Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Arctic greenhouse gas sinks: exploring coldspots of methane and nitrous oxide in the permafrost domain (COLDSPOT)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Earth System Science
Panel description: Physical geography, geo logy, geophysics, atmospheric sciences, oceanography, climatology, cryology, ecology, global environmental change, biogeochemical cycles, natural resources management
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2024-STG, 2024)
Start date: 2025-02-01
End date: 2030-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2142881.0
EU funding (EUR): 2142881.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

The release of greenhouse gases from the terrestrial biosphere is of global importance. The Arctic is a net source of the greenhouse gases methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), and a biogeochemically important ecosystem due to immense soil carbon and nitrogen pools and above-average warming. An observation-bias in Arctic greenhouse gas reporting towards high-emitting ‘hotspot’ sites is evident. In contrast, uptake of CH4 and N2O by Arctic soils, leading to greenhouse gas removal from the atmosphere, could partially compensate for carbon and nitrogen losses and completely redefine our baseline understanding of Arctic and global greenhouse gas budgets. No consideration has been given to understanding natural CH4 and N2O sinks in the Arctic, and the complex biogeochemical mechanisms governing these ‘coldspots’. I aim to show that Arctic greenhouse gas uptake matters, and that, contrary to traditional beliefs, intricate temporal uptake patterns exist and are driven by plant and microbial functioning. COLDSPOT will fulfil the scientific need to know when, where, and why Arctic soils act as a sink for CH4 and N2O, and will identify novel mechanisms underlying Arctic greenhouse gas uptake. High-resolution, laser-based measurements of soil CH4 and N2O uptake at field sites in Canada, Greenland, and Finland will be combined with machine learning tools and in-depth studies of environmental drivers in sophisticated experimental manipulations. COLDSPOT applies a multi-scale approach combining field-based measurements of multiple gas species with climate simulation experiments in state-of-the-art climate chambers in the laboratory, and investigations ranging from the microbial scale, via soil and plant processes to ecosystem-scale models. COLDSPOT will generate new process-understanding, fundamentally transform our perception of the magnitude and functioning of greenhouse gas sinks in the Arctic, and provide breakthrough insights for Arctic and global greenhouse gas research.

Keywords: arctic tundra,terrestrial biogeochemistry,soil incubations,permafrost soils,greenhouse gas fluxes,chamber measurements,methane,nitrogen cycle
Rain and cloud Organization in the Trades using ObseRvations and models (ROTOR)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Earth System Science
Panel description: Physical geography, geo logy, geophysics, atmospheric sciences, oceanography, climatology, cryology, ecology, global environmental change, biogeochemical cycles, natural resources management
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2023-STG, 2023)
Start date: 2024-07-01
End date: 2029-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499768.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499768.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Our climate fundamentally depends on the abundance and behaviour of its smallest clouds: shallow trade cumulus clouds. Their response to climate change is a major uncertainty in climate projections, with the most pressing but least understood question being: What is the role of mesoscale convective organization in trade cumulus feedbacks? Rain affects convective organization through its re-evaporation, which triggers downdrafts and cold pools. Cold pools can create large ‘cloud holes’ surrounded by cloud arcs. But how the size and lifetime of cold pools link to the initial rain evaporation and downdrafts, and how they influence cloud cover and thus the radiative budget is unclear. Critical reasons for these knowledge gaps are a lack of rain process observations and the fascinating range of scales involved. ROTOЯ is driven by the opportunity for ground-breaking advances in observing, simulating, and understanding organized precipitating shallow convection to elucidate the role of rain and cold pools for climate. My goal is to answer three questions: (i) What is the impact of evaporation, downdrafts, and cold pools on the trade-wind layer equilibrium state? (ii) Under what conditions do cold pools organize or disorganize shallow convection? (iii) Do cold pools increase or decrease total cloud cover in the trades? To answer these questions, I will create a unique multi-year dataset of rain evaporation, downdrafts and cold pools by applying new remote sensing retrieval techniques to existing trade cumulus observations. Combined with cutting-edge numerical simulations using super-droplet microphysics, the project promises to fundamentally improve our understanding of how organized shallow clouds may change with warming and the implications this has for the hydrological cycle. ROTOЯ is a unique opportunity for me to focus my broad expertise in observing and modeling clouds to answer three critical questions of tropical meteorology and climate science.

