Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
New Strategies for Controlling Polymer Sequences (SEQUENCES)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Materials and Synthesis
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2010-11-01
End date: 2014-10-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1200000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1200000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Sequence-controlled polymerizations play a key role in Nature. Although formed from a rather modest library of monomers, sequence-defined macromolecules such as proteins or nucleic acids are largely responsible for the complexity and diversity of the biological world. By analogy, one may predict that synthetic sequence-defined polymers could play an important role in modern applied materials science. Paradoxically, very little effort has been spent within the last decades for developing sequence-specific polymerization methods. In this scientific context, the target of the present proposal is to develop new approaches for controlling macromolecular sequences. In particular, new possibilities for controlling comonomer sequences in standard synthetic processes such as chain-growth polymerizations (e.g. controlled radical polymerization) and step-growth polymerizations will be investigated. The strategies for controlling sequences will be principally chemical (e.g. controlled monomer insertion, organocatalysis, sequential monomer additions) but physical (e.g. confinement, transient monomer complexation) and eventually biochemical (e.g. biocatalysis) routes will be also considered. The essence of this project is indeed highly fundamental. Indeed, the control over polymer sequences remains one of the last holy grails in polymer science. Nevertheless, on a longer term, this research may be also extremely relevant for applications. Indeed, sequence-controlled polymers are most likely the key towards new generations of functional sub-nanometric materials.

Keywords: polymer synthesis,sequence-ordered polymers,macromolecular engineering,primary structures,chain-growth polymerizations,step-growth polymerizations,periodic polymerizations.
Understanding and Exploiting Biological Catalysts for Energy Cycling: Development of Infrared Spectroelectrochemistry for Studying Intermediates in Metalloenzyme Catalysis (ENERGYBIOCATALYSIS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Physical and Analytical Chemical sciences
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2011-02-01
End date: 2016-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1373322.0
EU funding (EUR): 1373322.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Advanced catalysts for energy cycling will be essential to a future sustainable energy economy. Interconversion of water and hydrogen allows solar and other green electricity to be stored in transportable form as H2 - a fuel for electricity generation on demand. Precious metals (Pt) are the best catalysts currently available for H2 oxidation in fuel cells. In contrast, readily available Ni/Fe form the catalytic centres of robust enzymes used by micro-organisms to oxidise or produce H2 selectively, at rates rivalling platinum. Metalloenzymes also efficiently catalyse redox reactions of the nitrogen and carbon cycles. Electrochemistry of enzyme films on a graphite electrode provides a direct route to studying and exploiting biocatalysis, for example a fuel cell that produces electricity from dilute H2 in air using an electrode modified with hydrogenase. Understanding structures and complex chemistry of enzyme active sites is now an important challenge that underpins exploitation of enzymes and design of future catalysts. This project develops sensitive IR methods for metalloenzymes on conducting surfaces or particles. Ligands with strong InfraRed vibrational signatures (CO, CN-) are exploited as probes of active site chemistry for hydrogenases and carbon-cycling enzymes. The proposal unites physical techniques (surface vibrational spectroscopy, electrochemistry), microbiology (mutagenesis, microbial energy cycling), inorganic chemistry (reactions at unusual organometallic centres) and technology development (energy-catalysis) in addressing enzyme chemistry. Understanding the basis for the extreme catalytic selectivity of enzymes will contribute to knowledge of biological energy cycling and provide inspiration for new catalysts.

Keywords: bioinorganic chemistry,energy,enzyme,hydrogen
Quantum Degeneracy at Hand (HANDY-Q)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Condensed matter physics
Countries involved: France,Germany
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2010-11-01
End date: 2015-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1488307.0
EU funding (EUR): 1488307.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Microcavity polaritons are half-light, half-matter composite bosons, which are formed in monolithic semiconductor microcavities of the proper design. Recently, Bose-Einstein condensation of polaritons has been reported, that constitutes a new class of quantum fluid out of equilibrium. Unlike cold atoms, superfluid Helium or superconductors, polaritons are in a driven-dissipative situation, and their mass amounts only to a negligible fraction of an electrons’. This unusual situation has already revealed very interesting phenomena. Moreover, every observables of the polariton fluid, including momentum, energy spectrum and coherence properties are directly accessed via optical spectroscopy experiments. In this project, we will fabricate and investigate new wide band-gap semiconductor nanostructures both capable of taking unprecedented control over the polariton environment, and capable of sustaining very hot and very dense quantum degenerate polariton fluids. Various confinement configurations - two, one and zero-dimensional -will be realized as well as advanced nanostructures based on traps and tunnel barriers. In these peculiar situations, the quantum degenerate polariton fluid will display a new and rich phenomenology. Hence, many premieres will be achieved like room temperature 1D quantum degeneracy, 1D quasi-condensate in solid-state systems, Josephson oscillations of polariton superfluids, and the fascinating Tonks-Girardeau state where strongly interacting bosons are expected to behave like fermions.

