Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Rent-a-Spatialist (RENT-A-SPATIALIST)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Proof of concept grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Countries involved: Belgium
Call:  (ERC-2012-PoC, 2012)
Start date: 2013-11-01
End date: 2014-12-31
Duration (months): 14.0
Total project cost (EUR): 168175.7
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Through their bodily interaction with the built environment, disabled people are able to detect obstacles and appreciate spatial qualities architects are not attuned to. In architectural practice, however, accessibility of buildings often is considered as a matter of fact, as something people are detached from, taken care of by professionals, instead of something people are exposed or attached to. Legislation translates accessibility into facts by fixing minimum or maximum dimensions, which can be objectively measured by professional accessibility advisors, but offers architects little insight in why a building feature may be problematic or appreciated. Rendering accessibility to the realm of matters of fact thus limits the scope in which disability can be considered a valuable source for design. In this context, we advance a consulting service that mobilizes disabled people’s spatial experience to inform architects on how to make a particular building or site more inclusive, i.e. respectful of the diversity in people’s abilities and conditions. The value concept of the consulting service combines three elements: 1. the spatial experience of disabled persons, so-called spatialists; 2. the set up of embodied dialogues with a selection of spatialists in situ; 3. an analysis report that documents the disabled person’s experiences during the visit in a narrative way. This provides architects nuanced insights in why disabled people dislike or value a certain building feature, beyond merely indicating that it is (in)accessible. The idea to be taken to proof of concept is that this consulting service can be marketed commercially to inform architects and other relevant actors in the design and building process. Such a service is expected to contribute to a more inclusive built environment, and to empower disabled people by strengthening their position in the labour market.

Keywords: 201673
Colouring Atoms in 3 Dimensions (COLOURATOM)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Physical and Analytical Chemical sciences
Countries involved: Belgium
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2013-12-01
End date: 2018-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1461466.0
EU funding (EUR): 1461466.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Matter is a three dimensional (3D) agglomeration of atoms. The properties of materials are determined by the positions of the atoms, their chemical nature and the bonding between them. If we are able to determine these parameters in 3D, we will be able to provide the necessary input for predicting the properties and we can guide the synthesis and development of new nanomaterials. The aim of this project is therefore to provide a complete 3D characterisation of complex hetero-nanosystems down to the atomic scale. The combination of advanced aberration corrected electron microscopy and novel 3D reconstruction algorithms is envisioned as a groundbreaking new approach to quantify the position AND the colour (chemical nature and bonding) of each individual atom in 3D for any given nanomaterial. So far, only 3D imaging at the atomic scale was carried out for model-like systems. Measuring the position and the colour of the atoms in a complex nanomaterial can therefore be considered as an extremely challenging goal that will lead to a wealth of new information. Our objectives will enable 3D strain measurements at the atomic scale, localisation of atomic vacancies and interface characterisation in hetero-nanocrystals or hybrid soft-hard matter nanocompounds. Quantification of the oxidation states of surface atoms and of 3D surface relaxation will yield new insights concerning preferential functionalities. Although these goals already go beyond the state-of-the-art, we plan to break fundamental limits and completely eliminate the need to tilt the sample for electron tomography. Especially for beam sensitive materials, this technique, so-called "multi-detector stereoscopy", can be considered as a groundbreaking approach to obtain 3D information at the atomic scale. As an ultimate ambition, we will investigate the dynamic behaviour of ultra-small binary clusters.

