Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Many-body theory and computation of low-energy antimatter interactions with matter and light (ANTIMATTER)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Panel description: Particle, nuclear, plasma, atomic, molecular, gas, and optical physics
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2024-COG, 2024)
Start date: 2025-06-01
End date: 2030-05-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999562.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999562.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The ability of positrons to annihilate with atomic and molecular electrons forming characteristic gamma rays makes them a unique probe of matter, and gives them important use in medical imaging, astrophysics and materials science. Low-energy positron interactions with atoms and molecules are characterised by strong many-body correlations, including polarization of the electron cloud, screening of the Coulomb interaction, and the unique process of virtual-positronium formation (where a molecular electron temporarily tunnels to the positron). They have an overwhelming effect, causing binding, drastically modifying scattering properties, and enhancing annihilation rates by orders of magnitude. They also make the theoretical description of positron interactions with atoms and molecules a very challenging many-body problem. We will radically transform our state-of-the-art and unrivalled many-body theory approach in our EXCITON+ code [Nature, 606, 688 (2022)] to enable the highest-feasible accuracy and efficiency many-body theory description of antimatter-matter interactions, leveraging modern heterogenous high-performance computing to describe systems currently beyond reach of ab initio study. Predictive capability and the most accurate ab initio calculations of positron binding to atoms and molecules, and positron scattering on polyatomic molecules taking proper account of the correlations including virtual-positronium formation will be realized. Systems of interest will include DNA bases and molecules in aqueous solution relevant to positron emission tomography and positherapy, polyaromatic hydrocarbons found in the interstellar medium, and open-vacancy defects in materials. Moreover, the hitherto unexplored processes of positron-annihilation induced interatomic Coulomb decay and positron analogs of interatomic Coulomb electron capture will also be studied. The theory of antimatter-light-matter interactions will be developed.

Keywords: low energy antimatter positrons,positronium and antihydrogen many body theory light matter interactions scattering,excited states,electronic structure,computational physics,interatomic coulomb decay
Isotopic Signatures of Sulfur Cycling Organism Physiology and Ecology (ISoSCOPE)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced 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: Israel
Call: ERC ADVANCED GRANTS (ERC-2023-ADG, 2023)
Start date: 2024-10-01
End date: 2029-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2499928.0
EU funding (EUR): 2499928.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Dissimilatory S metabolisms impart large S and O isotope fractionations, which are modulated by a suite of (bio)chemical reactions and physical processes (i.e., diagenesis) and ultimately preserved in the reduced and oxidized products of sedimentary S cycling (e.g., pyrite, carbonate-associated sulfate). The multi-isotope composition of such compounds encodes valuable information about microbial activity, environmental conditions, and elemental cycles. Robust interpretation of these signals requires mechanistic understanding of both the metabolic isotope fractionation itself and the impacts of diagenesis on its ultimate preservation. Such understanding is currently limited by simplified models of isotopic fractionation in dissimilatory S metabolisms, and by difficulty in capturing spatio-temporally heterogeneous diagenesis in reaction-transport models. We pioneered metabolic-isotopic models (MIMs), which account for the thermodynamics and kinetics of enzymatic reactions and turn empirical multi-isotope correlations into causal relationships. Here, I propose to develop and apply novel, experimentally-validated MIMs of the three most ecologically important S metabolisms—sulfate reduction, reduced S oxidation, and S disproportionation. By embedding these MIMs in a hierarchy of ecosystem models of increasing dimensionality and sophistication, and comparing the results to microfluidic experiments and environmental data, we will gain quantitative, nuanced insight into: (i) the controls on multi-isotope fractionation in metabolic S cycling, (ii) its heterogeneous manifestation in aqueous and solid compounds, and (iii) the use of these compounds' isotopic compositions to robustly probe S cycling on microscopic to global scales, microenvironmental conditions, and depositional parameters, in both modern and ancient settings. With S as a test case, we blaze a path to similar treatment of the processes that govern the isotopic composition of many other natural materials.

