Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Metabolic actions of brain leptin receptors signaling in type 1 diabetes (LIFEWITHOUTINSULIN)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Physiology, Pathophysiology and Endocrinology
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-06-01
End date: 2019-05-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999500.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999500.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

An established dogma is that insulin is absolutely required for survival. This notion has been supported by the fact that the sole life-saving intervention available to the millions affected by type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM; an illness caused by pancreatic β-cell loss and hence insulin deficiency) is insulin therapy. This treatment however does not restore normal metabolic homeostasis. In fact, the life-expectancy and -quality of T1DM people is worse compared to normal subjects. In part, this is due to challenging morbidities of T1DM, as for example heart disease and hypoglycemia, both of which are thought to be caused by insulin therapy itself. Indeed, owing to insulin’s lipogenic actions, this treatment likely contributes to the ectopic lipid deposition (i.e.: in non-adipose tissues) and extremely high incidence of coronary artery disease seen in T1DM subjects. Also, due to insulin’s potent, fast-acting, glycemia-lowering action, this therapy significantly increases the risk of hypoglycemia; a disabling and life threatening event. Because insulin therapy does not restore metabolic homeostasis in T1DM subjects, better intervention is urgently needed. To these ends, we and others have shown that the hyperglycemic and lethal consequences of insulin deficiency can be rescued by administration of the adipocyte-secreted hormone leptin. Not only these results challenge an established view, they also raise a fundamental biological and medical question: what are the mechanisms by which leptin improves hyperglycemia and permits survival in the context of insulin deficiency? This proposal aims at identifying the critical cellular and molecular components underlying the beneficial effects of leptin in the context of insulin deficiency. Once identified, manipulation of these components has the potential to improve life-expectancy and -quality of the millions affected by insulin deficiency (e.g.: T1DM and also some late-stage type 2 diabetics).
New Directions for Monetary Policy Analysis (MONPMOD)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Individuals, Institutions and Markets
Countries involved: Italy
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-11-01
End date: 2019-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 837680.0
EU funding (EUR): 837680.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The research under this proposal aims at a better understanding of monetary policy in light of the recent events following the financial crisis. There are three main objectives. The first is to study monetary policy in models where financial securities have different liquidity properties which could vary over time and be subject to sudden changes. The new framework will address the mechanisms at the root of the financial crisis and its propagation to real economic activity and at the same time study the appropriate policy responses and the forthcoming exit strategies. The second objective aims at extending the analyses of optimal monetary policy to abnormal times where deleveraging or liquidity shocks bring the nominal interest rate to the zero lower bound and more unconventional policies are needed. The third objective is directed to study open-economy models where the liquidity properties of financial securities affect the conduct of monetary policy, as in a currency area in which sovereign debt of some countries loses its safe-asset status or in small open economies challenged by imperfect credibility in the domestic fiat-money system.

Keywords: monetary policy,liquidity,new keynesian models,optimal policy,deleveraging,confidence cycles,currency areas,dollarization.
The Fingerprint of a Galactic Nucleus: A Multi-Wavelength, High-Angular Resolution, Near-Infrared Study of the Centre of the Milky Way (GALACTICNUCLEUS)

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: Spain
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-02-01
End date: 2019-10-31
Duration (months): 69.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1547657.0
EU funding (EUR): 1547657.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Galactic stellar nuclei are very common in all types of galaxies and are marked by the presence of nuclear star clusters, the densest and most massive star clusters in the present-day Universe. Their formation is still an unresolved puzzle. The centre of the Milky Way contains a massive black hole and a stellar nucleus and is orders of magnitude closer than any comparable target. It is the only galactic nucleus and the most extreme astrophysical environment that we can examine on scales of milli-parsecs. It is therefore a crucial laboratory for studying galactic nuclei and their role in the context of galaxy evolution. Yet, suitable data that would allow us to examine the stellar component of the Galactic Centre exist for less than 1% of its projected area. Moreover, the well-explored regions are extraordinary, like the central parsec around the massive black hole, and therefore probably not representative for the overall environment. Fundamental questions on the stellar population, structure and assembly history of the Galactic Centre remain therefore unanswered. This project aims at addressing the open questions by obtaining accurate, high-angular resolution, multi-wavelength near-infrared photometry for an area of several 100 pc^2, a more than ten-fold increase compared to the current state of affairs. The Galactic Centre presents unique observational challenges because of a combination of high extinction and extreme stellar crowding. It is therefore not adequately covered by existing or upcoming imaging surveys. I present a project that is specifically tailored to overcome these observational challenges. In particular, I have developed a key technique to obtain the necessary sensitive, high-angular resolution images with a stable point spread function over large, crowded fields. It works with a range of existing ground-based instruments and will serve to complement existing data to provide a global and detailed picture of the stellar nucleus of the Milky Way.

