Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Electrospinning: a method to elaborate membrane-electrode assemblies for fuel cells (SPINAM)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Products and process engineering
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2013-01-01
End date: 2018-06-30
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1352774.0
EU funding (EUR): 1352774.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

This project leads to the development of novel MEAs comprising components elaborated by the electrospinning technique. Proton exchange membranes will be elaborated from electrospun ionomer fibres and characterised. In the first stages of the work, we will use commercial perfluorosulfonic acid polymers, but later we will extend the study to specific partially fluorinated ionomers developed within th project, as well as to sulfonated polyaromatic ionomers. Fuel cell electrodes will be prepared using conducting fibres prepared by electrospinning as supports. Initially we will focus on carbon nanofibres, and then on modified carbon support materials (heteroatom functionalisation, oriented carbons) and finally on metal oxides and carbides. The resultant nanofibres will serve as support for the deposition of metal catalyst particles (Pt, Pt/Co, Pt/Ru). Conventional impregnation routes and also a novel “one pot” method will be used. Detailed (structural, morphological, electrical, electrochemical) characterisation of the electrodes will be carried out in collaboration between partners. The membranes and electrodes developed will be assembled into MEAs using CCM (catalyst coated membrane) and GDE (gas diffusion electrode) approaches and also an original "membrane coated GDE" method based on electrospinning. Finally the obtained MEAs will be characterised in situ in an operating fuel cell fed with hydrogen or methanol and the results compared with those of conventional MEAs.

Keywords: electrospinning,nanofibers,materials for energy,fuel cells,ionomer membranes,fuel cell electrodes
Optically controlled carrier and Nuclear spintronics: towards nano-scale memory and imaging applications (OPTODNPCONTROL)

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: France
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2013-02-01
End date: 2018-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1495482.0
EU funding (EUR): 1495482.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Carrier spin states in semiconductor nano-structures can be manipulated with fast optical pulses via the optical selection rules. The electron and hole spins in quantum dots interact strongly with the nuclear spins in the host material via the hyperfine interaction. This allows a new, versatile approach to nuclear spintronics, namely applying fast optical initialisation to carrier states and subsequent transfer via dynamic nuclear polarisation (DNP) of the spin information onto long-lived nuclear spin states, with promising applications in quantum information science and novel nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. This project aims to develop new, efficient optical pumping schemes to maximise DNP by going beyond the established Overhauser effects, investigating the possibility of self-polarization and phase transitions of the nuclear spin ensemble. An innovating aspect of this proposal is to use valence state engineering to tailor the highly anisotropic dipolar interaction between nuclei and holes, which can lead to novel, non-colinear hyperfine coupling. The next innovation proposed is the development of an all-optical technique AONMR that does not require any radiofrequency (rf) coil set-up capable to control mesoscopic spin ensembles. Contrary to standard NMR techniques based on the generation of macroscopic rf-fields, AONMR can address the nuclear spins in one single nano-object via resonant laser excitation. A further important target is to use quantum dots and other carrier localisation centres as efficient sources of DNP generation and to carry out a detailed study of the diffusion of DNP throughout the sample and finally across the sample surface, varying key sample (chemical composition, strain, substrate orientation) and experimental parameters such as temperature and applied external fields. These experiments are a feasibility study for using hyperpolarized compound semiconductors for increasing the sensitivity in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

Keywords: quantum dots,semiconductor optics,dynamic nuclear polarization (dnp),hyperfine interaction,nuclear magnetic resonance (nmr),valence band engineering
Chemically Engineered Nanocrystal Solids (NANOSOLID)

