Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Non-equilibrium Information and Capacity Envelopes: Towards a Unified Information and Queueing Theory (UNIQUE)

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: 2012-12-01
End date: 2017-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1316408.4
EU funding (EUR): 1316408.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Dating back sixty years to the seminal works by Shannon, information theory is a cornerstone of communications. Amongst others, it's significance stems from the decoupling of data compression and transmission as accomplished by the celebrated source and channel coding theorems. The success has, however, not been brought forward to communications networks. Yet, particular advances, such as in cross-layer optimization and network coding, show the tremendous potential that may be accessible by a network information theory. A major challenge for establishing a network information theory is due to the properties of network data traffic that is highly variable (sporadic) and delay-sensitive. In contrast, information theory mostly neglects the dynamics of information and capacity and focuses on averages, respectively, asymptotic limits. Typically, these limits can be achieved with infinitesimally small probability of error assuming, however, arbitrarily long codewords (coding delays). Queueing theory, on the other hand, is employed to analyze network delays using (stochastic) models of a network's traffic arrivals and service. To date a tight link between these models and the information theoretic concepts of entropy and channel capacity is missing. The goal of this project is to contribute elements of a network information theory that bridge the gap towards communications (queueing) networks. To this end, we use concepts from information theory to explore the dynamics of sources and channels. Our approach envisions envelope functions of information and capacity that have the ability to model the impact of the timescale, and that converge in the limit to the entropy and the channel capacity, respectively. The model will enable queueing theoretical investigations, permitting us to make significant contributions to the field of network information theory, and to provide substantial, new insights and applications from a holistic analysis of communications networks.

Keywords: qeueing theory,effective bandwidths,large deviations,network calculus,information theory,coding
Creating a habitable planet: the roles of accretion, core formation and plate tectonics (HABITABLEPLANET)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2013-01-01
End date: 2018-12-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999975.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999975.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

The Earth formed ~ 4.5 billion years ago, from accreting particles of dust and primitive meteorites. It is the only habitable planet in our solar system and has a unique history of extended accretion and core formation coupled with active plate tectonics. Accretion and core formation would have defined the initial elemental composition of the Earth’s interior whereas plate tectonic processes controlled chemical exchange between the Earth’s surface and interior and the distribution of elements between major geochemical reservoirs. The overarching goal of this proposal is to define the roles of these processes in the chemical evolution of the Earth and hence in the creation of a habitable planet. In order to achieve this goal I propose to investigate the partitioning of new stable isotope systems such as Ge and Se in high-pressure experiments that simulate core formation. This novel, multidisciplinary approach will provide some of the first direct constraints on the extent to which these volatile elements were partitioned into the core. We will use this information to address the fundamental issue of whether the Earth acquired its volatile elements inventory early, during core formation, or subsequently, as part of a “late veneer”. The second major theme of the proposed research uses Fe, Zn, Mo and Se stable isotopes to trace the cycling of Fe and S during subduction, the tectonic process where one plate sinks beneath another and is recycled into the Earth’s deep interior. The goal of this project is to understand the impact of subduction on the chemical and redox evolution of the Earth’s interior and the relationship between tectonic recycling and the rise of oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere ~ 2.5 billion years ago. This theme will focus on samples of relict subducted plate material and of the Earth’s interior, obtained as fragments sampled by lavas or as ancient minerals trapped within diamonds.

Keywords: early earth,high-pressure experiments,stable isotopes,mantle redox,oxygen fugacity,accretion,core formation,volatile elements,tectonic recycling,diamonds
A Chemical Approach to Understanding Cell Division (CYTOCHEM)

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: 2012-10-01
End date: 2017-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499079.6
EU funding (EUR): 1499079.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Many mechanisms underlying cytokinesis, the final step in cell division, remain poorly understood. The goal of my laboratory is to use chemical biology approaches to address some of the unanswered mechanistic questions by studying cytokinesis at the process, pathway and protein levels. I aim to discover small molecules that specifically target cytokinesis by different mechanisms because they are important tools to study the biology of cell division and could catalyze the discovery of therapeutics. I am proposing here to use small molecules we discovered to study how the Rho pathway regulates cytokinesis. We will synthesize focused libraries around selected compounds to optimize their properties and to identify sites for affinity tags. I am proposing to identify our small molecules’ cellular targets using a combination of approaches, including a new strategy I designed that takes advantage of the fact that they target a discrete signalling pathway. Rho signalling is involved in every step of cytokinesis, but there are many outstanding questions about how this occurs and which proteins are involved. We have completed a genome-wide RNAi screen that has revealed the identity of new proteins connected to Rho signalling. We will combine functional investigations into how these proteins participate in cytokinesis with our newly discovered small molecules. With this array of tools in hand, we expect to use imaging and other cell-based assays to gain of comprehensive understanding of the role of Rho signalling during cytokinesis and other Rho-dependent processes.

