Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Structure function relationships of the phyllosphere microbiota (PhyMo)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Panel description: Ecology, biodiversity, environmental change, evolutionary biology, behavioural ecology, microbial ecology, marine biology, ecophysiology, theoretical developments and modelling
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2014-ADG, 2014)
Start date: 2015-09-01
End date: 2020-12-31
Duration (months): 64.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2499980.0
EU funding (EUR): 2499980.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Understanding processes in microbial communities is a crucial task given the impact of microbial communities on environmental systems, including plants and animals. There is a rapidly increasing number of microbial communities whose collective genomes have been determined; however, it is important to uncover their collective function and to understand how community properties emerge from the properties of individual microbial types and their interactions. One habitat that has been gaining growing interest is the phyllosphere, or the aerial parts of plants, which carry out the majority of terrestrial carbon dioxide fixation. There is a urgent need to better understand the microorganisms living in the phyllosphere and an increasing awareness of the importance of indigenous microbiota and their role in microbe-microbe and host-microbe interactions for both plant growth and protection. This project aims to uncover the molecular basis shaping microbial communities in the phyllosphere in order to improve our functional understanding of microbial interaction in the context of the plant host and to unravel the principles of the formation of community pattern and function in situ. To reach these objectives, a reductionist approach will be used to generate and test new hypotheses regarding microbial interactions in phyllosphere communities. Synthetic, tractable microbial communities will be formulated and analyzed under gnotobiotic conditions. In situ community approaches will be developed and applied, while community genetics and experimental evolution will provide complementary perspectives on the community structure and function. These approaches will be mirrored by manipulating interactions on the host side through the use of plant mutants and ecotypes. Taken together, using multifaceted perspectives on microbial interactions in situ will allow unprecedented insights into the biology of bacteria living in the phyllosphere and their individual and collective function.

Keywords: plant microbiome,microbial interactions,bacterial community,single cell,genetics,metabolomics,proteomics,mass spectrometry,fish,fluidfm,experimental evolution
Black holes and their host galaxies: coevolution across cosmic time (COEVOLUTION)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Universe sciences
Panel description: Astro-physics/-chemistry/-biology; solar system; planetary systems; stellar, galactic and extragalactic astronomy; cosmology; space sciences; astronomical instrumentation and data
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2014-STG, 2014)
Start date: 2015-09-01
End date: 2021-08-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1975062.0
EU funding (EUR): 1975062.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Galaxy formation is one of the most fascinating yet challenging fields of astrophysics. The desire to understand galaxy formation has led to the design of ever more sophisticated telescopes which show a bewildering variety of galaxies in the Universe. However, the degree to which an interpretation of this wealth of data can succeed depends critically on having accurate and realistic theoretical models of galaxy formation. While cosmological simulations of galaxy formation provide the most powerful technique for calculating the non-linear evolution of cosmic structures, the enormous dynamic range and poorly understood baryonic physics are main uncertainties of present simulations. This impacts on their predictive power and is the major obstacle to our understanding of observational data. The objective of this proposal is to drastically improve upon the current state-of-the-art by i) including more realistic physical processes, such as those occurring at the sphere of influence of a galaxy’s central black hole and ii) greatly extending spatial dynamical range with the aid of a novel technique I have developed. With this technique I want to address one of the major unsolved issues of galaxy formation: “How do galaxies and their central black holes coevolve?” Specifically, I want to focus on three crucial areas of galaxy formation: a) How and where the very first black holes form, what are their observational signatures, and when is the coevolution with host galaxies established? b) Is black hole heating solely responsible for the morphological transformation and quenching of massive galaxies, or are other processes important as well? c) What is the impact of supermassive black holes on galaxy clusters and can we calibrate baryonic physics in clusters to use them as high precision cosmological probes? The requested funding is for 50% of the PI’s time and three postdoctoral researchers to establish an independent research group at the KICC and IoA, Cambridge.
Vortex sheets - from new intuitions to crucial questions. (VORTSHEET)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Standard European Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Mathematics
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2017-01-01
End date: 2018-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 195454.8
EU funding (EUR): 195454.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Understanding fundamental phenomena in fluid mechanics, such as formation of vortices at wingtips of a plane taking off or development of repetitive turbulent patterns of clouds, requires studying special flows which are characterized by a jump of velocity across certain interfaces. These singular flows correspond to solutions of the classical Euler equations from inviscid fluid dynamics, called vortex sheets. Remarkably, the existence and uniqueness of vortex sheets remain outstanding open problems even though they are of vital importance in applications in aerodynamics and climatology. We aim to approach these problems from a new point of view and thus contribute to the development of the area. To achieve our goals we will - construct a new family of vortex sheets called 'vortex cusps', - study singularities, which vortex cusps may develop, - study related models to gain further intuitions. The project will be conducted at the University of Warwick under the supervision of a leading researcher in the field, J.L. Rodrigo. It will also include a secondment in Seville, hosted by F. Gancedo and short visits to other experts in the field (D. Cordoba, Ch. Fefferman, T.Cieslak). This setup guarantees the highest quality of academic training, which will significantly broaden the previous interdisciplinary expertise of G. Jamroz (who finished his PhD in Warsaw in January 2015 and is currently a postdoc in Basel) and will, in combination with an intensive transferable skills training, lead him to an independent researcher position. What is more, the project will strengthen the position of the University of Warwick as a top mathematical research centre by extending its network of collaborations across Europe. The results of the research will be actively and frequently communicated both to experts and general public by open-access and peer-reviewed publications as well as conferences and general public events, thus ensuring maximum outreach of the proposed action.