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: Switzerland
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-12-01
End date: 2017-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1490318.8
EU funding (EUR): 1490318.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Many materials in the form of well-defined nanoscale crystals (“nanocrystals”) exhibit unique properties due to size effects and large surface-to-volume ratios. Yet it is clear that the utilization of nanomaterials in modern technologies requires their integration into solid-state structures with programmable electronic, magnetic and optical properties. The clear challenge is the rational design of this novel type of condensed matter, in which the size-tunable individual properties of nanoscale building blocks are enhanced by their interactions and by the macroscopic properties of their ensembles. The project NANOSOLID will rethink existing approaches and propose radically new strategies for the bottom-up assembly of inorganic entities of various dimensionalities into functional inorganic materials. We identified two clear and interlinked needs that will be addressed: the proper design and understanding of nanocrystal surface chemistry, and the unconventional assembly of nanocrystals into dense nanostructured solids. The union of modern concepts from molecular and supramolecular chemistry will be used to develop nanosolids with predictable geometries and functionalities. We will combine colloidal nanocrystals with other well-established classes of materials aiming at previously unknown crystalline structures composed of strongly interacting species in search for ground-breaking advances in materials design. Among the possibilities for these investigations are covalent and non-covalent, directional and non-directional binding modes, and specific and non-specific interparticle interactions. Together, this project will contribute significantly to the fundamental knowledge about the nanocrystal surface, and will develop new synthetic design tools for complex inorganic solids. Overall, the new materials design platform is expected to bring the long-awaited innovative solutions in energy research, particularly in the areas of thin-film devices for energy conversion and storage.

Keywords: nanoparticles,nanocrystals,nanostructures,thin films,solid state materials,supramolecular chemistry
Lower Extremity Amputee Dynamics: Simulating the Motion of an Above-Knee Amputee’s Stump by Means of a Novel EMG-Integrated 3D Musculoskeletal Forward-Dynamics Modelling Approach (LEAD)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Products and process engineering
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): 1676760.0
EU funding (EUR): 1676760.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Wearing sub-optimally fitted lower limb prosthesis cause disorders of the stump that strongly lessens the well-being and the performance of an amputee. As experimental measurements are currently not capable of providing enough insights in the dynamic behaviour of the stump, simulations need to be employed to achieve the necessary knowledge gain to significantly improve the socket design and, hence, to increase the amputee’s well-being and performance. The overall goal of this proposal is to provide the enabling technology in form of novel computational and experimental methodologies to assist the design process of next-generation prosthetic devices. The focus hereby is to gain a better understanding of the dynamics of the musculoskeletal system of a lower extremity amputee, here, the stump of an above-knee amputee. To achieve this, LEAD pursues two aims. The first and main aim focuses on substantially changing existing modelling philosophies and methodologies of forward dynamics approaches such that they are capable of representing muscles, bone, and skin as 3D continuum-mechanical objects. To counteract the increase of computational cost by switching from 1D lumped-parameter models to 3D models, novel, elegant, and efficient algorithms, e.g. nested iteration techniques tuned for efficiency through model-based coupling strategies and optimised solvers, need to be developed. The second aim is to experimentally measure physical quantities that provide the necessary input to drive the forward dynamics model, e.g. EMG, and to provide means of validation, e.g. with respect to pressure measurements, ultrasound recordings, and motion capture. Given the non-existing field of forward dynamics appealing to continuum-mechanical skeletal muscle models, LEAD creates a new field of research.

Keywords: skeletal muscle modelling,finite element method,forward dynamics,emg signal processing,prosthetic devices,computational bioengineering
Coordination and Harmonisation of Advanced e-Infrastructures for Research and Education Data Sharing (CHAIN-REDS)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Research Infrastructures
Destination: Support to policy development and Programme implementation
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Italy,Spain,Greece,Czechia,Uruguay,France,India,Netherlands,China,Germany
Call:  (FP7-INFRASTRUCTURES-2012-1-INFSO, 2012)
Start date: 2012-12-01
End date: 2015-05-31
Duration (months): 30.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2117542.0
EU funding (EUR): 1520000.0
Participants: 10
Project status: CLOSED

