Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Active Wind Farms: Optimization and Control of Atmospheric Energy Extraction in Gigawatt Wind Farms (ACTIVEWINDFARMS)

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: Belgium
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-10-01
End date: 2017-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499241.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499241.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

With the recognition that wind energy will become an important contributor to the world’s energy portfolio, several wind farms with a capacity of over 1 gigawatt are in planning phase. In the past, engineering of wind farms focused on a bottom-up approach, in which atmospheric wind availability was considered to be fixed by climate and weather. However, farms of gigawatt size slow down the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) as a whole, reducing the availability of wind at turbine hub height. In Denmark’s large off-shore farms, this leads to underperformance of turbines which can reach levels of 40%–50% compared to the same turbine in a lone-standing case. For large wind farms, the vertical structure and turbulence physics of the flow in the ABL become crucial ingredients in their design and operation. This introduces a new set of scientific challenges related to the design and control of large wind farms. The major ambition of the present research proposal is to employ optimal control techniques to control the interaction between large wind farms and the ABL, and optimize overall farm-power extraction. Individual turbines are used as flow actuators by dynamically pitching their blades using time scales ranging between 10 to 500 seconds. The application of such control efforts on the atmospheric boundary layer has never been attempted before, and introduces flow control on a physical scale which is currently unprecedented. The PI possesses a unique combination of expertise and tools enabling these developments: efficient parallel large-eddy simulations of wind farms, multi-scale turbine modeling, and gradient-based optimization in large optimization-parameter spaces using adjoint formulations. To ensure a maximum impact on the wind-engineering field, the project aims at optimal control, experimental wind-tunnel validation, and at including multi-disciplinary aspects, related to structural mechanics, power quality, and controller design.

Keywords: wind energy,atmospheric boundary layer,large-eddy simulation,optimal control
Fractals, algebraic dynamics and metric number theory (FRACTALSANDMETRICNT)

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: Israel
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-10-01
End date: 2018-09-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1107000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1107000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

We propose to study the fractal geometry of invariant sets for endomorphisms of compact abelian groups, specifically a family of conjectures by Furstenberg on the dimensions of orbit closures under such dynamics, and on the size of sums and intersections of invariant sets. These conjectures are related to problems on expansion in integer bases, in Diophantine approximation, measure rigidity, analysis and equidistribution. The project focuses on the conjectures themselves and some related problems, e.g. Bernoulli convolutions, and on applications to equidistribution on tori. Our approach combines tools from ergodic theory, geometric measure theory and additive combinatorics, building on recent progress in these fields and recent partial results towards the main conjectures.

Keywords: fractal geometry equidistribution additive combinatorics
A quantum leap: from a spike-centered brain universe to its underlying synaptic landscape (BRAINLEAP)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Destination: Future and Emerging Technologies
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Belgium,Israel,Netherlands,Germany,Italy,France
Call:  (FP7-ICT-2011-C, 2011)
Start date: 2013-02-01
End date: 2016-07-31
Duration (months): 42.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3286599.0
EU funding (EUR): 2478350.0
Participants: 6
Project status: CLOSED

The richness of high-level cognitive and adaptive properties of the brain is reflected in the complexity of its anatomy and (electro)physiology. At the cellular level, evolution privileged for the central nervous system an analog distributed information storage and encoding, by plastic (graded) synapses and by their continuous temporal and spatial integration into firing rates. Beyond all-or-none action potentials, subthreshold synaptic and membrane electric activity in neurons disclose the details of single-neuron computations, neuronal identity and role, information processing and synaptic readout, as well as history-dependent dynamics of excitability and synaptic efficacy. The long-term experimental access to subthreshold activity of many neurons simultaneously, during behaviour and cognition, is then a requirement for the ultimate understanding of brain functions, its reverse engineering, as well as an unexplored alternative for neuroprosthetics. Project BRAINLEAP develops a breakthrough, revolutionary technological approach to explore cognition and plasticity in cortical neuronal networks, and preliminary applies it in vitro and in awake behaving rodents and primates. BRAINLEAP will enable simultaneous, long-term, and independent recording and stimulation of the electrical activity from hundreds of individual mammalian neurons, with a quality that in practice matches the intracellular configuration. By allowing one to record (and stimulate) for very long times, synaptic- and action-potentials from individual neurons, in the context of specific sensorimotor integration tasks, the leap we propose might ultimately shift current paradigms and theories, from spike-centred computation to its underlying subthreshold synaptic potentials computation.

