Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : ELVER-CHECK (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Cambridge — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Computer systems have become critical to modern society, but they are pervasively subject to security flaws and attacks, with large-scale exposures of confidential data, denial-of-service and ransom attacks, and the threat of nation-state attackers: they are trusted, but are far from trustworthy. This is especially important for the systems software enforces what protection, eg the hypervisors that use the underlying hardware to isolate components from each other.  ERC AdG ELVER has developed mathematical models of the *systems features* of the underlying hardware: working with Arm to characterise virtual memory, instruction/data cache maintenance, and exceptions. This opens up a new possibility: using those not just for correctness proof (which remains challenging), but also for *lightweight methods to improve the assurance of critical systems software*, by checking that such software obeys the subtle disciplines required by the hardware. Targets include the pKVM hypervisor being developed by Google to protect sensitive data on all Android phones, and similar hypervisors for the Cloud. Building on experience with a prototype checker, which has already found subtle bugs, ELVER-CHECK will prototype, assess, and demonstrate how to use executable checkers based on our mathematical models of systems architecture to improve conventional development of critical systems software, to increase assurance that it provides the intended security, at lower cost than full verification.  ELVER-CHECK thus addresses an important aspect of the societal problem of the pervasive insecurity of our critical software infrastructure.  This is a new opportunity: conventional software testing, analysis, and verification methods assume that memory is a simple mapping from locations to values, but they are oblivious to the subtle ways in that is simply not true for systems software, and to the disciplines that it must follow to actually enforce the intended security properties.
Projet ERC : LWEF-4-IPV (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Cambridge — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The Internet of Things (IoT) underpins our future smart world where various electronic devices could be integrated with, and controlled by, wireless communication. Many of these devices will be standalone or portable, creating an urgent demand for off-grid power sources. Solar photovoltaic (PV) cells are viable alternatives to batteries as perpetual power sources for IoT devices. However, crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV cells (which account for 95% of the global PV market) are not designed to work with diffuse, artificial indoor light-emitting diode (LED) lighting and perform poorly under these conditions. Within the remit of the ERC CoG project SPECTRACON, we have developed a new photonic platform technology – luminescent waveguide encoded films (LWEFs), which overcomes these limitations by (i) increasing the field of view for light capture and (ii) converting LED photons into energies that can be used more effectively by PV cells. In this PoC project, we will advance this technology towards commercialisation through the fabrication of the prototype LWEF integrated on the top surface of a c-Si PV, coupled with testing under standardised indoor lighting conditions.
Projet ERC : ONCOMAC (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université technologique de Dresde — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TU Dresden
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Macrophage cell therapy can become an attractive example of a cell therapy, with numerous potential applications, among them cancer therapy. While T-cell based therapies – so successful for the treatment of hematological malignancies! – have yet failed to demonstrate effectiveness in the treatment of solid tumors, macrophages are a key component of the tumor microenvironment (TME), and in principle they are capable of killing solid tumor cells. However, wildtype macrophages commonly respond to the TME by acquisition of a M2-like polarization state, in which state they rather support tumor growth and metastatic spread. This is a first problem for macrophage cell therapy against cancer. Besides, unlike T-cells, human macrophages cannot be expanded in cell culture, resulting in insufficient numbers of obtainable macrophages and thus limiting their utility for cell therapy.  We have generated genetically engineered human macrophages, which have proliferative potential, are resistent to tumor-induced repolarization and thus demonstrate oncolytic activity. We want to translate these exciting findings into a cell-therapy against cancer. ONCOMAC relates to the preparation for and design of a preclinical proof-of-concept study for these genetically engineered human macrophages, so that we will have a sound basis for the translation of our genetically engineered macrophages into clinical trials. In particular, ONCOMAC will establish the numerous complex analytical procedures which are required by the European Medicine Agency's regulatory framework for “First-in-human” studies of an ATMP (Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product).
