Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : UPCYCLON (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CEA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The accumulation of plastic waste presents a global and urgent challenge, necessitating the development of more environmentally friendly mechanical and chemical recycling methods. This challenge is particularly acute for polyamides materials, commonly known as nylons (e.g. fishing nets, carpets, etc.), which are mostly either deposited in landfills or incinerated due to the lack of efficient recycling techniques. With UPCYCLON, we propose to capitalize on breakthroughs achieved through ERC ReNewHydrides, focusing on a disruptive chemical upcycling process for polyamides. This pioneering innovation provides, via a novel catalytic conversion operating under mild conditions, an unprecedented access to new nitrogen-containing polymers, currently unavailable using established synthetic routes. These polymers, with anticipated physicochemical properties such as high thermal stability and potent chelating capabilities, promise diverse applications ranging from CO2 capture to polyurethane synthesis and wastewater treatments. In addition, this approach to polyamide waste management represents an innovative and commercially significant endeavor, particularly for polyamide producers facing pressure from new European policies like Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) to swiftly develop sustainable solutions for waste recycling or management.

Mots-clés : plastic wastes depolymerization valorization recycling polyamides nylons
Projet ERC : KidneyScope (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : AP-HP
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 43750.0 €

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major global health issue, with peripheral kidney microvascular damage being a hallmark feature that is challenging to assess and often requires renal transplant. Current diagnostic methods for monitoring microvascular complications in renal grafts, such as biopsies, lack the practicality needed for regular assessment. Ultrasound localization microscopy (ULM) and sensing-ULM (sULM) present a promising approach, providing detailed metrics on the microvascular network. We have demonstrated that sULM can visualize glomeruli in a patient's kidney in 2D by observing the peculiar swirling behavior of clinically common microbubbles within them. Such a technique could be used to characterize the kidney's microcirculation and its modifications by pathologies like CKD, but was severely impaired by its planar character. A sensing-volumetric-ULM, 3D, technique could transform renal transplant management by offering a non-invasive, portable solution to monitor vascular health and detect early graft dysfunction in entire kidneys at the microscale. This innovation builds on the ERC Cog ResolveStroke and ERC POC StrokeMonitor projects. The KidneyScope project, combining volumetric ULM and this glomerular insight, represents a promising approach to address the urgent need for high-resolution renal microcirculation assessment.
Projet ERC : MESH_CHIP (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : KTH Institut royal de technologie — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

We propose a technology platform for low cost, high resolution spatial transcriptomics surfaces. Spatial transcriptomics is a high cost research methodology for resolving the spatial variation of genes in a tissue by capturing mRNA transcripts on a surface containing molecular address markers. To produce these surfaces, current methods rely on either printing technology with explicit assignment of unique address ID's to spatial locations or else random scattering of molecular ID's that are then sequenced in situ using microscopy. Both of these fabrication methods are prohibitively expensive and time consuming, such that spatial transcriptomic technology is still limited to a narrow selection of low throughput research applications. Our proposed technology, the MESH CHIP represents a radically different approach to producing these surfaces. Rather than print surfaces or build sequence-address maps with in situ microscopy, our technology works by self-assembly and deduction from sequencing data alone. This means that no prior information about the identity or location of address markers on the surface is needed prior to mRNA capture and sequencing. Instead, this information is reconstructed computationally using graph theory in a post hoc fashion. By moving this information roadblock in the fabrication process to the increasingly cheap sequencing and computing stage, we greatly improve the cost performance of this technology. MESH CHIP technology would represent a qualitatively lower cost product with greater performance than the state of the art, unlocking new use cases like diagnostics and high throughput tissue processing.
Projet ERC : DiffusOMICS (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : KTH Institut royal de technologie — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Protein oligomers and aggregates are pillars of many cellular processes and can be associated with a number of life-threatening neurodegenerative diseases. These processes are often context-dependent but are hard to detect in situ with available technologies. The ideal instrument can target specific proteins of medical interest in their physiological contexts, resolve nano-distances (1-100 nm) and capture dynamics of association and dissociation (ns-ms). The DiffusOMICS project aims to fill this methodological gap by prototyping a high-throughput fluorescence-based approach able to measure the rotational diffusion properties of molecules in vivo and in situ. The concept is based on our recent publication, where we utilize intelligent fluorescent probes together with polarized light to investigate the rotational dynamics of large molecular complexes. Rotational diffusion is highly sensitive to change in mass making the technique ideal to detect the presence of aggregates and report on molecular size and local viscosity. Due to the nature of the signal, the measurements can be done in cells and tissues at high throughput, making the technology appealing for industrial screening applications. The goal of the project is to establish both the technological foundation and the collaborations needed to develop a prototype instrument and to record the very first high-throughput molecular interaction maps in neurons. DiffusOMICS possesses all the essential qualities to become a game-changing technology for drug screening due to its sensitivity, specificity and speed, making it suitable for automated recordings. DiffusOMICS maps will carry information on the whole population of aggregates localized in different neuronal compartments and can track changes in aggregation responses to drug perturbations and mutagenesis in neuronal proteins. The outcome will be key to engage industrial strategic partners and it paves the way for a new paradigm of drug screening in situ.
Projet ERC : SENSOR (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université Pompeu Fabra — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UPF
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 125000.0 €

