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

What is responsible for the emergence of homochirality, the almost exclusive use of one enantiomer over its mirror image? And what led to the evolution of life’s homochiral biopolymers, DNA/RNA, proteins and lipids, where all the constituent monomers exhibit the same handedness? Based on in-situ observations and laboratory studies, we propose that this handedness occurs when chiral biomolecules are synthesized asymmetrically through interaction with circularly polarized photons in interstellar space. The ultimate goal of this project will be to demonstrate how the diverse set of heterogeneous enantioenriched molecules, available from meteoritic impact, assembles into homochiral pre-biopolymers, by simulating the evolutionary stages on early Earth. My recent research has shown that the central chiral unit of RNA, ribose, forms readily under simulated comet conditions and this has provided valuable new insights into the accessibility of precursors of genetic material in interstellar environments. The significance of this project arises due to the current lack of experimental demonstration that amino acids, sugars and lipids can simultaneously and asymmetrically be synthesized by a universal physical selection process. A synergistic methodology will be developed to build a unified theory for the origin of all chiral biological building blocks and their assembly into homochiral supramolecular entities. For the first time, advanced analyses of astrophysical-relevant samples, asymmetric photochemistry triggered by circularly polarized synchrotron and laser sources, and chiral amplification due to polymerization processes will be combined. Intermediates and autocatalytic reaction kinetics will be monitored and supported by quantum calculations to understand the underlying processes. A unified theory on the asymmetric formation and self-assembly of life’s biopolymers is groundbreaking and will impact the whole conceptual foundation of the origin of life.

1 500 000 €

Start date: 2019-04-01, End date: 2024-03-31

The emergence of life is one of the most fascinating and yet largely unsolved questions in the natural sciences, and thus a significant challenge for scientists from many disciplines. There is growing evidence that ribonucleic acid (RNA) polymers, which are capable of genetic information storage and self-catalysis, were involved in the early forms of life. But despite recent progress, RNA synthesis without biological machineries is very challenging. The current project aims at understanding how to synthesize RNA in abiotic conditions. I will solve problems associated with three critical aspects of RNA formation that I will rationalize at a molecular level: (i) accumulation of precursors, (ii) formation of a chemical bond between RNA monomers, and (iii) tolerance for alternative backbone sugars or linkages. Because I will study problems ranging from the formation of chemical bonds up to the stability of large biopolymers, I propose an original computational multi-scale approach combining techniques that range from quantum calculations to large-scale all-atom simulations, employed together with efficient enhanced-sampling algorithms, forcefield improvement, cutting-edge analysis methods and model development. My objectives are the following: 1 • To explain why the poorly-understood thermally-driven process of thermophoresis can contribute to the accumulation of dilute precursors. 2 • To understand why linking RNA monomers with phosphoester bonds is so difficult, to understand the molecular mechanism of possible catalysts and to suggest key improvements. 3 • To rationalize the molecular basis for RNA tolerance for alternative backbone sugars or linkages that have probably been incorporated in abiotic conditions. This unique in-silico laboratory setup should significantly impact our comprehension of life’s origin by overcoming major obstacles to RNA abiotic formation, and in addition will reveal significant orthogonal outcomes for (bio)technological applications.

1 497 031 €

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

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

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 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

Some of the primary questions in extragalactic astronomy concern the formation and evolution of galaxies in the distant Universe. In particular, little is known about the less luminous (and therefore less massive) galaxy populations, which are currently missed from large observing surveys and could contribute significantly to the overall star formation happening at early times. One way to overcome the current observing limitations prior to the arrival of the future James Webb Space Telescope or the European Extremely Large Telescopes is to use the natural magnification of strong lensing clusters to look at distant sources with an improved sensitivity and resolution. The aim of CALENDS is to build and study in great details a large sample of accurately-modelled, strongly lensed galaxies at high redshift (1<z<5) selected in the fields of massive clusters, and compare them with the more luminous or lower redshift populations. We will develop novel techniques in this process, in order to improve the accuracy of strong-lensing models and precisely determine the mass content of these clusters. By performing a systematic modelling of the cluster sample we will look into the relative distribution of baryons and dark matter as well as the amount of substructure in cluster cores. Regarding the population of lensed galaxies, we will study their global properties through a multiwavelength analysis covering the optical to millimeter domains, including spectroscopic information from MUSE and KMOS on the VLT, and ALMA. We will look for scaling relations between the stellar, gas and dust parameters, and compare them with known relations for lower redshift and more massive galaxy samples. For the most extended sources, we will be able to spatially resolve their inner properties, and compare the results of individual regions with predictions from simulations. We will look into key physical processes: star formation, gas accretion, inflows and outflows, in these distant sources.

1 450 992 €

Start date: 2013-09-01, End date: 2019-08-31

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

Centrosomes are cytoplasmic organelles found in most animal cells with important roles in polarity establishment and maintenance. Theodor Boveri s pioneering work first suggested that extra-centrosomes could contribute to genetic instability and consequently to tumourigenesis. Although many human tumours do exhibit centrosome amplification (extra centrosomes) or centrosome abnormalities, the exact contribution of centrosomes to tumour initiation in vertebrate organisms remains to be determined. I have recently showed that Drosophila flies carrying extra-centrosomes, following the over-expression of the centriole replication kinase Sak, did not exhibit chromosome segregation errors and were able to maintain a stable diploid genome over many generations. Surprisingly, however, neural stem cells fail frequently to align the mitotic spindle with their polarity axis during asymmetric division. Moreover, I have found that centrosome amplification is permissive to tumour formation in flies. So far, however, we do not know the molecular mechanisms that allow transformation when extra centrosomes are present and elucidating these mechanisms is the aim of the work presented in this proposal. Here, I describe a series of complementary approaches that will help us to decipher the link between centrosomes, stem cells and tumour biology. In addition, I wish to pursue the original observations made in Drosophila and investigate the consequences of centrosome amplification in mammals.

