Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
EXtra-solar planets and stellar astrophysics: towards the detection of Other Earths (EXOEARTHS)

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: Portugal
Call:  (ERC-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2009-10-01
End date: 2014-12-31
Duration (months): 63.0
Total project cost (EUR): 928090.0
EU funding (EUR): 928090.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The detection of more than 300 extrasolar planets orbiting other solar-like stars opened the window to a new field of astrophysics. Many projects to search for Earth-like planets are currently under way, using a huge battery of telescopes and instruments. New instrumentation is also being developed towards this goal for use in both ground- and space-based based facilities. Since planets come as an output of the star formation process, the study of the stars hosting planets is of great importance. The stellar-planet connection is strengthened by the fact that most of the exoplanets were discovered using a Doppler radial-velocity technique, where the gravitational influence of the planet on the star and not the planet itself is actually measured. This project aims at doing frontier research to explore i) in unique detail the stellar limitations of the radial-velocity technique, as well as ways of reducing them, having in mind the detection of Earth-like planets and ii) to develop and apply software packages aiming at the study of the properties of the planet-host stars, having in mind the full characterization of the newfound planets, as well as understanding planet formation processes. These goals will improve our capacity to detect, study, and characterize new very low mass extra-solar planets. EXOEarths further fits into the fact that I am currently Co-PI of the project for a new high-resolution ultra-stable spectrograph for the VLT. The results of this project are crucial to fully exploit this new instrument. They will be also of extreme importance to current state-of-the-art planet-search projects aiming at the discovery of other Earths, in particular those making use of the radial-velocity method.

Keywords: extra-solar planets stellar astrophysics stellar spectroscopy radial-velocities
African river basins: catchment-scale carbon fluxes and transformations. (AFRIVAL)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Earth system science
Countries involved: Belgium,Belgium
Call:  (ERC-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2009-10-01
End date: 2014-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1745262.0
EU funding (EUR): 1745262.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

This proposal wishes to fundamentally improve our understanding of the role of tropical freshwater ecosystems in carbon (C) cycling on the catchment scale. It uses an unprecedented combination of state-of-the-art proxies such as stable isotope, 14C and biomarker signatures to characterize organic matter, radiogenic isotope signatures to determine particle residence times, as well as field measurements of relevant biogeochemical processes. We focus on tropical systems since there is a striking lack of data on such systems, even though riverine C transport is thought to be disproportionately high in tropical areas. Furthermore, the presence of landscape-scale contrasts in vegetation (in particular, C3 vs. C4 plants) are an important asset in the use of stable isotopes as natural tracers of C cycling processes on this scale. Freshwater ecosystems are an important component in the global C cycle, and the primary link between terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Recent estimates indicate that ~2 Pg C y-1 (Pg=Petagram) enter freshwater systems, i.e., about twice the estimated global terrestrial C sink. More than half of this is thought to be remineralized before it reaches the coastal zone, and for the Amazon basin this has even been suggested to be ~90% of the lateral C inputs. The question how general these patterns are is a matter of debate, and assessing the mechanisms determining the degree of processing versus transport of organic carbon in lakes and river systems is critical to further constrain their role in the global C cycle. This proposal provides an interdisciplinary approach to describe and quantify catchment-scale C transport and cycling in tropical river basins. Besides conceptual and methodological advances, and a significant expansion of our dataset on C processes in such systems, new data gathered in this project are likely to provide exciting and novel hypotheses on the functioning of freshwater systems and their linkage to the terrestrial C budget.

Keywords: aquatic biogeochemistry carbon cycling stable isotope proxies freshwater ecosystems
EXPLORERS Exploring epigenetic robotics: raising intelligence in machines (EXPLORERS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Computer science and informatics
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2009-12-01
End date: 2015-05-31
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1572215.0
EU funding (EUR): 1572215.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In spite of considerable work in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and pattern recognition in the past 50 years, we have no machine capable of adapting to the physical and social environment with the flexibility, robustness and versatility of a 6-months old human child. Instead of trying to simulate directly the adult s intelligence, EXPLORERS proposes to focus on the developmental principles that give rise to intelligence in infants by re-implementing them in machines. Framed in the developmental/epigenetic robotics research agenda, and grounded in research in developmental psychology, its main target is to build robotic machines capable of autonomously learning and re-using a variety of skills and know-how that were not specified at design time, and with initially limited knowledge of the body and of the environment in which it will operate. This implies several fundamental issues: How can a robot discover its body and its relationships with the physical and social environment? How can it learn new skills without the intervention of an engineer? What internal motivations shall guide its exploration of vast spaces of skills? Can it learn through natural social interactions with humans? How to represent the learnt skills and how can they be re-used? EXPLORERS attacks directly those questions by proposing a series of fundamental scientific and technological advances, including computational intrinsic motivation systems for learning basic sensorimotor skills reused for grounded acquisition of the meaning of new words. This project not only addresses fundamental scientific questions, but also relates to important societal issues: personal home robots are bound to become part of everyday life in the 21st century, in particular as helpful social companions in an aging society. EXPLORERS objectives converge to the challenges implied by this vision: robots will have to be able to adapt and learn new skills in the unknown homes of users who are not engineers.

