Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Towards understanding human consciousness: How internal brain states and environmental context shape our subjective experience (HUMANCONSCIOUSNESS)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Panel description: Cognitive science, psychology, linguistics
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2021-COG, 2021)
Start date: 2023-09-01
End date: 2028-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999562.5
EU funding (EUR): 1999562.5
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Consciousness is subjective experience, the ‘what it is likeness’, for example to perceive a certain scene or to feel joy. In the last three decades tremendous progress has been made in identifying the neural correlates of consciousness at the level of whole brain regions. Meanwhile, outside the field of consciousness, rapid progress has been made in understanding neural, biochemical and psychological factors that have to be accounted for to further understand human consciousness. Most importantly, we know much more about the neurotransmitter systems underlying basic sensory processes in animals (e.g. neurobiology), the mechanisms responsible for fluctuations in wakefulness and arousal (e.g. anesthetics/neurobiology), and how perception is constructed by the brain’s predictions about regularities in the world (e.g. neuroscience/psychology). This research has, however, been performed in relative isolation from studies of human consciousness and clear opportunities to link these different fields remain largely unexplored. Here I will establish this crucial link by combining state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques with pharmacological interventions and computational modelling in humans performing novel experimental tasks gauging subjective perceptual experience. My project has 3 main aims. I will first test the hypothesis that excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters play central, albeit different roles in recurrent neural processes, crucial for conscious experience. Second, I will test how subjective experience is shaped by spontaneous fluctuations in arousal and levels of physical activity. Third, I will test how conscious experience is modulated by the interplay between predictions and sensory input. This research promises to provide an integrative framework for understanding the neural and biochemical mechanisms of consciousness, and will reveal how it is shaped and determined by being a human agent that interacts with, acts in, and predicts its environment.

Keywords: consciousness,perception,awareness,prediction
OLED-based bidirectional Neuroimplant (OdiN)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Systems and Communication Engineering
Panel description: Electrical, electronic, communication, optical and systems engineering
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2025-STG, 2025)
Start date: 2026-02-01
End date: 2031-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) affect millions worldwide and have complex causes, including genetic predisposition, environmental factors, drug use, and aging. Currently, there is no cure for most NDs, with treatments mostly aiming to alleviate symptoms and slow disease progression. In general, for any potential therapy, the preservation of neurons and their function—known as neuroprotection—should be a priority. The effectiveness of current therapies, including deep brain stimulation in case of Parkinson’s disease (PD), is limited due to their lack of spatial precision. The OdiN project aims to develop a flexible, implantable device that enables both neurostimulation and monitoring of neuronal activity. It leverages organic electronics technology, combining near-infrared (NIR) OLEDs to induce photobiomodulation (PBM) for neuroprotection and an OLED–organic photodiode system for detecting neuronal activity. This bidirectional device will be miniaturised to a few hundred micrometres and tested in vitro in a neuronal model of PD, where it will study the effects of PBM on neuroprotection. The device will also be implanted in a PD mouse model to assess its benefits for preventing neurodegeneration in vivo. A technical extension will explore scaling to multi-site stimulation arrays to achieve spatially controlled PBM. The OdiN project is positioned in the emerging fields of NIR OLED development and PBM, introducing a unique and unprecedented method for precisely targeting neurons without the need for genetic modification. This innovation not only simplifies experimental protocols in animal models but also opens the door to clinical applications that are far more accessible and ethically less problematic than current optogenetic techniques. It holds tremendous promise for advancing the understanding and ultimately the treatment of NDs, offering a tuneable, scalable and minimally invasive implant technology that could revolutionise therapeutic strategies in neuroscience.

