Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
ENabling Self-Driving in Uncertain Real Environments (ENSURE)

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: Türkiye
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2023-STG, 2023)
Start date: 2023-11-01
End date: 2028-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1497920.0
EU funding (EUR): 1497920.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

ENSURE addresses the challenge of self-driving in uncertain situations of the real world. Due to the difficulty of reasoning in complex real-world scenarios, self-driving remains one of the most difficult research problems today. For safe navigation, the driving agent needs to be able to anticipate the consequences of its actions. Current solutions are reactive without any planning for what might happen in the future. This poses major safety issues and delays the deployment of self-driving vehicles. Without a change in our approach to self-driving, we risk not only realizing fully autonomous driving but also half-baked solutions that endanger lives in uncertain situations. The future is inherently uncertain due to some scene structures such as intersections and the unknown intentions of the other agents. The errors in the perception of the scene and the prediction of the future cause another type of uncertainty. Furthermore, there are rarely encountered situations that might require passing the control to the human driver such as an unknown object on the road. As a way of managing uncertainties in the real world, ENSURE proposes a world model to predict the future with different types of uncertainty in a compact bird's eye view representation. To realize the potential of the world model, ENSURE will put it into action first online in simulation and push its performance to the limit under a controlled setting. The most ambitious goal of ENSURE is to learn to drive in an offline manner from already collected real driving data based on the predictions of the world model. The different types of uncertainties will be used to safeguard against the model's expected failures in the offline setting. Every step of ENSURE will build towards enabling end-to-end driving in the real world and its success in achieving this goal will allow similar success stories in other domains that require reasoning under uncertainty.
A 64Cu(II)-based radiotracer for diagnosing hypoxic conditions in cancer cells (Hypo-Imag)

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: Israel
Call: ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS1 (ERC-2022-POC1, 2022)
Start date: 2022-04-01
End date: 2023-09-30
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, development of new methodologies to early and accurate diagnosis of cancer, should reduce these death rates. Hypoxia is associated with low oxygen levels in the cells, which leads to an increase in tumor aggressiveness, and to resistance to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Therefore, there is a compelling need to develop a biomarker for detection and imaging of hypoxic cells. Despite on-going efforts to identify and/or track hypoxia, there is still no routinely used clinical biomarker or a radiotracer of hypoxia. In the framework of the ERC-Stg CuHypMech project, we succeeded in developing a suitable, highly selective and sensitive radiotracer based on 64Cu(II) for PET-CT/PET-MRI imaging to report on the hypoxic conditions of cells. This was achieved by monitoring the cellular copper transfer mechanism in human breast cancer cells, specifically by identifying the various copper-binding sites in those proteins involved and identifying factors critical for proper copper transfer. Based on this molecular-level insight into cellular pathways involving copper, a lead compound was designed and characterized and termed 64CuCysPhe. Our lead 64CuCysPhe compound showed promising in vitro and in vivo results in breast cancer models. In this PoC proposal, we would like to expand our in vivo experiments by testing our compound in additional cancers, such as cervical and prostate cancers. The main objective of this proposal is to complete all pre-clinic experiments needed before entering the clinic. This will require us to show good identification of the tumor in various tumors of varied sizes from different cancers. We will also have to correlate imaging intensity with hypoxia levels. Finally, we will have to find ways to reduce preparation costs of our compound and seek subsequent investments (either non-dilutive through EIC Transition, or dilutive through business angels or venture capital funds).
Retinal Mesh Optoelectronics (MESHOPTO)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Materials Engineering
Panel description: Advanced materials development: performance enhancement, modelling, large -scale preparation, modification, tailoring, optimisation, novel  and combined use of materials, etc.
Countries involved: Türkiye,France
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2021-COG, 2021)
Start date: 2022-11-01
End date: 2027-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2000000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2000000.0
Participants: 3
Project status: SIGNED