CHAIN-REDS vision is to promote and support technological and scientific collaboration across different eInfrastructures established and operated in various continents, in order to facilitate their uptake and use by established and emerging Virtual Research Communities (VRCs) but also by single researchers, promoting instruments and practices that can facilitate their inclusion in the community of users. The project aims to support and disseminate the best practices currently adopted in Europe and other continents, and promote and facilitate interoperability among different regional eInfrastructures. CHAIN-REDS gathers the main stakeholders of regional eInfrastructures, collectively engaged in studying and defining a path towards a global eInfrastructure ecosystem that will allow VRCs, research groups and even single researchers to access and efficiently use worldwide distributed resources (i.e. computing, storage, data, services, tools, applications). The core objective of CHAIN-REDS project is to promote, coordinate and support the effort of a critical mass of non-European eInfrastructures for Research and Education to collaborate with Europe addressing interoperability and interoperation of Grids and other Distributed Computing Infrastructures. From this perspective, CHAIN-REDS will optimise the interoperation of European infrastructures with those present in other 6 regions of the world, both from development and use point of view, and catering to different communities. Overall, CHAIN-REDs will provide input for future strategies and decision-making regarding collaboration with other regions on eInfrastructure deployment and availability of related data; it will raise the visibility of eInfrastructures towards intercontinental audiences, covering most of the world and will provide support to establish globally connected and interoperable infrastructures, in particular between EU and the developing regions.

Keywords: grid,e-infrastructures,data reopositories,interoperability
Strong, functional, tunable, self-assembling hydrogel scaffolds for regenerative medicine (STROFUNSCAFF)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2013-08-01
End date: 2019-03-31
Duration (months): 68.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1492686.0
EU funding (EUR): 1492686.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This work proposes the development of novel material and fabrication platforms to generate strong, tunable, and highly biomimetic nanofibrous hydrogel scaffolds with an unparalleled level of control of both signaling and mechanical properties. The break-through element is the combination of elastin-like polymers (ELPs) and self-assembling peptide amphiphiles (PAs) to create nanofibrous hydrogels with an unprecedented combination of strength, tenability, and bioactivity. The proposed work aims to provide solutions to the current main limitations of self-assembling hydrogels. In addition, it describes novel fabrication methods to create unique biomimetic environments. The work is divided into 2 work packages. The first Work Package (WP1) aims to develop two material platforms designed to combine the benefits of ELPs and PAs. The second Work Package (WP2) aims to develop scaffold fabrication platforms with unprecedented complexity and precision exhibiting defined hierarchical features and spatio-temporal control of physical and chemical signals designed for cartilage or disc therapies. All the scaffolds will be validated in vitro using human cells. This is a critical component for the generation of human-based models and more efficient regenerative therapies.

Keywords: tissue engineering,scaffolds,regenerative medicine,cartilage,disc,microfabrication,nanotechnology,peptides
Quantum Simulation of Many-Body Physics in Ultracold Gases (QUSIMGAS)

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: 2013-03-01
End date: 2018-02-28
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1489414.0
EU funding (EUR): 1489414.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Ultracold atoms in an optical lattice constitute a clean, controlled and tunable implementation of many intractable models in condensed matter physics. In the long run, cold gas experiments may act as quantum simulators and shed new light on those models, and tell us to what extent the real material is described by the model. The prerequisite is, however, that those experiments are benchmarked and validated against models with known results. A lot of recent attention was therefore devoted to the quantitative analysis of these experiments: we have shown for instance that interference patterns for bosonic gases in an optical lattice can be in one-to-one agreement with quantum Monte Carlo simulations. In recent years, as the many-body physics has become more apparent, the numerical component in explaining cold gas experiments has grown stronger. Unfortunately, no numerical methods exist today that can control the answer in the new parameter regimes that gradually become accessible in cold gas experiments. In this proposal we want to develop novel diagrammatic quantum Monte Carlo methods aiming at controlled answers for intractable models in parameter regimes relevant for cold atoms. By a combination of cluster dynamical mean-field theory and diagrammatic Monte Carlo we will investigate the Hubbard model in the pseudo-gap regime. For fermions with long-range interactions such as dipolar and Coulombic systems, diagrammatic Monte Carlo will also be developed. This can have far reaching consequences for high Tc superconductors, exchange functionals and material science. Sideprojects in this proposal include the study of spinor bosonic systems in higher dimensions, bosonic polar molecules with anisotropic interactions in different geometries, polaronic effects in cold gases, and circuit quantum electrodynamics, where the strong light-matter coupling opens a different avenue for quantum simulation, but with its own challenges.

