Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : POLARISE (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : École polytechnique Chalmers — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Semiconductor functionality hinges on the behaviour of excess charges, especially electrons and holes, crucial for storing, transporting, and converting energy. In certain semiconductors, charges can localize within lattice distortions, forming polarons or self-trapped excitons. While these entities alter material traits, there remains a gap in understanding their nature, especially in complex inorganic and organometallic materials, and methods for their reliable control and identification are lacking.  POLARISE aims to bridge approaches from materials engineering, computational materials science and condensed matter theory, seeking to attain comprehensive insights into the consequences of charge localization. It will develop holistic models that elucidate the interplay of effects that charge localization can have on various material properties, leveraging machine learning methods to study charge localization at varying temperatures, and identifying experimental signatures for their reliable detection.  By achieving these objectives, POLARISE will revolutionize our fundamental understanding and control of charge localization within complex materials. This breakthrough promises to not only advance material science but also unlock novel opportunities across various other fields. It will significantly contribute to improving semiconductor technologies, such as solar or photoelectrocatalytic cells, and enable precise identification of localized charges in experimental settings, pushing the boundaries of knowledge and technological possibilities.

Mots-clés : polar materials,semiconductors,halide perovskites,metal oxides,charge localization,polarons,self trapped excitons,density functional theory
Projet ERC : SPACETWIN (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth System Science
Entité participante : Université de Gand — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UGent
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1498859.0 €

Forests worldwide are undergoing large-scale and unprecedented changes in terms of structure and species composition due to anthropogenic disturbances, climate change and other global change drivers. Climate, disturbances and forest structure are all closely linked: changes in climate can lead directly to physical changes in forest structure and vice versa or to an anticipated increase in forest disturbances. However, it is still uncertain how forest structure is impacted by disturbances (locally) and how we can detect and monitor various levels of disturbance regimes using spaceborne satellite data (globally).  This project will focus on the impact of drought, fire and logging disturbances across a range of tropical and temperate forest ecosystems. It will lead to a step-change in our ability to observe, quantify and understand forest disturbances and recovery by using time series of the most detailed structural and radiometric 3D forest models ever built: 'digital twin' forests. The key innovations will be: (1) the establishment of an unprecedented 4D dataset across 57 disturbed sites using terrestrial laser scanning (~11,500 individual trees); (2) the development of next generation methods to enable big data science of forest point clouds; (3) the identification of key axes of variation of disturbed tree and forest structure; (4) the first ever implementation of digital twins for optical and microwave radiative transfer modelling; (5) the near-real time inversion of remote sensing of forest disturbances using emulation; and (6) the embedding of forest structure in the global observation process to understand the uncertainties in monitoring disturbances.  These innovations will open a realm of untapped research questions and applications that call for the most detailed 3D information on canopy structure possible. These insights are also urgently needed to reduce uncertainties and advance the forecasting of carbon stocks and dynamics within the context of the IPCC.

Mots-clés : forest dynamics physical geography natural resources management laser scanning forest disturbance forest recovery radiative transfer modelling
Projet ERC : ESQuAT (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Entité participante : École polytechnique Chalmers — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2124089.0 €

The technology advances of the last decades are forcing us to re-think laws and concepts of thermodynamics. An intense theoretical effort is underway to understand the role of quantum mechanical ingredients in thermodynamic processes. This effort might ultimately lead to more powerful engines, less energy waste, faster-charging batteries. However, despite pioneering experimental work, progress is hindered by the lack of a comprehensive experimental testbed for quantum thermal machines. In this project I aim to provide the most ambitious and systematic experimental search for quantum advantages in thermodynamics thus far, based on a circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture. I will first complement the toolkit of circuit quantum electrodynamics with a novel arrangement, which I term the engineered physical bath. This bath has a broadband, Ohmic spectral density. It can be populated with any spectral distribution and coupled to quantum thermal machines with arbitrary strengths. Finally, heat flows between the bath and the machine can be detected deep in the quantum regime and in a spectrally resolved way. Based on this augmented architecture, I will implement three types of novel quantum refrigerators. I devised each refrigerator to pinpoint the utilization of a specific quantum resource: quantum coherence, measurement backaction, and collective effects. I will measure the cooling power of the refrigerators while in situ exploring an unprecedently large space of parameters and connect my results to the most recent theoretical frameworks. From this investigation, I expect two kinds of scientific breakthroughs: (i) observation of features that are unambiguously nonclassical in thermodynamic observables, and (ii) determination of advantages enjoyed by quantum thermal machines when fairly compared to their classical counterparts. Broadly, this project will deepen our understanding of quantum thermodynamics while establishing a new standard for experiments in the field.

