Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Algorithmic Mechanism Design: Beyond Truthful Mechanisms (AMD)

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: Israel
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2013-11-01
End date: 2019-10-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1394600.0
EU funding (EUR): 1394600.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The first decade of Algorithmic Mechanism Design (AMD) concentrated, very successfully, on the design of truthful mechanisms for the allocation of resources among agents with private preferences. Truthful mechanisms are ones that incentivize rational users to report their preferences truthfully. Truthfulness, however, for all its theoretical appeal, suffers from several inherent limitations, mainly its high communication and computation complexities. It is not surprising, therefore, that practical applications forego truthfulness and use simpler mechanisms instead. Simplicity in itself, however, is not sufficient, as any meaningful mechanism should also have some notion of fairness; otherwise agents will stop using it over time. In this project I plan to develop an innovative AMD theoretical framework that will go beyond truthfulness and focus instead on the natural themes of simplicity and fairness, in addition to computational tractability. One of my primary goals will be the design of simple and fair poly-time mechanisms that perform at near optimal levels with respect to important economic objectives such as social welfare and revenue. To this end, I will work toward providing precise definitions of simplicity and fairness and quantifying the effects of these restrictions on the performance levels that can be obtained. A major challenge in the evaluation of non-truthful mechanisms is defining a reasonable behavior model that will enable their evaluation. The success of this project could have a broad impact on Europe and beyond, as it would guide the design of natural mechanisms for markets of tens of billions of dollars in revenue, such as online advertising, or sales of wireless frequencies. The timing of this project is ideal, as the AMD field is now sufficiently mature to lead to a breakthrough and at the same time young enough to be receptive to new approaches and themes.

Keywords: algorithmic mechanism design,algorithmic game theory,auctions,price of anarchy,equilibrium
Human Antibody Responses to Viruses (HUMANTIVIRUSES)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Immunity and infection
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-01-01
End date: 2018-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499998.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499998.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In addition to polyreactive “natural antibodies” that act as the first line of defense against invading pathogens, “humoral memory” is composed of high affinity antibodies that mediate long-lived immunity against infectious agents, e.g., providing protection against re-infection. The molecular dissection of anti-pathogen B-cell responses using modern technologies to generate specific monoclonal antibodies allowed breakthrough discoveries on antiviral responses to Influenza and HIV. The goal of this proposal is to study memory B-cell antibody responses to human pathogens, especially viruses, by generating and characterizing envelope specific antibodies from infected patients. I propose three aims to address what I believe to be some of the most exciting questions in the field of antiviral B-cell immunity. I propose to study: (i) the development and dynamics of memory B-cell responses to HIV; (ii) the mucosal antibody response to HIV; (iii) the memory B-cell response to Chikungunya virus. The antibodies that will be produced may be of therapeutic interest, but more importantly, their characterization will lead to a better understanding of human antibody responses to infectious agents, and may uncover candidate immunogens for vaccine development.

Keywords: antibodies,b cells,hiv,chikungunya virus,vaccines
Assessing the Effects of Rising O2 on Biogeochemical Cycles: Integrated Laboratory Experiments and Numerical Simulations (AEROBIC)

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: Israel
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2013-09-01
End date: 2018-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1472690.0
EU funding (EUR): 1472690.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The rise of atmospheric O2 ~2,500 million years ago is one of the most profound transitions in Earth's history. Yet, despite its central role in shaping Earth's surface environment, the cause for the rise of O2 remains poorly understood. Tight coupling between the O2 cycle and the biogeochemical cycles of redox-active elements, such as C, Fe and S, implies radical changes in these cycles before, during and after the rise of O2. These changes, too, are incompletely understood, but have left valuable information encoded in the geological record. This information has been qualitatively interpreted, leaving many aspects of the rise of O2, including its causes and constraints on ocean chemistry before and after it, topics of ongoing research and debate. Here, I outline a research program to address this fundamental question in geochemical Earth systems evolution. The inherently interdisciplinary program uniquely integrates laboratory experiments, numerical models, geological observations, and geochemical analyses. Laboratory experiments and geological observations will constrain unknown parameters of the early biogeochemical cycles, and, in combination with field studies, will validate and refine the use of paleoenvironmental proxies. The insight gained will be used to develop detailed models of the coupled biogeochemical cycles, which will themselves be used to quantitatively understand the events surrounding the rise of O2, and to illuminate the dynamics of elemental cycles in the early oceans. This program is expected to yield novel, quantitative insight into these important events in Earth history and to have a major impact on our understanding of early ocean chemistry and the rise of O2. An ERC Starting Grant will enable me to use the excellent experimental and computational facilities at my disposal, to access the outstanding human resource at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and to address one of the major open questions in modern geochemistry.

