Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : VERTEX (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Barcelone — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 120000.0 €

VERTEX is a proof of concept project that aims to use virtual reality (VR) to improve the well-being of older adults. The project is based on the idea that psychological factors play a key role in age-related deterioration and that older adults' attitudes towards aging may be a significant predictor of physical and cognitive frailty. Participants will experience scenarios and events from their youth, such as being in a 1970s living room. They will be transported to memorable historical events from the time of their youth, such as famous concerts. The project aims to evaluate the effects of this experience on aging and provide evidence for the benefits of such an intervention, with the goal of supporting a spin-off. The project will involve several stages: a further implementation of the VR application continuing from results of an experimental study in the associated Advanced Grant MoTIVE, the carrying out of a further experimental study based on the new application, the rollout of the application to community centres providing opportunities for many people to experience this in such institutional settings, and the rollout to individuals to use in their homes on a loan basis. Focus groups with stake holders such as community centre managers will be carried out to assess the potential of the introduction of the VERTEX system as part of what can be offered to clientele. The business opportunity and regulatory framework will be investigated. All this information will be used to create a business plan that will make the case for investment to take the project forward in a spin-off to make VERTEX available on a large scale.
Projet ERC : AziPhos (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Groningue — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : RUG
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The search for innovative and efficient chiral catalysts and ligands for producing enantiopure molecules remains a vital priority across the pharmaceutical, flavours and fragrances, and agrochemical sectors. A significant majority of newly developed drugs are chiral, creating an increasing demand for advancements in asymmetric synthesis and the development of chiral ligands and metal complexes, which is driving substantial progress in asymmetric catalysis. Despite these advances, the number of chemical transformations required to produce chiral molecules continues to grow, while only a small fraction of the hundreds of chiral ligands developed for use in chiral catalysts have been commercialized, and even fewer have been successfully scaled for industrial applications. The most successful ligands, often referred to as ‘privileged phosphine ligands,’ have achieved notable success in various transformations. However, their structural diversity is limited, constraining further expansion of reactivity, and their production costs remain high. Most of these successful chiral phosphine ligands require multi-step, time-consuming, and costly non-catalytic synthetic routes. In this context, this proposal aims to build upon a recent breakthrough—the discovery of a completely new class of highly efficient chiral phosphine ligands. Notably, these ligands offer a significant advantage by being producible via a robust catalytic synthesis that requires only 1-2 steps. Moreover, the structure of this new ligand family is highly modular, allowing for rapid diversification and the creation of a library of related ligands. These promising features suggest that our discovery holds the potential to develop a product with a compelling value proposition, representing a significant advancement over current competing solutions in the market.
Projet ERC : PROMETEO (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : École polytechnique de Milan — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : PoliMi
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 90000.0 €

Over the last decades, the gut intestinal microflora and other microbial communities present in our body raised a strong interest in the health research domain as it was discovered their possible relation to the pathophysiology of major organs and systems. Gut epithelial cells, together with our resident microbiota, are involved in the modulation of the host immune system and represent the first line of adsorption of drugs and nutraceuticals. In parallel to microbiota studies, a great effort has been devoted to assess the role of the “probiotics”, live microorganisms that, administered in adequate amounts, are able to confer a benefit to the host health. Probiotics are currently widely used in the prevention/treatment of many diseases. One critical point that is still an issue in the characterisation of new potential probiotics is the difficulty in mimicking with high reliability the gut microenvironment condition using animal models or the current in vitro tools, poorly representative of the real in vivo situation. This gap motivates the need for the development of alternative research tools, such as the fluidic devices, to study the mechanisms at play in human gut microenvironment and contribute to the success rate of expensive, risky and time-consuming pre-clinical and clinical trials. In this frame, our PROMETEO project aims to perform the technical and commercial feasibility of an integrated probiotic/gut epithelium/immune system millifluidic platform, based on a patented organ-on-a-chip technological device, providing the basis for a new generation of innovative solutions for probiotics/drug development. PROMETEO will be run by a consortium between Politecnico di Milano and AAT-Advanced Analytical Technologies, a forefront SME specialized in promoting innovation in the probiotic sector, thus combining a solid technological expertise and an in-depth knowledge of the market.
Projet ERC : ISBIOMECH (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université Charles-III de Madrid — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

