Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : ACHIEVE (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Institut Weizmann — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : WIS
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Obesity constitutes an alarming global epidemic, exposing billions of individuals to a multitude of metabolic, infectious, & neoplastic health ramifications. While weight reducing interventions of the GLP-1 family are transforming medical weight reductive therapy, long-term weight loss maintenance remains a daunting unmet challenge, with most medically treated individuals rebounding to obesity. In our project, we will generate a first-of-its kind solution to this global need that will involve oral human utilization of microbiome-modulated weight-regulating interventions. In our ERC-funded project (Fluhr et al., Nature 2021), we discovered that depletion of several microbiome-modulated metabolites drives weight gain in smoking-cessation-induced weight gain. Oral supplementation of several of these molecules has led to a generalizable & significant weight reduction across multiple obesogenic conditions. Building on these findings, the ERC-PoC will develop a commercial metabolite-based treatment or supplement, that will safely attenuate weight gain, maintain long-term weight reducing impacts, and improve metabolic functions. The project includes four work packages: (1) Development and production of metabolite-based drugs and/or medical foods (following a rigorous market study in a dual path approach). (2) Testing these molecules for efficacy, mechanism and safety in obese/lean mice. (3) performing a first-in-human trial (using the most efficacious formulation) in obese/GLP-1-treated individuals (4) in parallel, conducting an extensive commercialization effort to translate our findings into a NewCo, based on 1-2 new products. Notably, there is currently no such orally administered long-term solution complementing weight-reducing therapies in maintaining weight over time. As such, our ERC-PoC project will provide a proof-of-concept product/s for prevention & treatment intervention, providing a unique and commercially scalable solution to an important unmet global problem.
Projet ERC : BASE6 (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Tel Aviv — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TAU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) is an oxidized form of 5-methylcytosine (5mC). It is the first step of reversing DNA methylation and an important indicator of dynamic epigenetic changes in genomic DNA. One characteristic of cancerous transformations is dramatic modulation of the epigenomic landscape. Consequently, changes in the distribution of 5hmC have been shown to correlate with a broad range of cancers and is potentially a powerful disease biomarker. Nevertheless, existing methods for mapping 5hmC are complex and expensive thus hindering the translation of 5hmC research into clinical use. This project aims at developing a custom DNA chip for 5hmC that will allow cost-effective and targeted analysis of disease biomarkers. We will use our patented procedure for direct fluorescent labeling of 5hmC in combination with commercially available genome-wide microarrays to create maps of 5hmC distribution in health and disease. These large-scale arrays will be used in the discovery phase to identify cancer biomarkers. In the second phase, only the subset of genomic loci that contain medically significant modulation in 5hmC will be used to design and print a custom microarray containing only the relevant probes. This concept predicts a cost reduction of 10-100 fold which will remove the barriers for large scale research and high volume testing. Disease specific diagnostic chips are attractive products with direct impact on society and economy via promoting more accessible testing and patient management. Our preliminary results indicate that we will be able to offer a universal platform for even the most challenging samples including cell-free DNA analysis from liquid biopsies. We envision it as an enabling technology for 5hmC research, biomarker discovery and companion diagnostics for guiding and monitoring therapy.
Projet ERC : ProTailor (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Université de Tel Aviv — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TAU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1786250.0 €

The aberrant function of oncogenic transcription factors (TFs) is one of the most common drivers in human cancers, yet the mechanisms underlying their deregulation and targeting remain elusive. Understanding pathways that regulate TFs function has the potential to develop novel therapeutic compounds to target tumorigenesis. The overreaching goal of ProTailor is to develop ground-breaking modified TFs to understand gene expression regulation mechanisms and set the foundation for therapeutic opportunities to study and target human tumorigenesis. Aim 1: I will develop novel synthetic strategies to prepare site-specifically modified oncogenic TF analogs bearing defined post-translational modifications (PTMs) to decipher the molecular role of PTMs in regulating gene expression. I will combine chemoselective peptide ligation, and orthogonal transformations, along with high-throughput screening to probe the molecular role of essential PTMs on gene recognition, interaction, and cancer-related oncogene expression. Aim 2: I will generate libraries of chromatinized-DNA probes to investigate the interactions of modified TFs with packed DNA, aiming to understand how PTMs modulate TF-DNA interactions, accessibility, and influence gene expression regulation. I will probe the crosstalk between TF-PTMs, epigenetic modifications, and chromatin binding sites to unravel the mechanisms underlying gene recognition and interactions. Aim 3: I will design photoreactive TF probes to map the regulatory role of PTMs in the interactions of oncogenic TF analogs with transcriptional machinery. I will deliver the synthetic TF probes to cancer cells and dissect the mechanisms by which PTMs modulate biomolecular interactions and unravel potential PTM markers associated with oncogene expression. ProTailor will provide novel and powerful research tools to understand gene expression regulation mechanisms and lay the groundwork for therapeutic strategies to investigate and target human tumorigenesis.

