Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Lightning propagation and high-energy emissions within coupled multi-model simulations (eLightning)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Earth system science
Panel description: Physical geography, geology, geophysics, atmospheric sciences, oceanography, climatology, cryology, ecology, global environmental change, biogeochemical cycles, natural resources management
Countries involved: Spain
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2015-CoG, 2015)
Start date: 2016-06-01
End date: 2022-03-31
Duration (months): 70.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1960825.51
EU funding (EUR): 1960825.51
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

More than 250 years after establishing the electrical nature of the lightning flash, we still do not understand how a lightning channel advances. Most of these channels progress not continuously but in a series of sudden jumps and, as they jump, they emit bursts of energetic radiation. Despite increasingly accurate observations, there is no accepted explanation for this stepped progression. This proposal addresses this open question. First, we propose a methodological breakthrough that will allow us to tackle the main bottleneck in the theoretical understanding of lightning: the wide disparity between length-scales within a lightning flash. We plan to apply techniques that have succeeded in other fields, such as multi-model coupled simulations and moving-mesh finite elements methods. Acting as a computational microscope, these techniques will reveal the small-scale electrodynamics around a lightning channel. We will then apply these techniques to elucidate the intertwined problems of lightning channel stepping and thunderstorm-related high-energy emissions. The main hypothesis that we will test is that stepping is due to the formation of low-conductivity spots within the filamentary-discharge region that surrounds a lightning channel. This idea is motivated by observations from high-altitude atmospheric discharges. By resolving the small-scale dynamics, with our numerical method, we will also test hypothesis for high-energy emissions from the lighting channel, which crucially depend on the microscopic distribution of electric fields. This interdisciplinary proposal, straddling between geophysics and gas discharge physics, seeks a double breakthrough: the methodological one of building multi-scale lightning simulations and the hypothesis-driven one of finding out the reason for stepping. If it succeeds, it will achieve a leap forward in our knowledge of lightning, undoubtedly one of the greatest spectacles in our planet's repertoire.

Keywords: lightning,gas discharge physics
Cross-Lingual Embeddings for Less-Represented Languages in European News Media (EMBEDDIA)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Estonia,Finland,Slovenia,Croatia,France,United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call: A multilingual Next Generation Internet (H2020-ICT-2018-2, 2018)
Start date: 2019-01-01
End date: 2022-03-31
Duration (months): 39.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2998850.0
EU funding (EUR): 2998850.0
Participants: 11
Project status: CLOSED

Access to the internet is no longer a luxury---it is a basic component of everyday life and civic engagement, but one in which language continues to be a challenge for fair and equitable access. As Europe becomes more multicultural, and personal and professional mobility between cultures rapidly increases, access to fundamental resources such as local news and government services is limited by the great diversity of the EU's 37 languages. The internet mostly developed in English, and without clear planning for how language issues might form barriers to access and engagement, nor how multilingualism might be supported. In the EU, websites and online services for citizens have developed national local language resources, and often only provide a second language (usually English) when absolutely needed; but the great proliferation of web content, multiple and fast-changing content streams, and an expanding user interest base make this approach untenable. And while advanced natural language research and resources exist for a few dominant languages (English, French, German), many of Europe's smaller language communities---and the news media industry that serves them---lack appropriate tools for multilingual internet development. For the EU to realise a truly equitable, open, multilingual future internet, new tools allowing high quality transformations (not translations) between languages are urgently needed. The EMBEDDIA project seeks to address these challenges by leveraging innovations in the use of cross-lingual embeddings coupled with deep neural networks to allow existing monolingual resources to be used across languages, leveraging their high speed of operation for near real-time applications, without the need for large computational resources. Across three years, the project's six academic and four industry partners will develop novel solutions including for under-represented languages, and test them in real-world news and media production contexts.

Keywords: less represented languages,cross lingual embeddings,deep neural networks,news media
RNA Bioinformatics by Robustness Analysis of Parameter Space Optimization for Dynamic Programming (RNA-RAPSODY)

