Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : HYROPE (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Université norvégienne de sciences et de technologie — Pays : Norvège — Rôle : CO-PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 4553158.6 €

HYROPE proposes to combine unique, fundamental skills of four European laboratories to perform atmospheric and high-pressure experiments coupled to high-performance simulations of an innovative concept for gas turbines to burn zero-carbon, hydrogen-based fuels. Due to their high-power density, it would be a potential game-changing technology that can deliver energy on demand for both power and aviation. Gas turbine technology has evolved from an abundance of hydrocarbon fossil fuels but has the unique potential to be fuel flexible and burn renewable, zero-carbon hydrogen-based fuels such as hydrogen or ammonia. However, these fuels raise several fundamental issues as they have very different combustion properties and emission properties when compared to hydrocarbon fuels. Hydrogen is highly diffusive, extremely reactive, and its turbulent burning rate exhibits an unexplained strong pressure dependence. Predicting whether hydrogen flames that are stable at atmospheric pressure will be stable at higher pressures, as needed in gas turbines, remains an unsolved fundamental problem. Ammonia is a convenient hydrogen carrier that can be partially decomposed to hydrogen but requires careful control of NOx emissions. How to handle the effects of pressure on these fuels is a major gap in our scientific knowledge. HYROPE will study the effects of pressure on the combustion of hydrogen-based fuels in a fuel flexible, staged combustion approach where the first stage is controlled by flame propagation and the second one by autoignition. This configuration offers enormous potential that has not yet been exploited for such fuels. This can only be achieved through a joint work combining state-of-the-art tools, from novel experimental facilities at high pressures, advanced optical diagnostics to high-performance computing. The project will accelerate the development of new, high-power density, fuel-flexible combustion systems and unleash the potential of zero-carbon gas turbines.

Mots-clés : hydrogen,thermal power,zero carbon fuels,power generation,gas turbine
Projet ERC : CASTLE (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Université de Florence — Pays : Italie — Rôle : CO-PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2075000.0 €

Chirality is a key property of molecules important in many chemical and nearly all biological processes. Recent observations have shown that electron transport through chiral molecules attached to solid electrodes can induce high spin polarization even at room temperature. Electrons with their spin aligned parallel or antiparallel to the electron transfer displacement vector are preferentially transmitted depending on the chirality of the molecular system resulting in Chirality-Induced Spin Selectivity (CISS). The long-term vision of the CASTLE project is to transform the CISS effect into an enabling technology for quantum applications. This will be accomplished by achieving four key objectives. 1) The occurrence of CISS will be studied at the intramolecular level by photo-inducing rapid electron transfer within covalent donor-chiral spacer-acceptor molecules to generate long-lived radical pairs (RPs). 2) Direct detection of RP spin polarization will be performed using time-resolved and pulsed electron and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. In addition, polarization transfer from one of the radicals comprising the spin-polarized RP to a stable molecular spin (Q) will be used to initialize the quantum state of Q, making it a good qubit for quantum applications, particularly sensing. 3) Quantum mechanical studies of the CISS effect will provide predictive models for molecular qubit design. 4) The CISS effect will be used to control, readout, and transfer information in prototypical devices embedding hybrid interfaces based on semiconducting or conducting substrates, thus dramatically advancing the use of molecular spins in quantum information technologies targeting high-temperature operation. These devices will be used also to prove molecule-based Quantum Error Correction. The knowledge acquired with CASTLE will impact a wide range of fields, including magnetless spintronics, dynamic nuclear polarization for NMR signal enhancement, catalysis, and light harvesting.

Mots-clés : chirality,electron transfer,molecular magnetism,spin selectivity,spintronics,supramolecular chemistry,coordination chemistry
Projet ERC : SUBNORDICA (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Université de Bradford — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 6722914.88 €

