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

Taxonomic identification of tiny organic samples using proteins (proteomics) has major, but only partially realised, potential in archaeology, ecology, wildlife forensics and food-chain authentication. It is a cost-effective and minimally destructive alternative to DNA analysis that can be applied even when DNA is not preserved. However, the most widespread method, known as ‘zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry’ (ZooMS) or peptide mass fingerprinting, cannot differentiate some taxa of major historical and ecological significance. Contaminated and mixed samples are also poorly resolved by ZooMS. Yet existing alternative methods are comparatively slow and expensive, even when optimised. The PReciSe project will develop a new proteomics approach to taxonomic identification that is fast, cheap, precise, reliable and realistically scalable to sample batches of varying size. The method will combine the speed and simplicity of ZooMS with the discriminating power of more complex techniques. It will immediately solve archaeological and ecological problems (extending to wildlife forensics in the case of endangered species) through the implementation of a research and commercial service at the National Laboratory for Age Determination in Trondheim. Moreover, by transferring innovations to industrial partners, environmental agencies and public health organisations, it will ultimately provide an alternative for quick and inexpensive supply-chain verification of aquaculture and livestock feeds – in order to exclude species that may be unsustainably sourced (e.g. in fishmeal) or potentially harmful (e.g. ruminant byproducts). Applications of the innovation will range from archaeological discoveries, to revealing the past and present sustainability of life in the oceans, to enhancing global food security and public health.

Mots-clés : zooms proteomics archaeology historical ecology north atlantic right whale bowhead whale food chain authentication fishmeal livestock feeds
Projet ERC : LEANMASS (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université hébraïque de Jérusalem — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : HUJI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Obesity affects 1 in 6 adults in Europe, driving demand for therapy. Agonists of the Glucagon Like Peptide 1 Receptor (GLP1RAs) such as semaglutide (Novo Nordisk) and tirzepatide (Eli Lilly) have led to substantial weight loss in millions of patients. However, a large fraction of lost weight is attributed to loss of lean mass: muscle and bone. A reduction in lean mass increases the risk for sarcopenia and osteoporosis – loss of muscle and bone. Our analysis of 748,667 patients using GLP1RAs has shown that most are women, over the age of 50: a population already at risk for muscle and bone loss. Sarcopenia and osteoporosis cause pain, fatigue, limit the ability of patients to perform daily activities, and increase their risk for fractures. With millions of GLP1RA users and an annual direct cost of 5000USD/osteoporosis patient, loss of lean mass can cost billions to health care systems.  Growth Hormone (GH) is the natural signal in adults for sustaining lean mass. Results from our ERC project identified pathways that may sustain GH signaling during and after weight loss. We propose to develop novel molecules that will lead to an increase in natural GH secretion. We will test the efficacy and safety of a library molecules we designed for their ability to maintain lean mass during GLP1RA-induced weight loss. The results will secure the intellectual property surrounding the novel molecules and their use.  By addressing the underlying causes of muscle and bone loss, we aim to develop a comprehensive solution to the obesity crisis. Our innovative biochemical approach targets the aging population struggling with obesity and has the potential to prevent disease in millions of patients and alleviate a significant burden from healthcare systems.
Projet ERC : GRADINK (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université Palacký — Pays : Rép. Tchèque — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