In nature, all biological material from the cell to the tissue level is subjected to continuous mechanical stress and strain. These mechanical cues play an essential role on several biological processes and can determine the fate of a healing or a cancerous process, among many others. Therefore, research activities focusing on studying the deterministic nature of these processes need a robust test platform that allows for reproducing these mechanically-varying environments. Such a system would significantly contribute to improving in-vitro testing of therapies and drug discovery, incorporating the essential influence of mechanics in pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies. However, the current approaches are restricted to basic science methods with important limitations. This lack of a suitable system hinders the translation of basic science in mechanobiology to its application in the industrial-technological field. ISBIOMECH proposes a novel intelligent system to control the mechanical environment of cellular/tissue materials, to be commercially exploited as laboratory equipment for mechanobiology research and pathological treatment testing. The novel device and associated software will provide the first commercially available system to allow for robust and reproducible in-vitro testing of mechanically-influenced biological processes. More concretely, the system will use magneto-responsive substrates allowing for non-invasive, multidimensional and real-time control of complex deformation modes on cellular/tissue materials. This technology will be implemented and validated by demonstration activities at stakeholders’ labs to address timely mechanobiological studies in epithelial wound healing, neurological disorders and cardiac pathology. The proposed system has the potential to open the experimental path to improve current treatments in, e.g., cancer pathologies, pathological skin scarring or fibrotic heart remodelling during myocardial infarction.
Projet ERC : 3rdAI (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : University College Cork — Pays : Irlande — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

3rdAI is the world’s first research-grade Playlist Generator—a tool that combines the granular detail of user-defined searches across our specialist-curated, semantically-tagged 450,000+ track lyrical corpus with the machine learning features of our hip hop-savvy AI. Over the course of our cultural data analytics research on the ERC project, CIPHER: Hip Hop Interpellation (globalcipher.org), we identified that with the development of our 3rdAI Research Engine we had laid the groundwork for a commercializable and sustainable, AI-assisted Playlist Generator tool, profits from which could fund CIPHER’s global hip hop research, community engagement projects, and landmark OA scholarly publications—like the CIPHER journal, Global Hip Hop Studies—in perpetuity. Scaffolded atop our powerful Research Engine, the 3rdAI Playlist Generator will create synergies between our intended research applications and the massive market for streaming music discovery via bespoke sentiment analysis and recommender systems tools.  The 3rdAI Playlist Generator thus revolutionizes the streaming and playlisting industries, bringing our next-level analysis of the archetypes and intertexts of this—the world’s most popular music—to the public. As outlined in our business plan, with 3rdAI, you can now search for—and visualize over time and space—hip hop’s multilingual, deeply intertextual references to war, peace, crime, community, migration, home, and any verbatim or thematically-related concepts you want to explore. But more than that, with the AI-assisted features of the 3rdAI Playlist Generator, now you can sonify your searches, uncovering and exploring the evolution of lyrics, beats, and themes through playlists that take you on a tour of hip hop history from Straight Outta Compton (Los Angeles, 1988) to Gully Boy (Mumbai, 2019) and beyond. Indeed, the name 3rdAI plays on a “gem” of hip hop knowledge, the “3rd eye” of hip hop consciousness—the oft-referenced archetype of hip hop insight.

Mots-clés : hip hop,mapping,music,data analytics,recommender systems,playlisting
Projet ERC : AMA (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Grenade — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 6000.0 €