Keywords: developmental robotics,epigenetic robotics,intrinsic motivation,social guidance,social learning,language acquisition,open-ended development,ongoing emergence,autonomous mental development
Water anomalies in the stretched and supercooled regions (WASSR)

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,France
Call:  (ERC-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2009-10-01
End date: 2015-09-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1335400.0
EU funding (EUR): 1335400.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Water is the most abundant liquid on Earth s surface. It is essential for life. Surprisingly, despite extensive studies, many of its properties remain to be explained. The aim of this project is to contribute to the understanding of water, by studying its anomalies in the metastable liquid state. A liquid should transform into vapour at its boiling point, or into a solid at its freezing point. However, it can be observed beyond these limits. It is then in a metastable state, separated from the stable phase by an energy barrier due to surface tension. The short lifetime of the liquid under such extreme conditions renders measurements particularly challenging. Nevertheless, we find them worth to undertake, because they will bring valuable information on its structure. Our proposal is twofold: in the negative pressure range, where the liquid is metastable with respect to the vapour, we will stretch water to a high degree by several methods, and measure the extension of its equation of state. This part is based on our knowledge of different techniques to obtain large negative pressures; we will use optical methods to access the physical properties. in the supercooled range, where the liquid is metastable with respect to the solid, we will develop new viscometers to measure the viscosity of supercooled liquid water under pressure. Our aim is not only to provide the missing viscosity data for supercooled water up to 300 MPa, but also to check its relation with translational and rotational diffusion, which can reveal a change in the liquid structure.

Keywords: water,nucleation,metastable liquid,negative pressure,supercooling,equation of state,viscosity
Past hurricane activity reconstructed using cave deposits: Have humans increased storm risk? (HURRICANE)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Earth system science
Countries involved: United Kingdom,United Kingdom,Switzerland,United States
Call:  (ERC-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2010-01-01
End date: 2015-12-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1387813.82
EU funding (EUR): 1387813.82
Participants: 4
Project status: CLOSED

The proposed research would utilise various geochemical proxies (oxygen, carbon, and trace elements) in cave calcite deposits (stalagmites) to develop extraordinarily high-resolution North Atlantic hurricane activity records for the past five hundred years, extending existing historical datasets by hundreds of years. This new stalagmite record would be the first high resolution record to extend beyond 1850, thus permit more statistically robust comparisons of hurricane activity between pre- and post-anthropogenic greenhouse gas climatic states, and help to constrain any natural cyclicities inherent in North Atlantic hurricane activity. Additionally, the three study sites were chosen to test the hypothesis that variations in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index may influence hurricane track direction. The records will also be used to reconstruct El Nino-Southern Oscillation variability back through time, something that on its own would be an important result. The research would help evaluate the risk of stronger/more frequent future hurricanes associated with global climate change by allowing more rigorous testing of currently conflicting climate models.

Keywords: natural hazards
Mining Graphs and Networks: a Theory-based approach (MIGRANT)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Computer science and informatics
Countries involved: Belgium
Call:  (ERC-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2009-12-01
End date: 2015-05-31
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1716066.0
EU funding (EUR): 1716066.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In this project we aim at formulating enhancing theoretical foundations for the emerging field of graph mining. Graph mining is the field concerned with extracting interesting patterns and knowledge from graph or network structured data, such as can be found in chemistry, bioinformatics, the world wide web, social networks etc. Recent work has shown that many standard data mining techniques can be extended to structured data and can yield interesting results, but also that when applied to complex real-world data, these standard techniques often become computationally intractable. In this project we aim at providing a better understanding of the complexity of the tasks considered in the field of graph mining, and at proposing techniques to better exploit the properties of the data. To this aim, we will bring together insights from the fields of data mining, graph theory, learning theory and different application fields, and add our own original contributions. Key features of the methodology include the ground-breaking integration of insights from graph theory in data mining and learning approaches, the development of efficient prototype algorithms, and the interdisciplinary collaboration with application domain experts to validate the practical value of the work, This potential impact of this project is significant, as it will be the first systematic study of the theory of graph mining, it will provide foundations on which later research can build further and it will have applications in the many domains with complex data.

Keywords: graph mining,complexity,interdisciplinary applications
String Theory, QCD and Black Holes (STRING-QCD-BH)

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-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2010-01-01
End date: 2014-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 652500.0
EU funding (EUR): 652500.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

I intend to use string theory to understand gauge theories in four dimensions, both at strong and weak coupling. This includes describing strongly interacting gauge theories and their metastable vacua using their supergravity and string duals, as well as understanding gauge theories at intermediate coupling via integrability. It also includes using and developing new string-inspired twistor-space techniques to analyze QCD and N=1 amplitudes at one loop level. I also plan to thoroughly investigate the implications of string theory for the physics of black holes. In particular I want to construct and analyze black hole microstates -- smooth horizon-less solutions that are very similar to the black hole asymptotically, but differ from the black hole at the location of the horizon. Counting and understanding these microstates via the AdS-CFT correspondence will establish whether black holes should be thought of as ensembles of such microstate geometries.