Keywords: electron microscopy,electron tomography,nanomaterials
Multiscale Simulation of Crystal Defects (MUSYX)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-01-01
End date: 2018-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1111793.28
EU funding (EUR): 1111793.28
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The MUSYX project will develop a rigorous numerical analysis framework for assessing the accuracy of multiscale methods for simulating the dynamics of crystalline defects. The core focus of the research will be the analysis of approximation errors of atomistic-to-continuum (a/c) coupling methods and related multiscale schemes. The rigorous mathematical foundations, which will be the outcome of this work, will also lead to the construction of more robust and more efficient numerical algorithms. The research will be undertaken within four distinct but closely related themes: Theme A: quasistatic evolutions up to and including bifurcation points (defect nucleation and evolution); Theme B: Transition paths, saddles, and transition rates between local minima (defect nucleation and diffusion at finite temperature); Theme C: Computation of defect formation energies within the framework of equilibrium statistical mechanics; Theme D: Fully dynamic problems. The four themes are connected through the focus on crystal defects and model interfaces (e.g., atomistic/continuum). Themes A and B build on and significantly extend the theory of a/c coupling pioneered by the PI, which combines classical techniques of numerical analysis (consistency, stability) with modern concepts of multiscale and atomistic modeling. Theme C aims to develop an analogous theory for multiscale free energy calculations (precisely, defect formation energies). Theme D approaches the analysis of a fully dynamic multiscale scheme by analyzing its qualitative statistical properties.

Keywords: multiscale modelling,materials science,solid mechanics,crystal defects
Single cell heterogeneity in the mammalian liver (LIVHET)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Genetics,Genomics,Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
Countries involved: Israel
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2013-11-01
End date: 2018-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The mammalian liver performs critical functions for maintaining metabolic homeostasis. It regulates the body’s glucose and lipid stores, detoxifies blood, and produces bile among a host of other functions. The liver achieves this diversity through the collective behaviour of heterogeneous hepatocytes operating in highly structured microenvironments. Understanding the design principles of the liver is an open challenge requiring analysis of single cells within the intact tissue. Liver heterogeneity appears at two length scales. At the liver lobule level centripetal blood flow creates gradients of oxygen, nutrients and hormones. The consumption of hepatocytes along the lobule axis determines the inputs available for more centrally located hepatocytes. The resulting spatial division of labor, termed ‘liver zonation’ could enable optimal tissue function in face of these long-range constraints. At the cellular level most hepatocytes are polyploid cells, having either one or two nuclei and a corresponding variability in cell sizes. The functional advantage of liver polyploidy remains unclear. In this proposal we aim to combine single molecule transcript imaging in the intact liver with theory from systems biology to uncover the design principles of liver heterogeneity. We will examine the hypothesis that spatial zonation and hepatocyte polyploidy evolved to enable the liver to optimally operate. We will characterize the spatial co-expression patterns of key liver genes and theoretically compare the ability of these patterns to excel over alternative patterns. We will also characterize the differential resource allocation of hepatocytes of different ploidy classes. This interdisciplinary project stands at the forefront of research in mammalian biology, addressing fundamental properties of a major organ at unprecedented single-cell resolution. It will open new avenues for extending the field of systems biology to the analysis of complex tissues in mammalian organisms.

Keywords: single molecule transcript imaging,optimality theory,stochastic gene expression
Enantioselective Reactions on Model Chirally Modified Surfaces (ENREMOS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Physical and Analytical Chemical sciences
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-01-01
End date: 2018-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1589736.0
EU funding (EUR): 1589736.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Imparting chirality to non-chiral metal surfaces by adsorption of chiral modifiers is a highly promising route to create effective heterogeneously catalyzed processes for production of enantiopure pharmaceuticals. A molecular-level understanding of enantioselective processes on chiral surfaces is an importance prerequisite for the rational design of new enantiospecific catalysts. With the research outlined in this proposal we are aiming at a fundamental level understanding of the structure of chirally modified surfaces, the bonding of the prochiral substrate on the chiral media and the details of the kinetics and dynamics of enantioselective surface reactions. A full mechanistic picture can be obtained if these aspects will be understood both on the extended single crystal surfaces, mimicking a local interaction of the modifier-substrate complexes with a metal, as well as on the small chirally modified nanoparticles that more accurately resemble the structural properties and high catalytic activity of practically relevant powdered supported catalyst. To achieve these atomistic insights, we propose to apply a combination of ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) based methods for studying reaction kinetics and dynamics (multi-molecular beam techniques) and in-situ surface spectroscopic and microscopic tools on well-defined model surfaces consisting of metal nanoparticles supported on thin single crystalline oxide films. Complementary, the catalytic behaviour of these chirally modified model surfaces will be investigated under ambient pressure conditions with enantiospecific detection of the reaction products that will enable detailed atomistic insights into structure-reactivity relationships.