The distinction between sense and reference has been foundational in the study of linguistic meaning since Frege’s classic On sense and reference (1892). More than a century later, the neural correlates of reference remain opaque. Meanwhile in computational psychiatry, a burgeoning field uses computational neural language models (NLMs) to predict psychosis from spontaneous speech. Clear behavioural evidence has emerged that patients with psychosis navigate the semantic space differently when retrieving words and building them into grammatical structures, causing shifts in patterns that are detectable through computational semantic similarity and probabilistic metrics. We propose the new concept that (i) grammar plays a specific role in mapping concepts onto referents so as to construct a cognitive map, which (ii) can be tracked in real time at a millisecond level, (iii) involves a cortical-hippocampal loop, and (iv) is a neural mechanism vulnerable in psychosis. Using MEG with optically pumped magnetometers (OPM), we will implement a naturalistic story comprehension paradigm in which the construction of reference through grammar will be tracked and regressed on computational semantic metrics. We aim to generate value through a novel sustainable, theoretically and computationally grounded framework for the study of language in psychosis, which will enable a transition to the larger goal of fully exploiting spontaneous speech as a rich and multidimensional data source for clinical practice.
Projet ERC : GPR-ICI (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Copenhague — Pays : Danemark — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : KU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized cancer therapy over the last decade. In essence, ICIs block the interaction of immunosuppressive receptors and their ligands, which attenuate T cell activity and the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Blocking these inhibitory signals results in the release of immunosuppression and promotes anti-tumor T cell reactivity.  Unpublished data from our research group, emerging in collaboration with the biotech company InProTher suggests a novel immune checkpoint receptor-ligand pair consisting of an adhesion G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) and a viral protein.  With therapeutic targeting of GPCRs being our main focus, we - together with our collaboration partner InProTher - aim to investigate the blockade of the interaction between immune cells expressing the adhesion GPCR and cancer cells expressing the viral protein as novel ICI and cancer therapy strategy. The exploration of novel immune checkpoints and expanding the repertoire of cancer therapy drugs are paramount for overcoming therapeutic resistance and advancing cancer treatment.
Projet ERC : ViPoFluX (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Copenhague — Pays : Danemark — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : KU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The potential for future viral pandemics to trigger a global crisis underscores the urgent need for the development of new antiviral drugs. Viroporins, identified in several RNA virus families, form pores/ion channels in cell and/or virus membranes, contributing to the virus life cycle and virus-induced pathology. Blocking viroporins with small-molecule compounds has proven to be an effective therapeutic strategy. However, the clinical success of these viroporin blockers has been limited due to emerging resistance and insufficient potency when repurposed for other viroporin targets. Expanding the repository of viroporin blockers by identifying new compounds that potently inhibit virus infections will advance the pandemic preparedness and likely make drug repurposing more successful in the future. A major challenge is the current methodology for exploring viroporin blockers, which is traditionally time-consuming and has low throughput. In this project. we will combine our novel viroporin inhibitor assay with an automated high-throughput screening (HTS) platform and a library of 50,000 compounds, creating a pipeline suitable for identifying new blockers of potentially any given viroporin. Our pipeline consists of four steps: (I) the identification of viroporin targets, (II) HTS, (III) cross-validation and (IV) and hit-to-lead optimization. Preliminary data from our group demonstrates the feasibility of the assay for viroporins from viruses relevant to global health. We plan to screen relevant viroporins in HTS to develop novel, high potency viroporin inhibitors and file intellectual property (IP) for rationally optimized hit compounds. Once the IP is filed, we will establish a spin-out company to raise funds from public and private sources, advancing our proof-of-concept studies and developing the lead compound further.
Projet ERC : DECIPHER (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
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 : 150000.0 €

