Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Polymer-Inorganic Flexible Nanostructured Films for the Control of Light (POLIGHT)

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: Spain
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-12-01
End date: 2017-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1497730.0
EU funding (EUR): 1497730.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The POLIGHT project will focus on the integration of a series of inorganic nanostructured materials possessing photonic or combined photonic and plasmonic properties into polymeric films, providing a significant advance with respect to current state of the art in flexible photonics. These highly adaptable films could act either as passive UV-Vis-NIR selective frequency mirrors or filters, or as matrices for light absorbing or optically active species capable of tailoring their optical response. The goal of this project is two-fold. In one aspect, the aim is to fill a currently existing hole in the field of materials for radiation protection, which is the absence of highly flexible and adaptable films in which selected ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum wavelengths can be sharply blocked or allowed to pass depending on the different foreseen applications. In another, the POLIGHT project seeks to go one step beyond in the integration of absorbing and emitting nanomaterials into simple flexible polymeric matrices by including hierarchically structured photonic lattices that provide fine tuning of the optical properties of these hybrid ensembles. This will be achieved by means of enhanced matter-radiation interactions that result from field localization effects at specific resonant modes. The opportunity arises as a result of the recent development of a series of robust inorganic photonic structures that present interconnected porous networks susceptible of hosting polymers and thus inheriting their mechanical properties.

Keywords: optical properties,photonic materials,nanostructured multilayers
Statistical Physics Approach to Reconstruction in Compressed Sensing (SPARCS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Systems and communication engineering
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-10-01
End date: 2018-09-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1077960.0
EU funding (EUR): 1077960.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Compressed sensing is triggering a major evolution in signal acquisition: it indicates that most data, signals and images, that are usually compressible and have redundancy, can be reconstructed from much fewer measurements than what was usually considered necessary, resulting in a drastic gain of time, cost, and measurement precision. In order to make this groundbreaking improvement possible, compressed sensing deals with how measurements should be performed, and how, in a second step, to use computational power in order to reconstruct the original signal. Compressed sensing can be used for many applications (speeding up magnetic resonance imaging without the loss of resolution, performing X-ray scans with less radiation exposure, sensing and compressing data simultaneously, measurements in acoustic holography, in system biology, faster confocal microscopy, etc ...). Currently used measurement protocols and reconstruction techniques, however, are still limited to acquisition rates considerably higher than what is theoretically necessary. The aim of this project is to develop a new interdisciplinary approach to compressed sensing, based on a statistical physics inspired methodology, whose preliminary application by the PI already yield spectacular results. I propose to use both a new algorithm for the reconstruction algorithm, with a mean-field inspired “Belief Propagation” method, and a new class of compressed sensing measurement schemes, motivated by a statistical physics study of the problem and by the theory of crystal nucleation in first order transitions. For reasons detailed below, this statistical physics approach is extremely promising theoretical framework to tackle compressed sensing and I believe it can eventually lead to optimal performance. I expect that the progress we will make in this direction will be instrumental also for other inference and inverse problems at the crossroad between physics and computer science.

Keywords: compressed sensing,inverse problems,inference
Cold Collisions and the Pathways Toward Life in Interstellar Space (ASTROLAB)

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: Germany
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2017-11-30
Duration (months): 63.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1486800.0
EU funding (EUR): 1486800.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Modern telescopes like Herschel and ALMA open up a new window into molecular astrophysics to investigate a surprisingly rich chemistry that operates even at low densities and low temperatures. Observations with these instruments have the potential of unraveling key questions of astrobiology, like the accumulation of water and pre-biotic organic molecules on (exo)planets from asteroids and comets. Hand-in-hand with the heightened observational activities comes a strong demand for a thorough understanding of the molecular formation mechanisms. The vast majority of interstellar molecules are formed in ion-neutral reactions that remain efficient even at low temperatures. Unfortunately, the unusual nature of these processes under terrestrial conditions makes their laboratory study extremely difficult. To address these issues, I propose to build a versatile merged beams setup for laboratory studies of ion-neutral collisions at the Cryogenic Storage Ring (CSR), the most ambitious of the next-generation storage devices under development worldwide. With this experimental setup, I will make use of a low-temperature and low-density environment that is ideal to simulate the conditions prevailing in interstellar space. The cryogenic surrounding, in combination with laser-generated ground state atom beams, will allow me to perform precise energy-resolved rate coefficient measurements for reactions between cold molecular ions (like, e.g., H2+, H3+, HCO+, CH2+, CH3+, etc.) and neutral atoms (H, D, C or O) in order to shed light on long-standing problems of astrochemistry and the formation of organic molecules in space. With the large variability of the collision energy (corresponding to 40-40000 K), I will be able to provide data that are crucial for the interpretation of molecular observations in a variety of objects, ranging from cold molecular clouds to warm layers in protoplanetary disks.