Keywords: galactic nuclei,ground-based high-angular resolution imaging,nuclear star clusters,massive black holes
Hydrodynamic Synchronisation in Model and Biological Systems (HYDROSYNC)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Condensed Matter Physics
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): 1261572.0
EU funding (EUR): 1261572.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Cilia and flagella beating in synchronised patterns give rise to metachronal waves, beautiful examples of emergent behaviour in biology. These collective dynamical states are essential in life, transporting nutrients and clearing pathogens; they arise from the mechanical interaction of individual cilia mediated by the viscous fluid. Severe pathologies are associated with cilia malfunction in humans. The current analysis of ciliated tissues in the clinic is focused purely on the frequency of beating: this is insufficient to discriminate between different pathologies. Much more information is present in the cilia dynamics video data that is recorded from patients; it is not being extracted because the correct theoretical framework for analysis is not in place. We will develop our current work on actively driven colloidal systems to selectively test aspects of the biological scenarios, and start a new line of investigation in our lab, with cell culture experiments to validate these findings; we will understand the onset of collective dynamics (new physics), and how cilia waves are robust against fluctuations in cilia beat frequency, spatial arrangement and fluid rheology. New video analysis tools will be developed based on this full understanding of mechanical synchronisation, enabling the collective dynamics to be related back to the behaviour of individual cilia and to the physical properties of the fluid. The team will be of two Post-docs, responsible for the two parts of the project: model and biological systems. A PhD student will contribute to the biological experiments, which present multiple lines of investigation, and will develop the video-analysis code to obtain the full degree of information from biological experiments. The new analysis tool that results from this project will be deployed in the clinical setting through an established collaboration; enabling diagnosis of airway disorders represents a broad impact on physiology and clinical practice.
Medieval Philosophy in Modern History of Philosophy (MEMOPHI)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: The Study of the Human Past
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-07-01
End date: 2019-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1219920.0
EU funding (EUR): 1219920.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

MEMOPHI plans the first comprehensive study of how eighteenth- and nineteenth-century historians of philosophy reconstructed medieval thought. Associating intellectual and cultural approaches, it investigates to what ends and how the history of medieval philosophy has been written, used and institutionalised in European institutions of knowledge. In the 18th and 19th centuries, history and philosophy were at the center of the scientific endeavour. Philosophy gave itself a history in the scientific sense of the word, and the scientific practice of philosophy was secularized in the new academies and universities. Writing the history of philosophy was a process of introspection and discrimination, putting into play the self-conception of the discipline. In this context, the Middle Ages occupied a central place: the first university was founded around 1200 and institutionalized the future practices of Western science. The scholastic Middle Ages and the modern period constitute indeed the two inaugural moments in the history of university thought. Modern historians of philosophy reconstructed, evaluated and criticized the scientific practices of medieval authors whom they considered as medieval “philosophers” and thus as the first university philosophers. Furthermore, these modern reconstructions of medieval philosophy distinguished and described various medieval “cultures” – Jewish, Arabic, Christian, etc. – for the purposes of defining the cultural identity of modern Europe and of European nations. In a broader context MEMOPHI addresses the intersection between cultural politics (notably the creations of national cultural identities) and reconstructions of philosophy’s past. It will bring to light not only the role played by the history of philosophy in the SSH, but also civil society’s expectations from the SSH.
Algorithms and Lower Bounds: A Unified Approach (ALUNIF)

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: 2014-03-01
End date: 2019-08-31
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1274496.0
EU funding (EUR): 1274496.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