1 550 000 €

Start date: 2010-01-01, End date: 2015-06-30

Few geophysical phenomena are as spectacular as tropical cyclones, with their eye surrounded by sharp cloudy eyewalls. There are other types of spatially organised convection (convection refers to overturning of air within which clouds are embedded), in fact organised convection is ubiquitous in the tropics. But it is still poorly understood and poorly represented in convective parameterisations of global climate models, despite its strong societal and climatic impact. It is associated with extreme weather, and with dramatic changes of the large scales, including drying of the atmosphere and increased outgoing longwave radiation to space. The latter can have dramatic consequences on tropical energetics, and hence on global climate. Thus, convective organisation could be a key missing ingredient in current estimates of climate sensitivity from climate models. CLUSTER will lead to improved fundamental understanding of convective organisation to help guide and improve convective parameterisations. It is closely related to the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) grand challenge: Clouds, circulation and climate sensitivity. Grand challenges identify areas of emphasis in the coming decade, targeting specific barriers preventing progress in critical areas of climate science. Until recently, progress on this topic was hindered by high numerical cost and lack of fundamental understanding. Advances in computer power combined with new discoveries based on idealised frameworks, theory and observational findings, make this the ideal time to determine the fundamental processes governing convective organisation in nature. Using a synergy of theory, high-resolution cloud-resolving simulations, and in-situ and satellite observations, CLUSTER will specifically target two feedbacks recently identified as being essential to convective aggregation, and assess their impact on tropical cyclones, large-scale properties including precipitation extremes, and energetics of the tropics.

1 078 021 €

Start date: 2019-06-01, End date: 2024-05-31

Quantum computing is based on the manipulation of quantum bits (qubits) to enhance the efficiency of information processing. In solid-state systems, two approaches have been explored: • static qubits, coupled to quantum buses used for manipulation and information transmission, • flying qubits which are mobile qubits propagating in quantum circuits for further manipulation. Flying qubits research led to the recent emergence of the field of electron quantum optics, where electrons play the role of photons in quantum optic like experiments. This has recently led to the development of electronic quantum interferometry as well as single electron sources. As of yet, such experiments have only been successfully implemented in semi-conductor heterostructures cooled at extremely low temperatures. Realizing electron quantum optics experiments in graphene, an inexpensive material showing a high degree of quantum coherence even at moderately low temperatures, would be a strong evidence that quantum computing in graphene is within reach. One of the most elementary building blocks necessary to perform electron quantum optics experiments is the electron beam splitter, which is the electronic analog of a beam splitter for light. However, the usual scheme for electron beam splitters in semi-conductor heterostructures is not available in graphene because of its gapless band structure. I propose a breakthrough in this direction where pn junction plays the role of electron beam splitter. This will lead to the following achievements considered as important steps towards quantum computing: • electronic Mach Zehnder interferometry used to study the quantum coherence properties of graphene, • two electrons Aharonov Bohm interferometry used to generate entangled states as an elementary quantum gate, • the implementation of on-demand electronic sources in the GHz range for graphene flying qubits.

1 500 000 €

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

Cold gases of electronically excited Rydberg atoms and groundstate polar molecules have generated considerable interest in cold matter physics, by introducing for the first time many-body systems with interactions which are both long-range and tunable with external fields. The overall objective of this proposal is (i) the development of theoretical ideas and tools for the understanding and control of non-equilibrium dynamics in these diverse systems and in their mixtures, including dissipative effects leading to cooling, and (ii) to analyse emerging fundamental phenomena in the classical and quantum regimes of strong interactions, leading to innovative simulations and experiments of complex classical and quantum systems. The project is divided into three parts, with strong overlap: 1) Rydberg atom dynamics: The study of complex open-system dynamics in gases of laser-driven Rydberg atoms, including the study of the effects and control of dissipation and decoherence from spontaneous emission in strongly interacting gases. 2) Cooling of complex molecules in atom-molecule mixtures: The theoretical investigation of novel ways to perform cooling towards quantum degeneracy of generic, comparatively complex molecules, beyond bialkali ones, in mixtures of groundstate molecules and of Rydberg-excited atoms. 3) Simulations of strongly interacting many-body systems at the quantum/classical crossover: Atomistic characterization of formation and dynamics of formation of strongly correlated phases with long-range interactions. For each of these subjects, the objectives are at the cutting edge of fundamental atomic and molecular science and technology.

1 496 400 €

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

Animals display a tremendous diversity of patterns ‒from the colourful designs that adorn their body to repeated segmented appendages. Natural patterns result from the formation of discrete domains within developing tissues through the integration of positional cues by cells that consequently adopt specific fates and produce spatial heterogeneity. How can such developmental processes underlie the apparent complexity and diversity of natural patterns? We propose to address this long-standing question with an innovative experimental design: we will make use of natural variation as a powerful tool to facilitate the identification of patterning molecules and morphogenetic events. We will study colour pattern, a crucial adaptive trait that varies extensively in nature, from large colour domains to periodic designs. In amniotes, colour pattern is formed by spatial differences in the distribution of pigment cells and integumentary appendages. While the pigmentation system has been well characterized, the mechanisms governing the formation of compartments in the skin of wild animals have remained unclear, largely because laboratory models do not display ecologically-relevant colour patterns. We will use a combination of forward genetics, developmental biology, modelling, and imaging to study natural variation in the large colour domains of Estrildid finches and the periodic stripes of Galliform birds. For both phenotypes, we will characterize the organization of the embryonic skin and the mode of patterning (i.e., instructional patterning via external cues vs locally-occurring self-organization) underlying their formation, and identify the molecular factors and developmental processes contributing to their variation. Results from these studies will elucidate the biochemical events and tissue rearrangements orchestrating colour patterning in development and shed light on how these processes shape natural variation in this trait‒ and more generally, in natural patterns.

