Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Holographic Quantum Cosmology (HOLOQOSMOS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Universe Sciences
Countries involved: Belgium
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-08-01
End date: 2019-07-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1995900.0
EU funding (EUR): 1995900.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The current theory of cosmic inflation is largely based on classical physics. This undermines its predictivity in a world that is fundamentally quantum mechanical. With this project we will develop a novel approach towards a quantum theory of inflation. We will do this by introducing holographic techniques in cosmology. The notion of holography is the most profound conceptual breakthrough that has emerged form fundamental high-energy physics in recent years. It postulates that (quantum) gravitational systems such as the universe as a whole have a precise `holographic’ description in terms of quantum field theories defined on their boundary. Our aim is to develop a holographic framework for quantum cosmology. We will then apply this to three areas of theoretical cosmology where a quantum approach is of critical importance. First, we will put forward a holographic description of inflation that clarifies its microphysical origin and is rigorously predictive. Using this we will derive the distinct observational signatures of novel, truly holographic models of the early universe where inflation has no description in terms of classical cosmic evolution. Second, we will apply holographic cosmology to improve our understanding of eternal inflation. This is a phase deep into inflation where quantum effects dominate the evolution and affect the universe’s global structure. Finally we will work towards generalizing our holographic models of the primordial universe to include the radiation, matter and vacuum eras. The resulting unification of cosmic history in terms of a single holographic boundary theory may lead to intriguing predictions of correlations between early and late time observables, tying together the universe’s origin with its ultimate fate. Our project has the potential to revolutionize our perspective on cosmology and to further deepen the fruitful interaction between cosmology and high-energy physics.

Keywords: pacs2010:98.80.qc:quantum cosmology pacs2010:98.80.cq:particle-theory and field-theory models of the early universe pacs2010:11.25.tq:gauge/string duality
Attosecond physics at nanoscale metal tips - strong field physics in the near-field optics regime (NEARFIELDATTO)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-04-01
End date: 2019-03-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2012733.0
EU funding (EUR): 2012733.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Electron dynamics in metals and nanostructures take place on attosecond timescales. Until today, these extremely fast processes are little understood let alone utilized. With NearFieldAtto, strong-field driven phenomena at nanoscale metal structures will be explored to elucidate collective electron dynamics and to induce optical-field-driven currents -- on attosecond timescales. We will investigate the near-field of a nanotip, resulting from the collective dynamics, both in amplitude and phase. Conversely, we will use the tip as a nanometric sensor to map out the electric field inside the focus of a pulsed laser beam and will directly measure the local phase. In two-tip and molecular junctions, we will explore the ultrafast steering of electronic currents by optical fields, both over a nanometric gap and inside a molecule, taking advantage of the large near-field enhancement the systems offer. My group has recently shown that attosecond physics phenomena can be observed at solids, namely at nanoscale tips [Krüger et al., Nature 2011]. Hence, in NearFieldAtto we will employ techniques well known from attosecond physics with isolated objects, like gas-phase atoms and molecules, to steer laser-emitted electrons with the electric field of few-cycle laser pulses. We will use these electrons as nanometric probes to investigate optical properties of the solid state system and compare the results with those of isolated objects in gas-phase measurements. With two tips facing each other, we will realize a nanometric junction over which we will steer electrons with the optical field. A molecule placed between two tips will enable the investigation of a novel, ultrafast switching mechanism. NearFieldAtto will bring attosecond physics a leap forward as compared to the state-of-the-art, will introduce strong-field physics into (quantum-)plasmonics, and will open the door towards lightwave or petahertz nano-electronics in metallic and molecular nano-systems.

Keywords: attosecond physics,strong-field physics,nanoscale physics,near-field optics,femtosecond laser pulses,carrier-envelope phase.
Identifying and Overcoming Bottlenecks of Micropollutant Degradation at Low Concentrations (MICRODEGRADE)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Earth System Science
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-05-01
End date: 2020-04-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1962630.0
EU funding (EUR): 1962630.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

