Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
The neural substrate of numerical cognition in dyscalculia revealed by eye tracking and ultra-high field 7T functional magnetic imaging (DYSC-EYE-7T)

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: Italy
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2019, 2019)
Start date: 2020-04-01
End date: 2022-09-01
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 171473.28
EU funding (EUR): 171473.28
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

What is the foundation of numerical thinking and why do some people struggle with math so much? For children with Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) understanding even the most basic numerical and arithmetical concepts can pose a major challenge, despite their normal intelligence and schooling opportunities. Different etiological accounts attempted to identify the neurocognitive basis of this developmental disorder, yet a universally recognized diagnostic measure of DD is still missing. One possible cause of DD is the lack of a functional “number sense”, the capability to estimate the approximate number of objects in a visual scene, which is thought to be the precursor of formal mathematics. A different account attributes DD to the suboptimal recruitment of general cognitive functions (e.g. attention and cognitive control) and denies any role of the number sense in mathematical learning. Here I propose a third view where domain general cognitive functions are strongly but specifically affected in DD, being maximally dysfunctional when individuals have to deal with numerical quantities. The ambitious aim of DYSC-EYE-7T is to evaluate the role of attention in numerical cognition by means of eye tracking, pupillometry and ultra-high field (7T) imaging. For the first time, these techniques will be used to identify objective and reliable biomarkers of numerical processing: I will develop indices based on eye-movement speed and pupil-size modulation to track individuals’ focus of attention during numerical processing and detect dysfunctional strategies in DD. These indices will be combined with multivariate analysis of functional imaging data to read-out the neural representation of number at high resolution and to identify the cortical origin of the specific attentional deficit in DD. A full understanding of the neurocognitive basis of DD and the validation of unobtrusive methods suited for children will pave the way for precocious diagnosis and more effective interventions.

Keywords: developmental dyscalculia,numerical cognition,eye tracking,pupillometry,functional magnetic imaging,specific learning disabilities,ultra high field imaging
Choice of where we die: a classification reform to discern diversity in individual end of life pathways (EOLinPLACE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: The Social World and Its Diversity
Panel description: Sociology, social psychology, social anthropology, education sciences, communication studies
Countries involved: Portugal
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2020-STG, 2020)
Start date: 2022-01-01
End date: 2026-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1874391.0
EU funding (EUR): 1874391.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

All humans die, >60% from a chronic disease. Whenever possible, this should happen where that individual feels it is the right place to be, so they feel empowered and safe. We know that most would prefer dying at home but many die in hospital. To help achieve preferences we must dig deeper. Until now, science has failed to capture the dynamics and diversity of preferences and places where people are cared for at the end of life. Current classifications of dying places are incomplete and inconsistent. I am driven by the vision of reforming the way dying places are classified and understood, refining and shifting the focus from the end-point (place of death) to the pathway that precedes it. I want to develop a strong foundation for a pioneering international classification tool that maps preferred and actual places towards death grounded on what they mean for individuals (beyond a purely physical or medical view). To achieve this I combine classic methods of developing health classifications with a bottom-up participatory research approach, working with patient and family representatives. First, I conduct a novel mixed-methods study (ethnography followed by longitudinal study) in 4 countries covering existing target variation, to explore nuances and commonalities in the experiences of patients with life-threatening conditions and their families. Based on this, I build a contemporary classification and assess its content validity in focus groups with patients, carers and other stakeholders. I then test it in varied settings to examine construct validity, reliability, responsiveness, data quality and interpretability. All data are integrated to deepen understanding of different end of life pathways in caring environments and what influences them. Prompted by my discoveries on preferences and concern with unfit classifications for a fast-growing need in a changed social world with limited care resources, my research will open new directions in how to care for the dying.

