Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Energizing microbes with redox mediators for new bioproductions (e-MICROBe)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering
Panel description: Biotechnology using all organisms, biotechnology for environment and food applications, applied plant and animal sciences, bioengineering and synthetic biology, biomass and biofuels, biohazards
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2019-COG, 2019)
Start date: 2020-09-01
End date: 2025-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999991.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999991.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

In many bioprocesses a broad bioproduct portfolio can currently only be obtained when microorganisms can access oxygen as an electron acceptor. For numerous target substances, however, oxygen is detrimental to product stability and the bioprocess operation. The central aim of e-MICROBe is to innately couple microbial metabolism and electrochemistry via a self-secreted soluble electron mediator to achieve efficient oxygen independent energy metabolism and to directly steer and control metabolism and product formation. This will require creating entirely new physiological traits for production and utilization of redox mediators to generate cellular energy. Thereby, mediators can either act as electron discharge shuttle to enable electro-respiration at an anode or they are employed as inorganic energy donor to deliver electrons from a cathode into the metabolism. We will clarify the underlying reaction pathways in known environmental microorganisms and re-engineer the energy metabolism of common biotech hosts. Thereby, we will switch cellular energy generation from aerobic respiration to anaerobic anodic electro-respiration or from hydrogen consumption as autotrophic electron donor to cathodic electron consumption. The latter process will provide a mechanism to store electrical energy in microbial products. For a new level of in situ insight into microbial energy metabolism, a novel micro-scale bioelectrochemical reactor coupled to microscopic observation and high performance analysis will be developed. With this technique two fundamental concepts for future mediator-based bioprocesses will be evaluated: An all-in-one strategy where one cell is generating the mediators and the targeted product as well as a co-culture system, whereby one cell produces the mediators and a partner cell utilizes them for electro-respiration and product formation. This concept will lay the foundation for a plug-and-play exchange of biotech strains in a mediator-producing co-culture system.

Keywords: microbial electrochemistry,extracellular electron transfer,mediated electron transfer,electro respiration,anaerobic metabolism,electron consumption
Foundations for Higher and Curved Noncommutative Algebraic Geometry (FHiCuNCAG)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Mathematics
Panel description: All areas of mathematics, pure and applied, plus mathematical foundations of computer science, mathematical physics and statistics
Countries involved: Belgium
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2018-COG, 2018)
Start date: 2019-06-01
End date: 2025-09-30
Duration (months): 76.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1171360.0
EU funding (EUR): 1171360.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

With this research programme, inspired by open problems within noncommutative algebraic geometry (NCAG) as well as by actual developments in algebraic topology, it is our aim to lay out new foundations for NCAG. On the one hand, the categorical approach to geometry put forth in NCAG has seen a wide range of applications both in mathematics and in theoretical physics. On the other hand, algebraic topology has received a vast impetus from the development of higher topos theory by Lurie and others. The current project is aimed at cross-fertilisation between the two subjects, in particular through the development of “higher linear topos theory”. We will approach the higher structure on Hochschild type complexes from two angles. Firstly, focusing on intrinsic incarnations of spaces as large categories, we will use the tensor products developed jointly with Ramos González and Shoikhet to obtain a “large version” of the Deligne conjecture. Secondly, focusing on concrete representations, we will develop new operadic techniques in order to endow complexes like the Gerstenhaber-Schack complex for prestacks (due to Dinh Van-Lowen) and the deformation complexes for monoidal categories and pasting diagrams (due to Shrestha and Yetter) with new combinatorial structure. In another direction, we will move from Hochschild cohomology of abelian categories (in the sense of Lowen-Van den Bergh) to Mac Lane cohomology for exact categories (in the sense of Kaledin-Lowen), extending the scope of NCAG to “non-linear deformations”. One of the mysteries in algebraic deformation theory is the curvature problem: in the process of deformation we are brought to the boundaries of NCAG territory through the introduction of a curvature component which disables the standard approaches to cohomology. Eventually, it is our goal to set up a new framework for NCAG which incorporates curved objects, drawing inspiration from the realm of higher categories.

