Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Early alarm system for groundwater contamination monitoring (EnviroALARM)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Climate action, environment,  resource efficiency and raw materials
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Spain
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: 2016-06-01
End date: 2016-11-30
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

EnviroALARM is an eco-innovative online monitoring system specially developed to significantly improve the existing technologies for groundwater (GW) pollution surveillance, contributing to radically reduce the potential environmental impact of contaminant leakages from hydrocarbon and/or chemical storage sites. There are over 1 million sites with high potential to contaminate GW worldwide (petrol stations, refineries, storage centres, etc.). At present, there is not an affordable and reliable system to daily detect hydrocarbon leakages to groundwater. EnviroALARM fits within the European priorities to prevent and minimize environmental impacts, developing an eco-innovative product to continuously monitor the potential presence of hydrocarbons in the GW. The global environmental monitoring market is poised to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.5% during 2015-2020, and is expected to reach a value of ~$20.5 Billion in 2020. The main advantages of EnviroALARM over current competitors are: i) Daily monitoring, promoting the early detection and hence the measures to mitigate the contamination; ii) High sensitivity to the presence of contaminants, detecting leaks below 0.4 l/h. iii) Reliable without false alarm based on a proprietary sensor technology; iv) Wireless system not requiring civil work installation; v) Significant cost reduction (up to 80%) over current market competitive solutions. EnviroALARM innovative sensor based on a physicochemical reactions is unique in the world. This solution present a huge market opportunity, since it applies to a worldwide problem offering an easily replicable and transferable technology that fulfils the increasing regulations at EU and international level. The main objective of the present proposal is the determination of EnviroALARM technological and economic feasibility. After checking its feasibility, an upgraded EnviroALARM prototype will be developed in order to conduct several demonstration activities.

Keywords: groundwater contamination,hydrocarbon leakage,early detection system,eco innovative solution,wireless system,monitoring wells,no false alarm,competitive market solution
A multifaceted cancer immunotherapy based on an immune checkpoint-modulating chimeric oncolytic virus vector in combination with a dendritic cell vaccine (ONCO-VAX)

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: Germany
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2019-STG, 2019)
Start date: 2020-04-01
End date: 2025-03-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499988.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499988.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Despite many decades of intensive research, cancer remains a major worldwide health concern and imposes a heavy societal burden, both epidemiologically and financially. Cancer immunotherapy is rapidly transforming the face of medical oncology as an exciting paradigm shift in treating cancer by exploiting the immune system of the patient as the basis for the therapy. Although dramatic results have been achieved in a subset of patients, the responses in most solid tumors have been disappointing. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents a particularly challenging malignancy to treat, due to the inherently immune-suppressive microenvironment in the liver. Oncolytic viruses (OVs) offer an elegant multimodal approach to combat HCC through their ability to cause direct tumor cell lysis, while stimulating immune responses directed against the tumor. Nevertheless, the potential of OVs as monotherapeutics is limited by the innate antiviral immune response, which rapidly restricts virus replication and spread within the tumor mass. Therefore, a successful therapeutic strategy should employ a combination scheme involving a mechanism to improve the intratumoral dissemination of the OV, while exploiting the immune-stimulatory capacity of the virus, in order to achieve far-reaching synergistic responses that can target metastatic disease. The ONCO-VAX approach aims to accomplish just that. A novel chimeric oncolytic virus backbone with an enhanced cell-cell spreading capacity, will be utilized as a platform to express an optimized gene for eradicating the local immune-suppressive microenvironment in the tumor. As an additional layer of therapy, the virus will be combined with a cutting edge dendritic cell vaccine approach to initiate a broad antitumor response for systemic and potentially life-long immunity against the cancer. This multifaceted approach represents an innovative and crucial step forward in the rapidly evolving field of cancer immuno-oncology.

