Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Computational design of novel functions in helical proteins by deviating from ideal geometries (HelixMold)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting 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: Austria
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2018-STG, 2018)
Start date: 2019-04-01
End date: 2024-03-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499414.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499414.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

We propose to computationally design novel ligand binding and catalytically active proteins by harnessing the high thermodynamic stability of de novo helical proteins. Tremendous progress has been made in protein design. However, the ability to robustly introduce function into genetically encodable de novo proteins is an unsolved problem. We will follow a highly interdisciplinary computational-experimental approach to address this challenge and aim to: -Characterize to which extent we can harness the stability of parametrically designed helical bundles to introduce deviations from ideal geometry. Ensembles of idealized de novo helix bundle backbones will be generated using our established parametric design code and designed with constraints accounting for an envisioned functional site. This will be followed by detailed computational, biophysical, crystallographic and site-saturation mutagenesis analysis to isolate critical design features. -Develop a new computational design strategy, which expands on the Crick coiled-coil parametrization and allows to rationally build non-ideal helical protein backbones at specified regions in the desired structure. This will enable us to model backbones around binding/active sites. We will design sites to bind glyphosate, for which remediation is highly needed. By using non-ideal geometries and not relying on classic heptad repeating units, we will be able to access a much larger sequence to structure space than is usually available to nature, enabling us to build more specific and more stable binding/catalytically active proteins. -Investigate new strategies to design the first cascade reactions into de novo designs. This research will allow functionalization of de novo designed proteins with high thermostability, extraordinary resistance to harsh chemical environments and high tolerance for organic solvents and has the potential to revolutionize how proteins for biotechnological and biomedical applications are generated.

Keywords: computational protein design,rosetta,protein structures,protein folding,structural biology,biocatalysis
Self-organized biomolecular gradients for controlling cellular behaviour in cell culture (SOCELL)

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: France
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2018-08-01
End date: 2020-07-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 173076.0
EU funding (EUR): 173076.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Concentration gradients of biomolecules are essential in important biological events such as morphogenesis, inflammation, wound healing and cancer. As a consequence, devising methods to generate highly controlled biomolecular gradients for studying cellular behaviour is a major scientific endeavor. However, state-of-the-art approaches based on microfluidics suppress cellular signalling by washing molecules away, limiting their biological significance. To solve this issue, this proposal will develop an original method to create biomolecular gradients that influence cellular behaviour without interfering with cellular communication. This method relies on recent DNA nanotechnology developments in the host group that create complex ssDNA concentration gradients autonomously, through a reaction-diffusion mechanism. The goal of this proposal is to demonstrate that such self-organized concentration patterns of DNA strands can modify the gene expression of human cells in vitro. Antisense technology will be used to couple extracellular DNA gradients with changes in cellular behaviour. As a proof of principle, a two-band concentration pattern of DNA will be created, which will induce in vitro a similar pattern of fluorescent protein expression on a HeLa cell monolayer. As an application, biomolecular gradients will be used to control wound healing assays, allowing the patterning of cell culture. These results would open doors to control and study cellular behaviour while maintaining crucial cellular communication mechanisms. In the long run, this technique, that combines the self-organization of synthetic molecules and living cells, could be advantageously used in tissue engineering.

Keywords: dna nanotechnology,chemical biology,synthetic biology,biomolecular gradients,cell,signalling,reaction diffusion mechanism
The Mental Health of Migrant Women Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence in Valencia, Spain. (VioMH-Mig)

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: Social Sciences and Humanities
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2019, 2019)
Start date: 2021-04-07
End date: 2023-10-05
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 160932.48
EU funding (EUR): 160932.48
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