GRADERINK addresses the pressing need for development of novel inks that can be utilized for inkjet printing of stable, selective, sensitive, and eco-friendly electrodes. Project aims to deliver the upscaling of an industrially relevant novel manufacturing process for graphene-derivative based ink, enabling a significant progress in the printing technologies for versatile electrochemical biosensing platform. Such platform can be utilized for a wide range of medicinally, environmentally and food/water-safety related analytes, such as microbes, antibiotics, pesticides, disease markers, just to name a few.  The maintenance of a healthy society necessitates not only monitoring human body status but also screening food, drinking water, air, and environment. Such monitoring requires immediate, on-site, and easy-to-read sensing technologies. Electrochemical biosensors represent an ideal sensing platform because they transduce a specific biochemical event to an electrical signal, which can be readily recorded and processed. The key component of electrochemical biosensors is the electrode, which is used as a solid support for the immobilization of biomolecules and electron movement. Graphene-based materials are ideally suitable for the construction of electrochemical biosensor electrodes because they offer high surface area, unique electrochemical properties, and high biocompatibility. However, graphene itself enables only limited applications and the patterning of graphene-based electrodes remains unsolved challenge. Digital printing technologies represent a novel strategy for patterning of electrodes. Their use, however, requires stable, robust and sustainable inks which are not yet commercially available.  GRADERINK’s goal will be achieved through the implementation of cost-effective materials and processes along with taking TRL of the developed technology from 2 to 4, thus shaping a significant business opportunity.
Projet ERC : Electrofloat (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : IMDEA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

“It is estimated that Europe needs an installed capacity for lithium-ion battery production of 300 GWh/year by 2030. By then, the battery market for electric vehicles alone will be worth $116 billion annually. Amongst many technical challenges in this transition is to develop cost-effective and environmentally sustainable processes methods to manufacture high silicon (Si) content anodes for the next generation LIBs (3b and 4a). Si is more abundant than graphite and can enable higher power batteries with thinner electrodes as well as extending the range of EVs by increasing energy density of the next generation of LIB cells by over 50%. ELECTROFLOAT proposes a new method to produce high capacity lithium ion battery anodes made of nanostructured silicon fabrics with up to 100 w.t% Si content, which eliminates all solvents, polymers and mixing steps from anode manufacture. This project comprises a set of selected R&D activities in key areas to reach TRL7 and start pilot-plant scale up, focused on a) de-risking the manufacturing process, b) application of strategies to mitigate capacity fading and increase electrochemical performance under application operational conditions c) designing scale-up roadmap to 1GWh/a and carrying out a techno-economic analysis to determine projected manufacturing costs and establish an adequate validation-driven scale-up strategy. Non-technical activities will be conducted by an Industrialisation Development Team consisting of the PI, two external industrialisation advisors, IMDEA’s Technology Transfer officer, and the CEO of Floatech, the newly created spin-off company pursuing commercialization of this technology.”
Projet ERC : CORIM (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université technique de Vienne — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TU Wien
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The CORIM project aims to introduce a technology that has the potential to significantly expand the application area of collaborative robots (cobots) in the manufacturing sector. Today's collaborative robots have limited ability to handle tasks that require rapid contact transitions with stiff environments, since the force peaks emerging from the contact transition endanger key elements such as gears and force sensors in the collaborative robots. Based on findings of the ERC project NatDyReL, we will develop a solution for these applications, which is based on two main components: a method for analysis and planning fast contact transitions, and an end effector for contact tasks. In connection with the motion planning, which takes the impact models and the inertial couplings into account, this end-effector allows to protect the robot wrist from the impulsive contact forces. Building on this core idea, CORIM enable a conventional collaborative robot to perform physically demanding harsh applications such as hammering, denting, and punching. The CORIM concept will allow to significantly broaden the application area of cobots in the manufacturing industry. In addition to the technical feasibility study, we will perform a business feasibility study as a preparation of further commercialization steps.
Projet ERC : Learn (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université technique de Vienne — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TU Wien
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Certified computer systems are becoming the key in the increasingly complex decision making activities of our modern society. Among others, provably correct/secure solutions within Artificial Intelligence (AI), Autonomous Systems, Big Data, Blockchain, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Cloud Computing, or Machine Learning (ML) are indispensable in the ongoing digitalization of our society. While the explosion in applications of computer systems leads to great increases in productivity, wealth, and convenience, it creates a paradoxical situation: we rely on computer systems despite that uncountable many application scenarios showcase that computer systems are not (properly) certified and hence are error-prone. Unfortunately, a single software error can quickly escalate into a big issue with huge economic damage. Software errors could be though prevented by rigorous code reviews in the software logic. However, who can tell software developers which logical formalism should be used? Moreover, which certification mechanism is best to be used during code review, for ensuring system safety and security? LEARN answers these questions by automating reasoning about software and discovering proof strategies for software certification. Doing so, LEARN introduces a web-based framework for learning and predicting logic models of software properties. LEARN also discovers collections of proof strategies without relying on server back-end, by automating inductive reasoning over commonly used software data structures. LEARN eliminates massive costs arising from correcting defective software releases, by proving an easy to deploy certification platform for developers and organizations.