MicroDegrade aims to reveal bottlenecks of degradation, and to identify superior bioremediation strategies for a most notorious environmental pollution of our time: chemical micropollutants at low (sub-ug/L) concentrations. Finding out why micropollutants occur in ground and surface water despite the presence of bacterial degraders has become an elusive goal for microbiologists, environmental scientists and geochemists. Competing paradigms claim that either (i) mass transfer limitations (bioavailability, cell uptake) or (ii) physiological limitations (enzyme down-regulation) prevent complete biodegradation at contaminant threshold concentrations. To design strategies for remediation, insight is warranted which bottlenecks of degradation prevail. "Do molecules - once inside an organism - get out into solution again? Or is mass transfer so limiting that organisms are desperate for supply?" Pillaring on our recent advances with compound-specific isotope analysis at sub-ug/L concentrations, MicroDegrade will be able to provide a revolutionary angle on this dilemma. Isotope fractionation will give the first direct answers to these questions for degradation of two prominent pollutants at low bacterial growth and low concentrations - 2,6-dichlorobenzamide (BAM), a highly recalcitrant, ubiquitous pesticide metabolite with Aminbacter MSH1; and toluene, an abundant groundwater pollutant with Geobacter metallireducens. The approach pillars on three consecutive aims: (1) investigate if, and at what concentrations mass transfer becomes limiting in chemostat cultures; (2) understand analogous limitations in concentrations gradients of an aquifer model; (3) derive superior bioremediation strategies. The objectives of MicroDegrade have the potential to change our view on drivers behind thresholds values and bottlenecks of degradation, to offer a new angle on competitive strategies of microorganisms at low concentrations, and to identify superior future bioremediation strategies.

Keywords: chemical micropollutants,microbial degradation,stable isotope fractionation,bioavailability,groundwater pollution,groundwater remediation,bottlenecks of degradation,organic contaminants
Exploring the targeted delivery of biopharmaceuticals enabled by glycosylation control. (GLYCOTARGET)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Diagnostic Tools, Therapies and Public Health
Countries involved: Belgium
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2019-02-28
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1994760.0
EU funding (EUR): 1994760.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Most biotechnological therapeutics used in the clinic today and under current development, are of protein nature. Eukaryotic expression systems (such as yeasts and mammalian cells) for these therapeutic proteins add carbohydrate moieties (glycans) to the proteins, and these glycans strongly modulate the protein's in vivo biodistribution and therapeutic efficacy. Until recently, no adequate tools were available to accurately control glycosylation structure in these expression systems, but bio-engineering research in our lab and elsewhere has now largely overcome this problem. In the GlycoTarget ERC Consolidator grant project, we aim at exploring the relation between the structure of the glycans on therapeutic proteins and the in vivo targeting properties of these modified proteins to different tissues/cells/subcellular organelles. As highly medically relevant test cases for this exploration, we have selected three diseases with strong unmet therapeutic need, that could potentially be treated with glyco-targeted biopharmaceuticals through three different routes of protein delivery: progressive liver disease (intravenous), allergic asthma (subcutaneous immunization) and active tuberculosis (intrapulmonary delivery).

Keywords: biopharmaceuticals,targeted delivery,glycosylation
Regulation of inflammasome activity through NLRP3 ubiquitination level (UBINFLAM)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Immunity and Infection
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2015-01-01
End date: 2020-12-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1933724.0
EU funding (EUR): 1933724.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The innate immunity constitutes an efficient barrier by rapidly detecting pathogens and tissue damages through pattern recognition receptors including NLRP3. On the other hand, inappropriate NLRP3 activation causes deleterious inflammation and contributes to various conditions including atherosclerosis, diabetes, gout and Alzheimer's diseases. Therefore NLRP3 requires tight regulation that remains poorly characterized. Activated NLRP3 assembles a multimeric inflammasome complex serving as activation platform for caspase-1 that controls processing and release of cytosolic cytokines including IL-1β. We recently evidenced that inflammasome assembly requires NLRP3 deubiquitination by the deubiquitinase BRCC3. The aim of this proposal is to decipher this new ubiquitin-dependent regulatory pathway critical for NLRP3 activation. We propose to identify stimuli, signaling pathways and enzymatic complexes controlling NLRP3 ubiquitination level. Using both cell biology and biochemistry approaches, we will decipher the molecular mechanisms beneath the regulation of the deubiquitinase and ubiquitin ligase complex activity, as well as the loss of activity of ubiquitinated NLRP3. Lastly, we will test the in vivo relevance of NLRP3 ubiquitination using both mouse models, patients study and pharmacological approach. Altogether, this project will thoroughly characterize this new pathway controlling inflammasome activity and provide new therapeutic targets against inflammation related diseases that are highly prevalent in the European Union.

