the current constraints and will be studied and uniquely mitigated by SciPol. My project is an opportunity to claim a leadership role for Europe in one of the most active and impactful research areas in physics, complementing the hardware efforts led by the US and Japan. I will: - construct accurate, open-source and versatile models for the instrumental, astrophysical signals and noise properties; - develop and exploit new, general algorithms adjusting previous models from observations, and producing a unique set of instrument- and foreground-corrected maps; - make a statistically robust cosmological inference of these, especially on the large scale, implementing a gravitational lensing correction. I have been at the forefront of this research for the last 10 years, made key contributions to the analysis and scientific exploitation of the POLARBEAR data sets, and to preparations and scientific optimization of the forthcoming efforts. I am consequently uniquely positioned to deliver the objectives of the proposed work.

Mots-clés : cosmic microwave background,inflation,early universe
Projet ERC : PraxisofCoexistence (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Soci al World and Its Interactions
Entité participante : Université de Southampton — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 125000.0 €

The world is experiencing what many have described as a crisis of multiculturalism. Over the past decade, growing and increasingly mainstream voices have declared multiculturalism to have failed, in such places as Europe, the United States, India, Israel, to name a few. In view of growing concerns over the ineffectiveness of current coexistence policies, and brewing ethno-religious conflicts, this research program will address this issue by taking a comparative approach to the question of ethno-religious coexistence in multiple sites. By examining cases of “ordinary” coexistence in situations of religious and ethnic diversity, the research seeks to understand how coexistence is actually practiced. The Praxis of Coexistence seeks to open an entirely new empirical, inductive, and comparative line of inquiry that does not seek to examine the effects of different policies on coexistence, but rather looks at coexistence practices to, among other things, achieve better policy. Understanding how people handle diversity spontaneously will enlighten us about what they “expect”, what they are looking for in coexistence. I ask: How do communities accommodate difference in spontaneous and culturally resonant ways? What resources do they actually draw on to maintain civil relations and avoid conflict and violence between the different religious and ethnic groups that cohabit the same space? This project will open theoretical and normative space for a broader range of approaches to coexistence, ones that are attuned to questions of deep difference, divergent worldviews, and diverse values. In contrast to studies on the effects of policy or structural conditions on the dynamics of coexistence, this project will demonstrate why we should also take culture and existing practice seriously when considering the dilemmas of diversity.

Mots-clés : intergroup accommodation,tolerance,ordinary coexistence
Projet ERC : NoSexSeed (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems E ngineering
Entité participante : Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Société Max Planck
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1997188.0 €

Seed development in most flowering plants is coupled to fertilization, which leads to the formation of two structures: the embryo, which forms the next generation; and the nourishing endosperm. Some plant species, however, can produce seeds without fertilization. This phenomenon is called apomixis and, although relatively infrequent, it occurs in several plant families. This type of asexual reproduction via seeds is highly desirable in agriculture: first, it would allow the fixation of hybrid vigour, by producing clonal progeny; second, it would allow seed and fruit production without pollen. This is particularly relevant when pollination is limited, for example under heat stress, to which pollen is extremely sensitive. In fact, due to global warming pollen failure is expected to significantly contribute to crop yield losses. Unfortunately, no major crops can do apomixis and its introduction via classical breeding is not possible. The engineering of apomictic traits into crops has thus seen limited success until recently: novel advances now allow the production of clonal progeny in rice and maize. However, these clonal systems are not pollen independent. Full apomixis requires engineering of three traits: apomeiosis, parthenogenesis, and autonomous endosperm. And while the first two can now be engineered to some degree, the latter is still a major challenge and, without it, a truly pollen-independent system is not possible. Thus, in this project I aim to uncover the mechanisms required for autonomous endosperm formation. For this we will resort to naturally occurring apomicts for gene discovery: dandelion and rockcress. We will then engineer the determinants of autonomous endosperm in tomato, which is the most important vegetable crop worldwide, and whose pollen is extremely sensitive to heat. With this, I aim to unlock the final puzzle piece for pollen-independent seed and fruit production, which would allow the deployment of full apomixis in agricultural systems.