Projet ERC : Syst-Onco-Herpes (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Bologne — Pays : Italie — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 25000.0 €

Solid tumors, in particular metastatic ones, represent unmet clinical needs and the second cause of death worldwide. Oncolytic viruses (OVs) kill tumors and spare normal cells. They are a distinct class of novel anti-cancer agents, frequently administered by intratumoral injection. A Holy Grail in the innovation of OVs is the possibility to administer them by systemic, e.g. intravenous injection, so that in the human body OVs search for metastases and scavenge them. The systemic delivery of OVs tackles societal challenges as it meets the needs of metastatic patients, those who die of cancer and need innovative therapies most. The Principal Investigator has generated a family of innovative oncolytic herpesviruses (ReHVs) which specifically target HER2-positive tumors (HER2-ReHVs). In preclinical studies HER2-ReHVs exhibit high specificity for HER2-positive cancers, high anti-tumor efficacy also against metastatic tumors, vaccinate against metastatic-like tumors, and are highly safe. These properties position ReHVs for systemic delivery. The ReHV technology is protected by a portfolio of patents. The objectives of this Proposal are twofold. Firstly, to improve the systemic delivery of ReHVs by identifying the obstacles that constrain such administration, to develop novel strategies to overcome them, including high-risk high-gain modifications that make ReHVs better suited for the systemic delivery. Secondly, to carry out initiatives for the technological transfer, i.e. development and commercialization of ReHVs. These include the detailed planning of activities to take ReHVs to the authorization for a First-in-Human clinical experimentation, to develop a business plan and carry out OV market analysis and search for investors. By combining the Development and commercialization initiatives with the technological advancements, this POC is expected to achieve the broader objective of progressing ReHVs into clinical experimentation and ultimately to bring them to patients
Projet ERC : PepVerse (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Cambridge — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Peptide-based drugs offer distinct advantages over existing molecular therapeutics, such as their ability to engage targets that have proven challenging for small molecules, and their capability to penetrate cells and modulate intracellular targets, which conventional biologics cannot achieve. However, despite this potential, the development of peptide-based medicines has lagged due to the lack of high-quality, large-scale protein-peptide interaction datasets essential for rational AI-driven peptide design. During the ERC Consolidator Grant DiProPhys, we developed a platform that can profile protein/peptide interactions at scale. As part of the PepVerse project, we will leverage this platform to generate proof-of-concept data for commercial exploitation. Specifically, we will generate binding data for three high-value therapeutic targets that currently lack orally available drugs due to difficulties in identifying non-peptidomimetic small molecule binders. These data will not only validate the platform’s ability to discover binders but will also provide specific starting points for high-value drug discovery programmes. Moreover, the data will showcase the platform’s potential to create the world’s largest protein/peptide mimotope dataset foundational for advancing any peptide-based drug discovery programme --- a goal we aim to achieve with the help of private capital. In addition to generating these validation data, which are key for fundraising and translating the technology to a commercial entity, our other critical objectives for the project include establishing solid IP protection for the technology and building relationships with key stakeholders, such as advanced library providers and pharma partners. By the end of the project, we aim to have generated robust validation data, filed an intellectual property application, and raised funds to launch a peptide-based drug discovery company
Projet ERC : Regenerative ICOs (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 41925.0 €

The economic incentive structures of an organisation strongly influences their governance models & power distribution, sometimes to the extent that attempts at decentralising governance fail, if they are built on centralising economic incentives. Traditional forms of equity investing offer uncapped returns to shareholders that create strong incentives for profit maximisation and centralisation of power. Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) on the blockchain were designed to allow organisations to raise funding from their community and bring a greater distribution of economic gains and governance power to organisations’ stakeholders. However, since tokens issued through ICOs are also offering uncapped returns, current blockchain networks have become even more centralised. There are investor reward models in traditional forms of investing that cap stakeholder profits and through that remove the incentives for profit maximisation, like (Platform) Cooperatives and Steward Ownership companies. They have shown to bring greater distribution of economic gains and governance power. However those organisations struggle to raise (early stage) funding in the traditional financial market a Consumer investors conscious about the damaging effects of investing in uncapped public equity have challenges investing in such organisations. This is because capped investor profit models have only been implemented in the existing legal systems with significant bureaucratic hurdles, similar to traditional startup investing up until the advent of ICOs in the late 2010s.  This proof-of-concept helps organisations to run Initial Coin Offerings with capped investor profit models so they can raise funding from a diverse set of supporters, while avoiding mission drift and profit maximisation incentives. It enables more economic decentralisation, transparency and accountability, from which decentralised organisational governance can be developed and maintained in a more sustainable way.
