ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

At the end of their life, stars spread their inner material into the diffuse interstellar medium. This diffuse medium gets locally denser and form dark clouds (also called dense or molecular clouds) whose innermost part is shielded from the external UV field by the dust, allowing for molecules to grow and get more complex. Gravitational collapse occurs inside these dense clouds, forming protostars and their surrounding disks, and eventually planetary systems like (or unlike) our solar system. The formation and evolution of molecules, minerals, ices and organics from the diffuse medium to planetary bodies, their alteration or preservation throughout this cosmic chemical history set the initial conditions for building planets, atmospheres and possibly the first bricks of life. The current view of interstellar chemistry is based on fragmental works on key steps of the sequence that are observed. The objective of this proposal is to follow the fractionation of the elements between the gas-phase and the interstellar grains, from the most diffuse medium to protoplanetary disks, in order to constrain the chemical composition of the material in which planets are formed. The potential outcome of this project is to get a consistent and more accurate description of the chemical evolution of interstellar matter. To achieve this objective, I will improve our chemical model by adding new processes on grain surfaces relevant under the diffuse medium conditions. This upgraded gas-grain model will be coupled to 3D dynamical models of the formation of dense clouds from diffuse medium and of protoplanetary disks from dense clouds. The computed chemical composition will also be used with 3D radiative transfer codes to study the chemical tracers of the physics of protoplanetary disk formation. The robustness of the model predictions will be studied with sensitivity analyses. Finally, model results will be confronted to observations to address some of the current challenges.

1 166 231 €

Start date: 2013-09-01, End date: 2018-08-31

Several observed anomalies in neutrino oscillation data can be explained by a hypothetical fourth neutrino separated from the three standard neutrinos by a squared mass difference of a few eV2. This hypothesis can be tested with a PBq (ten kilocurie scale) 144Ce antineutrino beta-source deployed at the center of a large low background liquid scintillator detector, such like Borexino, KamLAND, and SNO+. In particular, the compact size of such a source could yield an energy-dependent oscillating pattern in event spatial distribution that would unambiguously determine neutrino mass differences and mixing angles. The proposed program aims to perform the necessary research and developments to produce and deploy an intense antineutrino source in a large liquid scintillator detector. Our program will address the definition of the production process of the neutrino source as well as its experimental characterization, the detailed physics simulation of both signal and backgrounds, the complete design and the realization of the thick shielding, the preparation of the interfaces with the antineutrino detector, including the safety and security aspects.

1 500 000 €

Start date: 2012-10-01, End date: 2018-09-30

The rupture of an Aortic Aneurysm (AA), which is often lethal, is a mechanical phenomenon that occurs when the wall stress state exceeds the local strength of the tissue. Our current understanding of arterial rupture mechanisms is poor, and the physics taking place at the microscopic scale in these collagenous structures remains an open area of research. Understanding, modelling, and quantifying the micro-mechanisms which drive the mechanical response of such tissue and locally trigger rupture represents the most challenging and promising pathway towards predictive diagnosis and personalized care of AA. The PI's group was recently able to detect, in advance, at the macro-scale, rupture-prone areas in bulging arterial tissues. The next step is to get into the details of the arterial microstructure to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Through the achievements of AArteMIS, the local mechanical state of the fibrous microstructure of the tissue, especially close to its rupture state, will be quantitatively analyzed from multi-photon confocal microscopy and numerically reconstructed to establish quantitative micro-scale rupture criteria. AArteMIS will also address developing micro-macro models which are based on the collected quantitative data. The entire project will be completed through collaboration with medical doctors and engineers, experts in all required fields for the success of AArteMIS. AArteMIS is expected to open longed-for pathways for research in soft tissue mechanobiology which focuses on cell environment and to enable essential clinical applications for the quantitative assessment of AA rupture risk. It will significantly contribute to understanding fatal vascular events and improving cardiovascular treatments. It will provide a tremendous source of data and inspiration for subsequent applications and research by answering the most fundamental questions on AA rupture behaviour enabling ground-breaking clinical changes to take place.

1 499 783 €

Start date: 2015-04-01, End date: 2020-03-31

The active target and time projection chamber (ACTAR TPC) is a novel gas-filled detection system that will permit new studies into the structure and decays of the most exotic nuclei. The use of a gas volume that acts as a sensitive detection medium and as the reaction target itself (an “active target”) offers considerable advantages over traditional nuclear physics detectors and techniques. In high-energy physics, TPC detectors have found profitable applications but their use in nuclear physics has been limited. With the ACTAR TPC design, individual detection pad sizes of 2 mm are the smallest ever attempted in either discipline but is a requirement for high-efficiency and high-resolution nuclear spectroscopy. The corresponding large number of electronic channels (16000 from a surface of only 25×25 cm) requires new developments in high-density electronics and data-acquisition systems that are not yet available in the nuclear physics domain. New experiments in regions of the nuclear chart that cannot be presently contemplated will become feasible with ACTAR TPC.

1 290 000 €

Start date: 2014-02-01, End date: 2019-01-31

The goal of this project is to investigate two conjectures in arithmetic geometry pertaining to the geometry of projective varieties over finite and number fields. These two conjectures, formulated by Tate and Grothendieck in the 1960s, predict which cohomology classes are chern classes of line bundles. They both form an arithmetic counterpart of a theorem of Lefschetz, proved in the 1940s, which itself is the only known case of the Hodge conjecture. These two long-standing conjectures are one of the aspects of a more general web of questions regarding the topology of algebraic varieties which have been emphasized by Grothendieck and have since had a central role in modern arithmetic geometry. Special cases of these conjectures, appearing for instance in the work of Tate, Deligne, Faltings, Schneider-Lang, Masser-Wüstholz, have all had important consequences. My goal is to investigate different lines of attack towards these conjectures, building on recent work on myself and Jean-Benoît Bost on related problems. The two main directions of the proposal are as follows. Over finite fields, the Tate conjecture is related to finiteness results for certain cohomological objects. I want to understand how to relate these to hidden boundedness properties of algebraic varieties that have appeared in my recent geometric proof of the Tate conjecture for K3 surfaces. The existence and relevance of a theory of Donaldson invariants for moduli spaces of twisted sheaves over finite fields seems to be a promising and novel direction. Over number fields, I want to combine the geometric insight above with algebraization techniques developed by Bost. In a joint project, we want to investigate how these can be used to first understand geometrically major results in transcendence theory and then attack the Grothendieck period conjecture for divisors via a number-theoretic and complex-analytic understanding of universal vector extensions of abelian schemes over curves.

1 222 329 €

Start date: 2016-12-01, End date: 2021-11-30

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most serious diseases mankind is now facing as its social and economical impacts are increasing fastly. AD is very complex and the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide as well as metallic ions (mainly copper and zinc) have been linked to its aetiology. While the deleterious impact of Cu is widely acknowledged, intervention of Zn is certain but still needs to be figured out. The main objective of the present proposal, which is strongly anchored in the bio-inorganic chemistry field at interface with spectroscopy and biochemistry, is to design, synthesize and study new drug candidates (ligands L) capable of (i) targeting Cu(II) bound to Aβ within the synaptic cleft, where Zn is co-localized and ultimately to develop Zn-driven Cu(II) removal from Aβ and (ii) disrupting the aberrant Cu(II)-Aβ interactions involved in ROS production and Aβ aggregation, two deleterious events in AD. The drug candidates will thus have high Cu(II) over Zn selectively to preserve the crucial physiological role of Zn in the neurotransmission process. Zn is always underestimated (if not completely neglected) in current therapeutic approaches targeting Cu(II) despite the known interference of Zn with Cu(II) binding. To reach this objective, it is absolutely necessary to first understand the metal ions trafficking issues in presence of Aβ alone at a molecular level (i.e. without the drug candidates).This includes: (i) determination of Zn binding site to Aβ, impact on Aβ aggregation and cell toxicity, (ii) determination of the mutual influence of Zn and Cu to their coordination to Aβ, impact on Aβ aggregation, ROS production and cell toxicity. Methods used will span from organic synthesis to studies of neuronal model cells, with a major contribution of a wide panel of spectroscopic techniques including NMR, EPR, mass spectrometry, fluorescence, UV-Vis, circular-dichroism, X-ray absorption spectroscopy...

