Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
4D Breast Imaging for Personalized Breast Cancer Treatment (BREAST4D)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases
Panel description: Medical technologies and tools for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases, therapeutic approaches and interventions, pharmacology, preventative medicine, epidemiology and public health, digital medicine
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2019-COG, 2019)
Start date: 2020-06-01
End date: 2025-05-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2308393.0
EU funding (EUR): 2308393.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

The next major step forward in the fight against breast cancer will be the introduction of personalized treatment. Such a precision medicine approach would maximize the rate of complete response, minimize ineffective therapy and morbidity, and eliminate the need for localized breast cancer surgery. To achieve this, I will create a novel functional imaging modality, 4D dynamic contrast enhanced dedicated breast computed tomography (4D DCE-BCT), capable of characterizing every different genomic, molecular, and physiologic region present in a breast tumor. 4D DCE-BCT will involve putting together the hardware necessary for the continuous acquisition of x-ray breast projections with advanced techniques, for a period of minutes. Combined with new image reconstruction, correction, and processing algorithms, these acquisitions will result in quantitatively accurate 4D images of breast perfusion, with voxels thousands of times smaller, and a temporal resolution 27x and a limiting spatial resolution 6x higher than those in current imaging modalities. Radiomics-based analysis of these images will allow me to fully identify and characterize the tumor heterogeneity, known to result in regions with different therapy resistance. Complete characterization of the tumor will allow for optimal neoadjuvant treatment planning, maximizing the probability of achieving pathologic complete response (pCR) and minimizing the risk of recurrence. Due to its relative affordability and safety, the use of 4D DCE-BCT for treatment response monitoring throughout treatment will be possible, making treatment adjustments possible, if needed. Finally, I envision that 4D DCE-BCT will be able to predict and determine that pCR is achieved, making surgery to excise any remnant viable tumor cells unnecessary. The next era in breast cancer treatment is patient-specific care. The advanced imaging developed and introduced in this project will usher in this new era.

Keywords: breast cancer,computed tomography,x rays
Molecular analysis of the properties of human Arp2/3 complex family members (MolecularArp)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Standard European Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2020, 2020)
Start date: 2021-04-01
End date: 2023-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 212933.76
EU funding (EUR): 212933.76
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The actin cytoskeleton is a dynamic polymer system, that provides the driving force and structural support for the physical integrity of cells, and their interactions. It also regulates many essential cellular processes, such as membrane trafficking and cell migration. Not surprisingly, its malfunction results in a wide variety of syndromes and diseases. Branched actin networks can only be assembled by the Arp2/3 complex, consisting of seven protein subunits. Activated by nucleation promoting factors (NPFs), Arp2/3 binds to the side of an actin filament to initiate an actin branch and new filament growth. Arp2/3 has been regarded as a single entity, but in mammals, three of its subunits exist as two isoforms, thus allowing the formation of 8 different complexes. Recent work demonstrates that the 8 human Arp2/3 complexes have unique cellular properties. However, it is unclear why these complexes are so different and whether they have distinct cellular functions. Using in vitro biochemical assays and single molecule analysis together with sophisticated cell biology approaches, I will determine the molecular basis for the individual properties of the different Arp2/3 complexes. Observing in vitro reconstituted actin networks, I will perform a detailed analysis of the actin nucleation properties of the 8 Arp2/3 complexes and the impact of different NPFs. In addition, I will also analyse actin branch disassembly to uncover the molecular basis of actin debranching, which still remains to be established. To investigate the cellular function of individual Arp2/3 family members, I will generate genome edited cells expressing defined Arp2/3 complexes and examine their lamellipodial actin dynamics and cell migration. Moreover, by generating Arp2/3 complex specific biosensors, I will map the cellular distribution of individual Arp2/3 complexes. My combined approaches will allow me to understand the molecular and cellular basis of Arp2/3 diversity in humans.