In 2018, over 550,000 foreign migrants were documented as entering Spain. Migrant women are often at increased risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) due to factors such as financial insecurity, a lack of social support and discrimination. A higher prevalence of IPV has been shown among migrant women than native Spanish women and migrants are also at increased risk of depression, anxiety and somatic disorders. The impacts of IPV on women's mental health is well documented, however little is known about the differential effects of IPV on the mental health of women across migrant groups. Migrants living in Spain come from a diverse range of ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds, therefore understanding how women from different backgrounds narrate their experiences of violence and its impacts on their physical and mental health is vital for producing culturally sensitive interventions and care. Migrant groups often face barriers to accessing services and care in their host country due to language barriers, a lack of awareness about available services or previous experiences of discrimination. Cultural competency in a healthcare system is therefore important to ensuring migrant survivors of IPV have access to the appropriate care, particularly for their mental health. The aim of the current proposal is to explore the differential effects of violence on the mental health of women across migrant groups living in Valencia, Spain, using a mixed-methods study with three main areas of focus: the associations between IPV and symptoms of common mental disorders, the differential narratives of violence and mental health experiences among women from different migrant groups and the barriers to accessing mental health care. The proposed research will be conducted with a view to developing a culturally informed intervention to address violence against women in migrant groups and to provide policy recommendations to improve mental health care for migrants living in Spain

Keywords: violence against women,domestic violence,mental health,common mental disorders,public health,migrant women,migrant health,access to healthcare,mixed methods
Gaze and Eye Movement in Interaction (GEMINI)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Computer science and informatics
Panel description: Informatics and information systems, computer science, scientific computing, intelligent systems
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: ERC ADVANCED GRANT (ERC-2020-ADG, 2020)
Start date: 2021-10-01
End date: 2026-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2490391.25
EU funding (EUR): 2490391.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Gaze is a compelling modality for human-computer interaction (HCI). Where we look implicitly reflects our goals and information needs, and we are able to direct our gaze at will and speed across our environment, to efficiently communicate interest and express intent. However, in decades of research on gaze interfaces, the approach has been to consider eye movement in isolation and ignore concurrent movement of head and body. GEMINI will develop a fundamentally different approach, from the ground up recognising that visual attention and gaze control are performed in natural and necessary coordination of eyes, head and body. The project goal is to establish a new conceptual, computational and scientific foundation for gaze and eye movement in interaction, grounded in understanding of eye-head-body coordination and eye movements that stabilise and adapt vision. GEMINI will pioneer motion-based principles for determining gaze attention in 3D, methods for inferring interaction context from synergetic eye, head, and body movement, and a multimodal framework for "gaze in concert with the body" in which eye-head gaze is extended with gestural and proxemic interaction for a breakthrough in usable touchless interaction with ubiquitous computing. GEMINI will radically change how eye movement is approached for interaction, not as isolated and niche, but as central to interaction and dynamically coupled with other movement of the body. The project vision is that users will be able to interact fluidly in 3D with the physical-digital world around them, close-up and at-a-distance, using only their body for input, with eye, head, hand and body movements dynamically combined based on their natural coordination, context and complementarity. This has huge potential for impact on interactive systems where touch is not possible, practical, desirable or safe. If successful, "gaze in concert with the body" may well define the next major HCI paradigm.

Keywords: eye gaze,3d user interfaces,eye head coordination,body based interfaces,touchless interaction
CONnected through roBOTS: physically coupling humans to boost handwriting and music learning (CONBOTS)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Italy,Italy,Israel,Belgium,Serbia,United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call: Robotics in Application Areas (H2020-ICT-2019-2, 2019)
Start date: 2020-01-01
End date: 2023-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4810796.25
EU funding (EUR): 4810796.25
Participants: 8
Project status: SIGNED