1 483 144 €

Start date: 2015-05-01, End date: 2020-04-30

Climate change and associated water cycle modifications have a strong impact on polar ice sheets through their influence on the global sea-level. The most promising tool for reconstructing temperature and water cycle evolution in Antarctica is to use water isotopic records in ice cores. Still, interpreting these records is nowadays limited by known biases linked to a too simple description of isotopic fractionations and cloud microphysics. Another key issue in this region is the stratosphere-troposphere flux influencing both the chemistry of ozone and decadal climate change. Data are lacking for constraining such flux even on the recent period (100 years). COMBINISO aims at making use of innovative methods combining measurements of the 5 major water isotopes (H217O, H218O, HTO, HDO, H2O) and global modelling to address the following key points: 1- Provide a strongly improved physical frame for interpretation of water isotopic records in polar regions; 2- Provide a quantitative picture of Antarctica temperature changes and links with the tropospheric water cycle prior to the instrumental period; 3- Quantify recent variability of the stratosphere water vapor input. The proposed method, based on strong experimental – modelling interaction, includes innovative tools such as (1) the intensive use of the recently developed triple isotopic composition of oxygen in water for constraining water isotopic fractionation, hydrological cycle organisation and potentially stratospheric water input, (2) the development of a laser spectroscopy instrument to accurately measure this parameter in water vapour, (3) modelling development including stratospheric tracers (e.g. HTO and 10Be) in addition to water isotopes in Atmospheric General Circulation Models equipped with a detailed description of the stratosphere, (4) a first documentation of climate, hydrological cycle and stratospheric input in Antarctica through combined measurements of isotopes in ice cores for the last 100 years.

1 869 950 €

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

"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

Developing minimalistic biological neural networks and observing their functional activity is crucial to decipher the information processing in the brain. This project aims to address two major challenges: to design and fabricate in vitro biological neural networks that are organized in physiological relevant ways and to provide a label-free monitoring platform capable of observing neural activity both at the neuron resolution and at large fields of view. To do so, the project will develop a unique microfluidic compartmentalized chips where populations of primary neurons will be seeded in deposition chambers with physiological relevant number and densities. Chambers will be connected by microgrooves in which neurites only can grow and whose dimensions will be tuned according to the connectivity pattern to reproduce. To observe the activity of such complex neural networks, we will develop a disruptive observation technique that will transduce the electrical activity of spiking neurons into optical differences observed on a lens-free platform, without calcium labelling and constantly in-incubo. By combining neuro-engineering patterning and the lens-free platform, we will compare individual spiking to global oscillators in basic neural networks under localized external stimulations. Such results will provide experimental insight into computational neuroscience current approaches. Finally, we will design an in vitro network that will reproduce a neural loop implied in major neurodegenerative diseases with physiological relevant neural types, densities and connectivities. This circuitry will be manipulated in order to model Huntington and Parkinson diseases on the chip and assess the impact of known drugs on the functional activity of the entire network. This project will engineer microfluidics chips with physiological relevant neural network and a lensfree activity monitoring platform to answer fundamental and clinically relevant issues in neuroscience.

1 727 731 €

Start date: 2016-11-01, End date: 2021-10-31

According to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), earthquakes are responsible for more than half of the total human losses due to natural disasters from 1994 to 2003. There is no doubt that earthquakes are lethal and costly. CoQuake proposes an alternative, ground-breaking approach for avoiding catastrophic earthquakes by inducing them at a lower energetic level. Earthquakes are a natural phenomenon that we cannot avoid, but –for the first time– in CoQuake I will show that it is possible to control them, hence reducing the seismic risk, fatalities and economic cost. CoQuake goes beyond the state-of-the-art by proposing an innovative methodology for investigating the effect and the controllability of various stimulating techniques that can reactivate seismic faults. It involves large-scale, accurate simulations of fault systems based on constitutive laws derived from micromechanical, grain-by-grain simulations under Thermo-Hydro-Chemo-Mechanical couplings (THMC), which are not calibrated on the basis of ad-hoc empirical and inaccurate constitutive laws. A pioneer experimental research programme and the design and construction of a new apparatus of metric scale, will demonstrate CoQuake’s proof-of-principle and it will help to explore the transition from aseismic to seismic slip. CoQuake is an interdisciplinary project as it takes knowledge from various fields of engineering, computational mechanics, geomechanics, mathematics and geophysics. CoQuake opens a new field and new line of research in earthquake mechanics and engineering, with a direct impact on humanity and science.