Visual sense is vital for all of us. Blindness has severe negative psychological, social, and economical consequences, and degeneration of photoreceptors is a leading cause of it. Photovoltaic retina implants are the current electronic solution to restore vision loss due to photoreceptor degeneration. Since the state-of-the-art implants are based on photodiodes, which face challenges in terms of miniaturization, efficiency, and compatibility with mechanical and structural properties of the retina, artificial vision still falls short to overcome the legal blindness level. We propose a novel concept of Retinal Mesh Optoelectronics that will simultaneously satisfy (a) high-pixel density for high visual acuity, (b) conformability to match the natural curvature of the retina for optimal vision quality, (c) flexibility for coverage of a large area of the retina for a wide field of view, (d) seamless integration to keep the remaining healthy photoreceptors intact, (e) biocompatibility, (f) usage of safe capacitive current, (g) injectability and (h) removability. Toward this aim, we will initially develop efficient, thin, and cellular-sized photovoltaic neural interfaces based on quantum dots and nanowires. For that, non-toxic quantum dots that have strong light absorption at near-infrared will be synergized with the nanowires that have unique light-trapping and high surface area for efficient photostimulation of neurons. Then, we will translate these devices to porous and flexible tissue-like retinal implants for artificial vision. Starting from the nanomaterial synthesis to optoelectronic device fabrication and bioelectronic mesh formation, this challenging innovation combining nanomaterials, photonics and abiotic-biotic interfaces will be explored from primary neurons up to in-vivo experimental models of photoreceptor degeneration in order to move the results toward clinical application.

Keywords: quantum dot,nanowire,neural interface
Quadruple-helix-based knowledge valorisation best practices to transition to an Open Science innovation management model (Kaleidos)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area
Programme: Reforming and enhancing the European R&I System
Theme: Reforming and enhancing the European R&I System
Destination: Reforming and enhancing the European R&I System
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Spain,Italy,Sweden,France,Israel
Call: Experimentation and exchange of good practices for value creation (HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ERA-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-02-01
End date: 2026-07-31
Duration (months): 30.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1069225.0
EU funding (EUR): 1069225.0
Participants: 7
Project status: SIGNED

KALEIDOS brings together research and innovation managers and advisors from a group of 4 European universities and one SME with strong competence on Knowledge Valorisation (KV) and Open Science (OS) that will, in partnership with a low-intensive KV university, collaborate for competence exchange and development, cross-learning and skill sharing, and network building and consolidation, and quadruple-helix (QH) interaction-based knowledge valorisation best practices (KVBP). They will share their KVBP and enhance them by embedding actions with QH stakeholders of their local ecosystems throughout all research stages (from challenge definition to establishment of multidisciplinary research and innovation teams, generation of innovations to respond to existing needs, design of project concepts and funding applications, and actual project implementation and advancement of results to the market). Ultimately, this process will develop a comprehensive set of social innovation and OS approaches and practices, to be piloted and assessed within universities and with their ecosystems through a new set of indicators for measuring OS and social innovation impact. KALEIDOS will also define, with QH actors, the OS professional profiles for both researchers and managers and the associated capacity-building training programmes for universities and research centres. Generated resources, action plans, guidelines, and peer-sharing professional network will be made available for any university or research centre to replicate the exercise adapted to their specific context and needs. Policy recommendations will be developed at national and European level to contribute to the European advancement of the OS policy framework. Ultimately, KALEIDOS aims to consolidate a methodology and associated tools and guidelines to help universities and research centres in their transition towards an OS and social innovation management approach at all stages of research.