Keywords: nlrp3,inflammasome,ubiquitin,brcc3,inflammation
Accreting binary populations in Nearby Galaxies: Observations and Simulations (A-BINGOS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Universe Sciences
Countries involved: Greece
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-04-01
End date: 2020-03-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1242000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1242000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

High-energy observations of our Galaxy offer a good, albeit not complete, picture of the X-ray source populations, in particular the accreting binary sources. Recent ability to study accreting binaries in nearby galaxies has shown that we would be short-sighted if we restricted ourselves to our Galaxy or to a few nearby ones. I propose an ambitious project that involves a comprehensive study of all the galaxies within 10 Mpc for which we can study in detail their X-ray sources and stellar populations. The study will combine data from a unique suite of observatories (Chandra, XMM-Newton, HST, Spitzer) with state-of-the-art theoretical modelling of binary systems. I propose a novel approach that links the accreting binary populations to their parent stellar populations and surpasses any current studies of X-ray binary populations, both in scale and in scope, by: (a) combining methods and results from several different areas of astrophysics (compact objects, binary systems, stellar populations, galaxy evolution); (b) using data from almost the whole electromagnetic spectrum (infrared to X-ray bands); (c) identifying and studying the different sub-populations of accreting binaries; and (d) performing direct comparison between observations and theoretical predictions, over a broad parameter space. The project: (a) will answer the long-standing question of the formation efficiency of accreting binaries in different environments; and (b) will constrain their evolutionary paths. As by-products the project will provide eagerly awaited input to the fields of gravitational-wave sources, γ-ray bursts, and X-ray emitting galaxies at cosmological distances and it will produce a heritage multi-wavelength dataset and library of models for future studies of galaxies and accreting binaries.

Keywords: accreting binaries,star-formation history,multi-wavelength observations
Rich, Structured and Efficient Learning of Big Bayesian Models (BIGBAYES)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Computer Science and Informatics
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-05-01
End date: 2019-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1918092.0
EU funding (EUR): 1918092.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

As datasets grow ever larger in scale, complexity and variety, there is an increasing need for powerful machine learning and statistical techniques that are capable of learning from such data. Bayesian nonparametrics is a promising approach to data analysis that is increasingly popular in machine learning and statistics. Bayesian nonparametric models are highly flexible models with infinite-dimensional parameter spaces that can be used to directly parameterise and learn about functions, densities, conditional distributions etc, and have been successfully applied to regression, survival analysis, language modelling, time series analysis, and visual scene analysis among others. However, to successfully use Bayesian nonparametric models to analyse the high-dimensional and structured datasets now commonly encountered in the age of Big Data, we will have to overcome a number of challenges. Namely, we need to develop Bayesian nonparametric models that can learn rich representations from structured data, and we need computational methodologies that can scale effectively to the large and complex models of the future. We will ground our developments in relevant applications, particularly to natural language processing (learning distributed representations for language modelling and compositional semantics) and genetics (modelling genetic variations arising from population, genealogical and spatial structures).

Keywords: machine learning bayesian statistics bayesian nonparametrics probabilistic modelling statistical machine learning methodologies
Decoding Lights from Exotic Worlds (EXOLIGHTS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Universe Sciences
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-05-01
End date: 2019-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2080502.0
EU funding (EUR): 2080502.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

It is now accepted that exoplanets are ubiquitous. However little is known about those planets we have detected beyond the fact they exist and their location. For a minority, we know their weight, size and orbital parameters. For less than twenty, we have some clues about their atmospheric temperature and composition. How do we progress from here? We are still far from a hypothetical Hertzsprung–Russell diagram for planets and we do not even know whether there ever will be such classification for planets. The planetary parameters mass, radius and temperature alone do not explain the diversity revealed by current observations. The chemical composition of these planets is needed to trace back their formation history and evolution, as was the case for the Solar System. Pioneering results were obtained through transit spectroscopy with Hubble, Spitzer and ground-based facilities, enabling the detection of ionic, atomic and molecular species and of the planet’s thermal structure. With the arrival of improved or dedicated instruments in the coming decade, planetary science will expand beyond the narrow boundaries of our Solar System to encompass our whole Galaxy. In the next five years, ExoLights will address the following fundamental questions: – Why are exoplanets as they are? – What are the causes for the observed diversity? – Can their formation history be traced back from their current composition and evolution? New spectroscopic observations of a select sample of exoplanets’ atmospheres (~ 20 out of the 150 observable today) will be analysed with state-of-the art statistical techniques and interpreted through a comprehensive set of spectral retrieval models, developed by the PI and her team. This programme, together with the homogeneous re-analysis of archive observations of a larger sample of exoplanets, will allow us to use the chemical composition as a powerful diagnostic of the history, formation mechanisms and evolution of gaseous and rocky exoplanets.

