Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
lasEr-driven Universal Radio-isOtope Production Accelerator (EUROPA)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Pathfinder
Destination: Open to supporting projects in all areas of science, technology,...
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: France,Germany,United Kingdom,Romania,Belgium,Spain
Call: EIC Pathfinder Open (HORIZON-EIC-2025-PATHFINDEROPEN, 2025)
Start date: 2026-04-01
End date: 2030-03-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3717324.99
EU funding (EUR): 3502027.49
Participants: 14
Project status: SIGNED

EUROPA envisions an innovative Artificial Radioisotope (ARI) production facility based on laser-plasma acceleration (LPA), leveraging its versatility to produce innovative radiopharmaceuticals for diagnosing and treating a wide range of cancers. For the first time, EUROPA will demonstrate that LPA can produce ARIs with sufficient activity (in Bq) and quality for medical research. This enables compact, easy-to-deploy ARI production units suitable for deployment in hospitals, offering a wide range of ARIs. Nuclear medicine is increasingly favored for cancer diagnosis and treatment, due to far fewer side effects than chemotherapy. However, it requires extensive preclinical investigations to study a broad array of ARIs to treat various types of cancer. Currently, ARIs are produced by a limited number of nuclear reactors and accelerators that cannot meet the rising demand for novel isotopes in nuclear medicine. LPA offers a highly versatile source of radiation (gamma rays) and particles (ions and neutrons) across a broad energy spectrum, making it a promising approach for generating the moderate activity levels required for innovative radiopharmaceutical applications. To demonstrate this potential, EUROPA focuses on two innovative pairs of theranostic ARI: 61Cu/67Cu and 43Sc/47Sc. The project aims to optimize LPA mechanisms to enhance the yield of accelerated particles within the desired energy range, while developing dedicated detectors to support proof-of-concept experiments for radioisotope production. Furthermore, EUROPA investigates ways to increase the laser repetition rate, thereby improving the average particle current—an essential step toward transitioning from scientific proof to technological application. Bringing together top experts in radiopharmaceuticals, LPA physics, nuclear science, and high-intensity lasers, EUROPA offers a disruptive, scalable ARI production technology, compact, easy to operate and dismantle, unlocking new applications and markets.

Keywords: laser plasma acceleration electrons and ions,artificial radioisotope,radiopharmaceuticals production
Biological fabrication of cotton fibers with tailored properties (BIOMATFAB)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Panel description: New materials and new synthetic approaches, structure -properties relations, solid state chemistry, molecular architecture, organic chemistry
Countries involved: Portugal
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2021-COG, 2021)
Start date: 2022-08-01
End date: 2027-07-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2000000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2000000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Naturally produced fibers have always played central roles in shaping human civilizations. Current hazardous chemical-based manufacturing processes and consumers' preferences for cotton products are putting much strain on the future of cotton’s global economy. Thus, it is urgent to seek future sustainable alternatives. What alternatives and tools are available? Which new avenues are waiting to be explored toward this end? Harnessing biological systems is one of humanity’s ultimate frontiers. Yet, the intrinsic complexity of higher organisms and the lack of in-depth, comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanisms and their interactions across a multitude of scales has primarily hindered their use to manufacture bio-based materials with desired properties. This project addresses this lack of knowledge by answering key questions concerning the sugar uptake and upwards transport from the roots and biosynthesis of naturally produced fibers at the level of cotton plants while using this body of information to create a roadmap to produce cotton fibers with tailored properties. Our approach will dive into the exploration of a recent and largely unexplored discovery that cotton plants uptake sugar by the roots, transporting them upwards, reaching as far as the fibers (root-to-fiber). In particular, we will dwell on the dynamics of this process using sugar derivatives. This body of information will set the stage for feeding the roots of whole cotton plants with sugar derivatives carrying specific functionalities to become, ultimately, biologically incorporated into the fibers modifying their end properties, particularly fluoro-sugars to yield fibers with increased hydrophobicity. We will demonstrate the feasibility of biological fabrication and material farming in whole cotton plants as a revolutionizing and sustainable alternative to manufacturing current chemical-based strategies and toward a bio-based global economy.