Keywords: knowledge valorisation,open science,quadruple helix,randi management,open science policy,impact measurement,capacity building,training,network,peer sharing,co creation,open innovation
Restoration of the gut microbiome after delivery by caesarean section to prevent asthma (RestoreGut)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Prevention,  Diagnosis and T reatment 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: Denmark
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2023-COG, 2023)
Start date: 2024-05-01
End date: 2029-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999934.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999934.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Associations between caesarean section (CS) and childhood asthma may be mediated through microbial changes. In 700 children followed prospectively from birth, I recently showed that microbial perturbations after delivery by CS explain the delivery mode-associated risk of developing asthma in the first 6 years of life. CS was associated with more than a doubled risk of later asthma and allergic sensitization as well as immense compositional changes in the gut microbiota. An increased asthma risk was only found in children born by caesarean section, if their microbiome did not normalize by age 1 year, suggesting that a healthy microbial maturation can alleviate the child’s increased asthma risk. Under the hypothesis that asthma risk from CS can be avoided by restoring the early gut microbiome, the proposed project will identify key environmental, dietary and host factors that help restoring a CS perturbed microbiome, map the compositional and functional potential of the CS microbial profiles, evaluate the role of the virome in the CS associations and perform co-cultures of key microbial consortia that may restore a healthy trajectory. Finally, I will perform murine experimental models to validate the findings and perform pilot studies on CS microbiota restoration by fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) and fecal virome transplantation (FVT) in newborns. This will be a truly translational research project, with the potential to go from clinical observations to mechanisms based on bioinformatics and microbiological laboratory work and experimental models and a pilot human trial to infer causal relationships with the perspective of developing a potential future intervention strategy. If successful, this strategy will be groundbreaking for understanding the microbiome’s role in asthma development after CS and in the future potentially lead to novel prevention strategies and targeted, efficient microbiota manipulation in children with early microbial perturbations.

Keywords: caesarean section,microbiome,asthma,allergy
Sargassum Bioeconomy: From Coastal Biomass to Advanced Sustainable Materials (SARGEX)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Staff Exchanges
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Spain,Italy,Belgium,Malta,Ireland,Cuba
Call: MSCA Staff Exchanges 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-SE-01, 2024)
Start date: 2026-01-01
End date: 2029-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 994127.14
EU funding (EUR): 886770.0
Participants: 9
Project status: SIGNED

The proliferation of sargassum has emerged as a pressing global ecological challenge, with far-reaching impacts on marine ecosystems, public health, and coastal economies. While Europe has so far been largely insulated, climate change and associated factors—rising sea temperatures, shifts in oceanic currents, and increased nutrient loading—heighten the risk of sargassum blooms in European marine ecosystems. Regions like the Mediterranean, the Baltic Sea, and Northern European freshwater systems are increasingly vulnerable, threatening sectors such as fisheries, agriculture, and tourism, which collectively contribute over €1.3 trillion annually to the EU economy. In the Caribbean, Cuba illustrates the devastating consequences of sargassum inundations, with annual blooms exceeding 24 million tonnes. These have inflicted severe economic damage on tourism, fisheries, and public health. European-owned hotels and tourism operators in the Caribbean report annual losses of €120 million, compounded by clean-up costs of €30,000 per kilometer of coastline and ecosystem degradation affecting fisheries and biodiversity. Hydrogen sulfide emissions further exacerbate public health risks, underscoring the urgency for innovative and proactive solutions. SARGEX is a transformative project designed to address these challenges by providing scalable, sustainable, and circular solutions for marine biomass valorization. The project integrates modular processing plants equipped with biodigesters for zero-waste transformation of sargassum into valuable outputs, including bioinputs, biochar, and biogas. These bioinputs, capable of replacing up to 30% of synthetic agrochemicals, are projected to increase agricultural yields by 30%. Additionally, biogas generation (20 m³ per tonne) and biochar production contribute to renewable energy goals and soil enhancement, aligning with the EU’s Green Deal, Circular Economy Action Plan, and Biodiversity Strategy 2030.