Keywords: trade cumulus clouds,rain,convective organization,remote sensing,field campaign data,numerical simulations,microphysics,large eddy simulation
Debris EXtraction Tools for Extra-terrestrial Recycling (DEXTER)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Pathfinder
Destination: Challenges
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: United Kingdom,Spain,Estonia,Sweden
Call: Strengthening the sustainability and resilience of EU space infrastructure (HORIZON-EIC-2024-PATHFINDERCHALLENGES-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-10-01
End date: 2029-09-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 5004832.66
EU funding (EUR): 3999187.12
Participants: 6
Project status: SIGNED

In-Space Recycling and Reuse of Orbital Assets (ISRROA) is the most financially and ecologically sustainable solution to the problem of orbital debris. The DEXTER (Debris EXtraction Tools for Extraterrestrial Recycling) project solves two key obstacles – lack of adequate tooling for harvesting end of life spacecraft and processing debris, and lack of a propulsion system capable of both high thrust and propellant economy needed for long term Active Debris Removal (ADR). DEXTER will provide solutions for two viable use cases for recovering orbital material: turning recycled materials into structural elements and propellant. We will (1) develop and validate in a laboratory environment robotic technology that allows for the harvesting, processing, and repurposing of orbital debris materials into new structural elements to build new infrastructures in space, and (2) explore processes for converting scrap aluminium to propellant and delivering via a prototype refuelling mechanism, and provide a ground-based demonstration of a prototype refuellable thruster suitable for operating future ADR missions without resupply from earth. Key DEXTER breakthroughs include (1) demonstrating the viability of laser cutting and welding in a vacuum, (2) developing a modular toolkit with novel capabilities including a multipurpose rotary tool, a non-destructive gripping mechanism and computer vision for semiautonomous operation (3) and demonstrating the viability of using orbital debris as propellant. Laboratory demonstrations will validate the developed technologies against two potential ISRROA use cases – spacecraft disassembly and reassembly in a different structural form and as propellant for a high-powered plasma thruster. We will demonstrate the viability of spacecraft harvesting and refuelling ADR missions with recycled orbital material. A circular economy for space will reduce the threat posed by space debris by transforming it from a liability into a valuable asset.

Keywords: space robotics space tooling for debris recycling recycled space debris propellant space debris re use active debris removal,in space debris asset resource utilization
Shape and Topology as Descriptors of Chemical and Physical Properties in Functional Organic Materials (PATTERNCHEM)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
Panel description: Analytical chemistry, chemical theory, physical chemistry/chemical physics
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2021-STG, 2021)
Start date: 2022-06-01
End date: 2027-05-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1492821.0
EU funding (EUR): 1492821.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Functional, topologically complex organic molecules are rising stars in modern materials science due to their biocompatibility, structural variability, and wealth of physico-chemical properties. Their practical applications often involve interactions with small molecular targets (e.g., gases, environmental pollutants, and drugs) via relatively weak non-covalent forces. Key to these interactions are the topological features of host materials: arrangement of functional groups, pore size, and cavity volume. Atom types and the forces connecting them in space determine molecular and material structures, defining their fundamental physical and chemical properties. These patterns comprise a universal chemical language. Numerous molecular representations exist, from strings in chemoinformatics to matrices in chemical machine learning. While these big data-oriented fingerprints generally reduce the dimensionality of atomic composition and connectivity, they do not capture the intricacies of shape and topology. In PATTERNCHEM, several families of functional organic materials – graphenes, covalent-organic frameworks, and hyperbranched polymers – will provide a unique foundation for developing application-oriented fingerprints of their topological and non-covalent interaction features. After elucidating diverse structural descriptors of atomistic arrangement, substitution patterns, and two- and three-dimensional shapes of these materials, we will establish a scheme for quantifying the propensity for non-covalent interactions and assessing host-guest complementarity. Using this scheme, chemical and physical performance indicators relevant to targeted applications (e.g., as sensors, filters, and nanocarriers) can be computed. Finally, structure-property relationships between computed performance indicators and developed descriptors will be established and implemented into predictive frameworks for functional organic materials.

