Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : STORE-LIGHT (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : École polytechnique de Turin — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The European Green Deal requires novel solutions for renewable energy. Solar energy is not constant and hence an unstable power source owing to its intermittent nature. Therefore, storage of solar energy is an important issue. Our new technology combines solar energy conversion and storage into one, thus delivering the opportunity to exploit the benefits of solar energy conversion also beyond the availability of sunlight. Our compact two-in-one technology avoids the need to connect two separate devices, thus lowering maintenance cost and technological support, connection losses and device bulkiness, together providing a more efficient and easy solution towards the integration in the daily life or to other functional systems.  The proposed technology develops a stand-alone photo-storage system that functions as a photon energy harvester and converter and in the same time as an energy storage compartment. The development of integrated solar-to-charge storage systems are of major importance to exploit the full potential of solar energy, and in the same time extending the limits of conventional energy storage systems. A photo-responsive storage system as planned in STORE-LIGHT, achieving direct and seamless solar energy conversion and storage in one single compact architecture, would be a transformative approach to power off-grid devices. Such unique photo-to-charge storage technology will ultimately affect extended application areas such as self-powered sensors or the next-generation in micro-electronics and IoT.
Projet ERC : BEARLIV (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Haute école spécialisée de Suisse occidentale — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : HES-SO
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 67100.0 €

Despite their high hopes and aspirations, people crossing borders in search of a ‘better life’ are frequently led to reassess and pare down their ambitions and expectations, and to realign them towards what this project conceptualises as a ‘bearable life’. This is a key finding of the ERC StG on which the present PoC builds. To put the notion of ‘bearable life’ to the test, explore its value, and operationalize its social innovation potential, the PoC develops a ground-breaking applied anthropology framework involving different stakeholders and protagonists of cross-border migratory flows in Ecuador. Participatory action research will proceed in close collaboration with local associations working with different mobile populations –characterised as ‘returnees’, ‘migrants’, and ‘asylum seekers’– and rely on a unique and experimental combination of research techniques, among which focus groups, participatory video, walking interviews, and digital storytelling. Our first ambition is to identify concrete problems, lines of conflict, and needs related to different cross-border mobilities, exploring how they converge, diverge, and relate to one another by putting them into effective dialogue. Secondly, based on the participatory analysis of such needs, we aim to collaborate with NGOs, governmental organisations, and IOs to convene public debates and fora (on- and offline) and produce complementary outputs. The latter include recommendations, academic publications, and multimedia content (such as podcasts, videos, and articles) elaborated collaboratively with the project’s stakeholders both for their own benefit and to the attention of local, regional, national, and international institutions. The ultimate goal of BEARLIV is to propel societal innovation by co-producing, informing, and influencing advocacy efforts and policymaking on cross-border mobilities, and to generate transferrable insights and strategies for applied research in other world contexts
Projet ERC : SICEP (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Sphere ultrafast photonics sa — Pays : Portugal — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : SPH
Type d'entité : Organismes privés (hors enseignement)
Financement ERC de l'entité : 75000.0 €

The interaction of short laser pulses with matter often depends on the Carrier-Envelope-Phase (CEP), which is the offset between the maximum of the electric field and the envelope of the pulse. For high-repetition-rate laser systems, this phase can usually only be measured as an average quantity. We propose a novel analog method to measure the CEP of ultrashort laser pulses in single-shot and for every laser shot at high repetition rate (hundreds of kHz to MHz). While conventional approaches use slow array detectors and computationally expensive calculations, we perform the measurement via optical Fourier transform, virtually not imposing any speed limitations. The approach also opens up for new avenues for CEP-stabilization, possibly making most of today’s complicated and expensive stabilization equipment obsolete. A patent application, securing our IP has been submitted. The project will be conducted together with our long-standing commercial partner, Sphere Ultrafast Photonics. Sphere has a strong position on the ultrafast laser market, defining an efficient path for commercialization. We plan to develop two different kinds of CEP detectors, i.e. the analog detector and a simplified digital detector working up to 100 kHz for less demanding applications. The detectors will be extensively tested and benchmarked against each other with a number of ultrafast laser sources in Lund and at Sphere.  The original idea for analog CEP detection was inspired by our research in attosecond science, supported by the ERC advanced grant QPAP “Quantum Physics with attosecond Light Pulses” (884900), which requires CEP control. The lack of existing techniques for the challenging repetition rate of our laser source (200 kHz) stimulated the ideas presented in this proposal, which we now would like to explore as a proof-of-concept.
Projet ERC : SMART-TOPOSPEC (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Sphere ultrafast photonics sa — Pays : Portugal — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : SPH
Type d'entité : Organismes privés (hors enseignement)
Financement ERC de l'entité : 37500.0 €

