Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : XtrmCells (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and R egeneration
Entité participante : École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : EPFL
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1495945.0 €

The ability of eukaryotic cells to generate and resist mechanical forces, locomote and spatially organize their subcellular structures relies on the cytoskeleton. The hallmark of cytoskeletal proteins is their ability to polymerize into filaments, which in turn organize into cellular-scale networks that support a variety of functions that require the generation of mechanical force. Decades of work have significantly increased our knowledge of the composition and mechanisms of force generation by networks of actin, tubulin and intermediate filaments. In contrast, the mechanisms and function of cytoskeletal networks, whose primary component is centrin remain unexplored. Centrins are conserved proteins across all eukaryotes that localize ubiquitously to microtubule organizing centers. In unicellular eukaryotes, centrins form filaments and networks that support the extreme morphodynamics required for the behavioral responses of these free living organisms. By combining approaches from cell biology and biophysics we will establish the function of centrin as a cytoskeletal polymer and uncover the mechanisms by which it assembles into large-scale structures capable of force generation in ultrafast timescales. Our studies will establish novel mechanisms by which cytoskeletal networks generate, transmit and respond to mechanical signals. Beyond their biological significance, our findings will provide blueprints for the design of novel bio-inspired materials capable of withstanding large strains and undergoing extreme elastic deformations.

Mots-clés : cytoskeleton,centrin,cell mechanics,cell material properties,behavior
Projet ERC : DYNAMICAUS (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer Science and Informatics
Entité participante : Université technique de Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 454305.0 €

Tackling critical global challenges – climate change, personalized healthcare, or pandemic preparedness – demands robust quantification and understanding of 'if-then' relationships in complex spatio-temporal systems. Traditional dynamical models are limited by oversimplifications and computational constraints, while powerful hybrid models leveraging machine learning (ML) lack the interpretability and generalization capabilities essential for entrusting them with policy guidance. Filling this glaring research gap, DYNAMICAUS develops novel methods for reliable causal inference in such systems, overcoming existing limitations. I will establish a theoretical foundation for causal effects in hybrid dynamical models, develop robust uncertainty quantification techniques under unseen interventions augmented by active data acquisition to reduce uncertainty, and quantify the overall impact of steerable inputs on target outcomes. My methods will be validated across critical domains – climate modeling, treatment planning, and epidemic simulations – demonstrating universal applicability and profound potential for informing policy on pressing societal challenges. By integrating an ethicist directly into the research process from the outset, I proactively address societal implications, ensuring my methodological advancements are positioned to achieve positive social impact. With my unparalleled track record of leveraging machine learning expertise for social good by pushing the boundaries in scientific applications as well as my pioneering work on extending the scope of causal inference and hybrid dynamical systems modeling, this timely project is uniquely positioned to break new ground at the intersection of dynamical systems, causality, and socially beneficial machine learning.

Mots-clés : hybrid dynamical models,uncertainty,cause effect quantification,socially beneficial machine learning
Projet ERC : ClimaSoNo (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Human Mobility, Environment, and Space
Entité participante : Université technique de Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1479004.0 €

A growing body of research in the behavioral and social sciences highlight the potentially productive role of social norms in changing behavior towards more climate change action. To date, we have been neglected significant aspects: the large regional variation in behavior and beliefs, creating a gap in our understanding of i) how people perceive others’ behavior and attitudes in their region, ii) what kind of individual and regional factors explain the variation in social norms, and iii) how regional social norms causally effect climate-friendly behavior across economically, socially, and culturally diverse regions.  To comprehensive study theses aspects represents the major thrust of ClimaSoNo beyond the current state-of-the art, providing new insights about the extent and nature of the regional heterogeneity in social norms. ClimaSoNo promises to collect and analyze a rich set of new scientific data from a comparative survey across 130 regions in 12 countries. The cross-regional survey includes a novel technique to accurately measure perceived social norms at the regional level (Task 1). The empirical analysis of ClimaSoNo will systematically explore the potential determinants of regional variation in social norms related to support for climate policies and climate-friendly behavior (Task 2). Cross-regional experiments will be carried out to test whether this novel technique of measuring social norms can predict climate change action across regions. In this way, ClimaSoNo will produce an experimentally validated ‘survey module’, measuring support for policies, climate-friendly behavior and perceived social norms (Task 3). Finally, ClimaSoNo capitalizes on cross-regional experiments to estimate the causal effect of different types of regional social norms on climate-friendly behavior (Task 4).  ClimaSoNo will mark a massive step forward to our understanding of the heterogeneity in human behavior and beliefs across regions and societies.

