Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
The nature of cosmic explosions (COSMICEXPLOSIONS)

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: Israel
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2017-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499302.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499302.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Cosmic explosions, the violent deaths of stars, play a crucial role in many of the most interesting open questions in physics today. These events serve as “cosmic accelerators” for ultra-high-energy particles that are beyond reach for even to most powerful terrestrial accelerators, as well as distant sources for elusive neutrinos. Explosions leave behind compact neutron stars and black hole remnants, natural laboratories to study strong gravity. Acting as cosmic furnaces, these explosions driven the chemical evolution of the Universe Cosmic explosions trigger and inhibit star formation processes, and drive galactic evolution (“feedback”). Distances measured using supernova explosions as standard candles brought about the modern revolution in our view of the accelerating Universe, driven by enigmatic “dark energy”. Understanding the nature of cosmic explosions of all types is thus an extremely well-motivated endeavour. I have been studying cosmic explosions for over a decade, and since the earliest stages of my career, have followed an ambition to figure out the nature of cosmic explosions of all types, and to search for new types of explosions. Having already made several key discoveries, I now propose to undertake a comprehensive program to systematically tackle this problem.I review below the progress made in this field and the breakthrough results we have achieved so far, and propose to climb the next step in this scientific and technological ladder, combining new powerful surveys with comprehensive multi-wavelength and multi-disciplinary (observational and theoretical) analysis. My strategy is based on a combination of two main approaches: detailed studies of single objects which serve as keys to specific questions; and systematic studies of large samples, some that I have, for the first time, been able to assemble and analyze, and those expected from forthcoming efforts. Both approaches have already yielded tantalizing results.

Keywords: supernovae
The Structure of the Extra Dimensions of String Theory (XD-STRING)

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-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2017-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 679200.0
EU funding (EUR): 679200.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

String theory predicts the existence of several spatial dimensions in addition to the three of our everyday experience. The space spanned by these dimensions might be small enough to have escaped detection so far. The aim of this project is to characterize which spaces are allowed by the dynamics of the theory, and what physics they give rise to. A few years ago, I discovered a reformulation of supergravity in terms of differential forms, based on the so-called generalized complex geometry. This method was originally limited to string theory vacuum solutions, and over the years it has permitted to find many of them, often with applications to AdS/CFT. Recently, I was able to extend it to deal with any kind of spacetime dependence; this will allow to probe the choice of extra dimensions more extensively, for example by studying black hole solutions. It will help single out interesting geometries for the extra dimensions, even before one sets out to understand the effective four-dimensional Lagrangian that would result from compactifying string theory on it. Moreover, I plan to extend the method even further, to deal with controlled supersymmetry breaking. That would open the possibility of producing systematically vacuum solutions which have a positive cosmological constant. The vacua obtained in this way would be fully classical, and under better control than current models.

Keywords: string theory,general relativity,differential geometry
Novel Coating Systems For Power Electronics In Aerospace Environments (PECOAT)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Joint Technology Initiatives (Annex IV-SP1)
Theme: Public-private partnerships
Destination: Clean Sky
Action type: Article 171 of the Treaty
Partnership: CLEAN-SKY (Art-185)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (SP1-JTI-CS-2011-03, 2011)
Start date: 2012-12-01
End date: 2015-12-31
Duration (months): 37.0
Total project cost (EUR): 484233.8
EU funding (EUR): 363175.35
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Power electronic converters used in aircraft have previously been used at reasonably low voltages which have not been associated with a significant risk of electrical discharge. Items such as circuit boards are designed in accordance with standards such as IPC2221A but this is often seen as conservative. Given the drive to the more electric aircraft and the need to increase power density of the electrical sub-systems, power electronic converters are now at increased risk of electrical discharge given the increase in voltage and are under increased pressure to remain as compact and light weight as possible. This project will identify a coating that could be applied to power electronic converter components to reduce the risk of electrical discharge and will also identify suitable techniques for integrating the application of this coating within a manufacturing environment. Coatings applied to high voltage equipment can reduce the risk of electrical discharges. Conformal coatings based on polymer films have been applied commercially onto electronic circuit boards. However, they might not be suitable to be used in low pressure operation of high voltage power electronics reliably given the relative poor performance of such coatings when exposed to tracking / partial discharge. We will examine the options for the deployment of novel and cost-effective coatings to be placed onto the printed circuit boards and power electronic components that may require protection in open box power electronics. Our focus will be on developing: •A coating type that can withstand the aerospace environment •A coating that when applied to open box power electronics will inherently reduce the risk of electrical discharge •A coating that is straightforward to apply (ideally using techniques identical to those in present manufacturing) •A coating that can withstand damage from electrical discharges should a localised defect occur which allows these to take place