From a parent coordinating movements to help a child learn to walk, to a violinist training a concerto, humans rely on physical interaction to learn from each other and from the environment. Building on a strongly multidisciplinary foundation with an integrated approach, CONBOTS proposes a paradigm shift that aims to augment handwriting and music learning through robotics, by creating a physically interacting robotic platform connecting humans in order to facilitate the learning of complex sensorimotor tasks. The newly designed platform will combine four enabling technologies: i) compact robotic haptic devices to gently interact with upper limbs; ii) an interactive controller yielding physical communication, integrating differential Game Theory (GT) and an algorithm to identify the partner’s control; iii) a bi-directional user interface encompassing AR-based application-driven serious games, and a set of wearable sensors and instrumented objects; iv) Machine learning algorithms for tailoring learning exercises to the user physical, emotional, and mental state CONBOTS is building on recent neuroscientific findings that showed the benefits of physical interaction to performing motor tasks together, where the human central nervous system understands a partner motor control and can use it to improve task performance and motor learning. This will be implemented on innovative robotic technology, wearable sensors and machine learning techniques to give rise to novel human-human and human-robot interaction paradigms applied in two different learning contexts: i) training graphomotor skills in children learning handwriting; ii) augmenting learning performance in beginner musicians. Using its neuroscience-driven unifying approach to motor learning and physical communication CONBOTS will expand the impact and the application of robotics to the education industry.

Keywords: human human physical communication,robotics for handwriting learning,robotics for music learning
A new process for removal of odour from Post Consumer Waste Polymer for non-food applications – ODEX (Odex)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Climate action, environment,  resource efficiency and raw materials
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: Boosting the potential of small businesses in the areas of climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials (H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017, 2016)
Start date: 2016-12-01
End date: 2017-05-31
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Although much progress has been made in recycling the easier polymer streams such as at-line production waste, or through specialist closed loop systems, the challenge to recycle Post Consumer polymer waste (mainly packaging from consumer goods such as food, sauces and detergents) is still strong, particularly for polypropylene and polyethylene. These polymers strongly absorb odours from their contents, and form musty taints due to bacterial action in the waste stream, which currently needs uneconomic levels of cleaning before they can be recycled into high value products such as automotive fascias and building products. Of all of the post consumer polypropylene waste produced, under 1% is recycled into high quality products; the rest is used in low value applications such as buried geotextiles, or is landfilled or incinerated. The ODEX process concept from Luxus, a recycling compounder for automotive plastics, has been specifically created to provide a cost effective method to deodourise polymers for higher value uses; it uses only the existing heat energy from the compounding process to drive the odourous compounds out of carefully designed pellets within a continuous at-line process. This project is intended to validate the feasibility of the process and formulate a business plan, to underpin our future objectives of scaling it up to commercial application. The future embodiment of the technology is envisaged as a turnkey or retrofit option for Luxus and other existing compounders as licencees, allowing them to provide high quality polymers from materials that would otherwise have been destined for landfill or incineration.

Keywords: post consumer plastic waste odour removal
Science and Nature (SCINAT)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: European researchers' Night
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Countries involved: Portugal,Portugal,Portugal
Call: European Researchers' Night (H2020-MSCA-NIGHT-2020, 2020)
Start date: 2020-04-01
End date: 2020-12-31
Duration (months): 9.0
Total project cost (EUR): 115157.5
EU funding (EUR): 115157.5
Participants: 7
Project status: CLOSED

'Science & Nature’ motto, under the International Year of Plant Health and related to the fact that Lisbon is the European Green Capital for 2020, aims to involve the public with research activities and scientific knowledge that are underway to help answering societal concerns about how to face global changes by preserving natural and cultural heritage, ecosystems and resources and to improve quality of life for the next decades. By adopting this vision for the European Researchers' Night, this proposal intends to respond to Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and societal goals of the EU framework program. It aims therefore to raise public awareness on the relevance of science to assure quality of life in the future, in the attempt to reach sustainability by preserving natural heritage and to bridge the gap between scientists and society, giving researchers the opportunity to perceive the main concerns of society and how they see and understand their work, while engaging young people with science. The consortium of this project, coordinated by the University of Lisbon through the National Museum of Natural History and Science (MUHNAC-ULisboa), combines efforts between researchers of major universities in Portugal – University of Minho, University of Lisbon, Nova University in Lisbon, University of Évora and the Lisbon University Institute. The Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotel Studies in Estoril will contribute to the natural heritage preservation approach while disseminating sustainable tourism and food security practices and the Lisbon municipality will be a central partner for the engagement of diverse audiences and civil society stakeholders while promoting the European Green Capital activities. The project will cover urban areas in Portugal from north to south, bridging the gap between researchers and society and contributing to bring societal actors together for the research and innovation process.