Keywords: noncommutative algebraic geometry 14a22,18e15,homological and homotopical algebra 14f05,18g55,55p42,higher topos theory 18g30,operads 18d50
The First Recruitment Bot to Integrate Labour Market in the EU (EMPLOBOT)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Poland
Call: SME instrument (H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1, 2018)
Start date: 2018-09-01
End date: 2019-02-28
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The goal of the project is to verify technological and economic feasibility of a recruitment AI that will utilize automatic planning, reinforced learning and a conversational interface (chatbot) for becoming personal career assistant to the candidates and for intermediating between hiring company and the candidate. The goal of the project is to enter the growing market of Direct Recruiting (global sales revenues of more than 36,8 bln EUR) and Career Management Market (global sales revenues of more than 2,95 bln EUR). There is a considerable market opportunity for a new solution, since about 40% of global employers report talent shortages. Almost 11 million jobs remained unfilled in the US and EU in 2016. Close to 60% of companies say that competition for talent is the top challenge for their recruiting teams. As a result, nearly 40% of the companies expect that their recruiting budget will increase. There is a growing gap between rising demand for new candidates and the actual performance of the existing sourcing channels (mainly online job boards) in terms of talent acquisition. The project will bring the revolution to the growing (about 8% per year globally) but technologically stagnant recruitment market – by creating an intelligent recruitment bot that will communicate with the candidates using a conversational interface (chat), helping them find a new job or change it. The essence of the proposed approach is to relieve the candidates from the tedious process of looking for offers that meet their criteria, analysing their fit to the employer’s requirements and applying for the suitable positions (which will be conducted anonymously). At the same time Emplobot will automate talent sourcing and unburden recruiters of administrative tasks to save their time, as well as it will create an outstanding candidate experience for job seekers (by reducing time and stress related to the application process and by offering career advice).

Keywords: recruitment,labour market,chatbot
Tropical and South Atlantic climate-based marine ecosystem predictions for sustainable management (TRIATLAS)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy
Theme: Cross-cutting marine and maritime research
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Spain,Germany,Spain,Spain,Spain,Ireland,South Africa,Germany,Germany,Angola,Côte d'Ivoire,Namibia,Norway,France,France,France,France,Benin,Cabo Verde,Brazil,United Kingdom,Senegal
Call: All Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance Flagship (H2020-BG-2018-2, 2018)
Start date: 2019-06-01
End date: 2023-11-30
Duration (months): 54.0
Total project cost (EUR): 11074400.0
EU funding (EUR): 11000000.0
Participants: 39
Project status: SIGNED

Sustainable management of human activities affecting Atlantic marine ecosystems is critical to maintain its health and to support the blue economy of the bordering countries. TRIATLAS will contribute to this by delivering knowledge of the current state and future changes of the Atlantic marine ecosystems. We achieve this through a basin-wide approach integrating research from the North and South, that closes critical knowledge gaps in the Tropical and South Atlantic which impede an understanding of the entire basin. We bring together an interdisciplinary team of marine ecologists, physical oceanographers, climate researchers, and social scientists from 34 different institutions in Europe, Africa, and South America, together with multisectoral and regional stakeholders. We will enhance knowledge of the marine ecosystems in key areas of the Atlantic using existing and pivotal new (physical, biological, societal) observations. Earth system, ecological, and socio-economic models and observations will be used to assess the cumulative impacts of (climatic, pollution, and fishing) pressures driving fluctuations in the marine ecosystem, and the potential for tipping point behavior and regime shifts. We will develop the first predictions of the marine-ecosystem for the next 40 years for the whole Atlantic, by combining state-of-the-art climate prediction and ecosystem models, with Shared Socioeconomic Pathways, and by conducting socio-economic vulnerability assessments services, with stakeholder engagement. TRIATLAS will enhance capacity in marine ecosystems, oceanography, and climate research in countries bordering the South and Tropical Atlantic Ocean. There will be close cooperation and alignment with relevant European Commission services and the South-South Framework for Scientific and Technical Cooperation, as well as other relevant initiatives in the field. We will contribute to upscale cooperation around the Atlantic.

