Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Engineering voice-based models and interfaces for enhancing the speech therapy of minimally-verbal children with autism and their communication (COMUTTI)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: Italy,United States
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2024-09-01
End date: 2026-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 175737.12
EU funding (EUR): 175737.12
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

About 30% of children with autism are minimally verbal (MV), meaning they can communicate mainly through nonverbal vocalizations (i.e., vocalizations that do not have typical verbal content). Vocalizations often have self-consistent phonetic content and vary in tone, pitch, and duration depending on the individual's emotional state or intended communication. While vocalizations contain important affective and communicative information and are comprehensible by close caregivers, they are often poorly understood by those who do not know the communicator well. An improved understanding of nonverbal vocalizations could pave the way for a better understanding of the cognitive, social, and emotional mechanisms associated with MV children with autism. Moreover, it could lead to new therapeutic interventions for these subjects based on advanced voice-based technology for Augmented Alternative Communication (AAC), i.e., for communicating without using words. This MSCA touches on the research fields of audio signal processing (in particular, children's vocalizations perception) and human-computer interaction (in particular, voice-based interfaces for speech therapy). It aims to advance the understanding of MV autistic children's vocalizations and exploit the obtained knowledge to create advanced voice-based interfaces to enhance their therapeutic interventions. During the outgoing phase at MIT, the work will be about identifying and implementing machine learning algorithms for classifying children's vocalizations. The core strategy is to leverage the unique knowledge provided by caregivers who have long-term acquaintance with MV children with autism and can recognize the meaning of their vocalizations. In the return phase at POLIMI, the project will be about designing, developing, and empirically validating a voice-based AAC prototype for children's speech therapy through a participatory-design process involving end users, their caregivers, and autism experts.

Keywords: audio signal processing,deep neural network,voice based interaction,computer assisted therapy,autism
A road to remember: Neural plasticity through the lens of gut-brain interactions (MemoryLane)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Panel description: Cognitive science, psychology, linguistics
Countries involved: Austria
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2024-STG, 2024)
Start date: 2025-02-01
End date: 2030-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499755.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499755.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The fact that the brain is influenced by the microorganisms that make up the gut microbiome substantially widens the scope of how we need to view human neurocognition and behaviour. However, a clear understanding of underlying mechanisms is scant and mainly grounded in animal work. This proposal aims at major contributions towards overcoming these limitations. The core hypothesis is that gut bacteria are key in shaping neural plasticity, and in this way, influence human memory abilities. Changes in gut microbial signalling may contribute to altered neurocognition in individuals who are genetically predisposed to Alzheimer’s disease. MemoryLane’s results will thus also have important implications for an ageing society. To systematically test the role of gut bacteria in neural plasticity, I will take a strong, theory-driven cognitive neuroscience approach. Under my lead, my research team will perform a fine-grained analysis of hippocampus-dependent memory and plasticity, using cognitive-behavioural testing and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in healthy adults with and without a genetic risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. Concomitant measures of gut microbial community structure will be essential. To establish causality, we will shape hippocampus-dependent plasticity and memory by modulating the gut microbiome with probiotic bacteria in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. This interdisciplinary approach will answer whether gut bacteria play a role in human neurocognition. Results will transform the way we understand memory processes, building translational bridges to prior animal and future clinical work. The insights gained may serve as a blueprint for pushing human gut-brain research to the next level, paving the way for potential interventions to alleviate the detrimental effects of altered gut-brain dynamics in genetic risk, older age, and disease.

Keywords: human cognitive neuroscience,functional magnetic resonance imaging fmri,memory,gut brain axis
First-in-class intratumoral immunotherapy to treat advanced solid tumours: a novel therapeutic approach for β-catenin-driven cancers starting with adrenocortical carcinoma and hepatocellular carinoma (CyPep-1)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Accelerator
Destination: Other destinations
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: Norway
Call: EIC Accelerator 2024 - Short application (HORIZON-EIC-2024-ACCELERATOR-01, 2024)
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Cytovation ASA is a Norwegian SME managed by oncology and drug development experts with a mission to revolutionize cancer treatment through cutting-edge peptide design and engineering. The company develops a revolutionary first-in-class immunotherapy that uniquely exposes tumour neoantigens to drive an abscopal immune response while reverting evasion mechanisms of β-catenin-driven cancers (~20% of all solid tumours) to critically improve their treatment. The beachhead indications are adrenocortical carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, where the few current treatment options are not satisfactory. To provide these patients with a new safe and effective treatment option, Cytovation develops CyPep-1, currently in a Phase 1/2a solid tumour basket trial (“CICILIA”), having demonstrated strong preliminary efficacy. Cytovation is seeking EIC funding to accelerate the development of CyPep-1: through Clinical Phase 2 trials in ACC and HCC.