Keywords: cancer immunotherapy,oncolytic virus,dendritic cell vaccine,immune checkpoint inhibition,tumor microenvironment
Pre-commercial pilot for the efficient recovery of Precious Metals from European end of life resources with novel low cost technologies (PEACOC)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Climate action, environment,  resource efficiency and raw materials
Theme: Ensuring the sustainable supply of non-energy and non-agricultural raw materials
Action type: Innovation actions
Countries involved: Italy,Italy,Italy,Italy,Austria,Spain,Spain,Belgium,Türkiye,Belgium,Greece,Belgium,Belgium,Greece,France,Netherlands,Netherlands,United Kingdom
Call: Raw materials innovation for the circular economy: sustainable processing, reuse, recycling and recovery schemes (H2020-LCCI-2020-EASME-twostage, 2020)
Start date: 2021-05-01
End date: 2025-04-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 12838997.5
EU funding (EUR): 11210485.02
Participants: 20
Project status: SIGNED

PEACOC will showcase a first-of-a-kind economically and environmentally viable pre-commercial metallurgical system for recovering Precious Metals (PMs) (i.e. Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) identified as critical raw materials by the European Commission (EC), as well as gold (Au) and silver (Ag)), highly important for the EU economy, from a wide variety of abundant end-of-life (EPEACOC will showcase a first-of-a-kind economically and environmentally viable pre-commercial metallurgical system for recovering Precious Metals (PMs) (i.e. Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) identified as critical raw materials by the European Commission (EC), as well as gold (Au) and silver (Ag)), highly important for the EU economy, from a wide variety of abundant end-of-life (EoL) products in Europe. The concept is mainly based on previously developed recovery and refining technologies to TRL 5 in the PLATIRUS Research and Innovation project (Micro-Wave assisted leaching and Gas Diffusion Electrocrystallization GDEx), which were flagged by the Innovation Radar initiative of the EC as excellent innovations and showed a significant cost reduction and lower environmental impact compared to state-of-the-art hydrometallurgical processes as will be shown throughout the proposal. The PEACOC system will be demonstrated at pre-commercial scale at TRL7 with capacity to treat ~50t of PMs concentrates/year i.e., with a recovery capacity of i)2 kg PGMs/week from spent autocatalysts (containing ~2.5kg PGMs/t), ii) 0.5-1 kg Au/week from Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) with a focus on low and medium grade PCBA (containing 20-100 g Au/t) that are currently poorly valorized in industrial smelting processes due to low PM concentrations, and iii) 10 kg Ag/week from EoL Photovoltaic (PV) panels (containing ~3-10 kg Ag/t) which will be an abundant resource in Europe in the coming few years. The project will demonstrate the production of PMs at a profit margin up to 80% with respect to current PMs market prices.

Keywords: precious metals,platinum group metals,end of life products,spent automotive catalysts,weee,photovoltaic panels,pcba
Joint Training and Research Program on Lifespan Regulation Mechanisms in Health and Disease (HealthAge)

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: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Germany,Italy,Italy,Israel,Spain,Switzerland,Switzerland,Switzerland,Greece,Greece,Finland,Greece,France,France,Netherlands
Call: Innovative Training Networks (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018, 2018)
Start date: 2019-05-01
End date: 2023-12-31
Duration (months): 56.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3940623.99
EU funding (EUR): 3940623.99
Participants: 20
Project status: SIGNED

Aging is an inexorable homeostatic failure of complex but largely unknown aetiology that leads to increased vulnerability to disease with enormous consequences on the quality of individual lives and the overall cost to society. Although, aging is driven by limitations in somatic maintenance, it is also subject to regulation by evolutionarily highly conserved molecular pathways. Indeed, macromolecular damage may drive the functional decline with aging; however, a battery of conserved, longevity assurance mechanisms may set the pace on how rapidly damage builds up and function is lost over time. Human efforts over the last centuries have succeeded in substantially lengthening lifespan, allowing aging to become a common feature of western societies. However, The discouraging complexity of the aging process, the noticeable lack of tools to study it, and a shortage of experimentally tractable model systems have made it significantly challenging to unravel the molecular basis of the processes that cause loss of bodily functions and degeneration of cells and tissues with advancing age. HealthAge was carefully designed to create a joint European program of excellence in training and research with a core intellectual focus on the functional role of “Lifespan Regulation Mechanisms in Health and Disease”. To tackle this, HealthAge combines top-level, state-of-the-art and interdisciplinary research skills that range from basic molecular mechanisms and ‘omics’ level understanding to translational research and clinical applications. This interdisciplinary strategy will allow us to gain functional insight into the fundamental mechanisms regulating longevity as well as to develop a series of rationalized intervention strategies aimed at counteracting age-related diseases.