Keywords: enantioselectivity,model catalysts,nanoparticles,chiral surfaces,molecular beams,vibrational spectroscopy,probe microscopy,adsorbate geometry,kinetics and dynamics of surface processes
Parton Distributions in the Higgs Boson Era (PDF4BSM)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-07-01
End date: 2019-12-31
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1330502.0
EU funding (EUR): 1330502.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

With the recent discovery of a Higgs-like particle at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), particle physics has entered a completely new era. The central goal for high energy physics in the following years will be the detailed determination of the properties of this new particle, in particular checking its consistency with the Standard Model Higgs boson hypothesis, and to further explore the highest energy domain in search for further new physics, like supersymmetry or extra dimensions, closely related to the Higgs-like boson properties and to dark matter and dark energy studies. It is thus of paramount importance to be able to provide accurate theoretical predictions for signal and background processes both for Higgs production and for hypothetical new particles, in order to optimize both the characterization of cross sections, couplings and branching fractions, but also to maxime the LHC discovery potential. A crucial ingredient of these theoretical predictions for an hadron collider as the LHC are the Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) of the proton. This project aims to fully exploit the LHC potential to achieve the ultimate experimental and theoretical precision in the determination of PDFs to make essential contributions to our understanding of the structure of the nucleon, in particular in the regions more relevant for Higgs and BSM physics searches at the LH, the match between PDFs and NLO Monte Carlo event generators, a crucial tool for accurate exclusive event description at the LHC, and to propose new avenues in New Physics searches from precision LHC measurements, where PDFs are often the dominant systematic uncertainties.
Strong Convex Relaxations with Optimal Approximation Guarantees (OPTAPPROX)

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: Switzerland
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-01-01
End date: 2018-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1451052.0
EU funding (EUR): 1451052.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

One of the most exciting areas of theoretical computer science is to understand the approximability of fundamental optimization problems. A prominent example is the traveling salesman problem, for which a long-standing conjecture states that a certain algorithm gives a better guarantee than current methods can prove. The resolution of this conjecture and of many other fundamental problems is intimately related to an increased understanding of strong convex relaxations. Although these problems have resisted numerous attempts, recent breakthrough results, in which the PI has played a central role, indicate new research directions with the potential to resolve some of our most exciting open questions. We propose three research directions to revolutionize our understanding of these problems and more generally of the use of convex relaxations in approximation algorithms: (I) develop new approaches to analyze and harness the power of existing convex relaxations; (II) understand the power of automatically generated relaxations; and (III) prove the optimality of algorithms based on convex relaxations. The proposed research lies in the frontier of approximation algorithms and optimization with connections to major problems in complexity theory, such as the unique games conjecture. Any progress will be a significant contribution to theoretical computer science and mathematical optimization.

Keywords: approximation algorithms,combinatorial optimization,complexity theory,convex optimization,theoretical computer science
Cryogenic wide-Area Light Detectors with Excellent Resolution (CALDER)

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: Italy
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2019-02-28
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1176758.4
EU funding (EUR): 1176758.4
Participants: 3
Project status: CLOSED

In the comprehension of fundamental laws of nature, particle physics is now facing two important questions: 1) What is the nature of the neutrino, is it a standard (Dirac) particle or a Majorana particle? The nature of the neutrino plays a crucial role in the global framework of particle interactions and in cosmology. The only practicable way to answer this question is to search for a nuclear process called "neutrinoless double beta decay" (0nuDBD). 2) What is the so called "dark matter" made of? Astrophysical observations suggest that the largest part of the mass of the Universe is composed by a form of matter other than atoms and known matter constituents. We still do not know what dark matter is made of because its rate of interaction with ordinary matter is really low, thus making the direct experimental detection extremely difficult. Both 0nuDBD and dark matter interactions are rare processes and can be detected using the same experimental technique. Bolometers are promising devices and their combination with light detectors provides the identification of interacting particles, a powerful tool to reduce the background. The goal of CALDER is to realize a new type of light detectors to improve the upcoming generation of bolometric experiments. The detectors will be designed to feature unprecedented energy resolution and reliability, to ensure an almost complete particle identification. In case of success, CUORE, a 0nuDBD experiment in construction, would gain in sensitivity by up to a factor 6. LUCIFER, a 0nuDBD experiment already implementing the light detection, could be sensitive also to dark matter interactions, thus increasing its research potential. The light detectors will be based on Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs), a new technology that proved its potential in astrophysical applications but that is still new in the field of particle physics and rare event searches.