Keywords: biogeochemical cycles,sulfur cycle,stable isotope fractionation
SOIL microbial fuel cells TO (2) POWER precise irrigation systems. (SOIL2POWER)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Transition
Destination: Open to supporting projects in all areas of science, technology,...
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: Spain,Slovakia,Netherlands
Call: EIC Transition Open 2022 (HORIZON-EIC-2022-TRANSITION-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-03-01
End date: 2026-02-28
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2499812.5
EU funding (EUR): 2499812.5
Participants: 5
Project status: SIGNED

Smart agriculture is determined to play a major role to foster water and energy conservation solutions, and innovation technologies should be aimed at overcoming current technical, economic, and sustainable barriers. The SOIL2POWER project focuses on developing a breakthrough power sourcing technology based in Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs), that leverage the natural microbial metabolism processes using organic matter present at the soil to generate electrical energy. The consortium will build a controlled electrogenic biofilm formation by immobilization techniques to increase overall biobattery performance, creating a continuous, clean, safe, and maintenance-free energy supply solution. By facing relevant challenges throughout the project, such as bacterial behavior, startup time conditions or electrode architecture an innovative biological battery of rapid start-up and stable high-power supply will be conducted to control irrigation valves without maintenance and replacement. Feasibility and validation of separate components have been already conducted through lab studies and will be the starting point to perform a continuous improvement development during the first stages of the project. Afterwards, a prototype will be tested in simulated environment by the end of year 2. If solution is validated with the whole functions up and running, during year 3 (2024-2025) a complete deployment of marketing and investment strategies will be performed, alongside operational environment validation to rate real performance based on real feedback from end-users. SOIL2POWER will contribute and ease the transition to develop novel technological solutions by boosting the innovation in clean energy solutions industry, strengthening human capital, biotechnological research innovatinos and eventually enabling the adoption of sustainable energy solutions in agricultural industry, paving the way to a sustainable precise irrigation systems for smart agriculture.

Keywords: keywords agricultural biotechnology,biological engineering,cell biology,microbiology
USES of novel Ultrasonic and Seismic Embedded Sensors for the non-destructive evaluation and structural health monitoring of critical infrastructure and human-built objects (USES2)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Doctoral Networks
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: France,Spain,Germany,Italy,United Kingdom,Belgium
Call: MSCA Doctoral Networks 2021 (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-DN-01, 2021)
Start date: 2023-03-01
End date: 2027-08-31
Duration (months): 54.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2989505.83
EU funding (EUR): 2657779.2
Participants: 23
Project status: SIGNED

Detecting degradation that endangers the safety and impairs availability of infrastructure and components is currently the task of schedule-driven Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE), this process is however costly and disruptive. The attractive alternative is to use condition based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). Current, SHM typically uses sensors that provide local information only, which may be insufficient for detecting interior degradation or require very dense networks. Furthermore, the performance of both in-situ sensing systems and algorithms to process and interpret the sensor data is reduced when subject to Environmental and Operational Conditions (EOC). This limits their large-scale deployment. USES2 will develop and combine novel emerging sensing technologies (optical fibre and wireless pieozoelectric sensors), advanced processing (compressed sensing, artificial intelligence) and full-mechanical-waveform-based imaging to tackle these issues. Key to this cross-disciplinary work is a new generation of researchers with skills across sensing and signal processing. They will be trained with a unique combination of “hands-on” multidisciplinary research demonstrators, industrial placements, and courses /workshops on scientific and transferable skills. All of which is facilitated by the broad intersectoral composition of the consortium. USES2 will produce world class researchers expert in innovative sensing solutions, advanced mechanical wave processing and robust EOC compensation methods. Their skills will be embodied in a series of laboratory demonstrators and in situ industrially relevant experiments spanning three key sectors of European industry: energy [power plants (nuclear, wind), hydrogen storage, pipeline networks for fuel exploration and transport], mobility for citizens (aircraft, automotive industry) and construction (urban subsurface soil, infrastructures).