Keywords: intratumoral immunotherapy,advanced solid tumours,hepatocellular carcinoma,adrenocortical carcinoma,immune evasion,catenin,peptide,biotech,immune checkpoint inhibitors,cancer,oncology
Boosting photosynthESis To deliver novel CROPs for the circular bioeconomy (BEST-CROP)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Theme: Bio-Environment
Destination: Circular economy and bioeconomy sectors
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Italy,Sweden,Germany,Czechia,France,Estonia,Denmark,United Kingdom
Call: Photosynthesis revisited: climate emergency, “no pollution and zero-emission” challenge and industrial application (HORIZON-CL6-2022-CIRCBIO-02-two-stage, 2022)
Start date: 2023-07-01
End date: 2028-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 5126293.75
EU funding (EUR): 5126293.75
Participants: 19
Project status: SIGNED

There is a need for a ground-breaking technology to boost crop yield (both grains and biomass) and its processing into materials of economic interests. Novel crops with enhanced photosynthesis and assimilation of green-house gasses, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone (O3), and tailored straw suitable for industrial manufacturing will be the foundation of this radical change. We are an alliance of European plant breeding companies, straw processing companies and academic plant scientists aiming to use the major advances in photosynthetic knowledge to improve barley yield and to exploit the variability of barley straw quality and composition. We will capitalize on very promising strategies to improve the photosynthetic properties and ozone assimilation of barley: i) tuning leaf chlorophyll content and modifying canopy architecture; ii) increasing the kinetics of photosynthetic responses to changes in irradiance; iii), introducing photorespiration bypasses; iv) modulating stomatal opening, thus increasing the rate of CO2 fixation and O3 assimilation. Beside the higher yield, the resulting barley straw will be tailored to: i) increase straw protein content to make it suitable as an alternative feed production source; ii) control cellulose/lignin contents and lignin properties to develop construction panels and straw reinforced polymer composites. To do so, we aim to exploit barley natural- and induced-genetic variability as well as gene editing and transgenic engineering. Based on precedent, we expect that improving our targeted traits will result in increases in above ground total biomass production by 15-20% without modification of the harvest index, and there will be added benefits in sustainability via better resource-use efficiency of water and nitrogen. A public dialogue will be established to ensure stakeholder engagement and explore the acceptability of a range of technologies as potential routes to crop improvement and climate change mitigation.

Keywords: photosynthesis,barley,natural variation,plant breeding,germplasm,biotechnology,plant physiology,straw quality,biolubrificants,construction panel,polymer composites,translational science
Boryl radicals-based strain-release startegies for the divergent assembly of polyfunctionalised 3D building blocks (B-STRAIN)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Chemistry
Countries involved: Germany
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2024-01-01
End date: 2025-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 173847.36
EU funding (EUR): 173847.36
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Borylated molecules are some of the most used tools to aid molecular construction in both academia and industry, generally via the Nobel Prize winning Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling. The invention of methods to form C–B bonds is of strategic importance to discover and evolve molecules with direct implications on our lives. Central to this quest is designing synthetic strategies able to explore novel areas of chemical space. As the pharmaceutical sector is now aware of the greater clinical success of molecules with 3D architectures, developing methods able to assemble 3D-shaped and saturated building blocks is a topic of continuous scientific endeavour. The bicyclo[1.1.1]pentyl motif has been identified as a valuable bioisotere to replace flat (2D) aromatics and improve the potency of lead molecules. However, difficulties in preparing and modifying this structural element have severely limited its use in synthesis. There is an urgent need to develop novel methods that can effectively manipulate and introduce this motif into organic compounds. This project seeks to substantially expand the fields of photocatalysis and boryl-radicals by introducing the concept of “borylation by strain-release”: a novel reactivity that explores the unprecedented ability of boryl-radicals to react with [1.1.1]propellane and enable a unique preparation of polyfunctionalized bicyclo[1.1.1]pentanes. This reactivity will allow the modular and divergent 1-step construction of many important borylated 3D-building blocks that cannot be prepared by any other method. This research capitalizes on recent developments of the Host group that has disclosed a novel way to generate and utilise boryl radicals and has also experience in radical strain-release. The completion of such an innovative and ambitious project at RWTH Aachen University will be facilitated by generating, transferring, sharing and disseminating knowledge, and will enhance my future career following the training plan envisioned

