Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : Fluidic Shaping (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and Processes Engineering
Entité participante : Technion - Institut de technologie d'Israël — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2340000.0 €

We propose to develop and demonstrate a new concept that leverages the fundamental physics of interfacial phenomena to rapidly fabricate complex optical components of any size (from millimeters to meters) with sub-nanometer surface roughness, without the need for any mechanical processing such as grinding or polishing. We term our approach ‘Fluidic Shaping’ to describe its core principle – the ability to take a volume of liquid, shape it into a desired form, and finally cure it to obtain a solid object. The method relies on negating gravitational forces that act on the liquid, which we achieve on Earth using buoyancy forces, and which can be naturally achieved in space flight. By dictating the boundary conditions of the liquid, we vary the minimum energy state of the system, and drive the liquid interface into a desired shape. The proposed project is composed of five main aims: (1) development of a theoretical framework that would describe the range of optical surfaces that could be produced and provide engineering guidelines for the rest of the project, (2) development of a stand-alone device for fabrication of high quality corrective lenses, (3) development of methods for fabrication of high precision optics, and expansion of the range of materials that could be used, (4) demonstration of in-space manufacturing of optical components, and (5) development of approaches for deployment of very large (meters) fluidic lenses. These aims serve to put in place the basic and foundational knowledge that could enable transformative changes in multiple fields: (a) rapid prototyping of optical components – by enabling fabrication of custom, high precision optics in minutes, (b) access to corrective eyewear in low resource settings – by enabling fabrication of quality lenses without heavy infrastructure, (c) space exploration – by enabling in-space manufacturing of optics, and (d) astronomy – by enabling large space telescopes that overcome current launch constraints.

Mots-clés : interfacial phenomena,optical components,microgravity,hydrostatics,freeform optics,lenses,rapid prototyping,in space manufacturing,space telescopes
Projet ERC : FOUNDATIONS (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Texts and Concepts
Entité participante : Université d'Helsinki — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999974.0 €

This project lays a foundation for conducting data-driven empirical research on multimodality, that is, how human communication and interaction rely on combinations of 'modes' of expression. Theories of multimodality are rapidly gaining currency in diverse fields concerned with human communication, interaction and cultural production. However, most theories of multimodality are based on conjecture and remain without an empirical foundation due to the lack of large, richly-annotated multimodal corpora and methods for their analysis.  FOUNDATIONS solves this problem by developing a novel methodology for conducting empirical research on multimodality in everyday cultural artefacts, such as newspapers, textbooks, magazines and social media videos. This methodology allows critically examining key theoretical concepts in the field – medium, semiotic mode and genre – and their joint contribution to meaning-making, which renews our understanding of key theoretical concepts in multimodality research and places their definitions on a solid empirical foundation.  To do so, FOUNDATIONS creates large and reproducible multimodal corpora using microtask crowdsourcing, which breaks complex tasks into piecemeal work and distributes this effort to non-expert workers on online platforms. These crowdsourced descriptions are combined with computational representations into graphs that represent the structure of multimodal discourse. For analysing these corpora, the project develops novel methods based on neuro-symbolic artificial intelligence, which enables combining crowdsourced human insights with the pattern recognition capability of neural networks.  The groundbreaking theoretical and methodological advances in FOUNDATIONS go far beyond state of the art by enabling large-scale empirical research while preserving analytical depth needed for multimodality research. This opens up new domains of inquiry for studying multimodality across cultures, situations, artefacts and timescales.

