Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : HYBRIGEL (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université d'Utrecht — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

There is a growing need for reproducible, human-relevant in vitro models to advance biomedical research and drug discovery. Current 3D culture systems often fail to replicate the complexity of native tissues, contributing to poor clinical translation rates and limiting the development of animal-free testing platforms. While organoid technologies and biofabrication methods offer promising solutions, their progress is constrained by the lack of standardized, scalable biomaterials. Widely used matrices such as Matrigel, derived from laminin-rich tumor extracts, suffer from batch variability, undefined composition, and poor compatibility with advanced manufacturing techniques. Building on my ERC-funded VOLUME-BIO project, we have developed HYBRIGEL, a novel, chemically-defined hydrogel designed to address these limitations. HYBRIGEL is based on abundantly available gelatin, modified with reversible supramolecular interactions in addition to covalent crosslinking. This creates a dynamic, cell-responsive environment that promotes tissue remodeling, cell migration, and mechanotransduction—without requiring additional bioactive peptides. HYBRIGEL supports diverse cell types, including organoids, mesenchymal stem cells, vascular cells, and T cells. HYBRIGEL’s enhanced mechanical stability allows for the creation of complex, biomimetic structures through biofabrication techniques such as volumetric bioprinting. Its reproducibility, scalability, and manufacturing efficiency position it as a strong candidate for widespread adoption in both research and pharmaceutical applications. This project will advance HYBRIGEL towards commercial exploitation by expanding its validation across multiple organoid types and demonstrating scalable production processes. A comprehensive market analysis will inform the commercialization strategy, with an envisioned focus on licensing the technology to established industry partners.
Projet ERC : MY-O-SENSES (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Hannover Medical School — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : MHH
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The most prevalent genetic sensory defect, sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), affects >430 million people and results in substantial financial and social consequences. Current treatment options are limited, achieving only temporary or partial relief and are restricted to a sub-group of patients. Therefore, novel treatment options are of high clinical need. Genetic mutations play a role in the majority of SNHL cases, which makes SNHL an ideal setting for innovative clinical gene therapy approaches. Usher syndrome is an especially severe form of SNHL, with loss of vision and balance accompanying the profound deafness. The size of the underlying genes, mutations of which are causative for Usher syndrome, exceeds the cargo capacity of gene therapy vectors currently employed to treat inner ear disorders. In my ERC-funded consolidator project iHEAR, we have provided the first ground-breaking evidence of efficient gene transfer into inner ear cell types using beyond state-of-the-art lentiviral vectors (LV). As these LV have the capacity to deliver large genetic payloads, we acquired initial data demonstrating functional improvement in a knock-out mouse hearing loss model following LV application. The MY(O)SENSES PoC proposal aims to advance these valuable research results towards clinical application by completing pre-clinical development, securing IP rights and commercializing a formulated medicinal product to launch a first-in-human clinical LV gene therapy trial to treat Usher syndrome patients. This ground-breaking concept can be extended to treat late-onset hearing loss in patients with heterozygous mutations and can be transferred to similar diseases with a genetic or acquired cause. The MY(O)SENSES product will be the first and only treatment that addresses the debilitating vertigo in combination with treating hearing loss in Usher syndrome patients, having the potential to drastically improve patients' lives and benefit society.
Projet ERC : DACAT (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université catholique de Louvain — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UCL
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

In qualitative data analysis oriented towards theory-building, many data analysts anchor their methodological approach – explicitly or not – in grounded theory. However, as research in teams develops, handling larger amounts of qualitative data enabled by technological developments, grounded theory’s principles are increasingly at odds with current practices; and analysts of qualitative data are left relying on coding procedures that do not match their realities. Following a burgeoning literature and building on the ERC-funded QUALIDEM project, we argue that shifting to an abductive approach of coding, that combines deduction and induction at different stages of data analysis, provides an epistemology to qualitative research that aims at theory-building. This PoC aims to develop abduction as a method of qualitative data analysis by providing a toolkit for abductive coding – the Abductive Coding Analysis Toolkit (ACAToolkit). The ACAToolkit includes three main components: (1) a practical guide ; (2) an educational program for training; (3) an overview of the potentials and limits of existing QDA software - for abductive coding. The toolkit, thereby, targets several audiences: academics, instructors, data analysts and software developers. Our pathway from research to innovation consists of three steps: (1) mapping the existing practices, and tools of abductive coding in different disciplines through a systematic literature review whose results will be presented in a technical report; (2) developing our abductive coding analysis toolkit through research collaborations and consultancy agreements with stakeholders – educators, software developers and data analysts, synthesized during two cocreation workshops; (3) testing the ACAToolkit with different potential end-users during five in situ tests – with researchers, students, educators, software developers, and data analysts. The toolkit aims to be free, attractive, widely applicable, and with a wide disciplinary range.
Projet ERC : MULTIBRIDGE (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Cailabs — Pays : France — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Organismes privés (hors enseignement)
Financement ERC de l'entité : 50000.0 €