Keywords: natural heritage,global changes,research and society,sustainability,natural resources
How Transposable Elements drive the Emergence of Phenotypic Innovations (TEEPI)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Career Restart panel
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Germany
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2020, 2020)
Start date: 2021-05-01
End date: 2023-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 174806.4
EU funding (EUR): 174806.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

How genome give rise to novel phenotypes is a major question in Biosciences. Transposable Elements (TEs) have co-evolved with host and are a major process by which organisms adapt to novel environments. Despite the discovery of the role of TEs in phenotypic innovations, the mechanisms and categories of TEs favoring their role in adaptive radiation remains elusive due to their repetitive nature. To palliate such lack of knowledge, I will take advantage of the new sequencing methodology providing chromosome length contigs, allowing to map precisely the different type of TEs, to sequence several cockroach species. Blattodea insect order is incredibly diverse and previous studies suggest the determinant role of TEs during Blattodea diversification, making it a perfect model to understand how and which TEs favor phenotypic innovations. I am particularly interested to investigate the role of TEs in the adaptation to wood feeding and sociality which led to the adaptive radiation of Blattodea species. My expertise in social evolution, its molecular basis and next-generation sequencing techniques, along with the computational expertise of Prof. Bornberg-Bauer lab will allow to detect the TE families responsible for the adaptation of specific phenotypes and as well by which mechanisms such phenotypes arise (e.g. chromosome rearrangement, gene duplication, regulation of gene expression). TEEPI will advance knowledge on the incredible role of TEs in the organismal adaptation to rapidly changing environments and may also provide a way to tame the expansion of cockroaches and termites, common pests that are on a rise with global warming. During TEEPI, I will gain scientific knowledge and transferable skills in computational biology such as genome assembly, and also on project management and outreach. This new skills are key to reach my career goal, which is to create my own research group on Insect Genomics, and also broaden my career perspective towards positions in industry.

Keywords: adaptive radiation,blattodea evolution,evolution of sociality,molecular basis of ecological adaptation
Monolithic Multi-Junction Picosecond Avalanche Detector for future physics experiments and applications (MONOLITH)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Fundamental constituents of matter
Panel description: Particle, nuclear, plasma, atomic, molecular, gas, and optical physics
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2019-ADG, 2019)
Start date: 2020-07-01
End date: 2025-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Particle-physics, space research and several other fields of basic and applied science necessitate the production of thin sensors capable to provide excellent position and time resolution at the same time. The diode structure of present silicon pixel sensors strongly penalises the enormous potential of silicon-based time measurement: the ~30 ps intrinsic limit of diodes was already reached in sensors with internal gain with pad sizes of 1 mm2. Therefore, new ideas are needed to improve by another order of magnitude and reach the picosecond level. This project introduces a novel silicon-sensor structure devised to overcome the intrinsic limits of present sensors and simultaneously provide picosecond timing and high spatial resolution in a monolithic implementation. This goal is achieved by the introduction of a fully depleted multi-junction. The remarkable performance of this new sensor, combined with the simplified assembly process and reduced production cost offered by the monolithic implementation in standard CMOS processes, represent the required breakthrough. In addition to the novel multi-junction sensor, the cornerstones of the project are the low-noise very-fast SiGe HBT frontend and the patented TDC with robust synchronisation method that the PI has already produced in preliminary versions. The monolithic detector proposed here will offer a sustainable solution for the next generation of experiments at hadron colliders, in nuclear physics and for space-borne experiments in cosmic-ray physics and solar physics. Besides the primary goal of basic science, it will represent an extraordinary enabling technology for the large spectrum of high-tech applications that benefits of picosecond-level Time-Of-Flight measurements. The innovative monolithic detector introduced here will also offer a starting point for further progress in the field of light detection. European industrial partners have been contacted for commercial exploitation of the detector.

Keywords: silicon pixel sensors,time of flight,picosecond tdc,tof pet,photon detection