1 499 999 €

Start date: 2018-06-01, End date: 2023-05-31

The aim of COSIRIS is to isolate the simultaneous fluxes of photosynthesis and respiration of the terrestrial biosphere. With explicit knowledge of the component fluxes, we will: 1) test process based models of photosynthesis and respiration, 2) determine the sensitivity of each flux to environmental conditions, and 3) derive predictions of their responses to climate change. Specifically, COSIRIS aims to build a research facility to integrate a new tracer, carbonyl sulfide (COS) with CO2, water and their stable isotopes in a multi-tracer framework as a tool to separately investigate photosynthesis and respiration. In terrestrial ecosystems, CO2 is often taken up and released at the same time. Similar to CO2, COS is taken up during photosynthesis, but unlike CO2, concurrent COS emissions are small. Parallel COS and CO2 measurements thus promise to provide estimates of gross photosynthetic fluxes – impossible to measure directly at scales larger than a few leaves. The use of COS to derive CO2 fluxes has not been verified yet, but enough is known about their parallel pathways to suggest that COS, CO2 and its isotopes can be combined to yield powerful and unique constraints on gross carbon fluxes. COSIRIS will develop the expertise necessary to achieve this goal by providing: 1. an in-depth analysis of processes involved in COS uptake by vegetation, and of potentially interfering influences such as uptake by soil, 2. a novel process-based multi-tracer modelling framework of COS, CO2, water and their isotopes at the ecosystem scale, 3. extensive datasets on concurrent fluctuations of COS, CO2, water and their isotopes in ecosystems. This innovative approach promises advances in understanding and determining gross carbon fluxes at ecosystem to continental scales, particularly their variations in response to climate anomalies.

1 822 000 €

Start date: 2008-07-01, End date: 2014-10-31

Developing tissues have a remarkable plasticity illustrated by their capacity to regenerate and form normal organs despite strong perturbations. This requires the adjustment of single cell behaviour to their neighbours and to tissue scale parameters. The modulation of cell growth and proliferation was suggested to be driven by mechanical inputs, however the mechanisms adjusting cell death are not well known. Recently it was shown that epithelial cells could be eliminated by spontaneous live-cell delamination following an increase of cell density. Studying cell delamination in the midline region of the Drosophila pupal notum, we confirmed that local tissue crowding is necessary and sufficient to drive cell elimination and found that Caspase 3 activation precedes and is required for cell delamination. This suggested that a yet unknown pathway is responsible for crowding sensing and activation of caspase, which does not involve already known mechanical sensing pathways. Moreover, we showed that fast growing clones in the notum could induce neighbouring cell elimination through crowding-induced death. This suggested that crowding-induced death could promote tissue invasion by pretumoural cells. Here we will combine genetics, quantitative live imaging, statistics, laser perturbations and modelling to study crowding-induced death in Drosophila in order to: 1) find single cell deformations responsible for caspase activation; 2) find new pathways responsible for density sensing and apoptosis induction; 3) test their contribution to adult tissue homeostasis, morphogenesis and cell elimination coordination; 4) study the role of crowding induced death during competition between different cell types and tissue invasion 5) Explore theoretically the conditions required for efficient space competition between two cell populations. This project will provide essential information for the understanding of epithelial homeostasis, mechanotransduction and tissue invasion by tumoural cells

1 489 147 €

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

Emergence of a large number of distributed decision and control systems (e.g., in health care, transportation, and energy management), combined with increasing demands of traditional communications (e.g., due to multiview videos), create an imminent need for highly improved communication systems. We advocate that—combined with improvements in battery, antenna, and chip technologies—context- and/or task-oriented communication techniques will bring the desired breakthrough. Specifically, context- oriented techniques will greatly improve performance, because future networks have complex infrastructures (with cache-memories, cloud-RANs, etc.) allowing the terminals to collect side-informations about other terminals’ data or signals, and because many distributed decision systems rely on numerous devices with correlated measurements. Task-oriented techniques promise even larger gains, especially in distributed decision systems where decisions take value on a small range, and thus the traditional approach of communicating sequences of observed signals results in a huge overhead. Information theory, and in particular distributed joint source-channel coding, provides a general framework for designing context-oriented communication techniques. Such a general framework is missing for task-oriented communication. Previous results indicate that creative usages of information theory on its frontier to statistics and decision theory are well-suited for designing task-oriented communication techniques for applications as diverse as coordination of smart devices, distributed hypothesis testing, and clustering of data. Our goal is to design context- and/or task-oriented communication techniques for these three applications and for cache-aided communication. Besides the high gains that our new techniques bring directly to these applications, the complementarity of our applications and obtained results will facilitate a future general framework for context- and task-oriented communication.

1 495 288 €

Start date: 2017-05-01, End date: 2022-04-30

Cytoplasmic motion is a key determinant of organelle transport, protein-protein interactions, RNA transport and drug delivery, to name but a few cellular phenomena. Nucleic acid trafficking is important in antisense and gene therapy based on viral and synthetic vectors. This proposal is dedicated to the theoretical study of intracellular transport of proteins, organelles and DNA particles. We propose to construct a mathematical model to quantify and predict the spatiotemporal dynamics of complex structures in the cytosol and the nucleus, based on the physical characteristics and the micro-rheology of the environment (viscosity). We model the passive motion of proteins or DNA as free or confined diffusion, while for the organelle and virus motion, we will include active cytoskeleton-dependent transport. The proposed mathematical model of cellular trafficking is based on physical principles. We propose to estimate the mean arrival time and the probability of viruses and plasmid DNA to arrive to a nuclear pore. The motion will be described by stochastic dynamics, containing both a drift (along microtubules) and a Brownian (free diffusion) component. The analysis of the equations requires the development of new asymptotic methods for the calculation of the probability and the mean arrival time of a particle to a small hole on the nucleus surface. We will extend the analysis to DNA movement in the nucleus after cellular irradiation, when the nucleus contains single and double broken DNA strands (dbDNAs). The number of remaining DNA breaks determines the activation of the repair machinery and the cell decision to enter into apoptosis. We will study the dsbDNA repair machinery engaged in the task of finding the DNA damage. We will formulate and analyze, both numerically and analytically, the equations that link the level of irradiation to apoptosis. The present project belongs to the new class of initiatives toward a quantitative analysis of intracellular trafficking.

