Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : PredActive (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : Université de Pise — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999500.0 €

The ease with which children acquire new skills is progressively lost with age. Several mechanisms make the adult brain resistant to change, especially for low-level sensory processing, the hardest barrier for strategies aimed at recovering plasticity. PredActive will use vision as a test case to develop a new understanding of plasticity and its limits, through an emerging theory of brain function termed predictive coding. This theory asserts that not all incoming information is encoded directly, but only deviations from a priori predictions are represented. It follows that keeping predictions updated and calibrated to the sensory input is crucial for accurate processing. I propose that calibrating the prediction-verification cycle involves transient plasticity, of the type elicited in adults by interference with sensory input. For example, briefly patching one eye leads to a sustained boost of sensitivity and BOLD responses for that eye. This is usually interpreted as a homeostatic response. But predictive coding suggests another interpretation: when a sensory channel consistently fails to respond as expected, its signals are no longer predictable, and therefore generate large prediction errors that explain the short-term boost. A strong implication is that this form of plasticity should be elicited, even without sensory deprivation, by manipulating sensory predictability. Preliminary studies by the PI suggest that this is the case. PredActive will establish this principle and uncover its neural underpinnings by manipulating different sources of predictions (through advanced psychophysics and virtual reality) and tracing their origin (with ultra-high field fMRI, in adult volunteers and patients). The studies will permit a novel understanding of predictive sensory processing and its calibration. They will cast a new light on the fundamental phenomenon of homeostatic plasticity, and on the possibility of harnessing it for the rehabilitation of adult brain function.

Mots-clés : predictive coding ocular dominance plasticity corollary discharge neuroimaging at ultra high magnetic field
Projet ERC : PhosphatNGs (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Université de Castille-La Manche — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UCLM
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999375.0 €

Nano-Graphitic molecules (NGs) are pivotal for existing microelectronics and the development of emerging technologies: wearable electronics, artificial skins and nerves, etc. Their outstanding semiconducting properties rely on the efficient overlap of their carbon-scaffold and the spatial disposition of molecules. If we could twist the planar framework of NGs, diversify their pi-scaffold with heteroatoms, while keeping control over the molecular organization, we could modify their properties and access innovative materials with uncharted research opportunities for organic electronics. Through an innovative approach, I target to insert phosphorus heterocycles into (twisted)NGs as tools to tailor their properties and meticulously control their molecular arrangement. With Phospha(t)NGs, I will provide a highly versatile protocol for the preparation of novel, twisted phospha-NGs. Thanks to the unique chemistry of phosphorus, I aim at establishing an unconventional methodology to sequentially organize NGs into hierarchical architectures. My groundbreaking approach will lead to materials that were inaccessible to date as organophosphorus chemistry was too immature so far. Through an arsenal of spectroscopic techniques, I will achieve the first comprehensive investigation on the impact of heteroatoms into the twisting-induced properties of NGs. The outcomes of Phospha(t)NGs will have a wide range of applications. Here, I will test selected individual and assembled phospha-NGs as chiroptical materials and as prototypes of field-effect transistor sensors, laying the foundation for new research opportunities in material science. Thus, Phospha(t)NGs will consolidate the bedrocks for new, cutting-edge fields of research, whose development will clearly extend beyond the time-scale of this proposal.

Mots-clés : phosphorus heterocycles,organophosphorus materials
Projet ERC : HOTT (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Computer Science and Informatics
Entité participante : Université Loránd Eötvös — Pays : Hongrie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1897375.0 €

