Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : CentSatRegFunc (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Cellular, Developmental and Regenerative Biology
Entité participante : Koç University — Pays : Turquie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499818.75 €

Centrosomes are the main microtubule-organizing centers of animal cells. They influence the morphology of the microtubule cytoskeleton and function as the base of primary cilium, a nexus for important signaling pathways. Structural and functional defects in centrosome/cilium complex cause a variety of human diseases including cancer, ciliopathies and microcephaly. To understand the relationship between human diseases and centrosome/cilium abnormalities, it is essential to elucidate the biogenesis of centrosome/cilium complex and the control mechanisms that regulate their structure and function. To tackle these fundamental problems, we will dissect the function and regulation of centriolar satellites, the array of granules that localize around the centrosome/cilium complex in mammalian cells. Only recently interest in the satellites has grown because mutations affecting satellite components were shown to cause ciliopathies, microcephaly and schizophrenia. Remarkably, many centrosome/cilium proteins localize to these structures and we lack understanding of when, why and how these proteins localize to satellites. The central hypothesis of this grant is that satellites ensure proper centrosome/cilium complex structure and function by acting as transit paths for modification, assembly, storage, stability and trafficking of centrosome/cilium proteins. In Aim 1, we will identify the nature of regulatory and molecular relationship between satellites and the centrosome/cilium complex. In Aim 2, we will elucidate the role of satellites in proteostasis of centrosome/cilium proteins. In Aim 3, we will investigate the functional significance of satellite-localization of centrosome/cilium proteins during processes that go awry in human disease. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the proposed research will expand our knowledge of the spatiotemporal regulation of the centrosome/cilium complex and provide new insights into pathogenesis of ciliopathies and primary microcephaly.

Mots-clés : centrosome,centriolar satellites,centriole,primary cilium,microtubule,ciliopathies,centriole duplication,ciliogenesis,cancer,primary microcephaly,proximity labeling,snap,bioid,apex
Projet ERC : BIODESERT (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : King Juan Carlos University — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : URJC
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 781144.02 €

Changes in climate and land use (e.g., increased grazing pressure), are two main global change components that also act as major desertification drivers. Understanding how drylands will respond to these drivers is crucial because they occupy 41% of the terrestrial surface and are home to over 38% of the world’s human population. Land degradation already affects ~250 million people in the developing world, which rely upon the provision of many ecosystem processes (multifunctionality). This proposal aims to develop a better understanding of the functioning and resilience of drylands (i.e. their ability to respond to and recover from disturbances) to major desertification drivers. Its objectives are to: 1) test how changes in climate and grazing pressure determine spatiotemporal patterns in multifunctionality in global drylands, 2) assess how biotic attributes (e.g., biodiversity, cover) modulate ecosystem resilience to climate change and grazing pressure at various spatial scales, 3) test and develop early warning indicators of desertification, and 4) forecast the onset of desertification and its ecological consequences under different climate and grazing scenarios. I will use various biotic communities/attributes, ecosystem services and spatial scales (from local to global), and will combine approaches from several disciplines. Such comprehensive and highly integrated research endeavor is novel and constitutes a ground breaking advance over current research efforts on desertification. This project will provide a mechanistic understanding on the processes driving multifunctionality under different global change scenarios, as well as key insights to forecast future scenarios for the provisioning of ecosystem services in drylands, and to test and develop early warning indicators of desertification. This is of major importance to attain global sustainability and key Millennium Development Goals, such as the eradication of poverty.

