Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Unveiling first light from the infant Universe (FIRSTLIGHT)

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: Netherlands
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2010-10-01
End date: 2016-09-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

I request ERC funding to set up a dedicated science team to detect, for the first time, the redshifted 21-cm radio line emission of neutral hydrogen (HI) with LOFAR coming from the first billion years of the age of the Universe (the Epoch of Reionization and the Dark Ages ). The study of this pristine neutral hydrogen gas is a rapidly emerging field of astrophysics, both theoretically and observationally. A number of expert international groups in the US/Australia (MWA), China (21CMA), India (GMRT) and the Netherlands (LOFAR) are contending to be the first to detect this hydrogen gas. My proposed ERC project is high-risk and high-gain; however, all risks are controlled and the scientific rewards of detection of neutral hydrogen at these early times would have a tremendous impact and open a new frontier in astronomy. The study of neutral hydrogen, as in the nearby Universe, will revolutionize our knowledge of astrophysical processes in the first phases of the Universe, just after recombination. The LOFAR Epoch-of-Reionization Key-Science Project (LOFAR EoR-KSP), of which I am a PI, aims to be the first, and if being the first fails, to provide the best detection of this neutral HI gas. Indeed, we are in a very good starting position to reach both goals. Our team has access to the most sensitive telescope available for these studies (LOFAR) and leads a Key Science Project with guaranteed observing time. Our KSP is rapidly ramping up to the observational phase of the project (2010), and now more than ever requires dedicated scientists that together in a small team maximize the scientific return of the project (i.e. detect and study HI). If successful, our research team would be in a position to start leading similar projects with the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). It is crucial that we gear up for the use of that future instrument and retain Europe s position at the forefront of astrophysics and radio astronomy.

Keywords: epoch of reionization
Million-core Molecular Simulation (MEGASIM)

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: Sweden
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2011-05-01
End date: 2017-04-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 899448.0
EU funding (EUR): 899448.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Molecular simulation has become a standard tool for studying the function of biomolecules, such as proteins, nucleic acids and lipids. Due to increasing computer power and decreasing length scales in engineering, molecular simulation is also increasingly used in microfluidics and the study of, for instance, small water droplets. All these applications would benefit strongly from simulations that are several orders of magnitude longer than the current state of art. Although currently Moore's law still holds, the performance of processor cores no longer doubles every 18 months, but rather the number of cores increases. Therefore to improve the performance and to scale to a million cores, each core should do less work. With the classical single-program multiple-data parallelism the communication time will quickly become a bottleneck. To advance the molecular simulation field and efficiently use upcoming million core computers, a switch to multiple-program multiple-data parallelism (MPMD) is required. Domain decomposition should be applied over the nodes, whereas within a node MPMD parallelism should be used. This requires workloads being divided and dispatched efficiently to different threads. To hide the communication times, calculation should be overlapped with communication. Because simulation time steps will soon take in the order of 100 microseconds, global communication will become a bottleneck. However,global communication is required for, among other things, full electrostatics algorithms. Thus new algorithms need to be derived to ensure parallel scaling. Only with such efforts we will be able to fully utilize the potential of upcoming hardware to solve current and future scientific problems.

Keywords: molecular simulation
Patterning the surface of monolayer-protected nanoparticles to obtain intelligent nanodevices (MOSAIC)

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: Italy
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2010-12-01
End date: 2015-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

While chemical science is still striving in the search for such molecular machinery, real and perfectly working molecular machines have been developed millions of years ago by Nature. When biological systems are considered, one striking feature that emerges is their intrinsic functional simplicity, since only a few building blocks are used to build complex structures. Apparently, what matters is not chemical complexity but the ability to precisely control the spatial arrangement and organization. Functional nanoparticles offer an unmatched opportunity to build complex structures with simple building blocks and relatively simple manipulations. The main goal of the Mosaic project is to gain the ability to hierarchically control the self-assembling of metal nanoparticles coating monolayers and take advantage from such ability to obtain complex function from the materials realized. This objective will require reaching a complete understanding of the structure and dynamic of nanoparticles coating monolayers developing new tools, mainly based on NMR spectroscopy, for their investigation. Then, we plan to learn how to use supramolecular interactions to control the monolayer organization and to gain, in this way, the ability to program functional groups patterns on the surface of the particles. In this way, it will possible to achieve a degree of organization comparable to that of biologic systems, such as enzymes or membranes. This organization of functional groups will be then used to obtain highly sophisticated function by these nanosystems, such as recognition, sensing, in particular NIR sensing, catalysis and transport.

