Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet Cell-like Autonomy (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The living cell is an active system that can display autonomy by implementation of dissipative out-of-equilibrium and self-regulated oscillatory behaviours. Manifestation of these dynamic traits into artificial microcompartments (termed artificial cell or protocell) will advance the construction of “smart” artificial cells and the development of synthetic protobiology. Even though numerous reports have illustrated the feasibility of fuel-depleted out-of-equilibrium reactions/behaviors in artificial cells, implementation of more advanced self-regulated artificial cells capable of sustained cell-like dynamics and homeostasis is still very challenging due to the lacks of apparatus and strategy. The overall aim of this proposal is therefore to construct an autonomous artificial cell capable of self-regulated oscillation, which can be coupled to sustained out-of-equilibrium behaviors and environmental homeostasis by chemo-chemical/chemo-mechanical transition modes. Implementation of this proposed work will advance development of synthetic protobiology by producing “smart” protocells with cell-like autonomy. Coupling the self-regulated oscillations to other forms of out-of-equilibrium behaviors by chemo-chemical/chemo-mechanical transitions will further extend the significance of this work by offering a strategy to construct smart and adaptive materials (e.g., autonomous soft robotics) for engineering applications.

Mots clés : artificial cell, cell like autonomy, self regulated oscillation, homeostasis, chemo chemical chemo mechanical signal transition, soft micro robiotics

Participants :
- Université de technologie d'Eindhoven (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 187624.32 €
Projet PFAS-RETENT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), referred to as “forever chemicals”, are contaminants of escalating global concern. Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs), known for their high-water retention, offer a potential new approach for enhancing PFAS removal within green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), like grass swales, particularly in the face of climate change-driven weather events in urban environments. This project will focus on evaluating the retention potential of a group of highly mobile, short-chain PFAS, using a biological-based SAP integrated into a grass swale framework (prototype). To accomplish this, these specific working objectives (WOs) will be employed: WO1: evaluation of the retention and release processes of SAP for short-chain PFAS, using batch retention experiments (simple framework); WO2: assessing the efficacy of SAP in removing short-chain PFAS when incorporated into lab-scaled, grass-planted microcosms (simple framework of a grass swale system); WO3: assessing the efficacy of SAP in removing short-chain PFAS, when incorporated into flow-through, grass-planted mesocosms (‘real-world’ framework of a grass swale system). WO2 and WO3 experiments will employ percolation and drought simulations to evaluate SAP retention performance for PFAS during these conditions. The overall methodology will follow a 3-stage stepwise approach that starts with simple designs (batch experiments–WO1, microcosms–WO2) then increase in complexity to nearly real-world scenario (horizontal flow-through mesocosms–WO3). SAP integrated into swale substrates could serve as a temporary “removal” barrier for PFAS during storm runoff, thereby limiting their distribution throughout urban water systems and the water cycle. During drought periods, PFAS trapped in the water-saturated gel phase of the SAP (along with the water) could be taken up by vegetation within the GSI, preventing their release to nearby water bodies and reducing contamination risks to urban water resources.

Mots clés : environmental urban pollution per and polyfluoroalkyl substances pfas superabsorbent polymer sap grass swale green infrastructure

Participants :
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Koblenz and Landau (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 202125.12 €
Projet SortCAS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

As the second most widely used metal in the world (only after iron), aluminium plays a key role in realizing the circular economy and the climate neutrality of both EU and our world. In essence, aluminium has the potential to be a fully circular material that can be repeatedly recycled without losing its properties. However, many recycled aluminium scraps of EU are currently contaminated with high-level impurities, which make them not suitable for reuse. This causes a loss of around one million tonnes of scraps per year in EU and hinders the achievement of circularity. This project will develop an innovative facility for the automated sorting of high-quality aluminium scraps. The facility will be based on three innovative technologies, i.e., singulation, multi-sensor system and ejection. It will be developed with an interdisciplinary approach that combines particle technology, computational modelling, advanced sensors, artificial intelligence (AI), and automation. Through a close collaboration with an industrial partner Reukema, the developed technologies will be carefully validated and integrated into a sorting facility at an industrially applicable scale (e.g., at least 4 tons per hour of clean sorted and specified scrap alloys). The completion of the project will constitute a big advancement in the circularity of aluminium scraps, and will contribute to the substantial reduction of resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Mots clés : aluminium, scrap sorting, recycling, particle flow, discrete element method