Mots-clés : desertification,global environmental change,remote sensing,drylands,grazing,ecosystem functioning,ecosystem services,multifunctionality,climate change
Projet ERC : TRANSFORMER (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : Institute of Photonic Sciences — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ICFO;ICFO-CERCA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2471749.0 €

Chemical and material sciences are key drivers of our modern economy with transformative impact at all levels of society. In particular, the ability to synthesize and to tailor substances and materials with specific function is all-pervading into modern society. Vital is a firm understanding of structural transformations of molecules and phase transitions of solids as they are omnipresent, e.g. as formation and breakage of molecular bonds, proton motion and isomerization, and as collective phenomena in phase transitions. Gaining insight into the ultrafast correlated dynamics is highly challenging and requires revolutionary methodologies and innovative approaches to capture the dynamics from its onset. TRANSFORMER will provide unprecedented insight into the real-time electronic and nuclear dynamics of molecular transformations and phase transitions with advanced new methodologies and a multi-faceted approach to the investigation. The project exploits our pioneering achievements in attosecond soft X-ray spectroscopy (XAFS) and laser-induced electron diffraction (LIED) to pinpoint in real-time which electronic states participate at which nuclear configuration. The proposal consists of three objectives: O1: We will establish the methodical boundaries of LIED for space-time imaging of isolated molecules. O2: We will extract simultaneous and real-time electronic and nuclear information, thus gain insight into the underlying many-body quantum correlations. O3: We will use our methodology to realize resolving both, molecular isomerization and a solid’s metal-to-insulator phase transition, in its electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom and in real time. If successful, TRANSFORMER would undoubtedly provide an unprecedented view into electronic and nuclear dynamics, thereby reaching far beyond the state of the art with clear potential to surpass current limits in molecular and material sciences.

Mots-clés : structural dynamics,isomerization,phase transition,ultrafast x rays
Projet ERC : APPELS (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth system science
Entité participante : University of Oxford — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2000000.0 €

Chemical elements are the building blocks of life. The major elements, C, H. O, N, P, S are easily recognised as essential nutrients, but their use by life relies on metalloproteins. The identity of the metal centres of these metalloproteins and even the broader palette of trace elements fundamental to life are remarkably poorly known. Whole genomes remain opaque to decoding of this bioinorganic dimension, and optimal trace element concentrations for physiological function. Defining the elemental requirements for maximum growth rate of photosynthesising phytoplankton in the ocean, is critical to understanding Earth's climate. Although microscopic in stature, phytoplankton exert a gigantic influence on the biological pumping of carbon from the atmosphere to the deep ocean. Yet their metal requirements are poorly constrained, being inferred from cellular quotas and "nutrient-like" ocean metal distributions, susceptible to ambiguity between mistaken cellular uptake and use. APPELS will undertake a two-pronged approach to define the modern marine metallome/metalloproteome. I will explore the expanse of the periodic table for novel required elements by growing phytoplankton, representative of the broadest chemotypes, in manipulated media, to delineate optimal conditions for growth whereby any limitation at lowered concentrations implies use. The second prong uses cutting-edge techniques that unite methods from proteomics with geochemical mass-spectrometry to allow both metals and their associated proteins to be examined comprehensively. APPELS will transform our understanding of the essential elements in the ocean and how the biological pump of carbon is geared to ocean chemistry in an evolving world. More broadly, APPELS will provide a step change in documented protein-metal binding centres, with implications for discovery of novel biochemical pathways, and optimal nutrition.

Mots-clés : phytoplankton,carbon cycle,biological pump,metallomics,essential elements,bioinorganic chemistry,metalloproteins
Projet ERC : HiChemSynPro (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering
Entité participante : Fondation Jean-Marie Lehn — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CIRFC
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 529925.0 €

Chemical protein synthesis is an indispensable method in chemical and synthetic biology. However, at the present moment, it is laborious and involves multiple optimization and purification steps. High-throughput approaches for total synthesis of combinatorial libraries of custom-modified protein variants are needed. To change the situation, the work will be carried out in two directions: (1) implementation of microfluidic techniques for automation, miniaturization and multiplexing of experimental steps involved in the total synthesis of proteins, and (2) design and synthesis of novel catalytic proteins for efficient enzyme-assisted peptide ligations under denatured conditions. This innovative research technology will allow robust chemical synthesis of protein libraries with (100–10,000)-compounds with natural and unnatural modifications, bearing variety of post-translational modifications and also protein-like biopolymers. In this project, the new methodology will be validated by chemical synthesis of library of phosphorylated analogues of high mobility group protein A (HMGA), which is involved in gene-transcription and cancer development. Other potential future applications include protein design, biological problems where post-translational modifications play a crucial role (ranging from the ‘histone code’ hypothesis to understanding long-term memory) and functional annotation of newly discovered genes.