Mots-clés : automated reasoning,theorem proving,inductive reasoning,software verification,learning logic
Projet ERC : HybridNP (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université hébraïque de Jérusalem — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : HUJI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Current nanometric drug delivery systems have enormous potential to shift clinical practice in diseases that require targeted or site-specific therapy. New tools to fabricating multi-functional drug delivery systems can potentiate drug-carrier activity and offer the necessary shift from inert carriers to active drug carriers that can maximize drug activity in the desired tissue. This is particularly crucial in cancer, where chemotherapy drugs have broad spectrum non-specific activities. Based on our recent findings related to the role of physical properties of nano-carriers e.g. morphology, shape and stiffness in cell specificity, we propose to develop a remotely actuated nanocarrier with optimal parameters to provide tumor targeting. The nanocarriers are composed of thermo-responsive polymer with metal, which can be designed as asymmetric particles with preference of uptake by the more malignant cells. The project includes the development of a novel methodology for fabricating anisotropic metal/polymer hybrid nanoparticles, as well as characterization of their morphology and composition. The remote actuation of the nanocarriers will be measured as well as their theopoetic potential. The high-risk project can lead to an innovative approach in drug delivery with a particulate interest in cancer and other complex diseases.
Projet ERC : MiRACLE (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, 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 €

Early detection of disease on a population scale (screening) relies on highly sensitive testing, able to detect early molecular changes, coupled with cost-effectiveness that enables economic access to such testing at scale.  The MiRACLE project addresses these challenges by combining a breakthrough optical sensing approach for single-molecule detection with creative biochemistry and computation. The ground-breaking goal of this research proposal is to develop a robust diagnostic platform capable of detecting disease-induced changes in micro-RNA expression by counting individual RNA molecules directly in bodily fluids without the need for amplification.  This innovation will be realized by a novel, computationally assisted single-molecule detection scheme that, unlike common single-molecule detection methods, enables detecting a full panel of biomarkers simultaneously in a single snapshot, offering ultimate sensitivity at exceptionally low-cost. These attributes make this technology suitable for large-scale population screening and health management.  Promising preliminary results show that MiRACLE can detect and count individual RNA targets in mixtures of synthetic miRs in physiological sub-femtomolar concentrations. These preliminary results highlight the potential of this approach for ultra-sensitive early detection of disease and a provisional patent has been submitted.  Within the proposed project a proof of principle will be performed on a cohort of lymphoma patients and healthy controls that will be classified by the miracle approach. The technology will be benchmarked against existing state-of-the-art methods such as RNA sequencing and quantitative PCR.
Projet ERC : RuMaster (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Manchester — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Catalysts play a crucial role in the chemical industry, with the production of approximately 90% of all chemicals dependant on catalysts at some stage in the manufacturing process. Ruthenium catalysis holds great potential in synthetic chemistry, offering unique capabilities in catalysing reactions like olefin metathesis and asymmetric hydrogenation. However, the field is hindered by the lack of versatile and stable ‘master precatalysts’, capable of allowing the reliable fast generation and screening of new catalysts by simply mixing them with libraries of ligands. Instead, common precatalysts such as RuCl3 or [(para-cymene)RuCl2)]2 are rarely used for in situ generation of new catalysts due to stability issues and non-straightforward ligand exchange, leaving chemists with few ruthenium-catalyst options to optimize or explore new chemistry.  We have developed a novel ruthenium-complex that we believe represents the first ‘master precatalyst’ in this field. The complex, which we have called RuAqua, has been designed for maximum stability under ambient conditions –it is stable to air and moisture for years–, while affording very fast ligand exchange for in situ new catalyst formation. We have shown that RuAqua is an ideal precatalyst for high-throughput screenings and can be readily implemented into existing academic- and industry-based catalyst screening pipelines. This will result in more innovative processes being developed, as well as potentially displacing the use of much more expensive rhodium, iridium and palladium-based processes through the availability of new ruthenium-based synthetic routes.  This project will aim to maximise the innovation potential of RuAqua by exploring improved synthetic routes to its scalable manufacture, taking into consideration industrial needs, engaging with downstream users to obtain evaluation in key processes, and further exploring the versatility of RuAqua for a wide range of reaction types.
Projet ERC : SugarBiomarker (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, 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 €