1 499 948 €

Start date: 2015-03-01, End date: 2020-02-29

One already available method to expand the range of material properties is to adjust the composition of materials at the molecular level using chemistry. We would like to develop the alternative approach of homogenization which broadens the definition of a material to include artificially structured media (fluids and solids) in which the effective electromagnetic, hydrodynamic or elastic responses result from a macroscopic patterning or arrangement of two or more distinct materials. This project will explore the latter avenue in order to markedly enhance control of surface water waves and elastodynamic waves propagating within artificially structured fluids and solid materials, thereafter called acoustic metamaterials. Pendry's perfect lens, the paradigm of electromagnetic metamaterials, is a slab of negative refractive index material that takes rays of light and causes them to converge with unprecedented resolution. This flat lens is a combination of periodically arranged resonant electric and magnetic elements. We will draw systematic analogies with resonant mechanical systems in order to achieve similar control of hydrodynamic and elastic waves. This will allow us to extend the design of metamaterials to acoustics to go beyond the scope of Snell-Descartes' laws of optics and Newton's laws of mechanics. Acoustic metamaterials allow the construction of invisibility cloaks for non-linear surface water waves (e.g. tsunamis) propagating in structured fluids, as well as seismic waves propagating in thin structured elastic plates. Maritime and civil engineering applications are in the protection of harbours, off-shore platforms and anti-earthquake passive systems. Acoustic cloaks for an enhanced control of pressure waves in fluids will be also designed for underwater camouflaging. Light and sound interplay will be finally analysed in order to design controllable metamaterials with a special emphasis on undetectable microstructured fibres (acoustic wormholes).

1 280 391 €

Start date: 2011-10-01, End date: 2016-09-30

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) is often described as the most powerful tool for optical characterization of surfaces and their proximities. It combines the intrinsic spatial resolution of scanning probe techniques (AFM or STM) with the chemical information content of vibrational Raman spectroscopy. Capable to reveal surface heterogeneity at the nanoscale, TERS is currently playing a fundamental role in the understanding of interfacial physicochemical processes in key areas of science and technology such as chemistry, biology and material science. Unfortunately, the undeniable potential of TERS as a label-free tool for nanoscale chemical and structural characterization is, nowadays, limited to air and vacuum environments, with it failing to operate in a reliable and systematic manner in liquid. The reasons are more technical than fundamental, as what is hindering the application of TERS in water is, among other issues, the low stability of the probes and their consistency. Fields of science and technology where the presence of water/electrolyte is unavoidable, such as biology and electrochemistry, remain unexplored with this powerful technique. We propose a revolutionary approach for TERS in liquids founded on the employment of pipet-based scanning probe microscopy techniques (pb-SPM) as an alternative to AFM and STM. The use of recent but well established pb-SPM brings the opportunity to develop unprecedented pipet-based TERS probes (beyond the classic and limited metallized solid probes from AFM and STM), together with the implementation of ingenious and innovative measures to enhance tip stability, sensitivity and reliability, unattainable with the current techniques. We will be in possession of a unique nano-spectroscopy platform capable of experiments in liquids, to follow dynamic processes in-situ, addressing fundamental questions and bringing insight into interfacial phenomena spanning from materials science, physics, chemistry and biology.

1 528 442 €

Start date: 2017-07-01, End date: 2022-06-30

The goal of this project is to prepare in a deterministic way, and then to characterize, various entangled states of up to 25 individual atoms held in an array of optical tweezers. Such a system provides a new arena to explore quantum entangled states of a large number of particles. Entanglement is the existence of quantum correlations between different parts of a system, and it is recognized as an essential property that distinguishes the quantum and the classical worlds. It is also a resource in various areas of physics, such as quantum information processing, quantum metrology, correlated quantum systems and quantum simulation. In the proposed design, each site is individually addressable, which enables single atom manipulation and detection. This will provide the largest entangled state ever produced and fully characterized at the individual particle level. The experiment will be implemented by combining two crucial novel features, that I was able to demonstrate very recently: first, the manipulation of quantum bits written on long-lived hyperfine ground states of single ultra-cold atoms trapped in microscopic optical tweezers; second, the generation of entanglement by using the strong long-range interactions between Rydberg states. These interactions lead to the so-called dipole blockade , and enable the preparation of various classes of entangled states, such as states carrying only one excitation (W states), and states analogous to Schrödinger s cats (GHZ states). Finally, I will also explore strategies to protect these states against decoherence, developed in the framework of fault-tolerant and topological quantum computing. This project therefore combines an experimental challenge and the exploration of entanglement in a mesoscopic system.

1 449 600 €

Start date: 2009-12-01, End date: 2014-11-30

A major part of the physical and chemical processes occurring in the atmosphere involves the turbulent transport of tiny particles. Current studies and models use a formulation in terms of mean fields, where the strong variations in the dynamical and statistical properties of the particles are neglected and where the underlying fluctuations of the fluid flow velocity are oversimplified. Devising an accurate understanding of the influence of air turbulence and of the extreme fluctuations that it generates in the dispersed phase remains a challenging issue. This project aims at coordinating and integrating theoretical, numerical, experimental, and observational efforts to develop a new statistical understanding of the role of fluctuations in atmospheric transport processes. The proposed work will cover individual as well as collective behaviors and will provide a systematic and unified description of targeted specific processes involving suspended drops or particles: the dispersion of pollutants from a source, the growth by condensation and coagulation of droplets and ice crystals in clouds, the scavenging, settling and re-suspension of aerosols, and the radiative and climatic effects of particles. The proposed approach is based on the use of tools borrowed from statistical physics and field theory, and from the theory of large deviations and of random dynamical systems in order to design new observables that will be simultaneously tractable analytically in simplified models and of relevance for the quantitative handling of such physical mechanisms. One of the outcomes will be to provide a new framework for improving and refining the methods used in meteorology and atmospheric sciences and to answer the long-standing question of the effects of suspended particles onto climate.

1 200 000 €

Start date: 2009-11-01, End date: 2014-10-31

Pseudoscalar QCD axions and axion-like Particles (ALPs) are an excellent candidate for Dark Matter or can act as a mediator particle for Dark Matter. Since the discovery of the Higgs boson, we know that fundamental scalars exist and it is timely to explore the Axion/ALP parameter space more intensively. A look at the allowed axion/ALP parameter space makes it clear that these might exist at low mass (below few eV), as (part of) Dark Matter. Alternatively they might exist at higher mass, above roughly the MeV scale, potentially as a Dark Matter mediator particle. AxScale explores parts of these different mass regions, with complementary techniques but with one research team. Firstly, with RADES, it develops a novel concept for a filter-like cavity for the search of QCD axion Dark matter at a few tens of a micro-eV. Dark Matter Axions can be discovered by their resonant conversion in that cavity embedded in a strong magnetic field. The `classical axion window' has recently received much interest from cosmological model-building and I will implement a novel cavity concept that will allow to explore this Dark Matter parameter region. Secondly, AxScale searches for axions and ALPs using the NA62 detector at CERN's SPS. Especially the mass region above a few MeV can be efficiently searched by the use of a proton fixed-target facility. During nominal data taking NA62 investigates a Kaon beam. NA62 can also run in a mode in which its primary proton beam is fully dumped. With the resulting high interaction rate, the existence of weakly coupled particles can be efficiently probed. Thus, searches for ALPs from Kaon decays as well as from production in dumped protons with NA62 are foreseen in AxScale. More generally, NA62 can look for a plethora of `Dark Sector' particles with recorded and future data. With the AxScale program I aim at maximizing the reach of NA62 for these new physics models.

1 134 375 €

Start date: 2018-11-01, End date: 2023-10-31

Lithium ion batteries offer tremendous potential as an enabling technology for sustainable transportation and development. However, their widespread usage as the energy storage solution for electric mobility and grid-level integration of renewables is impeded by the fact that current state-of-the-art lithium ion batteries have energy densities that are too small, charge- and discharge rates that are too low, and costs that are too high. Highly publicized instances of catastrophic failure of lithium ion batteries raise questions of safety. Understanding the limitations to battery performance and origins of the degradation and failure is highly complex due to the difficulties in studying interrelated processes that take place at different length and time scales in a corrosive environment. In the project, we will (1) develop and implement quantitative methods to study the complex interrelations between structure and electrochemistry occurring at the nano-, micron-, and milli-scales in lithium ion battery active materials and electrodes, (2) conduct systematic experimental studies with our new techniques to understand the origins of performance limitations and to develop design guidelines for achieving high performance and safe batteries, and (3) investigate economically viable engineering solutions based on these guidelines to achieve high performance and safe lithium ion batteries.