750 000 €

Start date: 2009-01-01, End date: 2014-06-30

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

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) promises a major step forward in the understanding of the fundamental nature of matter. Four large experiments at the LHC are complementary addressing the question of the origin of our Universe by searching for the so-called New Physics. The ”Standard Model” (SM), the theory that reflects our understanding of elementary particles and their fundamental interactions, has been extensively studied and experimentally verified to an unprecedented precision over the past decades. Despite its impressive success, there are many unanswered questions; which suggest that there is a more fundamental theory which incorporates New Physics. It is expected that at the LHC either New Physics beyond the SM will be discovered or excluded up to a very high energies, thus our view of the fundamental structure of the Universe will be challenged and probably revolutionized in the coming years. The ATLAS experiment is dedicated to address the key issue of ElectroWeak Symmetry Breaking (EWSB) and linked to this the search for the Higgs boson as well as the search for Physics beyond the Standard Model. The analysis proposed here is measurement and searches for New Physics in diboson processes . The New Physics effects in the diboson sector will be observed either directly, as in the case of new particle production decaying to diboson, e.g., new vector bosons and extra-dimensions, or indirectly through deviations from the SM predictions of observable such as cross sections and asymmetries. Triple gauge boson self-coupling (TGC) are extremely sensitive to New Physics, thus a very powerful tool for indirect searches for New Physics contributions through loop corrections. At the LHC, the unprecedented center-of-mass energy and luminosity will allow to measure the TGC with a high accuracy and to probe regions that are inaccessible at previous experiments even with modest amounts of data.

904 190 €

Start date: 2011-12-01, End date: 2016-11-30

Chemical samples often come as solution mixtures. While advanced analytical methods exist for samples at equilibrium, the information on components and their interactions that may be accessed for the frequent and important case of out-of-equilibrium mixtures is much more limited. The DINAMIX project will tackle this challenge and provide detailed, molecular-level information on out-of-equilibrium mixtures. The proposed concept relies on diffusion nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, a powerful method that separates the spectra of mixtures’ components and identifies interactions, in correlation with structural insight provided by NMR observables. While classic experiments require several minutes, spatial encoding (SPEN) in principle makes it possible to acquire data orders of magnitude faster, in less than a second. The PI has recently demonstrated that SPEN diffusion NMR is a general concept, with the potential to provide real-time information on out-of-equilibrium mixtures. These include a vast range of systems undergoing chemical change, as well as the important class of “hyperpolarised” solution mixtures generated by dissolution dynamic nuclear polarisation (D-DNP). D-DNP indeed provides dramatic NMR sensitivity enhancements of up to 4 orders of magnitude, which however last only for a short time in solution. In the DINAMIX project, we will develop i/ novel robust and accurate real-time diffusion NMR methods, ii/ advanced algorithms for data processing and analysis, iii/ protocols for sensitive component identification. We will exploit the resulting methodology for mechanistic investigations into catalytic organic and enzymatic reactions. The real-time diffusion NMR analysis of systems that are out-of-chemical equilibrium, far-from-spin-equilibrium or both will provide transformative insight on mixtures, with applications in chemical synthesis, supramolecular and polymer science, structural biology, and microstructural studies in materials and in vivo.

1 499 307 €

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

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

Statistical mechanics, a century-old theory, is probably one of the most powerful constructions of physics. It predicts that the equilibrium properties of any system composed of a large number of particles depend only on a handful of macroscopic parameters, no matter how the particles interact with each other. But the question of how many-body systems relax towards such equilibrium states remains largely unsolved. This problem is especially acute for quantum systems, which evolve in a much larger mathematical space than the classical space-time and obey non-local equations of motion. Despite the formidable complexity of quantum dynamics, recent theoretical advances have put forward a very simple picture: the dynamics of closed quantum many-body systems would be essentially local, meaning that it would take a finite time for correlations between two distant regions of space to reach their equilibrium value. This locality would be an emergent collective property, similar to spontaneous symmetry breaking, and have its origin in the propagation of quasiparticle excitations. The fact is, however, that only few observations directly confirm this scenario. In particular, the role played by the dimensionality and the interaction range is largely unknown. The concept of this project is to take advantage of the great versatility offered by ultracold atom systems to investigate experimentally the relaxation dynamics in regimes well beyond the boundaries of our current knowledge. We will focus our attention on two-dimensional systems with both short- and long-range interactions, when all previous experiments were bound to one-dimensional systems. The realisation of the project will hinge on the construction on a new-generation quantum gas microscope experiment for strontium gases. Amongst the innovative techniques that we will implement is the electronic state hybridisation with Rydberg states, called Rydberg dressing.

1 500 000 €

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

The primary questions that drive the Mars exploration program focus on life. Has the Martian climate ever been favorable for life development? Such scenario would imply a distinct planetary system from today with a magnetic flied able to retain the atmosphere. Where is the evidence of such past climate and intern conditions? The clues for answering these questions are locked up in the geologic record of the planet. The volume of data acquired in the past 15 years by the 4 Martian orbiters (ESA and NASA) reach the petaoctet, what is indecent as regard to the size of the Martian community. e-Mars propose to built a science team composed by the PI, Two post-doctorates, one PhD student and one engineer to exploit the data characterizing the surface of Mars. e-Mars proposes the unprecedented approach to combine topographic data, imagery data in diverse spectral domain and hyperspectral data from multiple orbiter captors to study the evolution of Mars and to propose pertinent landing sites for next missions. e-Mars will focus on three scientific themes: the composition of the Martian crust to constraint the early evolution of the planet, the research of possible habitable places based on evidence of past liquid water activity from both morphological record and hydrated mineral locations, and the study of current climatic and geological processes driven by the CO2 cycle. These scientific themes will be supported by three axis of methodological development: the geodatabase management via Geographic Information Systems (G.I.S.)., the automatic hyperspectral data analysis and the age estimates of planetary surface based on small size crater counts.