Keywords: marine biomass valorization,sargassum blooms,bioinputs,biogas production,zero waste solutions,biodiversity restoration,circular economy,sustainable agriculture,climate resilience
The CLuster and group Environment as Viewed by eROSITA (CLEVeR)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Universe Sciences
Panel description: Astro -physics/ -chemistry/ -biology; solar system; planetary systems; stellar, galactic and extragalactic astronomy; cosmology; space sciences; astronomical instrumentation and data
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2021-COG, 2021)
Start date: 2022-06-01
End date: 2027-05-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 693750.0
EU funding (EUR): 693750.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Galaxy groups play a crucial role in modern cosmology by providing the key test for the predictions of models of large-scale structure and galaxy formation and evolution. This is because their hot gas content, and thus their X-ray appearance, is determined by the fundamental ingredient of the modern cosmological models, i.e. the feedback of the supermassive black hole hosted by the central galaxy. However, differently from galaxy clusters, within this general framework, the predictions of the galaxy group baryonic content very vastly depend on the feedback implementation. For this reason, they are the ideal laboratory to provide the ultimate constraint for anchoring the simulations. At present, there are no observational constraints to guide the theory and to discern among the different scenarios. The aim of the present proposal is to fill this fundamental gap in our understanding by characterizing the galaxy group population in terms of baryonic content, from their hot gas on Mpc scale to their galaxy population properties on kpc scale. The main limitation to doing so, thus far, has been the lack of X-ray observations of galaxy groups, due to the low sensitivities of previous surveys. With CLEVeR we will overcome this by taking advantage of the unprecedented statistics and sensitivity at the group mass scale of the eROSITA All Sky Survey in the X-rays. In addition, we will complement eROSITA data with upcoming 4MOST spectroscopic surveys of galaxy groups in the optical and with ancillary datasets that capture specific physical processes of the feedback and the central galaxy itself, such as MaNGA, MUSE, and LOFAR. With such an ultimate dataset, we will, then, be able to study and constrain all relevant components on all relevant scales to nail down the physics of galaxy groups and of their interaction with black hole feedback and, from there, of the large-scale structure simulations of the Universe.

Keywords: galaxy groups intra group and intra cluster medium black hole feedback gas cooling black hole feedback interplay
Phenotyping of protein mechanics Libraries to unravel the design principles of catch bonds (PHENOMECHANICAL)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Molecules of Life: B iological  Mechanisms , Structures  and Functions
Panel description: For all organisms : Molecular biology , biochemistry, structural biology, molecular biophysics , synthetic and chemical biology, drug design, innovative methods and modelling
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2025-STG, 2025)
Start date: 2026-03-01
End date: 2031-02-28
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1968379.0
EU funding (EUR): 1968378.75
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Mechanical forces that steer protein interactions and folding play pivotal roles in biology. They shape cellular fate, and are critical factors in both pathogen adhesion and immune response. Catch bonds, atypical interfaces that increase their bound lifetime under mechanical force, play a central role in these processes. At present, we have no model nor datasets large enough to predict if an interaction is a catch bond from its structure without doing experiments, let alone design new catch bonds. Single molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) methods investigate the mechanics of proteins involved in these processes. These techniques typically have high force resolution, but extremely low throughput. An exhaustive database of proteins characterized by SMFS in the past 30 years contains only 85 entries. The overall aim of this proposal is to establish methods that allow large scale measurement of the mechanics of protein-protein interactions under force, first on hundreds, and finally on thousands of catch bonds: library-scale mechanical phenotyping. The key innovation proposed here is to link mechanostability, that is bond lifetime under an externally applied force, to a DNA-sequencing based readout by coupling phenotype to sequencing-readable genotype. Force resolution will be comparable to established flow-stretching assays, while throughput will increase by at least 2 orders of magnitude. The increased throughput will be leveraged to identify the design principles of catch bonds using de novo protein design. Ultimately, I aim to engineer new-to-nature de novo catch bonds with tunable lifetimes under force, which could find application in new biomaterials or as synthetic force-steered cell receptors. The interplay of design and high throughput testing will create large, hypothesis driven computational and experimental datasets of protein mechanics suitable to machine learning approaches, possibly opening ways to infer catch bonding behavior solely based on structure.