Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Development of new wavelength standards for the search for habitable planets (WAVELENGTH STANDARDS)

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: Germany
Call:  (ERC-2011-StG_20101014, 2011)
Start date: 2012-01-01
End date: 2016-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1437200.0
EU funding (EUR): 1437200.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The search for extrasolar planets is moving into the domain of Earth-like, habitable planets with more precise measurement techniques and a focus on low-mass, very cool stars. New spectrographs are being developed with the goal to find Earth-like planets in the habitable zones of stars other than the Sun. Extensive photometric programs, both ground- and space-based are running and being planned to discover transiting planets particularly useful for detailed investigation of exo-planetary atmospheres. For the characterization of exo-planets, and to confirm the planetary status of transit candidates, high-precision radial velocity measurements (m/s) are required, in particular at near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths to discover Earth-like planets around low-mass stars. The largest obstacle for NIR programs is currently the lack of reliable wavelength standards. Potential calibration sources include absorption cells, gas emission lamps, and Fabry-Perot (FP) etalons. In most cases, detailed NIR characterization is still lacking. A very promising source is the Laser frequency comb (LFC), but the LFC signal paradoxically needs to be degenerated to be useful for astronomical spectrographs because spectral line density is usually too high. It is currently not clear whether the LFC can become a viable calibration scheme, in particular for programs carried out at 4m-class telescopes. I propose to systematically investigate wavelength calibration sources with a focus on NIR wavelengths and to develop wavelength calibration sources for NIR wavelengths. The development is of fundamental nature providing new strategies for the upcoming generation of NIR high-precision spectrographs. I suggest a new mechanism in which a FP should be coupled to a double-laser PDH mechanism providing reliable wavelength reference. Calibration lamps filled with UNe or CN are promising alternative sources of calibration lines and should be studied in detail.

Keywords: long-term stabilization of optical references high-precision wavelength calibration near-infrared precision spectroscopy search for earth-like planets precision spectroscopy in low-mass stars
Video and 3D Analysis for Visual Learning (VIDEOLEARN)

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-2011-StG_20101014, 2011)
Start date: 2012-01-01
End date: 2016-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1462800.0
EU funding (EUR): 1462800.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Reliable recognition of thousands of object and action categories is today's key challenge in computer vision. Most contemporary approaches are based on supervised learning algorithms to train object classifiers. While manual annotation has become easier in recent years, it is still not scalable to a large set of categories. Moreover, as it is usually based on human language it does not reflect the visual characteristics of objects, but tries to establish high-level links that should actually be learned after appropriate visual features have been captured. In this proposal, we aim at reducing the manual labeling effort by making use of the natural organization of visual data as it is provided by a video stream. In the same setting, we also aim at learning a more sophisticated structural representation of objects. Rather than manually specifying parts and attributes of objects that have a counterpart in language, we will seek correlated visual patterns by letting the data speak. Exploiting the natural arrangement of images in video and the inherent 3D scene structure is decisive, since weakly correlated images as obtained from photo collections might not contain rich enough relationship information. We will also consider the active observer setting, i.e., where the camera can be moving. This allows extracting far more information, but also requires detailed control of the low-level and mid-level computer vision techniques involved, particularly motion estimation and tracking. The importance of these components is often underestimated in contemporary visual learning approaches. Apart from the impact on the field of computer vision itself, the improved performance in visual recognition that we anticipate in this project has direct consequences for many important applications, particularly automotive systems and robotics, where the use of visual sensory input is more and more considered one of the most important components of future systems.

Keywords: motion analysis,visual object recognition,object detection,object segmentation,optical flow,tracking,scene flow
Towards a quantitative framework for understanding protein-protein interactions: from specific effects to protein ecology (PROTINT)

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: Austria
Call:  (ERC-2011-StG_20101014, 2011)
Start date: 2011-09-01
End date: 2017-03-31
Duration (months): 67.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1495790.0
EU funding (EUR): 1495790.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Non-covalent protein-protein interactions underlie most of biological activity on the molecular level. A binding event between two proteins typically consists of two stages: 1) a diffusional, non-specific search of the binding partners for each other, and 2) specific recognition of the compatible contact surfaces followed by complex-formation. Despite significant progress in studying these processes, a number of open questions remain. How do partners find each other in the crowded and interaction-rich cellular environment? What are the exact mechanisms of the specific recognition of binding surfaces? What is the role of induced fit as opposed to conformational selection in the process? We propose to utilize atomistic-level and coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations and advanced computational techniques in close collaboration with experiment to address these questions, with the ultimate goal of developing a unified picture combining both specific and non-specific contributions to protein-protein interactions. We will focus on several test-cases of broad biological significance, such as the ubiquitin system, to test two central ideas: 1) that protein dynamics is the principal determinant of specific molecular recognition in many systems, and 2) that co-localization, which non-specifically affects the binding process, is a direct consequence of the general physico-chemical properties of the binding partners, irrespective of the features of their binding sites. Methodologically, we will further develop and utilize distributed computing techniques on the world-wide-web and computation on streaming processors to meet the high demand for computational power, inherent in studying protein interactions in silico. In our work, we will closely collaborate with experimentalists, ranging from NMR and X-ray crystallography experts to molecular biologists to both validate our simulations and theoretical work as well as assist in interpreting experimental findings.