Keywords: self-assembling,molecular devices,patterning,recognition,sensing
The Low Energy Limit of String Theory and the Observable World (OBSERVABLESTRING)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Fundamental constituents of matter
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2011-02-01
End date: 2016-09-30
Duration (months): 68.0
Total project cost (EUR): 945000.0
EU funding (EUR): 945000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The long-standing challenge of string theory, confronting the real world, has become more pressing and at the same time tangible in view of the upcoming LHC. Since the low energy limit of the theory is the main stage where predictions can be compared with experimental data, the goal of this project is to develop a new unified framework to formulate, compute and analyze this limit and its phenomenology. Understanding the low energy limit of string theory at the level where it can be confronted with precision experiments requires two key elements. On one hand one must obtain the full low energy Lagrangians resulting from compactifications from ten to four dimensions. On the other hand, one must analyze the couplings of quarks and leptons, represented by open strings attached to branes. Attempts to construct four-dimensional effective theories have focused in the past on a particular class of six-dimensional spaces, but my work in the last few years has shown that realistic solutions arise from manifolds whose differential properties are actually much weaker and that these compactifications have an elegant reformulation in terms of a generalized version of Riemannian geometry. I plan to use the formalism of generalized geometry to obtain the full tree level, perturbative and non-perturbative corrections to the 4D LEEL resulting from compactifications on these manifolds, and to study their phenomenology. Obtaining the full LEEL is the key step towards understanding if the world as we see it today comes from a string theory compactification: only full knowledge of the Lagrangian allows us to determine in detail how these manifolds lead to theories having 4D isolated vacua with a tiny positive cosmological constant, and support branes whose gauge theory spectrum and couplings are those of the Standard Model. Furthermore, the LEEL will be compared with the data of tomorrow: masses and couplings of supersymmetric partners, if supersymmetry is found at the LHC.

Keywords: string theory,string phenomenology,flux compactifications,low energy effective actions,quantum corrections,string model building,generalized complex geometry
Supramolecular Cell Manipulation (SUMOMAN)

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: Netherlands
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2010-11-01
End date: 2015-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Supramolecular chemistry and nanofabrication methods provide excellent prospect to construct reversible dynamic biological nanoplatforms employed for supramolecular cell manipulation (SUMOMAN) experiments. Making use of supramolecular chemistry is a rewarding task in developing functional materials and devices. Knowing the limitations involved in ordering proteins at different length scales will surely hasten the development of future applications, supramolecular nanobiology being the most prominent. The construction of synthetic supramolecular assemblies of proteins provides an excellent tool to fabricate organized bioactive components in the sub-micron regime at surfaces. Supramolecular nanobiology narrows the gap between chemical biology and bionanotechnology. The latter devises ways to construct molecular devices using biomacromolecules and it attempts to build molecular machines utilizing concepts seen in nature. In chemical biology new synthesis methods and strategies are developed and employed for the synthesis of compounds which are used as probes for the study of biological phenomena. Steadily improved synthetic procedures for site-specific modification of proteins have gained more control over structure and function of the proteins. However, applications of protein chips remain hampered by orientational and conformational aspects at the surface. With the development of supramolecular bioactive nano-platforms on surfaces serving as a reversible dynamic interface to cells, the goal to study and manipulate cellular processes will come closer. An innovative construction process of biological nanoarrays is proposed to study important fundamental aspects of cell biology. When such structured surfaces display a biological interface with nm resolution, a lengthscale inherently more relevant to biorecognition than microlengthscales, the communication through biomolecules with cellular receptors can be modulated with unprecedented spatial and temporal specificity.