Keywords: polaritons,microcavity,nanowire,ii-vi semiconductors
Semiconducting and Metallic nanosheets: Two dimensional electronic and mechanical materials (SEMANTICS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Physical and Analytical Chemical sciences
Countries involved: Ireland
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2010-10-01
End date: 2016-09-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1405632.6
EU funding (EUR): 1405632.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

We will develop simple, scalable methods to exfoliate layered compounds into monolayer nanosheets. These materials have exciting properties. Recently, graphene has taken the nanomaterials community by storm. However graphene is only one branch of a family of two dimensional layered compounds. Other examples include hexagonal BN, metal dichalcoginides such as MoS2 and metal oxides such as MnO2. We propose that all layered compounds can be exfoliated in certain solvents by the addition of ultrasonic energy. Such a method has not been demonstrated because the vast majority of solvents are unsuitable for this. We propose that suitable solvents can be identified by matching their surface energy to that of the nano crystal, rendering the exfoliation process energy neutral. This will open the gate to a wide range of nano-materials science and makes possible experiments that have been impossible using standard techniques. We will pick a set of layered compounds such as the semiconductors; hexagonal BN, MoS2 and TaO3 and the metals TaS2 and MnO2. We will learn to exfoliate these materials, studying the physics and chemistry of the solvent-nanosheet interaction. Once we can generate large volumes of highly exfoliated few-layer nanosheets at high concentration, we will study the physics of these materials. We will prepare free standing films of restacked sheets and polymer-sheet composites for mechanical applications. Thin films can also be studied as transparent conductors and capacitor dielectrics. Hybrid films can be used to devices such as photodetectors. Much more challenging will be the production of large quantities of monolayer nanosheets. We will learn to deposit nanosheets on substrates and measure their thickness and size with AFM. Semiconducting monolayers will be characterised by photoluminescence spectroscopy leading to a spectroscopic metric for monolayer population. By optimising the link between exfoliation procedure and monolayer population, we will develop methods to produce monolayer enriched samples. This will pave the way to nanostructured devices such as light emitting diodes.

Keywords: exfoliation,suspension,electrical properties,mechanical properties
STING - A Soft Tissue Intervention and Neurosurgical Probe (STING)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: ERC Starting Grant Interdisciplinary Panel
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2011-01-01
End date: 2016-06-30
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499353.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499353.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Current trends in surgical intervention favour a minimally invasive (MI) approach, in which complex procedures are performed through increasingly small incisions. Significant technological advancements have been made in the area of endoluminal surgery, where natural orifices and accessible vessels are used to direct MI instruments to the target (e.g. endoscopes and endovascular catheters). In contrast, progress on the development of percutaneous instruments has been slow and new approaches need to be explored. Steerable needles and probes able to follow complex trajectories through soft tissue would have a significant impact on the effectiveness and safety of conventional MI procedures and especially on the development of new treatments which will follow on from advancements in medical imaging, tissue engineering and genetics. This project aims to deliver a biologically-inspired system for MI surgery, capable of automatically steering towards and targeting specific soft tissue areas deep within the body. A total system suitable for clinical application will be investigated, but taken only to final prototype stage through laboratory trials. The system will be applicable to a range of soft tissue applications (e.g. brachytherapy, drug delivery, etc.), but key demonstrators will be in the areas of liver and neurosurgery. Every aspect of the system will be modelled, including the complex interaction between the probe and the surrounding soft tissue, with an aim to optimise the design for the two demonstrators and to develop a comprehensive research platform to aid future application-specific research on the bio-inspired design. As an adjunct to this work, which will broaden the range of viable future applications to the area of interventional imaging, MRI-compatibility will be addressed at every stage of the project to ensure that the overall system can operate in proximity of the scanner, while the probe will be suitable for operation from within the bore itself.