Keywords: neuroengineering,cortical neurobiology,spike,intracellular recordings,extracellular electrodes,multielectrode arrays,microtechnology,microfabrication,brain-machine interfacing
Quantum Communication and Cryptography (QCC)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Computer science and informatics
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2013-05-01
End date: 2018-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 980640.0
EU funding (EUR): 980640.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Quantum Information Processing has the potential to revolutionize the future of information technologies. My long-term vision is a network of quantum and classical devices, where individual agents have the ability to communicate efficiently in a variety of ways with trusted and untrusted parties and securely delegate computational tasks to a number of untrusted large-scale quantum computing servers. In such an interconnected world, the notion of security against malicious adversaries is an imperative. In addition, the interaction between agents must remain efficient and it is important to provide the agents with incentives for honest behaviour. The realization of such a complex network of classical and quantum communication must rely on a solid theoretical foundation that nevertheless is able to foresee and handle the intricacies of real-life implementations. The targeted breakthrough of this proposal is to set the benchmark, both theoretically as well as experimentally, of some necessary communication components for such a hybrid network. The concrete objectives of our project are to: design novel cryptographic primitives as a powerful quantum mechanical toolkit for the quantum network infrastructure; study quantum communication and games in order to minimize the communication overhead and guarantee the honest behaviour of rational agents; enhance the understanding of the fundamentals of quantum mechanics and of classical complexity theory through the lens of quantum information and cryptography; study the security of cryptographic primitives in realistic conditions and use state-of-the-art photonic systems to implement complex cryptographic primitives. An ERC Starting Grant will enable me to reach the above objectives through the creation and coordination of an independent quantum cryptography group that will raise the level of competence and competitiveness of the EU and will provide methods and applications essential for the future of information technology.

Keywords: quantum interaction,quantum crypto,quantum communication complexity,quantum game theory,quantum protocols in realistic conditions,implementation of quantum crypto primitives
Predictive modelling and simulation in mechano-chemo-biology: a computer multi-approach (INSILICO-CELL)

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: Spain
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-11-01
End date: 2018-05-31
Duration (months): 67.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1299082.5
EU funding (EUR): 1299082.5
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Living tissues are regulated by multi-cellular collectives mediated at cellular level through complex interactions between mechanical and biochemical factors. A further understanding of these mechanisms could provide new insights in the development of therapies and diagnosis techniques, reducing animal experiments. I propose a combined and complementary methodology to advance in the knowledge of how cells interact with each other and with the environment to produce the large-scale organization typical of tissues. I will couple in-silico and in-vitro models for investigating the micro-fabrication of tissues in-vitro using a 3D multicellular environment. By computational cell-based modelling of tissue development, I will use a multiscale and multiphysics approach to investigate various key factors: how environmental conditions (mechanical and biochemical) drive cell behaviour, how individual cell behaviour produces multicellular patterns, how cells respond to the multicellular environment, how cells are able to fabricate new tissues and how cell-matrix interactions affect these processes. In-vitro experiments will be developed to validate numerical models, determine their parameters, improve their hypotheses and help designing new experiments. The in-vitro experiments will be performed in a microfluidic platform capable of controlling biochemical and mechanical conditions in a 3D environment. This research will be applied in three applications, where the role of environment conditions is important and the main biological events are cell migration, cell-matrix and cell-cell interactions: bone regeneration, wound healing and angiogenesis.