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: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: France
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2020, 2020)
Start date: 2021-05-01
End date: 2024-12-17
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 196707.84
EU funding (EUR): 196707.84
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The proposed bioinformatics project has strong ties to even several diverse disciplines, namely computer science, molecular biology, genetics, mathematics and statistics. RNA Biology plays a central role in bioinformatics research such that numerous model-driven algorithms and methods are developed to predict and calculate structures and functions or compare sequences of RNA molecules that are essential in molecular and genetic processes and thus for medical and pharmaceutical applications. Many of these problems can be cleanly phrased as optimization problems with 'optimal substructure' and thus solved exactly and efficiently by dynamic programming (for arbitrary parametrization of the objective function). This project will systematically explore the impact of parameter changes on the quality of results of DP optimization methods, such as predictions of molecule structures or comparison of sequences. Our approach strongly relies on algebraic dynamic programming (ADP), which decouples the decomposition of the search space from the algebra used to compute a final result. Thus, the ADP framework provides a unified setting and a generic implementation to quickly test working hypotheses. Here, it enables naturally implementing the suggested parametric optimization by developing novel algebras. Those include the polytope algebra, which allows to segment the parameter space based on its impact of the final prediction, and a formal derivative algebra, which allows to compute the derivative of ensemble predictions with respect to a given parameter. Conversely, those methods can be used to learn the optimal parameter sets based on a reference set of instances. This will result in deeper insights into robustness of the algorithms to changes of parameters or input data and hence, results can be assessed based on robustness measures and leads to the calculation of biologically more meaningful results. The overall methodology will be applied to problems in RNA Bioinformatics.

Keywords: rna biology,discrete algorithms,algebraic dynamic programming,statistical learning
Fluid Inclusion Microthermometry in Speleothems (FluidMICS)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Earth system science
Panel description: Physical geography, geology, geophysics, atmospheric sciences, oceanography, climatology, cryology, ecology, global environmental change, biogeochemical cycles, natural resources management
Countries involved: Norway,United Kingdom
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2020-COG, 2020)
Start date: 2021-09-01
End date: 2026-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999634.0
EU funding (EUR): 1955611.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Ongoing global warming is rapidly moving us away from the climate states we are used to and understand from observational time series. This poses the urgent need to extend our “climate memory” by deciphering climate information stored in geologic archives. However, obtaining quantitative estimates for past climate changes is challenging, particularly in terrestrial archives due to common limitations in time coverage, resolution, and chronology. FluidMICS will employ a novel technique to reconstruct past temperatures based on physical properties of relict drip water preserved in cave formations (speleothems). The behavior of such micrometer-scale fluid inclusions during cooling and heating is directly related to the temperature at which the inclusions were once closed off. This physical basis makes the method uniquely robust and distinguishes it from other paleo-thermometers that depend on empirical calibrations. Combined with the distinct advantages of speleothems, which cover long time periods and can be absolutely dated, this approach will lead to unprecedented insights into magnitude, timing, and distribution of past temperature changes, lifting paleoclimate research to a new level. Our pilot data show that the microthermometry method faithfully discloses past temperatures several hundred thousand years ago. In FluidMICS, we will generate a solid understanding of potential non-thermal effects, further increasing precision and accuracy of the reconstructed temperatures, streamlining the analysis, and extending the applicability of the method. These advances will enable us to generate uniquely accurate and precise terrestrial temperature records far back in time that are distributed over large areas of the globe. These new datasets will serve as invaluable resources to better understand the complexities of our climate system under different atmospheric CO2 concentrations and in times of rapid change, and to test climate models used for future projections.

Keywords: speleothem,fluid inclusions,temperature reconstruction,petrography,microscopy,quaternary
A TEAM-BUILDING, THEMATICALLY-FOCUSED AND LEAN-TRAINING SUMMER ACADEMY SYSTEM FOR YOUNG FUTURE ICT ENTREPRENEURS (STARTIFY7)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Action type: Innovation actions
Countries involved: Germany,Germany,Spain,Italy,Belgium,Poland,Greece,Netherlands,United Kingdom
Call: Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support (H2020-ICT-2014-1, 2014)
Start date: 2015-01-01
End date: 2016-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1423165.0
EU funding (EUR): 1330277.12
Participants: 12
Project status: CLOSED