Keywords: plants,cotton,fibers modification in situ,biomaterials synthesis,cyanobacteria,biofactories,sugar transport
NANOSTRUCTURED STABILIZED COLLOIDAL SYSTEMS AS THE BASIS OF INNOVATIVE AND ECO-FRIENDLY ALTERNATIVES TO HIGHLY TOXIC PESTICIDES FOR COMPREHENSIVE PLANT PROTECTION AGAINST HARMFUL OBJECTS (SCS)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Accelerator
Destination: Other destinations
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: Estonia
Call: EIC Accelerator 2024 - Short application (HORIZON-EIC-2024-ACCELERATOR-01, 2024)
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 12280000.0
EU funding (EUR): 12280000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The project addresses one of the most serious issues in modern agriculture: the use of highly toxic pesticides and fertilizers, which have a negative impact on human health and the environment. The project presents our proprietary technology for creating a new generation of plant protection and nutrition products, featuring universal comprehensive action and the highest degree of safety for the environment and human health. The SCS-Tech (Stabilized Colloidal Systems Technology) includes the methodology for creating such products and several already developed products (Silver Mix – a leaf liquid compound inorganic micronutrient nanofertilizer with a powerful elicitor effect; inducer of nonspecific immunity (3000 ppm colloidal silver + micronutrients) and Silver Phos – a leaf compound liquid inorganic macronutrient nanofertilizer with a growth-stimulating effect (500 ppm colloidal silver + macronutrients). These products received EU certification in February 2024 and are ready for implementation in the agricultural technologies of EU countries.

Keywords: plant protection,green deal,pesticides alternatives,agronomy,environmental and green technologies,food safety
Environmental Turn of Dance: Convergence of Therapeutic Practice, Art Creation with AI and Community Practice (ETD)

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: Social Sciences and Humanities
Countries involved: Malta
Call: ERA Fellowships (HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-TALENTS-02, 2023)
Start date: 2025-09-15
End date: 2027-09-14
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 177251.52
EU funding (EUR): 177251.52
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

“Environmental Turn of Dance: Convergence of Therapeutic Practice, Art Creation with AI and Community Practice” (ETD) is a groundbreaking research endeavor poised at the nexus of dance studies, environmental philosophy, and AI technology. The project seeks to investigate how dance can effectively generate awareness of, and proactive responses to, the challenges posed by climate change. Specifically, the research will evaluate existing initiatives, performances, and collaborations that integrate dance and climate change and identify the ways in which dance can contribute to climate change education, advocacy, and the promotion of sustainable practices in Malta. With urgency stemming from contemporary ecological challenges, ETD aims to redefine the role of dance as a catalyst for ecological consciousness, addressing the why of our environmental crisis in a novel, embodied manner. The current moment demands immediate action in reshaping our relationship with the environment. ETD acknowledges the pressing need to infuse environmental awareness into artistic expression. This urgency aligns with global concerns for climate change and ecological well-being, propelling us to address environmental issues creatively, fostering a sustainable future. Methodologically, this project seeks to unravel the intricate interplay between dance and the natural environment, shedding light on unexplored dimensions. Moreover, ETD pioneers the integration of AI technology into dance research, emphasizing innovation and collaboration. This approach marries creative artistry with cutting-edge tools, enabling dynamic exploration of ecological themes. ETD exemplifies my profound interdisciplinary expertise. My recent international projects have skillfully developed intersectional knowledge, bridging dance studies, environmental philosophy, AI technology. Therefore, ETD will build TRIPLE-I dimension (International, Intersectoral and Interdisciplinarity) and integrate diverse expertise.

Keywords: dance performances on climate change,environmental philosophy,eco somatic,ai choreography,community engagement
Precision fermentation for real animal-free dairy (PREFERRED)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Accelerator
Destination: Other destinations
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: Germany
Call: EIC Accelerator 2024 - Short application (HORIZON-EIC-2024-ACCELERATOR-01, 2024)
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Formo is a food-biotech company based in Germany. It domesticates microorganisms for sustainable food production in a process called precision fermentation, thus decoupling food production from soil and environmental conditions. The start-up develops, produces and - as the only company worldwide - already markets the first animal-free products in Europe from its dairy and egg product portfolio based on superior proteins, which are indistinguishable from conventional products. Formo is on the brink of the deepest, fastest and most consequential disruption in agriculture and is entering the market at scale this year. This project is about scaling up the company's second generation product: cheese made from recombinant bio-identical milk proteins. The project aims to further develop and optimize strains for the efficient production of such proteins, scale up production through optimized bioprocess engineering, scale up end-product production to an industrial level, and prepare and submit regulatory dossiers in key markets for approval and market entry. The project positions Formo as a global leader in the development of non-animal dairy products and is in line with the focus of this call as it improves the sustainability, efficiency and resilience of the European food supply chain by decoupling food production from land and minimizing environmental impacts, including water pollution. Formo's technology, which is up to 20 times more efficient, is crucial to strengthening food security by replacing traditional livestock farming with microbes, while addressing environmental concerns. On an industrial scale, Formo's production process saves up to 80% of GHG emissions, 98% of land use and 98% of water use, while avoiding almost 100% of water eutrophication pollution. The company's products are free of lactose, antibiotics and hormone contaminants and are rich in protein, fat, fiber and other nutrients, offering consumers not only delicious but also healthier food options.