Keywords: neutrinoless double beta decay,dark matter,superconducting detectors,kid,bolometers
Biologically individualized, model-based radiotherapy on the basis of multi-parametric molecular tumour profiling (BIO-IRT)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Diagnostic tools, therapies and public health
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-01-01
End date: 2018-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1370799.0
EU funding (EUR): 1370799.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

High precision radiotherapy (RT) allows extremely flexible tumour treatments achieving highly conformal radiation doses while sparing surrounding organs at risk. Nevertheless, failure rates of up to 50% are reported for head and neck cancer (HNC) due to radiation resistance induced by pathophysiologic factors such as hypoxia and other clinical factors as HPV-status, stage and tumour volume. This project aims at developing a multi-parametric model for individualized RT (iRT) dose prescriptions in HNC based on biological markers and functional PET/MR imaging. This project goes far beyond current research standards and clinical practice as it aims for establishing hypoxia PET and f-MRI as well as biological markers in HNC as a role model for a novel concept from anatomy-based to biologically iRT. During this project, a multi-parametric model will be developed on a preclinical basis that combines biological markers such as different oncogenes and hypoxia gene classifier with functional PET/MR imaging, such as FMISO PET in combination with different f-MRI techniques, like DW-, DCE- and BOLD-MRI in addition to MR spectroscopy. The ultimate goal of this project is a multi-parametric model to predict therapy outcome and guide iRT. In a second part, a clinical study will be carried out to validate the preclinical model in patients. Based on the most informative radiobiological and imaging parameters as identified during the pre-clinical phase, biological markers and advanced PET/MR imaging will be evaluated in terms of their potential for iRT dose prescription. Successful development of a model for biologically iRT prescription on the basis of multi-parametric molecular profiling would provide a unique basis for personalized cancer treatment. A validated multi-parametric model for RT outcome would represent a paradigm shift from anatomy-based to biologically iRT concepts with the ultimate goal of improving cancer cure rates.
Robust Financial Mathematics: model-ambiguous framework for valuation and risk management (ROBUSTFINMATH)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-01-01
End date: 2018-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1218639.0
EU funding (EUR): 1218639.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The last forty years have seen a remarkable interplay between Mathematics and contemporary Finance. At the heart of the successful growth of Mathematical Finance was a perfect fit between its dominant model--specific framework and the tools of stochastic analysis. However, this approach has always had important limitations, and the dangers of overreach have been illustrated by the dramatic events of the recent financial crisis. I set out to create a coherent mathematical framework for valuation, hedging and risk management, which starts with the market information and not an a priori probabilistic setup. The main objectives are: (i) to incorporate both historical data and current option prices as inputs of the proposed robust framework, and (ii) to establish pricing-hedging duality, define the concept of no-arbitrage and prove a Fundamental Theorem of Asset Pricing, all in a constrained setting where the market information, and not a probability space, is fixed from the outset. Further, I will test the performance of robust valuation and hedging methods. The project proposes a genuine change of paradigm. It requires building novel mathematical tools combining pathwise stochastic calculus, embedding problems, martingale optimal transport, variation inequalities as well as numerical methods. Significant research efforts have focused on introducing and investigating a form of model uncertainty in Financial Mathematics. This project makes an important next step. Motivated by recent contributions, it builds a framework which consistently combines model ambiguity with a comprehensive use of market information. Further, it has built-in flexibility to interpolate between the model-specific and model-independent settings. It offers a new theoretical foundation opening horizons for future research. Moreover, it provides novel tools which could be applied by the financial industry.

Keywords: robust valuation and hedging,superhedging,embedding problems,constrained optimal martingale transport,pathwise stochastic calculus,variational inequalities,optimal stopping,numerical methods