The project aims at a proof-of-concept demonstration of a novel technology, enabling a substantial extension of the reach of unrepeatered fiber optic communication links. MULTIBRIDGE will permit to cross the ultimate frontier of high-capacity transmission systems, by introducing a new method for the amplification of multiple optical signals, that simultaneously propagate in long-haul, unrepeatered transmission systems based on multimode optical fibers. This will lead to a breakthrough distance increase of high capacity, mode-division multiplexed, unrepeatered optical systems. Today, fiber optics links based on singlemode fibers need the periodic insertion of devices for lumped (erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, EDFA) or distributed (Raman pump) optical amplification. Amplifiers dramatically limit the number of fibers that it is possible to insert into a single submarine or terrestrial cable. Unrepeatered optical systems based on singlemode fibers cannot extend their reach over more than 300 km, because of the limited amount of optical power that can be coupled into the fiber ends. In the MULTIBRIDGE approach, both individual signals and pump radiation are coupled into separate modes of a multimode fiber by using mode-division multiplexers. Raman amplification of signals is obtained by inter-modal stimulated Raman scattering, so that multiple processes of Raman amplification act simultaneously, thus increasing the amplification efficiency. Mode-division multiplexing is naturally compatible with the proposed technology, permitting the simultaneous transmission of multiple high-speed optical tributaries. Multimode optical fibers may carry several tens of Watt of optical pump and signal power, thus permitting the extension of unrepeatered fiber links well above the 300 km limit of single-mode systems, as well as the deployment of long-haul systems with hundreds of fibers into a single submarine/terrestrial cable.
Projet ERC : HormoCaps (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université catholique de Louvain — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UCL
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

HormoCaps will help us demonstrate the viability as a commercial product of a dual-action drug delivery system which synergizes its own biological effect and that of the encapsulated bioactive molecule for the oral delivery of peptides. This would represent an alternative to current oral incretin-based treatments for gastrointestinal metabolic disorders. In HormoCaps, we will (i) demonstrate the translational feasibility of our strategy; (ii) evaluate the capacity of the formulation to simultaneously stimulate the secretion of hormones that are present at different concentrations at distinct regions of the gastrointestinal mucosa; and (iii) consolidate our results towards a licensing plan to guide the commercialization of our formulation.
Projet ERC : BioMag (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Iron is essential for all life forms as it is a core component of many vital metabolic processes. In humans, iron homeostasis is controlled by sophisticated processes regulating its storage, transport, and export. More recently, the role of iron in diseases also emerged with ferroptosis being a form of cell death that is implicated for instance in the onset and progression of cancer or neurodegenerative disorders. Here, we focus on another intriguing type of iron in the body: the magnetic iron, which seems to be involved in both homeostasis and crippling pathologies, but which goes largely unnoticed to date. And yet, the presence and role of such biomagnetic iron offer a significant opportunity for novel therapeutic approaches. One explanation as to why this an unmet need most certainly stems from the lack of existing technologies that can detect the signature of biomagnetic iron in live human cells in real time. The solution brought by BioMag PoC project is to make possible the in operando monitoring of intracellular biogenesis of magnetic iron in human cells, in advanced cancer and Alzheimer’s models. To do so, the project proposes a unique (ultra)sensitive magnetic sensor integrated with bioreactors to enable the real-time measurement of magnetic nanoparticles biosynthesis in the cellular environment. The usefulness of this device goes well beyond the scope of our main ERC research, as it can have a significant impact on (i) identifying novel therapeutic approaches to diseases by detecting iron-based new druggable targets, (ii) addressing key questions related to iron metabolism towards novel diagnostics, and (iii) proposing a novel type of biogenic nanomedicines.
Projet ERC : DOMES (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Maastricht — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