Keywords: precision fermentation,casein,food,cheese production
Cell cycle progression in malaria parasites (Janus)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Immunity, Infection and I mmunotherapy
Panel description: The immune system , related disorders  and their mechanisms , biology of infectious agents and infection, biological basis of prevention and treatment of infectious diseases , innovative imm unological tools and approaches , including  therapies
Countries involved: France
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2023-STG, 2023)
Start date: 2024-07-01
End date: 2029-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499928.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499928.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

All eukaryotic cell multiplication requires well-orchestrated developmental programs and regulatory pathways to guarantee fidelity in transmission of genetic information. Multiplication inside red blood cells of Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest malaria parasite, is responsible for malaria pathogenicity. Unlike model organisms, Plasmodium divides in unconventional ways producing not two but up to tens of thousands of daughter cells, in a single cell cycle round. This points to a yet-to-be-explored original and divergent cell cycle architecture where conventional rules likely do not apply. We hypothesise that a transcriptional clock paces the cell cycle while a network of local players modulates and fine-tunes the activity of effectors through phosphorylation. To test this hypothesis, we will first use single cell transcriptomics and high resolution phospho-proteomics to understand how these are connected with cell cycle events and their contribution to normal progression and controlled cell cycle arrest. Secondly, we will conduct a genome-scale conditional genetic screen to identify cell cycle regulators – we will map progression of pooled barcoded mutants using cell cycle reporters, barseq and single cell transcriptomic readouts. Finally, we will combine the data collected throughout the JANUS project and provide an integrated model of cell cycle progression, checkpoints, their associated transcriptional and signalling events, and their interdependence. Furthermore, we will functionally dissect on a gene-by-gene basis the entrance into the replicative phase based on our modelled data. Altogether the JANUS project will provide insights into an ancient, yet divergent process, essential for parasite survival and propagation with unprecedented detail. It may reveal innovative eukaryotic adaptations to cell cycle control in this basal lineage which could generate new insights into protist biology and provide new tools in the continuing fight against malaria.

Keywords: divergent biology,malaria parasites,high throughput genetics screen,pertub seq,single cell transcriptomics,pathway analysis,cell cycle regulation,dna replication,nuclear and budding cycle coordination
TakiNg actIoN to prevent and mitigate pollution oF groundwAter bodies (NINFA)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Theme: Bio-Environment
Destination: Clean Environment and zero pollution
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Spain,France,Netherlands,Greece,Italy
Call: Preventing groundwater contamination and protecting its quality against harmful impacts of global and climate change (HORIZON-CL6-2022-ZEROPOLLUTION-01, 2022)
Start date: 2022-11-01
End date: 2026-04-30
Duration (months): 42.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3996824.73
EU funding (EUR): 3996824.73
Participants: 10
Project status: SIGNED

Groundwater is a key resource for water supply which is currently jeopardised by: i) saline intrusion; ii) pollution with pesticides and nutrients (agriculture/farming), pharmaceuticals and antibiotic resistance genes from WWTP effluents, hydrocarbons and heavy metals (runoff), and microplastics (both); iii) global and climate change effects. Although several initiatives have developed actions and tools towards groundwater monitoring and protection, additional knowledge is needed to understand the synergistic effects and risks of multiple stressors and pollutants, and to develop cost-efficient groundwater monitoring strategies, pollution prevention/mitigation technologies, and early-warning DSS. NINFA will provide a novel strategy based on an early-warning DSS and knowledge database (NINFA Platform) and innovaDiffuse pollution affects 35% of the area of groundwater bodies with contaminants such as pesticides, herbicides, and nutrients (leading to eutrophication and lack of oxygen). Other pollution sources, including sewage from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and runoff infiltration in cities (especially during storm events), contaminate groundwater with contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) such as pharmaceuticals, microplastics and antibiotic resistance genes and with hydrocarbons and heavy metals, respectively. Moreover, aquifer exploitation for water consumption leads to increased pressure on groundwater resources, which may be aggravated by climate change (lack of aquifers' natural recharge). In coastal aquifers, this problem is worsened due to saline intrusion, mainly caused by water extraction, which affects the quality of the groundwater. The innovative concept of NINFA is to facilitate the transition to a more effective decision-making system in groundwater management, by widening the knowledge on water flows, the in-situ mobility and transformation of CEC and establishing predictive models to promote the treatment and reuse of water and its quality.

