Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Using a natural approach to elucidate the neural mechanisms of alarm calling behaviour in birds. (NeurAlarm)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Panel description: Nervous system development, homeostasis and ageing , nervous system  function and dysfunction , systems neuroscience  and modelling , biological basis of cognitive processes and of behaviour, neurological and mental disorders – In humans and all other organisms
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2023-COG, 2023)
Start date: 2024-09-01
End date: 2029-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1917188.0
EU funding (EUR): 1917188.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

“Watch out!” - is the term we use to inform somebody about a potentially dangerous situation. “Take cover!” - we shout when the threat is imminent. Not only humans but also animals use alarm calls to warn conspecifics about danger, and the value of these signals for increasing the chance of survival in the receiver is without controversary. But, alarm calls often harm the sender through their production and are therefore considered an evolutionary paradox, which has fascinated scientists for many decades. While the function, development and evolution of alarm calls have extensively been studied, the proximate mechanisms relating to how the brain controls alarm call production or the reactions to alarm calls are unknown. Uncovering the brain’s role in antipredator behaviour, such as alarm calling, is fundamentally important for understanding how neural systems facilitate decision-making in life-threatening situations. My project will be first in studying the neural basis of alarm calling behaviour and will exploit a unique and completely natural approach. Brain activity at the cellular level will be wirelessly recorded in parallel to individual vocal activity in groups of free-ranging, wild songbirds while they emit, listen and react to alarm calls in their natural habitat. In 2017, we pioneered the application of extracellular neurophysiology during field research, and are currently the only researchers worldwide who conduct neurophysiological experiments with wild animals outside a laboratory. Brain regions belonging to three different neural circuits will be targeted within my project: the vocal control system, the hearing system and the fear system. The new knowledge produced by my project will help us to understand the computations the brain has to perform when we warn others about danger or when we get warned, and will elucidate how different neural circuits naturally work together to flexibly adjust fear reactions to the threat level signalled by alarm calls.

Keywords: vocal communication,birds,predator avoidance behavior,social interaction,natural neuroscience,auditory system,vocal control system,fear system,telemetric neural recording,extracellular neurophysiology,bioacoustics,field research
InlanD watErs in the digitAl TwIn OceaN (IDEATION)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Mission
Theme: Ocean, seas and waters
Destination: Ocean, seas and waters
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Spain,Netherlands,Greece,Cyprus,Switzerland,United Kingdom,Italy,Germany,Belgium
Call: Roadmap towards the integration of inland waters into the Digital Twin Ocean (HORIZON-MISS-2023-OCEAN-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-06-01
End date: 2026-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1964516.25
EU funding (EUR): 1964515.0
Participants: 11
Project status: SIGNED

IDEATION (InlanD watErs in the digitAl Twin OceaN) aims to prepare the development of the digital twin of the inland waters (rivers, lakes, reservoirs, wetlands, snow, and ice) addressing activities to be developed and to make it integrated and interoperable with the DTO for a unified digital twin of ocean and waters (addressing the hydrosphere as a whole). IDEATION will be based on a cross-border cooperation, involvement, and commitment of stakeholders at European level by following the Water-oriented Living Labs (WoLLs) approach. Stakeholders will be engaged via Multi-Stakeholder Forums (MSF), using a range of different engagement methodologies (e.g., focus groups, workshops, interviews, questionnaires) depending on goals of the engagement and specificities of the context. A comprehensive review will be performed to make an open knowledge inventory for inland water systems (OpenKIWAS). IDEATION will co-design the IDEATION reference architecture defining a set of building blocks, interfaces and standards to make data, models and technologies interoperable and integrable with the DTO. Putting together all the results from the MSF, OpenKIWAS, and the IDEATION reference architecture, a roadmap for the integration of inland waters in the Digital Twin Ocean will be created providing a preliminary breakdown of the work, with priorities of implementation, into a stepped approach. The consortium members have high experience on EU project coordination and participation, the majority of them already worked together in research projects.