Keywords: medical robotics,minimally invesive surgery,needle steering
Experiential Living Lab for the Internet Of Things (ELLIOT)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Destination: Pervasive and Trustworthy network and service infrastructures
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: United Kingdom,United Kingdom,Germany,France,Italy,United Kingdom,France,France,Bulgaria,Slovakia,Hungary
Call:  (FP7-ICT-2009-5, 2009)
Start date: 2010-09-01
End date: 2013-06-30
Duration (months): 34.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4070988.0
EU funding (EUR): 2888929.0
Participants: 15
Project status: CLOSED

The ELLIOT project aims to develop an Internet Of Things (IOT) experiential platform where users/citizens are directly involved in co-creating, exploring and experimenting new ideas, concepts and technological artefacts related to IOT applications and services. ELLIOT will allow studying the potential impact of IOT and the Future Internet in the context of the Open User Centred Innovation paradigm and of the Living Lab approach. Our research programme is built upon four main activities:  Study and develop a set of KSB (Knowledge-Social-Business) Experience Models integrating social, intellectual-cognitive, economical, legal and ethical aspects related to the use of IOT technologies and services into a single, holistic meta model.  Design and develop an Experiential Platform where the KSB Experience Models will be implemented to explore socially enabled ICT/IOT, including its validation as well as the corresponding impact evaluation. This experiential platform will operate as a knowledge and experience gathering environment in the IOT context.  Explore the potential of user co-creation techniques and tools, such as serious gaming, participative requirements engineering and verification/validation, in the context of IOT.  Experiment within three Living Labs, each composed of a physical space artefact, a information space architecture and a societal space community. Various scenarios will be concurrently defined in three different sectors, namely Logistics, Wellbeing and Environment. They will allow exploring and validating the KSB Experience Model, the Experiential Platform as well as the co-creation techniques and tools in the context of IOT technologies and services. The project is expected to dramatically increase the adoption of IOT and to enhance the potential of collaborative innovation for the discovery of innovative IOT application/service opportunities in bridging the technological distance with users/citizens.

Keywords: internet of things,living labs,user centred design,experiential platform
Integrating Platform for Advanced Smart Textile Applications (PASTA)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Destination: Components, systems, engineering
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Belgium,France,Germany,Germany,Switzerland,France,France,France,Sweden,France,Austria,Germany,Belgium
Call:  (FP7-ICT-2009-5, 2009)
Start date: 2010-10-01
End date: 2015-03-31
Duration (months): 54.0
Total project cost (EUR): 8752206.0
EU funding (EUR): 6500000.0
Participants: 16
Project status: CLOSED

The PASTA project will combine electronic packaging research and textile research to realize an innovative approach of smart textile. By introducing new concepts for electronic packaging and module interconnect, a seamless, more comfortable and more robust integration of electronics in textile will be possible. The main technological developments concentrate on a new concept for bare die integration into a yarn (by means of micromachining), a new interconnect technology based on mechanical crimping and the development of a stretchable interposer serving as a stress relief interface between the rigid component and the elastic fabric. Integration into the yarn will be used for small components and modules (&lt; 1 mm), so that they can be fully integrated and encapsulated and further used in weaving. Larger modules for crimp contacts and with stretchable interposers are mounted on top of fabric substrates. Mechanical simulations will support these technological developments. A dedicated work package on fabric technologies will focus on fabric modifications for accommodating the new electronic packages : conductive yarns and textile-based sensors will be integrated into the basic fabric. And finally, dedicated equipment and manufacturing platforms will be developed for smart textile fabrication with the PASTA technologies. The technologies will be assessed in a functional evaluation and reliability testing program. The proposed solutions for integration of electronics in textile cover a whole range of components, from ultra small LEDs to complex multichip modules. A system design task will tackle the power distribution and system partitioning aspects. This assures that a complete solution is available for integration of a distributed sensor/actuator system in fabric. The concept for the new electronics integration technology will be shown in 4 different demonstrators in the area of technical textiles, sports and leisure wear, home textiles and bed linen.