Keywords: mechanical waves,ultrasonics,seismics,optical fibre,wireless,piezoelectric sensor,optoelectronic,imagery,concrete,composite,soil,structure,ambient noise,full waveform
Development of next-generation dissolution models for pharmaceutical tablets (ExplainDissolution)

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: United Kingdom
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-09-01
End date: 2027-11-30
Duration (months): 27.0
Total project cost (EUR): 292891.41
EU funding (EUR): 292891.41
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

The European pharmaceutical market is worth more than 200 billion euros, and a significant share of it comes from tablets, the most popular dosage form used to treat hundreds of millions of patients. The in vitro dissolution profile is used to characterize how the drug is released from tablets, indicating their effectiveness. However, an incomplete understanding of the effect of material attributes and process parameters on the dissolution profile of tablets has been the source of various quality problems for decades. These include product recalls that undermine the trust of patients in medicines and cause major financial loss. Therefore, the purpose of this proposal is to integrate advanced mechanistic modelling techniques to construct a next-generation modelling framework that predicts the dissolution profile of tablets. This will be realized by combining continuum-based modelling of tablet compression with discrete element method simulation of disintegration and population balance equation-based description of drug dissolution. The integration of these techniques requires an interdisciplinary approach and has not been done before. The resulting integrated model will consider the properties of the tablet components and the geometry of the tablet press to predict how the drug will be released from the tablet following administration. By applying this technique, we estimate that the drug development cycle can become 4-5% shorter and many quality issues can be prevented. The Fellow will undertake a non-academic placement at Pion Inc. to access state-of-the-art dissolution testing equipment with in situ UV probes for real-time concentration measurement. During the project, the Fellow will gain familiarity with the mechanistic modelling techniques described above. Combining this new knowledge with his expertise in empirical dissolution modelling will enable the Fellow to pursue an ambitious research programme in the future, greatly enhancing his academic career.

Keywords: tableting dissolution testing disintegration powders mechanistic modelling quality assurance
Effect of insulin and feed/fast cycle on vaccine efficacy and safety. (IMEIV)

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: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Belgium
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-10-01
End date: 2026-03-31
Duration (months): 30.0
Total project cost (EUR): 175920.0
EU funding (EUR): 175920.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Though it has long been known that activated lymphoid cells upregulate insulin receptors, the functional relevance of insulin signalling in immune cells has only recently begun to be explored. This includes the recent finding that insulin-stimulated activation in the PI3K/Akt/mTOR promotes immunometabolic reprogramming of T cells, thereby promoting antigen-specific immunity. Similarly, in liver cells, insulin receptors have been shown to translocate to the nucleus where they participate in regulating genes involved in viral response and epitope presentation. What's more, various lines of evidence have implicated inulin signalling in the development of coagulopathies, via its effect on the expression of cytokines, complement and clotting factors, whiles also affecting platelets and endothelium. Taken together, these and other observations implicate an under-appreciated immune-regulatory function of insulin. Yet, even basic questions regarding insulin signalling in immune cells (e.g., do T cells develop insulin resistance?) are currently unknown. In the proposed study, we will investigate the effect of insulin signalling in immune and non-immune cells to evaluate the impact of insulin signalling on these immune-related functions. Firstly, we will leverage publicly available proteome and transcriptome data to re-interrogate these data sets from an immunological perspective. Complimenting these activities, we will also conduct detailed cell culture experiments to evaluate the effect of (a) does and (b) duration of insulin on the release of clotting factors, cytokines and complement, as well as immune cell activation and polarization. Finally, we will conduct a vaccine trial on a rodent model to evaluate the effect of insulin on vaccine efficacy. Beyond T1D and T2D, these findings will also impact diabetic care in organ transplant, gestational diabetes and the development of pre-eclampsia, immunotherapies, and intensive insulin therapy in critical/intensive care.