Keywords: nanomaterials molecular representations chemical descriptors
Neuronal implementation of cognitive maps for navigation (COGNECTOMICS)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Synergy grants
Action type: ERC actions
Countries involved: Germany,Switzerland
Call: ERC SYNERGY GRANTS (ERC-2024-SyG, 2024)
Start date: 2025-04-01
End date: 2031-03-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 9992890.0
EU funding (EUR): 9992890.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Intelligent behavior is based on internal models of the world that enable mental simulations and strategic planning. A leading model to study such “cognitive maps” are networks of place cells and grid cells in the mammalian hippocampal-entorhinal system. These neurons are active at defined locations and collectively represent a physical environment as a low-dimensional topographic map in neural activity space. However, a mechanistic understanding of the underlying computations and their biological implementation remains elusive. Using new methods for brain-wide activity imaging during behavior, members of our team discovered an abundance of place cells in the telencephalon of zebrafish. We will combine this approach with volume electron microscopy to reconstruct large-scale connectivity in the same brains at synaptic resolution and with transcriptomic profiling to identify molecular cell types, taking advantage of small brain size. The joint analysis of network connectivity and population dynamics will allow us to determine how functional properties of place cells are established by interactions between specific subsets of neurons across brain areas, and how network structure constrains population activity to topographically organized attractor manifolds. The results will disambiguate computational models that make conflicting assumptions about network connectivity. We will further explore the emergence of cell types during development and the concomitant structural and functional maturation of neuronal circuits. The relevance of cognitive maps for neuronal computations and behaviors involving internally generated predictions will be explored by activity measurements in a virtual reality and by functional manipulations of genetically targeted neurons. Capitalizing on the unique combination of expertise among team members, this project is expected to fundamentally advance our mechanistic understanding of biological and potentially artificial intelligence.

Keywords: cognitive map,connectomics,transcriptomics,neuronal network,neuronal connectivity,neuronal dynamics,zebrafish,place cell
Decolonial Pedagogy in Women’s Audiovisual Training in the Global South. Case studies in Mexico, Ecuador, and Guatemala (DEPWAT)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Social Sciences and Humanities
Countries involved: Spain
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2024-01-22
End date: 2026-01-21
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 181152.96
EU funding (EUR): 181152.96
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Coloniality is known as the “darker side” of modernity. It operates as a pattern of power implanted during the historical processes of colonization, although still in force through mechanisms and relations of domination and dependency, such as: center-periphery or non-cultural/civilized. Women from the Global South stand on the margins of modern-colonial standards of being, abbreviated in a state of primitivism. This proposal approaches the audiovisual training of subaltern women in Mexico, Ecuador, and Guatemala, to offer a decolonial pedagogical model that builds paths for inclusive education and adds to the sustainability of the Latin American audiovisual sectors. It applies a qualitative methodology through the notion of situated-knowledge, by retrieving the training experiences of indigeoenous and Afro-descendant community filmmakers and audiovisual media students; likewise, with the purpose of identifying the modern-colonial-gender factors that intervene in their education and further integration into the industry. Thereby, it contributes to theoretical and methodological gaps from an intercultural/transmodern standpoint.

Keywords: decoloniality,global south,audiovisual media,subalternity,indigenous and afro descendant communities,women and gender,decolonial feminism,decolonial pedagogy,latin american studies,film
Flood Adaptation under Climate Change with the European Socio-Hydrological Model (EuroSoHo)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Human Mobility, Environment, and Space
Panel description: Human geography, demography, health, susta inability science, territorial planning, spatial analysis
Countries involved: Poland
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2025-STG, 2025)
Start date: 2025-12-01
End date: 2030-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1473000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1473000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

European riverine and coastal floodplains are highly managed systems, where different human actions can both increase or decrease flood risk. For instance, the “levee effect” could reduce the effectiveness of structural flood protection by encouraging exposure growth and lack of individual precaution, increasing impacts when a severe flood eventually overwhelms the dikes. On the other hand, frequent flooding has been shown to reduce vulnerability through adoption of local precautionary measures (“adaptation effect”). Current European projections of future flood risk under climate change do not consider these types of effects and other dynamic interactions in floodplains. Though such feedbacks could be captured by socio-hydrological models, those have been so far limited to small case studies due to lack of data. The aim of this project is to develop a European Socio-Hydrological Model (EuroSoHo) to quantify past and future flood risk dynamics across the continent. This probabilistic, system dynamics model will be calibrated on historical (1950–2025) data on flood occurrence, their impacts (fatalities, population affected, economic loss), floodplain exposure changes, and large-scale flood prevention schemes across more than 1400 regions in 42 European countries. The model will incorporate multiple socio-hydrological parameters (e.g. awareness, preparedness, reactiveness or risk aversion), quantifying the historical baseline of the society’s reaction to floods. EuroSoHo will then be able to project the future evolution (2026–2100) of the human-water system in Europe under the expected changes of both hydroclimatic and socioeconomic forcing. The system-wide positive and negative effects of improving dikes, extending individual preparedness, restrictions on exposure growth, and relocation will be quantified with EuroSoHo. The results will indicate which combination of adaptation strategies would be most effective in each region given their local-scale costs and benefits