The landscapes that extended for millions of square kilometres offshore of the world’s coastlines due to low sea-level during the last glaciation and were then drowned by sea-level rise, are known to preserve valuable archives of landscapes, palaeoclimatic change and stratified archaeological remains, with the potential to transform understanding of human history in this period of dramatic change. The absence of archaeological sites across much of this vast area prevents realisation of this potential. In SUBNORDICA we propose a systematic approach to develop new methods for recreating the submerged landscapes and human settlement of NW Europe and assess the impact of postglacial sea-level rise. We will address two questions: (1) What changes to the topography and environment of the submerged landscape were brought about by rising sea level and climate change? (2) How was the distribution of archaeological settlements and other traces of cultural activity impacted by this changing palaeolandscape, and can we recover them in sufficient detail to investigate human impact and human response? Combining information from 4 regions in the southern North Sea and the southern Baltic, we will use artificial intelligence to develop machine-learning routines to (a) integrate existing and newly acquired geophysical and geological data to map key areas of the changing landscape, and (b) combine this information with data from known underwater archaeological sites to identify new targets of archaeological potential for more detailed investigation. Investigating these targets will use high-resolution geophysical methods, sediment coring, archaeological excavation, and geochronological, palaeoenvironmental, sedimentological and biological analyses of recovered deposits. We will reveal a new chapter in human prehistory, provide a world-leading model for the investigation of submerged landscapes, and offer improved policy guidance for underwater cultural heritage management.

Mots-clés : submerged landscape archaeology
Projet ERC : NanoX (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Université de Warwick — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1795510.0 €

A driving force behind biomedical innovation lies in disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment. This requires a comprehensive understanding of how pathogens exploit living organisms across molecular, cellular, organismal, and population levels. Treatment of disease often relies upon interventions that restore the normal structure and function of cells. However, it is currently challenging to visualise and quantify detailed cellular changes within whole tissues in response to disease. Soft X-ray microscopy is a novel, exciting imaging modality which enables detailed structural and chemical imaging of whole cells without fixation or dyes. This technique is currently used to image cultured cells, but has yet to be applied to the examination of cells within the intricate 3D architecture of tissue with its complex cell-cell interactions. Imaging of diseased tissue in this way is crucial to gain meaningful insight into disease mechanisms, while remaining complementary to other imaging modalities and biological assays. Project NanoX aims to tackle this challenge, by merging the skillsets of a world-leading team with synergistic expertise in infectious disease, physics and structural biology to pioneer several innovations – (i) a targeted micro-biopsy tool for rapid tissue extraction for soft X-ray microscopy, (ii) high-throughput nano-resolution 3D imaging of tissues, (iii) novel integrative data mining approaches, and (iv) unprecedented insights into the pathogenesis of hepatitis E virus (HEV), an important emerging zoonotic viral infection with no specific therapies or vaccines, in healthy and immune-compromised individuals. The scientific and technological innovations that will be developed and deployed by NanoX will revolutionize clinical diagnostics and research by providing new ways to directly image, characterise, diagnose, and treat diseases in any species at a level of detail and complexity that was previously unattainable.

Mots-clés : soft x ray microscopy,tissue imaging,disease mechanisms
Projet ERC : METRIQS (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Université complutense de Madrid — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 3297937.3 €

The quest to design materials with tailored properties is a driving force for new scientific and technological horizons and is critical for addressing the grand challenges of humanity. Our proposal introduces an innovative concept in condensed matter and materials science: heterostructures built upon the fusion of 2D van der Waals materials and freestanding transition metal oxides (TMOs), forming a new compound metamaterial where the interface itself plays a crucial and active role in the properties and functionality. Our strategy is threefold. First, by incorporating a 2D layer between two TMO crystals to prevent ionic-covalent bonding and disorder, we can stack the TMOs with a continuous, free choice of twist angle. This will dial in interfacial superstructures called moiré lattices, which impose profound changes in their physical properties. Second, the moiré lattices will ‘imprint’ ferroic orders in the interfacial 2DL, which then act as a spacer, lubricating layer, and sensing layer in one. Moiré engineering has so far been reserved for van der Waals materials, and with METRIQS, we seamlessly merge TMOs with van der Waals materials, creating a highly versatile hybrid platform, where the interaction strength, strain, and dislocation networks can be controlled. Moiré metamaterials are used to study valleytronics and correlated states, control skyrmions, realise spin-charge conversion devices, and control the nucleation of chiral molecules. Our most ambitious endeavour unfolds in the third phase, where we are committed to revolutionising material synthesis by design. This will be achieved through interface manipulation, employing a combination of static and dynamic techniques, including strain, light, and electric/magnetic fields, in conjunction with the precise control of the bilayer twisted oxide as a tuning knob. This project unites two separate scientific communities and material families, in a team with highly complementary skills, knowledge, and resources.