One of the fundamental goals of theoretical computer science is to understand the possibilities and limits of efficient computation. This quest has two dimensions. The theory of algorithms focuses on finding efficient solutions to problems, while computational complexity theory aims to understand when and why problems are hard to solve. These two areas have different philosophies and use different sets of techniques. However, in recent years there have been indications of deep and mysterious connections between them. In this project, we propose to explore and develop the connections between algorithmic analysis and complexity lower bounds in a systematic way. On the one hand, we plan to use complexity lower bound techniques as inspiration to design new and improved algorithms for Satisfiability and other NP-complete problems, as well as to analyze existing algorithms better. On the other hand, we plan to strengthen implications yielding circuit lower bounds from non-trivial algorithms for Satisfiability, and to derive new circuit lower bounds using these stronger implications. This project has potential for massive impact in both the areas of algorithms and computational complexity. Improved algorithms for Satisfiability could lead to improved SAT solvers, and the new analytical tools would lead to a better understanding of existing heuristics. Complexity lower bound questions are fundamental but notoriously difficult, and new lower bounds would open the way to unconditionally secure cryptographic protocols and derandomization of probabilistic algorithms. More broadly, this project aims to initiate greater dialogue between the two areas, with an exchange of ideas and techniques which leads to accelerated progress in both, as well as a deeper understanding of the nature of efficient computation.

Keywords: satisfiability,complexity lower bounds,algorithm design and analysis,brute force search,boolean circuit complexity,branching algorithms
Evolution of olfactory circuits (EVONEURO)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Neurosciences and Neural Disorders
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-06-01
End date: 2019-05-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999920.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999920.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Nervous systems have undergone remarkable diversification in their structure and function as animals have adapted to distinct ecological niches. What are the genetic mechanisms underlying neural circuit evolution? The project addresses this fundamental question in the Drosophila olfactory system, a superior "evo-neuro" model for several reasons: (i) as in mammals, the Drosophila olfactory system has a modular organization, with individual olfactory receptors functionally and anatomically defining discrete sensory circuits that can be traced from the periphery to the brain; (ii) these circuits are dynamically evolving, with frequent acquisition (and loss) of receptors, olfactory neurons and odor-evoked behaviors with the ever-changing landscape of environmental volatiles; (iii) Drosophila offers unparalleled experimental accessibility to visualize and manipulate neural circuits; (iv) a wealth of insect genomes permits comparative studies to relate intra- and interspecific genotypic and phenotypic variation. Five aims address distinct aspects of olfactory circuit evolution: 1. Evolution of receptor specificity; 2. Evolution of receptor expression; 3. Evolution of sensory neuron targeting; 4. Evolution of interneuron wiring; 5. Evolution of olfactory behavior. This multidisciplinary project uses cutting-edge approaches in comparative genomics, electrophysiology, neurogenetics, transcriptomics, behavioral tracking and population genetics. By addressing how particular olfactory circuits and behaviors have evolved in Drosophila, it will provide general insights into the genetic mechanisms of nervous system evolution relevant both for other brain regions and for other species. We also anticipate that determining how brains have been sculpted through random mutation and natural selection in the past may enable future directed manipulation of the connectivity and activity of neural circuits, to enhance our understanding of brains and our ability to repair them.

Keywords: evolutionary neurobiology
Harmonic Analysis, Partial Differential Equations and Geometric Measure Theory (HAPDEGMT)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Mathematics
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-01-01
End date: 2019-12-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1429790.0
EU funding (EUR): 1429790.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The origin of Harmonic Analysis goes back to the study of the heat diffusion, modeled by a differential equation, and the claim made by Fourier that every periodic function can be represented as a series of sines and cosines. In this statement we can find the motivation to many of the advances that have been made in this field. Partial Differential Equations model many phenomena from the natural, economic and social sciences. Existence, uniqueness, convergence to the boundary data, regularity of solutions, a priori estimates, etc., can be studied for a given PDE. Often, Harmonic Analysis plays an important role in such problems and, when the scenarios are not very friendly, Harmonic Analysis turns out to be fundamental. Not very friendly scenarios are those where one lacks of smoothness either in the coefficients of the PDE and/or in the domains where the PDE is solved. Some of these problems lead to obtain the boundedness of certain singular integral operators and this drives one to the classical and modern Calderón-Zygmund theory, the paradigm of Harmonic Analysis. When studying the behavior of the solutions of the given PDE near the boundary, one needs to understand the geometrical features of the domains and then Geometric Measure Theory jumps into the picture. This ambitious project lies between the interface of three areas: Harmonic Analysis, PDE and Geometric Measure theory. It seeks deep results motivated by elliptic PDE using techniques from Harmonic Analysis and Geometric Measure Theory.This project is built upon results obtained by the applicant in these three areas. Some of them are very recent and have gone significantly beyond the state of the art. The methods to be used have been shown to be very robust and therefore they might be useful towards its applicability in other regimes. Crucial to this project is the use of Harmonic Analysis where the applicant has already obtained important contributions.
Neutron cAptUres consTraIning steLlar nUcleosynthesiS (NAUTILUS)