Mots-clés : multimodality,digital humanities,corpora,crowdsourcing,humanities computing
Projet ERC : GREENTRAVEL (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Human Mobility, Environment, and Space
Entité participante : Université d'Helsinki — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1981735.0 €

Greenery is an integral part of healthy and liveable urban environments. Availability of greenery is a question of environmental justice and equity. The benefits of greenery have been clearly shown in the residential context, but exposure to greenery in everyday urban travel environments has been studied much less, if at all. The project will produce a novel understanding of the quality, availability and wellbeing impacts of green urban travel environments. Furthermore, it will produce knowledge on how equitably green exposure during travel and related wellbeing impacts are available to urban populations. It provides approaches and analysis on where to add greenery to advance equity. The project draws on the recent developments in urban informatics: It employs cutting edge technologies from immersive Virtual Reality to Big Data mining, but also critically evaluates it. Controlled VR experimentations and carry-on sensors will be used to reveal if and why green travel environments matter for people and what greenery features are relevant, also considering seasonal variations. The understanding will be backed up with more traditional surveys. Computer vision on street-view images and 3D models will be used to map relevant greenery features, from the human perspective and considering seasonalities. Mobile Big Data will be leveraged to study the mobility flows of the urban population and to reveal the equity of green exposure during these everyday trips, also considering different transportation modes. Finally, advanced spatial prioritization and green routing tools will identify the future potential for greener travel environments for everyone. When successful, the project will produce transformational knowledge on the importance, availability and equity of green urban travel environments. It will produce completely new open methods and transferable procedures for analysing green travel environments in Europe and beyond.

Mots-clés : urban greenery,vegetation,seasonality,street level mapping,human perspective,daily trips,commuting,travel behaviour,route choice,transport mode,travel environment quality,green exposure,stated wellbeing,measured wellbeing,spatial equity,social equity,environmental justice,citizen science,virtual reality,sensor technology,street view imagery,ai,computer vision,mobile phone data,big data analytics,urban informatics,geoinformatics,social ecological technological systems,sets
Projet ERC : CELL-SYSTEMATICS (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Entité participante : Centro de Regulación Genómica — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CRG
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999960.0 €

Cell types are the basic constituents of animal multicellularity, with each type defined by a gene regulatory program that specifies cell function and structure. Thus, understanding cell type diversity is key to explaining animal adaptation and evolution. However, despite recent advances in the molecular characterization of cell types, the phylogenetic relationships between animal cell types remain obscure—mainly because we do not understand how the different elements of a cell type identity program (e.g. transcription factors and regulatory sequences) change over time and how these changes translate into cellular novelties.  This project will bridge the gap between cell type micro- and macroevolution, focusing on Cnidaria as a model to study cell type evolutionary processes. We will measure and compare cell identity characters across divergent timescales: from intraspecies variation between sea anemone populations, to cross-species comparisons within Cnidaria, to cross-phyla cell phylogenies. By combining single-cell and functional genomics experiments with advanced computational methods, we will: (i) build whole-organism genotype–phenotype maps at cellular resolution, to explain the genetic basis of cell type evolution; (ii) model the evolutionary processes underlying the diversification, novelty, and functional adaptation of cell types across the cnidarian phylum; and (iii) study the evolutionary conservation and divergence rates of cell type regulatory characters to resolve the phylogenetic relationships between animal cell types (e.g. neurons, gland, epidermal, and sensory cells).  The expected results will offer a multi-level, quantitative, and phylogenetic perspective on animal cell types, allowing us to test long-standing hypotheses about cell type evolution. Our novel comparative framework will lay the foundations of cell systematics and provide transformative insights into a fundamental question in biology: how do cell types originate and diversify?

Mots-clés : multicellularity,animal evolution,evolution of gene expression,cis regulatory evolution,transcription factors,single cell genomics,comparative genomics
Projet ERC : NanoCat (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : Université de Dortmund — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1916142.5 €

