Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : PEBBLES (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe Sciences
Entité participante : Conseil supérieur de la recherche scientifique — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CSIC
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1980639.8 €

The formation and properties of exoplanetary systems is a fascinating question, which has been at the heart of our quest to define mankind and the conditions for life to develop in a broader context.  Recent astronomical observations have deeply modified our paradigm of planet formation, as they suggest the so-called "proto-planetary” disks surrounding T-Tauri stars may actually already host planets. Moreover, we have obtained some of the first observational clues that the dust particles contained in the pristine disk-forming reservoirs that are the embedded protostars may already have significantly evolved from the submicronic dust populating the interstellar medium. These results suggest that dust evolves significantly already during the first 0.5 Myrs of the star formation process, and highlight the prime importance of understanding the properties and evolution of dust in young protostars.  The PEBBLES project aims at developing a thorough methodology to characterize the properties of dust in embedded protostars, where we know the star and its disk are forming concomitantly. Using an innovative methodology combining cutting edge observational datasets, dust models and numerical models, we aim to transform our understanding of: 1) The nature of the dust incorporated in the youngest disks, a key for models of disk evolution towards planetary systems 2) The processes at work for dust evolution in young protostars, from envelopes to disk scales 3) The efficiency of magnetic fields to couple to the star/disk forming material, and set the disk properties  By shedding light on early dust evolution, we will not only address one of the oldest and most challenging question regarding the initial conditions for planet formation in disks around solar-type stars, but also provide new insight to the conditions reigning and their impact on physical processes during the main accretion stage, during which stars acquire most of their properties.
Projet ERC : MONZARAB (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Study of the Human Past
Entité participante : Conseil supérieur de la recherche scientifique — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CSIC
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2498632.0 €

In recent decades, the archaeological and written records have been mobilised to update our knowledge of early Islamic al-Andalus and the subsequent transformation that the arrival of Islam brought about in the Iberian Peninsula from 711 onwards. This historiographical renewal has hardly affected however the study of Christian monasticism in al-Andalus after this defining moment during the early Islamic period (8th-11th c.). This project aims at providing a step-change in the way in which this phenomenon has been investigated until now by developing an innovative and unprecedented interdisciplinary approach to it through the integration of state-of the-art historical, archaeological and geological methodologies. The project will follow three levels of analysis (monastic architectures, ensembles and landscapes) applied to diverse selected territories and sites in what is currently Spain (Toledo, Cordoba, Merida, Granada) and Portugal (Mertola). The purposes are therefore to develop a technological and production understanding of monastic architectures as manufactured products in its social and economic contexts, to provide fresh insights into the spatial organisation and long sequences of monasteries, and to evidence their economic, social and politic roles and strategies in relation to others settlements shaping and reshaping the landscapes. It is intended hence to develop a suitable and updated methodology for the analysis of large multi-period monastic sites and landscapes, by offering a synchronic and diachronic perspective. The overall aim is to generate a broader vision that allows us to move from isolated churches and monastic ensembles to monasticism in al-Andalus, to feature its role in the relations between the Christian population and the Muslim authorities during the period considered and to understand it in the wider context of the dār al-islām.

Mots-clés : early middle ages,mozarabs,church,monastery,landscape,technology,spain,portugal,dar al islam
Projet ERC : Interspecific (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Soci al World and Its Interactions
Entité participante : Université catholique de Louvain — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UCL
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2495644.0 €

The proposed research lies at the juncture of the anthropology of nature, the cultures of Austronesia and the study of interspecific relationships. Considering that a fundamental link exists between biodiversity and the health of individuals, populations, species and ecosystems, and that microbes, bacteria and viruses are key to the evolution of civilisations and living beings, we will address two questions: 1) In a world going through a livestock revolution, to what extent can local and scientific knowledge jointly inspire efforts to preserve biodiversity and biosafety, and rebuild sustainable relationships with living beings? 2) To what extent and on what conditions can humans have contact with bats and coexist with them (and other animals incriminated in the spread of zoonoses, either as reservoirs or as intermediate hosts)? Conversely, at what point do these species endanger human communities? We wish to answer those questions through research within several indigenous groups who have lived for millennia in contact with such animals. Specifically, we will conduct ethnographic research at several sites across the large cultural and linguistic region of Austronesia (which coincides with the range of flying foxes, also known as fruit bats) to see how different interspecific communities interact and how narratives of vulnerability and immunity operate. The project aim is to document and understand how certain peoples maintain relationships with bats and see them and their worlds (in the sense used by the biologist von Uexküll), and the extent to which such knowledge helps them live safely with these animals. The general hypothesis is as follows. Knowing that fruit bats are one of the links in the transmission of zoonotic diseases to humans and also a part of the ecosystem used for food and trade, we hypothesise that local practices have led people to maximise use of this resource while developing measures to prevent epidemics.