Keywords: multiscale and multiphysics modelling,continuum and discrete modelling,cell rheology,collective cell migration in 3d,tissue remodelling,microfluidic
Holography for the LHC era (HOLOLHC)

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: Spain
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-10-01
End date: 2017-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1419424.0
EU funding (EUR): 1419424.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

With the advent of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), particle and nuclear physics have entered a new era. Heavy ion collisions at the LHC have already begun to provide new insights into the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) phase of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). The beam energy scan program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) will explore part of the rich phase diagram of QCD at finite baryon density. Proton-proton collisions at the LHC will uncover the mechanism responsible for electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB). Much of the physics involved in these experiments is, or may turn out to be, strongly coupled. Making contact with experiment thus requires a theoretical understanding of strongly coupled gauge dynamics. This project aims at using the gauge/string duality to make essential contributions to our understanding of: (i) Out-of-equilbrium dynamics of the QGP, in particular of the thermalization process; (ii) The QCD phase diagram, in particular of color superconducting phases; (iii) Strongly coupled dynamics potentially relevant for EWSB, in particular of walking dynamics. These three main objectives are interconnected by two horizontal lines: (i) Identification of universal observables, which hold the best potential to make contact with experiment, and (ii) Communication with other fields, which is crucial for the success of such an interdisciplinary proposal.

Keywords: gauge/gravity duality,ads/cft,rhic,lhc,quark-gluon plasma,qcd phase diagram,electroweak symmetry breaking,technicolor.
A First Principles Approach to Accretion Discs (1ST-PRINCIPLES-DISCS)

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: Denmark
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2013-02-01
End date: 2018-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1793697.0
EU funding (EUR): 1793697.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Most celestial bodies, from planets, to stars, to black holes; gain mass during their lives by means of an accretion disc. Understanding the physical processes that determine the rate at which matter accretes and energy is radiated in these discs is vital for unraveling the formation, evolution, and fate of almost every type of object in the Universe. Despite the fact that magnetic fields have been known to be crucial in accretion discs since the early 90’s, the majority of astrophysical questions that depend on the details of how disc accretion proceeds are still being addressed using the “standard” accretion disc model (developed in the early 70’s), where magnetic fields do not play an explicit role. This has prevented us from fully exploring the astrophysical consequences and observational signatures of realistic accretion disc models, leading to a profound disconnect between observations (usually interpreted with the standard paradigm) and modern accretion disc theory and numerical simulations (where magnetic turbulence is crucial). The goal of this proposal is to use several complementary approaches in order to finally move beyond the standard paradigm. This program has two main objectives: 1) Develop the theoretical framework to incorporate magnetic fields, and the ensuing turbulence, into self-consistent accretion disc models, and investigate their observational implications. 2) Investigate transport and radiative processes in collision-less disc regions, where non-thermal radiation originates, by employing a kinetic particle description of the plasma. In order to achieve these goals, we will use, and build upon, state-of-the-art magnetohydrodynamic and particle-in-cell codes in conjunction with theoretical modeling. This framework will make it possible to address fundamental questions on stellar and planet formation, binary systems with a compact object, and supermassive black hole feedback in a way that has no counterpart within the standard paradigm.

Keywords: accretion discs,turbulence,magnetohydrodynamics,particle-in-cell,radiative processes note: these keywords characterize my proposal more accurately,please give them priority over the erc keywords
Engineering Solutions for Back Pain: Simulation of Patient Variance (BACKTOBACK)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-12-01
End date: 2018-11-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1498777.0
EU funding (EUR): 1498777.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Back pain affects eight out of ten adults during their lifetime. It a huge economic burden on society, estimated to cost as much as 1-2% of gross national product in several European countries. Treatments for back pain have lower levels of success and are not as technologically mature as those for other musculoskeletal disorders such as hip and knee replacement. This application proposes to tackle one of the major barriers to the development of better surgical treatments for back pain. At present, new spinal devices are commonly assessed in isolation in the laboratory under standardised conditions that do not represent the variation across the patient population. Consequently many interventions have failed during clinical trials or have proved to have poor long term success rates. Using a combination of computational and experimental models, a new testing methodology will be developed that will enable the variation between patients to be simulated for the first time. This will enable spinal implants and therapies to be more robustly evaluated across a virtual patient population prior to clinical trial. The tools developed will be used in collaboration with clinicians and basic scientists to develop and, crucially, optimise new treatments that reduce back pain whilst preserving the unique functions of the spine. If successful, this approach could be translated to evaluate and optimise emerging minimally invasive treatments in other joints such as the hip and knee. Research in the spine could then, for the first time, lead rather than follow that undertaken in other branches of orthopaedics.