Keywords: flood risk socio hydrology risk management climatic change
The plasma physics of galaxy clusters in a cosmological context: connecting micro and macro scales (CosmoClusterPlasmas)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Physics
Countries involved: Denmark,United Kingdom
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-09-01
End date: 2025-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 230774.4
EU funding (EUR): 230774.4
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

The intracluster medium provides a window into the formation history of galaxy clusters and understanding its detailed dynamics (e.g. turbulence and heating/cooling balance) is of paramount importance for cosmology, galaxy formation, and even plasma physics. Upcoming X-ray telescopes will soon be able to directly measure the velocity of the intracluster medium in exquisite detail. This is bound to revolutionize our understanding of galaxy cluster dynamics, merger activity, and fundamental plasma processes across a vast range of scales under conditions which are impossible in terrestrial labs. These imminent advances in observational X-ray astronomy demand a similar advancement in our theoretical understanding. A severe limitation of current cosmological simulations is that they assume that the intracluster medium is fully collisional even though it is known to be only weakly collisional. This MCSA Fellowship will allow me to perform the first cosmological galaxy cluster simulations that move beyond the collisional assumption in order to make detailed predictions for the weakly collisional turbulent medium. The results of this work will be useful for observers using galaxy clusters in order to to constrain cosmological parameters and to plasma physicists using galaxy clusters as a plasma physics laboratory. I will carry out the project at the Niels Bohr Institute in collaboration with Prof. Troels Haugbølle, who is an expert on zoom simulations, plasma physics, cosmology and turbulence, and with Dr. Henrik Latter, an expert on the physics of weakly collisional plasmas, during a secondment at the University of Cambridge. The MCSA Fellowship will allow me to take leadership in the emerging field of high-fidelity comparisons between cosmological simulations and X-ray observations and its extensive training program will prepare me well for my next career stage as I seek to build my own group and obtain a permanent position in Europe.

Keywords: intracluster medium
From Sensitivity to Resolution: Transforming DNP MAS NMR of biosolids (HiResProtDNP)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Chemistry
Countries involved: France
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-05-01
End date: 2027-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 242260.56
EU funding (EUR): 242260.56
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Dynamic nuclear polarisation (DNP) has recently emerged as a transformative technology to address the sensitivity limitation of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In the solid-state, hyperpolarisation has the potential to reveal unique insight into the structure of complex biological assemblies such as amyloid fibrils, membrane-embedded proteins, virus capsids or plant cell walls. However, despite key pioneering studies, several challenges must be resolved before DNP Magic Angle Spinning (MAS) NMR can be widely adapted as a routine analytical approach for studying biomolecules. The primary bottleneck is the resolution of 13C and 15N DNP enhanced NMR spectra of solid-state biomolecules which is compromised by severe line broadening at the cryogenic temperatures at which DNP experiments are performed. The second limitation is the absence of robust site-specific assignment strategies. Leveraging progress in fast MAS and high-field DNP NMR systems, the project will focus on improving spectral resolution through the development of (i) new sample formulations and labeling strategies, (ii) advanced radio-frequency pulse sequences using unique instrumentation at the host laboratory, and (iii) innovative methods for site-specific assignment of backbone and side-chain resonances. These methods will first be tested on model microcrystalline samples, then applied to complex biological targets like vaccines and fibrillar assemblies. The proposed work is highly interdisciplinary, connecting biochemical techniques, spin physics, and physical chemistry, and will have a broad impact across fields including structural biology, pharmaceutical science, and materials science. The methods developed will streamline data collection in biomolecular NMR and push the boundaries of what is currently possible with hyperpolarisation today. The project will significantly advance both fundamental and applied research, benefiting large communities of chemists and biologists.

Keywords: solid state nmr hyperpolarisation biomolecules formulations ultra fast mas resonance assignment parallel acquisitions