Keywords: bory radicals,strain release,radical cascade,photocatalysis,amine boranes
A fungi-based biotechnological platform for competitive multi-stream waste revalorization. (WASTE2WEALTH)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Accelerator
Destination: Open to supporting projects in all areas of science, technology,...
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: Belgium
Call: EIC Accelerator Open 2024 (HORIZON-EIC-2024-ACCELERATOR-02, 2024)
Start date: 2025-06-01
End date: 2027-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3565793.36
EU funding (EUR): 2496055.35
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The EC’s Circular Economy Action Plan targets textiles as one of the sectors to be drastically transformed into a circular economy. However, the recycling of textile waste is severely limited by the need to accurately separate the different types of fibre, as they require separate recycling processes. This results in most of it currently being incinerated or landfilled. At Novobiom, we valorise widely available resources currently under-exploited by harnessing the amazing ability that fungi exhibit in nature to recycle a wide range of materials. Our biorefinery platform implements a tailored solid-state fungal fermentation process, based on our exclusive fungal strain bank and fungal strain selection, development and optimisation process. Our first application focuses on textile waste. By valorising unused textile waste, we offer a cost-effective alternative to recycle mixed waste streams, drastically reducing the textile products incinerated or sent to landfill while producing high-quality products (biosurfactants to substitute chemical-based surfactants, enzymes and biogas) at lower prices. These products are of interest in various industries (cosmetics, cleaning products, etc.). During the project we will build a fungal biorefinery pilot plant (200 t/yr), operated with textile waste. After that, we will engineer and commission a flagship demo plant (12,000t/year). This will de-risk the project enough to open an investment round to finance the scale-up of the technology. Once scaled, our biorefinery can enable the transformation towards circularity of complex waste streams and fulfil the needs of different customers (e.g. textile, cosmetics) with affordable high-quality sustainable biomaterials.

Keywords: bio remediation,fungal strain,waste management,circular economy,textile recycling,biodegradation,bioinformatics,mycorefinery,digital organisms,genome scale models,in silico platform
High Performance Facades for NetZero Buildings (ELM)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Accelerator
Destination: Other destinations
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: EIC Accelerator 2024 - Short application (HORIZON-EIC-2024-ACCELERATOR-01, 2024)
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

eLstar is a climate-tech start-up from Eindhoven, the Netherlands that has developed the most versatile and affordable technology for dynamic (smart) glass, which is poised to disrupt the industry. Electrophoretic Light Modulator (ELM) technology will redefine the way we look at our windows and energy control. The technology is highly proprietary, and offers best in class performance, yet is highly cost-effective and ready to scale to almost unlimited volumes quickly. The growing demand for power combined with limited opportunities to implement renewable energies to replace existing fossil fuel capacities, makes it imperative for Europe to find innovative ways to implement energy saving strategies. Buildings as a sector are the single largest contributor to CO2 emissions, and whilst smart glass has the potential to reduce operating energy by up to 30% this potential is restricted by high cost, poor performance, and a universal lack of manufacturing capacity to meet global demand, severely limiting adoption and impact. ELM uses the principle of electrophoresis, to actively control the movement of pigment nanoparticles in an electric field. It is the only dynamic glass technology that can be manufactured in existing glass manufacturing facilities, and the only technology that can serve both Architectural and Automotive markets, where smart glass is estimated to increase the range of Electric vehicles by up to 10%. In this project we will further enhance the ELM technology and drive product development, further integrating solar power generation and vacuum cavity insulation to enable, for the first time ever, a high-performance insulated façade technology that can be affordably applied to both existing building stock, as well as new buildings. Commercial scale prototyping for the architecture market will be followed by commercial scale-up production. Elstar has a unique opportunity to become the dominant technology in a more than 25 billion dollar market.