Keywords: inland waters,digital twin,data spaces,artificial intelligence,water oriented living labs,multi stakeholder forums,interoperability,fiware,fair principles
Brothers in Arms: provenancing metal war gear from the first Viking Raid to the East (MetRa)

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: Denmark
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023 (HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01, 2023)
Start date: 2025-09-01
End date: 2027-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 230774.4
EU funding (EUR): 230774.4
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

In the period around 750 CE, a fleet of Viking war ships set sail across the Baltic. They were ambushed and part of the war party was slain. Their remains have been found in the form of two ship burials with 40 male warriors, buried on the Island of Saaremaa in modern day Estonia. Four of them, we now know to be brothers. Dubbed the ’First Vikings’, the fallen warriors and their ships represent the first Viking Raid. The time capsule of 40 warriors accompanied by a wealth of war gear in the form of weaponry and decorative adournments, represents a unique and unparalleled opportunity for material culture studies in medieval archaeology. MetRa is a pioneering research project aimed at equipping early researcher Ragnar Saage with the advanced analytical skills necessary to investigate and establish the origins of both the iron weapons and the copper-alloy decorative elements of the war band. This will be achieved using state of the art metal provenancing methods in archaeological science. The material investigation aims to complement results from previous research on the burial from strontium isotopes and aDNA analysis. The project will not only shed light on organisation and in-group identity of a single war band (i.e. issued war gear vs individual armament), but it presents an unprecedented opportunity to examine and interrogate material culture armaments across a single family, four brothers in arms and their relative. Can commonalities and/or differences in weapon and decoration origins nuance our understanding of the make-up of the Viking war band? Do the four brothers and their relative share weapons from the same smith? Or do their war goods paint a more complex picture of mobility of Norse warriors and their attainment of weapons and adournments in a martial society? The results may reshape our understanding of the earliest Viking raids, as well as improve our understanding on the logistics and organisation of such an event.

Keywords: metal provenance viking age ferrous metallurgy la icp ms mc icp ms slag inclusion analysis lead isotope analysis warfare weaponry artefact biographies scandinavian baltic sea
Unravelling evolutionary responses of lagomorphs to climate perturbations: geohistorical data integration for present-day biodiversity conservation (REvoBBIT)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area
Programme: Widening participation and spreading excellence
Theme: Attracting and mobilising the best talents
Destination: Attracting and mobilising the best talents
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Portugal
Call: ERA Fellowships (HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-TALENTS-02, 2023)
Start date: 2025-01-01
End date: 2026-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 156778.56
EU funding (EUR): 156778.56
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The lagomorphs (rabbits, hares and pikas) are a successful mammalian group, which play key roles in many ecosystems (sustaining other species' communities and populations). The ongoing climate change is pushing most of their species into the extinction, and their demise can entail the decline of their communities and ecological systems consequence of a dramatic knock-on effect. The present project, REvoBBIT, aims to contribute to search solutions to this severe challenge from an unexplored perspective in this mammalian group: the Conservation Palaeontology. Through the study of the bone and teeth of extinct lagomorphs, it is possible to reveal the biological strategies and evolutionary shifts of those species or populations that were resilient and survived to past global warmings and coolings. This is a very significant knowledge to be considered in the conservation decision-making process of extant relatives. With this ultimate goal, REvoBBIT will study the extinct rabbits and hares from Sierra de Atapuerca (Pleistocene), which endured important glacial and interglacial periods, using trusty morphological methods and frontier molecular and geochemical techniques. Teeth and postcranial bones will be assessed disclosing their weight, diet, genetic size and diversity, as well as the past environmental conditions where they lived (temperature, humidity, etc.). The subsequent statistical analysis will let to identify the most significant ecological stressors and drivers that were involved in the evolution of lagomorphs. The results obtained in REvoBBIT will be the first step to build a big deep-time database of the lagomorph palaeobiology, and to develop predictive models of biotic response. At present, the significant knowledge gap in the palaeobiology and palaeoecology of this mammalian group prevents that palaeontological data will be considered in the protocol conservation design of extant relatives.