Projet ERC : QOVID (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 145000.0 €

The global-scale pandemic crisis of COVID-19 requires precise and immediate technological solutions for virological and serological diagnosis tests. These tests must be accurate, rapid, intelligent, and cost-efficient to prevent future rebounds of infections and help control the pandemic. In this context, the Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) industry, especially piezoelectric resonators of all shapes and sizes, is a promising strategy to revolutionize the biological detection market. Ultrahigh sensitive nanomechanical resonators showed the potential of this technology for mass loading. Unfortunately, applying MEMS to the biomedical sector requires challenging qualities, making it often unattainable to material scientists and engineers. QOVID offers a solution to fill this gap between MEMS and biomedicine by developing a commercialization solution for piezoelectric α-quartz resonating devices to detect the mass response of SARS-CoV-2 spike molecular interactions as an original readout of viral loads. QOVID builds on the technology developed during the ERC Starting Grant SENSiSOFT to provide a user-friendly versatile Bio-MEMS sensor prototype that will give researchers in the life sciences and biomedical sector without an engineering or electronic training a reliable diagnostic tool to detect SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses. QOVID will scale up a new generation of On-chip epitaxial piezoelectric α-quartz/Si MEMS manufactured exclusively by soft-chemistry with CMOS-compatible processes offering cost-efficient single-chip solutions not only for biomedical applications but also for many other fields. These α-quartz bioMEMS will have thicknesses between 200 nm and 1 µm, this is between 10 to 50 times thinner and 10 to 100 times more sensitive than those obtained by traditional top-down technologies on bulk crystals. QOVID will pursue commercialization and market solutions both within academia and the biotechnology and biomedical among other sectors.
Projet ERC : HEAT-CAMERA (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Gand — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UGent
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Early cancer diagnosis gives best chance for successful treatment. However, the currently available imaging techniques (CT, MRI, ultrasound) are limited in detecting very small cancerous lesions. Also, the location of the tumor may play a role in how big it must grow before it is visible. This is resulting in a rising interest from the medical community in new diagnostic tools. Luminescent thermometers could be an excellent new approach for early cancer detection. However, diagnosis alone is not enough. Immediate, minimally invasive treatment is needed to attack the cancer cells. It is ideal if these two modalities (diagnosis and therapy) can be combined in one technology. The concept of theranostics concerns the combination of both diagnostics and therapeutics in one “package” and is unquestionably a great option for an early stage and minimally invasive approach to cancer. Project HEAT-CAMERA aims at the design and development of theranostic nanoplatforms combining diagnosis through temperature and an on-demand drug release. Anti-cancer drugs are highly toxic and therefore it is desired that the drug is released directly to the diseased cells to reduce the overall toxicity to the body. This technology building on the best of currently available knowledge – merging the excellent thermometric properties of well-established Ag2S thermometers, with biocompatible, highly tuneable periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) materials. The porous PMO shell allows for incorporating photoswitching moieties. Once the nanoplatforms are loaded with an anti-cancer drug the photoswitching moieties yield controlled, on-demand drug release after near infrared (NIR) light irradiation. These Ag2S@HPMO-azo NIR light-controlled thermometry-drug delivery systems will open new avenues for clinical applications.