Keywords: dynamic glass,smart glass,netzero
Bifunctional Metal Aerogels for Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cells (MetGel)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Chemistry
Countries involved: Spain
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01, 2021)
Start date: 2022-09-01
End date: 2024-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 165312.96
EU funding (EUR): 165312.96
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The use of hydrogen as an energy vector is an interesting alternative to face the European energy demand, as it can be obtained by splitting water in an electrolyser and then be transformed into electricity in a fuel cell. The combination of these two devices to implement a unique and revolutionary technology known as a Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cell (URFC) may transform global energy production, which is of paramount importance, and a priority in the EU program 2021-2027. Nowadays, electrolyzers and fuel cells use noble metals, which are costly and scarce, and may assume up to 50% of the total cost of a cell. Thus, replacing them is crucial to implement a real hydrogen economy. The scientific aim of Bifunctional Metal Aerogels for Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cells (MetGel) project is to develop new, innovative and low-cost bifunctional electrocatalysts for the sustainable production of energy. The societal aim of MetGel is to reduce the technologies that use fossil fuels and decrease their adverse environmental effects. Dr Rey-Raap proposes the microwave-assisted synthesis of bifunctional transition metal aerogels able to catalyse the four electrochemical reactions that take place in a URFC, being the first time that these materials are synthesised by microwave heating and used as bifunctional electrocatalysts in a URFC. If microwave-assisted metal aerogels combine the unique properties of metals and aerogels properly, then they will become extraordinary sustainable electrocatalysts. The research will be carried out in the Microwaves and Carbons Applied to Technology (MCAT) research group (Institute of Carbon Science and Technology (INCAR) from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) under the supervision of Prof Arenillas. MCAT was the pioneer in implementing microwave technology to synthesise 3D-nanostructured materials and has excellent resources and facilities to carry on this research, which are the best conditions for the development of MetGel project.

Keywords: microwave assisted synthesis aerogels molecular simulation,unitized regenerative fuel cell
Proving Agency in Mathematical Practice: Practical, Social, and Mental Aspects (ProvingAgency)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Social Sciences and Humanities
Countries involved: France,Switzerland
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01, 2021)
Start date: 2023-06-01
End date: 2026-05-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 308746.56
EU funding (EUR): 308746.56
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Mathematical reasoning is essential to the development of mathematical and scientific knowledge, and is a crucial skill in our science- and technology-based European societies. Yet, despite the revolutionary advances in formal logic of the past century, the nature of reasoning and proofs in ordinary mathematical practice remains unclear. The ProvingAgency project aims to move forwards on this general question by shifting the focus from mathematical proofs themselves to the activity of proving that gives rise to them. The approach to be developed proposes to structure the inquiry around the different dimensions of proving agency—the capacities of proving agents necessary to the realization of the activity of proving. The ProvingAgency project will implement this approach concretely, within a restricted perimeter, in order to investigate three central aspects of proving agency: practical, social, and mental. Practical aspects are concerned with the practical knowledge required by mathematical agents to prove theorems. One key element of such practical knowledge is the capacity to apply, adapt, and extend mathematical methods. We will develop here an epistemological model of mathematical methods which will be informed by detailed and representative case studies. Social aspects are concerned with the issues that arise when several mathematical agents are proving a theorem together. We will articulate here an account of the shared agency involved in the shared activity of proving together, which will be informed by a sociological study to be conducted on a group of mathematicians at the ETH mathematics department. Mental aspects are concerned with the mental dimension of the activity of proving. We will aim here to provide a conception of proving as a mental activity that does justice to the fact that proving often requires to rely on mathematical artifacts, which we will do by building on recent developments in the emerging field of extended epistemology.

Keywords: philosophy of mathematical practice mathematical proof mathematical reasoning mathematical knowledge agency in mathematics collaborative proving extended cognition extended knowledge