1 500 000 €

Start date: 2016-05-01, End date: 2021-04-30

The key ideas motivating this project are that: 1) precise control of the properties of porous systems can be obtained by exploiting bacteria and their fantastic abilities; 2) conversely, porous media (large surface to volume ratios, complex structures) could be a major part of bacterial synthetic biology, as a scaffold for growing large quantities of microorganisms in controlled bioreactors. The main scientific obstacle to precise control of such processes is the lack of understanding of biophysical mechanisms in complex porous structures, even in the case of single-strain biofilms. The central hypothesis of this project is that a better fundamental understanding of biofilm biomechanics and physical ecology will yield a novel theoretical basis for engineering and control. The first scientific objective is thus to gain insight into how fluid flow, transport phenomena and biofilms interact within connected multiscale heterogeneous structures - a major scientific challenge with wide-ranging implications. To this end, we will combine microfluidic and 3D printed micro-bioreactor experiments; fluorescence and X-ray imaging; high performance computing blending CFD, individual-based models and pore network approaches. The second scientific objective is to create the primary building blocks toward a control theory of bacteria in porous media and innovative designs of microbial bioreactors. Building upon the previous objective, we first aim to extract from the complexity of biological responses the most universal engineering principles applying to such systems. We will then design a novel porous micro-bioreactor to demonstrate how the permeability and solute residence times can be controlled in a dynamic, reversible and stable way - an initial step toward controlling reaction rates. We envision that this will unlock a new generation of biotechnologies and novel bioreactor designs enabling translation from proof-of-concept synthetic microbiology to industrial processes.

1 649 861 €

Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31

"The nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) is a versatile and powerful tool, especially in chemistry and in biology. However, its limited sensitivity and small amount of suitable probe nuclei pose severe constraints on the systems that may be explored. This project aims at overcoming the above limitations by giving NMR an ultra-high sensitivity and by enlarging the NMR ""toolbox"" to dozens of nuclei across the periodic table. This will be achieved by applying the β-NMR method to the soft matter samples. The method relies on anisotropic emission of β particles in the decay of highly spin-polarized nuclei. This feature results in 10 orders of magnitude more sensitivity compared to conventional NMR and makes it applicable to elements which are otherwise difficult to investigate spectroscopically. β-NMR has been successfully applied in nuclear physics and material science in solid samples and high-vacuum environments, but never before to liquid samples placed in atmospheric pressure. With this novel approach I want to create a new universal and extremely sensitive tool to study various problems in biochemistry. The first questions which I envisage addressing with this ground-breaking and versatile method concern the interaction of essential metal ions, which are spectroscopically silent in most techniques, Mg2+, Cu+, and Zn2+, with proteins and nucleic acids. The importance of these studies is well motivated by the fact that half of the proteins in our human body contain metal ions, but their interaction mechanism and factors influencing it are still not fully understood. In this respect NMR spectroscopy is of great help: it provides information on the structure, dynamics, and chemical properties of the metal complexes, by revealing the coordination number, oxidation state, bonding situation and electronic configuration of the interacting metal. My long-term aim is to establish a firm basis for β-NMR in soft matter studies in biology, chemistry and physics."

1 500 000 €

Start date: 2015-10-01, End date: 2020-09-30

The main objective nowadays in the field of biomaterials is to design highly performing bioinspired materials learning from natural processes. Importantly, biochemical and physical cues are key parameters that can affect cellular processes. Controlling processes that occur at the cell/material interface is also of prime importance to guide the cell response. The main aim of the current project is to develop novel functional bio-nanomaterials for in vitro biological studies. Our strategy is based on two related projects. The first project deals with the rational design of smart films with foreseen applications in musculoskeletal tissue engineering. We will gain knowledge of key cellular processes by designing well defined self-assembled thin coatings. These multi-functional surfaces with bioactivity (incorporation of growth factors), mechanical (film stiffness) and topographical properties (spatial control of the film s properties) will serve as tools to mimic the complexity of the natural materials in vivo and to present bioactive molecules in the solid phase. We will get a better fundamental understanding of how cellular functions, including adhesion and differentiation of muscle cells are affected by the materials s surface properties. In the second project, we will investigate at the molecular level a crucial aspect of cell adhesion and motility, which is the intracellular linkage between the plasma membrane and the cell cytoskeleton. We aim to elucidate the role of ERM proteins, especially ezrin and moesin, in the direct linkage between the plasma membrane and actin filaments. Here again, we will use a well defined microenvironment in vitro to simplify the complexity of the interactions that occur in cellulo. To this end, lipid membranes containing a key regulator lipid from the phosphoinositides familly, PIP2, will be employed in conjunction with purified proteins to investigate actin regulation by ERM proteins in the presence of PIP2-membranes.

1 499 996 €

Start date: 2011-06-01, End date: 2016-05-31

"The ability to apply forces to single molecules and bio-polymers has fundamentally changed the way we can interact with and understand biological systems. Yet, for many cellular mechanisms, it is rather the torque that is the relevant physical parameter. Excitingly, novel single-molecule techniques that utilize this parameter are now poised to contribute to novel discoveries. Here, I will study the angular dynamical behavior and response to external torque of biological systems at the molecular and cellular levels using the new optical torque wrench that I recently developed. In a first research line, I will unravel the angular dynamics of the e.coli flagellar motor, a complex and powerful rotary nano-motor that rotates the flagellum in order to propel the bacterium forwards. I will quantitatively study different aspects of torque generation of the motor, aiming to connect evolutionary, dynamical, and structural principles. In a second research line, I will develop an in-vivo manipulation technique based on the transfer of optical torque and force onto novel nano-fabricated particles. This new scanning method will allow me to map physical properties such as the local viscosity inside living cells and the spatial organization and topography of internal membranes, thereby expanding the capabilities of existing techniques towards in-vivo and ultra-low force scanning imaging. This project is founded on a multidisciplinary approach in which fundamental optics, novel nanoparticle fabrication, and molecular and cellular biology are integrated. It has the potential to answer biophysical questions that have challenged the field for over two decades and to impact fields ranging from single-molecule biophysics to scanning-probe microscopy and nanorheology, provided ERC funding is granted."

1 500 000 €

Start date: 2013-01-01, End date: 2017-12-31

Boundary layer theory is a large component of fluid dynamics. It is ubiquitous in Oceanography, where boundary layer currents, such as the Gulf Stream, play an important role in the global circulation. Comprehending the underlying mechanisms in the formation of boundary layers is therefore crucial for applications. However, the treatment of boundary layers in ocean dynamics remains poorly understood at a theoretical level, due to the variety and complexity of the forces at stake. The goal of this project is to develop several tools to bridge the gap between the mathematical state of the art and the physical reality of oceanic motion. There are four points on which we will mainly focus: degeneracy issues, including the treatment Stewartson boundary layers near the equator; rough boundaries (meaning boundaries with small amplitude and high frequency variations); the inclusion of the advection term in the construction of stationary boundary layers; and the linear and nonlinear stability of the boundary layers. We will address separately Ekman layers and western boundary layers, since they are ruled by equations whose mathematical behaviour is very different. This project will allow us to have a better understanding of small scale phenomena in fluid mechanics, and in particular of the inviscid limit of incompressible fluids. The team will be composed of the PI, two PhD students and three two-year postdocs over the whole period. We will also rely on the historical expertise of the host institution on fluid mechanics and asymptotic methods.

1 267 500 €

Start date: 2015-09-01, End date: 2020-08-31

Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) are communication systems that enable users to send commands to computers through brain signals only, by measuring and processing these signals. Making computer control possible without any physical activity, BCIs have promised to revolutionize many application areas, notably assistive technologies, e.g., for wheelchair control, and human-machine interaction. Despite this promising potential, BCIs are still barely used outside laboratories, due to their current poor reliability. For instance, BCIs only using two imagined hand movements as mental commands decode, on average, less than 80% of these commands correctly, while 10 to 30% of users cannot control a BCI at all. A BCI should be considered a co-adaptive communication system: its users learn to encode commands in their brain signals (with mental imagery) that the machine learns to decode using signal processing. Most research efforts so far have been dedicated to decoding the commands. However, BCI control is a skill that users have to learn too. Unfortunately how BCI users learn to encode the commands is essential but is barely studied, i.e., fundamental knowledge about how users learn BCI control is lacking. Moreover standard training approaches are only based on heuristics, without satisfying human learning principles. Thus, poor BCI reliability is probably largely due to highly suboptimal user training. In order to obtain a truly reliable BCI we need to completely redefine user training approaches. To do so, I propose to study and statistically model how users learn to encode BCI commands. Then, based on human learning principles and this model, I propose to create a new generation of BCIs which ensure that users learn how to successfully encode commands with high signal-to-noise ratio in their brain signals, hence making BCIs dramatically more reliable. Such a reliable BCI could positively change human-machine interaction as BCIs have promised but failed to do so far.