In the era of quantum materials, material properties can be precisely tailored at the smallest (nanometer) and fastest (femtosecond to attosecond) scales ever controlled by humankind. Among them, atomically thin quantum materials stand out due to their remarkable conductivity and optical transparency, making them highly attractive for semiconductor and photonic industries. SMART-TOPOSPEC, integrating a team between University of Salamanca, SME Sphere Ultrafast Photonics and Lund University, aims to develop a novel all-optical metrology technique to spatially-resolve the electronic response of quantum materials. This is achieved through topological harmonic spectroscopy, an innovative approach that exploits structured ultrafast light pulses to extract spatially-resolved information about laser-matter interactions. The use of ultrafast structured light, which requires advanced diagnosis tools and manipulation techniques, opens up new avenues for characterization and quality checking of quantum materials. By innovating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in ultrafast science, our approach will solve the inverse problem to unequivocally identify quantum material properties that can not be resolved with standard techniques. Integrating AI into advanced pulse characterization techniques will facilitate the acceleration of retrieval algorithms, paving the way for real-time, high-precision diagnostics. The project will culminate in a prototype that integrates AI-assisted topological harmonic spectroscopy with advanced laser pulse diagnostics. This method will provide a rapid, robust, cost-effective, and tabletop solution for the semiconductor industry, enabling quality control and defect detection at nanometer scales. Building on previous patents and ERC research results, SMART-TOPOSPEC translates cutting-edge science into industrial applications to impact the laser technology and semiconductor markets.
Projet ERC : SwingBots (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université technique de Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 84667.0 €

The SwingBots project is about constructing energy-efficient industrial robots. In our ongoing ERC-funded project, M-Runners, we developed new theoretical foundations and technological solutions for realizing repetitive robot motions mechanically, by nonlinear resonance. We now want to leverage this knowledge to build a robot where most robot motions are generated by a tuned interplay between moving masses of the robot links and elastic elements instead of purely relying on electric motors. This concept is especially beneficial for repetitive or close-to-repetitive motions as often encountered in engineering and industry. As a prominent example, we look at pick-and-place applications. By focusing on use-case identification, market research, and building a prototype with commercial viability, the SwingBots project aims to take the first steps towards commercialization, which is bolstered by the protection of several granted patents. The better the mechanical resonance matches the motions required for the applications, the less the actuators need to do - and the higher the energy efficiency. Besides efficiency, the approach promises to increase safety in human-robot interaction and more silent, robust, and cheaper robots.
Projet ERC : PROSA (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Helmholtz Center for Information Security — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CISPA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

In recent years, novel AI coding assistants based on large language models (LLMs) have become extremely popular in creating code. However, at least 50% of the effort of software development goes into understanding and maintaining existing software, tasks that still pose grand challenges for LLMs. This is because most maintenance tasks are related to the dynamic behavior of programs, which is insufficiently captured by learning from static code alone. Understanding how the individual pieces of a large program work together can take human experts months to years. As part of our ERC Advanced Grant “S3—Semantics of Software Systems”, we have developed innovative techniques to systematically _test_software systems, comprehensively exploring their behavior. This allows us to capture the dynamic features of inputs, outputs, and executions and train programspecific machine learning models that relate them to each other. The resulting model can then answer maintenance questions such as “What configuration input do I need to make this button green?” or “What input triggers this error message?” Our underlying research has already shown the principal feasibility of this approach, but has been limited to small examples. The question is whether these approaches scale to the multitude of features that occur during executing a complex program. This is the aim of this proof of concept proposal: To create a demonstrator of a Program-Specific Agent that is automatically trained from a nontrivial piece of software and that can answer maintenance-related questions with high accuracy. Training such an agent on even a single piece of software will require substantial resources—hence this grant proposal. However, any such trained agent will act as an expert on the software’s behavior as long as it exists, promising substantial cost savings for the future of software development.
Projet ERC : FEST (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université technique de Munich — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