Keywords: fluid mechanics,euler equations,vortex sheets,contour dynamics
Innovative sol-gel strategies for the production of homogeneous, hydrothermally stable, and porous mixed metal oxide catalysts for biomass conversion applications (NewCat4Bio)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Standard European Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Chemistry
Countries involved: Belgium
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2016, 2016)
Start date: 2017-08-01
End date: 2019-07-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 172800.0
EU funding (EUR): 172800.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The project is focused on the preparation, characterization and application of (hydro)thermally stable, homogeneous, and porous metallosilicate catalysts. As a synthetic route we will apply non-hydrolytic sol-gel routes since they produce materials with high homogeneity and they allow the one-step functionalization of the oxides surface. We will focus and demonstrate our results primarily on the synthesis of alumosilicates, and then broaden the work to Zr-, Ti-, Nb-, and Ta-doped silicates. We will use advanced analytic techniques for the characterization of heterogeneous catalysts – infrared spectroscopy, solid state nuclear magnetic resonance, nitrogen and ammonia adsorption-desorption experiments, electron microscopy, powder x-ray diffraction, small angle x-ray scattering, and surface analytical techniques – time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We will evaluate our materials as catalysts in alcohol dehydration. For this type of reaction it is desirable to have hydrothermally stable acidic material. Hydrothermal instability is usually the main drawback of mixed metal oxides. Therefore we will tune the hydrophobicity of prepared materials and their surfaces by introduction of various organic groups in order to improve their performances. We will focus on the control of the pore size distribution as well and prepare stable and homogeneous materials with large pores applicable in catalytic actions on bulky (bio)molecules. In such a way the project will establish fruitful cooperation between the two research groups – one focused primarily on the synthetic pathways to novel materials and the second focused on their application in heterogeneous catalysis. The fellow will learn new characterization techniques and catalytic testing under industrially-relevant conditions. He will work independently, attain new soft skills and will prepare for the establishing of new research group back in Brno.

Keywords: non hydrolytic sol gel,non aqueous sol gel,porous mixed oxides,alumosilicate,hydrophobicity,homogeneity,porosity,heterogeneous catalysis
The Domestic Biogas System - Turning Waste into Value (Homebiogas)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Secure, clean and efficient energy
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Israel
Call: Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for a low carbon and efficient energy system (H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017, 2016)
Start date: 2016-09-01
End date: 2016-11-30
Duration (months): 3.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Awareness of the issues caused by the huge amounts of organic waste that we create is growing and people and communities are looking for means to recycle and reduce waste at home. However, solutions for treating kitchen leftovers at the source that are functional, affordable and easy to adopt by European households are not currently commercially available. HomeBiogas LTD (HBG) is the first to develop and market technologically advanced, affordable, and easily assembled biogas systems for households and small businesses. HBG technology (protected by two patents) is realized as an appliance used to conveniently dispose of organic waste, while generating savings for the family and benefiting the environment. HomeBiogas converts organic waste into renewable energy and liquid fertilizer; creating a sustainable cycle of waste disposal, plant sustenance and clean energy for cooking, lighting and heating. Our leadership position is also strengthened due to our leading the ISO TC255/WG3 Domestic Biogas International Standard development. HBG has been recognized by investors, to date we were financed by private capital (€1.8M) and government funding (€700). A successful crowd-funding campaign demonstrated the attractiveness and value proposition of HomeBiogas products to end-users. HBG also engaged distributors and growth multipliers that support this novel approach and the success of the company. See section 4 for letters of support and company milestones. The €500 expected market price (recovered in 3 years by energy savings), on top of effortless operation, creates a winning value proposition for HomeBiogas as a ubiquitous home appliance. HBG is positioned to build a healthy business model (€22M cumulative 5 year revenue) and job creation (expected to grow up to 50 employees in that period).