Recent advancements have enabled proof asistants to formally verify world-class mathematics: the liquid tensor experiment, the four colour theorem and the odd order theorem were formalised. Computer checked arguments are important for mathematicians who want to be certain their reasoning is sound, and for computer scientists to prevent bugs in safety critical software. Examples are formally verified parts of Google's Chrome web browser and verified implementations of the C and ML programming languages.  At the core of these formalisations lies type theory, upon which proof assistants are built. Type theory is both a functional programming language and a foundation of mathematics. Recently, models of type theory built on higher dimensional spaces emerged, where elements of a type are points in the space, and elements of an equality type are paths in the space. Based one these, type theory was extended to homotopy type theory (HoTT), featuring the principle that isomorphic types are equal. This moves formalisation close to actual mathematical practice where isomorphic structures are being treated as the same.  While HoTT is successful among academics, it hasn't been widely adopted. This is because type theories implementing HoTT rely on an explicit syntax for higher dimensional geometry, which is conceptually difficult and hard to use in practice. This creates a substantial barrier for formalisation, which is treated as a low-level, bureaucractic process.  Our project will develop a radically new type theory where homotopical content is emergent, rather than built-in. The idea is to define the equality type via computation. This makes HoTT explainable and conceptually simple. It also improves pragmatic aspects: with more computation, proofs become less tedious. Our theory will contribute to a new era in formalisation of mathematics and verification of software, where developing proofs in abstract, reusable ways becomes standard, accelerating progress in both areas.

Mots-clés : type theory,proof assistants,foundations of mathematics,logic
Projet ERC : DIVERSE (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and Communication Engineering
Entité participante : Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CEA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2874335.0 €

The artificial intelligence community, inspired by the tremendous progress made in neuroscience, has recently proposed powerful algorithms to enable effective real-time decision making based on a limited volume of noisy sensory data. However, implementing such algorithms in low-power devices remains a challenge due to the energy inefficiency that comes from separating logic and memory in current electronic systems. For the past 10 years, research groups have been developing alternative electronic components and systems, such as brain inspired computing architectures and novel resistive memory technologies to address this design bottleneck. The critical feature for these new technologies to perform at their best is a very high-density, reliable, non-volatile memory with infinite endurance. This ideal memory does not exist today, and it is unlikely it will ever exist. This project takes inspiration from the insect’s nervous system. The general aim of DIVERSE is to enable learning from a very limited volume of noisy data based on imperfect, limited density, low endurance, resistive memories. Unlike digital systems, insects are not very good at performing precise calculations, but they excel at making extremely energy-efficient real time decisions by combining sensory data recorded in noisy environments. I thus propose to take inspiration from the well-studied cricket’s nervous system and to use my experience and skills in resistive memories to develop a new technology that expresses robust cognitive behaviour while interacting with the environment. This cross-disciplinary work will lead to the fabrication of an innovative hardware/software platform with extremely high power efficiency and robust cognitive computing capabilities. This new technology will open new perspectives in dynamically developing areas including service and consumer robotics, implantable medical diagnostic microchips and wearable electronics.

Mots-clés : resistive memory technologies,vacancy type oxide based memories,phase change memory,neuromorphic computing,in memory computing,biomimicry,autonomus learning,analog spiking microprocessors
Projet ERC : COCONUT (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and Processes Engineering
Entité participante : Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : BRGM
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 46500.0 €

The COCONUT project aims at developing predictive capabilities to understand how colloids (nanometals, fine particles, bacteria, viruses, asphaltenes..) control immiscible two-phase flow in complex geological formations. Colloids (including nanoparticles) have an incredible potential to remobilize non-aqueous phases trapped by capillary forces in soils and the subsurface, and then to remediate contaminated groundwater or to enhance oil recovery. Their use in daily engineering, however, is still underexploited because the lack of knowledge regarding their transport mechanisms is an obstacle to precise control of two-phase flow. Importantly, the presence of colloidal particles flowing in the subsurface challenges the standard modeling viewpoint of flow and transport based on Darcy's law. We posit that the precise control of colloids on the motion of two-phase flow can only be achieved by developing a deep knowledge of the coupled hydro-electro-chemical processes at the pore-scale. The COCONUT project uses a combined modelling-experimental strategy focusing on the pore-scale mechanisms and on the upscaling to the continuum-scale. The project is multi-disciplinary and uses computational and experimental sciences, fluid dynamics, electrochemistry, and mathematics. The project will require the development of hydro-electro-chemical computational models at different scales of interest (WP1). We will use high-resolution simulations to interrogate emergent physico-chemical processes and characterize the surface attractive and repulsive forces at the nanoscale (WP2). Then, we will decipher the mechanisms leading to the displacement of fluids trapped in an unsaturated porous medium in the presence of colloids using pore-scale modelling and microfluidic experiments (WP3). Finally, we will demonstrate and optimize the two-phase flow colloidal control in geological systems at the column-scale (WP4).