Keywords: astrochemistry,molecular astrophysics
Self-organisation at two length-scales: generation and characterisation of porous materials with chemically and physically modified surfaces (POMCAPS)

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-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-12-01
End date: 2017-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499972.76
EU funding (EUR): 1499972.76
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Surfaces play a crucial role in the interaction of a material with its environment. Recent advances in Soft Matter physics reveal the extraordinary properties of surfaces with complex physico-chemical modifications. Of particular interest is the influence of such modifications on the wetting and flow of simple or complex fluids. Despite growing research efforts, a sound understanding and large-scale applications remain out of reach due to the difficulty of creating complex surfaces with satisfying control and cost. In particular, no technique exists to reliably modify surfaces within complex materials, like micro-porous solids. I therefore propose to develop an original bottom-up approach which relies on the self-organisation of interfacially active agents (polymers, particles) at the interface between two fluids. Using microfluidic techniques and the self-ordering of equal-volume drops under gravity, I will create highly periodic emulsions from these fluids which are stabilised by one type of agent. Solidification of the continuous phase (including the agent) and removal of the discrete phase will lead to the creation of a micro-porous solid with well-defined morphology to which the agent confers the desired surface modification (polymer brush, surface roughness). In systematically comparing the properties of these porous solids with those of flat modified surfaces, I aim to solidly correlate their surface properties with the resulting wetting/flow properties of simple and complex fluids. Building on this understanding and the acquired technical knowhow I aim to realise two long-sought applications: a supersponge & a liquid spring. To establish my research group as a world leader in this rapidly evolving and competitive domain at the interface between physics and chemistry, I need to tackle this project at different length scales and levels of complexity with a long term vision. At my career stage only an ERC Starting Grant can provide me with this possibility

Keywords: in-situ surface modification porous materials wetting and slip properties physical chemistry
Integrating Graphene Devices (INTEGRADE)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Systems and communication engineering
Countries involved: Germany,Sweden
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2017-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1498687.0
EU funding (EUR): 1498687.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Technology requirements for future IC systems include low power computing and communication, sensing capabilities and energy harvesting. These will unlikely be met with silicon technology alone. The proposed research therefore investigates graphene as a potential alternative technology and contributes to bridging the “valley of death” in innovation that is all too present in Europe. In detail, the proposal focuses on the experimental exploration of novel (opto-) electronic devices and systems based on graphene. Strong emphasis is put on integration, defined as an interdisciplinary approach combining graphene manufacturing, graphene process technology, device engineering and -physics as well as system design. This kind of approach is urgently needed in order to open new horizons for graphene, because it enables a transition from fascinating science to a realistic demonstration of graphene’s application potential in electronics and optoelectronics. The first requirement for the applicability of graphene in ICT is a scalable graphene fabrication technology that can be co-integrated with silicon. The second logical aspect to be investigated is the intricate relationship between process technology and graphene device performance. The third aspect to be considered when discussing integration is how devices can be integrated in existing or future systems, including questions of circuit design. Will graphene systems outperform existing solutions and thus replace them? Will new functionalities emerge and generate novel applications? Hence, the key objectives of this proposal are: 1) a scalable, CMOS compatible large area fabrication technology for graphene and graphene devices, 2) demonstration and assessment of performance advantages and new functionalities of RF graphene devices, 3) high performance graphene-based optoelectronic devices integrated with silicon technology and 4) experimental exploration of the performance potential of graphene-based integrated systems.