Keywords: actin dynamics,arp2,3 complex,branched actin networks,cell migration
Symplectic Measurements and Hamiltonian Dynamics (SYMPLECTIC)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Mathematics
Panel description: All areas of mathematics, pure and applied, plus mathematical foundations of computer science, mathematical physics and statistics
Countries involved: Israel
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2014-STG, 2014)
Start date: 2015-03-01
End date: 2022-02-28
Duration (months): 84.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1221921.0
EU funding (EUR): 1221921.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Symplectic geometry combines a broad spectrum of interrelated disciplines lying in the mainstream of modern mathematics. The past two decades have given rise to several exciting developments in this field, which introduced new mathematical tools and opened challenging new questions. Nowadays symplectic geometry reaches out to an amazingly wide range of areas, such as differential and algebraic geometry, complex analysis, dynamical systems, as well as quantum mechanics, and string theory. Moreover, symplectic geometry serves as a basis for Hamiltonian dynamics, a discipline providing efficient tools for modeling a variety of physical and technological processes, such as orbital motion of satellites (telecommunication and GPS navigation), and propagation of light in optical fibers (with significant applications to medicine). The proposed research is composed of several innovative studies in the frontier of symplectic geometry and Hamiltonian dynamics, which are of highly significant interest in both fields. These studies have strong interactions on a variety of topics that lie at the heart of contemporary symplectic geometry, such as symplectic embedding questions, the geometry of Hofer’s metric, Lagrangian intersection problems, and the theory of symplectic capacities. My research objectives are twofold. First, to solve the open research questions described below, which I consider to be pivotal in the field. Some of these questions have already been studied intensively, and progress toward solving them would be of considerable significance. Second, some of the studies in this proposal are interdisciplinary by nature, and use symplectic tools in order to address major open questions in other fields, such as the famous Mahler conjecture in convex geometry. My goal is to deepen the connections between symplectic geometry and these fields, thus creating a powerful framework that will allow the consideration of questions currently unattainable.
2 for 1: Quantum Dynamics of Singlet Fission (2for1-SingletFission)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Standard European Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Chemistry
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2016-10-05
End date: 2018-10-04
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 195454.8
EU funding (EUR): 195454.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The generation of renewable energy is of paramount importance as we move toward a low carbon economy. Solar cells represent a partial solution to this problem, and there has already been significant uptake of these technologies globally. In the proposed project we will study a quantum mechanical process which occurs in organic semiconductors called singlet fission (SF). Put simply this process involves a molecule absorbing a photon, and the resulting electron-hole pair ‘sharing’ its energy with a neighbouring molecule, to produce two electron-hole pairs. As such, SF has the potential to double the electrical current generated by these molecules from sunlight. While it has been studied since the 1960s, new experimental techniques developed in the host laboratory have recently lead to breakthroughs in our understanding of SF. The aim is of this project is to understand the intricacies of SF so that it can be exploited to achieve dramatic increases in device efficiencies. This will be achieved using a two-pronged approach to the problem. The first is the use of newly developed ultrafast spectroscopic techniques to understand the fundamental aspects of SF. The host group is world-renowned for using spectroscopy to produce breakthroughs in our understanding of organic electronics and quantum chemistry. The second will leverage the applicant’s background in physical chemistry to engineer SF systems with control on a molecular length scale. By combining these two innovations the project is expected to produce important results for the research community. These results will enhance our understanding of SF, with a view to exploit the process in real-world devices. We will elucidate the vibronic nature of intermolecular electronic processes with an unprecedented level of sensitivity. This has broader implications for our fundamental understanding of molecular physics, and the work will be a step toward an overarching picture of multi-molecular excitonic processes.

