Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : NEADMIX (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Study of the Human Past
Entité participante : Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Société Max Planck
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1498750.0 €

In the last decade, ancient DNA studies have increased their throughput from single samples to thousands of genomes published every year, giving us unprecedented data about human genetic history. However, tools and methods that efficiently use this wealth of data are sorely lacking, especially because DNA extracted from fossils is often scarce and contaminated. In this project, I develop population genetic theory and bioinformatic methods that use ancient DNA to refine estimates of when and where archaic and modern humans interbred, to characterize the historical, biological and functional consequences of this gene flow, and to learn about the differences between modern humans, Neandertals, and Denisovans.  The first aim of this project is to develop a robust and general genotype-likelihood approach for local ancestry inference that allows efficient use of contaminated, low-coverage data, and to establish approximate haplotype-based methods for inferring introgression tracts.  The second aim of the project is to develop the necessary population genetic theory and statistical methods to translate the inferred haplotypes into biological insights. The proposed theoretical, numerical and simulation-based approaches will link the inferred introgression patterns with the underlying population genetic processes.  The final aim is to apply these novel tools to study where and when gene flow between Neandertals, Denisovans, and modern humans occurred. I also aim to identify introgressed haplotypes that are a target of natural selection and to quantify the relative importance of positive, negative, and balancing selection on Neandertal and Denisovan gene flow.  As a result, this work will expand the tool set available for the analysis of ancient DNA, reveal the precise history of the interactions of Neandertals and modern humans, and provide answers to the key question of what genetic factors contributed to the survival of our species, while all other hominins went extinct.

Mots-clés : human genetic history
Projet ERC : IntrinsicReceptors (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Molecules of Life: B iological  Mechanisms , Structures  and Functions
Entité participante : Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Société Max Planck
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1495000.0 €

Macromolecular complexes (MC) are cellular machines that perform a wide array of vital tasks. They operate in a controlled, coordinated fashion within the crowded environment of the cell. Accumulation of dysfunctional MCs leads to age-related diseases. Despite recent technological advancements, it still remains elusive for many of them how excess or dysfunctional MCs are sensed and removed. I have recently established a role of intrinsic receptors in degradation of the nuclear pore complex and the clathrin-mediated endocytosis machinery by selective autophagy. Intrinsic receptors represent functional subunits of the macromolecular machine but can if needed recruit the autophagy machinery to engulf and degrade the complex. As such intrinsic receptors provide an in-built quality control function that monitors the assembly state and/or functionality of macromolecular machines. I hypothesize that this is a conserved and widely used principle existing within various MCs and that there is a common, yet unexplored, regulatory pathway underlying the intrinsic receptors’ mode of action. In the proposed project, I will employ a combination of genetic screening, mass spectrometry and cryo-electron tomography to systematically define intrinsic receptors and their working principles in cells. I will use systematic discovery approaches to determine how many MCs contain intrinsic receptors, how the degradation of intrinsic receptors and their cargo is regulated, and how this is orchestrated with autophagosome biogenesis. My results will not only provide insights into a novel cellular quality-control mechanism but also unravel novel aspects of selective autophagosome biogenesis. Importantly, both accumulation of dysfunctional complexes and impairment of autophagy are linked to aging and age-related diseases. Therefore, my results will contribute to understand the role of autophagy in these processes and have the potential to provide new pharmacological therapeutic avenues.

Mots-clés : protein biology,cell biology,selective autophagy,macromolecular machines,biophysics,cryo et,mass spectrometry
Projet ERC : AVATar (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems E ngineering
Entité participante : Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Société Max Planck
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1492968.0 €