The major roadblock in the commercialisation of cell-derived products is the prolonged ex vivo culture period required to develop them. Macromolecular crowding (MMC), a biophysical phenomenon that increases the kinetics of biochemical reactions and biological processes by several orders of magnitude, allows for the accelerated development of cell-derived products. This project will exploit MMC in the development of cell-derived products in 2 technical and 3 commercial work-packages, increasing the international competitiveness of European-based biotech industries and creating new employment, markets and revenue. This 18-months interdisciplinary and intersectoral project will train 1 post-doctoral researcher at the forefront of scientific research and technological innovation. The project will be carried out at University College Dublin, Ireland’s largest university, one of Europe’s leading research-intensive universities and in the top 1 % universities world-wide.
Projet ERC : RIDaGoP (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université autonome de Barcelone — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Data governance trends increasingly emphasize the need to open access to data, despite growing concerns over data privacy, control and surveillance. Indigenous peoples, with different epistemological traditions for the use and sharing of culturally sensitive information, add the additional concern of people’s ability to exert data sovereignty. Thus, while interest grow on the documentation and use of Indigenous knowledge, current data governance trends do not align well with Indigenous data rights and governance rules. This is the case of data on Indigenous peoples’ perceptions of climate change impacts collected under the LICCI project (771056-LICCI-ERC-2017-COG). While adhering to the highest EU ethical standards, data collected under the LICCI project failed to address Indigenous data governance. To develop a set of tools to guide the management of Indigenous knowledge and data in the open while adhering to Indigenous data governance principles, in this project, I will conduct “Research on Indigenous Data Governance Protocols” (RIDaGoP). In partnership with organizations working on Indigenous data governance issues, RIDaGoP will undertake four activities in 18 months: i) a literature review to document Indigenous data governance protocols; ii) an assessment on requirements to operationalize Indigenous data sovereignty in an open context; iii) the development and testing of features to operationalize Indigenous data sovereignty; and iv) the dissemination of results. RIDaGoP will facilitate the configuration and use of Indigenous data sovereignty protocols, allowing knowledge holders to set granular terms of access and use of data and to track data usage. RIDaGoP has the potential to reframe how datasets concerning Indigenous peoples are managed and how Indigenous peoples are represented. Beyond Indigenous data sovereignty, RIDaGoP innovation in tackling equity in data governance can be upscale to issues such as national statistics or health.
Projet ERC : L-Cell (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Tampere — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