Keywords: protein immobilization,patterning,interface
Isogeometric Methods for Biomechanics (ISOBIO)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Products and process engineering
Countries involved: Italy
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2010-11-01
End date: 2015-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1195200.0
EU funding (EUR): 1195200.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Computational Mechanics and the numerical analysis of the structural behavior are becoming a more and more fundamental tool for the engineering design process in many different fields. This is particularly true in Biomechanics, nowadays widely recognized as a fundamental research field, where reliable analyses of structures and fluids (and of their interactions) are often needed on complex geometries described by tools of Computational Geometry. Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) is a recent (2005) idea proposed to bridge the gap between Computational Mechanics and Computer Aided Design (CAD). The key feature of IGA is to extend the Finite Element Method (FEM) representing geometry by functions, such as Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS), which are used by CAD systems, and then invoking the isoparametric concept to define field variables. Thus, the computational domain exactly reproduces the CAD description of the physical domain. Moreover, numerical testing in different situations shows that IGA holds great promises, with a substantial increase in the accuracy-to-computational-effort ratio with respect to standard FEM, also thanks to the high regularity properties of the employed functions. The fact that IGA is very accurate and with a great potential for better integrating analysis with geometry makes it particularly suitable for the simulation of Biomechanics systems, where the approximation of complicate morphologies is a key issue to go along with the reliability of the numerical results. Therefore, the objective of ISOBIO is to construct an analysis tool, based on the peculiar features of IGA, to perform simulations of complex biomechanical systems (such as arteries, stents, aortic valves, etc.) which can be successfully used for biomedical device design as well as in clinical decision process.

Keywords: isogeometric analysis,computational mechanics,computer aided design,non-uniform rational b-splines,finite element methods,structural mechanics,biomechanics,arteries,stents,aortic valves.
Gravitational Lensing as a Cosmological Probe (GLENCO)

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: Italy
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2011-03-01
End date: 2016-02-29
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

I propose to develop new observational probes of cosmology based on gravitational lensing. The project consists of three themes: 1) Computer tools will be developed for detecting and measuring small-scale structures in the distribution of dark matter using strong gravitational lenses. This will resolve one of the few persistent conflicts between observations and the predictions of the Cold Dark Matter (CDM) model. The tools will enable the scientific community to take full advantage of present imaging data and future data coming from missions like the proposed EUCLID satellite. 2) There are several proposed and ongoing surveys designed to measure the weak gravitational lensing of galaxies across large regions of the sky and to measure the redshifts of hundreds of millions of galaxies. To maximize the use of this data I propose a joint analysis of redshift and lensing surveys that will increase the sensitivity to the expansion history of the Universe and separate two observational consequences of dark energy which are otherwise degenerate in weak lensing data alone. This would enable us to verify whether general relativity is valid on cosmological scales. 3) The feasibility of studying cosmology using future radio observations of the 21 cm radiation coming from early epochs of the Universe will be investigated. My work has shown that the gravitational lensing of this radiation could provide powerful constraints on the density of the Universe, dark energy's equation of state, and the masses of neutrinos. It should also be possible to actually map the distribution of dark matter across large sections of sky with high fidelity. My goal is to treat the observational noise and systematics realistically and determine what impact telescope design and survey strategy have on the scientific output.

Keywords: gravitational lensing
Multiphysics models and simulations for reacting and plasma flows applied to the space exploration program (AEROSPACEPHYS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Products and process engineering
Countries involved: Belgium
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2010-09-01
End date: 2015-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1494892.24
EU funding (EUR): 1494892.24
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Space exploration is one of boldest and most exciting endeavors that humanity has undertaken, and it holds enormous promise for the future. Our next challenges for the spatial conquest include bringing back samples to Earth by means of robotic missions and continuing the manned exploration program, which aims at sending human beings to Mars and bring them home safely. Inaccurate prediction of the heat-flux to the surface of the spacecraft heat shield can be fatal for the crew or the success of a robotic mission. This quantity is estimated during the design phase. An accurate prediction is a particularly complex task, regarding modelling of the following phenomena that are potential “mission killers:” 1) Radiation of the plasma in the shock layer, 2) Complex surface chemistry on the thermal protection material, 3) Flow transition from laminar to turbulent. Our poor understanding of the coupled mechanisms of radiation, ablation, and transition leads to the difficulties in flux prediction. To avoid failure and ensure safety of the astronauts and payload, engineers resort to “safety factors” to determine the thickness of the heat shield, at the expense of the mass of embarked payload. Thinking out of the box and basic research are thus necessary for advancements of the models that will better define the environment and requirements for the design and safe operation of tomorrow’s space vehicles and planetary probes for the manned space exploration. The three basic ingredients for predictive science are: 1) Physico-chemical models, 2) Computational methods, 3) Experimental data. We propose to follow a complementary approach for prediction. The proposed research aims at: “Integrating new advanced physico-chemical models and computational methods, based on a multidisciplinary approach developed together with physicists, chemists, and applied mathematicians, to create a top-notch multiphysics and multiscale numerical platform for simulations of planetary atmosphere entries, crucial to the new challenges of the manned space exploration program. Experimental data will also be used for validation, following state-of-the-art uncertainty quantification methods.”