Keywords: high brightness oleds,near infrared emission,high detectivity organic photodiode,polariton filter,brain machine interface,photobiomodulation,neuroprotection,neurodegenerative diseases,calcium imaging,haemodynamics
Innovative Communities On Neutral Islands for Climate (ICONIC)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Theme: Bio-Environment
Destination: Resilient, inclusive, healthy and green rural, coastal and urban communities
Action type: Innovation actions
Countries involved: Spain,Ireland,Italy,Germany
Call: Innovating for climate-neutral rural communities by 2050 (HORIZON-CL6-2024-COMMUNITIES-02, 2024)
Start date: 2025-05-01
End date: 2028-04-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 6038922.68
EU funding (EUR): 4906314.03
Participants: 11
Project status: SIGNED

ICONIC is a forward-looking project designed to enhance energy independence, climate neutrality, and sustainable development in rural and island communities across Europe. Addressing the distinct socio-economic and environmental challenges of these areas, ICONIC deploys advanced technologies such as renewable energy systems, smart water management (solar-powered desalination, intelligent irrigation), off-grid biogas systems, and sustainable mobility solutions. These innovations are tested through real-world pilot demonstrations in Inis Mór (Ireland), La Graciosa (Spain), and Berchidda (Italy), where the project works closely with local stakeholders to co-design tailored solutions. ICONIC also fosters social innovation, emphasizing community engagement and multi-actor collaboration to ensure long-term sustainability. By promoting energy communities, circular economy practices, and peer-to-peer energy trading, the project strengthens local governance and empowers citizens to lead the transition to climate-neutrality. Digital platforms, including predictive analytics and digital twins, support integrated management of resources like energy, water, and mobility, enabling data-driven decision-making for both local authorities and residents. ICONIC's interdisciplinary approach contributes to various EU strategies, advancing the green and digital transitions in rural areas. By promoting social innovation, offering replicable models, and establishing a robust replication strategy, ICONIC ensures its impact extends beyond the pilot regions, providing a blueprint for rural and isolated communities across Europe and beyond. Through training programs, policy recommendations, and capacity-building workshops, ICONIC not only drives technological innovation but also fosters economic resilience and social equity, creating a more sustainable, inclusive, and climate-resilient future for rural communities.

Keywords: circular economy energy community
High-Density Lithium Niobate Photonic Integrated Circuits (HDLN)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Transition
Destination: Open to supporting projects in all areas of science, technology,...
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: Spain,France,Germany,Switzerland
Call: EIC Transition Open 2022 (HORIZON-EIC-2022-TRANSITION-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-05-01
End date: 2026-01-31
Duration (months): 33.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1549111.25
EU funding (EUR): 1549111.25
Participants: 5
Project status: SIGNED

Translating high-speed electrical signals to the optical domain, electro-optic (EO) modulators are key components of photonic systems. On a technological level, lithium niobate (LN) has become a mainstay for such devices, offering a unique combination of strong EO activity and chemical stability as well as wide-band transparency and the ability to withstand high optical power levels. Recent advances in thin-film LN have opened an attractive path towards compact footprint, low operation voltage and large bandwidth, while maintaining the intrinsic advantages of the underlying material system. However, there is still a need to further reduce the component size and increase the component density of LN circuits to truly enable large scale photonic integration in volume over the current wafer sizes, which are still far from the 200-300 mm scale of silicon photonics. It is thus the goal of HDLN to establish an internationally unique technology base related to high-density thin-film LN technology. HDLN will demonstrate the viability of the technology platform through a series of demonstrators, geared towards highly relevant applications such as ultra-fast optical communications and ultra-wideband photonic-electronic signal processing. HDLN brings together a careful selection of experienced partners from academia and industry, comprising a recently incorporated start-up for the manufacturing platform, an independent photonic design and test house, and an internationally leading company in the field of communications that validates the technology at the application level.

Keywords: lithium niobate,electro optic modulators,high density
Effective Uptake of Digital Services to Repower European Consumers and Communities as Active Participants in Energy Transition and Markets (EU-DREAM)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Climate, Energy and Mobility
Theme: Energy
Destination: Sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply
Action type: Innovation actions
Countries involved: Portugal,Ireland,Denmark,Finland,France,Spain,Italy,Greece,Belgium
Call: Digital tools for enhancing the uptake of digital services in the energy market (HORIZON-CL5-2023-D3-03, 2023)
Start date: 2024-07-01
End date: 2027-12-31
Duration (months): 42.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4541817.5
EU funding (EUR): 3999992.0
Participants: 22
Project status: SIGNED

EU-DREAM brings together a group of preeminent energy industry and research partners focused on accelerating innovation in digital tools and promoting the effective uptake of digital services. EU-DREAM is aligned with the EU Action Plan on the Digitalisation of the Energy System as it proposes to develop the next generation of energy services, solutions and products that really work for energy consumers, fully tested and demonstrated in 6 LLs in 6 EU countries (Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Denmark). EU-DREAM will address the barriers, motivations, and drivers from the consumer’s perspective, intertwining the new technological developments with SSH expertise. All EU-DREAM technical solutions will produce high-level TRL 6-7 results by the end of the project.