Mots-clés : seed development,apomixis,polycomb,endosperm,dandelion,arabidopsis,boechera,tomato,prion domain,heterosis
Projet ERC : STAIN-IT (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention,  Diagnosis and T reatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Leibniz-Gemeinschaft — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WLG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1989086.0 €

In most European countries, the diagnosis of cancer is achieved by examination of haematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining by an experienced pathologist. Nevertheless, several other diagnostic approaches exist (e.g., immunohistochemical staining) which are not applied routinely for all cases due to their technical complexity, duration, and cost. Therefore, an important unmet medical need for fast, non-invasive, and label-free immunohistochemical staining based on molecular imaging without laborious sample treatment exists. This demanding challenge will be tackled in STAIN-IT using a non-invasive label-free measurement technique called multimodal imaging (e.g., the combination of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering, second harmonic generation, and two-photon-excited fluorescence). The multimodal images will be analysed using deep learning approaches, such as convolution neural networks (CNNs). These CNNs are utilized to mimic immunohistochemical stainings. CNNs are neural networks that learn the feature representation of the data, which is optimally suited to model a specific immunohistochemical staining. In STAIN-IT, the staining models will be developed along with the methods to quantitatively understand the nonlinear behaviour of the CNNs. With the envisioned approximation approaches for CNNs, these models no longer act as ‘black box’ systems, and a quantification of tissue changes associated with the staining models can be achieved. For the very first time, STAIN-IT will develop a label-free, non-invasive, labour-inexpensive, and fast computational immunohistochemical staining, which can be easily implemented into clinical routine yielding increased diagnostic reliability and a better understanding of disease pathogenesis. A fast test of the antigen KI-67 in an intraoperative frozen section consultation situation or the use of Collagen IV as a quality control marker of tissue-engineered medicines are some of the exciting application possibilities of such staining model.

Mots-clés : computational immunohistochemical staining,deep learning,multimodal imaging,image processing,artificial intelligence,computer vision and visualization
Projet ERC : LIVE (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
Entité participante : Leibniz-Gemeinschaft — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : WLG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 957500.0 €

A biological system’s phenotype and the evolution thereof are mirrored in molecular composition. The complexity of biological samples, however, renders quantitative, multivariate molecular probing challenging, in particular for non-destructive, label-free approaches. Vibrational spectroscopies capture signals from all molecular bonds exchanging energy with an optical excitation, delivering highly-specific optical fingerprints of samples in their native state, to which virtually all molecules contribute. Yet, while infrared (IR) spectroscopies profit from large vibrational cross-sections, technical limitations of IR radiation sources and detection have so far limited their applicability to real-world biomedical settings, in particular in the context of highly absorbing water (ubiquitous in biological samples). The project LIVE aims at harnessing the unparalleled control over light, on the level of individual optical-field oscillations, afforded by femtosecond lasers and nonlinear optics, to overcome current technological limitations and advance IR spectroscopy toward the fundamental limits set by the nature of light and, thus, toward the ultimate sensitivity, specificity and throughput achievable in optical vibrational fingerprinting. To this end, we envisage the development of powerful sources of fewcycle pulses covering the entire IR molecular fingerprint region (500–4000 cm-1) with utmost electric-field waveform stability, and of innovative electric-field sampling techniques capturing nearly all photons emitted by linearly and nonlinearly excited molecular vibrations. The host institution permits immediate validation of these developments for real-world biomedical samples, including, high-throughput vibrational fingerprinting of individual cells in flow cytometry, spectral tissue histopathology and high-resolution, high-sensitivity breath gas monitoring. Thus, LIVE promises direct impact on patients’ health, deeply rooted in basic photonics research.

Mots-clés : infrared spectroscopy advanced laser physics biomedical optics femtosecond lasers
Projet ERC : PollutedPast (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Study of the Human Past
Entité participante : Université de Stockholm — Pays : Suède — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 125250.0 €

Environmental metal pollution threatens us all. While discussions of further prevention continue, the historical dimension is rarely considered. The long history of metal contamination has been well traced in natural archives (e.g. lake sediments and peat). However, there is a need for long-term studies directly on humans remains to fully understand how metal pollution affected the life of our ancestors. PollutedPast will fill this gap by linking new research on skeletal remains from archaeological sites with research done using natural archives. The overall objective is to determine the severity of metal pollution in preindustrial populations. This will be achieved by meeting four prerequisites: 1) availability of high chronological resolution studies in natural archives, 2) periods of contrasting pollution levels, 3) areas with contrasting pollution histories, and 4) availability of well-suited and studied osteological collections. The investigations will concentrate on collections from NW and SE Spain, and SE Sweden, selecting individuals from Roman to Late Medieval times. Individuals at risk (babies, those with chronic infectious diseases) will also be targeted. The methodological approach is based in a revolutionary combination of techniques. Multielemental (>30) and high-resolution (every 200μm) analyses of bones, bioapatite and teeth will provide critical insights into metals incorporation. Lead, copper and mercury, metals different sources and biogeochemical cycles, will be researched in depth and compared with well-reconstructed pollution histories in natural archives from the selected areas. Lead isotopes will be used, aided by mixing models, to trace the sources and estimate the proportion of pollution-lead in skeletons. This project will generate ground-breaking knowledge about the long-term impact of metal contamination – by mining and metallurgy - and explore how differences in resources management may have had consequences regarding human societies.