Mots-clés : metal oxides,perovskites,graphene,transition metal dichalcogenides,van der waals heterostructures,two dimensional materials,spintronics,valleytronics,correlated states,chiral molecules
Projet ERC : CultCryo (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Institute for Social-Ecological Research — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : ISOE
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 201250.0 €

Artificial cooling fundamentally shapes the world in which we live. Since the onset of the Cold War, cooling and freezing technologies have become increasingly vital for a wide array of everyday practices, from nutrition, health and reproduction to dwelling, telecommunication, scientific research and economic productivity. A global system of cold storages, cold chains and air-conditioned spaces has become an energy-intensive yet barely considered planetary infrastructure: an “artificial cryosphere”. Artificial cold has drastically restructured life both on a biological and social level, yet the far-reaching impact of this technology is still largely unexplored and unresearched. Recent studies estimate that global cooling demand will increase five-fold by 2050, dramatically exceeding our future energy budget and urgently calling for change. CultCryo argues that avoiding the impending global cooling crisis will be impossible if we do not understand how the planetary infrastructure of artificial cold is deeply interwoven in cultural practices. Thus, in order to analyze the constitution of “cryogenic cultures”, we will undertake four interdisciplinary multi-sited case studies in the domains of food supply, air conditioning, biomedicine and computing. We develop innovative approaches using mixed-methods rooted in the history of technology, geography, digital history of concepts, ethnography and the philosophy and ethics of technology. Breaking ground for an innovative interdisciplinary field of research, CultCryo will provide the first geographical mapping of the cryosphere, a historical reconstruction of its emergence, an ethnographic account on its cultural constitution, and a philosophical analysis and ethical assessment of its underlying norms and values. Thereby, we develop a corpus of urgently needed knowledge to critically analyze a pressing global phenomenon while also identifying alternatives towards a more sustainable future of artificial cold.

Mots-clés : ethnography,technology assessment,language technology,digital history of concepts,cultural analysis,value analysis and theory,cryopreservation,cooling,infrastructures,public health,sustainability,
Projet ERC : KARST (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Université de Neuchâtel — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Unine
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 3247129.0 €

Karst aquifers are a treasure and a threat: while up to 25% of the world population depends on them for drinking water, they also have capabilities for extremely fast conduction of water and contaminants. In the light of climate change, we need to prepare for extreme flooding and understand the consequences for karst aquifers. Despite their socio-economic importance, decades of research, and high-profile disasters, karst structures and processes remain notoriously difficult to assess. Because of the complexity of karst and its lack of accessibility, the foundations of flow and transport modeling in karst systems are weak. Key phenomena related to extreme events such as flash floods and heavy tails in tracer recovery are still beyond current modeling capabilities. KARST will establish the next generation of coupled stochastic modeling frameworks to predict karst processes, assess the vulnerability of karst aquifers, and forecast their response to extreme events. Our approach will bridge structures and processes on all scales, far beyond the capabilities of current theories and computer simulations. This will be achieved by targeting three key objec- tives: (i) Identification and quantification of flow and transport dynamics at the conduit scale. (ii) Characterization and modeling of karst network structure at the catchment scale. (iii) Derivation of a new upscaled approach to predict karst processes at different resolution scales. Together, this will result in an unprecedented multiscale modeling framework for the prediction of flow and transport in karst. Solving this long-standing problem is possible thanks to the synergy of the KARST PI team combining the set of skills and knowledge (hydrogeology, physics, mathematics) required to make a ground-breaking step in this field. Beyond that, the new approach is expected to impact other real-world systems in medicine (capillary networks), neuroscience (brain microcirculation) or glaciology (meltwater flow in glaciers).

Mots-clés : karst,networks,upscaling,flow,transport,graphs,structure,anomalous transport,continuous time random walks,lagrangian analysis,particle methods,dispersion,turbulent transport,groundwater,contamination,floods
Projet ERC : MEMELAND (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Université Charles de Prague — Pays : Rép. Tchèque — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 87150.0 €

MEMELAND will pioneer the creation of Europe's first species-level ecological history, spanning the Roman era to the present day. Our research will unveil the persistent medieval influences in contemporary landscapes and biodiversity. This historical insight will inform proactive land management, conservation, and heritage-informed restoration, crucial for climate change mitigation. Our approach involves sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA), lipid biomarkers, multi-method chronologies, and archaeobotanical analysis at 50 strategically selected lake-pairs across northern and central Europe within three archaeological zones. Additionally, we will go deeper in time and investigate medieval landscape-lake interactions in 3 of the lake pairs. We'll reveal species-level biodiversity, for plants, animals (livestock, fish, birds and invertebrates) and plants-animal-soil pathogens (hologenomic level). Additionally, we'll explore sub-species and landraces within critical taxa (e.g. cereals and domestic livestock).  The geography of present biodiversity is a testament to medieval and early-modern agronomy, population, elite influence (lordship, ecclesiastical), cultivation systems (open-field system), technology (heavy plough) and natural ideologies. By using pairs of lakes, one associated with a high-status site and a nearby lakes with little archaeology, we'll generate geographically representative biodiversity data. This data will enable us to test hypotheses against archaeological, pollen and climate records, and reveal the geographic reality of the ‘medieval agricultural revolution’. Recent advances in sedaDNA analysis, and molecular preservation in temperate climates make MEMELAND a groundbreaking project in both Archaeology and European ecological history. Our work promises to reshape our understanding of the historical interplay between culture and nature and provide critical insights for sustainable land management and climate change mitigation in Europe.