Keywords: place of death,patient preference,family caregiver,classification,demography,health policy
Smartness to existing Buildings (SMART2B)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Secure, clean and efficient energy
Theme: Reducing energy consumption and carbon foorpint by smart and sustainable use
Action type: Innovation actions
Countries involved: Austria,Germany,Spain,Italy,Italy,Belgium,Greece,Portugal,Portugal,Denmark
Call: Upgrading smartness of existing buildings through innovations for legacy equipment (H2020-LC-SC3-EE-2020-2, 2020)
Start date: 2021-09-01
End date: 2024-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4704743.23
EU funding (EUR): 3999897.52
Participants: 14
Project status: SIGNED

SMART2B aims to 1) upgrade smartness levels of existing buildings through coordinated control of legacy equipment and smart appliances, 2) implement interoperability in two existing cloud-based platforms that are currently available in the European market and, as a result of this project, will be integrated into a single building management platform, 3) create a user-centric ecosystem that empowers citizens by simplifying equipment and device control and providing information about overall energy performance. The cloud-based platform will facilitate smartness upgrades of existing buildings, enabling their transition from passive buildings to active elements of the energy system by offering new energy and non-energy services such as increased energy efficiency, improved indoor comfort to the occupants and flexibility to various stakeholders including DSOs, building managers and other third-parties. Thereupon, specifically tailored to the needs of the user, SMART2B will provide new business models for the building energy market combining the savings from energy efficiency measures and gains from the active contribution of the building through flexibility services by exploiting the maximum level of smartness. The experience and maturity of solutions from the consortium partners will ensure market uptake through sound exploitation and replication activities carried out by the strong commercial backbone of SMART2B. SMART2B will develop and deploy non-intrusive IoT sensors and actuators in existing buildings aiming to solve one of the main problems of improving buildings’ indoor comfort and energy efficiency: the structural (physical and financial) limits of installing, monitoring, automating and control existing devices in buildings, by proposing plug & play devices able to interact with the appliances and legacy equipment already installed and communicate the collected data to the cloud for remote monitoring, data analysis based on AI and machine learning and control.

Keywords: smart building,commercial building,smart home,smart office,flexibility,indoor air quality,smart readiness indicator,smart ready service,citizen energy community,smart building management
What is Tuberculosis? Challenging the Current Paradigm of Tuberculosis Natural History using Mathematical Modelling Techniques (TBornotTB)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases
Panel description: Medical technologies and tools for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases, therapeutic approaches and interventions, pharmacology, preventative medicine, epidemiology and public health, digital medicine
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2017-STG, 2017)
Start date: 2018-03-01
End date: 2023-11-30
Duration (months): 69.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499818.75
EU funding (EUR): 1499818.75
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

What is Tuberculosis (TB)? How does a person go from infection to disease, and what does this mean at the population level? For a disease that has caused over two billion deaths in human history, and is the biggest cause of death from an infection today, the natural history of TB remains stubbornly elusive. In this ERC award I will challenge current paradigms by exploring the implications of new empirical insights from basic science on our understanding of TB epidemiology and its control using mathematical modelling techniques. My hypothesis is that the prevailing paradigm of TB natural history is overly simple, and one of the key drivers of inaccuracy in projections made by mathematical models thus far. Current models of disease typically account for two distinct stages of infection and disease, with mostly one-directional progression between them. Instead, data has shown that individuals experience a range of stages of disease intensity. Moreover, over time individuals can move between stages through a dynamic interplay between immune induced repression and disease progression. In this ERC award I will first focus on collating the best available data to parameterize a new mathematical model of TB with unprecedented flexibility to capture the required trends. I will settle on the best model structure and understand its behavior. In the second stage, I will use the model to explore critical questions in two areas of TB research that require the detail of the new paradigm: the challenge of addressing latent tuberculosis infection; and incorporating the impact of changes in socio-economic indicators on TB trends. The consequences of such a paradigm shift to better reflect new insights from basic science and epidemiology are important. Initial modelling of intermediate disease states and the potential for progression and regression suggests that the projected impact of diagnostic strategies is substantially reduced, both in the immediate and longer-term.