Keywords: palaeobiology,evolutionary strategies,climate change,mammalia
DNA Encryption of Compartmentalized DNA Files (DNACryp)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Proof of concept grants
Action type: ERC actions
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS (ERC-2024-POC, 2024)
Start date: 2025-01-01
End date: 2026-06-30
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Current technologies for digital data storage (e.g., tapes and hard disc drives) have hit various sustainability limits. A significant share of new data is not stored beyond the short term, and conventional storage media do not have the longevity, data density or cost efficiency to meet global demand. Longer-term projections forecast that the overall demand for digital storage will exceed supply by up to three orders of magnitude by 2040. DNA data storage has several advantages compared to magnetic or optical data storage, such as extremely high data densities, high stability, and limited energy needs. Considerable effort has been devoted to developing efficient encoding algorithms and methods for DNA storage and retrieval. However, a complete data storage solution also requires the stored information to be protected from unwanted data access. In DNA Encryption of Compartmentalized DNA Files (DNACryp), we will develop a novel molecular-level encryption method for data stored on compartmentalized DNA files based on a revolutionary PCR-based random-access readout strategy that our lab has recently developed. In contrast to digital encryption methods, molecular-level encryption is resistant to automated, computer-based attacks. To achieve this goal, DNA files are co-encapsulated with locker DNA templates that disrupt random-access readout. Using a unique, sequence specific “key” strand, locker templates can be removed, and PCR-based readout restored. Specifically, we will develop (i) an encoding pipeline for data-encoding DNA strands allowing for encryption, (ii) proof-of-principle experiments showing the validity of the locker/key concept, (iii) molecular-level encryption of a 1MB book. DNACryp methodology is highly interdisciplinary building on expertise in computer science, engineering, chemistry, and material science. DNACryp impact spans applications and technology domains and will be disseminated and exploited to benefit European society and industry.
TEBO: Platform for empowering teachers and engaging students (TEBO)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Estonia
Call: Open Disruptive Innovation Scheme (H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2017-07-01
End date: 2017-12-31
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Teachers try hard to make learning interesting, they search the web for new resources and are increasingly integrating various interactive tools into their lesson. However, the search and creation of teaching materials is a time-consuming task, and time is one of resources that teachers lack the most. Presently educators spend up to 12 hours weekly on searching, managing and/or creating digital materials. Although, there are millions of learning items on teachers’ computers or in web based tools; these resources are in large majority not yet to published, organized nor used by fellow teachers. Tebo, an Estonain SME, is tackling these challenges by developing a novel cloud-based platform for teachers, which allows intuitively share and monetize teaching resources. In addition to the open teaching materials library, Tebo combines currently scattered edtech features into one cohesive platform. For instance, allowing to send and share digital content (assignments, tests or materials) with students; create interactive exercises on Tebo’s templates and automatize the test grading. Tebo’s user needs and feature set functionality have already been validated with pilots in Estonia, Chile and Argentina. In just less than a year Tebo has signed up 33% of Estonian teachers and has obtained first schools and teachers as paying customers. Highly positive feedback from teachers, as well as their willingness to pay, has affirmed that Tebo is an attractive platform for sharing content, creating interactive teaching materials and managing a variety of digital learning resources. Hence, the platform is defined at TRL7, and is looking to finalize the development phase in order to bring this novel platform to the market. With the feasibility study Tebo will: • Elaborate a detailed business plan for wider international commercialization • Conduct a freedom-to-operate study • Strategic partner search • Analyze first customer feedback

Keywords: edtech,interactive teaching,content sharing
New and Old Histones in Epigenetic Cell Memory (HISTONEMEMORY)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions
Panel description: Molecular biology, biochemistry, structural biology, molecular biophysics, synthetic and chemical biology, drug design, innovative methods and modelling
Countries involved: Denmark
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2016-COG, 2016)
Start date: 2017-05-01
End date: 2022-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999750.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999750.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Cell type specific organization of DNA into chromatin is an important determinant of gene expression and cell identity. During cell division, epigenetic information in chromatin must be transmitted to daughter cells in order to maintain cell identity or commit to a developmental program. However, it remains unknown how epigenetic states are inherited during cell division. Elucidating molecular mechanisms underlying epigenetic cell memory thus represents a major challenge in biology critical to understand development and disease. Chromatin undergoes genome-wide disruption during DNA replication and histone marks are diluted 2-fold due to new histone deposition. Yet, how this impacts on establishment and maintenance of gene expression programs is not known. I hypothesize that chromatin replication represents a critical window for epigenetic cell memory and cell fate decisions, and predict that three histone-based processes play critical roles in guarding cell identity: 1) new histone deposition to regulate nucleosome occupancy and transcription factor (TF) binding, 2) accurate transmission of old modified histones by dedicated recycling machinery, and 3) recruitment of regulatory proteins to new and old histones to direct epigenome maintenance. To dissect these events mechanistically and test causal roles in cell fate decisions, I propose a research program integrating explorative proteomics and histone chaperone structure-function analysis with stem cell biology and new cutting-edge genomic tools developed by my research group. The proposed research will 1) identify novel mechanisms of histone chaperoning and deposition specific to new and old histones, 2) reveal how nucleosome assembly govern TF binding during DNA replication, and 3) address the significance of old histone recycling and new histone deposition for pluripotency and commitment. This will provide a major advance in understanding the molecular mechanisms that govern epigenetic cell memory.

