Seven Université Côte d'Azur projects funded by the European Research Council
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Published on December 11, 2025
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Updated on December 11, 2025
Dates
on the December 15, 2025
In 2025, Université Côte d'Azur registered seven projects funded by the European Research Council (ERC), one of the most competitive research support schemes in the world. These results testify to the international scope of the work carried out by our researchers and the diversity of the fields of excellence represented: environmental sciences, biology, physics, computer science, humanities and social sciences.
The seven projects selected by the European Research Council (ERC) feature in all funding categories: Proof of Concept, Starting, Consolidator, Advanced and Synergy grants. These distinctions, now all confirmed, illustrate the quality and ambition of the research carried out in Université Côte d'Azur research laboratories.
The AI-warning project aims to integrate into the Peruvian tsunami warning system an artificial intelligence algorithm developed during the ERC Starting Grant EARLI. This algorithm exploits a very low-amplitude gravitational signal, which can be detected more quickly than conventional seismic waves, enabling an early estimate of the magnitude of the largest earthquakes. Its operational deployment could significantly improve tsunami warning systems worldwide.
With EMBIOMO, Ludovic Keiser is investigating the gas embolism that occurs in plants under drought conditions. Using microfabricated artificial leaves and a combination of biomimetic experiments, modeling and plant observations, the project seeks to understand how air bubbles propagate in the complex vascular network of leaves. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms that lead to the collapse of sap flow, and to assess the robustness of natural or artificial vascular networks.
The PANDORA project aims to enhance argumentation analysis with Artificial Intelligence methods, automatically identifying sophisms and biases while improving fairness in the automatic generation of arguments. This argumentation-based digital mediation will improve transparency in consensus-building during deliberative democracy processes. By revealing the underlying patterns of argumentative reasoning and exploiting both verbal and non-verbal contexts, PANDORA aims to revolutionize the automatic evaluation of arguments and form reasoned judgments in crucial fields such as politics and law.
Marie-Christine Chaboissier's TESorOVA project explores the fundamental mechanisms of sexual differentiation. By combining functional genomics, cellular analyses and evolutionary comparisons, it aims to understand how gonadal cells establish and maintain their sexual identity, and to determine the evolutionary role of a WT1 isoform. This work opens up new perspectives in reproductive biology.
The ListenFlash project, for which Marco Delbo is co-PI on the French side, involves the deployment of a network of three telescopes - one of which will be in Calais, France.lescopes - including one at Calern (OCA) - to detect flashes of light generated by meteorite impacts on the Moon. These data will complement those from three lunar seismometers to be deployed between 2026 and 2027 by the Far Side, Artemis-3 and Chang'e 7 missions.
The HARVEST project, to which Karin Sigloch is contributing, explores the interactions between solid earth, ocean dynamics and marine ecosystems. By studying the way in which submarine volcanoes inject iron - an essential nutrient - into the ocean, it proposes a new framework for understanding the potential formation of vast phytoplankton blooms in iron-poor zones.
With these seven projects funded by the ERC in 2025, Université Côte d'Azur confirms the dynamism and excellence of its research teams, engaged in cutting-edge work likely to transform both fundamental knowledge and technological, societal or environmental applications.Institut de Physique de Nice (Université Côte d'Azur - CNRS)
Proof of Concept - Quentin Bletery, IRD Research Director, GEOAZUR Laboratory
The AI-warning project aims to integrate into the Peruvian tsunami warning system an artificial intelligence algorithm developed during the ERC Starting Grant EARLI. This algorithm exploits a very low-amplitude gravitational signal, which can be detected more quickly than conventional seismic waves, enabling an early estimate of the magnitude of the largest earthquakes. Its operational deployment could significantly improve tsunami warning systems worldwide.
Starting Grant - Ludovic Keiser, CNRS Research Fellow, Institut de Physique de Nice
With EMBIOMO, Ludovic Keiser is investigating the gas embolism that occurs in plants under drought conditions. Using microfabricated artificial leaves and a combination of biomimetic experiments, modeling and plant observations, the project seeks to understand how air bubbles propagate in the complex vascular network of leaves. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms that lead to the collapse of sap flow, and to assess the robustness of natural or artificial vascular networks.
Consolidator Grant - Serena Villata, CNRS Research Director - Sophia-Antipolis Computer Signals and Systems Laboratory - I3S
The PANDORA project aims to enhance argumentation analysis with Artificial Intelligence methods, automatically identifying sophisms and biases while improving fairness in the automatic generation of arguments. This argumentation-based digital mediation will improve transparency in consensus-building during deliberative democracy processes. By revealing the underlying patterns of argumentative reasoning and exploiting both verbal and non-verbal contexts, PANDORA aims to revolutionize the automatic evaluation of arguments and form reasoned judgments in crucial fields such as politics and law.
Advanced Grants - Marie-Christine Chaboissier, CNRS Research Director, Institut de Biologie Valrose and Marco Delbo, CNRS Research Director, Laboratoire Lagrange
Marie-Christine Chaboissier's TESorOVA project explores the fundamental mechanisms of sexual differentiation. By combining functional genomics, cellular analyses and evolutionary comparisons, it aims to understand how gonadal cells establish and maintain their sexual identity, and to determine the evolutionary role of a WT1 isoform. This work opens up new perspectives in reproductive biology.The ListenFlash project, for which Marco Delbo is co-PI on the French side, involves the deployment of a network of three telescopes - one of which will be in Calais, France.lescopes - including one at Calern (OCA) - to detect flashes of light generated by meteorite impacts on the Moon. These data will complement those from three lunar seismometers to be deployed between 2026 and 2027 by the Far Side, Artemis-3 and Chang'e 7 missions.
Synergy Grants - Silvia Marzagalli, University Professor - Centre de la Méditerranée Moderne et Contemporaine and Karin Sigloch, CNRS Research Director, GEOAZUR Laboratory
The TASTADE project, co-coordinated by Silvia Marzagalli, aims to identify the European and colonial investors who financed nearly 36,000 slave trade voyages. By tracing their local, national and transnational networks, it offers a renewed analysis of their role in the economic, political and cultural dynamics of Europe.The HARVEST project, to which Karin Sigloch is contributing, explores the interactions between solid earth, ocean dynamics and marine ecosystems. By studying the way in which submarine volcanoes inject iron - an essential nutrient - into the ocean, it proposes a new framework for understanding the potential formation of vast phytoplankton blooms in iron-poor zones.
With these seven projects funded by the ERC in 2025, Université Côte d'Azur confirms the dynamism and excellence of its research teams, engaged in cutting-edge work likely to transform both fundamental knowledge and technological, societal or environmental applications.