Keywords: graphene,transistor,photodetector,super capacitor
Inclusions in diamonds: messengers from the deep Earth (INDIMEDEA)

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: Italy
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2013-01-01
End date: 2018-12-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1423464.1
EU funding (EUR): 1423464.1
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Diamonds and their inclusions are the deepest materials originating from the Earth’s interior reaching the surface of our planet. Their study plays a key role in understanding and interpreting the geodynamics, geophysics, petrology, geochemistry and mineralogy of the Earth’s mantle and those processes which governed trough the time the evolution of the Earth. The most abundant mineral inclusions in diamonds are olivines, orthopyroxenes, clinopyroxenes, garnets, spinels, and sulfides. All of these mineral phases have been identified by X-ray diffraction or electron microprobe analysis since the 1950’s almost always after their extraction from the diamonds. However, a non-destructive in-situ investigation of an inclusion in diamond is useful and important because: (a) some mineral inclusions under pressure could have a different crystal structure, and thus different petrologic significance compared to that at ambient pressure; (b) the internal pressure on the inclusion can provide information about the formation pressure of the diamond; (c) the morphology and growth relationships of the inclusion with the host diamond can provide indications about its protogenetic vs. syngenetic and/or epigenetic nature. In this project a new experimental approach, based on X-ray diffraction technique, will be used in order to determine, for the first time, the crystal structure of the inclusions still trapped in their host diamonds allowing to obtain chemical information capable to provide the inclusion remnant pressure and, from this, the pressure of formation of the diamond-inclusion pair. At the same time, our approach will allow to obtain any possible epitaxial relationship between diamond and its inclusions in order to provide strong constraints about the syngenetic or protogenetic nature of minerals included in diamond solving a 50 years old debate. Several geochemical and geodynamical models are based on the assumption of syngenesis but this has yet to be demonstrated.

Keywords: diamonds,inclusions,x-ray diffraction,geobarometry,thermoelastic properties,crystal chemistry,mineralogy,high-pressure,high-temperature
Some Problems in Geometry of Shimura Varieties (SPGSV)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Mathematical foundations
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-10-01
End date: 2017-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 697037.0
EU funding (EUR): 697037.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The Andre-Oort conjecture is an important problem in the theory of Shimura varieties. It also has significant applications in other areas of Number Theory, such as transcendence theory. The conjecture was proved assuming the Generalised Riemann Hypothesis by Klingler, Ullmo and Yafaev. Very recently, Jonathan Pila came up with a very promising strategy for proving the Andre-Oort conjecture unconditionally. The first main aim of this proposal is to combine Pila's ideas with the ideas of Klingler-Ullmo-Yafaev in order to obtain a proof of the Andre-Oort conjecture without the assumption of the GRH. We then propose to use these methods to attack the Zilber-Pink conjecture, a very vast generalisation of Andre-Oort. We also propose to consider several problems closely related to geometry of Shimura Varieties and the Andr\'e-Oort conjecture. Namely Coleman's cponjecture on finiteness of the number of Jacobians with complex multiplication for curves of large genus, the Mumford-Tate conjecture on Galois representations attached to abelian varieties over number field and Lang's conjecture on rational points on hyperbolic varieties in the context of Shimura varieties.