In Europe, 263 per 10,000 pregnancies are diagnosed with a fetal congenital anomaly. Congenital anomalies, also referred to as birth defects, are defined as structural or functional disorders that occur during fetal development and are inherited, and/or caused by environmental factors. Unfortunately, the link between environmental factors, such as drugs, toxins or other chemicals, and the manifestation of these multifactorial disorders is poorly understood. To identify environmental factors affecting tissue and organogenesis and study their pathogenic mechanisms, new 3D in vitro models with reliable and highly reproducible architecture are urgently needed. None of the current cell culture systems available can provide the controlled environment needed to sufficiently guide the self-organization process of stem cell-based 3D in vitro models. Our new microfluidic platform, DOMES, is the first of its kind, combining precise control over morphogenetic processes with standardized and user-friendly handling. In this project, we will exemplarily focus on congenital diseases of the kidney, in particular the collecting duct system. We will analyse on-chip the impact of specific environmental compounds, such as drugs and endocrine disruptors, on the branching morphogenesis of the collecting duct. DOMES is a product family of microfluidic 3D cell culture chips which will allow the control and study not only of kidney organoids, but of other 3D cell models including lung, neural, gut organoids and embryoid bodies. This is the first instance of a cell culture platform allowing direct orchestration of the microfluidic environment for guiding self-organisation, symmetry breaking and organogenesis, and represents a paradigm shift in researchers ability to study development of organs and their congenital anomalies in vitro.
Projet ERC : ChemEd (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Göttingen — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : GAU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The increasing demand of complex organic molecules, either because of their biological activity or technical interest are opening a new period in Organic Synthesis, which is mainly focused on the discovery of novel transformations that can be carried out in already (poly)functionalized substrates. As part of this trend, the development new reagents capable to transfer additional functional groups at the desired position of advanced synthetic intermediates is of paramount importance. Areas such as crop science and drug discovery make extensive use of this working methodology for the improvement of their original targets and the identification of new ones. Arguably, the most versatile group transfer reagents used in organic synthesis are those based on hypervalent I(III) structures. However, their implementation in industrial processes is seriously limited by their highly reactive nature. Hypervalent iodine (III) compounds are known to be potentially explosive and this limits their use to small scale. Restrictive safety conditions also apply for their synthesis and storage. To circumvent these drawbacks, we developed with the ERC Consolidator SULFOSOL (771295) a general approach for the straightforward preparation of thermodynamically more robust transfer reagents based on the use of low prize sulfur-containing platforms. Through the intervention of ChemEd, we will push the chemical space beyond the existing boundaries through the synthesis of reagents able to transfer the unique structural entities identified by our industrial partners. ChemEd will simultaneously address the scale-up synthesis of such reagents, to proceed with their commercialization.
Projet ERC : STROKEGRAD (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de York — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

Many stroke survivors have chronic problems with language, attention, cognitive control and motor function. There is an urgent need to predict these sequelae so that rehabilitation can be better focussed, but it has proved challenging to anticipate the effects of stroke from brain lesions alone. We will use recent advances from our ERC-funded FLEXSEM project to predict the long-term consequences of stroke. Our work decomposes whole-brain connectivity patterns derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) into components, known as ‘gradients’ that capture substantial variance in function, and links these gradients to individual differences in cognitive ability. Pilot work suggests that (i) connectivity gradients can predict the chronic effects of stroke on language comprehension and (ii) that changes to these gradients can be anticipated from the lesion alone. This suggests our approach has high clinical utility, since stroke survivors are typically assessed with structural but not functional MRI. This PoC project will validate our approach across a range of domains, including speech fluency, comprehension, phonology and cognitive control. We will use resting-state fMRI and structural scans along with high-quality neuropsychology. We will parcellate the fMRI data from patients, compute the connectivity between pairs of parcels, perform dimension reduction on the connectivity matrix to generate gradients, and identify associations with cognitive problems. We will then examine the extent to which post-stroke cognitive changes can be predicted from structural scans by estimating lesioned gradients using data from aged-matched controls. Focus groups with speech therapists and stroke survivors, co-production of the validation work and dissemination activities for clinicians will ensure the tools we develop are suited to European healthcare systems to identify targets for rehabilitation.
Projet ERC : 2dQC (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Alpine Quantum Technologies (Austria) — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : AQT
Type d'entité : Organismes privés (hors enseignement)
Financement ERC de l'entité : 15000.0 €