Keywords: geochemical evolution of oceans and atmosphere
Novel Photovoltaics Enabled by Nanoscience (NANOENABLEDPV)

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: Netherlands
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2013-08-01
End date: 2018-07-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499310.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499310.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The “NanoEnabledPV” research program will exploit the fundamental benefits of nanomaterials and address their challenges to make low-cost solar cells a reality. NanoEnabledPV contains three focus areas necessary to reach our goal: 1) “Nano surface doping” – surface-controlled nanomaterial properties. We will explore using charged surface oxides and surface ligands with dipole moments as a novel doping mechanism. We will make the first nanowire solar cell using a surface “p-n” junction. The lessons learned from single nanowire studies will be extended to make large-scale, high efficiency metal-insulator-semiconductor solar cells. 2) “Solar highways” – metal nanowire core-semiconductor shell photovoltaics. We will examine the optical and electrical properties of silver and copper nanowires coated with various semiconductor shells for the first time. This novel device structure can achieve complete absorption using 10 times thinner semiconductor layers compared to standard thin-film structures and also enables facile charge extraction via the metal core. 3) “Nanophotography” – hierarchical synthesis and assembly based on optical resonances in nanostructures. We will develop a new type of mask-free photolithography in solution with resolution far below the diffraction limit. This will enable rational, large-scale synthesis of ordered hierarchical structures that can be assembled into complex 3-D networks. Together, these programs that sit at the intersection of physics, chemistry, materials science and engineering will provide the active light-absorbing materials needed for next generation solar energy conversion schemes, a deep understanding of how they work at the nanoscale and methods for integrating them into macroscale devices. We are requesting 1.5 Million Euros over a period of 5 years that will be used to hire 2 PhD students, 2 postdoctoral researchers and buy the equipment needed to build a unique nanowire solar cell fabrication and analysis lab.
Artemisinin-based combination therapy: an illustration of the global pharmaceutical drug market in Asia and Africa (GLOBALMED)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Institutions, values, beliefs and behaviour
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2019-02-28
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 927034.0
EU funding (EUR): 927034.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Pharmaceutical drugs provide an ideal window into studying contemporary societies. With dimensions that are simultaneously scientific, therapeutic, popular and commercial, these drugs are central to various issues. ACTs, the new recommended treatment for malaria in Africa, crystallize these issues and provide a case study to investigate the global drug market. This project proposes to use ACTs as a lens to study the realities affecting this market, both in terms of supply and demand in two African countries where the pharmaceutical systems differ significantly. This will involve analyzing the globalizing processes affecting drugs in Benin and Ghana and to study their consequences on public health. To further compare the drug systems and to address the serious issue of the spread of resistances to ACTs from Asia to Africa, the project also proposes conducting a study on the drug system in Cambodia. The central discipline is anthropology, which is extremely relevant to the study of formal and informal pharmaceutical supply and to the analysis of drug use (WP1 and WP2). However, since a multidisciplinary approach is advised for drug studies, the PI will work with an epidemiologist who will study the scope of ACT consumption (WP3) and a sociologist specializing in pharmaceutical legislation who will analyze local production and ACT regulations (WP4). Opening into Asia will occur through WP5. A WP6 is devoted to project management, dissemination of results, organizing two symposiums and institutional twofold impacts: (1) to foster reflection so that more efficient pharmaceutical systems are established in Africa, and (2) to provide critical information to prevent the spread of resistances to ACTs from Asia to Africa. The project includes a substantial training component: 8 master students, 2 PhD and 1 post-doct. The PI’s skills in methodology and theory and the solid partnerships she has developed in Benin and Ghana will support the project’s feasibility.