Mots-clés : social norms,individual support for climate policies,cross regional survey,economic experiments,experimental validation
Projet ERC : DynNano (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
Entité participante : Université technique de Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1988500.0 €

To slow down global warming and to overcome the reliance on fossil fuels, a transition to a carbon neutral society fueled by renewable energy sources will be crucial. Therefore, the conversion of solar energy to storable, energy-dense fuels will be an important step to satisfy the need for clean and reliable power. Economically viable systems for solar-to-chemical conversion often base on thin film photoelectrodes with highly complex internal architectures. The combination of different length scales of fundamental physical processes and inherent film heterogeneities results in a complex micro- and nanoscale behavior, which often controls critical processes of the macroscale device. The typical macroscale characterization of material properties conceals important insights into structural, compositional, and optoelectronic heterogeneity at the nanoscale as well as into local photoelectrochemical reaction processes and material stability. To provide a comprehensive portrait of the elementary steps associated with light-to-chemical energy conversion at their natural length scales and under working conditions, DynNano will launch a multimodal research program by leveraging a complementary suite of emerging nanoscale techniques for in-situ and operando characterization of energy materials. The approach will be applied to novel transition metal oxynitride semiconductors, which are poised to overcome efficiency and stability limitations of pure oxides and pure nitrides. By thoroughly correlating their nanoscale and macroscale properties, DynNano will establish the link between nanoscale processes and macroscopic performance of photoelectrochemical systems. With the gained understanding, DynNano aims at closing the photoelectrochemical cycle at the nanoscale using precisely microstructured photoelectrodes for standalone water splitting. Overall, DynNano will provide the knowledge basis for rational development of efficient, stable, and scalable solar fuel devices.

Mots-clés : photoelectrochemistry,solar water splitting
Projet ERC : HEROINE (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative B iology : from Genes and Genomes to S ystems
Entité participante : Université technique de Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499485.0 €

Incidence rates of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases are increasing dramatically and a clear sex bias exists in disease presentation and progression. While the underlying reasons are largely unknown, hormones are hypothesized to play a central role in these discrepancies and the microbiome is linked to disease pathology. However, a key understudied player is the interplay between hormones and the microbiome in human health. Crucially, hormone-microbiome interactions in the human body are poorly understood. Microbes produce hormone-like signals and play a role in hormone metabolism and regulation, while hormones influence bacterial growth. It is currently unknown how the menstrual cycle impacts the microbiome and how disruptions of this natural cycle impact female health. I have identified unique fluctuations in microbial diversity in healthy women that are absent in men and altered in women on hormonal contraceptives. There is a lack of medical research focusing on female physiology, particularly investigating endocrinological changes and disruptions. Understanding the consequences of endocrine-related disruptions and how hormone-microbiome interactions contribute to them is a fundamental step towards precision medicine that will benefit both women and men. Therefore, I will systematically investigate hormone-microbiome interactions in (1) healthy women on and off hormonal contraceptives, (2) women at menopause and (3) infertile women receiving fertility treatment. I will integrate clinical data with state-of-the-art multi-omics profiles using computational approaches and I will combine these with mechanistic validation using bacterial strains isolated from the female subjects. At the end of my project, we will know how exogenous and endogenous hormones interact with the microbiome and how they impact female health. Further, we will identify biomarkers for optimal treatment of infertility and propose new microbiome-based therapeutic strategies for this disorder.