Keywords: singlet fission,ultrafast spectroscopy,photovoltaic solar cells
SPatial variability and Implications of the Timing of FIsh Responses to the Environment (SPITFIRE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Standard European Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Norway
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2018-11-01
End date: 2020-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 208400.4
EU funding (EUR): 208400.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Prediction of fish production is hindered by the lack of high-resolved data, and the complexity of the bio-physical systems affecting fish survival. A key factor determining the survival of larval fish is the relationship between predator recruitment and prey-predator overlap (match-mismatch hypothesis, MMH). MMH thus offers a mechanistic explanation for the fluctuations in fish recruitment, i.e. the number of fish entering the fishery. However, little is known about how MMH mechanistically explains population and ecosystem dynamics across species and regions. Therefore, the main goal of SPITFIRE is to quantify the ability of an improved MMH to globally explain fish dynamics, by acknowledging the roles of zooplankton (animal-like drifters, not just phytoplankton, plant-like drifters), space and mismatch. The data needed to achieve SPITFIRE objectives include long-term phytoplankton, zooplankton, fish distributions and their annual mean timings from a specific location (work package 1), and the Atlantic and the Pacific basins (work packages 1 and 2). All components necessary for project success are in-hand both through the collaborative network of experts already established and data resources via participants providing insight into MMH dynamics, fish life-history dynamics, oceanography, and both the Atlantic and the Pacific ecosystems. By comparing predator-prey relationships, SPITFIRE will help answer the major question in fish ecology and management – what determines fish recruitment? – and thus lead to better management of marine resources. The training-through-research, unique set of transferable skills and intellectual, methodological and interdisciplinary training that I will gain from this project are the essential skills I need to become a leading marine scientist. By building a robust research profile, I can ensure that professional independence to build my own lab will be a sound foundation when pursuing research positions and grants, such as ERC Grants.

Keywords: match mismatch,overlap,fish survival,phenology,satellite ocean colour,fish recruitment,plankton dynamics,fisheries
CryoBiopsy: a bi-modal temperature sample preservation device for standardized breast cancer biopsy (CryoBiopsy)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Health, demographic change and wellbeing
Theme: Treating and managing disease
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Israel
Call: Supporting innovative SMEs in the healthcare biotechnology sector (H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017, 2016)
Start date: 2017-02-01
End date: 2017-05-31
Duration (months): 4.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Biopsy is commonly used in medicine and clinical research for diagnosis and characterization of cancer and other diseases. Traditionally, the tissue sample obtained is preserved by fixation with formalin and analysed histologically by a pathologist. However, current advances in biomedicine make an increased use of sophisticated molecular technologies which, rather than looking at the tissue morphology, analyse changes in specific molecules active in cellular pathways (biomarkers). These technologies require tissue that has not been compromised by the traditional biopsy fixation with formalin. Sorek Medical Systems Ltd. is a 16-year-old R&D company focused on researching, developing and producing high-tech diagnostic medical devices. Sorek's objective in this project is to develop and market a device for breast cancer biopsy which optimizes tissue sample acquisition, handling and preservation. Sorek's innovative solution, unique in the market, solves the problem of sample processing standardization and generates a sample ready for biomarker analysis, among other advantages. Sorek's biopsy devices will be used by radiologists and surgeons, and by pharmaceutical companies seeking the development of biomarker-targeting drugs with the goal of improving cancer diagnostics and the practice of personalized medicine. The innovation is of critical importance to the further development of the company, as it will reinforce its position and help us grow in an area with such huge potential as breast cancer diagnostic devices. The objective of this project is to perform a feasibility study of the technical, commercial, and financial perspectives of Sorek's proprietary differential temperature preservation technology including, among others, analysis of additional R+D necessary, certifications and standardizations required by the industry, regulatory environment and patentability, and commercial strategy involving our present and future commercial partners.

Keywords: cryobiopsy,cancer diagnosis,drug discovery
Speed-Information Tradeoffs: Beyond Quasi-Entropy Analysis (SpeedInfTradeoff)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Computer science and informatics
Panel description: Informatics and information systems, computer science, scientific computing, intelligent systems
Countries involved: Israel
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2015-CoG, 2015)
Start date: 2016-06-01
End date: 2022-05-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1515801.0
EU funding (EUR): 1515801.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The starting point of this research proposal is a recent result by the PI, making progress in a half century old, notoriously open problem. In the mid 1960’s, Tukey and Cooley discovered the Fast Fourier Transform, an algorithm for performing one of the most important linear transformations in science and engineering, the (discrete) Fourier transform, in time complexity O(n log n). In spite of its importance, a super-linear lower bound has been elusive for many years, with only very limited results. Very recently the PI managed to show that, roughly speaking, a faster Fourier transform must result in information loss, in the form of numerical accuracy. The result can be seen as a type of computational uncertainty principle, whereby faster computation increases uncertainty in data. The mathematical argument is established by defining a type of matrix quasi-entropy, generalizing Shannon’s measure of information (entropy) to “quasi-probabilities” (which can be negative, more than 1, or even complex). This result, which is not believed to be tight, does not close the book on Fourier complexity. More importantly, the vision proposed by the PI here reaches far beyond Fourier computation. The computation-information tradeoff underlying the result suggests a novel view of complexity theory as a whole. We can now revisit some classic complexity theoretical problems with a fresh view. Examples of these problems include better understanding of the complexity of polynomial multiplication, integer multiplication, auto-correlation and cross-correlation computation, dimensionality reduction via the Fast Johnson-Linednstrauss Transform (FJLT; also discovered and developed by the PI), large scale linear algebra (linear regression, Principal Component Analysis - PCA, compressed sensing, matrix multiplication) as well as binary functions such as integer multiplication.