1 498 751 €

Start date: 2017-07-01, End date: 2022-06-30

This interdisciplinary proposal stems from our recent discovery of deep-branching cyanobacteria that form intracellular Ca-Mg-Sr-Ba carbonates. So far, calcification by cyanobacteria was considered as exclusively extracellular, hence dependent on external conditions. The existence of intracellularly calcifying cyanobacteria may thus deeply modify our view on the role of cyanobacteria in the formation of modern and past carbonate deposits and the degree of control they achieve on this geochemically significant process. Moreover, since these cyanobacteria concentrate selectively Sr and Ba over Ca, it suggests the existence of processes that can alter the message conveyed by proxies such as Sr/Ca ratios in carbonates, classically used for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Finally, such a biomineralization process, if globally significant may impact our view of how an ecosystem responds to external CO2 changes in particular by affecting most likely a key parameter such as the balance between organic carbon fixed by photosynthesis and inorganic carbon fixed by CaCO3 precipitation. Here, I aim to bring a qualitative jump in the understanding of this process. The core of this project is to provide a detailed picture of intracellular calcification by cyanobacteria. This will be achieved by studying laboratory cultures of cyanobacteria, field samples of modern calcifying biofilms and ancient microbialites. Diverse tools from molecular biology, biochemistry, mineralogy and geochemistry will be used. Altogether these techniques will help unveiling the molecular and mineralogical mechanisms involved in cyanobacterial intracellular calcification, assessing the phylogenetic diversity of these cyanobacteria and the preservability of their traces in ancient rocks. My goal is to establish a unique expertise in the study of calcification by cyanobacteria, the scope of which can be developed and broadened in the future for the study of interactions between life and minerals.

1 659 478 €

Start date: 2013-02-01, End date: 2018-01-31

How can simple molecules self-organize into a growing synthetic reaction network like biochemical metabolism? This proposal takes a novel synthesis-driven approach to the question by mimicking a central self-amplifying CO2-fixing biochemical reaction cycle known as the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle. The intermediates of this cycle are the synthetic precursors to all major classes of biomolecules and are built from CO2, an anhydride and electrons from simple reducing agents. Based on the nature of the reactions in the cycle and the specific structural features of the intermediates that comprise it, we propose that the entire cycle may be enabled in a single reaction vessel with a surprisingly small number of simple, mutually compatible catalysts from the recent synthetic organic literature. However, since one of the required reactions does not yet have an efficient synthetic equivalent in the literature and since those that do have not yet been carried out sequentially in a single reaction vessel, we will first independently develop the new reaction and sequences before attempting to combine them into the entire cycle. The new reaction and sequences will be useful green synthetic methods in their own right. Most significantly, this endeavour could provide the first experimental evidence of an exciting new alternative model for early biochemical evolution that finally illuminates the origins and necessity of biochemistry’s core reactions.

1 500 000 €

Start date: 2015-09-01, End date: 2020-08-31

Topology provides mathematical tools to sort objects according to global properties regardless of local details, and manifests itself in various fields of physics. In solid-state physics, specific topological properties of the band structure, such as a band inversion, can for example robustly enforce the appearance of spin-polarized conducting states at the boundaries of the material, while its bulk remains insulating. The boundary states of these ‘topological insulators’ in fact provide a support system to encode information non-locally in ‘topological quantum bits’ robust to local perturbations. The emerging ‘topological quantum computation’ is as such an envisioned solution to decoherence problems in the realization of quantum computers. Despite immense theoretical and experimental efforts, the rise of these new materials has however been hampered by strong difficulties to observe robust and clear signatures of their predicted properties such as spin-polarization or perfect conductance. These challenges strongly motivate my proposal to study two-dimensional topological insulators, and in particular explore the unknown dynamics of their topological edge states in normal and superconducting regimes. First it is possible to capture information both on charge and spin dynamics, and more clearly highlight the basic properties of topological edge states. Second, the dynamics reveals the effects of Coulomb interactions, an unexplored aspect that may explain the fragility of topological edge states. Finally, it enables the manipulation and characterization of quantum states on short time scales, relevant to quantum information processing. This project relies on the powerful toolbox offered by radiofrequency and current-correlations techniques and promises to open a new field of dynamical explorations of topological materials.

1 499 940 €

Start date: 2018-02-01, End date: 2023-01-31

In the CATACOAT project, we will develop layer-by-layer solution-processed catalyst overcoating methods, which will result in catalysts that have both targeted and broad impacts. We will produce highly active, stable and selective catalysts for the upgrading of lignin – the largest natural source of aromatic chemicals – into commodity chemicals, which will have an important targeted impact. The broader impact of our work will lie in the production of catalytic materials with unprecedented control over the active site architecture. There is an urgent need to provide these cheap, stable, selective, and highly active catalysts for renewable molecule production. Thanks to its availability and relatively low cost, lignocellulosic biomass is an attractive source of renewable carbon. However, unlike petroleum, biomass-derived molecules are highly oxygenated, and often produced in dilute-aqueous streams. Heterogeneous catalysts – the workhorses of the petrochemical industry – are sensitive to water and contain many metals that easily sinter and leach in liquid-phase conditions. The production of renewable chemicals from biomass, especially valuable aromatics, often requires expensive platinum group metals and suffers from low selectivity. Catalyst overcoating presents a potential solution to this problem. Recent breakthroughs using catalyst overcoating with atomic layer deposition (ALD) showed that base metal catalysts can be stabilized against sintering and leaching in liquid phase conditions. However, ALD creates dramatic drops in activity due to excessive coverage, and forms an overcoat that cannot be tuned. Our materials will feature the controlled placement of metal sites (including single atoms), several oxide sites, and even molecular imprints with sub-nanometer precision within highly accessible nanocavities. We anticipate that such materials will create unprecedented opportunities for reducing cost and increasing sustainability in the chemical industry and beyond.

1 785 195 €

Start date: 2017-12-01, End date: 2022-11-30

Ever since the Higgs boson was discovered at the LHC in 2012, we had the confirmation that the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics has to be extended. In parallel, the long lasting Dark Matter (DM) problem, supported by a wealth of evidence ranging from precision cosmology to local astrophysical observations, has been suggesting that new particles should exist. Unfortunately, neither the LHC nor the DM dedicated experiments have significantly detected any exotic signals pointing toward a particular new physics extension of the SM so far. With this proposal, I want to take a new path in the quest of new physics searches by providing the first high-precision measurement of the neutral current Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CENNS). By focusing on the sub-100 eV CENNS induced nuclear recoils, my goal is to reach unprecedented sensitivities to various exotic physics scenarios with major implications from cosmology to particle physics, beyond the reach of existing particle physics experiments. These include for instance the existence of sterile neutrinos and of new mediators, that could be related to the DM problem, and the possibility of Non Standard Interactions that would have tremendous implications on the global neutrino physics program. To this end, I propose to build a kg-scale cryogenic tabletop neutrino experiment with outstanding sensitivity to low-energy nuclear recoils, called CryoCube, that will be deployed at an optimal nuclear reactor site. The key feature of this proposed detector technology is to combine two target materials: Ge-semiconductor and Zn-superconducting metal. I want to push these two detector techniques beyond the state-of-the-art performance to reach sub-100 eV energy thresholds with unparalleled background rejection capabilities. As my proposed CryoCube detector will reach a 5-sigma level CENNS detection significance in a single day, it will be uniquely positioned to probe new physics extensions beyond the SM.

1 495 000 €

Start date: 2019-02-01, End date: 2024-01-31

Conformal Field Theory (CFT) was originally conceived in four and three dimensions, with applications to particle physics and critical phenomena in mind. However, it is in two dimensions that the most spectacular results have been obtained. In higher dimensions, there used to be a general feeling that the constraining power of conformal symmetry by itself is insufficient to tell nontrivial things about the dynamics. Hence the interest in various additional assumptions. This is not fully satisfactory, since there are likely many CFTs that do not fulfill any of them. The main focus of this proposal is to take a fresh look at the idea that the mathematical structure of CFTs is instead such a strong constraint that it can allow for a complete solution of the theory. This program, known as conformal bootstrap, has provided a new element in the quantum field theory toolbox to describe genuine non-perturbative cases. This project aims to explore new directions and push forward the frontiers of conformal filed theories, with the ultimate objective of a detailed classification and understanding of scale invariant systems and their properties. CFT-MAP will develop more efficient numerical techniques and complementary analytical tools making use of two main methods: by studying correlation functions of operators present in any quantum field theory, such as global symmetry conserved currents and the energy momentum tensor; by inspecting the analytical structure of correlation functions. The project will scan the landscape of CFTs, identifying where and how they exist. By significantly improving over the methods at disposal, this proposal will be able to study theories currently are out of reach. Besides the innovative methodologies, a fundamental outcome of CFT-MAP will be a word record determination of critical exponents in second phase transition, together with additional information that allows an approximate reconstruction of the QFT in the neighborhood of fixed points.

1 500 000 €

Start date: 2018-03-01, End date: 2023-02-28

We propose to develop a new scheme for detecting and manipulating exotic states formed by combinations of conductors with different dimensionalities and/or electronic orders. For that purpose, we will use tools of cavity quantum electrodynamics to study in a very controlled way the interaction of light and this exotic matter. Our experiments will be implemented with nanowires connected to normal, ferromagnetic or superconducting electrodes embedded in high finesse on-chip superconducting photonic cavities. The experimental technique proposed here will inaugurate a novel method for investigating the spectroscopy and the dynamics of tailored nano-systems. During the project, we will focus on three key experiments. We will demonstrate the strong coupling between a single spin and cavity photons, bringing spin quantum bits a step closer to scalability. We will probe coherence in Cooper pair splitters using lasing and sub-radiance. Finally, we will probe the non-local nature of Majorana bound states predicted to appear at the edges of topological superconductors via their interaction with cavity photons.