Keywords: high voltage,aerospace,power electronics
Microbial formation of minerals by communities of Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria in modern and ancient environments (MICROFOX)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Earth system science
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2013-01-01
End date: 2017-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Iron minerals are ubiquitously present in the environment. Their formation is linked to the global C and N cycle and they control the fate of nutrients, metals, and greenhouse gases. My recent work, published in international journals including Nature Geoscience, showed that Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria form Fe(III) minerals and suggested that such bacteria were involved in the deposition of Precambrian Banded Iron Formations, the world’s largest iron mineral deposits. Three neutrophilic microbial groups contribute to Fe(III) mineral formation: microaerophiles, phototrophs and nitrate-reducing Fe(II)-oxidizers. However, as previous studies have always solely focused on only one particular Fe(II) metabolism, the contribution of the different Fe(II)-oxidizing groups to overall Fe(III) mineral formation in nature and the competition among them for Fe(II) within Fe(II)-oxidizing communities is still unknown. I propose to use an innovative and holistic approach to study for the first time the abundance, activity and spatial distribution of all three Fe(II)-oxidizing bacterial groups in one habitat in different environments. Quantification of microbial activity and both nutrient and metal sorption under varying geochemical conditions will allow us to study competition among the Fe(II)-oxidizing groups and evaluate the ecological importance of microbial Fe(III) mineral formation in both early Earth and modern environments. This requires an interdisciplinary frontier research effort at the scale of an ERC grant integrating microbiology, biogeochemistry and mineralogy. Central to this is the cultivation and characterization of Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria and their mineral products, a research area spearheaded by my group. This frontier research will define the role of microbial iron mineral formation in modern and ancient Earth systems, open doors to new biotechnology applications and advance the search for life on the Fe-rich planet Mars.

Keywords: geomicrobiology,iron biogeochemistry,microbial iron oxidation and mineral formation,precambrian banded iron formations,freshwater and marine habitats,biotechnological application,life on mars
Hybrid Quantum Nano-Optomechanics (HQ-NOM)

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: France
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-11-01
End date: 2017-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1792140.0
EU funding (EUR): 1792140.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The chief endeavor of the project is to develop, investigate and exploit systems associating nanoscale mechanical resonators with single quantum objects. Such combinations belong in the category of so-called “hybrid nanomechanical systems” which constitutes a rapidly expanding field in modern quantum- and nanophysics. The benefit of exploring hybrid systems is manifold. From a practical point of view, due to their size, nanoresonators are extremely sensitive to external forces. If associated with a high resolution optical sensor through which the nanoresonator can be non-invasively probed and manipulated, the hybrid system holds promise to act as an ultrasensitive force probe. On a more fundamental level, unexplored quantum regimes become within reach, where the interface between quantum objects and mechanical systems can be thoroughly investigated. From a conceptual point of view, such experiments are of paramount importance as they could reveal the quantum behavior of macroscopic objects. To accommodate these ideas, I propose to develop and investigate two types of hybrid systems. The first one consists of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defect hosted in a diamond nanocrystal, positioned at the extremity of a nanowire. My team and I recently demonstrated magnetic coupling of the NV spin to the resonator position and thereby evidenced the feasibility of realizing such a quantum to mechanical interface. This novel system can readily be improved to meet the severe requirements of the quantum opto-mechanical experiments envisioned in this project. The second approach also exploits a NV centre, but this time as an integrated part of a diamond resonator. This monolithic system potentially offers an unprecedented coupling, a supreme overall stability, and NV centres with improved characteristics, together expanding the scope of conceivable experiments.