Mots-clés : chemical protein synthesis,posttranslational modifications,transcription factors
Projet ERC : Genovation (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Entité participante : Université de Tel Aviv — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TAU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1498750.0 €

Orphan genes, unique to an organism or evolutionary lineage, are fundamental drivers of biological innovation. Representing up to 20% of genomes—from microbes to primates—these novel genes enable species-specific adaptations through their diverse functions. However, most orphan genes remain uncharacterized, and the evolutionary pressures governing their emergence are unknown. Addressing these knowledge gaps is crucial for revealing how novel genetic material shapes evolution and biodiversity, particularly in microbial systems. The Genovation project aims to transform our understanding of gene birth and evolutionary innovation through three aims: 1. Evaluate the fitness impact of newly emerged genes in bacterial and yeast species. 2. Investigate how novel proteins integrate into cellular systems. 3. Elucidate biological functions of successful gene birth events, focusing on the phage-bacteria arms race—where gene birth is highly prevalent. We will study both synthetic and natural genes to reveal complementary aspects of orphan gene biology. In Aims 1 and 2, we will use my experience with randomly generated nucleotide sequences to simulate early stages of orphan gene emergence in varied genetic backgrounds. Analyzing fitness changes, physiological effects, and protein interactions will provide insights into the relationships between genetic features, cellular contexts, and gene birth. Aim 3 will leverage the rapid evolution and abundance of orphan genes in viral genomes. By identifying orphan genes affecting the phage life cycle and characterizing their functions, we aim to uncover how these genes shape viral-host dynamics and drive novelty. This project builds on my expertise in large-scale techniques, microbial and phage genetics, and molecular biology methods. The Genovation project promises to yield insights into the mechanisms of evolutionary innovation, potentially opening new avenues in protein design, cellular engineering, and phage-based therapies.

Mots-clés : molecular innovation orphan gene birth random protein sequences cellular context innovation in the phage bacteria arms race
Projet ERC : MAX-FOX (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : Université de Manchester — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1543941.0 €

The applicant is a rising early-career scientist with an international reputation in frontier rare earth and actinide science. This StG project melds synthesis and electrochemistry with computational and spectroscopic methods to afford a transformative advancement in electronic structure and oxidation state control in f-elements. By advancing our understanding of the design principles which influence the properties of these complexes, we propose to maximise their stability and expand beyond the current approaches to isolate molecular lanthanide species in unprecedented high oxidation states.  We target high oxidation state lanthanide (Ln), actinide (An), and transuranium f-element complexes beyond the current state-of-the-art by expanding to novel ligand platforms which address all key aspects to maximize the thermodynamic, and hence electrochemical, stability of these powerful oxidisers. We will show that the range limit of tetravalent Ln ions available to solution chemistry has not been reached.  By accessing high oxidation states we will isolate multiply bonded motifs to Ln(IV) beyond Ce for the first time, including iconic organometallic linkages which offer unique spectroscopic (EPR and NMR) handles with which to probe the bonding in these systems. This will be extended to actinide and transuranium elements, affording unprecedented opportunities to gain insight into orbital energy vs spatial overlap components in bonding, and probe the relative magnitudes of inter-electronic repulsion, spin-orbit coupling, and crystal field effects in f-elements.  An StG will provide resources required to bring this ambitious project to fruition. We will address the rarity of high oxidation state 4f-elements and define the chemical properties that can be leveraged to control their electronic structures. This addresses the Quantum Flagship, a key Horizon 2020 priority area, and will train a cohort of interdisciplinary scientists essential for the scientific goals of the EU.