Keywords: digital services,consumers,communities,energy transition,markets
Holistic Rigorous Numerical Verification (HORNET)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Computer Science and Informatics
Panel description: Informatics and information systems, computer science, scientific computing, intelligent systems
Countries involved: Sweden
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2024-STG, 2024)
Start date: 2025-01-01
End date: 2029-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1498976.0
EU funding (EUR): 1498976.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

My goal is to make rigorous numerical verification widely applicable and practically usable. Rigorous verification proves at compile-time that a program computes for all valid inputs what it is expected to. It is especially important for numerical programs, which are widely used across application domains and are often safety-critical. However, automated verification of numerical programs over finite-precision (e.g. floating-point) numbers is currently limited. Finite precision introduces rounding errors w.r.t. an ideal, real-valued specification and poses unique challenges for verification of program accuracy and other kinds of desirable properties. As a result, verification of non-trivial numerical programs today requires extensive expert knowledge and mostly manual proofs. Additionally, when verification fails, e.g. because a program is buggy, developers have little debugging help available. I will rethink automated verification and debugging techniques for numerical programs from the ground up with accuracy as a core property. I propose a novel approach for accuracy verification based on deductive relational reasoning that will be able to effectively bound the difference between the specified (real-valued) and actually computed (finite-precision) program results. My verification approach will be modular, automated, integrate with verification of non-accuracy properties and allow safe program optimizations for real-world programs. To further ensure the practical usability of the verifier, I will develop complementary techniques that will help developers to debug unsuccessful verification attempts, by helping to fix specifications, localize faults in the program and communicate effectively with the verifier. I will build on my comprehensive expertise with automated rigorous accuracy analysis and optimization of finite-precision arithmetic, and my recent efforts in deductive verification of floating-point runtime errors and numerical specification inference.

Keywords: automated verification,debugging,deductive verification,floating point arithmetic,accuracy,static analysis,dynamic analysis,specification inference,fault localization
Control of Host Mechanics by a Bacterial Pathogen and Functional Impact (HOMEPATH)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and R egeneration
Panel description: For all organisms : Structure and function of the cell, cell -cell communication, embryogenesis, tissue differentiation, organogenesis, growth, development, evolution of development, organoids, stem cells, regeneration, therapeutic approaches
Countries involved: France
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2023-STG, 2023)
Start date: 2025-04-01
End date: 2030-03-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1498581.19
EU funding (EUR): 1498581.19
Participants: 3
Project status: SIGNED

Mammalian cells sense and exert forces on their environment, and their responses to mechanical signals regulate their growth, motility, and behavior within tissues. However, little is known about the forces at play during microbial infections, and their impact on tissue homeostasis and disease progression. I recently found that binding of the extracellular bacterium Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) on the endothelium leads to the generation of large traction forces on the extracellular matrix. This is due to the formation of a new structure, that I called ancreopodia, linking the bacterial colony on the apical side of the host cell to the basal side and underlying substrate. I hence hypothesize that Nm induces long-range force transmission throughout the infected cells, leading to alterations in tissue function. In this project, I propose to dissect how host cell mechanics is affected by Nm infection, and how mechanical forces globally impact tissue barrier physiology in epithelia and endothelia. By developing quantitative tools to directly measure forces while imaging host cells during infection, both in vitro using 2D and 3D models of tissue barrier with increasing complexity and in vivo, I will: 1) identify the key molecular mechanisms involved in host cell structural remodeling and their regulation in space and time; 2) characterize the mechanics of the infected host tissue, using biophysical tools and theoretical approaches to link signaling to the forces involved, and 3) study the functional consequences of infection-induced mechanical imbalance on cell fate and host tissue integrity. This study has a double interest: to better understand the impact of mechanics in the process of infection, for the development of new therapeutic strategies, and to bring new fundamental knowledge on the mechanical homeostasis of tissue barriers, by integrating extracellular pathogens as new tools to shed light on complex feedbacks between cell architecture, mechanics, and function