Mots-clés : quantum thermodynamics
Projet ERC : SUPER (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : Université de Bologne — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2474375.0 €

SUPER will develop functional, self-assembled multi-quantum wells based on metal halide perovskites (MHPs) and organic semiconductors integrated at the molecular level in ordered extended solids, creating a hybrid material platform fully exploiting synergistic interactions between the organic and inorganic sublattices with an unprecedented level of sophistication. The resulting materials will have radically enhanced charge transport, improved luminescence yield and extended tunability compared to currently available MHPs, while providing new solutions to the main challenges of toxicity and stability faced by the entire field of MHPs. SUPER will undertake an original supramolecular approach creating a new fundamental understanding of how large molecular and atomic systems interact to form functional superstructures, merging concepts from organic and inorganic synthesis, solid-state chemistry, photophysics, organic electronics and device engineering. The bottom-up construction will start from the synthesis of innovative semiconductor molecular rods with widely tunable energetics allowing fine tuning of the internal energy level alignment, while encoding the structural characteristics regulating intermolecular associations and the controlled supramolecular assembly of the hybrid material. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance will be applied as top-notch technique to probe the low-dimensional phases, their defectivity, structural rigidity and local coordination environment with atomic-scale resolution. Advanced optical spectroscopy and charge transport measurements will assess the efficacy of the synthetic strategies establishing a close structure-properties relationship and assisting the material?s refinement. Light-emitting diodes and field-effect transistors will be used as final platforms to assess the concerted effect of supramolecular architecture, transport and luminescent properties ensuring the high-technological relevance of the newly-developed materials.

Mots-clés : metal halide perovskite,solid state nmr,2d semiconductors,optical spectroscopy,light emitting devices
Projet ERC : EXPLOITsen (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention,  Diagnosis and T reatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Université Eberhard Karl de Tübingen — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499975.0 €

Senescence is a two-component process comprised of a stable cell cycle arrest and a secretory program named the senescence associated secretory phenotype (SASP), altering the surrounding microenvironment. The program serves as a tumor suppressive mechanism inhibiting the propagation of damaged cells, but the accumulation of senescent cells has been connected to multiple age-associated diseases including cancer. Consequently, senescence induction in tumors is not considered a desired therapeutic outcome. Still, therapeutic strategies to treat cancer such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy and radiotherapy induce senescence at least in a subset of cancer cells. We here propose to exploit the specific features of senescent cells in the cancer microenvironment to improve therapeutic outcome in solid tumors. This strategy revolves around the combination of senescence induction with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T and NK cells. We will first assess the role of specific genetic alterations for the senescence program and resulting reciprocal interactions with CAR expressing immune cells. The gained knowledge will be translated into rational designs of CAR T and NK cells to tailor them to the specific senescence context. Furthermore, our strategies involve innovative screening and gene editing approaches of these cellular based therapies to 1) render them resistant against senescence-inducing therapies, thereby uncoupling desired toxic effects on tumor cells from undesired negative effects on immune cells; and 2) to identify single nucleotide variants leading to improved functional persistence of CAR T cells in the senescence context. Successful completion will lead to promising new therapeutic avenues for a wide variety of malignancies. More broadly, it will result in deeper mechanistic insights into T and NK cell biology as well as immune surveillance mechanisms of senescent and non-senescent tumor cells.