Mots-clés : chemical protein synthesis,microfluidics,enzyme engineering,post translational modifications,combinatorial protein libraries
Projet ERC : Programmable Matter (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Entité participante : University of Manchester — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2748476.0 €

Chemical reactions between solids are fundamental in areas as diverse as catalysis, information storage, pharmaceuticals, electronics manufacturing, advanced ceramics, and solar energy, to name just a few. Controlling the spatial extent of solid-state reactions at the nanoscale will enable development of materials, programmed on an atomic level, which will facilitate many emerging applications like bioinspired smart batteries and artificial synapses for future neuromorphic electronics. However, currently, there are no chemistry methods which allow precise spatial control at the nanoscale, limiting progress towards the programmable matter. Here I propose a completely new way to create novel materials using two-dimensional (2D) chemical reactions at the atomically-defined interfaces between crystalline solids. Usually, reactions between macroscopic solids are hindered as their large dimensions prevent placing them close enough to each other to support chemical transformations. Thus, just a few years ago, the task of placing two atomically flat crystals within angstrom proximity of each other, to initiate chemical interactions between them, was impossible to realise. This situation has changed dramatically with the advent of van der Waals technology - disassembly of various layered crystals into individual atom- or molecule-thick layers followed by a highly-controlled reassembly of these layers into artificial heterostructures. Building on our recent progress in van der Waals technology, I aim to realise interplanar chemical reactions between highly-crystalline solids in precisely controllable conditions using temperature, electric and magnetic fields, light, sound, pressure, and mechanical forces as means of control. Using digital control of 2D chemistry, mechanics, and electronics at the nanoscale, I and my team will develop programmable matter that actively responds to external and internal stimuli by adjusting their properties on an atomic level.
Projet ERC : NANOELECTROCHEM (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : University of Nottingham — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149912.0 €

Chemical warfare agents (CWA) are one of the most odious weapons of mass destruction, designed to incapacitate humans by causing blistering, choking, internal bleeding and vomiting on a grand scale. CWA are inexpensive and relatively easy to synthesise making them accessible to terrorist groups, providing a means for the administration of large scale damage with only small quantities of materials. Current state-of-the-art methods to detect or decontaminate CWA lack efficiency and flexibility and, with tensions in numerous war zones pushed to breaking point. By building on the fundamental scientific discoveries made in the ERC Consolidator grant (No 277784, NANOMOL), we shall extend and develop the application of electrochemically active carbon nanoreactors for the detection and decontamination of CWA, such as mustard gas and other agents. The nanoscale electrochemical platform (NANOELECTROCHEM) developed in this Proof of Concept (PoC) project is expected to be universally applicable for the triple-use (absorption + detection + decontamination) of a wide spectrum of CWA and many other harmful anthropogenic compounds, within the single platform allowing for an extremely portable device for a range of practical applications.

Mots-clés : carbon nanomaterials,electrochemistry,hybrid materials
Projet ERC : DEVCOM (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Entité participante : University of Oslo — Pays : Norvège — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UiO
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1485511.0 €

Children are born communicators. A growing body of developmental evidence suggests that the cognitive abilities enabling the expression and comprehension of communicative intentions – so-called pragmatic abilities – which underlie language use and understanding, develop early. However, a puzzling feature of pragmatic development is young children’s difficulties with non-literal uses of language (e.g., “I love you so much I could eat you up!”). How can children be early experts at a range of pragmatically complex tasks requiring attention to speakers’ intentions, but act like ‘literal listeners’ in other contexts? The objective of DEVCOM is to provide an account of the stages and factors involved in children’s developing competence with non-literal uses of language. The project will investigate the novel hypothesis that children’s growing sensitivity to sense conventions, which determine the publicly accepted meaning of words in their language, impedes children’s pragmatic reasoning with non-literal uses in the pre-school years. The empirical data will be gleaned from experimental studies with typically developing children aged 2-7 years, focusing on lexical innovation, lexical modulation, and figurative language, each highlighting the interaction of pragmatic reasoning with sensitivity to sense conventions in a distinct way. Further, the project will investigate whether the persistent difficulties with non-literal uses faced by children with Autism Spectrum Disorder may be linked to the same source. The project will use a set of novel methodologies combining explicit and implicit measures, assuming that while children’s performance on explicit measures is liable to be affected by a growing sensitivity to sense conventions, implicit measures may be more revealing of their actual pragmatic abilities. The empirical results will provide input to a novel theoretical account of pragmatic development that resolves the developmental puzzle of non-literal uses of language.