1 456 608 €

Start date: 2013-02-01, End date: 2018-01-31

Because fossil resources are a limited feedstock and their use results in the accumulation of atmospheric CO2, the organic chemistry industry will face important challenges in the next decades to find alternative feedstocks. New methods for the recycling of CO2 are therefore needed, to use CO2 as a carbon source for the production of organic chemicals. Yet, CO2 is difficult to transform and only 3 chemical processes recycling CO2 have been industrialized to date. To tackle this problem, my idea is to design novel catalytic transformations where CO2 is reacted, in a single step, with a functionalizing reagent and a reductant that can be independently modified, to produce a large spectrum of molecules. The proof of concept for this new “diagonal approach” has been established in 2012, in my team, with a new reaction able to co-recycle CO2 and a chemical waste of the silicones industry (PMHS) to convert amines to formamides. The goal of this proposal is to develop new diagonal reactions to enable the use of CO2 for the synthesis of amines, esters and amides, which are currently obtained from fossil materials. The novel catalytic reactions will be applied to the production of important molecules: methylamines, acrylamide and methyladipic acid. The methodology will rely on the development of molecular catalysts able to promote the reductive functionalization of CO2 in the presence of H2 or hydrosilanes. Rational design of efficient catalysts will be performed based on theoretical and experimental mechanistic investigations and utilized for the production of industrially important chemicals. Overall, this proposal will contribute to achieving sustainability in the chemical industry. The results will also increase our understanding of CO2 activation and provide invaluable insights into the basic modes of action of organocatalysts in reduction chemistry. They will serve the scientific community involved in the field of organocatalysis, green chemistry and energy storage.

1 494 734 €

Start date: 2013-11-01, End date: 2018-10-31

COLDNANO (UltraCOLD ion and electron beams for NANOscience), aspires to build novel ion and electron sources with superior performance in terms of brightness, energy spread and minimum achievable spot size. Such monochromatic, spatially focused and well controlled electron and ion beams are expected to open many research possibilities in material sciences, in surface investigations (imaging, lithography) and in semiconductor diagnostics. The proposed project intends to develop sources with the best beam quality ever produced and to assess them in some advanced surface science research domains. Laterally, I will develop expertise exchange with one Small and Medium Enterprise who will exploit industrial prototypes. The novel concept is to create ion and electron sources using advanced laser cooling techniques combined with the particular ionization properties of cold atoms. It would then be first time that “laser cooling” would lead to a real industrial development. A cesium magneto-optical trap will first be used. The atoms will then be excited by lasers and ionized in order to provide the electron source. The specific extraction optics for the electrons will be developed. This source will be compact and portable to be used for several applications such as Low Energy Electron Microscopy, functionalization of semi-conducting surfaces or high resolution Electron Energy Loss Spectrometry by coupling to a Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope. Based on the knowledge developed with the first experiment, a second ambitious xenon dual ion and electron beam machine will then be realized and used to study the scattering of ion and electron at low energy. Finally, I present a very innovative scheme to control the time, position and velocity of individual particles in the beams. Such a machine providing ions or electrons on demand would open the way for the “ultimate” resolution in time and space for surface analysis, lithography, microscopy or implantation.

1 944 000 €

Start date: 2012-02-01, End date: 2017-01-31

Bacteria are tiny; yet their collective dynamics generate large-scale flows and profoundly modify a fluid’s viscosity or diffusivity. So do autophoretic microswimmers, an example of active microscopic particles that draw their motion from physico-chemical exchanges with their environment. How do such ``active fluids'' turn individual microscopic propulsion into macroscopic fluid dynamics? What controls this self-organization process? These are fundamental questions for biologists but also for engineers, to use these suspensions for mixing or chemical sensing and, more generally, for creating active fluids whose macroscopic physical properties can be controlled precisely. Self-propulsion of autophoretic swimmers was reported only recently. Major scientific gaps impair the quantitative understanding of their individual and collective dynamics, which is required to exploit these active fluids. Existing models scarcely account for important experimental characteristics such as complex hydrodynamics, physico-chemical processes and confinement. Thus, these models cannot yet be used as predictive tools, even at the individual level. Further, to use phoretic suspensions as active fluids with microscopically-controlled properties, quantitatively-predictive models are needed for the collective dynamics. Instead of ad-hoc interaction rules, collective models must be built on a detailed physico-mechanical description of each swimmer’s interaction with its environment. This project will develop these tools and validate them against experimental data. This requires overcoming several major challenges: the diversity of electro-chemical processes, the confined geometry, the large number of particles, and the plurality of interaction mechanisms and their nonlinear coupling. To address these issues, rigorous physical, mathematical and numerical models will be developed to obtain a complete multi-scale description of the individual and collective dynamics of active particles.

1 497 698 €

Start date: 2017-09-01, End date: 2022-08-31

I am willing to solve several well-known models from combinatorics, probability theory and statistical mechanics: the Ising model on isoradial graphs, dimer models, spanning forests, random walks in cones, occupation time problems. Although completely unrelated a priori, these models have the common feature of being presumed “exactly solvable” models, for which surprising and spectacular formulas should exist for quantities of interest. This is captured by the title “Elliptic Combinatorics”, the wording elliptic referring to the use of special functions, in a broad sense: algebraic/differentially finite (or holonomic)/diagonals/(hyper)elliptic/ hypergeometric/etc. Besides the exciting nature of the models which we aim at solving, one main strength of our project lies in the variety of modern methods and fields that we cover: combinatorics, probability, algebra (representation theory), computer algebra, algebraic geometry, with a spectrum going from applied to pure mathematics. We propose in addition two major applications, in finance (Markovian order books) and in population biology (evolution of multitype populations). We plan to work in close collaborations with researchers from these fields, to eventually apply our results (study of extinction probabilities for self-incompatible flower populations, for instance).

1 242 400 €

Start date: 2018-02-01, End date: 2023-01-31

"The purpose of this project is to use the ubiquitous nature of certain combinatorial topological objects called maps in order to unveil deep connections between several areas of mathematics. Maps, that describe the embedding of a graph into a surface, appear in probability theory, mathematical physics, enumerative geometry or graph theory, and different combinatorial viewpoints on these objects have been developed in connection with each topic. The originality of our project will be to study these approaches together and to unify them. The outcome will be triple, as we will: 1. build a new, well structured branch of combinatorics of which many existing results in different areas of enumerative and algebraic combinatorics are only first fruits; 2. connect and unify several aspects of the domains related to it, most importantly between probability and integrable hierarchies thus proposing new directions, new tools and new results for each of them; 3. export the tools of this unified framework to reach at new applications, especially in random graph theory and in a rising domain of algebraic combinatorics related to Tamari lattices. The methodology to reach the unification will be the study of some strategic interactions at different places involving topological expansions, that is to say, places where enumerative problems dealing with maps appear and their genus invariant plays a natural role, in particular: 1. the combinatorial theory of maps developped by the "French school" of combinatorics, and the study of random maps; 2. the combinatorics of Fermions underlying the theory of KP and 2-Toda hierarchies; 3; the Eynard-Orantin "topological recursion" coming from mathematical physics. We present some key set of tasks in view of relating these different topics together. The pertinence of the approach is demonstrated by recent research of the principal investigator."

1 086 125 €

Start date: 2017-03-01, End date: 2022-02-28

"Wave propagation in complex (disordered) media stretches our knowledge to the limit in many different fields of physics. It has important applications in seismology, acoustics, radar, and condensed matter. It is a problem of large fundamental interest, notably for the study of Anderson localization. In optics, it is of great importance in photonic devices, such as photonic crystals, plasmonic structures or random lasers. It is also at the heart of many biomedical-imaging issues: scattering ultimately limits the depth and resolution of all imaging techniques. We have recently demonstrated that wavefront shaping –i.e. adaptive optics applied to complex media- is the tool of choice to match and address the huge complexity of this problem in optics. The COMEDIA project aims at developing a novel wavefront shaping toolbox, addressing both spatial and spectral degrees of freedom of light. Thanks to this toolbox, we plan to fulfill the following objectives: 1) A full spatiotemporal control of the optical field in a complex environment, 2) Breakthrough results in imaging and nano-optics, 3) Original answers to some of the most intriguing fundamental questions in mesoscopic physics."