Mots-clés : cancer therapy,car immune cells,cellular senescence,gene engineering
Projet ERC : FETAL-MIND (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : Université Eberhard Karl de Tübingen — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499695.0 €

What can a fetus perceive? Leveraging rare, specialized resources at the University of Tuebingen's fMEG Center, FETAL-MIND will conduct the first-ever study of fetal neural responses to social stimuli using recent innovations toward in utero stimulus delivery and cutting edge techniques for fetal brain signal detection. This groundbreaking project will challenge the widespread view of fetuses as isolated and unaware by examining fetal neural responses to non-maternal vocal stimuli and face-like patterns projected into the womb. Specifically, FETAL-MIND will use fetal magnetoencephalography (MEG) in the third trimester (32-40 weeks gestation), employing both traditional superconducting MEG (sMEG) and newer optically pumped magnetometers (oMEG) to detect fetal neural responses to social stimuli (face-like patterns and voices). Compared with sMEG, oMEG is portable, less expensive, and can be applied flexibly across different populations. Thus, by validating oMEG for fetal recordings, FETAL-MIND offers an enormous technical contribution to both basic research and clinical fields. Furthermore, the project's findings may lay the groundwork for developing early biomarkers of atypical neurodevelopment, particularly for conditions involving social deficits such as autism spectrum disorder. The project is structured into five work packages (WPs). WP1 pilots the stimuli and estimates effect sizes. WP2 conducts larger-scale experiments based on results from WP1 and focuses on neural effects, while WP3 focuses on arousal effects (fetal heart rate). WP4 compares sMEG and oMEG recordings in the same fetal subjects and, finally, WP5 follows up with postnatal measurements. This staged approach mitigates risks by allowing for methodological refinement based on intermediate results from WP1. Moreover, FETAL-MIND leverages expertise and resources at the Tuebingen fMEG Center, including specialized equipment and established protocols for fetal MEG recordings to maximize success.

Mots-clés : fetus,infant,magnetoencephalography
Projet ERC : DecoLawBiodiv (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Entité participante : Université de Liège — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499841.0 €

Access & benefit sharing (ABS) mechanisms - where access to genetic resources (generally in developing countries) is bargained against benefits used for conservation actions – were formed to mitigate deep inequalities between countries and biodiversity actors originating in the colonial history of plant genetic resources’ collection and use. However, these inequalities are currently under threat by technological innovation such as Digital Sequence Information (DSI), which alter the nature of bio-based R&D. DSI revives the past ABS fight between the Global North and South over the control of genetic resource. It is thus urgent to unpack the issues at stake by listening to all actors involved in biodiversity conservation and DSI innovation. In response, DecoLawBiodiv proposes a novel approach to explore how a decolonial reading of biodiversity conservation law can contribute to reach the international objectives of biodiversity conservation laws, sustainable use and fair and equitable ABS. DecoLAwBiodiv will dig to the roots of the ABS North/South divide and (1) account for actors’ interactions, including power games in negotiation arenas; (2) highlight the multiple actor groups’ understandings of key ABS concepts, rights and obligations; and (3) scrutinize the negotiation processes using a decolonial lens. DecoLawBiodiv’s theoretical ground-breaking nature lies in the holistic study of DSI within the ABS market-based, legal and institutional frameworks using conflict transformation theory. The methodological originality is to spell out the decolonial lens through the circle of dialogue of wisdom method in 3 case studies (Bolivia, India, South Africa) in order to transform the ABS/DSI conflict into mutual understanding and support between actors and lead to a decolonized co-creation of knowledge for an effective international biodiversity conservation legal regime.

Mots-clés : access and benefit sharing multilateral system of access and benefit sharing digital sequence information biodiversity conservation law international treaty on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture decolonial approach farmers rights
Projet ERC : maxSYMize (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems E ngineering
Entité participante : Université de Cambridge — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499551.0 €

The arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis between plants and symbiotic soil fungi confers key nutritional benefits to plants: AM fungi increase plant productivity by up to 30% by improving mineral nutrient uptake from the soil. In exchange for these nutrients, plants transfer more than one gigaton of photosynthetically fixed carbon each year to the AM fungal network in the soil. This carbon transfer has a major impact not just on plant and fungal physiology, but also on the global carbon cycle. My previous work identified a molecular pathway in plant roots that is activated during fungal colonization of root cells and transfers fixed carbon to AM fungi in the form of lipids. This finding represents a breakthrough in the field of AM symbiosis as we were able to describe, for the first time, how and in which form carbon is delivered to AM fungi. My discovery unlocks an opportunity: I propose to engineer the model crop rice to maximise carbon delivery to the fungal mycelium by exploiting the mechanisms underpinning carbon allocation to AM fungi. This approach could lead to enhanced nutrient uptake by promoting the symbiotic association, thereby reducing the need for synthetic fertilizer. Moreover, it also has the potential to increase carbon sequestration and soil fertility. However, it is currently unknown how plant carbon metabolism is altered at a whole plant level to increase carbon flux to the fungal mycelium, and how plants control the amount of carbon allocated to AM fungi. To achieve this ambitious aim, I will exploit the recent technological advances in genetics, carbon tracing, and single cell transcriptomics to map the carbon allocation pathway from leaves to roots and to AM fungi at single cell resolution (aim 1) and identify the genetic and transcriptional regulators of this pathway (aim 2). These insights, along with established knowledge, will be used to maximise carbon delivery from crop plants to the fungal mycelium in the soil (aim 3).

Mots-clés : beneficial plant microbe interactions,carbon allocation
Projet ERC : SUB-QUANT (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer Science and Informatics
Entité participante : Université de Cambridge — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1496791.0 €

The rapid rise in the scale of data is a shaping force in the evolution of computer science. With the ubiquity of massive datasets in recent years, there is an urgent need for ultra-fast algorithms that run in sublinear time, i.e., much faster than it takes to even read their input.  In the quantum era, this need is even more imperative, since the dimension of a quantum system scales exponentially in the number of quantum bits. Indeed, the description size of a system with merely 127 quantum bits exceeds 10^{76} real numbers, which is close to the number of atoms in the observable universe. Hence, sublinear computation is essential in the quantum regime.  This proposal is a high-risk high-gain research programme, which targets long-standing open problems in sublinear quantum computation via new and unique technical and conceptual approaches, traversing quantum learning theory, property testing, and complexity theory. This includes new paradigms for designing quantum algorithms, delegating quantum computation, and making progress on the quantum PCP conjecture.  The proposed research will pioneer new notions of quantum computation, motivated by real-world needs, and establish fundamental connections between quantum computing and deep areas of mathematics such as harmonic analysis and additive combinatorics.

Mots-clés : sublinear algorithms,quantum complexity theory,learning theory,property testing
Projet ERC : OTOREG (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and R egeneration
Entité participante : Université technologique de Dresde — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TU Dresden
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1977302.0 €

Gravity deeply impacts all life on Earth. Organisms sense its directionality and use it for orientation. In tetrapods, the gravitational sense relies on biomineral crystals, known as otoconia, in our inner ear. Their movement is detected by sensory cells, transduced into a neural output, and interpreted by the brain. Deterioration of the otoconia can cause severe balance issues, contributing to diseases collectively referred to as vestibular disorders. Yet, the processes driving both otoconia formation and degradation remain unclear. Limitations in diagnosis of balance disorders in humans stem from the inaccessibility of the inner ear for studying which components are functioning deficiently. In this context there is a need to develop models of vestibular function, disease and restoration. The ultimate goal of OTOREG is to uncover fundamental mechanisms underlying gravity sensation, using the axolotl as a model of regeneration and balance disorders. The morphology of the salamander inner ear is strikingly similar to mammals and my preliminary data indicates that removal of otoconia leads to a balance disorder phenotype. Otoconia then regenerate in the axolotl, restoring correct swimming behaviour and providing a functional readout. This system thus permits a holistic, multilevel approach to understand gravity sensation: I) At the biomaterial level, using structural methods to investigate crystal development and regeneration; II) at the molecular and cellular level, to characterize the genes and cells that drive the formation of the sensory apparatus; and III) at the organismal level, using the behavioural readout to test compounds which might contribute to the degeneration or restoration of otoconia. This detailed understanding of the gravity sensation organ can provide a platform for studying and developing therapeutical approaches for balance disorders to improve people’s quality of life, as well as to probe the fascinating biology of our most ancient sense.

Mots-clés : regeneration,biomineralization,otolith,gravity,sensory organs,grn,salamanders,balance disorders