Keywords: protein-protein interactions,molecular crowding,protein localization,distributed computing simulations
Basic Research in Cryptographic Protocol Theory (BRICPT)

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: Denmark
Call:  (ERC-2011-StG_20101014, 2011)
Start date: 2011-12-01
End date: 2016-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1171019.0
EU funding (EUR): 1171019.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In cryptographic protocol theory, we consider a situation where a number of entities want to solve some problem over a computer network. Each entity has some secret data it does not want the other entities to learn, yet, they all want to learn something about the common set of data. In an electronic election, they want to know the number of yes-votes without revealing who voted what. For instance, in an electronic auction, they want to find the winner without leaking the bids of the losers. A main focus of the project is to develop new techniques for solving such protocol problems. We are in particular interested in techniques which can automatically construct a protocol solving a problem given only a description of what the problem is. My focus will be theoretical basic research, but I believe that advancing the theory of secure protocol compilers will have an immense impact on the practice of developing secure protocols for practice. When one develops complex protocols, it is important to be able to verify their correctness before they are deployed, in particular so, when the purpose of the protocols is to protect information. If and when an error is found and corrected, the sensitive data will possibly already be compromised. Therefore, cryptographic protocol theory develops models of what it means for a protocol to be secure, and techniques for analyzing whether a given protocol is secure or not. A main focuses of the project is to develop better security models, as existing security models either suffer from the problem that it is possible to prove some protocols secure which are not secure in practice, or they suffer from the problem that it is impossible to prove security of some protocol which are believed to be secure in practice. My focus will again be on theoretical basic research, but I believe that better security models are important for advancing a practice where protocols are verified as secure before deployed.

Keywords: secure multiparty computation,cryptographic protocol theory
Quantum simulations with trapped Rydberg ions (QUASIRIO)

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: Sweden,Austria
Call:  (ERC-2011-StG_20101014, 2011)
Start date: 2012-02-01
End date: 2017-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499955.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499955.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

This project focuses on the realization and application of trapped Rydberg ions for quantum information processing and quantum simulation. It will bring together two prospective quantum computational systems: trapped ions and Rydberg atoms. Joining them will form a novel quantum system with advantages from both sides. This approach will open a new path of investigation for quantum computing and simulation and will allow investigation of different physical qualities not yet addressed in the existing systems. In particular, it promises to speed up entangling interactions by three orders of magnitude and to extend the interaction distance by at least a factor of two between neighbouring ions. The higher speed of entangling interactions would allow the execution of more complex quantum algorithms before decoherence destroys the stored quantum information. The increased coupling distance would enable the controlled interaction of neighbouring ions which are trapped individually. This would allow setting up a quantum computational system formed by a Coulomb crystal or a two-dimensional array of individually trapped ions. Such qualities make trapped Rydberg ions a powerful alternative approach for scalable quantum information processing. In particular, a string, crystal or two-dimensional array of interacting trapped Rydberg ions can be used for simulations of complex quantum systems intractable by classical computers.

Keywords: quantum simulation,rydberg interaction,trapped ions
Shedding light on catalyst systems for a brighter future with green oxidation chemistry (SOLCAT)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: ERC Starting Grant Interdisciplinary Panel
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call:  (ERC-2011-StG_20101014, 2011)
Start date: 2011-11-01
End date: 2016-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Sustainability in chemical synthesis requires that new methods and replacements for unsustainable existing methodologies should, where possible, focus on environmentally benign, atom- and energy-efficient processes that do not rely on toxic/precious metals. In this research program the focus is on the development of new sustainable and environmentally benign methodologies for selective oxidative transformations based on primarily first row transition metals using H2O2, O2 or electrochemical methods and on the tools required to obtain kinetic and mechanistic information that can further method development. The overall aim is to achieve selectivity and reactivity under mild, atom efficient conditions using non-toxic catalysts. In the research program mechanistic investigations run parallel with the development of synthetic methodologies, providing a perfect opportunity to combine very different skill sets towards a common goal. Five distinct approaches will be taken aimed at increasing the repertoire of selective methods available for catalytic organic oxidative functional group transformations with the key goal of sustainability in chemical synthesis through atom efficiency and selectivity. Furthermore, a systems approach will be taken in mechanistic studies where understanding the role(s) played by each reaction component involved, including metals, ligands, oxidant, solvent, additives, substrates and product(s), will be central. Importantly the development of new techniques and approaches to mechanistic studies and reaction monitoring, including Raman detection in flow reactors and UV Raman spectroscopy, are an integral part of the program. The research program is divided into four interrelated projects, which will run concurrently and be undertaken by one each of the PhD students involved and a smaller fifth project that is exploratory and high risk. As the project will fund the applicant for 50% of his time, this will enable him to take an active part.