An innovative training structure focused on addressing the limited capability of young European ICT future entrepreneurs is needed. This is a challenging task, since existing European ICT entrepreneurship training initiatives are characterised by a general fragmentation and a lack of a ‘learning-by-doing’ training approach. STARTIFY7 is an innovative and ambitious project aiming to go beyond the state-of-the-art and create strong synergies with existing initiatives and projects. It suggests a unique approach to ICT entrepreneurial education for the youth, with the following objectives: 1) Perform a thorough Training Needs Analysis for the future ICT entrepreneurs. 2) Embed a team-building process within a lean-training structure. 3) Establish an effective network of trainers. 4) Create innovative lean-training curricula with thematic ICT focus. 5) Ignite competition and strong synergies with existing initiatives. 6) Disseminate, exploit and ensure long-term sustainability. The innovative outcomes of the project are the following: 1) Seven Summer Academies in 7 different European cities within a timeframe of two sequential summers (i.e. 2015 and 2016). 2) Seven lean-training and thematically-focused training curricula, embedding a strong team-building process. 3) An integrated network of trainers focused on hands-on and real-world knowledge transfer. 4) A competition based on the best performing teams after the completion of each round of summer academies. 5) Complement, extend and enrich similar existing actions. 6) A centralized social networking service. 7) ECTS credits provision. 8) An integrated exploitation and sustainability plan with the aim of making STARTIFY7 a long-term viable Summer Academy. STARTIFY7 will aim for 1.400 applications from potential entrepreneurs, 280 student participants, 90 produced demos, 70 engaged teachers/coaches/mentors, 2 boot-camps with 63 participants, 10 VC/angels investors engaged, and, 16 investment-ready proposals.

Keywords: lean training methodology,start ups,ict entrepreneurship,summer academy
Spectra of Molecules in Strong Magnetic Fields (MAGSPEC)

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: Norway
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2016, 2016)
Start date: 2018-02-15
End date: 2021-01-22
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 208400.4
EU funding (EUR): 208400.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Electronic spectroscopy is one among several types of spectroscopy employed to study molecules in stellar objects. Strong magnetic fields, as in white-dwarfs and neutron stars, can severely distort these spectra. To accurately interpret the data, we must understand the forces shaping the spectra in situations so far removed from terrestrial conditions. Such strong fields also imply a breakdown of the perturbative mechanism commonly used for studying magnetic phenomena in the pertinent regimes on earth. We shall focus on the intermediate regime of field strengths (~10^5 T), where, neither the magnetic field nor the inter-particle interaction can be treated as a perturbation leading to novel physics and chemistry, that remains little explored for molecules. This project seeks to develop the methodology to compute excitation energies and potential energy surfaces in the presence of strong uniform and non-uniform magnetic fields, included non-perturbatively, at varying levels of theoretical complexity (Hartree-Fock, Density Functional Theory, Random Phase Approximation, SRCC and MRCC) and study the distortion of these spectra across a range of magnetic field strengths. We shall focus on analysing the source of these distortions at the microscopic level, ie. which of orbital effects, spin effects, correlation effects and relativistic effects play the determining role. This project is multidisciplinary using principles of quantum chemistry in tackling astrochemical problems. The study is fundamental and is expected to reveal interesting results relevant even for the weaker fields on earth. The benchmarking of the standard DFT exchange-correlation functionals against CC in the regime of strong magnetic fields will have a long-term impact as most existing DFT approximations have been formulated within DFT or collinear spin DFT (SDFT); practical DFT functionals to describe molecules in magnetic fields (e.g. at the CDFT or non-collinear SDFT level) are much less developed.

Keywords: molecules in magnetic fields,electronic excitation,electron correlation,response properties
EMPOWERING LOCAL PUBLIC AUTHORITIES TO BUILD INTEGRATED SUSTAINABLE ENERGY STRATEGIES (EMPOWERING)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Secure, clean and efficient energy
Theme: Market uptake of energy innovation
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Spain,Italy,Hungary,Romania,Croatia,Greece,Greece,Sweden
Call: Enhancing the capacity of public authorities to plan and implement sustainable energy policies and measures (H2020-EE-2015-3-MarketUptake, 2015)
Start date: 2016-02-01
End date: 2019-07-31
Duration (months): 42.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1497003.75
EU funding (EUR): 1497003.75
Participants: 9
Project status: CLOSED

EMPOWERING proposal contributes to the shift of 6 EU regions toward low-carbon society by enhancing the capacities of municipalities and regional representatives to shape integrated energy strategies and plans. The project contributes to bridge the gap of skills needed to plan energy measures in the new 2030 framework for Climate and Energy Policy in terms of GHG emission reduction, renewable energy and energy efficiency. EMPOWERING addresses energy saving challenges involving local municipalities and regional authorities in a sound transnational exchange and learning activities (WP3) including: a) transnational seminars; b) peer to peer exchange for regional authorities; c) study visit to one EU best practice and two partners’ best practice. Local target audience is then effectively reached thanks to ad hoc capacity local building measures (WP4) addressing different target groups to maximize the learning experience. The improved knowledge and competences of local authorities are put into practice during the development of the mitigation part of SECAPs and in the upgrading of the existing SEAPs, while regional authorities are supported in shaping regional energy vision to 2050 highlighting the main energy challenges and identifying possible financial strategic actions to be implemented (WP5). The proposal is built on a solid and innovative strategic planning methodology which has a high replicability potential, strengthening the European added value of the project. This process is triggered by the cooperation of a comprehensive partnership, which involves technical-scientific partners and regional development agencies, creating the conditions to achieve project’s objectives.