Keywords: tuberculosis,natural history,latent tb infection,mathematical modelling of infectious diseases
Agricultural Interoperability and Analysis System (ATLAS)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Action type: Innovation actions
Countries involved: Germany,Germany,Italy,Italy,Germany,Germany,Germany,Germany,Germany,Germany,Germany,Italy,Germany,Italy,Germany,Germany,Germany,Germany,Germany,Germany,Germany,Spain,Italy,Germany,Greece,Switzerland,Belgium,Belgium,Greece,Greece,Sweden,Switzerland,Switzerland,Switzerland,Greece,Romania,Latvia,Latvia,Latvia,France,Netherlands,Portugal
Call: Agricultural digital integration platforms (H2020-DT-2018-2, 2018)
Start date: 2019-10-01
End date: 2023-07-31
Duration (months): 46.0
Total project cost (EUR): 15803878.5
EU funding (EUR): 12890976.25
Participants: 54
Project status: SIGNED

The overall objective of ATLAS is the development of an open digital service platform for agricultural applications and to build up a sustainable ecosystem for innovative data-driven agriculture using the platform. The platform will allow the flexible combination of agricultural machinery, sensor systems and data analysis tools to overcome the problem of lacking interoperability and to enable farmers to increase their productivity in a sustainable way by making use of the most advanced digital technology and data. The platform will define a service architecture providing hardware- and software-interoperability layers which enable the acquisition and sharing of data from a multitude of sensors and the analysis of this data using a multitude of dedicated analysis approaches. The benefits of data driven agriculture will be demonstrated using the ATLAS platform within a multitude of pilot studies. Around these pilot studies, so called "Innovation Hubs", a network of end-users, service providers, researchers and policy makers along the agricultural value chain, will be established to exploit the benefits of digital agriculture to a larger audience. Innovative companies will be attracted through seed funding to provide their services through the platform. With the knowledge created from these pilot studies, ATLAS will put significant effort into the definition of the next generation standards for data driven agriculture.

Keywords: interoperability,digital platform,standardization,sensor systems,decision support,machine learning
Bio-inspired and bionic materials for enhanced photosynthesis (BEEP)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Innovative Training Networks (ITN)-European Training Networks
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Italy,Italy,Italy,France,France,Netherlands,Denmark,United Kingdom,United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call: Innovative Training Networks (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019, 2019)
Start date: 2020-01-01
End date: 2023-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2531960.64
EU funding (EUR): 2531960.64
Participants: 11
Project status: SIGNED

The amount of solar energy that reaches the earth’s surface exceeds the global energy demand of humans by about 12 000 times. However, despite huge efforts in the scientific community, harvesting and efficient exploitation of this renewable and green energy source is still a major challenge for humanity. In the marine world, photosynthetic bacteria and algae (microalgae and seaweeds) are the predominant primary producers and many different organisms (e.g. corals, giant clams or photosynthetic sea slugs) cooperate synergistically with algae and bacteria for optimal solar light harvesting and conversion into chemically bound energy for biosynthesis and growth. Inspired by such organisms, the “Bio-inspired and Bionic materials for enhanced photosynthesis (BEEP)” project aims to train researchers in a truly interdisciplinary setting to develop novel bio-mimetic approaches for light management. BEEP’s specific mission is to design and manufacture hybrid systems combining living organisms and artificial materials: We envision that by understanding the critical aspects of complex symbiotic interaction in marine organisms we will be able to create new bionic and bio-inspired system, such as more efficient bio-photoreactors. This truly interdisciplinary research requires an intersectorial approach by specialized and skilled scientists from different disciplines, combining expertise from marine biology (UCPH, UN, NHM), and microbiology (HOEKMINE) with expertise in optics and spectroscopy (UCAM, IIT, UCL), chemistry (UNISTRA, UNIBA, BP), and advanced microscopy (TESCAN). BEEP will kick-start an unprecedented interdisciplinary European research training effort in the emerging area of marine biomimetics with a concomitant strong emphasis on science outreach and exploitation.