Mots-clés : microbiome
Projet ERC : MIND (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : Université Bocconi — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1497540.0 €

The unifying goal of the MIND project is to enhance the mathematical understanding of turbulence in incompressible fluid mechanics. Turbulence represents one of the most profound unsolved problems in classical physics, giving rise to numerous deep mathematical challenges.  The research is structured around two major interconnected objectives. The first focuses on linear advection-diffusion equations with singular velocity fields, exploring key quantitative aspects such as mixing, enhanced dissipation, and anomalous dissipation. These mechanisms, often easier to isolate and study in linear systems, are crucial for understanding energy transfer and the development of small-scale structures in turbulent fluids.  The second goal addresses nonlinear dynamics in incompressible fluid systems, particularly the Euler, Navier-Stokes equations and the Surface Quasi-Geostrophic (SQG) equation. The main focus will be on the study of weak solutions in relevant function classes and their behavior. We will concentrate on qualitative aspects such as well-posedness and uniqueness, as well as quantitative aspects like gradient growth and anomalous dissipation.

Mots-clés : flows associated with nonsmooth velocity fields convex integration in fluid dynamics
Projet ERC : QUANTWIST (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed Matter Physics
Entité participante : Université d'Hambourg — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1458688.0 €

Quantum technology will revolutionize information transmission, processing, and sensing with unprecedented potential for science, economy, and the society as a whole. Yet, the strong sensitivity of quantum systems to unavoidable environmental noise impedes quantum technological breakthroughs. Here, we propose to twist coupled elemental quantum systems such that they form a global, robust quantum state that is resilient against environmental perturbations. For instance, in magnetic spin chains, fixing the magnetization at one end while rotating the magnetization at the other end can result in stable quantum helices. Such quantum twists cannot easily be unwound: They exhibit topological protection. We want to explore the full potential of this concept and extend it to higher-dimensional twists including vortices and skyrmions, see Fig. (1). The main objectives of this project are to (1) theoretically describe quantum twists in chains and arrays of atoms; (2) identify concrete realizations in cold atoms and solid state systems; (3) supply a general theory for quantum twists and connect it to topological models in high-energy physics; (4) designing and implementing an on-top error-reduction scheme for quantum information processing. The presented approach is unrelated to known quantum-mechanical topological approaches in electronic and magnetic systems that rely on momentum space, adiabatic manipulations, or globally indistinguishable quantum states. Quantum twists can serve as a topological source of entanglement, quantum energy storage, and establish an independent and versatile noise-protection mechanism for future quantum devices.

Mots-clés : topology,helices,skyrmions,quantum information,quantum technology,quantum computing,quantum magnetism,topological quasiparticles
Projet ERC : BALANCE (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Individuals, Markets and Organisations
Entité participante : Université Bocconi — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499420.0 €

Firms conFirms contribute to society not only through profit-oriented activities such as innovation and job creation, but also by engaging in “altruistic” behavior by prioritizing broader social objectives, such as reducing pollution, improving labor conditions, and other pressing social issues. While economic theory suggests that externalities can be addressed through government interventions like taxes or property rights, incomplete information or political challenges often hamper these approaches. As a result, stakeholders must negotiate with firms, playing a key role in determining their social impact. Despite the importance of these negotiations, we know little about what drives them or how they influence a firm’s objectives. BALANCE breaks new ground both theoretically and empirically to assess how firms impact society and the underlying mechanisms.  BALANCE’s overarching goal is achieved through four interrelated projects, each addressing distinct frictions that hinder stakeholders from demanding change. Project 1 examines prosocial banks, revealing how their entry affects borrowers’ productivity and long-term local economic growth. Project 2 examines how competition interacts with social impact—either differentiating a firm’s products or reducing its profit margins. Project 3 tackles information frictions in financial markets, where shareholders often lack awareness of whether others share their views on a firm’s green stance, potentially undermining coordinated efforts. Project 4 investigates information asymmetries in global value chains, where competitive pressures and opaque green certifications can lead to biodiversity loss.  By integrating industrial organization and trade models with insights from finance and strategy, BALANCE pushes the research frontier while offering new policy tools. As public and private institutions tie financial support to sustainability, understanding how firms internalize their impacts on society is vital to fostering change.