Mots-clés : medieval archaeology,human ecodynamics,vegetation history,sedadna,biomarkers,landscape history,biodiversity,palaeolimnology,historical ecology,heritage management
Projet ERC : FireSpace (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Sorbonne Université — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Sorbonne U
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2512980.0 €

The "FireSpace" research proposal aims to address the critical challenge of fire safety in space exploration, particularly in environments with increased oxygen concentrations, reduced pressure, and reduced gravity. The main objective is to generate fundamental knowledge on the fire behavior of materials used in spacecraft and habitats under these extreme conditions and to develop strategies for mitigating fire risks. This will be achieved through a combination of experimental investigations, the development of fire-retardant (FR) materials, and advanced numerical simulations. The key objectives of the project are to: 1. Passive fire mitigation: Understand the fire behavior of FR materials in reduced gravity and oxygen-rich environments. Develop new FR materials and advanced diagnostics for testing these materials in microgravity. 2. Active fire mitigation: Formulate strategies for controlling flame spread through environmental perturbations such as acoustic or electromagnetic waves. 3. Numerical simulations: Perform detailed simulations of fire spread from material to compartment scales, predicting the effectiveness of fire safety strategies in spacecraft and space habitats. 4. Risk management: Consider the interplay between fire safety and other critical habitation systems, ensuring a balanced approach to risk management in space missions. The research will be structured into seven work packages (WPs) involving the design of FR materials, development of experimental rigs for microgravity platforms, and integration of fire safety into spacecraft design. This holistic approach will generate groundbreaking knowledge to enhance the fire safety of future space missions.

Mots-clés : fire retardancy,flame retardant,flammability,fire safety,combustion,fire spread,cfd modeling,numerical simulation,reduced gravity,space exploration,spacecraft,diagnostics
Projet ERC : Green2Ice (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Synergy grants)
Entité participante : Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities — Pays : Danemark — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Autres
Financement ERC de l'entité : 94471.0 €

Green2Ice will investigate the deepest and oldest ice and basal sediments drilled from the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS). Ice cores have been drilled the last 55 years, but the deepest ice containing basal materials has been preserved until now, and still holds undeciphered paleoclimatic messages. The breakthrough of Green2Ice is to develop and apply cutting edge dating methods on this unique sample collection and hence to reconstruct the age and the stability of the GrIS. A hypothesis to test is if the present GrIS formed at the time of the Mid Pleistocene Transition, 1,2 - 0.8 million years ago. One innovation of Green2Ice is to gain paleo-information of the past size of the GrIS to constrain future tipping points. This knowledge will reduce the uncertainty on estimates of future sea level rise. Green2Ice will bring together four PIs from three world leading institutions with complementary skills to lift this strongly interdisciplinary program. We will drill a replicate core at GRIP, to supplement the available material from five existing ice cores and ensure retrieval of sediments and rock material from beneath the GrIS summit. We will develop, improve and apply novel dating techniques (cosmogenic and radiogenic nuclides, OSL/IRSL, modeling of gas and isotope diffusion) to place constraints on past waxing and waning of the GrIS. State-of-the-art methodologies on fossil remains, organic matter, in situ produced and consumed greenhouse gases, and ancient bio-molecules will provide insights on the types of ecosystems and environmental conditions that emerged during ice-free conditions. Interpretation will include ice sheet modelling with data benchmarking to establish the climatic sensitivity of the GrIS. Earth system modelling and collaboration with the groups preparing the IPCC AR7 will bring the knowledge of the past into the future. The rare and unique basal ice and material can only be used once. This is the main high risk high gain component of Green2Ice.

Mots-clés : greenland ice sheet,mid pleistocene transition,ice free greenland,ecosystem,mass loss,sea level rise