Keywords: bio mimetic,bionics,structural coloration,light management,photosynthesis
Recovery of nutrients from agricultural residues and improved dewatering through ultrasound technology (UltraBio)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy
Theme: Sustainable agriculture and forestry
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Germany
Call: Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for sustainable and competitive agriculture, forestry, agri-food and bio-based sectors (H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017, 2016)
Start date: 2017-02-01
End date: 2017-07-31
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

European livestock holders and biogas plant operators produce billions of cubic metres of manure and digestate every year that need to be disposed. The disposal of these nutrient-rich suspensions on agricultural fields is restricted by the EU’s Nitrates Directive and derived national laws. Therefore, livestock holders and biogas plant operators cannot dispose their residues in this traditional way and have to pay much money for a third-party disposal. Weber Entec Entec GmbH & Co. KG, a German SME specialised in the development of innovative products based on ultrasound technology in the field of environmental engineering, has developed a new procedure for the treatment of manure, digestate and other organic suspensions which not only enables their disposal but also their valorisation. The substances will be separated into their solid and liquid compounds while the majority of the nutrients will be bound to the solid product. The liquid product can then be disposed without any restrictions, while the nutrient-enriched solid product can be pelletised and sold as a valuable storable organic fertiliser. A series of tests on the lab-scale has confirmed the proper functioning and the great potentials of the new technology. However, an industrial-scale technical prototype did not fully reach the same efficiency. Further research is necessary to develop a marketable product. In this proposed project, the technical feasibility of the necessary developments will be assessed and a business plan will be developed for the commercialisation of the machine. The ultrasound machine will help European livestock holders and biogas plant operators to not only save money for the disposal of their residues but also to generate an additional income by valorising and selling them. At the same time, Weber Entec will significantly grow in terms of turnover, profit and employees and further expand its position on the European market for environmental engineering ultrasound products.

Keywords: ultrasound treatment,manure,digestate,fertiliser,recovery nutrients,circular economy
MicroRNA Isoforms for Molecular Interception of Cervical cancer using Self-samples (MIMICS)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — 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 Grant (ERC-2015-PoC, 2015)
Start date: 2016-09-01
End date: 2017-11-30
Duration (months): 15.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

With 13,000 deaths each year in the EU, cervical cancer (CC) is one of the deadliest cancers worldwide. This is unnecessary, since CC is well detectable and treatable at early stages. For this reason, most EU countries have screening programs in place. These screening programs have had (varying) success in reducing CC incidence, however, this reduction has reached a plateau and new strategies are needed to improve screening success. An important reason for the stagnating decline in CC incidence is the relative high rate of non-compliance to screening because the gynaecological procedure to collect a sample is seen as highly uncomfortable and very invasive. Offering self-sampling options increases the participation rate in non-responder women by 30%. However, self-sampling is not compatible with the current cytology-based screening method (e.g. Pap test). There is thus a great need for the development of new, molecular screening assays for CC that can be used on self-samples. In the ERC-AdG MASS-CARE, we investigate the value of two classes of molecular markers, DNA methylation and miRNA for the detection of cervical disease in self-samples. In our analyses, we frequently observed variations at the 3’ end of the miRNA markers. Such variations (isomiRs) have great impact on their detectability by standard assays and thus specific assay development for these isomiRs constitutes a great improvement compared to using the canonical miRNA sequence. In MIMICS, we aim to select the isomiRs with the strongest association with CC which therefore have added value as disease biomarker compared to the canonical miRNAs. The identified isomiRs, which improve CC detection compared to the canonical miRNAs will be added to the panel of DNA methylation and canonical miRNAs as identified in the ERC-AdG. This assay will constitute the first full molecular, non-morphology-based, objective screening assay for cervical cancer fully compatible with self-sampling.

Keywords: diagnostic assay,cervical cancer,mirna,isomir,molecular marker