Brain function depends on spatiotemporally defined brain-wide signaling via molecules such as neurotransmitters. No current technology can measure signaling molecules throughout the brain with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution in living mammals. This poses a major roadblock for understanding how molecular neuronal communication coordinates whole-brain function.  Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) currently provides the highest brain-wide resolution. Dynamic imaging of blood flow and oxygenation in the finely arborized vasculature, so-called functional MRI (fMRI), is the only method that can visualize whole-brain function in mammals and humans. However, MRI is inherently insensitive, which precludes it from accessing molecular signaling that occurs at (sub)micromolar concentrations and fMRI cannot resolve neurotransmitter signaling underlying measured hemodynamic signals.  I previously designed protein-based vasoactive sensors, named AVATar, that directly cause hemodynamic signals in fMRI in response to target molecules at low nanomolar doses, without using radioactive or metallic components. They can be genetically encoded and also pave the way for noninvasive brain delivery through the vasculature, critical for translational applications in primates and humans.  Here, I will combine my expertise in synthetic biology and in vivo molecular imaging to develop my proof-of-concept work into a robust preclinical neuroimaging method along three objectives: 1) Engineering AVATars that convert neurotransmitter signaling into hemodynamic signals. 2) Brain delivery via non-invasive routes. 3) Application for fMRI of brain-wide neurotransmitter signaling in rodents.  My project will provide neurotransmitter-sensing AVATars to turn fMRI into molecular fMRI and bridge the long-standing gap between molecular nuclear imaging and functional hemodynamic imaging. AVATars will visualize how brain-wide molecular signaling dynamics shape healthy and pathological brain function.

Mots-clés : bioengineering,synthetic biology,molecular sensors,molecular imaging,signaling,mri
Projet ERC : TrapKill (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : Université nationale d'Irlande à Galway — Pays : Irlande — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499938.0 €

Glioblastoma Multiforme(GB) is an aggressive brain cancer associated with a 2% 5-year survival rate and 250,000 new diagnoses globally.Gold standard treatment includes surgical resection and radiotherapy coupled with Temozolomide(TMZ) chemotherapy that promote cancer cell death.Resistance to TMZ and radiotherapy develops rapidly due to DNA repair mechanisms, indicating that targeted disruption of them can potentiate these therapies. TrapKill combines cancer mechanobiology, microfabrication and biomaterials engineering to develop a pioneering therapeutic trifunctionalised hydrogel,physically modified to present 3D microchannels,and chemically functionalised with GB chemoattractant CXCL-12 and TMZ.These promote durotaxis/chemotaxis-mediated GB cell infiltration,constraining cells into elongated morphologies,stressing the nucleus,disrupting DNA repair mechanisms,and rendering cells susceptible to therapies. I have shown that 3D patterned hydrogels promote GB GL261 cell infiltration,forcing cells to adopt a filamentous conformation and subjecting the cell nuclei to significant shear/tension/compressive forces.Following microchannel sequestering,preliminary data indicate that cells upregulate stress-related signalling processes and lose the protective effects of cell agglomeration.It is envisaged that TrapKill glioblastoma therapy will significantly enhance the efficacy of gold standard chemo-radio-therapy approaches. TrapKill objectives include:  •A chemoattractant-TMZ functionalised and micropatterned hydrogel to create TrapKill therapy •Analysis of microchannel dimensions on GB cell morphology,nuclear stress and cell sensitivity to TMZ/gamma radiation in vitro •Assess transcriptome changes in mechanically stressed GB cells and in DNA repair gene transcription •Pre-clinical resection-radiation murine GB model assessment  TrapKill will create a transformative GB treatment,with a combined approach to significantly revolutionise existing/next-generation GB therapies.

Mots-clés : biomaterials,mechanobiology,glioblastoma,biomedical device,patterning,neural interfaces
Projet ERC : ELMO (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Earth System Science
Entité participante : Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Société Max Planck
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1495520.0 €