Participants :
- Université de technologie de Delft (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 203464.32 €
Projet HAPPQP (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Many quantum information processing tasks were first demonstrated with neutral atoms and ions. With improving capabilities of nanofabrication, a growing number of artificial systems have also shown significant potential in this area and have often even surpassed the early existing systems in their performance and potential for applications. One of these new quantum systems is the optomechanical resonator, consisting of an optical cavity, coupled through the radiation pressure force to a mechanical oscillator. When cooled to the ground state, the mechanical mode can exhibit quantum behavior and be used to process quantum information. Limited by relatively weak photon-phonon coupling, this process is typically probabilistic. In this proposal, we will include a strong non- linearity in order to facilitate a deterministic manipulation of phonons. We will realize this by introducing a single trapped neutral atom, forming a hybrid atom-photon-phonon system. The single atom will be trapped in close proximity to the optomechanical resonator and will strongly couple to the optical mode. As a first demonstration, we will realize a photon blockade effect, which will allow only one photon to enter the cavity at once, prohibiting any multi-phonon generation. This will be verified by a thermal phonon mediated Rabi oscillation experiment. Details of the technique, as well as additional experiments, are discussed in the proposal. The successful completion of these experiments will have a major impact on quantum physics. It represents a milestone towards a fully controllable atom-photon-phonon hybrid quantum system. While the project is ambitious and very competitive, it is just within experimental reach when combining several cutting edge experimental techniques. The experienced researcher Yong Yu is in a unique position to realize this project given his cold atom and quantum optics background, which matches up perfectly with the optomechanics expertise at the host group at TUD.


Participants :
- Université de technologie de Delft (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 203464.32 €
Projet SCIENCES (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

As most of the world’s population lives in urban areas, cities play a key role in the use of energy resources and public well-being. The quality of life in cities, as well as the consumption of energy, is highly compromised by the heat they release and the Green House Gases (GHGs) they emit. For this reason, Horizon Europe and other international organizations are committed to supporting research and innovation for the development of climate-neutral and smart cities. Solutions to improve outdoor thermal comfort and reduce GHGs in cities could be more comprehensively studied if physically-based models simulating interactions between buildings and the outdoor environment were integrated into Smart City Digital Twins (SCDTs). The integration of physically-based models into SCDTs is still encountering difficulties, however, and in my research, I propose to overcome these by: 1) automatically configuring a physically-based model from a 3D city model and an Internet of Things (IoT) platform; 2) using statistical models in concurrence with the physically-based model; and 3) simulating temperature, air flow, humidity, and GHGs in the outdoor air, using the physically-based model. While conducting my research at Carnegie Mellon University and Technical University of Delft, I will diversify my skills and competencies through training activities and through the transfer of knowledge from my supervisors. Together, these will enable me to become a world leader in applying urban microclimate modelling to SCDTs. I will also gain experience in team management and teaching to achieve my career goals in academia. Finally, the collaboration with host organizations and one company in Europe will allow me to extend my professional network in the United States, Europe, and industry.