i-TED is a gamma-ray imaging system that was fully developed and successfully applied for nuclear astrophysics experiments at CERN n_TOF in the previous HYMNS ERC CoG. i-TED was designed for highest possible detection sensitivity, and it is also characterized by its modularity, portability and low sensitivity to neutron-induced backgrounds. These characteristics make the developed system potentially very attractive for several emerging applications in health and life science. Indeed, Compton imagers are expected to provide a breakthough innovation potential in the fields of i) ion-range monitoring in hadron therapy, ii) intraoperative Radio-Guided Surgery (RGS), iii) dose-monitoring in boron-neutron capture therapy (BNCT), and iv) theranostics (radioisotopes that serve for both therapy and diagnostics). Thus, the aim of this POC proposal is to perform first proof-of-concept measurements with readily available i-TED Compton cameras for demonstrating their applicability and advantages in two of these fields: (ii) intraoperative RGS and (iii) neutron dose assessment in BNCT. We also aim at addressing the corresponding technical-readiness levels (TRLs) for each application, which seems the most convenient approach for an efficient transfer of the developed technology towards society.
Projet ERC : DefCrete (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de technologie de Delft — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TU Delft
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Current infrastructure elements requiring controlled deformation, such as tunnel support systems and bridge expansion joints, predominantly rely on steel components that face significant durability challenges due to corrosion. This project advances an innovative solution through auxetic cementitious composites (ACC) - a novel class of materials combining 3D-printed thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) auxetic frames with cementitious mortar. Initial laboratory testing has demonstrated remarkable properties, including compressive strains up to 40% and highly recoverable deformation under cyclic loading (up to 10% strain). Building on breakthrough findings from an ERC Starting Grant, this Proof of Concept project will advance the technology from TRL 2-3 to TRL 4 through four key activities: numerical modelling for design optimization, cyclic performance characterization, manufacturing scale-up, and market validation. The project will establish manufacturing protocols for larger-scale elements (decimetre size), validate performance under application-relevant conditions, and develop a comprehensive commercialization strategy. The innovation addresses a clear market need by eliminating corrosion concerns while providing superior mechanical performance. The technology's unique combination of controlled deformation capacity and durability opens possibilities for multiple infrastructure applications beyond initial target markets. The project will engage key stakeholders including infrastructure owners, engineering consultants, and manufacturers to validate requirements and identify pilot opportunities. Successful completion will establish the foundation for scale-up through subsequent funding (EIC Transition), leading to pilot demonstrations and market entry. The technology offers significant potential for reducing infrastructure maintenance costs while improving performance and reliability of critical deformable elements.
Projet ERC : BiTE-CAR (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Fundación Josep Carreras Contra la Leucemia — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Anti-CD19 immunotherapies based on Bi-specific T-cell Engagers (BiTE) or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-expressing T-cells have revolutionized the treatment of refractory/relapse (R/R) B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). However, despite initial impressive complete response (CR) rates, many patients relapse few months after anti-CD19 immunotherapy; in many cases with CD19 antigen loss. Such relapses are devastating, and patients are left with virtually no further treatment options. Dual targeting of the pan-B antigens CD19 and CD22 has been proposed as a therapeutic strategy to distribute the antigenic pressure over two molecules and to reduce immune escape by covering practically all B-ALL blast subclones. CD19/CD22-directed dual CARs have in fact been proposed to overcome B-ALL immunoediting during CAR T-cell therapy but, unfortunately CD19/CD22 dual CAR-treated R/R B-ALL patients showed CR rates not sustained over time and relapse with limited CAR T-cell expansion. In contrast to CAR T-cells, BiTEs-secreting T-cells represent a unique strategy capable of redirecting bystander T-cells to tumor cells because T-cell-produced BiTEs will be continuously secreted and will decorate, through the CD3scFv, the cell surface of practically all circulating and ex vivo manufactured bystander T-cells. Our overarching goal is to provide a novel and innovative T-cell redirecting immunotherapy for the treatment of R/R B-ALL by dual targeting both CD22 and CD19 with T-cells modified to simultaneously secrete CD22xCD3 BiTEs and express CD19 CAR (referred to BiTECAR). This strategy harnesses the biological advantages of both CARs and BiTEs while minimizing their limitations and will circumvent the potential low transduction efficiencies of the BiTECAR construct because the CD22-BiTE secreted by transduced T-cells will decorate the bystander (untransduced) T-cells boosting the durability and strength of T-cell responses.
Projet ERC : PROMETEO (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Aat-advanced analytical technologies-srl — Pays : Italie — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : ANCHE ADVANCED ANALYTICAL TECHNOLOGIES
Type d'entité : Organismes privés (hors enseignement)
Financement ERC de l'entité : 60000.0 €