Mots-clés : porous media pore scale modeling microfluidics colloids hydro electro chemical coupling
Projet ERC : E-VarEndo (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : Hôpital universitaire de la Charité de Berlin — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Charité
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1997969.0 €

The development of obesity in industrial and low-and middle-income countries is leading to a severe burden for patients and health care systems based on associated comorbidities as cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Apart from the genetic background, epigenetic modifications like DNA methylation are supposed to play an important role for body weight regulation. So far, epigenome-wide association studies were not able to elucidate this relationship, as most methylation differences were related to a genetic variant. Therefore, the identification of the POMC (pro-opiomelanocortin) gene, a key factor for hypothalamic body weight regulation, as a metastable epiallele in humans, was of importance to understand how methylation variability affect the individual phenotype. Metastable epialleles are methylome-regions, which are non-genetically determined, stochastically regulated and set in early embryonic development. Furthermore, they are non-tissue specific, stable over time and modified by Carbon-1 metabolites in-utero. However, their role for human diseases remained unclear. Within this application, I want to elucidate and characterize how epigenetic modifications as metastable epialleles modulate human susceptibility and predisposition to metabolic and endocrine diseases and analyse the impact of environmental factors. To achieve this goal, I propose a unique approach using advanced technologies to analyse human postmortem samples and human embryonic stem cells to identify new metastable epialleles in humans and elucidate new mechanisms and relationships between phenotypic variation and methylation variability. The combination of the algorithm to identify methylation variability and the use of stem cell models to functionally characterize epigenetic variants will be a blueprint for the analysis of the epigenetic contribution for other endocrine, neurological or cardiovascular diseases and will generate a powerful resource for researchers worldwide.

Mots-clés : metastable epialleles,obesity,dna methylation variability
Projet ERC : EARLYFATE (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and R egeneration
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 : 1993143.0 €

In mammals, oocyte fertilisation is followed by a dramatic epigenetic and transcriptomic reprograming to prepare the newly formed embryo for subsequent development. Preserving genome integrity is critical at these early stages, when all cells have the potential to contribute to a large proportion of the embryo including the germ line. Despite this work by ourselves and others suggests the ATM kinase driven DNA damage response (DDR) to double strand breaks is dampened in the early embryo. At the same time the ATR kinase mediated DDR appears fully active and may even function in zygotic reprograming, as DNA damage acting through this pathway can reprogram embryonic stem cells to a more totipotent state reminiscent of the early post-fertilisation embryo. Beyond this little is known about DDRs in the early embryo, however we have recently identified a programmed splicing failure that accompanies the transcriptomic reprograming of the embryo and disproportionately disrupts transcripts coding for DDR genes. Furthermore, splicing inhibition has been found to reprogram embryonic stem cells to a more totipotent state and we have found this also inordinately disrupts DDR gene transcripts. These findings raise three fundamental questions: i) Why is a dampened ATM dependent DDR found in early cleavage stage embryos? ii) Does an ATR mediated DDR play a role in embryonic reprograming and totipotency emergence? iii) What is the impact of the programmed splicing failure on embryo development and totipotency, and is it related to DDR regulation?  We will take a multidisciplinary approach to answer these questions using a combination of high-throughput -omics and focused techniques in the early mouse embryo. The knowledge gained will represent a breakthrough in the understanding of early mammalian post-fertilisation development, allowing us to unravel the interaction between the unique cellular processes that occur at this time, genome integrity control and splicing failure.

Mots-clés : dna damage response,zygotic genome activation,pre implantation development,totipotency,alternative splicing
Projet ERC : PhoenixPV (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
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 : 2271091.0 €