Keywords: renewable energy,onsite generation,biogas,closed loop systems,co2 emmissions reduction
Hybrid Ultra Flexible Printed Circuits combining flexible and low-cost printed electronics with high performance traditional silicon components. (UFPC Technology)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials, Advanced Manufacturing and Processing, and Biotechnology
Theme: Nanotechnologies
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Accelerating the uptake of nanotechnologies, advanced materials or advanced manufacturing and processing technologies by SMEs (H2020-SMEINST-1-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2015-07-01
End date: 2015-10-31
Duration (months): 4.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Printed electronics is a revolutionary, new way of manufacturing electronic components by using standard printing processes coming from the graphic arts, such as screen printing or inkjet, the difference being that it uses conducting inks. This new technique allows to print electronic components and circuits (e.g. connectors, resistors, sensors, transistors), on widely differing flexible substrates, like plastic, textiles or paper. The printed circuits and components are thin, lightweight, flexible, enabling single use/disposable devices, ubiquitous electronics and new applications, with high volume production at an economical price, compared to traditional silicon electronics. VIVAINNOVA, a company specialised in the field of printed electronics, has developed an innovative hybrid technology, the Ultra Flexible Printed Circuit (UFPC) that combines printed electronics with traditional silicon components in an ultra low cost, ultra thin and ultra flexible electronic circuit solution. Through the new UFPC technology we will transform the electronics industry by exploiting the competitive advantages of both technologies, combining the ‘high-performance and intelligent silicon-electronics’ with the ‘cost-effective and flexible printed electronics’ and to fill the technological gap between fully-printed electronics and the expansive market of the intelligent objects. The UFPC technology will develop a new generation of electronic circuits giving to the products many properties previously unthinkable like ‘smart capabilities’ combined with ‘flexibility, thinness, light-weight and robustness’, at an ‘economical price’. It will allow to reduce the manufacturing cost of smart flexible electronic circuits by up to 50% compared with the current hybrid solutions.

Keywords: printed electronics,printed circuits,flexible substrates,touch sensors keypads
Photonics in Flatland: Band Structure Engineering of 2D Excitons in Fluorescent Colloidal Nanomaterials (PHOCONA)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Panel description: New materials and new synthetic approaches, structure-properties relations, solid state chemistry, molecular architecture, organic chemistry
Countries involved: Belgium
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2016-STG, 2016)
Start date: 2017-10-01
End date: 2022-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1427625.0
EU funding (EUR): 1427625.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In PHOCONA we aim to develop a new class of highly fluorescent 2D and quasi-2D colloidal nanomaterials for solution-processed coherent light sources and ultrafast single-photon emitters. The 2D excitons are created in suspended semiconductor nanoplates with a thickness below 5 nm, and transition-metal dichalcogenide monolayers. Prepared by colloidal chemistry and liquid-phase exfoliation, respectively, they take advantage of both quantum confinement through their nanoscale dimensions, as well as dielectric confinement via the dielectric mismatch between nanomaterials and surrounding matrix. Via smart nanocrystal design, more specifically by exploiting novel synthesis methods that include asymmetric in-plane confinement potentials, anisotropic crystal structures, and lattice strain-induced band structure modifications in core/shell heterostructures, the nanomaterials will be shaped toward efficient multiexciton and stimulated emission, as well as stable, blinking-free single-photon emission. The intrinsic 2D exciton properties will be further modified toward ultrafast exciton recombination by coupling the nanomaterials to small mode-volume plasmonic nanocavities, hereby placing them in a local photon density-of-states that will lead to a strong Purcell enhancement. The realization of cost-effective, energy-efficient and highly flexible light emitters, which can be synthesized and processed via methods that are scalable to large areas and volumes, forms an important milestone in the ongoing development of optical and quantum communications technology, as well as new lighting and display applications.