For patients with neurological gait impairment, rehabilitation can be challenging and even frustrating due to a lack of sensory feedback. In many neurological conditions, motor and sensory pathways are equally affected and therefore require a combined therapeutic approach. In this proof-of-concept study, we will validate the functionality and usability of an innovative sensory augmentation system based on the combination of multi-sensory insoles and machine learning models for step prediction, which gives patients feedback on the quality of their stance and gait through sound and vibration. These additional sensory feedback channels will be leveraged in novel therapy approaches which we will co-design together with patients, physiotherapists, and neurologists. The combined system will be tested and validated in real-world environments in rehabilitation hospitals and patients’ homes, with strong emphasis on verifying user acceptance. In addition to enhancing the technology readiness level of our approach towards a field-tested product, we will develop a comprehensive IP strategy and conduct market research and business model analysis to investigate the potential for large-scale and sustainable commercialization.
Projet ERC : TIMELAPSE (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Khora aps — Pays : Danemark — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Organismes privés (hors enseignement)
Financement ERC de l'entité : 50000.0 €

Chemotherapy can involve lengthy treatment sessions, lasting up to several hours. Such a duration, spent in an overly medicalized setting, can induce in the patients a monopolizing focus on their pathology, which leads to a substantial decrease in their mental well-being. One way to alleviate the impact of long chemotherapy sessions would be accelerating subjective time passage as perceived by the patients, therefore making the treatment seemingly end more quickly. Stemming from the ERC Advanced Grant AN-ICON, the TIMELAPSE project proposes to prototype, test, and launch on the market a virtual reality (VR) application that will accelerate subjective time passage during chemotherapy. The idea, whose singular aspects were the object of previous scientific evidence, was so far not implemented comprehensively. TIMELAPSE will fill this R&D gap with unprecedented methods and targets, adopting a patient-centred approach to innovatively incorporate in the conception of the VR application the irreplaceable perspective of its end-users: the oncologic patients. TIMELAPSE will take this idea to proof of concept by means of five subsequent phases: 1. Theoretical elaboration, to shape a theoretical hypothesis concerning what types of VR content might accelerate subjective time passage during chemotherapy; 2. Participatory design, to refine this hypothesis by incorporating the users’ perspective; 3. Production, to develop the content for the VR application, to obtain a prototype ready to be tested. 4. Assessment, to demonstrate the tolerability and effectiveness of the VR application; and 5. Pre-commercialization, to prepare the launch of the VR application on the market. To ensure appropriate methodological tools for each phase, TIMELAPSE will rely on a collaboration between three actors: a core research group (part of the AN-ICON team); an industrial partner expert in VR applications (Khora); and a clinical partner with substantial expertise in cancer treatment (Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori).