Mots-clés : bats,interspecific relationships,human animal relationships,zoonoses,biosafety,wet markets,austronesia,indigenous groups,local knowledge,ontologies,health,illegal trade,ethnography,comparative perspective
Projet ERC : IMPACT (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : Université de Göteborg — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2482678.0 €

Fibrosis is a pathological feature caused by excessive extracellular matrix secretion, resulting in scar tissue that causes thickening and loss of tissue mobility, culminating in impaired organ function. It is a common feature of heart failure and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and an important determinant of morbidity and mortality. However, relatively little is known about the underlying aetiology. We and others have mapped alterations in the gut microbiota in different cardiometabolic diseases, focusing on the functions performed by the microbiota. IMPACT builds on our work showing that humans with type 2 diabetes have high plasma levels of the microbial metabolite imidazole propionate (ImP) and that ImP impairs insulin signalling through p38gamma. We also resolved the X-ray crystal structure of urocanate reductase (UrdA), the bacterial enzyme responsible for ImP production. Our recent work showed that ImP is more strongly associated with heart failure and that treatment of mice with ImP promotes both cardiac and liver fibrosis, consistent with studies showing that p38gamma signalling is implicated in fibrosis development. IMPACT will first use state-of-the-art clinical assessments to determine how circulating levels of ImP correlate with fibrosis in heart and liver. Second, we will explore the kinetics by which ImP induces fibrosis in mice and how this process is associated with immune cell infiltration and disease progression. Third, to provide mechanistic understanding, we will perform similar experiments in mice lacking key target signalling components (e.g., p38gamma), combined with single cell sequencing that will guide us in producing tissue-specific knockouts to elucidate the cellular cross-talk. Fourth, we will generate UrdA inhibitors and test their potential to reduce ImP production in isolated bacteria, complex microbial communities, and colonised mice. Thus, IMPACT has the potential of generating new therapies to diseases with unmet clinical needs.

Mots-clés : imidazole propionate p38gamma fibrosis heart failure nash
Projet ERC : FLUBIODEM (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention,  Diagnosis and T reatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Université de Göteborg — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2422973.0 €

Critical to our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative dementias (NDDs), as well as to finding disease-modifying therapies, is the development of biomarkers for the underlying disease processes. To facilitate improved diagnostics and drug discovery, we have developed methods to measure markers of amyloid and tau pathology, central and peripheral nervous system injury, astrocytic and microglial activation, as well as neuroinflammation. Our most exciting advancement in this field so far is the development of phosphorylated tau assays sensitive enough to measure this protein in plasma to detect AD pathology in the brain and to allow for disease stratification and monitoring based on AD pathology. I now propose to develop new high-throughput biomarker tools that will enable the analysis of large cohort studies combining clinical, imaging, genetic and biomarker data to provide truly comprehensive molecular disease phenotypes that will inform interventions, drug discovery and translational research, clinical trial stratification, detection of risk and resilience factors (lifestyle-related, as well as genetic), and ultimately drive the quest towards clinically accessible personalised medicine in the NDD field. A large part of the research efforts will be focused on discovering new biomarkers for TDP-43 and α-synuclein pathologies, non-AD tau pathology, and lysosomal and synaptic dysfunction, through general and targeted proteomics on CSF samples, and through employing a novel cell type-biased tandem mass tag proteomics workflow to discover biomarkers related to neuronal, astrocytic, and microglial cells, and their different activation states. Promising CSF biomarkers will be examined in blood; biomarker candidates that are measurable in this matrix and correlate with CSF will be developed into sensitive and specific blood tests using cutting-edge technology, as we have previously done for Aβ40, Aβ42, T-tau, P-tau, NfL, and GFAp.