Keywords: pharmaceuticals,market,globalization,act,malaria,distribution,consumption,regulation,circulation,public health,benin,ghana,cambodia.
Fast Filtering for Computer Graphics, Vision and Computational Sciences (FAST FILTERING)

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: Israel
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2013-08-01
End date: 2018-07-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1320200.0
EU funding (EUR): 1320200.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The world of digital signal processing, in particular computer graphics, vision and image processing, use linear and non-linear, explicit and implicit filtering extensively to analyze, process and synthesize images. Given nowadays high-resolution sensors, these operations are often very time consuming and are limited to devices with high-CPU power. Traditional linear translation-invariant (LTI) transformations, executed using convolution, requires O(N^2) operations. This can be lowered to O(N \log N) via FFT over suitable domains. There are very few sets of filters to which optimal, linear-time, procedures are known. This situation is more complicated in the newly-emerging domain of non-linear spatially-varying filters. Exact application of such filter requires O(N^2) operations and acceleration methods involve higher space dimension introducing severe memory cost and truncation errors. In this research proposal we intend to derive fast, linear-time, procedures for different types of LTI filters by exploiting a deep connection between convolution, spatially-homogeneous elliptic equations and the multigrid method for solving such equations. Based on this circular connection we draw novel prospects for deriving new multiscale filtering procedures. A second part of this research proposal is devoted to deriving efficient explicit and implicit non-linear spatially-varying edge-aware filters. One front consists of the derivation of novel multi-level image decomposition that mimics the action of inhomogeneous diffusion operators. The idea here is, once again, to bridge the gap with numerical analysis and use ideas from multiscale matrix preconditioning for the design of new biorthogonal second-generation wavelets. Moreover, this proposal outlines a new multiscale preconditioning paradigm combining ideas from algebraic multigrid and combinatorial matrix preconditioning. This intermediate approach offers new ways for overcoming fundamental shortcomings in this domain.

Keywords: image filtering,edge preserving filtering,multiscale image decomposition,hdr compression,edge-award interpolation,edge-avoiding wavelets,matrix preconditioning,multigrid
Mechanisms of chromosome segregation in mammalian oocytes (CHROMOOCYTE)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Cellular and Developmental Biology
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-02-01
End date: 2019-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1487611.0
EU funding (EUR): 1487611.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

All animal life starts with the fertilization of an egg. A haploid egg and a haploid sperm fuse and together they form a new genetically unique embryo. But surprisingly, eggs frequently contain an incorrect number of chromosomes. Depending on the age of the woman, 10-50% of eggs are chromosomally abnormal. This high percentage of abnormal eggs results from chromosome segregation errors during oocyte maturation, the process by which a diploid oocyte matures into a haploid egg. Thus, errors during meiosis in human oocytes are the most common cause of pregnancy losses and contribute to approximately 95% of human aneuploidy such as Down’s syndrome. Surprisingly, we still know very little about how mammalian oocytes mature into eggs, and it is still unclear why chromosome segregation during meiosis is so much more error-prone than during mitosis. My proposal combines three innovative and complementary approaches towards understanding how homologous chromosomes are segregated and why oocyte maturation in mammals is so error-prone. Specifically, we will work towards the following three aims: 1. We will complete the first large scale screen for genes required for accurate progression through meiosis in mammalian oocytes and characterize the function of a few selected genes in detail. 2. We will analyse meiosis and investigate potential causes of chromosome segregation errors directly in live human oocytes. 3. We will study the function of an F-actin spindle and a chromosome-associated myosin that might be required for chromosome segregation in mammalian oocytes. Because errors during oocyte maturation lead to pregnancy loss, birth defects and infertility, this work will not only provide important insights into fundamental cellular mechanisms, but will also have important implications for human health.
Three ideas in open Gromov-Witten theory (OPENGWTRIANGLE)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Mathematical foundations
Countries involved: Israel
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2013-10-01
End date: 2020-06-30
Duration (months): 81.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1249000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1249000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The questions motivating symplectic geometry, from classical mechanics to enumerative algebraic geometry, have been studied for centuries. Many recent advances in the field have stemmed from the theory of J-holomorphic curves, and in particular Gromov-Witten theory. The past 25 years of research have produced a fairly detailed picture of what can be expected from classical, closed Gromov-Witten theory. However, closed Gromov-Witten theory by itself lacks an interface with Lagrangian submanifolds, one of the fundamental structures of symplectic geometry. The nascent open Gromov-Witten theory, in which Lagrangian submanifolds enter as boundary conditions for J-holomorphic curves, provides such an interface. The goal of the proposed research is to broaden and systematize our understanding of open Gromov-Witten theory. My strategy leverages three connections with more established fields of research to uncover new aspects of open Gromov-Witten theory. In return, open Gromov-Witten theory advances the connected fields and reveals links between them. First, the closed and open Gromov-Witten theories are intertwined. Representation theoretic structures in closed Gromov-Witten theory admit mixed open closed extensions. Further, real algebraic geometry gives rise to a large variety of Lagrangian submanifolds providing an important source of intuition for open Gromov Witten theory. In return, open Gromov-Witten theory techniques advance Welschinger's real enumerative geometry. Finally, open Gromov-Witten theory plays a key role in mirror symmetry, a conjectural correspondence between symplectic and complex geometry originating from string theory. In particular, open Gromov-Witten invariants appear in the construction of mirror geometries. Moreover, under mirror symmetry, Lagrangian submanifolds correspond roughly to holomorphic vector bundles. Well understood functionals associated to holomorphic vector bundles go over to open Gromov-Witten invariants.