Keywords: hybrid quantum systems,quantum optics,nanomechanics,electronic spin
Computer Vision for Scene Understanding from a first-person Perspective (CV-SUPER)

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: Germany
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-11-01
End date: 2017-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499960.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499960.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The goal of CV-SUPER is to create the technology to perform dynamic visual scene understanding from the perspective of a moving human observer. Briefly stated, we want to enable computers to see and understand what humans see when they navigate their way through busy inner-city locations. Our target scenario is dynamic visual scene understanding in public spaces, such as pedestrian zones, shopping malls, or other locations primarily designed for humans. CV-SUPER will develop computer vision algorithms that can observe the people populating those spaces, interpret and understand their actions and their interactions with other people and inanimate objects, and from this understanding derive predictions of their future behaviors within the next few seconds. In addition, we will develop methods to infer semantic properties of the observed environment and learn to recognize how those affect people’s actions. Supporting those tasks, we will develop a novel design of an object recognition system that scales up to potentially hundreds of categories. Finally, we will bind all those components together in a dynamic 3D world model, showing the world’s current state and facilitating predictions how this state will most likely change within the next few seconds. These are crucial capabilities for the creation of technical systems that may one day assist humans in their daily lives within such busy spaces, e.g., in the form of personal assistance devices for elderly or visually impaired people or in the form of future generations of mobile service robots and intelligent vehicles.

Keywords: computer vision,visual scene understanding,action and activity recognition,object recognition,tracking,segmentation
Taming non-equilibrium quantum systems (TAQ)

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: Germany
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2013-02-01
End date: 2019-01-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1234020.0
EU funding (EUR): 1234020.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Complex quantum systems out of equilibrium are not only at the basis of some of the most intriguing puzzles in physics, they also allow for new applications in quantum technologies. Equipped with a portfolio of innovative methods, this proposal makes a concerted and focused effort to tackle some of the difficult questions on strongly correlated systems out of equilibrium. At the same time it suggests new modes of quantum technologies by intrinsically exploiting notions of openness and non-equilibrium. The proposed work will be structured according to four methodologically intertwined objectives: 1. A fresh attempt will be made at solving long-standing questions of equilibration and thermalization of interacting quantum many-body systems. Precise conditions will be given under which thermalization provably does, or does not, happen. 2. It will be shown that notions of exactly timed, controlled and protected quantum information processing are possible not despite of, but because of quantum many-body systems undergoing non-equilibrium dynamics and dissipation. This research will employ innovative and highly unorthodox Markov chain mixing tools, applied to the quantum domain for the first time. 3. Based on new insights on the entanglement structure of systems in non-equilibrium, new algorithms will be proposed that promise to overcome the road block of numerically simulating long time dynamics being prohibitively difficult, and which are suitable for simulating the evolution of quantum fields. 4. Experimental progress in non-equilibrium dynamics will slow down dramatically unless new probing techniques are developed. New paths will be taken to achieve efficient dynamical system identiﬁcation, based on novel paradigms of quantum compressed sensing. This high-risk, high-gain research promises truly ground breaking results on long-standing fundamental problems as well as on innovative applications in quantum technologies.

Keywords: quantum information theory,quantum many-body theory,non-equilibrium,relaxation,thermalization,quantum optics,quantum state tomography,quantum system identification,cold atoms,ion traps
Electric-Field Control of Magnetic Domain Wall Motion and Fast Magnetic Switching: Magnetoelectrics at Micro, Nano, and Atomic Length Scales (E-CONTROL)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Condensed matter physics
Countries involved: Finland
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-10-01
End date: 2017-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499465.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499465.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The aim of the proposed research is to study electric-field induced magnetic phenomena in thin-film ferromagnetic-ferroelectric heterostructures. In particular, the project addresses ferroic order competition and magnetoelectric coupling dynamics at micro, nano, and atomic length scales. The first part of the project focuses on the dynamics of coupled ferromagnetic-ferroelectric domains and electric-field induced magnetic domain wall motion at sub-nanosecond time scales. For simultaneous imaging of both ferroic domain responses to ultra-short electric-field pulses, the construction of a time-resolved polarization microscope is proposed. The second part relates to finite-size scaling of ferroic domain correlations in continuous films and electric-field control of magnetic effects in patterned nanostructures. Here, the aim is to elucidate the competition between magnetoelectric coupling at ferromagnetic-ferroelectric interfaces and the relevant energy scales within the bulk of ferroic materials. Moreover, electric-field induced domain wall motion in magnetic nanowires is pursued as a viable low-power alternative to current-driven spin-torque effects. Finally, the third part of E-CONTROL aims at visualization of magnetoelectric coupling effects with atomic precision. For this frontier study, the development of in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques is proposed. The new measurement method enables the application of local electric fields on cross-sectional specimen during TEM analysis and this is bound to provide unique insights in strain-mediated and charge-modulated coupling mechanisms between ferromagnetic and ferroelectric thin films.