Over the last decades, the gut intestinal microflora and other microbial communities present in our body raised a strong interest in the health research domain as it was discovered their possible relation to the pathophysiology of major organs and systems. Gut epithelial cells, together with our resident microbiota, are involved in the modulation of the host immune system and represent the first line of adsorption of drugs and nutraceuticals. In parallel to microbiota studies, a great effort has been devoted to assess the role of the “probiotics”, live microorganisms that, administered in adequate amounts, are able to confer a benefit to the host health. Probiotics are currently widely used in the prevention/treatment of many diseases. One critical point that is still an issue in the characterisation of new potential probiotics is the difficulty in mimicking with high reliability the gut microenvironment condition using animal models or the current in vitro tools, poorly representative of the real in vivo situation. This gap motivates the need for the development of alternative research tools, such as the fluidic devices, to study the mechanisms at play in human gut microenvironment and contribute to the success rate of expensive, risky and time-consuming pre-clinical and clinical trials. In this frame, our PROMETEO project aims to perform the technical and commercial feasibility of an integrated probiotic/gut epithelium/immune system millifluidic platform, based on a patented organ-on-a-chip technological device, providing the basis for a new generation of innovative solutions for probiotics/drug development. PROMETEO will be run by a consortium between Politecnico di Milano and AAT-Advanced Analytical Technologies, a forefront SME specialized in promoting innovation in the probiotic sector, thus combining a solid technological expertise and an in-depth knowledge of the market.
Projet ERC : BRAINCODER (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, 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 €

Hearing loss is a leading cause of disease burden. While the cochlear implant has emerged in the last decades as a major improvement for severe forms of deafness, this medical device still suffers from the lack of resolution which degrades the quality of restored hearing and from contraindications in a significant number of patients. To circumvent these issues, pioneering projects envision the use of auditory cortex implants placed on the last stage of the auditory system in the central brain, as they offer more interaction surface and address a highly plastic network. However, compared to cochlear implants, these new medical devices require novel encoding algorithms adapted to the neuronal code for sounds in the auditory cortex at a high level in the brain. To achieve this, the Braincoder project proposes to leverage recent results made in the context of the ERC CoG Deepen project which characterised essential transformations of the auditory information from the cochlea to the cortex and established that they could be reproduced with deep neural networks. Following these results we have implemented a network which solves the difficult problem of finding the mathematical transformations that compress information about arbitrary sounds onto the stimulator array of the implant, while respecting the key rules of sound encoding in the target brain region. The network architecture chosen allows estimating precisely the information loss in the compression process and to benchmark cortical implant performance against cochlear implants. This technology, along with auditory rehabilitation using a high density cortical stimulation system, has been the subject of a recent patent filing. The goal of the Braincoder project is to consolidate this patent filing and implement these benchmarks to transform this research breakthrough into a robust software demonstrator as well as to establish the business plan to fully exploit our innovations via the creation of a startup company.
Projet ERC : Smart Skin (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Bari — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 114576.59 €

Artificial skins are made of sensors embedded in flexible matrices that record several stimuli from the environment and transform them into measurable signals. At the moment, different sensors have to be implemented in the electronic skin matrix for each stimulus. As a result, the existing technologies are complex, expensive, sometimes based on toxic materials or are not able to demonstrate multi-stimuli responsiveness and high resolution. With Smart Skin we will create a prototype for artificial skin that will surpass others already existing on the market by responding at the same time to three stimuli: temperature, force and humidity with high spatial resolution and better mimicking with such integrated response the sensitivity of the human skin. The sensing unit is done by a combination of two materials to reduce the required number of active sensing layers, while still being capable of multi-stimuli responsiveness. A smart material, responsive to humidity and temperature, is integrated as core in a piezoresponsive shell. Nano-structuration of such sensing unit in core-shell site-specific geometrical layouts allows to create a sensing network with spatial resolution down to 1mm (human skin’s resolution ) and lower. This unique architecture is achieved thanks to the use of state-of-the-art fabrication techniques with high control over material properties, as well as, material uniformity. The advantage of using dry, vapor-based, processing is that it is possible to cumulate features from precursors with different solubilities and with engineered composition gradients, which are difficult to obtain by conventional chemical synthesis. Robotics and smart prosthetics would greatly benefit from a more integrated and precise sensoring information. Enabling these new features would make robots used in households, for example, aware of dangerous increases in temperature and in general more human friendly because they would be more responsive.