Keywords: chemical biology,small molecule inhibitors
Innovative Femtosecond laser-plasma based electron source for studying ultrafast structural dynamics (FEMTOELEC)

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: 2013-01-01
End date: 2017-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1491350.0
EU funding (EUR): 1491350.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

How do atoms move in a solid? How long does it take for a phase transition to occur or for a molecule to change its configuration? These are some of the fundamental questions that the field of ultrafast science asks and attempts to answer. Understanding these ultrafast processes in complex matter at the atomic scale requires advanced sources of radiation: X-rays or electrons with sub-angstrom wavelength and femtosecond duration. In the past decade, such sources have become available, allowing scientists to obtain a first glimpse into the ultrafast world, with the direct observation of atomic motion or structural changes in matter. Until now however, the time resolution has not allowed us to study the fastest processes and has limited our window of observation to processes slower than 100 femtoseconds. To overcome this limitation, this proposal introduces a new method based on laser-plasma interaction for producing an electron source with shorter duration. The project will explore laser-plasma interaction in a new regime: low energy, high-repetition, few-cycle laser pulses interacting with a plasma for producing femtosecond electron bunches with parameters relevant for probing matter with electron diffraction. It will take advantage of the very high accelerating gradients that plasmas can sustain for accelerating electrons to relativistic energies in micrometer lengths. This novel electron source will be implemented in diffraction experiments for probing structural dynamics in condensed matter with angstrom spatial resolution and unprecedented time resolution. This table-top innovative electron source has the potential to overcome the limitations of current ultrafast electron diffraction and could offer new insights for transdisciplinary applications in condensed matter physics, chemistry and biology.

Keywords: laser-plasma interaction,laser-plasma accelerators,few-cycle laser pulses,ultrafast electron diffraction,structural dynamics
Exploring the Inception of Galaxies and the Epoch of Reionization (EIGER)

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: 2012-12-01
End date: 2016-11-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1176273.0
EU funding (EUR): 1176273.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Studying the nature of the first generation of galaxies to form in the Universe is central to efforts to understand the earliest phases of galaxy evolution and the physical processes driving cosmic reionization. Building on my recent success investigating galaxy evolution at redshifts z>6, I propose to recruit and lead the research team necessary to fully exploit my involvement in two Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging programmes focused on the high-redshift Universe. The first of these is a new, ultra-deep, proprietary imaging programme in the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (on which I am co-PI) which will deliver the deepest near-IR image ever obtained and the first robust sample of z>9 galaxies. This dataset will produce the definitive measurement of the faint-end of the high-redshift galaxy luminosity function in the pre-JWST era, a key observational constraint necessary for understanding reionization. The second HST programme is the on-going, wide-area, CANDELS imaging survey, which will provide the first statistically significant sample of massive galaxies at redshifts 6<z<8, many of which will be suitable for spectroscopic follow-up. Consequently, I intend to assemble a team with the necessary skills to take full advantage of my leading position in these two key imaging datasets and to exploit opportunities for spectroscopic follow-up with the next generation of multi-object optical/near-IR spectrographs. Finally, I also propose to recruit the necessary expertise to accurately interpret the new observational results within the context of the latest spectral synthesis and galaxy formation models. In summary, the aim of this proposal is to build a research team with the interdisciplinary skills necessary to successfully exploit the latest observational datasets, interpret them within the context of the latest theoretical predictions, and thereby attempt to construct a fully consistent framework describing high-redshift galaxy evolution.

Keywords: high-redshift galaxy evolution reionization
Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of amines and amides (CASAA)

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): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Amines and their acylated derivatives – amides – are among the most common chemical functional groups found in modern pharmaceuticals. Despite this there are few methods for their efficient, environmentally sustainable production in enantiomerically pure form. This proposal seeks to provide new catalytic chemical methods including 1) the catalytic, enantioselective synthesis of peptides and 2) catalytic methods for the preparation of enantiopure nitrogen-containing heterocycles. The proposed work features innovative chemistry including novel reaction mechanism and catalysts. These methods have far reaching applications for the sustainable production of valuable compounds as well as fundamental science.

Keywords: peptides,amino acids
Controlled Synthesis of Two-Dimensional Nanomaterials for Energy Storage and Conversion (2DMATER)

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,Germany
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2017-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets, which possess a high degree of anisotropy with nanoscale thickness and infinite length in other dimensions, hold enormous promise as a novel class of ultrathin 2D nanomaterials with various unique functionalities and properties, and exhibit great potential in energy storage and conversion systems that are substantially different from their respective 3D bulk forms. Here I propose a strategy for the synthesis and processing of various 2D nanosheets across a broad range of inorganic, organic and polymeric materials with molecular-level or thin thickness through both the top-down exfoliation of layered materials and the bottom-up assembly of available molecular building blocks. Further, I aim to develop the synthesis of various 2D-nanosheet based composite materials with thickness of less than 100 nm and the assembly of 2D nanosheets into novel hierarchal superstrucutures (like aerogels, spheres, porous particles, nanotubes, multi-layer films). The structural features of these 2D nanomaterials will be controllably tailored by both the used layered precursors and processing methodologies. The consequence is that I will apply and combine defined functional components as well as assembly protocols to create novel 2D nanomaterials for specific purposes in energy storage and conversion systems. Their unique characters will include the good electrical conductivity, excellent mechanical flexibility, high surface area, high chemical stability, fast electron transport and ion diffusion etc. Applications will be mainly demonstrated for the construction of lithium ion batteries (anode and cathode), supercapacitors (symmetric and asymmetric) and fuel cells. As the key achievements, I expect to establish the delineation of reliable structure-property relationships and improved device performance of 2D nanomaterials.