Keywords: magnetoelectric coupling
Anotec Real-time MOdel for Noise Exposure of Aircraft (ARMONEA)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Joint Technology Initiatives (Annex IV-SP1)
Theme: Public-private partnerships
Destination: Clean Sky
Action type: Article 171 of the Treaty
Partnership: CLEAN-SKY (Art-185)
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (SP1-JTI-CS-2011-03, 2011)
Start date: 2012-04-01
End date: 2013-06-30
Duration (months): 15.0
Total project cost (EUR): 266616.0
EU funding (EUR): 199962.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The main objective of the work proposed here is to provide a detailed specification and design for a new level of aircraft noise prediction modelling, capable of being used in real-time applications. This model can thus be used for the minimisation of the noise impact “on-the-fly” as part of a wider optimisation for minimum environmental impact of aircraft operations, as envisaged in SGO/MTM. In recent years increased effort has been dedicated to better understand the interdependencies between noise and emissions. In Europe initiatives like TEAM-PLAY have been setup in order to create a toolsuite with which these interdependencies can be assessed. However, these efforts are mainly directed towards long term assessments, usually for policy support, informing the rulemaking process, e.g. for the assessment of stringency options or elaboration of action plans. These methods do not intend to be accurate at single event level. ARMONEA, however, will provide a tool with which each individual aircraft operation can be optimised for minimum noise impact in dependence of current air traffic/meteo situations, thus significantly contributing to minimising the environmental impact of air traffic. ARMONEA is based on the SOPRANO platform, a complex aircraft noise source prediction program, developed in EU projects and at present the main common tool for aircraft noise predictions in Europe. Its flexibility allows for its adaptation to a variety of appliations, and it is envisaged that the power of SOPRANO will greatly contribute to the success of ARMONEA.

Keywords: aircraft noise,noise model,optimisation,flight procedures,noise exposure
Sustainable Catalytic C-H Bond Functionalization (CATCHFUN)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Materials and Synthesis
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-10-01
End date: 2017-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499338.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499338.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The impressive progress in synthetic organic chemistry during the past century has propelled this discipline to its current central place as the key enabling technology in the physical and life sciences. Despite these remarkable advances, our ability to construct molecules of even moderate structural complexity remains unsatisfactory, since these syntheses continue to be inefficient, rely on a high number of reaction steps, and generate undesired, often toxic waste. These features led to the general need for greener transformations that will stimulate the development of more sustainable chemical industries. Conventional approaches in synthetic organic chemistry make use of starting materials displaying specific functional groups, the installation of which results in costly reaction and purification steps. Therefore, an environmentally-sound and economically-attractive alternative is represented by the direct functionalization of ubiquitous carbon-hydrogen (C–H) bonds. These transition-metal-catalyzed processes avoid prefunctionalization strategies, prevent the formation of undesired waste, and thus enable an overall streamlining of organic synthesis. While considerable recent progress has been accomplished in C–H bond functionalizations, available methodologies continue to be limited in scope, and key challenges are still to be overcome. Establishing a full set of sustainable C–H bond functionalization protocols will undeniably have a tremendous impact on various applied areas, such as drug discovery, chemical industries or material sciences.

Keywords: organic synthesis,green chemistry,transition-metal catalysis,c-h activation,ruthenium,sequential catalysis,c-c formation,enantioselective catalysis,alkylation