Mots-clés : redox chemistry,lanthanides,actinides,high oxidation states,ligand design
Projet ERC : RE3MODEL (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : Université de Limerick — Pays : Irlande — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UL
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499980.0 €

Western society is on the brink of a fertility crisis, whereby human sperm counts have dropped by 59% over the past four decades and are projected to reach zero by 2045. Treatments for the primary causes of male infertility have no scientific basis, with urologists relying on ineffective empirical medical strategies (guess work). Identifying effective male fertility treatments requires appropriate preclinical models of the sperm-producing testes that can establish a mechanistic basis for treatment choice, dosage and duration. Preclinical models must accurately represent the organ-specific tissue and be amenable to high-throughput experimentation with automated analysis to ensure that they provide representative, reliable and reproducible data. However, current models necessitate manual low-throughput methods and do not accurately represent testicular tissue as the pertinent tissue properties are unknown. The urological field therefore lacks an appropriate model of the testes upon which to evaluate male infertility treatments.  The applicant will address this gap by characterising the relevant properties of human testicular tissue, and establishing their effects on resident cell function. The resulting data will inform the development of a hydrogel material with properties tailored to match those of the native tissue. Microspheres of the representative hydrogel, containing primary testicular cells arranged to mimic the native tissue structure, will be fabricated using a high-throughput platform and analysed using an automated Raman spectroscope, thereby forming the first representative, reliable and reproducible model of the human testes. The RE3MODEL system will be validated against established in vitro models and used to determine the therapeutic mechanisms of current empirical medical strategies, while also identifying and optimising the most promising treatment approaches as an exemplar application.

Mots-clés : male infertility,in vitro model,testicular tissue,mechanical properties,transport properties,hydrogel,raman spectroscopy,spermatogenesis
Projet ERC : FRIDOM (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems E ngineering
Entité participante : Université de Tel Aviv — Pays : Israël — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : TAU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 87656.25 €

A ~70% increase in food production is required to feed the world population by 2050, putting increased productivity on a collision course with environmental and sustainability goals. Aiming to meet this growing demand, photosynthesis-related pathways are regarded as a promising target for crop improvement to increase agricultural yield, however, they remain mostly unexploited. Furthermore, while empirical studies have shown that photosynthetic efficiency is higher in microalgae than in both C3 or C4 crops, the underlying reasons remain unclear. Identifying metabolic bottlenecks in photosynthetic cells remains a holy grail of plant research. However, with recent progress made in cross-kingdom plant flux analyses, the time is ripe to tackle photosynthetic metabolism with state-of-the-art experimental and computational approaches as a target for plant yield improvement. In this project, I propose to address the following key questions: (1) What role is played by photosynthetic metabolism in setting the upper limits for growth of photosynthetic cells? and in this respect, (2) What makes some photosynthetic cells grow faster than others? We will combine cutting-edge tools for comparative flux analyses with genetic approaches applied on algae and higher-plants to identify and validate metabolic bottlenecks for plant growth as targets for crop yield improvement. These research aims fall well within my unique set of expertise. I’ve characterized the metabolism of the fastest growing photosynthetic cells, and mapped the metabolic networks of algae compared with C3 and C4 plant models, using a novel microfluidics setup which I developed, facilitating non-stationary stable isotope analysis at steady state conditions in liquid algal cultures. Successful outcome of this project will shed light on the magnitude of photosynthetic metabolism effects on plant growth and help reshape the field of targeting photosynthetic-related pathways for crop-plant yield improvements.

Mots-clés : flux analysis,metabolomics,algal metabolism,plant metabolism,growth rate,photosynthesis,algae
Projet ERC : CRIMLATAM (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Entité participante : University College Dublin — Pays : Irlande — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UCD
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1533560.0 €