1 497 000 €

Start date: 2011-11-01, End date: 2016-10-31

High-speed optical fiber networks form the backbone of the information and communication technologies, including the Internet. More than 99% of the Internet data traffic is carried by a network of global optical fibers. Despite their great importance, today's optical fiber networks face a looming capacity crunch: The achievable rates of all current technologies characteristically vanish at high input powers due to distortions that arise from fiber nonlinearity. The solution of this long-standing complex problem has become the holy grail of the field of the optical communication. The aim of this project is to develop a novel foundation for optical fiber communication based on the nonlinear Fourier transform (NFT). The NFT decorrelates signal degrees-of-freedom in optical fiber, in much the same way that the conventional Fourier transform does for linear systems. My collaborators and I have recently proposed nonlinear frequency-division multiplexing (NFDM) based on the NFT, in which the information is encoded in the generalized frequencies and their spectral amplitudes (similar to orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing). Since distortions such as inter-symbol and inter-channel interference are absent in NFDM, it achieves data rates higher than conventional methods. The objective of this proposal is to advance NFDM to the extent that it can be built in practical large-scale systems, thereby overcoming the limitation that fiber nonlinearity sets on the transmission rate of the communication networks. The proposed research relies on novel methodology and spans all aspects of the NFDM system design, including determining the fundamental information-theoretic limits, design of the NFDM transmitter and receiver, algorithms and implementations. The feasibility of the project is manifest in preliminary proof-of-concepts in small examples and toy models, PI's leadership and track-record in the field, as well as the ideal research environment.

1 499 180 €

Start date: 2019-05-01, End date: 2024-04-30

The ComplexData project aims at advancing our understanding of the statistical treatment of varied types of complex data by generating new theory and methods, and to obtain progress in concrete current biophysical problems through the implementation of the new tools developed. Complex Data constitute data where the basic object of observation cannot be described in the standard Euclidean context of statistics, but rather needs to be thought of as an element of an abstract mathematical space with special properties. Scientific progress has, in recent years, begun to generate an increasing number of new and complex types of data that require statistical understanding and analysis. Four such types of data that are arising in the context of current scientific research and that the project will be focusing on are: random integral transforms, random unlabelled shapes, random flows of functions, and random tensor fields. In these unconventional contexts for statistics, the strategy of the project will be to carefully exploit the special aspects involved due to geometry, dimension and randomness in order to be able to either adapt and synthesize existing statistical methods, or to generate new statistical ideas altogether. However, the project will not restrict itself to merely studying the theoretical aspects of complex data, but will be truly interdisciplinary. The connecting thread among all the above data types is that their study is motivated by, and will be applied to concrete practical problems arising in the study of biological structure, dynamics, and function: biophysics. For this reason, the programme will be in interaction with local and international contacts from this field. In particular, the theoretical/methodological output of the four programme research foci will be applied to gain insights in the following corresponding four application areas: electron microscopy, protein homology, DNA molecular dynamics, brain imaging.

681 146 €

Start date: 2011-06-01, End date: 2016-05-31

The increasing uptake of renewable energy sources and liberalization of electricity markets are significantly changing power system operations. To ensure stability of the grid, it is critical to develop provably safe feedback control algorithms that take into account uncertainties in the output of weather-based renewable generation and in participation of distributed producers and consumers in electricity markets. The focus of this proposal is to develop the theory and algorithms for control of large-scale stochastic hybrid systems in order to guarantee safe and efficient grid operations. Stochastic hybrid systems are a powerful modeling framework. They capture uncertainties in the output of weather-based renewable generation as well as complex hybrid state interactions arising from discrete-valued network topologies with continuous-valued voltages and frequencies. The problems of stability and efficiency of the grid in the face of its changes will be formulated as safety and optimal control problems for stochastic hybrid systems. Using recent advances in numerical optimization and statistics, provably safe and scalable numerical algorithms for control of this class of systems will be developed. These algorithms will be implemented and validated on realistic power grid simulation platforms and will take advantage of recent advances in sensing, control and communication technologies for the grid. The end outcome of the project is better quantifying and controlling effects of increased uncertainties on the stability of the grid. The societal and economic implications of this study are tied with the value and price of a secure power grid. Addressing the questions formulated in this proposal will bring the EU closer to its ambitious renewable energy goals.

1 346 438 €

Start date: 2016-04-01, End date: 2020-09-30

The technology of the 20th century was dominated by a single material class: The semiconductors, whose properties can be tuned between those of metals and insulators all of which describable by single-electron effects. In contrast, quantum magnets and strongly correlated electron systems offer a full palette of quantum mechanical many-electron states. CONQUEST aim to discover, understand and demonstrate control over such quantum states. A new experimental approach, building on established powerful laboratory and neutron scattering techniques combined with dynamical control-perturbations, will be developed to study correlated quantum effects in magnetic materials. The immediate goal is to open a new field of non-equilibrium and time dependent studies in solid state physics. The long-term vision is that the approach might nurture the materials of the 21st century.

1 500 000 €

Start date: 2011-04-01, End date: 2016-03-31

A contact structure on an odd dimensional manifold in a maximally non integrable hyperplane field. It is the odd dimensional counterpart of a symplectic structure. Contact and symplectic topology is a recent and very active area that studies intrinsic questions about existence, (non) uniqueness and rigidity of contact and symplectic structures. It is intimately related to many other important disciplines, such as dynamical systems, singularity theory, knot theory, Morse theory, complex analysis, ... Legendrian submanifolds are a distinguished class of submanifolds in a contact manifold, which are tangent to the contact distribution. These manifolds are of a particular interest in contact topology. Important classes of Legendrian submanifolds can be described using generating families, and this description can be used to define Legendrian invariants via Morse theory. Other the other hand, Legendrian contact homology is an invariant for Legendrian submanifolds, based on holomorphic curves. The goal of this research proposal is to study the relationship between these two approaches. More precisely, we plan to show that the generating family homology and the linearized Legendrian contact homology can be defined for the same class of Legendrian submanifolds, and are isomorphic. This correspondence should be established using a parametrized version of symplectic homology, being developed by the Principal Investigator in collaboration with Oancea. Such a result would give an entirely new type of information about holomorphic curves invariants. Moreover, it can be used to obtain more general structural results on linearized Legendrian contact homology, to extend recent results on existence of Reeb chords, and to gain a much better understanding of the geography of Legendrian submanifolds.

710 000 €

Start date: 2009-11-01, End date: 2014-10-31

One of the main challenges in condensed matter physics is to understand strongly correlated quantum systems. Our purpose is to approach this issue from the point of view of rigorous mathematical analysis. The goals are twofold: develop a mathematical framework applicable to physically relevant scenarii, take inspiration from the physics to introduce new topics in mathematics. The scope of the proposal thus goes from physically oriented questions (theoretical description and modelization of physical systems) to analytical ones (rigorous derivation and analysis of reduced models) in several cases where strong correlations play the key role. In a first part, we aim at developing mathematical methods of general applicability to go beyond mean-field theory in different contexts. Our long-term goal is to forge new tools to attack important open problems in the field. Particular emphasis will be put on the structural properties of large quantum states as a general tool. A second part is concerned with so-called fractional quantum Hall states, host of the fractional quantum Hall effect. Despite the appealing structure of their built-in correlations, their mathematical study is in its infancy. They however constitute an excellent testing ground to develop ideas of possible wider applicability. In particular, we introduce and study a new class of many-body variational problems. In the third part we discuss so-called anyons, exotic quasi-particles thought to emerge as excitations of highly-correlated quantum systems. Their modelization gives rise to rather unusual, strongly interacting, many-body Hamiltonians with a topological content. Mathematical analysis will help us shed light on those, clarifying the characteristic properties that could ultimately be experimentally tested.

1 056 664 €

Start date: 2018-01-01, End date: 2022-12-31

"Leaf wax n-alkanes are long-chained lipids that are vital components of plant cuticles. What makes leaf wax n-alkanes unique is that their stable hydrogen isotope composition (δD) contains information on precipitation and plant water relations. In addition, leaf wax n-alkanes are abundant in leaves, soils, sediments and even the atmosphere and can persist with their δD values over millions of years. With this exceptional combination of properties, leaf wax n-alkanes and their δD values are now being celebrated as the much-needed ecohydrological proxy that provides information on the hydrological cycle and plant water relations across spatial and temporal scales that range from leaves to biomes and from weeks to millions of years. Despite the enormous potential that leaf wax n-alkanes have as ecohydrological proxy for a range of different research areas, the exact type of hydrological information that is recorded in the δD values of leaf wax n-alkanes remains still unclear. This is because critical mechanisms that determine the δD values of leaf wax n-alkanes are not understood. This proposal will perform the experimental work that is now needed to resolve the key mechanisms that determine the δD values leaf wax n-alkanes. These experiments will set the basis to develop a new numerical model that will allow to ultimately test what the exact hydrological signal is that leaf wax n-alkanes record in their δD values: a mere hydrological signal reflecting the amount or origin of precipitation or, a plant-shaped signal indicating plant water relations such as evapotranspiration. Building on this new model, COSIWAX will set out to test the potential that leaf wax n-alkane δD values hold as new ecohydrological proxy for ecology and ecosystem sciences. If successful, COSIWAX will establish with this research leaf wax n-alkanes δD values as a new and innovative ecohydrological proxy that has extensive possible applications in paleoclimatology, ecology, earth system sciences."