Mots-clés : biomarkers,dementia,alzheimer s disease,neurodegeneration,csf,plasma
Projet ERC : ComOrganellesAnalyt (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
Entité participante : Université de Göteborg — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2499861.0 €

Cellular communication is mediated by nanometer-sized organelles (vesicles, stress granules, exosomes) that are potentially responsible for carrying and releasing signalling molecules. I propose to use my extensive background in electroanalytical chemistry and mass spectrometry imaging to develop new technologies to chemically dissect vesicles, exosomes, and stress granules both dynamically and in fixed samples with spatial discrimination across living cells - the next frontier in cell analysis. The following four aims are proposed. I will develop 1) methods to chemically dissect and dynamically determine chemical species at and in nanometer organelles and suborganelles, 2) methods to spatially measure and evaluate the chemistry of organelles across cells, 3) analytical approaches to measure exchange of transmitters and metabolites between organelles and the role of this exchange in cellular communication, and 4) experiments in organoids and fly brain leading to a unified theory of the chemical interaction between organelles involved in cellular communication and plasticity. My group has pioneered the discovery that most regular exocytosis is partial, adding a third release mode to kiss n run or full vesicle distention. This opens a window of discovery concerning the structural and dynamical mechanisms of organelles that regulate neural communication. Ultimately, this will allow me to discern the chemical mechanisms of initial plasticity and brain cellular disease as it is likely that the different organelles in the cell related to communication interact chemically to regulate this process. This proposal is to develop and apply analytical methods to discover the interconnections between these organelles, and to relate them to the chemical events initiating plasticity.

Mots-clés : nano organelle analysis,amperometry,mass spectrometry imaging,sted super resolution microscopy
Projet ERC : HI-FLASH (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Entité participante : GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : GSI
Type d'entité : Autres
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2500000.0 €

Charged particle therapy is generally acknowledged as the most advanced type of radiotherapy (RT). Particle therapy patients are treated either with high-energy protons or 12C-ions, but there is a general agreement that heavier ions would be highly beneficial in treating extremely resistant, hypoxic and lethal tumors, such as glioblastoma (GBM). Unfortunately, the use of very heavy ions is constrained by their excessive normal tissue toxicity. A way to enable very heavy ion therapy with acceptable toxicities is to make use of the recently discovered FLASH effect. This effect occurs when ultra-high dose-rate (UHDR) electrons or protons are used and results in significantly sparing the normal tissues whilst maintaining tumour control. Although the molecular mechanism is still unclear, the FLASH effect considerably broadens the therapeutic window and has proven to be a game-changer in radiotherapy. While my group at GSI has pioneered the first demonstration of the FLASH effect with high-energy carbon ions, UHDR use of even heavier ions can be safe and very effective for very resistant tumor. GSI is the only facility world-wide where the FLASH effect can be explored with ions heavier than carbon. In fact, the GSI synchrotron can accelerate all ions for H to U up to very high energy and intensity, and my group has developed a unique technology to perform 3D conformal UHDR irradiation using 3D-printed range modulators. We will perform UHDR irradiation experiments with 20Ne-ions using a GBM rat model and will compare survival, toxicity and tumour control with the same ion at conventional dose-rate and with UHDR protons as a reference. If successful, HI-FLASH will pave the way for the use of heavy ions in cancer treatment, improving outcomes for patients with highly resistant and lethal tumors like GBM.

Mots-clés : nuclear physics,particle therapy,medical physics,radioactive ion beams,radiobiology,flash
Projet ERC : HITHOR (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Entité participante : GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : GSI
Type d'entité : Autres
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2498963.0 €

Among the more than 3000 nuclides that are naturally occurring or that have been artificially synthesized, thorium-229 is truly exceptional. Its remarkably low excitation energy makes it the ideal candidate for nuclear frequency metrology, surpassing current atomic clocks. Such a "nuclear clock" opens doors to fundamental physics, testing time-variations of constants and exploring the enigma of dark matter. Within HITHOR a conceptually novel methodology towards such a clock is proposed, eventually leading to a no-electron “bare-nucleus” clock with trapped fully ionized 229Th90+ where all external perturbations from surrounding electrons are absent. Highly-ionized 229Th will be established as a distinctive laboratory for scientific explorations at the interface of atomic electrons and the nucleus. By adding a single electron to the nucleus, the unique effect of nuclear hyperfine mixing (NHM) is unlocked. Induced by the strong magnetic field of this one electron, a vast acceleration of the nuclear decay by up to a millionfold is triggered. Hence, for one-electron 229Th89+ laser excitation of the nucleus as well as the reemission of photons are each enhanced by up to this factor of a million. To date, laser excitation of the nucleus hasn’t been accomplished. NHM will help to overcome this obstacle and exploited as a booster towards 229Th laser excitation and a corresponding nuclear clock. HITHOR will be realized at the ion storage and trapping facilities at GSI in Darmstadt, the only laboratory worldwide where highly ionized 229Th can be synthesized in flight, decelerated, and finally trapped at rest. At GSI and its Helmholtz Institute Jena, I will bring together the extraordinary expertise of in-house scientists from the various disciplines required to tackle the challenges. Initial experiments will pave the path towards high-precision VUV laser spectroscopy of few- or no-electron 229Th, and ultimately towards a single-ion quantum logic nuclear clock.