Keywords: black holes,quantum gravity,ads-cft,quark-gluon plasma
Precedents for Algal Adaptation to Atmospheric CO2: New indicators for eukaryotic algal response to the last 60 million years of CO2 variation (PACE)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Earth system science
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (ERC-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2009-12-01
End date: 2015-11-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1774875.2
EU funding (EUR): 1774875.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Evolution of marine algae over the last 60 million years has resulted in a fundamental change in the efficiency of biological carbon pump and shift from communities dominated by calcifying algae (like coccolithophorids) to siliceous diatoms and major size class changes among these groups. The inferred shift in atmospheric CO2 over this time period has been suggested as an important selective pressure on some of these responses, including diatom adaptation to lower atmospheric CO2 concentrations via use of the C4 photosynthetic pathway, and trends towards smaller coccolithophorid cell sizes in response to greater C limitation. If current trends continue, future changes in atmospheric CO2 from anthropogenic activities are likely to reach levels last seen in the Eocene by the end of the next century; such changes will also be accompanied by ocean acidification and changes in stratification. Evidence suggests that modern calcifying algae and diatoms may employ a range of carbon acquisition strategies (such as active carbon concentrating mechanisms) according to the pH and carbon speciation of the seawater in which they live. However calcifying populations from 60 million years ago apparently had a single or less diverse array of carbon acquisition strategies. In this project we thus seek to 1) to identify and calibrate novel fossil indicators for adaptation and evolution in carbon acquisition strategies in eukaryotic algae in response to past changes in the carbon cycle and atmospheric CO2, and 2) apply these indicators to establish the nature and timing of changes in carbon acquisition strategies by algae over the past 60 million years.

Keywords: adaptation,coccolithophorids,diatoms
Singlet exciton fission as a route to more efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (SINGFISS)

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: Netherlands
Call:  (ERC-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2009-12-01
End date: 2014-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1199999.99
EU funding (EUR): 1199999.99
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

One of the greatest scientific challenges of the coming decades will be to produce sufficient energy to meet consumption demands, particularly as fossil fuel reserves decline. A leading alternative method of producing energy is the conversion of solar energy to electricity. At present, energy produced by photovoltaic cells is significantly more expensive than that obtained by burning fossil fuels. Therefore, we need to find a method of producing solar cells more cheaply. The prime example of such a cheap solar cell is the dye-sensitized solar cell. However, the efficiency of these cells is currently too low to be commercially interesting. In this project, a process called singlet exciton fission is proposed as a new route to more efficient dye-sensitized solar cells. In this process, a singlet excited state formed by photo-excitation converts into a pair of triplet states by a spin-allowed transition. When both triplet excited states lead to a charge separation event, the theoretical maximum efficiency of dye sensitized solar cells can be increased from 32% to ~46% for a cell combining a singlet fission absorber with a normal dye. This project will have a two-fold benefit: it will be the first major systematic study of the fundamentals of the singlet fission process, and it will explore the use of singlet fission dyes in photovoltaics. Using a variety of disciplines, ranging from organic synthesis to ultrafast spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations, this project will deliver the clearest picture yet of the exciton fission process. In addition, this research will enable the design of specific chromophores possessing optimal triplet fission yield and, by doing so, will open exciting new possibilities for the production of more efficient dye-sensitized solar cells.

Keywords: dye-sensitized solar cell,computational chemistry
Proteomimetic Foldamers: Towards Future Therapeutics and Designer Enzymes (PROTEOFOLD)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2010-02-01
End date: 2015-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 999999.84
EU funding (EUR): 999999.84
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The purpose of this project is to develop a RULE-BASED APPROACH for the design and synthesis of proteomimetics of the alpha-helix and in doing so establish to what extent the structural and functional role of the alpha-helix can be reproduced with non-natural molecules in a PREDICTABLE manner We will focus on developing aromatic oligoamide proteomimetics (compounds that mimic the secondary structure from which they are derived) of one of the dominant secondary structural motifs observed in proteins the alpha-helix. Helices play a key role in mediating many protein-protein interactions, they interact with proteins and contribute residues to the resulting complex that form part of a catalytic site and they operate within the context of an entire protein structure as scaffolding upon which other helices, sheets, turns and coils pack to generate an active 3D structure. We will therefore: (i) develop a general approach for the inhibition of alpha-helix mediated protein-protein interactions, (ii) develop proteomimetics that can bind to an inactive protein and restore catalytic activity (iii) develop proteomimetics that can be covalently incorporated into the primary sequence of a protein without abolishing its function. This will lead to immense opportunities for development of new therapeutics and proteins with new functionality. More significantly, re-engineering nature to the extent of replacing whole segments of protein backbone with non-natural prostheses as proposed here will begin to answer the fundamental question: Is the astonishing structural and functional complexity achieved through precise secondary and tertiary organisation of primary protein structure confined to sequences of alpha-amino acids?

Keywords: chemical biology,protein-protein interactions,foldamers,enzyme re-engineering