Keywords: atmospheric entry,multiphysics coupling,multiscale models,multidisciplinary approach,kinetic theory,thermo-chemical nonequilibrium,transport phenomena,uncertainty quantification,cfd,dsmc
New Concepts for Utilizing a Ubiquitous (Non-)Functional Group - C-H Bond Activation for Increased Efficiency in Organic Synthesis (C-H ACTIVATION)

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: Germany
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2010-12-01
End date: 2015-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499400.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499400.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

C-H activations and related reactions can potentially revolutionize the way organic molecules are made and allow a more efficient use of earth's natural resources. Despite the rapid progress of the last couple of years, many problems like limited scope, extreme reaction conditions (temperature, excess of reagents) or low reactivities and selectivities remain in many cases. In this comprehensive proposal containing a number of projects and work packages, we want to develope new C-H activation methods 1) for the efficient synthesis of heterocycles, 2) for the activation of unactivated C(sp3)-H bonds, 3) by employing newly designed Fe-NHC complexes and 4) demonstrating the application of C-H activation for the functionalization of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). The realization of these goals would render organic synthesis greener and more efficient and would have an impact on the preparation of compounds in academia and industry.

Keywords: c-h bond activation,green chemistry,heterocycles,oxidation,metal-organic frameworks,unactivated c(sp3)-h bond activation
Spin dynamics and transport at the quantum edge in low dimensional nanomaterials (SYLO)

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: Hungary
Call:  (ERC-2010-StG_20091028, 2010)
Start date: 2010-11-01
End date: 2015-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1230000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1230000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Sustainable development in information technology calls for an ever increasing information processing and storage capability. A promising route to maintain exponential growth capability, i.e. to keep on the Moore's roadmap, is to turn to the electron spins as information carriers rather than their charge. This field, spintronics, has enormous potential whose exploitation requires solid knowledge in the fundamentals of spin dynamics and spin transport. Herein, novel nanomaterials are suggested for spintronics purposes, such as graphene and single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). These, fundamental two- and one-dimensional carbon allotropes are promising candidates for such purposes, carbon being a light element with a low spin-orbit coupling which results in a long spin coherence. There are several fundamental open issues, e.g. the dominant spin orbit coupling mechanism in graphene, whether bulk electron spin resonance can be observed for this material, and the length of the spin diffusion length. For SWCNTs, the ground state of isolated metallic tubes is known to be the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (TLL), which greatly limit the spin coherence, but it is at present open whether this state is destroyed when an ensemble of interacting metallic tubes is studied. The decay time and spin symmetry of optical excitations (excitons) in semiconducting SWCNTs is yet unknown. Our goal is to pursue electron spin resonance in graphene and carbon nanotubes and to perform optically detected magnetic resonance in carbon nanotubes. We will commission a magnetoptical spectrometer with a substantial added value. The expected results are characterization of spin transport capabilities of these materials and understanding of the spin decoherence mechanisms. The PI leads magnetic resonance studies of these materials, shown by his more than 300 citations to this field (the total being over 470) and his 15 Physical Review Letters papers in this field (of which for 9 he is main Author).

Keywords: graphene,single-wall carbon nanotubes,spin relaxation time measurement,optically and electrically detected magnetic resonance