The development of a general-purpose quantum processor requires the possibility of scaling the device up to large numbers of quantum bits and the realisation of fault-tolerant quantum gate operations between them, ideally with the possibility to carry out gates between arbitrary qubit pairs. In trapped-ion based implementations, quantum gates are typically carried out on sub-ensembles of qubits that are stored in linear strings of ions. These sub-ensembles are subsequently connected by shuttling ions around or using photonic interfaces. To reduce the footprint of such a device, we propose to replace linear strings by two-dimensional ion crystals and directly operate on 100 ion-qubits. Within this application, we will demonstrate the realisation of entangling gate operations between arbitrary ion pairs in a 2d-crystal with fidelities better than 99%. In collaboration with the company Alpine Quantum Technologies (AQT), we will make off-the-shelf 2D ion-crystals available for computational tasks by integrating the traps needed to store the crystals into the quantum computing systems developed by AQT. The control of these first-of-its-kind 2D ion-trap array will be based upon standardised quantum software development kits for this novel computing architecture. The realisation of a universal gate set in a processor with about 100 qubits with all-to-all connectivity will, beyond quantum computation, spearhead novel applications in hybrid digital-analog quantum simulations, quantum metrology and quantum networks.
Projet ERC : TissMec (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Göttingen — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : GAU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 150000.0 €

The way from potential drug candidates to clinically approved new medication is long and expensive. To improve this, we will provide the TissMec system that can create 3D human tissue while providing an automated and scalable way to quantify potential problems of drugs and other compounds of interest. Our TissMec system can not only measure the force generation of muscles and other contractile tissue but also continuously determine the viscoelastic tissue properties while mimicking mechanical situations that are known hallmarks of several critical diseases. Up to now, obtaining such information is either not possible or requires slow and expensive manual work. Hence, an automated, scalable and standardized (96 well) system that can quickly screen properties on human tissue can become a game-changer, as it identifies problematic drugs and compounds very early in the drug development process. We have a laboratory prototype (TRL4) that already demonstrates these capacities, and the proposed PoC project will develop this lab version into a user-friendly TRL6 prototype that we can give to our partners in pharmacology and toxicology and to already well-established industry partners. Our team is composed of 5 scientists spanning physics, biology, chemistry, data science, and economy. Hence, we not only have invented a new technology to greatly improve an urgent current problem but also have a powerful network and outstanding team to ensure the success of our project.
Projet ERC : PAIN-CARE (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Université de Florence — Pays : Italie — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 50000.0 €

About 25% of the adult population experiences chronic pain, which disrupts daily activities and severely affects the patient’s quality of life. In Europe, the socioeconomic burden of chronic pain runs into billions of euros annually and represents 3–10% of the GDP. The current mainstays of pain treatment are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and opioids, but their prolonged use is frequently associated with life-threatening adverse events and physical dependence. There is therefore an urgent need for new pharmacological strategies with superior efficacy and safety than those of NSAIDs and opioids. PAIN-CARE proposes to address chronic pain signaling using inhibitors targeting the Schwann cell proalgesic pathway. Previous research has shown the crucial role of Schwann cells in sustaining chronic pain. This project aims at developing Schwann cell selective drugs for chronic pain treatment, creating more clinically ready compounds based on bifunctional chimeric antagonists, with an inhibitory activity 100% higher than that of the combination of the two individual antagonists in mouse chronic pain models. The new Schwann Cell selective Analgesic Drugs (SCADs) will provide a dramatic change in the pain treatment paradigm, reducing treatment-related side effects and improving persistence. During this PoC, we aim to identify lead bifunctional chimeric molecules that preferentially antagonise two Schwann cell proteins. We will carry out tests in vitro and in vivo to demonstrate the novel compounds’ feasibility and superior inhibition efficiency when compared to the currently used compounds. Furthermore, our aim is to translate the results to a pre-commercialisation phase through the definition of the innovation commercial feasibility and potential, which will then be validated in discussions with relevant market players. A strong IPR strategy will be designed to ensure an advantageous position in the value chain of analgesics for pain treatment.