Keywords: exoplanet spectroscopy,atmospheric modelling,radiative transfer,blind-source separation algorithms,space missions,exobiology
Neutrinos: a different portal to new physics Beyond the Standard Model (NUMASS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-05-01
End date: 2020-08-31
Duration (months): 76.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1702663.0
EU funding (EUR): 1702663.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In the past fifteen years, neutrino physics has revolutionised our understanding of particle physics. The discovery of neutrino oscillations implies that neutrinos have masses and mix: this is the only particle physics evidence of new physics beyond the Standard Model to date. Their origin remains a major challenge. The NuMass project will focus on new physics at low energy scales, below the one reachable at the LHC. This approach is opposite to widely studied Standard Model extensions, which invoke new physics at scales so high that they will never be tested directly, and orthogonal to TeV models accessible at the LHC. The NuMass idea is that new particles in Nature could be hidden away not because they are too heavy but because, although light, they interact too weakly with ordinary matter. Neutrinos are by far the least understood of the standard fermions: if new particles are indeed at low scales, below the electroweak one, a likely scenario is that they couple more strongly to neutrinos than to other standard particles, e.g. quarks. Therefore, neutrinos are a unique portal into low energy physics. The NuMass project will adopt a unique approach combining particle theory, phenomenology and cosmology. It will propose low energy extensions of the Standard Model and embed them in a consistent theory. It will study their signatures in experiments and their impact in the Early Universe. It will exploit the wide experimental programme, e.g. T2K, MicroBooNE, NOvA, GERDA, which will provide new data in the near future, to constrain the properties of the models. The NuMass ultimate goal is to unveil a new theory of particles and interactions at low energy: its success would be groundbreaking as it would open a completely new perspective on the fundamental laws of Nature. New theoretical challenges would arise to explain why the new sector is light, and new experimental ones to test the new particles and interactions, leading to new directions in particle physics.

Keywords: neutrinos,neutrino masses and mixing,physics beyond the standard model of particle physics,neutrino oscillations,neutrino experiments,neutrino cosmology,dark matter.
Advanced Coherent Ultrafast Laser Pulse Stacking (ACOPS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Countries involved: Germany,Germany
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-02-01
End date: 2019-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1881040.0
EU funding (EUR): 1881040.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

An important driver of scientific progress has always been the envisioning of applications far beyond existing technological capabilities. Such thinking creates new challenges for physicists, driven by the groundbreaking nature of the anticipated application. In the case of laser physics, one of these applications is laser wake-field particle acceleration and possible future uses thereof, such as in collider experiments, or for medical applications such as cancer treatment. To accelerate electrons and positrons to TeV-energies, a laser architecture is required that allows for the combination of high efficiency, Petawatt peak powers, and Megawatt average powers. Developing such a laser system would be a challenging task that might take decades of aggressive research, development, and, most important, revolutionary approaches and innovative ideas. The goal of the ACOPS project is to develop a compact, efficient, scalable, and cost-effective high-average and high-peak power ultra-short pulse laser concept. The proposed approach to this goal relies on the spatially and temporally separated amplification of ultrashort laser pulses in waveguide structures, followed by coherent combination into a single train of pulses with increased average power and pulse energy. This combination can be realized through the coherent addition of the output beams of spatially separated amplifiers, combined with the pulse stacking of temporally separated pulses in passive enhancement cavities, employing a fast-switching element as cavity dumper. Therefore, the three main tasks are the development of kW-class high-repetition-rate driving lasers, the investigation of non-steady state pulse enhancement in passive cavities, and the development of a suitable dumping element. If successful, the proposed concept would undoubtedly provide a tool that would allow researchers to surpass the current limits in high-field physics and accelerator science.

Keywords: ultrafast lasers,fiber lasers,cavity enhancement,scaling concepts,high repetition rate lasers,femtosecond lasers,coherent combination,particle acceleration,pulse stacking,cavity dumping