The impact of criminal organisations—gangs, mafias, drug cartels—in otherwise democratic societies can be severe. With the goal of profiting from illicit markets, they can control communities’ lives through criminal governance. As a result, they affect the quality of democracy by exacerbating vulnerabilities and forging anti-democratic preferences. Yet, we have a limited understanding of how criminal governance operates in these settings.  CRIMLATAM breaks new ground in political science by developing a new theory and empirical analysis to show how states’ capacity to provide welfare constrains criminal governance. Current theories, devised for weak, absent, or repressive states, cannot explain why criminal organizations operate in states with high capacity for welfare provision, nor can they make predictions about the nature of criminal governance in these unexpected places. This project posits that when there is an expansive welfare state, residents rely on its services and can also manage everyday life without resorting to criminal groups. Expansive welfare constrains criminal organizations’ actions limiting the scope of criminal governance.  Methodologically pioneering, the project relies on the systematic in-depth analysis of three unexpected cases: the cities of Puerto Limón in Costa Rica, Rosario in Argentina, and Santiago in Chile. It combines qualitative fieldwork with network-scale-up methods and list experiments embedded in a survey. It focuses on accessing hard-to-reach populations who experience criminal governance but whose voices and perspectives are largely missing from research, resulting in limited validity, reliability and impact of current knowledge.  The project will significantly improve our understanding of one of the most serious and persistent challenges for democracies today by demonstrating that governments can make choices, largely related to social welfare and security policy, that reduce the societal impact of criminal organisations.

Mots-clés : politics of crime criminal governance
Projet ERC : MYODECISION (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Entité participante : University College Dublin — Pays : Irlande — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UCD
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499916.0 €

Successfully interacting with one’s environment requires a rich interplay of perceptual judgement and neuromuscular control, with each taking account of the other in real time. Miscalculations in this accounting, as happens in demanding sensorimotor tasks (e.g. sports), cognitive and motor disorders, or with age-related decline, can have serious consequences. Despite the huge growth in modelling and neurophysiological studies of perceptual decision making, the critical role played by neuromuscular processes has been largely neglected due to challenges in parsing distinct effects of sensory, cognitive and motor processing in the brain. Our recently developed computational framework for jointly modelling behaviour with well-characterised neurophysiological signatures of sensorimotor decision formation now provides a means to overcome this parsing problem, offering a window onto the hierarchy of cortical processing involved. MYODECISION will capitalise on this advance to develop new decision paradigms that interface directly with muscle outputs, making the participants active agents in meeting changing neuromuscular demands, and hence resolve major outstanding questions regarding how sensory and motor systems interact in the brain. First, I will investigate how people adjust sensorimotor processes to meet changing time and effort demands on their motor outputs, including fine-grained manipulations of muscle-activation strength requirements, speed pressure, and effort biases. Then, using open- and closed-loop stimulus perturbations I will probe how these processes underpin dynamic changes of mind that rescue erroneous behaviours. Finally, I will develop a robust approach to neurally-constrained modelling aimed at examining individual differences in decision making in challenging sensorimotor environments. This work will offer the field a transformative paradigm for probing latent psychological processes in more ecologically representative decision scenarios.

Mots-clés : perceptual decision making sequential sampling cognitive neurophysiology sensorimotor behaviour
Projet ERC : LabHum (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Study of the Human Past
Entité participante : Université de Manchester — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499162.0 €

Laboratories of Humanitarianism is a ground-breaking history of the Soviet collapse that explores the transformative impact of humanitarian crisis on the country’s disintegration and the reconfiguration of the post-Soviet world. To explore this impact, the project takes a panoramic approach and explores humanitarianism at multiple scales using case studies from across the vast territory of the Soviet Union. At the heart of the project is one fundamental question: What is the role of humanitarian action in contexts of state collapse and reconstitution? To answer this question, the project brings together a multilingual and dynamic research team to explore the impact of humanitarian intervention in Armenia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Russia. Laboratories of Humanitarianism provides a radical rethinking of the Soviet collapse—arguably the formative geopolitical moment for understanding modern Eurasia. It moves beyond the realm of high politics to place the chronically under-researched themes of health and welfare at the centre of the analysis and provides an innovative methodological framework for writing new, transnational histories of the Soviet disintegration that foreground the country’s linguistic, cultural, and environmental diversity and that respond to contemporary challenges associated with archival access. In focusing on the Soviet and post-Soviet world, this project will upend assumptions within the modern history of international humanitarianism, where the timelines, perspectives, frameworks, and ‘watershed moments’ of North America and Western Europe have tended to be taken as normative. The USSR and its successor states provide a unique vantage point for exploring the relationship between donor and recipient of aid, as well as role of the ‘Second World’ in the development of global humanitarian regimes and practices in the late twentieth century.

Mots-clés : humanitarianism humanitarian aid soviet union