Keywords: electronic packaging,smart textile,manufacturing
Eclipsing binary stars as cutting edge laboratories for astrophysics of stellar structure, stellar evolution and planet formation (BLAST)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Universe sciences
Countries involved: Poland
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2010-12-01
End date: 2016-11-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Spectroscopic binary stars (SB2s) and in particular spectroscopic eclipsing binaries are one of the most useful objects in astrophysics. Their photometric and spectroscopic observations allow one to determine basic parameters of stars and carry out a wide range of tests of stellar structure, evolution and dynamics. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, they can also contribute to our understanding of the formation and evolution of (extrasolar) planets. We will study eclipsing binary stars by combining the classic - stellar astronomy - and the modern - extrasolar planets - subjects into a cutting edge project. We propose to search for and subsequently characterize circumbinary planets around ~350 eclipsing SB2s using our own novel cutting edge radial velocity technique for binary stars and a modern version of the photometry based eclipse timing of eclipsing binary stars employing 0.5-m robotic telescopes. We will also derive basic parameters of up to ~700 stars (~350 binaries) with an unprecedented precision. In particular for about 50% of our sample we expect to deliver masses of the components with an accuracy ~10-100 times better than the current state of the art. Our project will provide unique constraints for the theories of planet formation and evolution and an unprecedented in quality set of the basic parameters of stars to test the theories of the stellar structure and evolution.

Keywords: extrasolar planets,spectroscopic binaries,stellar structure and evolution,radial velocities,eclipse timing
The protein thermostability: same activity, different working temperature. A water problem? A rigidity/flexibility trade-off? (THERMOS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Physical and Analytical Chemical sciences
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2011-05-01
End date: 2016-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1224999.6
EU funding (EUR): 1224999.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The proteins from thermophilic organisms are the objects of the present study. Here it is specifically proposed a study on the microscopic origin of proteins thermostability using a multi-computational approach. The multi-methodological strategy is a powerful tool for exploring this issue since it allows an investigation at many different levels of molecular details. Neutron Scattering experiments will complement the in silico investigation. The present study will tackle the issue of thermostability under a new light by explicitly focusing on the role of hydration water and by carefully selecting homologues proteins from mesophilic, thermophilic and hyperthermophilic organisms as cases of study. I will investigate how the chemical composition of a protein surface, the distribution of charged, polar and hydrophobic amino acids, could be tuned in order to increase/reduce thermal resistance of the hydration layer and of the protein matrix. I will examine whether thermostability correlates to the flexibility or the rigidity of the protein matrix and/or of its hydration skin. I will study in details how the catalytic activity of enzymes is affected by the dynamics of the protein at extreme temperatures. The theoretical study will be supported by Neutron Scattering experiments gaining key knowledge on the structure and dynamics of hydration water and on the dynamics of proteins in the nanosecond time scale. Nowadays the possibility to design functional thermostable proteins is strategic for expanding the use of enzymes in industrial processes and in biotechnology. The study of the coupling between hydration water and protein surface could pave the way for the computer-aided engineering of thermostable proteins.

Keywords: protein thermostability,protein hydration,protein flexibility,computer simulation
Ultrasound-based techniques for soft jammed materials (USOFT)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Condensed matter physics
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2010-12-01
End date: 2015-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1305378.0
EU funding (EUR): 1305378.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Soft materials are involved in most parts of our everyday life. In spite of a tremendous industrial importance, their properties still confront the physicists with challenging questions. Indeed, the constituents of soft materials are often stuck into a disordered structure, as for oil droplets in a concentrated emulsion like mayonnaise and for attractive particles in a colloidal gel. This phenomenon is known as "jamming" and leads to solid-like properties at rest that slowly evolve in time as the system "ages" under spontaneous rearrangements. When a jammed material is submitted to some external stress, a "yielding" transition from solid to liquid behaviour is commonly observed. Besides the fundamental issues raised by such out-of-equilibrium, glassy features, the design of soft materials that can strongly respond to a well-controlled excitation is of great interest for practical applications. This project aims at developing original tools for both physical investigation and design of soft jammed materials, based on the use of ultrasound. We will first set up ultrafast ultrasonic imaging techniques in the single and multiple scattering regimes in an attempt to overcome some limitations of current optical methods and to elucidate jamming, aging and yielding processes in a wide variety of model and real materials. High-intensity ultrasound will then be used to mechanically stress jammed materials and trigger local rearrangements or even large-scale structuration, leading to new insights into the physics of jamming and to innovations in the field of material design.

Keywords: soft matter,jamming,aging,yielding,ultrasound,material design