Volatile chemical elements such as C, O, H, S, and N, are critical components in the formation and evolution of planets, control physical properties of planet interiors and associated processes such as plate tectonics, largely make up the composition of atmospheres, and determine planet habitability. Telescopic observations of exoplanets provide information about the atmospheres of planets, and the abundances of these volatile elements. However, we lack experimental constraints to reliably interpret atmosphere observations and link them to planet compositions. I propose a novel experimental approach that will provide a quantitative link of atmosphere chemistry and molecular speciation, to magma ocean composition. All terrestrial planets have experienced a magma ocean stage early in their evolution. With my group I will study the role of volatile elements in this planetary stage, and how composition, and oxidation state of magma oceans control the molecular inventory of their atmospheres. This information is crucial to derive primordial atmosphere compositions of solar system planets and constrain their volatile inventories. The new data will be put in the context of ongoing and future European space missions, such as BepiColombo to Mercury, in which I am directly involved. On the other hand, with the proposed experimental approach I will build a link from observed volatile species in exoplanet atmospheres to the compositions of the interiors of hot magma ocean worlds. The novel data will be directly integrated with observations from spectroscopic measurements of exoplanet atmospheres by JWST and the planned ESA Ariel mission to constrain planet compositions. By comparing the derived magma ocean atmosphere of Earth with the atmospheres of observed hot exoplanets, I will be able to assess how common systems like the early Earth are, beyond the solar system.

Mots-clés : magma ocean experimental petrology lava world bepicolombo rocky planet planet evolution knudsen cell
Projet ERC : MoNiKa (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed Matter Physics
Entité participante : Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Société Max Planck
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1475625.0 €

The interplay between strong electronic correlations and the laws of quantum physics can lead to exotic new states of matter. Turning novel materials into future technologies requires a thorough theoretical understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena encountered. Advances in computational methods in recent years allow for the study of strongly interacting quantum many-body systems with unprecedented accuracy, enabling us to explore questions posed by recent material discoveries.  Kagome metals exhibit superconductivity, unconventional charge density waves, and possible time-reversal symmetry breaking, whose origin remains unknown. Nickelate superconductors are a structural analog of cuprate superconductors. However, they exhibit several crucial differences likely due to genuine multi-orbital physics whose treatment has so far been considered theoretically challenging. Moiré transition metal dichalcogenides stabilize various Mott insulating states with the possibility of hosting an elusive chiral spin liquid state, for which the understanding of crucial thermal and dynamical signatures is still missing. MoNiKa aims to reveal their fundamental physical properties by studying microscopic models capturing the essential physical aspects of these materials. These models include the extended kagome lattice Hubbard models for the kagome metals, multi-orbital Hubbard-Kanamori models for the nickelate superconductors, and dynamical properties of triangular lattice Hubbard models for the moiré transition metal dichalcogenides.  To tackle these problems, we will utilize a comprehensive set of advanced numerical techniques, emphasizing novel finite temperature tensor network methods. While simultaneously extending the boundaries of these computational approaches, we will characterize superconductivity, new forms of magnetism, Mott insulators, and charge density waves alongside their thermal and dynamical signatures.

Mots-clés : computational quantum many body physics
Projet ERC : FASTOMIC (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed Matter Physics
Entité participante : Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Société Max Planck
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1572500.0 €

Quantum materials (QMs) are of great importance for the development of future quantum nanophotonics and nanoelectronic devices. To harness their full potential and design novel functionalities, it is essential to understand how their macroscopic quantum states arise from the microscopic interaction between their charge, lattice, orbital, and spin degrees of freedom, and how they respond to external perturbations. While ultrafast techniques offer unique insight into microscopic interactions at global, macroscopic scales, they fall short of capturing the local response of a many-body quantum state directly at the atomic scale.  In contrast, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) enables imaging of stationary quantum states with angstrom spatial resolution, revealing atomic inhomogeneities, local disorder, or how quantum phases can vary over angstrom scales. Such irregularities are ubiquitous in real devices, and can even be a key feature of technically relevant metastable phases. In these cases, the global understanding of the nonequilibrium response of a quantum state is not sufficient to fully capture its properties, and one must also understand the localized response directly at the relevant spatial - angstrom - scales. Yet, the study of atomically localized nonequilibrium dynamics in QMs has so far been out of reach.  In this proposal, I will employ ultrafast Terahertz-lightwave-driven STM (THz-STM) to (i) explore the response of correlated electron states to global and local perturbations and as a function of their local environment, and (ii) induce new quantum properties by periodic driving with light to create Floquet topological states and study their topological properties at the atomic scale.  FASTOMIC will bridge the gap between atomic real-space and ultrafast real-time investigation of condensed quantum matter, providing scientific insights and technological advances that go significantly beyond existing capabilities.