All life is dependent on enzymatic reactions and functional enzyme cascades have been evolutionary optimized. Yet, introducing “foreign” enzymes into other organisms through genetic engineering often results in reduced or no enzymatic activity. In nature enzymatic activity and efficiency are often enhanced by encapsulation of enzymes in microcompartments resulting in protection and rate enhancement through high local concentrations of enzymes, co-factors and substrates. In NanoCat I will engineer artificial microcompartments hosting highly efficient enzyme cascades that are operational in organisms where they do not naturally occur. The approach is based on my recently developed method to controllably template silica nanostructures by DNA origami. These inorganic materials retain the attractive features of DNA origami like precise localization and number placement of proteins of interest. Combining the power of DNA nanotechnology with the sturdiness and biocompatibility of silica as artificial enzyme-hosting microcompartments, I now have a highly disruptive tool at hand that has the power to outperform standard biological methods and be a true game changer. NanoCat is a novel approach to assemble complex enzymes outside of their natural environments to address health issues, global carbon emissions and plant fertilizers, something that current biological methods struggle to do. The immense demand in today’s agricultural, climate and health needs urgently calls for engineered systems with full control over size, shape and functionalizability to enhance enzymatic activity and endow organisms with new and improved properties. NanoCat aims to provide a solution to these issues through the assembly of artificial enzyme-hosting microcompartments from silicified DNA origami with universal applicability, which I will exemplify through the formation of “carboxy-, nitrogy- and galactysomes” for CO2/nitrogen fixation and the cellular delivery of essential lysosomal enzymes.

Mots-clés : dna origami,enzyme cascades,silica
Projet ERC : XDose (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and R egeneration
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1983769.0 €

Sex chromosomes are critical for controlling the phenotypic differences between males and females. However, they also create an imbalance in the gene products of sex-linked genes, with males having only one copy and females having two copies. To counteract this imbalance, many species evolved a chromosome-wide mechanism known as dosage compensation, which helps equalise gene expression between the sexes. This process is vital, as failed dosage compensation can lead to sex-specific disorders and lethality in several species including humans. Although researchers have made significant progress in understanding the mechanistic basis of dosage compensation, the core questions remain unanswered: why is the lack of X-chromosome compensation lethal and what are the physiological consequences of its absence? The proposed research aims to identify the mechanisms underlying X monosomy-associated lethality by studying the genes, cells, and developmental processes sensitive to X chromosome doses. This question has been poorly investigated partly due to the difficulties of studying sex chromosome effects. To overcome this barrier, we will investigate flies as these permit the remarkable possibility of generating mosaic animals where sex chromosomes can be genetically manipulated in defined organs, and consequently, functional and molecular analysis.  Here, I will combine classical fly genetics, two novel model systems and cutting-edge genomic techniques to: 1. Identify the functions of X chromosome dosage in fly development. 2. Characterise the ancestral X chromosome compensatory system of all insects. 3. Discover the general shared functions of sex chromosome dosage in development using new insect model species.  Thus, results from this research should have a major impact on our understanding of the importance of sex chromosome dosage in physiology and disease.

Mots-clés : sex chromosomes,sexual differentiation,dosage compensation
Projet ERC : CUBIC (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999758.0 €

“Drug candidates should have a higher proportion of Csp3 over Csp2 and Csp and a greater number of stereogenic centers”. That is essentially the message of F. Lovering et al. in their seminal article “Escape from Flatland” published in 2009 which induced a paradigm change in drug design. The first recommendation (higher proportion of Csp3) has opened a new field of research over the last 15 years, in a quest aiming at the synthesis and functionalization of small rigid polycyclic (bridged or caged) molecular scaffolds, used as building blocks in medicinal chemistry and particularly as bioisosteres of aromatics. This quest has strongly influenced academic and industrial research in organic and medicinal chemistry. However, the second recommendation (more stereogenic centers) was largely unmet due to the lack of efficient methods for the enantioselective synthesis of such chiral rigid polyclic structures. In this project, we will develop an array of synthetic methods involving diverse enantioselective cycloadditions reactions and cascade transformations to fill this essential gap in knowledge. Ultimately, we will apply these methods to the enantioselective synthesis of various bridged and caged polycyclic scaffolds, which could become the building blocks of the future in drug design. In particular, we propose to achieve the first enantioselective synthesis of a polysubstituted cubane scaffold, a long-standing challenge in asymmetric synthesis. We will also apply these synthetic approaches to the unprecedented enantioselective total synthesis of various polycyclic natural products. Knocking down the scientific barrier of enantioselective synthesis of bridged and caged rigid molecular scaffolds will have huge repercussions for the fields of organic chemistry and asymmetric synthesis, through the development of new synthetic methods and total syntheses, but also for medicinal chemistry and drug discovery, via the design of the next generation of building blocks.