Mots-clés : externalities,firm s social impact,theory of the firm,environmental economics,market structure,information frictions,structural estimation,ethical banking
Projet ERC : LIRICO (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Entité participante : Université Humboldt de Berlin — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1135756.36 €

Ultracold molecules are the next frontier of quantum technologies: their rich internal structure and tunable long-range interactions enable the exploration of new regimes, unattainable with atomic platforms. Achieving this control requires cooling to ultracold temperatures. However, ultracold molecular interactions are dominated by lossy chemical reactions. Chemical reactions hamper the quantum applications of molecular gases and our strategies to reach the ultracold temperature limit, including the realization of the holy grail of ultracold molecular physics: a Bose-Einstein Condensate of polar molecules. Recently, I successfully developed several shielding mechanisms to protect polar molecules from chemical reactions and exploited them to realize the first quantum degenerate Fermi gas of molecules by direct evaporation. In LIRICO, I will leverage on these previous results to control the chemical reactions of ultracold molecules and thus unlock the full potential of molecular quantum gases. A high-finesse optical cavity will be the fulcrum of LIRICO to tame chemical reactions. Strong light-molecule coupling will create new hybrid light-molecule states, so called molecular polaritons, that will display the ability to turn on-and-off a chemical reaction by simply controlling the molecule-cavity resonance. The addition of final-state sensitive detection methods, such as an ion-mass spectrometer, will allow to fully resolve the microscopic mechanisms that underpin ultracold reactions. I will steer the reaction dynamics at will and control the reaction product distribution with the cavity vacuum, thus realizing a paradigm-changing, fully quantum-mechanical catalysis method for controlling the transformation of molecular materials. Cavity-control of ultracold chemical reactions will open new avenues in the dissipation engineering of inelastic and out-of-equilibrium processes, which is crucial for the development of molecular quantum technologies.

Mots-clés : ultracold chemistry,molecular polaritons
Projet ERC : MembraneMachines (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed Matter Physics
Entité participante : KU Leuven — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1812400.0 €

A hallmark of life is its ability to utilise local free energy to do work at molecular scales. Such work is done by millions of sophisticated protein complexes that act as nanomachines. Prominent among these are the transmembrane motor proteins. They lie at the centre of life-critical molecular processes such as ATP synthase and bacterial propulsion. Despite the great attention creating artificial molecular machines has received across scientific disciplines, constructing artificial transmembrane nanomachines remains largely unexplored. Such transmembrane artificial nanomachines would give us direct access to one of life’s most universal energy sources, transmembrane electrochemical potentials, and enable us to design novel molecular machines for molecular catalysis, transportation, and cargo propulsion. In MembraneMachines, I aim to realise a breakthrough by designing and building a series of multi-component transmembrane nanomachines that are embedded in lipid bilayers. Using DNA technology, nanopores, and nanofabrication, my team and I will design, build, and test: 1) an electrochemical-gradient powered transmembrane nanoturbine in biocompatible lipid bilayers to generate controlled conformational changes and power synthesis of life-critical molecules such as ATP; 2) an analyte-agnostic artificial nano stepper that can universally thread polymers through nanopores using self-assembled monolayers and DNA technology; 3) an artificial bacterial flagella motor that converts transmembrane ion gradient into translational propulsion, enabling a new direction in constructing and driving active nanovehicles. Harnessing cutting-edge advancements in biophysics and biochemistry, “MembraneMachines” promises not just strides in the fields of nanomotors and nanoengineering but also introduces fresh perspectives on nanoscale synthesis, molecular manipulation, and dynamic nano-vehicle cargo transport.

Mots-clés : nanopores,dna technology,nanomachines,active matter,nanomotors,soft matter