Projet ERC : AVATAR (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Gand — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UGent
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The urgent need to reduce global carbon emissions is driving the development of advanced CO2 capture technologies. However, state-of-the-art packed bed-based processes (e.g., EFG+ or Linde-BASF) and rotating packed beds (CarbonClean) face significant challenges, including their high energy consumption, enormous infrastructure requirements, and operational complexities. This relates primarily to the solvent regeneration step, the Achilles' heel of absorption-based carbon capture technologies. Building on our patented vortex technology and advanced computational fluid dynamics platform developed under the ERC OPTIMA project, the AVATAR project aims to overcome these challenges by developing and demonstrating a Multi-Stage Vortex Unit (VORTEX-AVI) with integrated resistive heating for electrified solvent regeneration. This innovative design further develops the use of centrifugal forces within a static geometry to intensify processes, eliminating the mechanical rotation issues found in rotating packed beds while enhancing both scalability and operational flexibility. Preliminary simulations indicate that AVATAR technology can lower energy consumption to 1.7 GJ per ton of CO2, significantly outperforming current standards of 2.5 GJ per ton of CO2. The project will validate these findings through experiments focused on cold flow hydrodynamics, hot and reactive flow testing, and finally, the integration of resistive heating. Expected outcomes include at least a tenfold increase in CO2 release rates per unit volume compared to conventional desorbers, huge reductions in operational and capital costs, and improved feasibility for future high- Technology Readiness Level (TRL) applications. This potential for high-TRL applications is a testament to the transformative nature of the AVATAR technology. The PoC dataset will be instrumental in convincing industrial stakeholders to invest in post-AVATAR scale-up. A roadmap will be developed to guide industrial implementation.
Projet ERC : SQVAC (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

In the context of the ongoing development of novel quantum technologies, including quantum sensors, quantum communication, quantum simulators and quantum computing, some devices are mature without resorting to the powerful but fragile entanglement between qubits. Exploiting the wave nature of devices, photons often play an important role. In order to enlarge the potential of photonic devices, controlled atom-photon interactions will be pushed to new limits in order to build analog and digital wave simulators. In the present project, these interactions are mediated via photon-atom coupling using room temperature cells of atomic vapours.
Projet ERC : COMb (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Gand — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UGent
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The constant hunger for data is straining optical links causing optical chip makers to struggle. Transceivers have to work at everincreasing symbol rates. On top they need to handle more complex data formats. New materials have to be sought after as current modulator technologies in e.g. silicon are reaching their limit. In the COMb project, we will leverage recently obtained results to make ultra-high-speed transceivers based on the multi-material integration of Indium Phosphide and Lithium Niobate on a silicon nitride platform. By exploiting mode-locked lasers and using a large number of lines higher data rates can be transmitted over the same channel. By heterogeneously integrating the source with a Lithium Niobate modulator very high symbol rates can be obtained.
Projet ERC : XMem (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Day one societa a responsabilita limitata — Pays : Italie — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : DAY ONE
Type d'entité : Organismes privés (hors enseignement)
Financement ERC de l'entité : 34000.0 €

Silicon is the key building block of transistors, the workhorse of modern electronics. Since the early 2000s, scaling down the transistors’ size according to Moore’s Law to increase clock speed, decrease energy requirements and enhance compactness has been progressively more challenging than it had been for the previous 40 years. Reducing silicon at the two-dimensional level is a technological vision to achieve the ultimate shrinking of high-performance electronic devices and gain enough mechanical flexibility to make it integrable in low-power flexible devices. We propose to attain this breakthrough result by stabilizing silicene, an atomically thin silicon layer with a nearly graphene-like structure, by physically protecting both of its faces. Our goal is the scalable production of durable silicene in the form of atomically thin membranes. Standardized production of silicene membranes will be then assessed for integration into high-performance or low-power and flexible transistors with unprecedented outperforming technical advantages (intrinsic channel miniaturization, high carrier mobility, high energy efficiency, large-scale uniformity, high flexibility, and transfer compatibility with secondary substrates) and substantial reduction of the energy consumption. These characteristics make silicene membranes a promising component of a sustainable electronics for massive diffused societal trends like the internet-of-things. The goal of this PoC project is to validate with industrial players the technological feasibility of a prototypal silicene-based transistor, at the same time defining the best IP protection and commercialization route.