Keywords: climate prediction,ecosystem services,sustainable development
New mechanisms and materials for odd-frequency superconductivity (ODDSUPER)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Condensed matter physics
Panel description: Structure, electronic properties, fluids, nanosciences, biological physics
Countries involved: Sweden
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2017-STG, 2017)
Start date: 2018-02-01
End date: 2023-07-31
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1121660.0
EU funding (EUR): 1121660.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Odd-frequency superconductivity is a very unique superconducting state that is odd in time or, equivalently, frequency, which is opposite to the ordinary behavior of superconductivity. It has been realized to be the absolute key to understand the surprising physics of superconductor-ferromagnet (SF) structures and has also enabled the whole emerging field of superconducting spintronics. This project will discover and explore entirely new mechanisms and materials for odd-frequency superconductivity, to both generate a much deeper understanding of superconductivity and open for entirely new functionalities. Importantly, it will generalize and apply my initial discoveries of two new odd-frequency mechanisms, present in bulk multiband superconductors and in hybrid structures between topological insulators and conventional superconductors, respectively. In both cases odd-frequency superconductivity is generated without any need for ferromagnets or interfaces, completely different from the situation in SF structures. The result will be a significant expansion of the concept and importance of odd-frequency superconductivity to a very wide class of materials, ranging from multiband, bilayer, and nanoscale superconductors to topological superconductors. The project will also establish the connection between topology and odd-frequency pairing, which needs to be addressed in order to understand topological superconductors, as well as incorporate new materials and functionality into traditional SF structures. To achieve these goals the project will develop a novel methodological framework for large-scale and fully quantum mechanical studies with atomic level resolution, solving self-consistently for the superconducting state and incorporating quantum transport calculations.

Keywords: odd frequency superconductivity,proximity induced superconductivity,multiband superconductors,topological states of matter,superconducting hybrid structures
Retargeted Pyocins: A novel tool for combating major food borne pathogens and exploiting phage-host interactions (PYANO)

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: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Denmark
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2016-06-01
End date: 2018-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200194.8
EU funding (EUR): 200194.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Campylobacter jejuni and Salmonella serovars are the major foodborne pathogen burden of Europe, imposing economic costs and challenging treatment of human infections due to increasing antimicrobial resistance. Hence, the EU commission stresses an urgent need to develop new effective antimicrobials. Exploiting natural predators of bacteria (phages) or phage-derived products may be a source of such novel antimicrobials. But lack of genetic approaches to investigate phage binding mediated by receptor binding proteins (RBPs) hampers progress of phage therapeutics targeting C. jejuni and Salmonella. Thus, goals are to i) discover RBPs of phages infecting C. jejuni and Salmonella serovars using pyocins as a novel advanced tool, and ii) develop novel phage-derived therapeutics with high bactericidal activity targeted to C. jejuni and the most prevalent Salmonella serovars. Putative RBPs will be identified from phage sequences by exploring knowledge of phage receptors and similarity of RBPs among phages binding identical receptors. By creating RBP fused-pyocins, potent killing activity of retargeted pyocins will be used to demonstrate binding specificities of RBPs to C. jejuni and Salmonella. Mutational analysis will identify key amino acids responsible for RBP binding, which also will be modified to modulate the specificity of the retargeted pyocins, developing an arsenal of novel antimicrobials targeting distinct or diverse C. jejuni and Salmonella serovars. On completion of this fellowship, I will complement my veterinary-microbiology background with bioinformatics and molecular skills including cloning, expression, purification, and structural analysis of proteins, allowing me to develop novel interdisciplinary projects exploring phage-derived proteins for human benefit. I will improve my teaching, supervision and complementary skills in project management, grant writing, and establish an international network needed to cement myself as an independent researcher.

Keywords: bacteriophages,salmonella,campylobacter jejuni,receptor binding proteins,fusion pyocins,phage host interactions
Topological physics in tunable optical lattices (TOP-DOL)

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: Physics
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2014, 2014)
Start date: 2015-06-01
End date: 2017-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 158121.6
EU funding (EUR): 158121.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The project Topological physics with disorder in tunable optical lattices aims at developing a new experimental setup to explore topological material properties and topological quantum phase transitions using cold atoms in optical lattices. The project will be carried out during 24 months in the Ultracold Quantum Gases group at ICFO (Barcelona) under the supervision of Dr. Leticia Tarruell. As envisioned by Feynman in 1982, and realized in recent years, cold atoms system can be used to simulate complex condensed-matter quantum problems. Using ultracold quantum gases, one can build topological systems with geometries and in regimes that go beyond what can be currently realized in solid-state systems with the additional advantage of an unmatched control over interparticle interactions and disorder. In my project, I will develop the study of topological materials and the interplay between topology and disorder using bosons and fermions in tunable graphene-like lattices. The use of disorder will here be essential to directly characterize the topological robustness which is a key property of topological materials. Furthermore, I will study the manifestations of topology both on the bulk and the edge of the system whose properties are related through the celebrated bulk-boundary correspondence, which shows that the edge states stem from global topological properties of the system and do not depend of the specific shape of the edge After a successful Ph.D in Toulouse and a postdoctoral experience in Cambridge, I came to ICFO where I have been working for 10 months, building from scratch the experimental setup. Although already well advanced, this project will thus contain a construction phase to implement the tools that will allow me to perform the proposed experiments and shed a new light on key concepts of topological materials.