Mots clés : climate neutral and smart cities smart city digital twins physically based modelling 3d city modelling internet of things statistical modelling

Participants :
- Université Carnegie-Mellon (Etats-Unis) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de technologie de Delft (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 296296.32 €
Projet ReTouch (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Humans rely on their sense of touch to achieve fine manipulation tasks and interact with their surroundings. However, feeling the tactile properties of a remote environment remains a challenge for two main reasons: first, current robotic systems are rarely equipped with tactile sensing and second, only forces are fed back to the users. In this project, the final goal is to create a bilateral tactile telemanipulation system, bridging the gap for touch over a distance. To cope with the large bandwidth required for this tactile interaction, I propose a new encoding of the tactile information, inspired by human touch. First, I will acquire a large database of robotic mechanical interactions in order to extract primitives of spatio-temporal deformation. Second, this dictionary will allow me to distill tactile features from any interaction and render tactile properties to a remote user. The robotic decoding part will be carried out under the supervision of Prof. Adelson in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, using the GelSight tactile sensor. In the return phase, I will integrate humans in-the-loop by designing a novel haptic device and studying the effect of applied skin deformation on the perception of tactile properties. This integration will be done under the supervision of Dr. Wiertlewski from Delft University of Technology. This interdisciplinary project requires skills in biomechanics, perception, robotics and control as well as modeling and machine learning, which will be part of the applicant training. If granted, this project will for the first time encode the tactile information in a dictionary of primitives, essential for sensing, compression, and reproduction of rich tactile stimuli. In addition, the remote touch platform will have applications in a wide range of the fields where delicate touch is necessary, such as healthcare, or remote exploration and navigation in environments such as nuclear reactors or space.

Mots clés : tactile feedback, haptics, robotics, teleoperation

Participants :
- Institut de technologie du Massachusetts (Etats-Unis) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de technologie de Delft (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 272536.32 €
Projet TREESHOCK (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Climate change exacerbates the frequency and magnitude of disasters (e.g., floods, droughts, cyclones). These shocks are threatening food security, with especially severe effects on the poorest and most vulnerable households. This is worrisome as two billion people already suffer from malnutrition, leading to a range of negative health outcomes. Exploring pathways to support resilience and adaptation to such disasters is critical to mitigate negative impacts on the food security of affected households. Trees inside and outside of forests offer a promising, yet overlooked avenue to increase household resilience and buffer negative impacts of climate-related disasters and other types of shocks. Recent research has established that forests could buffer the impacts of climate-related disasters on household food security. Yet, these studies suffer from lack of pre- and post-disaster data, preventing causal explanations. There is no broad-scale study that uses pre-and post-disaster household data to quantify the extent to which trees inside and outside of forests mitigate the effects of climate-related disasters on food security, across different ecosystems and geographies. Studies have also not yet been able to account for compound effects where climate-related disasters occur simultaneously with other types of shocks, such as conflicts and institutional upheavals. Finally, existing research has been unable to tease apart mechanisms that explain how proximity of forests buffers climate-related disasters. TREESHOCK has the ambitious objective to bring together fields that currently mostly operate in isolation, including climate change adaptation, humanitarian aid, and biodiversity conservation. The project will provide generalizable evidence to inform where climate adaptation and landscape restoration programs are most needed in countries facing the triple challenge of natural disasters, forest loss, and high rates of malnutrition.

Mots clés : shocks weather nutrition food security

Participants :
- Université Humboldt de Berlin (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 202125.12 €
Projet I-CARE (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

This project aims to train a talented researcher, Dr. Shunbo Lei, by an interdisciplinary research program which is focused on developing advanced modelling, operation and planning technologies to establish an Integrated low-Carbon And Resilient hierarchical microgrids framework for Energy-flexible buildings (I-CARE). I-CARE is urgently needed from scientific research in collaboration with industry to allow them to better integrate building energy systems and power grids for both decarbonisation and resilience enhancement. The Fellow's original interdisciplinary background in grids and buildings and expertise in optimization algorithms make him a unique asset to Europe for developing innovative I-CARE technologies. As demonstrated in his CV, he has proven track record in grid resilience and building energy efficiency, and his accomplishment has been outstanding for his career stage. The Fellow will be further trained through a series of technical skills and theories related to advanced building simulation and building microgrid technologies at the main host Loughborough University and co-host TU Delft. The technologies and skills he will master during I-CARE will significantly diversify his capability, including building microgrid modelling, energy hub methods, big data technologies, and model predictive control. Moreover, I-CARE will provide him opportunities to transfer the knowledge he gains in the project to the benefits of European hosts and the regional industrial liaison, together with his existing knowledge on low carbon resilience integration of buildings and grids. Starting from integrated building flexibility modelling, this project will develop a novel solution to achieve co-optimised and coordinated operation and planning of building microgrids and external microgrids. Fostered by I-CARE, a leading expert in low-carbon and resilient energy systems is expected and will contribute greatly to European and global industries and academic communities.