Keywords: quantitative cell biology,bacterial infection,tissue barrier,neisseria meningitidis,type iv pili
Development of DNA-based nanodevices for the point-of-care detection of clinically-relevant proteins (ProDNA-Nano)

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: Italy
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-09-01
End date: 2027-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 193643.28
EU funding (EUR): 193643.28
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

WHY: The detection of specific proteins that are overexpressed in different types of cancers is critical for early diagnosis and targeted cancer screening. Existing methods for quantifying these clinically-relevant proteins, including the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), have the disadvantage of being a multi-step, reagent-intensive and laboratory-bound process which result in relatively high costs, limiting its applicability at the point of care. To overcome these limitations, new methods and approaches are urgently needed. WHAT: ProDNA-Nano aims to address this need with the development and characterization of a general class of cell-free DNA-based systems that can be used to quantify different cancer-related proteins through electrochemical and optical methods to maximize the versatility and applicability of the technology. Specifically, the innovative cell-free system developed in this project couples the specificity of protein-ligand binding with the high sensitivity of RNA-based detection, thus providing a versatile and efficient platform for protein quantification. Moreover, the proposed system will allow to quantitatively measure different protein concentrations directly in biological media in an orthogonal fashion, with reduced complexity and cost and rapid turnaround time. The modular nature of the system will also allow its adaptation to a wide range of targets, thus making it a versatile nucleic acid-based tool. HOW: Through a multidisciplinary approach, I will receive training in molecular biology, optical/electrochemical biosensors, and DNA nanotechnology. Prof. Ricci's group at the University of Rome Tor Vergata (UNITOV) offers extensive expertise in these areas, being at the forefront of DNA nanotechnology and biosensors development. Thanks to this MSC Fellowship, I will diversify my scientific knowledge and acquire cutting-edge competences as well as complementary skills, which will become the foundation of my scientific independence.

Keywords: biosensors,cell free dna based systems,electrochemistry,optical read out,nucleic acid chemistry,point of care tools,dna,rna
Transforming Orthopaedic Surgery with Generative AI-powered reconstruction of 3D CT-like images using 2D X-ray devices already routinely used in the Operating Room. (3DX-VISION)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Accelerator
Destination: Other destinations
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: France
Call: EIC Accelerator 2025 - Short application (HORIZON-EIC-2025-ACCELERATOR-01, 2025)
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Orthopaedic surgery is undergoing a major transformation, driven by the need to improve outcomes, reduce costs, and democratize access to precision care. Yet, despite the growing adoption of surgical robots, their dependency on preoperative CT scans adds complexity, investment costs, and radiation exposure, limiting widespread adoption. MAIA Medical Technologies, a French DeepTech company, is addressing this gap with 3DX-Vision, a groundbreaking Generative AI solution that reconstructs intraoperative 3D images from just a few 2D X-rays using C-Arms already available in Operating Rooms. 3DX-Vision bridges the critical link between intraoperative imaging and robotic precision by providing surgeons with real-time, verifiable, high-fidelity CT-like images and removing the complexity of registering such images with the patient’s bones. This innovation simplifies surgical workflows, and eliminates the burden of preoperative CT scans, thus bringing precise 3D insights to surgeons while reducing patients’ irradiation. Protected by patents, the technology combines geometrically calibrated X-rays with a proprietary Generative AI model and built-in verification algorithms that ensure safety, reliability, and compliance with EU AI and MDR regulations. By transforming existing imaging systems into intelligent, robot-compatible 3D tools, 3DX-VISION unlocks a multi-billion-euro market opportunity for surgical imaging, implant and robot vendors. The impact is potentially huge with over 3,6 million knee replacements performed annually. Democratizing image-based surgery by leveraging existing C-Arms can bring the benefits of robot-assisted procedures to more patients: improved prosthesis placement, shortened recovery times, and revision rates reduction saving thousands per patient. Through EIC Accelerator support, MAIA will bring 3DX-VISION to clinical validation and regulatory certification, establishing Europe as a leader in trustworthy, AI-powered surgical intelligence.

Keywords: precision surgery surgical robotics generative artificial intelligence intraoperative imaging 3d reconstruction c arms knee replacement surgical planning clinical workflow optimization