Keywords: raman spectroscopy,eletrosynthesis,oxidation catalysis
Make it simple: towards a new era for organic synthesis (MAKEITSIMPLE)

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-2011-StG_20101014, 2011)
Start date: 2011-10-01
End date: 2016-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1493855.0
EU funding (EUR): 1493855.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Organic synthesis has undeniably made tremendous progress over the past two centuries. Nevertheless, our ability to efficiently synthesise molecules is mostly limited to targets of low structural complexity. Traditional synthetic strategies require the presence of reactive functional groups that are used as handles for further functionalisation. This requirement is one of the factors dramatically enhancing the difficulty of syntheses. The last two decades have seen the emergence of a more straightforward alternative: the direct functionalisation of C-H bonds. Through this strategy the typically inert C-H bonds, ubiquitous in organic molecules, can be activated by transition metal catalysts and subsequently functionalised. This approach has allowed us to dream of a future where any organic molecule could be synthesised in a direct manner by simply replacing the C-H bonds of a substrate with the required functionalities, as if building a ball-and-stick molecular model with our hands. The development of a full set of C-H functionalisation methodologies will impact on all applied areas, such as the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and new materials. Furthermore, their atom efficiency and low waste generation ensures a privileged position among the green chemistry methods. For this strategy to succeed, numerous challenges are still to be overcome. In this research proposal we aim at addressing one of them: the C-H functionalisation of aromatic compounds. We will build up a toolkit of complementary methodologies to functionalise aromatic C-H bonds under mild conditions (energy efficient), with broad functional group tolerance (general), and with absolute control of the regioselectivity. By the end of the five years we aim to have developed a robust general methodology allowing the coupling of any two arenes via double C-H bond activation.

Keywords: c-h activation,palladium couplings,decarboxylative activation
Theoretical and Algorithmic Foundations for Future Proof Information and Inference Systems (FUTURE PROOF)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Systems and communication engineering
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (ERC-2011-StG_20101014, 2011)
Start date: 2012-01-01
End date: 2016-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1824220.0
EU funding (EUR): 1824220.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

A critical technological challenge for emerging information systems is to acquire, analyze and learn from the ever-increasing high-dimensional data produced by natural and man-made phenomena. Sampling, streaming, and recoding of even the most basic applications now produce a data deluge that severely stresses the available analog-to-digital converter, digital communication and storage resources, and easily swamps the back-end processing and learning systems. Surprisingly, while the ambient data dimension is large in many problems, the relevant information therein typically resides in a much lower dimensional space. Viewed combinatorially and geometrically, natural constraints often cause data to cluster along low-dimensional structures, such as unions-of-subspaces or manifolds, having a few degrees of freedom relative to their size. This powerful notion suggests the potential for developing highly efficient methods for processing and learning by capturing and exploiting the inherent model, or data’s “information level.” To this end, we seek to revolutionize scientific and practical modi operandi of data acquisition and learning by developing a new optimization and analysis framework based on the nascent low-dimensional models with broad applications—from inverse problems to analog-to-information conversion, and from automated representation learning to statistical regression. We attack the curse of dimensionality in specific ways, not only by relying on the blessing of dimensionality via concentration-of-measures, but also by exploiting geometric topologies and the diminishing returns (i.e., submodularity) within learning objectives. We believe only an approach such as ours can provide the theoretical scaffold for a future proof processing and learning framework that scales its operation to the problem’s information level, promising substantial reductions in hardware complexity, communication, storage, and computational resources.

Keywords: compressive sensing,dictionary learning,sampling theory,experimental design,sparse representations,inverse problems,optimization,linear regression
Optimal Imaging with Present and Future Coherent X-ray Sources (OPTIMAX)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: ERC Starting Grant Interdisciplinary Panel
Countries involved: United Kingdom,Germany
Call:  (ERC-2011-StG_20101014, 2011)
Start date: 2011-11-01
End date: 2017-10-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1498917.6
EU funding (EUR): 1498917.6
Participants: 3
Project status: CLOSED

The rapid development of high-brilliance X-ray sources in the last decade has opened the way to extremely powerful imaging modalities. Third generation synchrotron sources and newly built X-ray free-electron lasers offer a very high flux and can produce X-ray beams with excellent coherence properties. Imaging techniques that rely on the coherence of the incoming field can give access to phase contrast signal, known to be much stronger than absorption in the hard X-ray regime, and even make possible lensless imaging, thus offering the potential for very high-resolutions. To make the most of X-ray's high penetration power, it is best to combine these novel imaging approaches with computed tomography to achieve high-resolution, high-sensitivity 3D imaging. The goal of this project is to break new ground in coherence-based imaging primarily through new developments in data analysis techniques. My group will work on a variety of novel or improved reconstruction approaches that will push the potential of these methods to their limit in resolution, sensitivity and usability, an objective well summarized by the term ``optimal imaging'' in the title of this proposal. The main sub-projects described in this proposal are: (1) developing, improving and validating ptychographic reconstruction methods; (2) combining tomography and ptychography, and applying it to life and materials science samples; (3) developing efficient and robust tomographic reconstruction algorithms for grating interferometer imaging; and (4) implementing efficient data-analysis pipe-lines for future X-ray free-electron laser experiments.

Keywords: x-ray imaging,coherence,tomography,ptychography,grating interferometer imaging,data analysis,image reconstruction