Mots-clés : asymmetric catalysis cycloadditions total synthesis bridged structures
Projet ERC : SeMER (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth System Science
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1796336.25 €

Mercury (Hg) pollution is a major environmental problem. Due to its extreme toxicity, Hg has recently been included in the top ten chemicals of major public health concern by the World Health Organization. Once released in the environment, it can be transformed, principally by aquatic microorganisms, into methylmercury. Methylmercury’s hazardous effects are biomagnified through food webs, resulting in negative health effects. However, Hg metabolic pathways in biota remain poorly understood. Therefore understanding these complex processes is crucial to elucidate potential (eco)toxic effects as well as factors governing Hg biogeochemical cycling. Hg binding with proteins has been evoked as a cause for toxicity and the role of selenium (Se) as antagonist for Hg toxicity is acknowledged but thus far not well understood. SeMER is an ambitious and multidisciplinary research project with a main objective to revolutionize the understanding of Hg metabolic pathways in living organisms in the context of (antagonist) interactions with Se. The project is based on the development of novel analytical approaches that combine speciation and natural isotopic fractionation in a unique pattern. Speciation provides valuable information about reactivity and potential toxicity of metabolites. Furthermore, the natural abundance isotopic signatures add a dynamic dimension, comprising the life history of target elements, pollution sources, and reaction tracking. The resulting (bio)molecular and isotopic signatures will provide valuable insights of Hg in biota and potential detoxification mechanisms. Developed methodologies will be assessed in both freshwater and marine ecosystems in order to characterize important differences in Hg:Se interactions across contrasting habitat types. SeMER concept will revolutionize the sources and tracing of Hg and its metabolites, that could be extended to other metals and push back frontiers in life and environmental sciences related to them.

Mots-clés : environmental chemistry,mercury,selenium,pollutants,speciation,isotopic fractionation,
Projet ERC : ExoDevo (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Entité participante : Université Louis-et-Maximilien de Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : LMU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1995000.0 €

Cellular cross-talk is an essential process influenced by numerous factors including secreted vesicles that transfer nucleic acids, lipids, and proteins between cells. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been the center of many studies focusing on neuron-to-neuron communication while the role of EVs in progenitor-to-neuron and -astrocyte communication occurring during brain development has not been systematically investigated. Extracellular signals regulating the development of the brain are key players altered in many neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Strikingly, we have found that more than 60% of the genes associated with NDDs encode for proteins that are loaded into EVs. With ExoDevo, inspired by new cell-non-autonomous mechanisms that we have identified as the cause of NDDs, I will investigate the role of EVs during brain development. I will focus on the physiological function of EVs that mediate the signals for cell-to-cell cross-talk and combine transcriptomic, proteomic, imaging, and functional analysis of EVs derived from human cerebral organoids. This will open new avenues in order to tackle fundamental questions, such as how different cells communicate and feedback at different times and distances in the highly dynamic process of brain development. Ultimately, this will be investigated in human models of NDDs and will allow me to identify pathologically altered cellular cross-talk mediated by EVs. This knowledge of the cellular processes governing EVs’ biology will provide the basis to better understand novel mechanisms underlying brain development and neurodevelopmental human pathologies and explore new deliverable compounds for therapy. My expertise in human brain development and diseases together with the possibility of combing multiple technologies will be indispensable to achieve these essential goals. Meanwhile, exploring these novel aspects of brain development will bring me beyond my current research focus and broaden my perspectives on NDDs.

Mots-clés : brain development,extracellular vesicles neurodevelopmental disorders,cellular cross talk