Keywords: nanoplates,colloidal synthesis,lasing,single photon emission,solution processed nanocrystals
Microbiota modulation through horizontal gene transfer. (MiMoZa)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Global Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Belgium,United States
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2019, 2019)
Start date: 2020-09-01
End date: 2024-01-14
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 266425.92
EU funding (EUR): 266425.92
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

My goal is to determine horizontal gene transfer (HGT) rates of specific functions within the gut microbiome. The microbes on and within our bodies, especially within our gastro-intestinal tract, are intimately connected with our immune system and promote health in myriad ways. Altering our gut microbiota (GM) composition and/or function might thus improve health. My research in the Jeroen Raes lab led to the realization that changing species abundances through dietary or lifestyle modulation may be difficult because of the small effect sizes of the factors influencing GM composition (e.g. diet, medication, or transit time). In addition, host-selection and competition of resident microbes, might limit the strain engraftment necessary for the effect of fecal transfers and probiotic cocktails. Despite initial successes (e.g. C. difficile infection treatment), current modulation strategies might therefore be less successful with other conditions. I contacted Ilana Brito, in order to find out whether HGT - a process in which prokaryotes exchange genetic material - may serve as an alternative way to modulate the residing GM. Little is known about the features that affect HGT rates within natural environments nor the role of selection in that process. If these were well-understood, it would allow to assess the possibilities of extending the gut microbiome with additional functions. During my research stay, I will experimentally determine HGT rates within the animal gut under natural and HGT-enhancing conditions. In addition, I will develop methods to examine HGT in metagenomic datasets and determine the relative importance of the factors influencing HGT (selective pressure, host health and DNA delivery method). The knowledge generated through this MSCA-fellowship will stimulate the development of novel GM modulation strategies and will have important implications for human health and agricultural policies (e.g. antibiotic use, spread of transgenes).

Keywords: gut microbiota,metagenomics,horizontal gene transfer,antibiotic resistance,genetically modified organisms
Overcoming the efficiency limitation of semiconductor quantum dot-based light-emitting diodes (CQWLED)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Products and processes engineering
Panel description: Product and process design, chemical, civil, environmental, mechanical, vehicle engineering, energy processes and relevant computational methods
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2019-STG, 2019)
Start date: 2020-01-01
End date: 2024-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1498515.0
EU funding (EUR): 1498515.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) are an emerging class of light-emitting compounds for solution-processed optoelectronics such as the light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Compared to the state-of-the-art compound semiconductors and organic light emitting diodes (OLED), the CQD-based LEDs possess extremely high color purity and low materials cost, representing the only feasible materials solution towards realization of the newly-defined Rec. 2020 standard for the next-generation displays. However, the theoretical upper limit of the device external quantum efficiency (EQE) is only ~20%, considerably lower than those in OLEDs and InGaN LEDs. The fundamental bottleneck is that it is not yet possible to control the emission directionality perpendicular to the substrate plane in the CQD superlattices, without compromising the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). As a result, a lot of photons are wasted due to the total internal reflection (TIR) at the air/glass interface, as well as exciton quenching during interparticle energy transfer. In order to overcome the efficiency limitation, my research group pioneers synthesis, physics, and LED device of layer-controlled colloidal quantum wells (CQWs) of organic-inorganic hybrid lead halide perovskites (OIHPs), the two-dimensional nanocrystals of OIHP in colloidal solution. Our results have suggested that the materials system might be the ultimate solution for the quantum-dot based LEDs. We found that the CQWs possess: (i) the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics, boosting the film PLQY up to 97%, and (ii) the emission directionality (ED) perpendicular to the substrate plane in their self-assembled superlattices. Based on the new photophysical properties that have never been found in any other CQD systems, in this proposal, we aim to optimally utilize the characteristics of the AIE and ED, in order to realize high-efficiency and long-lifetime LED technology that can fulfill 100% Rec. 2020 color gamut.

Keywords: quantum dots,light emitting diodes