Diet can dramatically affect health, and different dietary habits have been associated with various human diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases (CVD), type II diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. In particular, high consumption of red meat has been frequently suggested as a risk factor for human cancers and CVD. We aim to develop biomarkers for cancer and CVD based on signatures of antibodies against glycans. We developed unique nano-printed arrays with various glycans. These will be used for high-throughput serum screening of a large cohort of individuals with validated diet and disease conditions, followed by deep-learning analysis. Unique signatures of antibodies could potentially identify such diseases at an early stage, to allow personalized dietary recommendations or a better therapeutic window. Thereby, such novel sugar-based disease diagnostics could dramatically improve prognosis of cancer and CVD.
Projet ERC : DiMoVac (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : HGF
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Seasonal influenza poses a major global public health challenge, causing 3-5 million cases of severe illness and 290,000-650,000 deaths annually. Influenza vaccines are crucial for preventing illness, reducing severity of infection, and limiting virus transmission; however, their efficacy varies across populations due to factors such as immune status and pre-existing comorbidities. Immunocompromised patients (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, HIV or organ transplant recipients) are particularly vulnerable to influenza and consequent complications include hospitalization and death, as their immune systems often fail to mount adequate responses to standard vaccines. Leveraging data from our previous ERC-St grant-funded studies, we analyzed the serological and multi-omics profiles of various cohorts across 5 time points over 4 influenza seasons. This analysis, covering multiple virus strains, identified robust molecular biomarkers linked to vaccine responses, which were validated through wet-lab experiments. Machine learning models based on pre-vaccination biomarkers were able to predict vaccine response in independent samples. Building on these findings, we propose to develop a diagnostic assay to measure these biomarkers and apply our established prediction model to stratify patients based on their responsiveness to the influenza vaccine. Samples from various patient cohorts, provided by our collaboration partners, will be used for verification and validation. Once validated, these biomarkers will be integrated into an innovative, fast, and reliable diagnostic test to predict vaccine responsiveness, through collaboration of an experienced industrial partner. Additionally, our team will create a user-interface app to translate biomarker measurements into diagnostic outcome. By enabling personalized vaccine strategies particularly for patients, this project has the potential to significantly improve influenza vaccine efficacy, reduce disease burden and ultimately save lives.
Projet ERC : Re-TauAD (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : DZNE
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Alzheimer’s disease is a major cause of disability among older adults and represents substantial financial and human costs to patients, families and societies worldwide. Currently there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Thus, novel effective treatments need to be developed that target the root causes of Alzheimer’s disease, in particular the pathogenic accumulation of the protein tau. During our ERC project, we achieved a breakthrough by demonstrating that an approved human drug efficiently inhibits pathogenic tau accumulation in several pre-clinical assays. The identified FDA/EMA-approved small molecule is orally bioavailable, safe in humans and reaches the brain at high concentrations. It is the aim of this proof of concept project to provide further pre-clinical validation of the drug and to pursue the needed steps towards IPR protection and commercialization. Because no disease-modifying therapy currently exists for AD, bringing the novel repurposed drug closer to the market promises an outstanding high gain.