Keywords: graphene,two-dimensional material,battery,energy storage,supercapacitor,fuel cell
Self-Enforcing E-Voting System: Trustworthy Election in Presence of Corrupt Authorities (SEEVS)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2013-01-01
End date: 2018-12-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1484713.01
EU funding (EUR): 1484713.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

This project aims to develop a new generation of e-voting called the “self-enforcing e-voting system”. The new system does not depend on any trusted authorities, which is different from all currently existing or proposed e-voting schemes. This has several compelling advantages. First, voting security will be significantly improved. Second, the democratic process will be enforced as a whole. Third, the election management will be dramatically simplified. Fourth, the tallying process will become much faster. The idea of a “self-enforcing” e-voting system has so far received little attention. Although several researchers have attempted to build such a system in the past decade, none were successful due to inefficiencies in computation, bandwidth and the number of rounds. My preliminary investigation indicates that a "self-enforcing e-voting system" is not only practically feasible, but has the potential to be the future of e-voting technology. I have identify several major research problems in the field, which need to be addressed urgently before a self-enforcing e-voting system can finally become viable for practical use. The problems span three disciplines: security, dependability and usability. My main hypothesis is: “a secure, dependable and usable self-enforcing e-voting system will trigger a paradigm shift in voting technology”. I believe e-voting has great potential that has yet to be exploited, and this project is to develop that potential to the full. The work program involves six work packages: 1) to develop supportive security primitives to lay foundation for future e-voting; 2) to research the impact of “self-enforcing” requirement on dependability; 3) to develop assistive technologies to improve the usability in voting; 4) to design system architectures suitable for different election scenarios; 5) to build open source prototypes; 6) to conduct real-world trial elections and evaluate the full technical, social, economic and political impacts.

Keywords: electronic voting
Contra-Rotating Open Rotor (CROR) Propeller barrels (GREENBARRELS)

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: 2012-03-01
End date: 2016-09-30
Duration (months): 55.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2199992.0
EU funding (EUR): 1649994.0
Participants: 4
Project status: CLOSED

The Project GREENBARRELS is aimed to find out a way to produce 360º components for aircraft engines by spinning methods, such as: spinning lathe, flowforming, shearforming. In particular the manufacturing of barrels for CROR propellers of SAGE2 ITD will be assessed. The materials to be used for this development will be Inconel718 and Titanium Alloy. Thus the project will look for a cost effective way of producing barrels of about 1 m. diameter in these alloy. The project will include barrels design and will look to verify compliance with certification requirements of design and process. The aim is to get a process to replace intensive energy consuming processes and also to get a process with almost non waste material.

Keywords: spinning lathe,cror,propeller,barrels,inconel718,titanium alloy,rotating processes,components,design,and environmental friendly.
Large-scale Adaptive Sensing, Learning and Decision Making: Theory and Applications (SCADAPT)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Computer science and informatics
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (ERC-2012-StG_20111012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-11-01
End date: 2017-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499900.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499900.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

We address one of the fundamental challenges of our time: Acting effectively while facing a deluge of data. Massive volumes of data are generated from corporate and public sources every second, in social, scientific and commercial applications. In addition, more and more low level sensor devices are becoming available and accessible, potentially to the benefit of myriads of applications. However, access to the data is limited, due to computational, bandwidth, power and other limitations. Crucially, simply gathering data is not enough: we need to make decisions based on the information we obtain. Thus, one of the key problems is: How can we obtain most decision-relevant information at minimum cost? Most existing techniques are either heuristics with no guarantees, or do not scale to large problems. We recently showed that many information gathering problems satisfy submodularity, an intuitive diminishing returns condition. Its exploitation allowed us to develop algorithms with strong guarantees and empirical performance. However, existing algorithms are limited: they cannot cope with dynamic phenomena that change over time, are inherently centralized and thus do not scale with modern, distributed computing paradigms. Perhaps most crucially, they have been designed with the focus of gathering data, but not for making decisions based on this data. We seek to substantially advance large-scale adaptive decision making under partial observability, by grounding it in the novel computational framework of adaptive submodular optimization. We will develop fundamentally new scalable techniques bridging statistical learning, combinatorial optimization, probabilistic inference and decision theory to overcome the limitations of existing methods. In addition to developing novel theory and algorithms, we will demonstrate the performance of our methods on challenging real world interdisciplinary problems in community sensing, information retrieval and computational sustainability.

Keywords: active learning,adaptive sensing,decision making under uncertainty,value of information,submodularity