Keywords: distributed sensors,reactive transport models,early warning dss,sustainable groundwater management and protection,groundwater policymaking,knowledge base,citizen engagement,risk assessment
Paleo-MARE: a paleoecological approach to deciphering the impact of heavy metals on antibiotic resistance spread in the environment (Paleo-MARE)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Earth System Science
Panel description: Physical geography, geo logy, geophysics, atmospheric sciences, oceanography, climatology, cryology, ecology, global environmental change, biogeochemical cycles, natural resources management
Countries involved: France
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2022-COG, 2022)
Start date: 2023-10-01
End date: 2028-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1996625.0
EU funding (EUR): 1996625.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Global biogeochemical cycles drive our planet’s health through the control of microbial habitats, nutrient availability and distribution, and exposure to reactive chemicals. By releasing heavy metals into the environment and altering natural fluxes, Humans have carried out a planetary wide experiment for millennia that is pushing our ecosystem towards an unknown future. More recently, this has included the production, use and release of antibiotics, which has led to the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) across the globe. ARG spread has critical consequences for human and environmental health with an estimated 700.000 deaths/year resulting from infections unresponsive to antibiotics. However, the underlying mechanisms that led to the spread of ARGs worldwide are unknown. The presence of heavy metal resistance genes (HMRGs) and ARGs in microbial genomes suggests a co-selection. However, present day ecosystems are contaminated by both. To solve this conundrum, I will combine geochemical and microbiological discovery of the links between heavy metal pollution and the spread of antimicrobial resistance from pre-industrial times to the present using paleoecological archives. I will identify the mechanisms underlying metal-induced ARG spread, the preferential relationships between specific metals and ARGs, and quantify the timing between drug/metal use and ARG spread, determine the impact of emerging pollutants on ARG spread, and evaluate the future risk of remobilization of contaminants and resistance genes. I will redefine how heavy metal pollution maintains antibiotic resistance in the environment. This will reach well beyond the project and develop the synergy of microbiology and geochemical processes for a quantum-leap forward in defining the effects of geochemistry on human health. These results will provide fundamental data that can be used to inform policy on emission guidelines and on drug development.
The effectiveness of nitrogen and phosphorus load reduction measures from source to sea, considering the effects of climate change (NAPSEA)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Theme: Bio-Environment
Destination: Clean Environment and zero pollution
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Netherlands,Germany,Austria
Call: Regional nitrogen and phosphorus load reduction approach within safe ecological boundaries (HORIZON-CL6-2021-ZEROPOLLUTION-01, 2021)
Start date: 2022-10-01
End date: 2025-09-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999721.25
EU funding (EUR): 1999721.25
Participants: 7
Project status: SIGNED

The central aim of the proposed Source to Sea (NAPSEA) CSA is to support national and local authorities in selecting effective nutrient load reduction measures and to gain political support for the implementation. The consortium partners have been closely involved in applied research and implementation of nutrient reduction measures at local, national and European level. In NAPSEA the current challenges to reduce nutrient pollution, eutrophication and its negative impacts on inland and coastal waters and their ecosystem services will be addressed by an integrated approach addressing nutrient pollution from river source to sea, using the Rhine and Elbe Rivers-North Sea coastal system as case study and integrating three complementary perspectives: governance, nutrient pathways & measures, and ecosystem health. Each of these perspectives provide an essential part of the solution to achieving a healthy ecosystem with measures that are societally acceptable and cost-effective. We will identify options to reach a harmonized approach in nutrient reduction measures across different geographical areas and policy frameworks (governance), select and evaluate nutrient reduction scenarios with an integrated modelling framework from source to sea (nutrient pathways) and define safe ecological boundaries for different types of ecosystems along the continuum from catchment to coast (ecosystem health). NAPSEA will showcase the best practices and consider obstacles on the implementation of socially acceptable, sustainable and effective measures for several local case studies within this geographical scope, also taking into account effects of climate change. These case studies accommodate the variability in potential threats of eutrophication as well as feasibility, effectiveness and implementation of potential measures to represent different ecosystem types, with varying eutrophication symptoms, and address different socio-economic and governance scales from local to European level.

Keywords: harmonized policies holistic approach pathways retention ecosystem health safe ecological boundaries biodiversity climate change