Mots-clés : osteoarchaeology metal pollution glocalization xrf core scanner lead isotopes lead mercury copper paleopathology physiological stress roman times medieval times
Projet ERC : CO-SLEEP (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Entité participante : Université de Constance — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2912102.0 €

Sleep is a biological imperative for all animals: insufficient sleep can have detrimental effects on individuals’ health, cognition, social functioning and overall fitness. Even among gregarious species, sleep has largely been studied in lone individuals in laboratory settings, divorced from relevant socio-ecological context, limiting our ability to understand how social environments shape, and are shaped by, the sleep patterns of their members. My goal is to bring the study of sleep into the collective context, understand how social processes structure the sleep patterns of individuals, groups and populations, and test how gregarious animals navigate the opportunities and constraints imposed by sleeping as part of a group. To do this, I will integrate cutting-edge technologies with traditional field-observation methods to measure and model the collective dynamics of sleep among wild baboons. To continuously monitor movement, position, and sleep of baboons at the individual, group, and population levels, I will use GPS and accelerometry tracking of members of 30 troops of wild baboons. This will be combined with 3-D laser scanning of the physical sleep environment, overnight thermal videography, sleep-disruption field experiments, focal sampling of social behaviors, and advanced computational modeling to shed light on how differentiated and multi-faceted social relationships shape individual and collective sleep decisions, and how these decisions, in turn, shape the overall social dynamics of groups. This ground-breaking project will be the first to measure the collective sleep behavior of animal groups in a socially and ecologically relevant context. As such, it has the potential to shed wholly new light on social and ecological trade-offs that gregarious species – like our own – must balance to satisfy the biological imperative of sleep.

Mots-clés : sleep,collective behavior,sociality,behavioral ecology,primates
Projet ERC : AQDtive (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and Communication Engineering
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 : 2574750.0 €

AQDtive project targets the design of an all nanocrystal (NC) based active imaging setup. This includes the design of a focal plane array (FPA) (ie. a camera) which active layer is made of narrow band gap NCs and which light matter coupling will be designed to enhance the light absorption. Other new functionalities such as a bias reconfigurable spectral response are also targeted to transform NC as viable platform of active nonanophotonics. A second key development of AQDtive is the design of NC-based light emitting diodes (LEDs) with operation from 2 to 5 µm. This spectral range corresponds to a spectral window where electroluminescence of NCs is currently not reported and where bright sources remain technologically challenging. A bright LED will then be coupled to a FPA to obtain an all NC-based active imaging setup. Last, to support the development of such device, AQDtive includes a deep investigation of the electronic structure in operando. A unique setup will be fabricated that enable pump-probe photoemission measurements while the device is pumped under resonant (ie. with band edge energy) condition and while device is under operation (ie. under bias application). Moreover, using nanobeam photoemission, I target to obtain a direct imaging of the device energy landscape in operando. Together these objectives will enable a new generation of infrared sensors operated in the extended short and mid wave infrared, that will be collaboratively transferred to industrial partners.

Mots-clés : nanocrystals,infrared,photodetector,camera,nanophotonics,light emitting diode,electronic structure
Projet ERC : EnVision (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : Université autonome de Madrid — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1995625.0 €

Disorder is generally considered to have a purely negative impact on carrier transport and most efforts aim to minimize it. However, recent studies suggest that disorder may enhance carrier transport via carrier funneling along energetic gradients or promote carrier interconversion at defect sites. Critically though, before disorder can be exploited for improved optoelectronic performance of nanomaterials, a better understanding of the relationship between disorder and transport is needed. EnVision aims to build a bridge between fundamental observations of the benefits of disorder and materials engineering. To enable this, I have designed a two-fold strategy focussed on 1) defining the detailed design rules for the rational design of disorder driven carrier transport and interconversion, and 2) develop strategies to engineer the local energy landscapes of nanostructured semiconductors that boost carrier transport and interconversion. To enable the definition of the detailed design rules, I will take the crucial step of developing Hyperspectral Transient Microscopy – the first super-resolution technique capable of simultaneously visualizing the transport of carriers in space, time, and energy. Using metal-halide perovskites as a versatile testbed, EnVision will make critical advances beyond the current state-of-the-art in promoting carrier transport along compositional gradients, boost carrier interconversion at local dopants site, and the creation of on-demand energy landscapes using nanoindentation. Through its unique approach, EnVision will introduce the concept of functional disorder, paving the way for new formalisms nanomaterial engineering and guiding the realization of fully optimized energy landscapes for optoelectronic and photonic technologies.

Mots-clés : semiconductor nanomaterials,carrier transport,disorder,microscopy,spectroscopy