Mots-clés : virtual reality time perception time passage judgement chemotherapy participatory design
Projet ERC : CRYSPEN (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Inria
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Modern web applications routinely rely on standardized cryptographic protocols and algorithms to protect sensitive user data. Furthermore, with the advent of blockchains, the imminence of quantum computers, and widespread concerns about privacy in an era of surveillance and machine learning algorithms, enterprises are increasingly turning to sophisticated non-standard cryptographic solutions customized for specific usage scenarios. Unfortunately, cryptographic design and implementation is notoriously error-prone with a long history of design flaws, implementation bugs, and high-profile attacks. This leaves software companies with a difficult choice: every time they deploy a new crypto standard or an innovative cryptographic application that improves the security and privacy of their users, they risk exposing embarrassing flaws in their design or code. The research results of ERC Circus offer a way out of this conundrum by advocating the use of formal verification to build cryptographic software with machine-checked proofs of security and correctness. A landmark output from this project is HACL*, a verified high-performance cryptographic library which is currently used by mainstream software like Mozilla Firefox, Linux Kernel, Tezos Blockchain, and ElectionGuard. We propose to establish a company (called Cryspen) that will transition the research software developed in ERC Circus towards a production-quality ready-to-use verified cryptographic software stack. In addition, Cryspen will offer a developer-friendly verification framework that can be used to build new custom cryptographic solutions in C, Rust, and JavaScript. The goal of this Proof-of-Concept proposal is to fund the initial technical transfer of research software to Cryspen and the business development of this company. Once this transfer is complete, Cryspen will be able to offer long-term service contracts to existing and new users of HACL*, and offer software contracts to enterprises interested in deploying verified cryptographic software.
Projet ERC : QuAMP (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : EPFL
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Amplifiers are essential in science and technology – they are needed to overcome the detection threshold of sensors, like antennas, detectors or even our ears. When a signal is weak or generated at a distance, amplification becomes necessary. However, amplification adds noise, and if noise exceeds the signal, detection becomes impossible or needs heavy post-processing, limiting applications that rely on weak signals or high sensitivity. Over the last century, amplifiers have evolved to reduce noise, from vacuum tubes to transistors. More recently, quantum technologies exploiting the laws of quantum mechanics to outperform their classic counterparts, have emerged. In this fast-growing field, traditional low-noise amplifiers still add too much noise and do not suit scalable cryogenic platforms. Quantum-limited microwave amplifiers, which add minimal noise, are key instruments in quantum computing, radio astronomy, and particle physics.  Despite their central importance, the availability of quantum-limited amplifiers remains severely constrained by fabrication complexity, limited reproducibility, and poor scalability. Current commercially available traveling-wave parametric amplifiers (TWPAs) rely predominantly on electron-beam lithography, a slow and costly technique incompatible with large-scale production and industrial deployment. This represents a fundamental bottleneck in the democratization and technological maturation of quantum-limited microwave amplification.  This project proposes a novel fabrication method using Deep Ultraviolet Lithography (DUV) – an industry-standard, scalable process – to produce better-performing TWPAs at lower cost and larger volumes. By using DUV, the goal is to create high-performance amplifiers with minimal noise, pushing the boundaries of quantum-limited amplification and enhancing high gain with the aim to have a ready-for-market TWAP by the project's end.

Mots-clés : traveling wave parametric amplifiers twpa,quantum limited amplification,josephson junction
Projet ERC : ExSELence (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Leyde — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The ExSELence project aims to validate and commercialize an innovative drug discovery platform that addresses key limitations in current screening technologies. Traditional approaches to identifying drug candidates, such as DNA-encoded libraries, face significant constraints when screening certain protein targets, particularly those involved in DNA and RNA processing. Our platform eliminates these constraints through a novel barcode-free approach that combines advanced synthesis methods with sophisticated computational analysis. ExSELence will validate the platform's capabilities through a focused study targeting EXO1, a promising therapeutic target in cancer. The project encompasses both technical validation of the platform and development of a comprehensive commercialization strategy. Technical activities will demonstrate the platform's ability to screen large compound libraries efficiently while identifying selective inhibitors. Commercial activities will explore various exploitation paths, from licensing opportunities to spin-off creation. The platform has shown promising initial results, including the successful screening of libraries containing up to one million compounds. The technology is protected by a recently filed patent application and builds on established expertise in combinatorial chemistry, mass spectrometry, and computational analysis. Success in this project would significantly impact drug discovery by making high-throughput screening more accessible to academic laboratories and smaller research institutions. The platform's unique capabilities could accelerate the development of therapeutics for previously challenging targets, particularly in cancer and genetic diseases where DNA- and RNA-binding proteins play crucial roles. The project's outcomes will include validated screening protocols, initial hit compounds for EXO1, and a clear commercialization strategy.
Projet ERC : E-Virt (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Leyde — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The ERC starting grant project CoPAN (804582) is an innovative, interdisciplinary cross-boundary project. In the project, we study the function, underlying neurophysiological mechanisms, development and evolution of emotional expressions, which has shown us that emotions play a pivotal role in daily life in humans and great apes alike. We also show that emotional expressions in real life are more complex than the acted expressions used in emotion research or applications. I here propose to build on the fundamental knowledge and develop a virtual reality training tool targeting the broader public and clinical populations.