Mots-clés : pragmatic development,lexical pragmatics,developmental psychology,sense conventions,non literal uses of language,philosophy of language,atypical pragmatic development,language acquisition
Projet ERC : LeibnizDream (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Geisteswissenschaftliche Zentren Berlin — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : CO-PI
Acronyme de l'entité : GWZ
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 4162750.0 €

Children around the globe acquire language and with it the human ability to communicate complex thoughts. This project develops a new linguistic theory to explain language and its acquisition. Our central hypothesis is that language radically compresses thought structures to sound or sign. While current theories assume a parallel between thought and language or meaning-preserving transformations, we assume that thought is mapped to language by only realizing some pieces of conceptual representations. Adult language is hyper-efficient at compressing information. For this reason, Leibniz and many others over the last 300 years have been unable to agree on the primitives of human thought. We predict that child languages are a better mirror of the human mind. Our initial evidence suggests that children are not able to compress conceptual representations as efficiently as adults. Sometimes children produce more material than adults, leading to so-called commission errors, which have never been systematically investigated. Furthermore, comprehension is easier for children when there is a one-to-one match between language and thought. To test our central hypothesis and specify how conceptual structure is compressed into language, we carry out a series of at least twelve targeted language acquisition studies on a global scale. We have recruited collaborators for more than 50 languages from 21 different language families, two sign languages and two creoles to carry out our studies. With this data, we can formulate a complete formal model of the semantic primitives, their combination into conceptual structures, the morphological compression mechanism, and the acquisition process within our model. To accomplish these goals, we rely on insights from formal semantics, generative syntax, distributed morphology, and several other linguistic frameworks. As part of our work, we also create the first open, global research collaboration to conduct language acquisition studies.

Mots-clés : first language acquisition,comparative linguistics,formal semantics,morphology,event structure
Projet ERC : ChromArch (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions
Entité participante : University of Ulm — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1486578.0 €

Chromatin packaging into the nucleus of eukaryotic cells is highly sophisticated. It not only serves to condense the genomic content into restricted space, but mainly to encode epigenetic traits ensuring temporally controlled and balanced transcription of genes and coordinated DNA replication and repair. The non-random three-dimensional chromatin architecture including looped structures between genomic control elements relies on the action of architectural proteins. However, despite increasing interest in spatio-temporal chromatin organization, mechanistic details of their contributions are not well understood. With this proposal I aim at unveiling molecular mechanisms of protein–mediated chromatin organization by in vivo single molecule tracking and quantitative super-resolution imaging of architectural proteins using reflected light sheet microscopy (RLSM). I will measure the interaction dynamics, the spatial distribution and the stoichiometry of architectural proteins throughout the nucleus and at specific chromatin loci within single cells. In complement single molecule force spectroscopy experiments using magnetic tweezers (MT), I will study mechanisms of DNA loop formation in vitro by structure-mediating proteins. Integrating these spatio-temporal and mechanical single molecule information, I will in the third sup-project measure the dynamics of relative end-to-end movements and the forces acting within a looped chromatin structure in living cells. Taken together, my experiments will greatly enhance our mechanistic understanding of three-dimensional chromatin architecture and inspire future experiments on its regulatory effects on nuclear functions and potential therapeutic utility upon controlled modification.

Mots-clés : live cell single molecule fluorescence microscopy,super resolution microscopy,single molecule force spectroscopy