PhoenixPV aims to develop a sustainable, reparable photovoltaic system using metal halide perovskites (HaP). Climatic challenges require an urgent abrupt growth of carbon-free energy sources, which will unlikely be sustainable if it is solely based on present photovoltaic systems. Their limited reparability and recyclability threaten a mid-term e-waste problem that will damage the environment and menace their social implementation, restraining overall sustainability. While HaP solar cells have demonstrated performance matching the best commercial counterparts, their stability is compromised due to their ionic and chemically dynamic nature, which also leads to potentially hazardous by-products.  Our approach will use these drawbacks in our favor. The chemically dynamic nature, rooted in a low formation energy and ionic properties, can be used as leverage to design intrinsic self-healing strategies and extrinsic post-synthetic treatments, reversing degradation defects and restoring initial performance. Concurrently, these properties will be used to capture the toxic by-products in case of operational accidents and design material separation methods for efficient and safe end-of-life recycling. PhoenixPV will elucidate the reversible and irreversible reactions using a high-throughput aging characterization system that enables the parallel evaluation of a large number of devices under independently controlled degradation stressors. Beyond conventional efficiency, the system will integrate in-operando characterization techniques such as impedance spectroscopy, to monitor device health and design the necessary healing actions.  While current research aims to slow degradation routes, PhoenixPV seeks to reverse them, extending the effective lifetime of HaP solar cells, reducing associated waste, and establishing a sustainable photovoltaic system. This project holds the key to accelerating HaP commercialization through the design of innovative photovoltaic usage schemes.

Mots-clés : perovskites,photovoltaics,sustainability,healing,high throughput
Projet ERC : SEE (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
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 : 1969375.0 €

Political representation links geography and citizens’ voices. In recent years, citizens have used their voices to channel their grievances about being left behind. Events such as Trump’s election, Brexit, the French Yellow Vests, and the rise of extreme-right across Europe motivated researchers to investigate the causes and consequences of geographic divides in contemporary democracies.  However, most theoretical frameworks examining the interplay between geography and representation are rooted in the political, economic, historical, and sociological experience of the United States. Unlike the U.S., most European democracies employ proportional electoral systems, have strong political parties, stronger redistributive politics, and different urban organizations. Cities are denser, less segregated, and have more public transportation.  The primary motivation for this project is to break new ground by developing a theoretical framework grounded on the institutional, socioeconomic, and historical trajectories of proportional European democracies. I analyze representation at the level it takes place: the electoral district. The complexity of electoral districts in European proportional democracies forces legislators into difficult trade-offs. SEE will (1) map representation inequalities inside electoral districts; (2) understand legislators' choices based on their preferences, biases, and partisan constraints; (3) identify and analyze the implications of legislators’ choices on citizens’ attitudes and reactions to representation; (4) create a theoretical and empirical framework to examine representation in the suburbs.  SEE will use a comparative and integrative multi-method approach to meet its goals with a sequential integration of cross-sectional observational data, elite and mass survey experiments, and focus groups in a diverse set of six European proportional democracies: Austria, Denmark, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.

Mots-clés : representation electoral systems geographic inequality place based politics suburbs
Projet ERC : RELAYMACHINE (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Université d'Oxford — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999004.0 €

This program will develop artificial molecular machines confined within lipid bilayer membranes, to control transmembrane transport and catalysis in cellular systems. Molecular machines are ubiquitous in nature. At the heart of many biological processes are protein machines confined within biological membranes, which drive non-equilibrium transmembrane ion pumping via the consumption of chemical fuels. Biology has evolved to utilise the controlled nanomechanical motion of molecular machines to mediate numerous complex tasks in the cellular environment – a clear indication of the immense technological potential of synthetic systems that work in a comparable way. Despite this fundamental importance, synthetic molecular machines able to facilitate out-of-equilibrium pumping of ions have not been developed. To address this key challenge, this project seeks to develop synthetic analogues of biology’s membrane pumps: artificial molecular machinery that can interface and be manipulated within lipid bilayer membranes.  Its objectives are to develop: • molecular machine ion transport relays, able to pass ions and catalysts across lipid membranes • stimuli-responsive mechanically-interlocked ion and molecular transport shuttles • molecular machine transmembrane pumps, capable of non-equilibrium active transport Besides crucial impact to the rapidly expanding, but to date surprisingly distinct fields of molecular machines and membrane supramolecular chemistry, the results from this project will enhance our understanding of non-equilibrium processes within and across lipid bilayer membranes. We anticipate that the systems developed over the course of the grant will provide the basis for the longer-term development of novel tools for applications in chemical and synthetic biology, such as to regulate the flow of material in and out of artificial cells, and in systems chemistry applications which enable the non-equilibrium manipulation of matter at the nanoscale.

Mots-clés : molecular machines membrane supramolecular chemistry ion transport