Keywords: quantum monte carlo
Stellar HYdrodynamics Nucleosynthesis and Evolution (SHYNE)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-11-01
End date: 2017-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1407265.0
EU funding (EUR): 1407265.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Stars, massive stars in particular, play a key role through the light they shine, all the chemical elements they produce and the supernova explosions that mark their death. Stars are complex 3D laboratories that relate to many scientific disciplines: nuclear & astro-physics, applied mathematics and computer science. Unfortunately stars cannot be modelled fully in 3D. The best way to model them is to develop synergy between 3D and 1D models to improve 1D stellar evolution models. This programme will tackle this multi-disciplinary challenge, which is out of reach of individual research groups. For this purpose, my team, with the help of a network of world leading experts in their respective disciplines, will use an innovating approach using and extending techniques from other disciplines such as Monte Carlo simulations (regularly used in other disciplines of physics) to develop a unique suite of software tools able to: (1) simulate the most complex processes in stars, (2) apply these models to stars of all masses and (3) use stars as virtual nuclear physics laboratories. This unique software suite will provide a pipeline for the fast production of comprehensive datasets (superseding currently limited ones) that will guide and provide a framework of analysis for large European nuclear physics experiments (FAIR at GSI, D) and astronomical observing facilities (ESO VLT, E-ELT & ESA GAIA) thus enhancing the return on these huge investments. The SHYNE software suite will also boost the innovation cycle of future developments in stellar modelling far beyond the term of this grant and will enable the resolution of many challenging questions and unsolved problems such as: What is the fate of the most massive stars known to date? How frequent are pair-creation and electron-capture supernovae? How much of each chemical element do stars produce? The multi-disciplinary SHYNE programme will thus have a wide ranging impact in science and benefit Europe at many levels.

Keywords: stars,supernova,early universe,rotation,nucleosynthesis,computational astrophysics
Hardwiring the ocean floor: the impact of microbial electrical circuitry on biogeochemical cycling in marine sediments (SEDBIOGEOCHEM2.0)

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: Netherlands
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2017-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1497996.0
EU funding (EUR): 1497996.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Although it is well known that microbial cells can exhibit sophisticated cooperative behaviour, none of the recent advancements in geomicrobiology has been so perplexing as the proposal that microbial populations are capable of fast, electrical communication over centimetre scale distances. This metabolic tour-de-force was recently documented from laboratory incubations with marine sediments. Clearly, the phenomenon is so thought provoking, and its consequences are so far reaching, that independent verification is absolutely needed. Recently, my research group has collected strong evidence that long-distance electron transport is not merely a laboratory phenomenon, but that it effectively happens under in situ conditions in marine sediments. These observations open a broad avenue for new research, since at present, we no understanding of the prevalence of long-distance electron transport in natural environments, let alone, its impact on biogeochemical cycling. In response, this ERC project proposes an in depth investigation into long-distance electron transport in aquatic sediments: when and where does it occur, which redox pathways and microbial players are involved, what is the effective mechanism of electron transfer, and what are its biogeochemical implications. Clearly, this idea of long-distance electron transport would add a whole new dimension to microbial ecology, radically changing our views on microbial cooperation. Yet, the consequences for carbon sequestration and mineral cycling in sediments and soils could even be more astounding, allowing an unprecedented flexibility in redox pathways. Since the same type of extracellular electron transport is at work in engineered systems like microbial fuel cells, it could also improve our understanding of such biotechnological applications.

Keywords: biogeobatteries,sediment biogeochemistry,microbial ecology