Keywords: sustainable energy policies and measures,multidisciplinary,capacity buildings,seaps,covenant of mayor,upgrading and linking up regional and local energy policies,e learning platform
Smart Optical Metamaterials: A route towards electro-tuneable fast-reversible self-assembly of nanoparticles at controlled electrochemical interfaces (S-OMMs)

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: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2016, 2016)
Start date: 2018-07-16
End date: 2021-03-16
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 195454.8
EU funding (EUR): 195454.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Futuristic smart optical applications belong to novel artificial materials comprising nanoscale building blocks, exhibiting extra-ordinary optical responses. Recent progress in nanotechnology has enabled developing such optical metamaterials (OMMs) economically via controlled self-assembly of nanoparticles (NPs). Strikingly, a dense nanometre-thick layer of metallic NPs strongly reflects incident light like a ‘mirror’, whereas a sparse layer enacts a near-transparent ‘window’. Thus OMMs could form a switchable mirror–window to minimize our energy needs by harvesting light. Besides tuneable-optics, dense OMMs could revolutionise sensing of trace-analytes for detecting threats to our health, safety, and security. I aim to develop new means of dynamic control over resulting NP-layer architecture to make OMMs ‘smart’, for novel applications like fast-programmable mirrors, -tuneable optical-filters and -cavities. But achieving quick alteration of NP architectures for fast-tuneable optical response is very challenging. Voltage-controlled assembly and disassembly of NPs at interfaces between liquid electrolyte and solid electrodes could be one efficient method. However, these processes are often diffusion-limited, making OMMs slow to respond. This requires the desired systems to be confined, or miniaturized, by developing new schemes and custom-made architectures to ensure assembly/disassembly occurs within sub-second timescales. To achieve this, I will engage novel electrode designs—patterned as rectangular-groove gratings, columnar structures, and flat transparent plates—where NPs can rearrange quickly on desired areas of the electrodes to either reflect or transmit light. This research unites physical-chemistry with optics and nanotechnology. I will develop optimal designs of the systems, via modelling and simulations, and navigate experiments for prototype creation in collaborating laboratories of the Imperial and overseas partners in France, Netherlands, and Germany.

Keywords: optical reflectance and transmittance,self assembly,electro tuneability,electrodes,solid liquid interfaces,surface plasmon resonance,nanoparticles
Role of Listerin ubiquitin ligase in MHC-I antigen presentation (IMMUNO-RQC)

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: Germany
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2016, 2016)
Start date: 2017-05-01
End date: 2019-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 159460.8
EU funding (EUR): 159460.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Mammalian cells present a fingerprint of their proteome through the display of endogenous peptides on MHC-I complexes. This allows for CD8+ T cells to recognize and kill cells infected with viruses or other intracellular parasites, or cells accumulating aberrant proteins resulting from malignant transformation. The MHC-I peptides originate from protein degradation by the ubiquitin proteasome system, which is responsible for controlled protein turnover. This would mean that viral proteins, which are typically very stable, would escape monitoring. Nevertheless, cells are able to mount an MHC-I immune response minutes after viral infection. Most MHC-I presented peptides are therefore thought to originate from newly synthesized, defective ribosomal products (DRiPs), rather than proteins at the end of their lifespan. Although there is a growing body of evidence showing that antigen presentation is better correlated with protein synthesis rather than protein stability, characterization of the underlying cellular pathway is lacking. Recently, the E3 ubiquitin ligase Listerin has been shown to mark nascent polypeptides resulting from defective mRNAs for degradation. Here we test the hypothesis that this pathway contributes to the production of peptides for MHC-I loading. Our major aim is therefore to investigate the involvement of Listerin in antigen presentation, using 3 different approaches: I) proof-of-principle experiments analyzing the rate of MHC-I presentation of a model protein, comparing the efficiency of its presentation when expressed from an intact or defective mRNA, and when expressed in WT or Listerin knock-out cells; II) global characterization of the MHC-I peptidome of WT and Listerin knock-out cells using mass spectrometry; III) quantitative analysis of the fraction of newly-synthesized proteins undergoing the RQC pathway, and of its possible correlation with the MHC-I peptidome.

Keywords: protein degradation,e3 ubiquitin ligase,ribosomal quality control,mhc i,antigen presentation