1 496 342 €

Start date: 2011-10-01, End date: 2016-09-30

The objective of this ambitious research proposal is to push forward the frontier of computational cosmology by significantly improving the precision of numerical models on par with the increasing richness and depth of surveys that aim to shed light on the nature of dark matter and dark energy. Using new phase-space techniques for the simulation and analysis of dark matter, completely new insights into its dynamics are possible. They allow, for the first time, the accurate simulation of dark matter cosmologies with suppressed small-scale power without artificial fragmentation. Using such techniques, I will establish highly accurate predictions for the properties of dark matter and baryons on small scales and investigate the formation of the first galaxies in non-CDM cosmologies. Baryonic effects on cosmological observables are a severe limiting factor in interpreting cosmological measurements. I will investigate their impact by identifying the relevant astrophysical processes in relation to the multi-wavelength properties of galaxy clusters and the galaxies they host. This will be enabled by a statistical set of zoom simulations where it is possible to study how these properties correlate with one another, with the assembly history, and how we can derive better models for unresolved baryonic processes in cosmological simulations and thus, ultimately, how we can improve the power of cosmological surveys. Finally, I will develop a completely unified framework for precision cosmological initial conditions (ICs) that is scalable to both the largest simulations and the highest resolution zoom simulations. Bringing ICs into the ‘cloud’ will enable new statistical studies using zoom simulations and increase the reproducibility of simulations within the community. My previous work in developing most of the underlying techniques puts me in an excellent position to lead a research group that is able to successfully approach such a wide-ranging and ambitious project.

1 471 382 €

Start date: 2016-09-01, End date: 2021-08-31

Macroscopic control of quantum states is a major theme in much of modern physics because quantum coherence enables study of fundamental physics and has promising applications for quantum information processing. The potential significance of quantum computing is recognized well beyond the physics community. For electron spins in GaAs quantum dots, it has become clear that decoherence caused by interactions with the nuclear spins is a major challenge. We propose to investigate and reduce hyperfine induced decoherence with two complementary approaches: nuclear spin state narrowing and nuclear spin polarization. We propose a new projective state narrowing technique: a large, Coulomb blockaded dot measures the qubit nuclear ensemble, resulting in enhanced spin coherence times. Further, mediated by an interacting 2D electron gas via hyperfine interaction, a low temperature nuclear ferromagnetic spin state was predicted, which we propose to investigate using a quantum point contact as a nuclear polarization detector. Estimates indicate that the nuclear ferromagnetic transition occurs in the sub-Millikelvin range, well below already hard to reach temperatures around 10 mK. However, the exciting combination of interacting electron and nuclear spin physics as well as applications in spin qubits give ample incentive to strive for sub-Millikelvin temperatures in nanostructures. We propose to build a novel type of nuclear demagnetization refrigerator aiming to reach electron temperatures of 0.1 mK in semiconductor nanostructures. This interdisciplinary project combines Microkelvin and nanophysics, going well beyond the status quo. It is a challenging project that could be the beginning of a new era of coherent spin physics with unprecedented quantum control. This project requires a several year commitment and a team of two graduate students plus one postdoctoral fellow.

1 377 000 €

Start date: 2008-06-01, End date: 2013-05-31

Seismic tomography images of the Earth's interior are key to the characterisation of earthquakes, natural resource exploration, seismic risk assessment, tsunami warning, and studies of geodynamic processes. While tomography has drawn a fascinating picture of our planet, today's individual researchers can exploit only a fraction of the rapidly expanding seismic data volume. Applications relying on tomographic images lag behind their potential; fundamental questions remain unanswered: Do mantle plumes exist in the deep Earth? What are the properties of active faults, and how do they affect earthquake ground motion? To address these questions and to ensure continued progress of seismic tomography in the 'Big Data' era, I propose new technological developments that enable a paradigm shift in Earth model construction towards a Collaborative Seismic Earth Model (CSEM). Fully accounting for the physics of wave propagation in the complex 3D Earth, the CSEM is envisioned to evolve successively through a systematic group effort of my team, thus going beyond the tomographic models that individual researchers may construct today. I will develop the technological foundation of the CSEM and integrate these developments in studies of large-earthquake rupture processes and the convective pattern of the Earth's mantle in relation to surface geology. The CSEM project will bridge the gap between regional and global tomography, and deliver the first multiscale model of the Earth where crust and mantle are jointly resolved. The CSEM will lead to a dramatic increase in the exploitable seismic data volume, and set new standards for the construction and reproducibility of tomographic Earth models. Beyond this project, the CSEM will be openly accessible through the European Plate Observing System (EPOS). It will then offer Earth scientists the unique opportunity to join forces in the discovery of multiscale Earth structure by systematically building on each other's results.

1 367 500 €

Start date: 2017-01-01, End date: 2021-12-31

"Frontier research in statistical mechanics and soft condensed matter focuses on systems of ever-increasing complexity. Among these are systems where microscopic dynamics are not controlled by thermal fluctuations, either because the sources of the fluctuations have not a thermal origin, or because “microscopic” sources of fluctuations are altogether absent. Practical applications comprise everyday products such as paints or foodstuff which are soft solids composed of dense suspensions of particles that are too large for thermal fluctuations to play any role. Non-Brownian “active” matter, obtained when particles internally produce motion, represents another growing field with applications in biophysics and soft matter. Because these systems all evolve far from equilibrium, there exists no general framework to tackle these problems theoretically from a fundamental perspective. I will develop a radically new approach to lay the foundations of a detailed theoretical understanding of the physics of a broad but coherent class of materials evolving far from equilibrium. To go beyond phenomenology, I will carry theoretical research to elucidate the physics of particle systems that are simultaneously Dense, Disordered, Driven and Dissipative—D4PARTICLES. By combining numerical analysis of model systems to fully microscopic statistical mechanics analysis, my overall aim is to discover the general principles governing the physics of athermal particle systems far from equilibrium and to reach a complete theoretical understanding and obtain predictive tools regarding the phase behavior, structure and dynamics of D4PARTICLES. Reaching a new level of theoretical understanding of a broad range of materials will impact fundamental research by opening up statistical physics to a whole new class of complex systems and should foster experimental activity towards design and quantitative characterization of large class of disordered solids and soft materials."

1 339 800 €

Start date: 2012-10-01, End date: 2017-09-30

Dendritic cell (DC) activation and homing from the periphery to lymph nodes is a critical first event in the immune response. It involves upregulation of the chemokine receptor CCR7 and chemoinvasion towards lymphatic vessels. Despite its critical importance in adaptive immunity, the mechanisms of DC migration towards and entry into lymphatics are still poorly understood; this severely limits new therapeutic strategies for immunomodulation and even strategies for treating lymphedema, which is exacerbated by poor immune functioning. We propose a battery of physiological, cell-biological, molecular, and computational studies to determine both the mechanisms of DC homing to lymphatic vessels and how DCs modulate lymphatic function. We approach this from the perspectives of both the DC and the lymphatic vessel. Regarding the DC, we will examine computationally and experimentally how draining flows toward the lymphatic alter their migration tactics and test our hypothesis that DCs possess a biomolecular flow-detector network (which we refer to as autologous chemotaxis) and are thus able to sense the direction of the subtle flow of fluid toward the lymphatics. Regarding the lymphatic vessel, we will elucidate how biochemical and biophysical inflammatory signals regulate their drainage function, alter cell-cell adhesions and overall permeability, and alter adhesion receptors to facilitate DC homing and entry. Finally, we will examine DC migration in mice with dysfunctional lymphatics and explore strategies to improve immune response. These will be carried out in 4 main projects, and will complement our recent work in lymphatic functional biology as well as our more therapeutic investigations in DC targeting and activation (Reddy et al., Nature Biotechnol., 2007). This deeper knowledge of mechanisms of DC-lymphatic cross-talk in a relevant biophysical context will enable our long-term goal of rational design for therapeutic immunomodulation and lymphedema.