Mots-clés : nuclear clock nuclear isomeric states heavy ion storage rings ion traps hyperfine quenching interface of atomic and nuclear physics highly charged ions thorium 229
Projet ERC : ROOMors (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : Université de Padoue — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UniPd
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 3148411.0 €

Research in cognitive science has revealed that intentions become “visible” in the surface flow of agents’ motion. An example is that humans adopt different kinematics when reaching for an object to either displace it (i.e., individual intentions) or interact with a partner (i.e., social intentions). This phenomenon has been shown in humans and other animal species, but no studies have investigated whether it extends to the “green” kingdom. ROOMors aims at investigating for the first time motor intentions in plants. It capitalizes on recent findings of my research group that make this a timely and tractable issue. By focusing on the kinematic signatures characterizing the movement of climbing plants we observed that plants can program their movement in advance and they move the tendrils according to the specific characteristics of the to-be-grasped support. This result reverts the general consensus that plants’ movement is only driven by cause-effect mechanisms and hard-wired reflexes and gives rise to a number of questions that only a few years ago might have considered absurd: to what extent plant can intentionally plan a movement? Is plant movement fine-tuned according to the motor intentions exhibited by the surrounding plants? ROOMors will answer these questions by blending experimental psychology techniques to study intentional actions (i.e., kinematics) with plant physio-molecular approaches to identify the (mostly unknown) signalling pathways at the basis of the implementation and the decoding of motor intentions by plants. ROOMors will open a new path in psychological research that is more than about scientific discovery, it is about revolution that will compel us to see the green kingdom through a completely new lens. So open your mind, set aside your biases, and be prepared to welcome plants in the domain of comparative psychology for going at the ‘roots’ of intentions.

Mots-clés : comparative psychology,intentions,motor intentions,plant cognition,social interactions,kinematics,social cognition,perception and action
Projet ERC : SUBSTELLAR (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe Sciences
Entité participante : Institut d'astrophysique des Canaries — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : IAC
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2495625.0 €

Euclid is a space mission led by the European Space Agency (ESA) to conduct a deep, single-epoch survey of 15,000 deg2 of sky with visible and near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy, and 40 deg2 multi-epoch very deep surveys. Its primary science goal is to investigate the geometry of the dark universe by mapping the distribution and shapes of galaxies.  The unprecedented combination of sensitivity, areal coverage, spatial resolution, data homogeneity and spectral information will naturally be of tremendous benefit to other areas of astrophysics. Two Euclid Independent Legacy Science (ILS) programs have been designated by ESA to develop and pursue independent science programs that capitalize on the unique data products of the Euclid surveys.  In this proposal the PI of the Euclid Ultracool Dwarf (UCD) ILS team lays out an Advanced ERC project aimed at mining the Euclid surveys for pushing the frontier of knowledge in substellar science.  The first challenge of the project is to identify, based on Euclid data, an unprecedented large number (>1,000,000) of very low mass (VLM) stars and Substellar-mass Objects (SMOs), including hard to find objects such as halo brown dwarfs and young free-floating planetary-mass objects. Specific pipelines will be developed to extract the utmost information from Euclid for faint infrared objects.  The second challenge is to discover very low-mass binaries and giant planets around VLM stars and SMOs using custom-made image analysis, astrometric monitoring and spectral fitting techniques.  The third challenge is to combine the information gathered from harnessing the previous two challenges to determine the VLM stellar and substellar luminosity function, infer the most likely low-mass end of the Initial Mass Function (IMF), and explore its degree of universality in different components of the Milky Way.

Mots-clés : archives,atmospheres,brown dwarfs,exoplanets,initial mass function,open clusters,planetary mass objects,solar vicinity,very low mass stars,galactic archaeology