1 392 000 €

Start date: 2011-11-01, End date: 2017-10-31

This program is dedicated to the simulation and characterization of Extrasolar Terrestrial Planet (ETP) atmospheres. Thanks to new generation codes, the team E3ARTHS aims to provide a top expertise in a key domain of astrobiology: the origin, evolution and identification of habitable worlds, and the quest for biomarkers on Earth-like planets. The team will also revisit early Earth models for a better understanding of the context of the origins of life, in the light of recent works on Earth formation, impact history and Solar evolution. The observable signatures of an ETP and its ability to sustain life are determined by atmospheric properties: chemistry, radiative transfer, climate. Although these processes are usually treated separately, they evolve in a tightly coupled scheme under the influence of astrophysical, geophysical and, if present, biological mechanisms. Eventually, realistic planetary environments will thus have to be modeled with self-consistent 3D tools, involving a multidisciplinary and international approach. Although ambitious by today's standards, such enterprise is a necessary counterpart of the planned ETP searches, and is required to study the discovered planets. Observatories like Darwin/TPF and ELTs will provide direct information on ETPs within 10-15 years. Ongoing transit searches (CoRoT, and Kepler), and radial-velocity surveys, are on the verge of detecting ETPs. In this context, E3ARTHS can become one of the cores in European theoretical research on ETPs, in close interaction with observation programs. Since his PhD, F. Selsis has developed his own research on ETPs, which already had important implications for the design of instruments for TEP search and characterization. His plan is now to take this research at the next level by creating a dedicated team that will integrate new tools such as 3D climate, photochemical and radiative transfer codes, produce virtual observations of ETPs, and study their potential for life.

719 759 €

Start date: 2008-10-01, End date: 2013-09-30

The origin of oxygenic photosynthesis is one of the most dramatic evolutionary events that the Earth has ever experienced. At some point in Earth’s first two billion years, primitive bacteria acquired the ability to harness sunlight, oxidize water, release O2, and transform CO2 to organic carbon, and all with unprecedented efficiency. Today, oxygenic photosynthesis accounts for nearly all of the biomass on the planet, and exerts significant control over the carbon cycle. Since 2 billion years ago (Ga), it has regulated the climate of our planet, ensuring liquid water at the surface and enough oxygen to support complex life. The biological and geological consequences of oxygenic photosynthesis are so great that they effectively underpin what we think of as a habitable planet. Understanding the origins of photosynthesis is a paramount scientific challenge at the heart of some of humanity’s greatest questions: how did life evolve? how did Earth become a habitable planet? EARTHBLOOM addresses these questions head-on through the first comprehensive scientific study of Earth’s first blooming photosynthetic ecosystem, preserved as Earth’s oldest carbonate platform. This relatively unknown, >450m thick deposit, comprised largely of 2.9 Ga fossil photosynthetic structures (stromatolites), is one of the most important early Earth fossil localities ever identified, and EARTHBLOOM is carefully positioned for major discovery. EARTHBLOOM will push the frontier of field data collection and sample screening using new XRF methods for carbonate analysis. EARTHBLOOM will also push the analytical frontier in the lab by applying the most sensitive metal stable isotope tracers for O2 at ultra-low levels (Mo, U, and Ce) coupled with novel isotopic “age of oxidation” constraints. By providing new constraints on atmospheric CO2, ocean pH, oxygen production, and nutrient availability, EARTHBLOOM is poised to redefine Earth’s surface environment at the dawn of photosynthetic life.

1 848 685 €

Start date: 2017-02-01, End date: 2022-01-31

Understanding the nature of Dark Energy (DE) in the Universe is the central challenge of modern cosmology. Einstein’s Cosmological Constant (Λ) provides the simplest explanation fitting the available cosmological data thus far. However, its unnaturally tuned value indicates that other hypothesis must be explored. Furthermore, current observations do not by any means rule out alternative models in favor of the simplest “concordance” ΛCDM. In the absence of theoretical prejudice, observational tests have mainly focused on the DE equation of state. However, the detection of the inhomogeneous nature of DE will provide smoking-gun evidence that DE is dynamical, ruling out Λ. This key aspect has been mostly overlooked so far, particularly in the optimization design of the next generation of surveys dedicated to DE searches which will map the distribution of matter in the Universe with unprecedented accuracy. The success of these observations relies upon the ability to model the non-linear gravitational processes which affect the collapse of Dark Matter (DM) at small and intermediate scales. Therefore, it is of the highest importance to investigate the role of DE inhomogeneities throughout the non-linear evolution of cosmic structure formation. To achieve this, we will use specifically designed high-resolution numerical simulations and analytical methods to study the non-linear regime in different DE models. The hypothesis to be tested is whether the intrinsic clustering of DE can alter the predictions of the standard ΛCDM model. We will investigate the observational consequences on the DM density field and the properties of DM halos. The results will have a profound impact in the quest for DE and reveal new observable imprints on the distribution of cosmic structures, whose detection may disclose the ultimate origin of the DE phenomenon.