Mots-clés : scanning tunneling microscopy,ultrafast surface science,strongly correlated materials,floquet engineering,charge density waves,topological insulators,mott insulators
Projet ERC : BIO4D (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : Trinity College — Pays : Irlande — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1498579.0 €

BIO4D aims to achieve a fundamental understanding and develop a true biomimetic model of natural responsive photonic systems. From air (Paradise bird) to land (Panther chameleon), and soil (Hoplia Argentea beetle) to water (Neon Tetra fish), nature has enabled organisms to morph their colour, visibility, and reflectivity, to camouflage, signal, mimic, distract, and regulate biological processes. Due to the complexities of these systems, true synthetic analogues have not been achievable to date. BIO4D will develop novel responsive 3D photonic structures by combining self-ordering photonic nanomaterials with state-of-the-art 3D fabrication at the nano and micro-scale. This will enable dynamic photonic behaviour including controllable refractive index, adaptable reflectivity and transmission, angle independency, and stimuli response. This highly ambitious goal will be achieved by:  -Developing self-ordered photonic nanomaterials in stimuli responsive hydrogel networks. -Understanding the effect of combining photonic substructures and superstructures (fabricated via 2-photon polymerisation) using Finite-difference time-domain analysis. -Fabricating biomimetic 3D photonic structures from composite hydrogels, using 2-photon polymerisation. -Demonstrating 4D photonic structures that show on-demand dynamic optical response.  This will enable truly biomimetic models through self-ordering nanomaterials (modelling keratin and chitin), stimuli-responsive materials (modelling motor proteins and actin filaments) and 3D direct laser writing (yielding ordered and disordered superstructures). These stimuli-responsive photonic structures will offer a direct pathway to applications in active display technologies, biometric recognition, polarisation encryption, and extremely low-cost sensing in liquid and gas. The fundamental breakthroughs that will be achieved will be far reaching in materials development, chemistry, and physics.

Mots-clés : direct laser writing,2 photon polymerisation,stimuli responsive,hydrogels
Projet ERC : EDUMERIT (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Soci al World and Its Interactions
Entité participante : Université de Tallinn — Pays : Estonie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1494660.0 €

Educational choices shape futures, influence life chances, and are among the most significant factors in social mobility. Despite political and academic consensus on avoiding early selection, inequalities in educational opportunities are on the rise, even in systems that aim for equity or discourage parental choice. Paradoxically, the belief that today’s educational opportunities are meritocratically earned is growing, reducing the demand for inclusive education. EDUMERIT aims to explain the policy feedback of school choice implementation by revealing its contextually embedded effects on parental experiences and fairness beliefs. It shows how varying exposure to educational selectivity and political-social constraints, shaped by stakeholders' discretion and discourses, result in discrepancies between real and perceived outcomes, as well as related fairness judgements. It breaks through the state of the art in studying policy feedback effects in shifting the focus from policy design to policy implementation, and from broader popular attitudes to parental fairness reasoning in school choice. It offers a bold new conceptualization to define under which conditions feedback effects in education result in the rising meritocracy beliefs at the expense of re-distributional demand. It sets out a comparative nested empirical design to reveal parental school choice experiences and related fairness reasoning by combining cross-European evidence with survey experiments, qualitative interpretive interviews and social media analysis in Estonia, Poland, and Sweden. EDUMERIT innovates by addressing endogeneity in education policy feedback effects and advancing a relational approach to fairness reasoning. It develops the role of ‘forward-looking’ social mobility in the broader fairness debate, elucidating inequalities that matter. It strengthens the policy and politics of inclusive education by enhancing the compatibility between meritocracy and solidarity of welfare policies.

Mots-clés : policy feedback effects,fairness beliefs,meritocracy,education,policy implementation,school choice policy,social mobility,survey experiment,qualitative interpretive interviews,social media analysis,welfare mix