Keywords: biomedical engineering,computational modelling,orthopaedics,medical device design
Multi-field and multi-scale Computational Approach to design and durability of PhotoVoltaic Modules (CA2PVM)

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: Italy,Italy
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-12-01
End date: 2017-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1483980.0
EU funding (EUR): 1483980.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Photovoltaics (PV) based on Silicon (Si) semiconductors is one the most growing technology in the World for renewable, sustainable, non-polluting, widely available clean energy sources. Theoretical and applied research aims at increasing the conversion efficiency of PV modules and their lifetime. The Si crystalline microstructure has an important role on both issues. Grain boundaries introduce additional resistance and reduce the conversion efficiency. Moreover, they are prone to microcracking, thus influencing the lifetime. At present, the existing standard qualification tests are not sufficient to provide a quantitative definition of lifetime, since all the possible failure mechanisms are not accounted for. In this proposal, an innovative computational approach to design and durability assessment of PV modules is put forward. The aim is to complement real tests by virtual (numerical) simulations. To achieve a predictive stage, a challenging multi-field (multi-physics) computational approach is proposed, coupling the nonlinear elastic field, the thermal field and the electric field. To model real PV modules, an adaptive multi-scale and multi-field strategy will be proposed by introducing error indicators based on the gradients of the involved fields. This numerical approach will be applied to determine the upper bound to the probability of failure of the system. This statistical assessment will involve an optimization analysis that will be efficiently handled by a Mathematica-based hybrid symbolic-numerical framework. Standard and non-standard experimental testing on Si cells and PV modules will also be performed to complement and validate the numerical approach. The new methodology based on the challenging integration of advanced physical and mathematical modelling, innovative computational methods and non-standard experimental techniques is expected to have a significant impact on the design, qualification and lifetime assessment of complex PV systems.

Keywords: computational engineering,multi-physics modelling,multi-scale modelling,interface mechanical problems,photovoltaics,microcracking,durability
Middle Infrared Broadly Tunable Compact Cavity-Less Source based on Parametric Conversion (MATISSE)

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: Switzerland
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2013-02-01
End date: 2018-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499972.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499972.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The middle-infrared (Mid-IR) is a core band for molecular detection and identification as nearly every molecule strongly absorbs in this wavelength range. Hence, it hosts critical applications ranging from spectroscopy, health monitoring, sensing as well as free space communication. Unfortunately, the advantages of this wavelength range have not been fully exploited due to the lack of Mid-IR sources that can simultaneously satisfy stringent requirements these diverse applications impose. To this end, MATISSE seeks to transfigure light generation in the Mid-IR spectral band by designing new classes of nonlinear frequency mixers. We aim at overturning the limitations of conventional resonant (cavity) processes by simultaneously enabling mode-hop free tuning, narrow linewidth and wide tunable range operation. In addition, we also plan in developing the first modulation-capable source across a wide range of Mid-IR frequencies. To overcome these challenges, MATISSE will leverage the cavity-less nature and parametric origin of the proposed source. The project will cascade two distinct compact nonlinear platforms to enable the efficient wavelength conversion from NIR to Mid-IR. This two-step approach takes advantage of attributes each distinct platform has to offer by 1) utilizing the advanced technology available at the NIR wavelengths and 2) exploiting the Mid-IR capabilities of non-silica platforms. We believe only an approach such as ours can provide a compact, freely tunable Mid-IR source without resorting to conventional cavity (resonant) physics. The MATISSE project therefore promises substantial impact in spectroscopy, sensing and free space communication by providing presently non-existing tools that will not only improve the sensitivity of absolute and relative spectroscopic methods, but also introduce free space sensing/communication using emitted powers that are considered non-viable in conventional systems.

Keywords: nonlinear optics waveguides middle infrared photonic system