Keywords: andre-oort conjecture,zilber-pink conjecture,shimura varieties,o-minimality,mumford-tate conjecture,lang's conjecture
Probing Fundamental Physics with Antineutrinos at the NOvA Experiment (ANTINEUTRINONOVA)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-10-01
End date: 2018-09-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1415848.0
EU funding (EUR): 1415848.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This proposal addresses major questions in particle physics that are at the forefront of experimental and theoretical physics research today. The results offered would have far-reaching implications in other fields such as cosmology and could help answer some of the big questions such as why the universe contains so much more matter than antimatter. The research objectives of this proposal are to (i) make world-leading tests of CPT symmetry and (ii) discover the neutrino mass hierarchy and search for indications of leptonic CP violation. The NOvA long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment will use a novel "totally active scintillator design" for the detector technology and will be exposed to the world's highest power neutrino beam. Building on the first direct observation of muon antineutrino disappearance (that was made by a group founded and led by the PI at the MINOS experiment), tests of CPT symmetry will be performed by looking for differences in the mass squared splittings and mixing angles between neutrinos and antineutrinos. The potential to discover the mass hierarchy is unique to NOvA on the timescale of this proposal due to the long 810 km baseline and the well measured beam of neutrinos and antineutrinos. This proposal addresses several key challenges in a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment with the following tasks: (i) development of a new approach to event energy reconstruction that is expected to have widespread applicability for future neutrino experiments; (ii) undertaking a comprehensive calibration project, exploiting a novel technique developed by the PI, that will be essential to achieving the physics goals; (iii) development of a sophisticated statistical analyses. The results promised in this proposal surpass the sensitivity to antineutrino oscillation parameters of current 1st generation experiments by at least an order of magnitude, offering wide scope for profound discoveries with implications across disciplines.

Keywords: neutrino antineutrino oscillation cpt cp violation mass hierarchy theta13 muon neutrino
Tailoring Material Properties Using Femtosecond Lasers: A New Paradigm for Highly Integrated Micro-/Nano- Scale Systems (GALATEA)

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: Netherlands
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-12-01
End date: 2017-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1757396.0
EU funding (EUR): 1757396.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Using recent progress in laser technology and in particular in the field of ultra-fast lasers, we are getting close to accomplish the alchemist dream of transforming materials. Compact lasers can generate pulses with ultra-high peak powers in the Tera-Watt or even Peta-Watt ranges. These high-power pulses lead to a radically different laser-matter interaction than the one obtained with conventional lasers. Non-linear multi-photons processes are observed; they open new and exciting opportunities to tailor the matter in its intimate structure with sub-wavelength spatial resolutions and in the three dimensions. This project is aiming at exploring the use of these ultrafast lasers to locally tailor the physical properties of glass materials. More specifically, our objective is to create polymorphs embedded in bulk structures and to demonstrate their use as means to introduce new functionalities in the material. The long-term objective is to develop the scientific understanding and technological know-how to create three-dimensional objects with nanoscale features where optics, fluidics and micromechanical elements as well as active functions are integrated in a single monolithic piece of glass and to do so using a single process. This is a multidisciplinary research that pushes the frontier of our current knowledge of femtosecond laser interaction with glass to demonstrate a novel design platform for future micro-/nano- systems.

Keywords: silica polymorphs,femtosecond lasers
Hybrid Quantum Networks (HYBRIDNET)

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-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-10-01
End date: 2017-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

The development of correlated quantum networks based on interconnected material nodes and quantum channels is a major challenge for the field of quantum information science, including quantum communication, computing, and metrology. Two main encodings of quantum information are generally used: a ‘discrete-variable’ encoding based for instance on single-photons and a ‘continuous-variable’ approach which relies on continuous degrees of freedom, such as the quadrature components of light modes. A mostly unexplored area is the mixing of these two approaches leading to ‘hybrid schemes’ where the advantages of both paradigms can be merged. This is the subject of the present proposal. Stated succinctly, we aim at developing the scientific and technical foundations for the realization of hybrid quantum networks with applications to the distribution and processing of quantum information. The new research activities that we propose to undertake are as follows: • The implementation of storage and subsequent rotation of a hybrid qubit • The laboratory demonstration of storage, readout and subsequent purification of continuous-variable entanglement • The experimental realization of a segment of a hybrid quantum repeater We will reach these objectives by developing compatible quantum light source (pulsed optical parametric oscillator) and light-matter interface (cold atoms trapped in the vicinity of elongated nanofibers) and by demonstrating novel capabilities for hybrid protocols, such as non-Gaussian state storage and quantum gates. These activities will be accompanied by a strong theoretical effort focused on the development of resource-efficient hybrid protocols for improved scaling.

Keywords: entanglement,squeezing,quantum communication,quantum memory,quantum repeater,quantum network