1 730 966 €

Start date: 2008-05-01, End date: 2013-04-30

Synthesizing organic molecules in high purity with designed properties is of utmost importance for pharmaceutical applications and material- and polymer sciences including the efficient production of enantiopure compounds and the compliance with ecological concerns and sustainability. The efficiency of all reaction classes has improved over the past decades. However, the basic principle and execution did not change: The target molecule is disconnected into donor and acceptor synthons and appropriate functional groups need to be introduced and adjusted to carry out the envisioned coupling. These additional steps decrease the yield and efficiency, are costly in time, resources and produce waste. The introduction of new functionalities by direct C-H or C-C bond activation is a unique and highly appealing strategy. The range of substrates is virtually unlimited, including hydrocarbons, small molecules and polymers. Such dream reactions avoid any pre-functionalization, shorten synthetic routes, make unsought disconnections possible and allow for a more efficient usage of our dwindling resources. Despite recent progress in the activations of inert bonds, narrow scopes, poor reactivities and harsh conditions hamper most general practical applications. Especially, enantioselective activations are a longstanding challenge. The outlined project seeks to address these issues by the development and exploitation of new catalytic enantioselective C-H and C-C functionalizations of broadly available organic substrates, using chiral Rh- and Pd- catalysts, additionally supported by automated screening and computational techniques. These reactions will be then applied in the streamlined synthesis of pharmaceutically relevant scaffolds and of compounds for organic electronics.

1 499 500 €

Start date: 2011-02-01, End date: 2016-01-31

The innovation of DELPHINS application will consist in building a generic multi-sensor design platform for embedded multi-gas-analysis-on-chip, based on a global modelling from the individual NEMS sensors to a global multiphysics NEMS-CMOS VLSI (Very large Scale Integration) system. The latter constitute a new research field with many potential applications such as in medicine (specific diseases recognition) but also in security (toxic and complex air pollutions), in industry (perfumes, agribusiness) and environment control. As an example, several studies in the last 10 years have demonstrated that some specific combination of biomarkers in breath above a given threshold could indicate early stage of diseases. More generally, patterns of breathing gas could constitute a virtual fingerprint of specific pathologies. NEMS (Nano-Electro-Mechanical Systems) based sensor is one of the most promising technologies to get the required resolutions and sensitivities for few molecules detection. We will focus on the analytical module of the system (sensing part + embedded electronics processing) that will include ultra-dense (more than thousands) NEMS arrays with state-of the art CMOS transistors. We will obtain integrated nano-oscillators individually addressed within an innovative architecture inspired from memory and imaging technologies. Few molecules sensitivity will be achieved thanks to suspended resonant nanowires co-integrated locally with their closed-loop and reading electronics. This would make possible the analysis of complex gases within an integrated portable system, which does not exist yet.

1 723 206 €

Start date: 2009-11-01, End date: 2014-10-31

Generating knowledge about new materials and obtaining insight in their properties at the nanoscale level are highly relevant to the scientific objectives of the EU. Here, I propose to advance the current state of the art in atomistic modeling of complex systems. I aim at providing and establishing new tools that will allow for the description of large multi-component/multi-phase systems at experimental temperature and pressure with predictive power and controlled error. Generality and ease of use will be key. Building upon my experience, I have identified two clear needs that I will address. One need is a capable implementation, i.e. suitable for large condensed phase systems, of electronic structure theories that go beyond traditional DFT. Powerful linear scaling methods with excess accuracy are essential to validate, on the complex systems themselves, the use of DFT. The second need is an automatic approach for extracting empirical models from raw electronic structure data. Empirical methods are essential to perform simulations that are multiscale in time, space, and accuracy. This automatic approach must be able to generate models beyond the intuition and patience of an individual scientist using advanced optimization methods such as genetic algorithms or neural networks. Models must have a built-in estimate of their quality. The latter feature will allow for enhancing/correcting these empirical approaches automatically with first principles calculations whenever necessary. Massively parallel computing will be the enabling technology. In line with my track record, I will establish these new methods by demonstrating their potential through challenging applications. Example applications will be in diverse fields, including sustainable energy production, catalysis, environment and health. By making these tools freely and openly available to both academia and industry the benefit for the community as a whole will be significant.

1 728 576 €

Start date: 2011-11-01, End date: 2016-10-31

Discrete subgroups of Lie groups, whose study originated in Fuchsian differential equations and crystallography at the end of the 19th century, are the basis of a large aspect of modern geometry. They are the object of fundamental theories such as Teichmüller theory, Kleinian groups, rigidity theories for lattices, homogeneous dynamics, and most recently Higher Teichmüller theory. They are closely related to the notion of a geometric structure on a manifold, which has played a crucial role in geometry since Thurston. In summary, discrete subgroups are a meeting point of geometry with Lie theory, differential equations, complex analysis, ergodic theory, representation theory, algebraic geometry, number theory, and mathematical physics, and these fascinating interactions make the subject extremely rich. In real rank one, important classes of discrete subgroups of semisimple Lie groups are known for their good geometric, topological, and dynamical properties, such as convex cocompact or geometrically finite subgroups. In higher real rank, discrete groups beyond lattices remain quite mysterious. The goal of the project is to work towards a classification of discrete subgroups of semisimple Lie groups in higher real rank, from two complementary points of view. The first is actions on Riemannian symmetric spaces and their boundaries: important recent developments, in particular in the theory of Anosov representations, give hope to identify a number of meaningful classes of discrete groups which generalise in various ways the notions of convex cocompactness and geometric finiteness. The second point of view is actions on pseudo-Riemannian symmetric spaces: some very interesting geometric examples are now well understood, and recent links with the first point of view give hope to transfer progress from one side to the other. We expect powerful applications, both to the construction of proper actions on affine spaces and to the spectral theory of pseudo-Riemannian manifolds

1 049 182 €

Start date: 2017-09-01, End date: 2022-08-31

The global incidence of kidney disease is on the rise, but little progress has been made to develop novel therapies or preventative measures. New methods to generated renal tissue in vitro hold great promise for regenerative medicine and the prospect of organ replacement. Most of the strategies employed differentiate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into kidney organoids, which can be derived from patient tissue. Direct reprogramming is an alternative approach to convert one cell type into another using cell fate specifying transcription factors. We were the first to develop a method to directly reprogram mouse and human fibroblasts to kidney cells (induced renal tubular epithelial cells - iRECs) without the need for pluripotent cells. Morphological, transcriptomic and functional analyses found that directly reprogrammed iRECs are remarkably similar to native renal tubular cells. Direct reprogramming is fast, technically simple and scalable. This proposal aims to establish direct reprogramming in nephrology and develop novel in vitro models for kidney diseases that primarily affect the renal tubules. We will unravel the mechanics of how only four transcription factors can change the morphology and function of fibroblasts towards a renal tubule cell identity. These insights will be used to identify alternative routes to directly reprogram tubule cells with increased efficiency and accuracy. We will identify cell type specifying factors for reprogramming of tubular segment specific cell types. Finally, we will use of reprogrammed kidney cells to establish new in vitro models for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease and nephronophthisis. Direct reprogramming holds enormous potential to deliver patient specific disease models for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in the age of personalized and targeted medicine.

1 499 917 €

Start date: 2019-03-01, End date: 2024-02-29

Cell motility is essential for many biological processes, including development and pathogenesis. Thus, the molecular mechanisms underlying this process have been intensively studied in many cell systems, for example, leukocytes, amoeba and even bacteria. Intriguingly, bacteria are also able to move across solid surfaces (gliding motility) like eukaryotic cells by a process that has remained largely mysterious. The emergence of bacterial cell biology: the discovery that the bacterial cell also has a dynamic cytoskeleton and specialized subcellular regions now provides new research angles to study the motility mechanism. Using cell biology approaches, we previously suggested that the mechanism may be akin to acto-myosin-based motility in eukaryotic cells and proposed that bacterial focal adhesion complexes also power locomotion. In this project, we propose two complementary research axes to define both the mechanism and its spatial regulation in the cell at molecular resolution. Using the model motility bacterium Myxococcus xanthus, we first propose to develop a “toolbox” of biophysical and cell biology assays to analyze the motility process. Specifically, we will construct a Traction Force Microscopy assay designed to image the motility forces directly by live moving cells and use microfluidics to quantitate the secretion of a mucus that may participate directly in the motility process. These assays, combined with a newly developed laser trap system to visualize dynamic focal adhesions in the cell envelope, will be instrumental not only to define new features of the motility process, but also to study the function of novel motility genes which may encode the components of the elusive motility engine. This way, we hope to establish the mechanism and structure function relationships within an entirely novel motility machinery. In a second part, we propose to investigate the mechanism that controls a polarity switch, allowing M. xanthus cells to change their direction of movement. We have previously shown that dynamic motility protein pole-to-pole oscillations convert the initial leading cell pole into the lagging pole. Here, we propose that like in a eukaryotic cells, a bacterial counterpart of small GTPases of the Ras superfamily, MglA controls the polarity cycle. To test this hypothesis, we will study both the MglA upstream regulation and the MglA downstream effectors. We thus hope to establish a model of dynamic polarity control in a bacterial

1 437 693 €

Start date: 2011-01-01, End date: 2015-12-31