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): 1871596.0
EU funding (EUR): 1871596.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

NAUTILUS will investigate the nucleosynthesis of the chemical elements during the evolution of stars, which is the basis for understanding the chemical history of the Universe. The vast majority of the elements heavier than iron are produced by neutron capture reactions. The precise knowledge of the involved neutron capture cross sections for certain isotopes sets tight limits for stellar parameters and puts strong constraints on the age of the Universe. Accurate measurements of the key nuclear reactions in the mass region around the radioactive 85Kr will lead to the improvements needed to characterize the production processes of the elements in stars. The respective high-accuracy abundance patterns in single stars can then be interpreted as diagnostic tools for the deep stellar interior and the isobaric 87Sr/87Rb chronometer constraints the history of the Universe. The neutron capture cross section of radioactive isotopes for neutron energies in the keV region will be measured by a time-of-flight (TOF) experiment. NAUTILUS will provide a unique facility realizing the TOF technique with an ultra-short flight path at the FRANZ setup at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany. A highly optimized spherical photon calorimeter will be built and installed at an ultra-short flight path. NAUTILUS opens new horizons in the area of neutron-induced reaction research, as smallest samples like of 85Kr - which will be produced as an isotopically pure radioactive sample - will become measureable in reasonable times. Future applications include the study of neutron capture cross sections important for next generation nuclear reactors: For the first time the high neutron fluxes needed to study the mass region of interest in the keV energy range will be available.

Keywords: neutron capture,nucleosynthesis,galactic chemical evolution,neutron sources
Coherent manipulation and control of heat in solid-state nanostructures: the era of coherent caloritronics (COMANCHE)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Condensed Matter Physics
Countries involved: Italy
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-05-01
End date: 2019-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1754897.0
EU funding (EUR): 1754897.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Electronic nanodevices have demonstrated to be versatile and effective tools for the investigation of exotic quantum phenomena under controlled and adjustable conditions. Yet, these have enabled to give access to the manipulation of charge flow with unprecedented precision. On the other hand, the wisdom dealing with control, measurements, storage, and conversion of heat in nanoscale devices, the so-called “caloritronics” (from the Latin word “calor”, i.e., heat), despite a number of recent advances is still at its infancy. Although coherence often plays a crucial role in determining the functionalities of nanoelectronic devices very little is known of its role in caloritronics. In such a context, coherent control of heat seems at present still very far from reach, and devising methods to phase-coherently manipulate the thermal current would represent a crucial breakthrough which could open the door to unprecedented possibilities in several fields of science. Here we propose an original approach to set the experimental ground for the investigation and implementation of a new branch of science, the “coherent caloritronics”, which will take advantage of quantum circuits to phase-coherently manipulate and control the heat current in solid-state nanostructures. To tackle this challenging task our approach will follow three main separate approaches, i.e., the coherent control of heat transported by electrons in Josephson nanocircuits, the coherent manipulation of heat carried by electrons and exchanged between electrons and lattice phonons in superconducting proximity systems, and finally, the control of the heat exchanged between electrons and photons by coherently tuning the coupling with the electromagnetic environment. We will integrate superconductors with normal-metal or semiconductor electrodes thus exploring new device concepts such as heat transistors, heat diodes, heat splitters, where thermal flux control is achieved thanks to the use of the quantum phase.

Keywords: thermal transport at the nanoscale,thermal physics,thermodynamics,proximity effect,caloritronics