Keywords: fourier transform,lower bounds
Precision measurments of quantum transitions in exotic atoms (QUARTET)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Standard European Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Physics
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2020, 2020)
Start date: 2021-04-01
End date: 2023-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 203149.44
EU funding (EUR): 203149.44
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Based on our understanding of the universe, we, who are made of matter, should not exist. This is due to the fact that the subatomic world is largely indifferent between matter and antimatter, predicting that they would be created in almost equal amounts in a big-bang scenario, and subsequently annihilate to form pure energy. This conundrum is called the baryon asymmetry problem. It is one of the major and most pressing unsolved questions in science today. One way of addressing this problem is to look for deviations between precision measurements and Standard Model predictions. However, a major limitation arises in the stage of comparison with theory due to nuclear-structure effects. Conducting measurements with exotic atoms overcomes this limitation, either by comparing measured properties between atoms and anti-atoms directly with no input from theory, or by measuring systems composed of particles with no internal structure. QUARTET - Quantum transitions in exotic atoms, will pursue both directions through two complementary experimental campaigns: 1. Muonium spectroscopy using the most intense low-energy muon beam at PSI. 2. Antihydrogen spectroscopy using the most intense low-energy proton beam at the ELENA beamline at CERN. QUARTET will focus on transitions in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum, namely the classical Lamb-Shift, which for Antihydrogen has an added value: If no difference between matter and its counterpart is observed, this measurement will provide the first determination of the antiproton charge radius.

Keywords: exotic atoms,microwave spectroscopy,anti matter research,muonium,low energy particles physics,qed test,anti hydrogen
Developing and delivering neurocomputational models to bridge between brain and mind. (BRAIN2MIND_NEUROCOMP)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Panel description: Cognitive science, psychology, linguistics, theoretical philosophy
Countries involved: United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2014-ADG, 2014)
Start date: 2016-01-01
End date: 2021-12-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2294781.0
EU funding (EUR): 1668004.08
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

The promise of cognitive neuroscience is truly exciting – to link mind and brain in order to reveal the neural basis of higher cognitive functions. This is crucial, scientifically, if we are to understand the nature of mental processes and how they arise from neural machinery but also, clinically, if we are to establish the basis of neurological patients’ impairments, their clinical management and treatment. Cognitive-clinical neuroscience depends on three ingredients: (a) investigating complex mental behaviours and the underlying cognitive processes; (b) mapping neural systems and their function; and (c) methods and tools that can bridge the gap between brain and mental behaviour. Experimental psychology and behavioural neurology has delivered the first component. In vivo neuroimaging and other allied technologies allow us to probe and map neural systems, their connectivity and neurobiological responses. The principal aim of this ERC Advanced grant is to secure, for the first time, the crucial third ingredient – the methods and tools for bridging systematically between cognitive science and systems neuroscience. The grant will be based on two main activities: (i) convergence of methods – instead of employing each neuroscience and cognitive method independently, they will be planned and executed simultaneously to force a convergence of results; and (ii) development of a new type of neurocomputational model - to provide a novel formalism for bridging between brain and cognition. Computational models are used in cognitive science to mimic normal and impaired behaviour. Such models also have an as-yet untapped potential to connect neuroanatomy and cognition: latent in every model is a kind of brain-mind duality – each model is based on a computational architecture which generates behaviour. We will retain the ability to simulate detailed cognitive behaviour but simultaneously make the models’ architecture reflect systems-level neuroanatomy and function.

Keywords: aphasiology,pdp computational models,probabilistic mr tractography,fmri,stroke aphasia