L-Cell is a method for robust, reconfigurable control of surface topography, based on creating reversible light-induced surface structures onto azobenzene-containing bilayers. These light-reconfigurable substrates allow free-form topographical patterns to be created and subsequently erased over many cycles on a biocompatible cell culture substrate, even when the cells are already growing on the substrate. L-Cell aims at mimicking more closely the dynamic conditions in human body, which regulate many physiological and pathological processes, such as tissue morphogenesis, healing, and tumour growth. Our non-invasive solution is important for definition of chrono-programmes e.g. cell differentiation, stem cell phenotype harvesting, tissue regeneration and triggering cell directional migration. The bilayer structure allows for easy chemical modification of the surface, ensuring biocompatibility and further functionalization, and fully supporting existing protein deposition techniques. L-Cell reconfigurable light-responsive petri dishes can be used as drop-in solution, enabling new, unique biological investigations on cell dynamics to be conducted. Besides, the growing need to reduce animal testing in drug screening, toxicology, and research has increased the demand for innovative cell culture solutions that recapitulate the complexity of cell dynamics in a controllable, cost-effective way, without sacrificing their clinical relevance. For all these reasons, L-Cell offers new opportunities as an innovative tool for a wealth of potential targets.
Projet ERC : MechanoExtrusion (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de la Ruhr à Bochum — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The major contribution to chemical waste accumulating in chemical industry is made by solvents – often organic solvents, potentially toxic or harmful for the environment. My ERC-StG Mechanocat targeted this challenge by removing solvents entirely from chemical processes using a concept called mechanochemistry. In Mechanocat I applied mechanochemistry and targeted the famous Suzuki-coupling reaction, being one of the most popular catalysis in chemistry. The breakthrough of the project was the utilization of a principle to this reaction that we denoted as “direct mechanocatalysis” (DM). Applying DM, the catalyst neither must be added as molecule or complex as in homogeneous catalysis nor as solid powder as in heterogeneous catalysis. The milling ball itself served as catalyst because it was made from the catalytic material. This allowed for the easiest ever-possible way of catalyst separation and reutilization – simply taking the milling ball out of the milling vessel. Despite its great economic and ecological advantages, our principle has only been demonstrated on the scale of milligrams using conventional laboratory mills running in batch mode. To advance DM from lab curiosity to true innovation, the ERC-PoC project MechanoExtrusion will thus transfer DM to a continuous process at larger scale by giving the experimental evidence that one of the most popular reactions in pharmaceutical/medical chemistry – the Suzuki coupling – can be conducted in a Pd-coated extruder applying 100 times upscaled substrate quantities. In order to show that DM can become a true alternative to conventional catalysis, MechanoExtrusion will further on quantify the economic and ecological metrics using life-cycle assessment and market analysis, it will target IP protection, create industrial partnership to establish a first joint project and elaborate a business plan for potential spin-off foundation.
Projet ERC : BASEforHANK (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université rhénane Frédéric-Guillaume de Bonn — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

My ERC-CoG project has advanced the methodological frontier in solving and estimating macroeconomic equilibrium models, enabling analysis of the interplay between business cycles and inequality. To transform this innovation into a benefit for society, policymakers must be able to work with models with ease. This will allow them to comprehend how the policies they propose impact both the macroeconomy and income/wealth distribution. For this purpose, policymakers require a software tool that allows for swift development and analysis of models. The ERC-CoG-funded research has produced a pilot software that can theoretically achieve this, alongside fundamental methodological research. However, it lacks the versatility and user-friendliness required by policymakers who must develop answers to policy questions under time pressure. The aims of the BASEforHANK project include the further development of the pilot software into a more user-friendly and versatile tool. If successful, this development will enable policymakers worldwide to understand the impacts of their policies better, resulting in more socially cohesive and stable growth. The development follows the model of the Dynare software package, which made it possible to use macroeconomic equilibrium models with representative agents that are now pervasive in policy institutions.
Projet ERC : GyroRevolution (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université rhénane Frédéric-Guillaume de Bonn — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Rotation sensors, also called gyroscopes, are ubiquitous in consumer electronics, navigation, and environmental sensing. The most advanced gyroscopes are ring lasers that are based on the Sagnac effect. All current compact and transportable devices, however, show significant drift and limited sensitivity, which precludes their usage in fields of application where extremely small rotation rates in the nrad/s to prad/s range need to be measured. These limitations are of purely technical origin: they derive from residual movement of the gaseous laser medium, light scattering, and acoustic fiber noise.  Within the scope of an ERC Starting Grant, we have implemented a disruptively different design of a ring laser gyroscope that circumvents these limitations, now allowing for a compact and transportable device with near-zero drift and improved sensitivity.  Such a device is in high demand for example in seismology, where it would benefit earth quake and tsunami early warning systems. Sensing of environmental ground motion is imperative in the context of climate change. Monitoring the structural health of bridges and other large-scale constructions is another pressing task, where highly precise acquisition of rotation and distortion will have a massive impact on the early and reliable detection of structural fatigue.  Within GyroRevolution, we will demonstrate the supremacy of our concept and show operation outside of the laboratory. We will develop an IPR strategy and prepare a patent application. A detailed competitor and market analysis will constitute the first step on the pathway of deployment via a spin-out company. We will intensify contacts with companies to prepare for future partnerships. Importantly, we will get involved with potential end-users early-on to adapt our innovative technology to their needs. GyroRevolution marks the first and decisive step in technology transfer from fundamental research to a scalable device with a wide range of applications.