1 468 800 €

Start date: 2012-04-01, End date: 2017-08-31

One of the greatest challenges of theoretical physics is to understand the fundamental nature of gravity and how it is reconciled with quantum mechanics. Black holes indicate that gravity is holographic, i.e. it is emergent, together with some of the spacetime dimensions, from a lower-dimensional field theory. The emergence mechanism has just started to be understood in certain special contexts, such as AdS/CFT. However, very little is known about it for the spacetime backgrounds relevant to the real world, due mainly to our lack of knowledge of the underlying field theories. My goal is to uncover the fundamental nature of spacetime and gravity in our universe by: i) formulating and working out the properties of the relevant lower-dimensional field theories and ii) studying the mechanism by which spacetime and gravity emerge from them. I will adress the first problem by concentrating on the near-horizon regions of maximally spinning black holes, for which the dual field theories greatly simplify and can be studied using a combination of conformal field theory and string theory methods. To study the emergence mechanism, I plan to adapt the tools that were succesfully used to understand emergent gravity in anti de-Sitter (AdS) spacetimes - such as holographic quantum entanglement and conformal bootstrap - to non-AdS, more realistic spacetimes.

1 495 476 €

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

The present project is dedicated to the characterization of chemical exchanges within water-rich bodies including icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn as well as exoplanets that may be discovered in a near future. Recent spacecraft missions, Galileo (1996-2003) and Cassini-Huygens (2004-today), have revealed that complex chemical exchanges between their warm silicate inner core and their water-rich outer layer have occur on Enceladus, Europa and Titan. Similar exchange processes are also likely to occur within water-rich planets outside our Solar System. Here I propose to combine experimental investigations and numerical modelling to quantify the degree of interaction between seafloors, oceans, ice shells, and surfaces, atmospheres of water-rich worlds. This innovative approach will provide the first complete description of exchange processes on water-rich bodies and will constrain the conditions for which such water-rich environments are favourable for the development of life. The proposed sophisticated modeling of interactions between the interior and surface will provide precious tools for the interpretation of Galileo/Cassini observations and will significantly improve our current understanding of planetary processes. The output of these numerical simulations will also help for the definition of measurements that should be done by future exploration missions (EJSM and TSSM) in order to constrain the composition and size of icy moon s ocean. The detection of water-rich around other stars is within our reach. When the first detections of a water-rich planet and the first identification of atmospheric components will occur, my proposed modelling efforts will provide a theoretical framework for the data interpretation in term of physical and chemical conditions of their ocean and atmosphere. This will provide key constraints to define if a detected planet outside our Solar System is a good candidate for harbouring life.

1 481 400 €

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

Förster fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is one of the most popular methods to measure distance, structure, association, and dynamics at the single molecule level. However, major challenges are limiting FRET in several fields of physical and analytical sciences: (i) a short distance range below 8 nm, (ii) a concentration range in the nanomolar regime, and (iii) generally weak detected signals. At the interface between physical chemistry and nano-optics, the proposal objective is to extend the effectiveness of single molecule FRET using plasmonic nanocircuits to: (i) perform FRET on a range up to 20 nm, (ii) detect a single FRET pair in a solution of micromolar concentration, and (iii) improve the statistical distribution in FRET measurements. To meet its ambitious goals, the proposal introduces plasmonic nanocircuits to tailor the light-molecule interaction at the nanoscale. Energy transfer between donor and acceptor fluorophores is efficiently mediated through intense surface plasmon modes to extend the FRET distance range and improve the fluorescence signal. Moreover, the nanocircuits will be combined with recent innovations in biophotonics: stimulated emission of acceptor fluorescence, full dynamic analysis, and fluidic nanochannels. The scientific breakthroughs and project impacts will open new horizons for proteomics, enzymology, genomics and photonics. For elucidating molecular structure, the long range FRET will enable understanding the folding structure of large DNA or protein molecules. For assessing chemical reactions, achieving single molecule analysis at micromolar concentration is essential to monitor relevant kinetics, reveal sample heterogeneity, and detect rare and/or transient species. For analytical chemistry, nanocircuits are ideal for sensitive biosensing on a chip. For photonics, nanocircuits can realize key components for optical information processing at the nanoscale.

1 477 942 €

Start date: 2012-01-01, End date: 2016-12-31

"This project aims to develop the field of Harmonic Analysis, and more precisely to study problems at the interface between Fourier Analysis and PDEs (and also some Geometry). We are interested in two aspects of the Fourier Analysis: (1) The Euclidean Fourier Analysis, where a deep analysis can be performed using specificities as the notion of "frequencies" (involving the Fourier transform) or the geometry of the Euclidean balls. By taking advantage of them, this proposal aims to pursue the study and bring novelties in three fashionable topics: the study of bilinear/multilinear Fourier multipliers, the development of the "space-time resonances" method in a systematic way and for some specific PDEs, and the study of nonlinear transport equations in BMO-type spaces (as Euler and Navier-Stokes equations). (2) A Functional Fourier Analysis, which can be performed in a more general situation using the notion of "oscillation" adapted to a heat semigroup (or semigroup of operators). This second Challenge is (at the same time) independent of the first one and also very close. It is very close, due to the same point of view of Fourier Analysis involving a space decomposition and simultaneously some frequency decomposition. However they are quite independent because the main goal is to extend/develop an analysis in the more general framework given by a semigroup of operators (so without using the previous Euclidean specificities). By this way, we aim to transfer some results known in the Euclidean situation to some Riemannian manifolds, Fractals sets, bounded open set setting, ... Still having in mind some applications to the study of PDEs, such questions make also a connexion with the geometry of the ambient spaces (by its Riesz transform, Poincaré inequality, ...). I propose here to attack different problems as dispersive estimates, ""L^p""-version of De Giorgi inequalities and the study of paraproducts, all of them with a heat semigroup point of view."