Keywords: histone chaperones,histone readers,epigenetics
Biological Understanding of the CO2 and O2 LeveL in the ocEan (BULLE)

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: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: France
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2019, 2019)
Start date: 2020-12-01
End date: 2022-11-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 184707.84
EU funding (EUR): 184707.84
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

About 98% of the ocean’s biomass is composed of microorganisms like the tiny algae, phytoplankton. Tiny but mighty when it comes at capturing carbon dioxide (CO2). Phytoplankton acts for half of the Earth’s photosynthesis, allowing ocean’s to supply major living resources and dioxygen (O2). Microbial respiration is the other fundamental biological process that counterbalances photosynthesis and returns organic carbon back as CO2. Yet, despite ocean’s pivotal role in global climate, microbial respiration remains one of the least explored metabolic processes; so that, whether oligotrophic ocean is a net sink or source of CO2, is highly debated for the last 20 years. The BULLE project aims to evaluate the ocean’s metabolic balance between photosynthesis and respiration by looking at the production of CO2 evolved to that O2 consumed by marine bacteria, the so-called “respiratory quotient” (RQ). Limits of detection of biological CO2 production have left RQ measurements far behind the multitude of investigations of photosynthesis. BULLE will face these challenges using the most recent technologies. The project strongly relies on the multidisciplinary expertise I will share with my host lab to tackle this issue at both cellular and community level. Specifically, BULLE aims to (1) investigate how the chemical characteristics of nutrients (Fe and C) regulate the RQ in bacterial cells and (2) study the links between the RQ, net primary production and bacterial activities. An innovative aspect of BULLE is the implementation of continuous measurements of O2/N2 and pCO2 concentrations respiration, and the deployment of In Situ Oxygen Dynamic Autosampler (IODA) instrumentation in the coastal NW Mediterranean Sea. The training I will receive with BULLE will help me give my career a new direction from a lab expertise towards high resolution in situ observations. In return, I will transfer my experience in microbial metabolisms and radioisotopes tracking methods to the host team.

Keywords: respiratory quotient,microbial respiration,carbon cycle,biological co2 and o2 fluxes
Olfaction as the link between flavor preference formation and retrieval during food consumption (OLFLINK)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Panel description: Cognitive science, psychology, linguistics, theoretical philosophy
Countries involved: Sweden
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2020-STG, 2020)
Start date: 2021-05-01
End date: 2026-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499600.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499600.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

To change human diets is an urgent global health and sustainability goal; yet, overcoming preferences for familiar food flavors in favor of healthier or more sustainable options remains a major challenge. Odor-taste associative learning is the principal perceptual support process for flavor preference formation and retrieval. Mechanistic insight into the cortical processes that transfer appetitive properties of an odor from the mouth onto environmental objects is, however, almost completely absent. As a result, fundamental questions about the processes that drive the acquisition of new flavor preferences, and their regulation by signals from the digestive tract, still remain to be answered. OLFLINK will uncover processes that link olfactory perception inside and outside the mouth across three nested levels of investigation that are usually studied in separation. In doing so, I propose to discover key factors that facilitate or hinder acquisition of new flavor preferences. Specifically, I will 1: determine the distributed CODE by which odors acquire and evoke taste associations (WP1), 2: delineate the cortical CONTROL mechanisms that facilitate encoding and retrieval of odor-taste associations in the light of contextual variability (WP2), and 3: determine the interactions with digestive feedback that REGULATE this flexible coding system during flavor preference acquisition and retrieval (WP3). This final step especially provides insight into the body’s ability to adjust learning and retrieval of food preferences based on nutritional needs, and has potential to transform our thinking about the biological basis of maladaptive eating patterns. The novel insights from OLFLINK will fill the knowledge gap that currently exists between the mechanisms driving perceptual experiences during food consumption and the subsequent evaluation of food in the outside world, and will inspire the development of novel interventions to facilitate dietary changes over the life course.

Keywords: chemosensation,food perception,multisensory integration