Keywords: quantum simulation,topological insulator,disorder,graphene,coherent backscattering,edge states
Frequency Comb-Injection Locked Coherent Optically-Switched Transceivers for Intra-Data Centre Networks (COINCOST)

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: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2020, 2020)
Start date: 2021-10-01
End date: 2023-09-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 224933.76
EU funding (EUR): 224933.76
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Data centres, comprising tens of thousands connected servers, are the underlying technology empowering everything we do online. Driven by cloud computing and big data services, server-to-server traffic in data centres is increasing at an annual rate of 70%. This has motivated the development of 400G Ethernet, which is expected to scale to ≥1.6Tb/s in the future. This increase has resulted in both architectural and interconnection challenges. The first challenge is the scaling of the data centre network, which is expected to reach hundreds of thousands of servers. This trend has driven research in optical switching as an alternative to electronic switching for its fast switching in nanoseconds. The second challenge is the scaling of the data rate of the server-to-server interconnects. This makes coherent transceivers attractive as they offer higher spectral efficiency than current intensity-modulation direct-detection schemes. Future intra-data centre interconnects therefore require revolutionary technologies to address both challenges. But commercially available coherent transceivers, which are designed for long-haul, continuous data transmission, cannot meet the requirements for optically-switched data centre interconnects. Technical challenges include fast wavelength tuning, low-latency optical carrier recovery and equalisation. In COINCOST, I propose to develop coherent optically switched transceivers by designing and optimising frequency comb and injection locking techniques that address these technical challenges. These will be realised in photonic integrated circuits (PIC) in a cost- and power-efficient fashion and demonstrated in systems on the host’s unique platforms. COINCOST draws on interdisciplinary but complementary expertise from the host, industrial partners, and me, e.g., PIC, DSP, and clock-synchronised data centre networks. COINCOST will open new opportunities for me to lead research and benefit the photonics and communication industry in Europe.
An Immunological Hub of Excellence in Porto tailored to fulfil the ERA Priorities (ImmunoHUB)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Spreading excellence and widening participation
Programme: ERA chairs
Theme: Attracting and mobilising the best talents
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Portugal
Call: ERA Chairs (H2020-WIDESPREAD-2018-2020-6, 2019)
Start date: 2021-01-01
End date: 2026-12-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2475826.25
EU funding (EUR): 2475826.25
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The mission of an ERA Chair in Immunology (ImmunoHUB) is to create a Platform of excellence in research and innovation at IBMC-i3S (Portugal). Cancer, infectious diseases, autoimmunity and neurodegenerative disorders are major problems affecting our society. These pathologies are studied at IBMC-i3S and result in in part from deregulated immune responses, which makes Immunology a core pillar in our institute. Moreover, the successful usage of immune checkpoint blockade therapies has revolutionized the treatment of cancer and highlights the importance of understanding how to harness the Immune system for future development of vaccines or therapeutics against these diseases. Despite the contributions of our research groups for the understanding of how immune responses are orchestrated in health and disease, the international visibility of IBMC-i3S as a research center of Excellence in Immunology remains modest. The ImmunoHUB action will (1) project Immunology at IBMC-i3S towards the forefront of basic and translational biomedical research, (2) provide knowledge of fundamental and economical value, (3) promote the finest academic practices to train the next generation of Immunologists and (4) widen public awareness for the importance of Immunology. Taking advantage of our high-quality scientific, technological, administrative and governance structures, we have set a comprehensive work plan to facilitate the integration and sustainability of the ERA Chair team and the implementation of the ImmunoHUB project. Our proposal is aligned with the existing scientific policy in Portugal and with the Societal Challenges and the ERA priorities identified by the European Commission under the H2020 program. Together, these synergistic actions will play a pivotal role to equip Portugal with the cornerstone infrastructures and human resources of the highest level to reach scientific excellence in Biomedical Research across Europe.

Keywords: tumour immunology