940 540 €

Start date: 2015-06-01, End date: 2020-05-31

Studies about brain maturation aim at providing a better understanding of brain development and links between brain changes and cognitive development. Such studies are of great interest for diagnosis help and clinical course of development and treatment of illnesses. Several teams have begun to make 3D maps of developing brain structures from children to young adults. However, working out the development of fetal and neonatal brain remains an open issue. This project aims at jumping over several theoretical and practical barriers and at going beyond the formal description of the brain maturation thanks to the development of a realistic numerical model of brain aging. In this context, Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging is a fundamental tool to study structural brain development across age group. We will rely on new image processing tools combining morphological information provided by T2-weighted MR images and diffusion information (degree of myelination and fiber orientation) given by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). The joint analysis of these anatomical features will stress the generic maturation of normal fetal brain. We will first rely on mathematical models to allow reconstruction of high resolution 3D MR images in order to extract relevant features of brain maturation. The results issued from this first step will be used to build statistical atlases and to characterize the neuroanatomical differences between a reference group and the population under investigation. From a methodological point of view, our approach relies on an interdisciplinary research framework aiming at combining medical research to neuroimaging, image processing, statistical modelling and computer science. The robust characterization of the anatomical features of fetal brain and the development of a realistic model of brain maturation from biological concepts will come out from the strong interactions between these different research fields.

753 393 €

Start date: 2008-09-01, End date: 2013-08-31

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.

1 491 350 €

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

For the last 15 years, optics has undergone a remarkable evolution towards ever decreasing sizes, better integration in complex systems, and more compact devices readily available to mass markets. Whereas traditional optics is at the centimeter scale, newly developed techniques use nanoscale objects to control, guide, and focus light. From the capability to shape metallic and dielectric nanostructures has emerged the field of nanophotonics. Advances in nanophotonics offer the possibility to control the material’s optical properties to create artificial materials with electromagnetic properties not found in nature. Man-made 3D metamaterials have interesting fundamental aspects and present many advantages with respect to conventional devices. Unexpected effects have led to the development of interesting applications like high resolution lenses and cloaking devices. Inspired by this new technology, we have developed new 2D metamaterials. Our flat metamaterials (metasurfaces) are much simpler to manufacture than their 3D counterparts. By depositing a set of nanostructures at an interface, we can immediately control the light properties; unlike refractive optical components, the wavefront is modified without propagation. As of today, these interfaces are created using metallic nanostructures and work in the infrared. In this ERC, we plan to extend the concept of optical metasurfaces in the visible which is the most important wavelength range for applications. By combining with optically active semiconductors such as InGaAlN, we will add optical gain and modulation capability to the system to create new, efficient optoelectronic devices. The response of the metasurfaces is tunable by changing the environment surrounding the nanostructures. We will use this property to create ultrathin reconfigurable flat devices. Metasurfaces will be integrated with AlN/GaN to modulate light at high frequencies and further exploited to control polariton gases in solid state metasystems.

2 000 000 €

Start date: 2015-09-01, End date: 2020-10-31

Higher animals employ a complex muscle network for their daily movements. Proper execution of movements requires individual muscles to form at the correct positions, connect to proper tendons and produce sufficient force. Muscle development is a multi-step process: myoblasts proliferate, migrate to particular locations and fuse to myotubes. Myotubes target appropriate tendons to establish a stable connection and transition to myofibers by assembling their specific contractile apparatus in a process called myofibrillogenesis. Interestingly, Drosophila adult muscles consist of two major types: tubular striated muscles, e.g. present in legs for walking, and fibrillar flight muscles that power rapid wing oscillations required during flight. The aims of my ERC proposal will address: 1) How do transcriptional networks instruct muscle diversity? 2) Which proteins have an essential role in myofibrillogenesis in different muscle types? 3) How are myofibrils and sarcomeres built in space and time in a muscle specific manner? My entry point is a genome-wide muscle-specific RNAi screen that identified the transcription factor Salm as selector gene for fibrillar flight muscle. Salm alone is sufficient to instruct all specific properties of fibrillar muscle. We will apply a combination of next-generation mRNA sequencing and chromatin immunoprecipitation to dissect the mechanism how Salm initiates myofiber type specification. We will manipulate the identified differentially expressed individual components to assess their mechanistic role in the differential assembly of myofibrils. Detailed in vivo time-lapse analysis of wild-type and mutant muscle combined with biochemical purifications of protein complexes will lead us to a better understanding of the dynamics and molecular constraints of sarcomere formation in each muscle type. Together, this will unravel developmental principles instructing muscle morphogenesis that are conserved to vertebrates and thus are of general interest.

1 496 000 €

Start date: 2013-02-01, End date: 2019-01-31

Optical frequency combs are extraordinary tools for metrology which have been recently crowned by a Nobel prize: they have replaced complicated frequency chains to perform direct frequency and time measurements with much higher accuracy, which is now getting close to the quantum limit. However, quantum aspects of measurements performed with these sources have not yet been studied. This is the subject of this proposal. Based on model experiments such as space-time positioning, dispersion, velocity or frequency measurements, we propose to assess and reach experimentally ultimate limits derived from information theory in presence of quantum noise. We also propose to go beyond these limits using non-classical states. More specifically, we propose to fulfil the following objectives : &quot; Objective 1 : achieve the best absolute space-time positioning sensitivity ever using quantum optics techniques applied to frequency combs. &quot; Objective 2 : apply those techniques to other high sensitivity measurement such as dispersion, velocity or frequency metrology. &quot; Objective 3 : explore fundamental quantum physics effects in the lab with quantum frequency combs. These tasks will be performed by developing a quantum frequency comb factory, based on mode locked laser sources and parametric oscillators, whose conception is a research line in itself, and that would also be used for new quantum states generation such as macroscopic entanglement and multimode states.

1 126 000 €

Start date: 2010-02-01, End date: 2016-01-31