Mots clés : low carbon resilience, commercial building microgrid flexibility, hierarchical microgrids, distributed and decentralised optimisation, optimisation under uncertainty

Participants :
- Université de Loughborough (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 260347.92 €
- Université de technologie de Delft (Pays-Bas) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet RESAS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Food allergies affect around 26 million of Europeans and 32 million of Americans. The severity of the allergic reaction may vary from less severe symptoms such as hives and digestive problems, to a quickly progressing and potentially life-threatening anaphylactic shock. Nowadays, food allergy is an incurable condition, so the most important preventive measure is the complete abstinence from the allergen. Existing allergen detection methods are slow, cumbersome, costly, and most of them are limited to work in a lab environment.  The RESAS project’s goal is to fabricate a device able to sense extremely low concentrations of food allergens within minutes. This is achieved by combining an ultra-high sensitive biosensor substrate, an integrated optical transducer and an electrical signal processing unit. The proposed kind of sensor on the basis of integrated optics enables small size (5 cm3), high repeatability and instant response, as well as potentially low-cost and mass production. This is achieved thanks to the RoF technology and the signal analysis of the output laser of the SPR in the electrical domain, which reduces instrumentation demands with instant allergen detection and great biosensing sensitivity. Furthermore, the RESAS device has a removable biosensing substrate that can be replaced after use, allowing users to operate RESAS several times and for as many types of food allergens as needed. This approach of interchangeable biosubstrates tackles one of the major limitations of most current biosensing technologies, which can be used only once and are restricted to one type of food allergen.  The RESAS project will significantly impact the food industry, as our food allergen testing method promises to be quick, effective, and inexpensive. This may lead politicians to demand a more rigorous testing regime, greatly improving food safety. Finally, a new class of portable test devices for millions of allergists and end-users will be created.

Mots clés : food allergen sensor, photonics, radio over fibre, biosensor

Participants :
- Clausthal University of Technology (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 173847.36 €
- Anvajo gmbh (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
Projet POPS for Youth (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

This study addresses multifaceted challenges in enhancing the inclusivity of Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPSs) in urban contexts, particularly for youth. Young people often encounter limitations in their social engagement due to financial constraints and restrictions on adult-oriented venues. Despite their potential, POPSs’ role as inclusive and vibrant spaces for youths remains unexplored, revealing gaps in inclusive tools and comprehensive analyses of this relatively new type of public space in Dutch cities. This research introduces an innovative user-centric approach that effectively addresses varying social needs. Rooted in Ecological Psychology, the approach incorporates the concept of affordances - the opportunities for action provided by the environment, examining the interaction between the built environment and individuals’ action capabilities. By integrating affordances with levels of social interactions in public spaces, the project aims to develop a methodological framework to evaluate POPSs’ social inclusiveness for youth. This framework investigates the intricate interplay between user capabilities, social interactions, and the built environment. It develops, tests, and validates an affordance-based evaluation model based on information synthesised from observations, behavioural mapping and tracking of users in five case studies in Dutch cities. The project’s outcomes will be communicated to city officials, property managers, urban designers, and planners through the POE framework and an innovative “Gray Map” that visually represents the degree of accessibility and inclusiveness within POPSs for different user types. This project contributes to developing more inclusive urban environments that cater to diverse user groups, particularly youth, ultimately advancing urban social well-being within public spaces. So all youth feel safe, accepted, and free to participate in urban life, increasing social, mental, and physical health for all youths.

Mots clés : public spaces, privately owned public space pops , social interaction, inclusiveness, affordances

Participants :
- Université de technologie de Delft (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 187624.32 €