Keywords: gromov witten theory,real algebraic geometry,mirror symmetry,lagrangian submanifolds
NET SHAPE MANUFACTURE OF Ni SUPERALLOY ENGINE CASING (NESMONIC)

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,United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call:  (SP1-JTI-CS-2012-03, 2012)
Start date: 2013-04-15
End date: 2016-04-14
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1675200.2
EU funding (EUR): 1208527.0
Participants: 3
Project status: CLOSED

This response to the call for proposals under the Clean Sky Joint Undertaking to manufacture static engine components from IN718 using Net Shape Hot Isostatic Pressing of powder (NSHIP) involves 3 partners with complementary expertise in the areas required to undertake the work including powder characterisation; NSHIP and modelling; low cost tooling, as well as microstructural and property assessment. The NSHIP of powder has the potential to revolutionise the production of complex high performance aerospace parts enabling significant improved buy-to-fly ratios which give cost savings as well as environmental benefits. To exploit this technology, significant challenges must be addressed including; difficulty in HIPping nickel super alloy powder, high cost of sacrificial tooling, diffused surface layer on components due to interaction with the tool material and finally the lack of credible performance information for IN718 parts produced using the NSHIP process. The partners will use a rigorous and yet innovative approach to address these challenges in this 2 year collaborative project. Trials will be performed to determine the best powder and HIPping conditions to use to produce parts with the desired microstructure and properties. Novel low cost tooling methods will be developed and surface engineering techniques, to eliminate tool/component interaction, will be explored. A computation model of IN718 powder consolidation will be used to calculate the correct tool geometry to enable “right-first-time” net shape parts to be produced. Finally, demonstration components and test sample will be produced using the most appropriate powder and manufacturing parameters. Test samples will be subjected to NADCAP-approved mechanical property testing. The quality of the demonstration components will be assessed by the partners and subsequently supplied to ITP for long term evaluation.

Keywords: hot issostatic pressing,net shape technology,powder metallurgy,aeronautics,canning,ni-superalloys,microstructure,mechanical properties
Evolution of a new stable phenotype: a genetic, developmental and behavioural analysis (ROBUST)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Cellular and Developmental Biology
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-02-01
End date: 2019-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1386660.0
EU funding (EUR): 1386660.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

How robust phenotypes evolve despite developmental noise remains unclear. Individuals from natural populations usually display more stable phenotypes than laboratory mutants and hybrids. This suggests that there are genetic mechanisms that stabilize phenotypes and that these differ between isolated populations. We want to address here an unexplored yet fundamental question in biology: how does a stable phenotype appear during evolution? We will focus on the evolution of a new genital sensory organ pattern in Drosophila santomea. We aim to better characterize the molecular mechanisms that stabilize this recently evolved phenotype. Our goal is three-fold: (1) characterize and compare the development of these structures in D. santomea and its closely-related species, (2) identify the underlying genes and mutations that act collectively to produce a robust phenotype in pure species, and (3) unveil the selective forces at play on this evolved phenotype. Our combination of various powerful approaches in a tractable model system should provide important insights and concrete molecular data on phenotypic robustness and evolution. My PhD on Drosophila sensory organ development and my post-doc on the delicate genetics of Drosophila evolution have placed me in a unique position to successfully tackle this far-reaching research program.

Keywords: robustness,canalization