Keywords: vaccine,immunology,insulin
Understanding and fighting inequity in education: breaking the cycle between socioeconomic disadvantage, low confidence, and resignation. (EMANCIPATE)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Individuals, Markets and Organisations
Panel description: Economics, finance , management
Countries involved: France
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2021-STG, 2021)
Start date: 2022-03-01
End date: 2027-02-28
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1455750.0
EU funding (EUR): 1455750.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Equity in education is a central and long-standing concern of countries around the world. Despite significant amounts of public resources invested over several decades towards disadvantaged children, the relationship between education outcomes and personal circumstances remains persistently strong in most countries. The objectives of my project EMANCIPATE is to make progress in our understanding of why there is such persistent social inequity in education. I will explore a new channel: perceptions and beliefs resulting from social stereotypes and leading to low confidence, lack of hope, and discouragement. I argue that how students perceive their capacity and the likelihood that they will succeed is an important driver of their motivation and effort, which might be just as important for academic performance as external factors such as class size or teacher salaries. Self-perceptions and anticipations may thus be one way social disadvantage perpetuates itself. The key questions that I will address are whether socioeconomic status creates low confidence, lack of hope, and resignation, whether this affects downstream educational attainment, labour market outcomes, and individual welfare, and how this negative feedback loop can be broken. EMANCIPATE will advance this research in three steps. First, I will use international assessment tools on nationally representative samples of adolescents to test the accuracy of their self-perceptions and anticipations, and the existence and scope of the resignation mindset. Second, I will use two interventions aimed at reducing the resignation mindset to examine its long-term impacts on educational attainment, labour market outcomes, and individual welfare. Third, I will develop and test two interventions targeting the main actors of the education system: the teachers and the parents, to foster students’ self-confidence, hope, and motivation, and ultimately reduce the achievement gap between disadvantaged and advantaged students.

Keywords: social inequality in education mindset aspirations self confidence randomized controlled trials
Dynamical Response of Entangled Quantum Matter (DynaQuant)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Condensed Matter Physics
Panel description: Structure, electronic properties, fluids, nanosciences, biological physics
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2024-COG, 2024)
Start date: 2025-12-01
End date: 2030-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1998750.0
EU funding (EUR): 1998750.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The interplay of correlations and quantum fluctuations in condensed matter can give rise to topological phases with unexpected and exciting properties. While originally proposed for fractional quantum Hall states, recently new opportunities arose for realizing and controlling topological order: Quantum computers have demonstrated the fascinating fractionalized statistics of topological excitations and moiré semiconductors have appeared as promising candidates for realizing topological order. However, it remains an important open challenge to understand the dynamical response of such entangled matter, both on the fundamental level as well as for providing key experimental signatures that characterize these phases. The central focus of the project DynaQuant is to develop new concepts and new theoretical methods to study the dynamical response of topological quantum states. The project has three principal objectives each of which would represent a major contribution to the field: (O1) To introduce new dynamical probes tailored toward emerging experimental platforms that enable the detection of unique signatures of equilibrium phases with topological order. (O2) To demonstrate the response of pristine nonequilibrium phases with Floquet topological order that do not possess analogues in thermal equilibrium. (O3) To develop novel tensor network approaches for fracton topological order and investigate the collective dynamics of their excitations. To successfully meet our ambitious objectives, my team and I will develop complementary analytical and numerical approaches. This allows us to understand fundamental dynamical properties of entangled quantum matter and to guide future experiments. Due to the international effort in developing experimental platforms for realizing topological order, it is now the right time to foster a deep understanding of their dynamical response, which is the central goal of the project DynaQuant.

Keywords: strongly correlated many body systems,tensor network states,quantum phases with topological order both in and out of thermal equilibrium,fractional chern insulators,quantum spin liquids,fracton quantum matter,moire semiconductor heterostructures of transition metal dichacogenides tmds,noisy intermediate scale quantum nisq devices