Keywords: progeria,mitophagy,autopahy,neurodegeneration
Deciphering and targeting the invasive nature of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (CANCER INVASION)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Panel description: Organ and tissue physiology, comparative physiology, physiology of ageing, pathophysiology, interorgan and tissue communication, endocrinology, nutrition, metabolism, interaction with the microbiome, non-communicable diseases including cancer (and except disorders of the nervous system and immunity-related diseases)
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2018-STG, 2018)
Start date: 2019-01-01
End date: 2023-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Introduction: The ability of a cancer cell to invade into the surrounding tissue is the main feature of malignant cancer progression. Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) is a paediatric high-grade brain tumour with no chance of survival due to its highly invasive nature. Goal: By combining state-of-the-art imaging and transcriptomics, we aim to identify and target the key mechanisms driving the highly invasive growth of DIPG. Technology advances: Two unique single cell resolution imaging techniques that we have recently developed will be implemented: Large-scale Single-cell Resolution 3D imaging (LSR-3D) that allows visualization of complete tumour specimens and intravital microscopy using a cranial imaging window that allows imaging of tumour cell behaviour in living mice. In addition, we will apply a technique of live imaging Patch-seq to perform behaviour studies together with single cell RNA profiling. Expected results: Using a glioma murine model in which the disease is induced in neonates and a new embryonic model based on in utero electroporation, we expect to gain knowledge on the progression of DIPG in maturing brain. LSR-3D imaging on human and murine specimens will provide insight into the cellular tumour composition and its integration in the neuroglial network. With intravital imaging, we will characterize invasive cancer cell behaviour and functional connections with healthy brain cells. In combination with Patch-seq, we will identify transcriptional program(s) specific to invasive behaviour. Altogether, we expect to identify novel key players in cancer invasion and assess their potential to prevent DIPG progression. Future perspective: With the studies proposed, we will gain fundamental insights into the cancer cell invasion mechanisms that govern DIPG which may provide new potential therapeutic target(s) for this dismal disease. Overall, the knowledge and advanced technologies obtained here will be of great value for the tumour biology field.
Breaking and rebuilding the genome: mechanistic rules for the dangerous game of sex. (BrokenGenome)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions
Panel description: Molecular biology, biochemistry, structural biology, molecular biophysics, synthetic and chemical biology, drug design, innovative methods and modelling
Countries involved: Belgium
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2018-STG, 2018)
Start date: 2019-07-01
End date: 2024-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499075.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499075.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Sexual reproduction depends on the programmed induction of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and their ensuing repair by homologous recombination. This complex process is essential for sexual reproduction because it ultimately allows the pairing and separation of homologous chromosomes during formation of haploid gametes. Although meiotic recombination has been investigated for decades, many of the underlying molecular processes remain unclear, largely due to the lack of biochemical studies. I have recently made important progress by, for the first time, successfully purifying proteins involved in two aspects of meiotic recombination: DSB formation and the final stage of formation of the crossovers that are a central raison-d’être of meiotic recombination. This has opened new avenues for future research that I intend to pursue in my own laboratory. Here, I propose a set of biochemical approaches, complemented by molecular genetics methods, to gain insights into four central problems: (i) How meiotic proteins collaborate to induce DSBs; (ii) How DSB proteins interact with components that form the axes of meiotic chromosomes; (iii) How proteins involved at later stages of recombination form crossovers; and (iv) How crossover proteins interact with components of synapsed chromosomes. For each problem, I will set up in vitro systems to probe the activities of the players involved, their interactions with DNA, and their assembly into macromolecular complexes. In addition, I propose to develop new methodology for identifying proteins that are associated with DNA that has undergone recombination-related DNA synthesis. My goal is to gain insights into the mechanisms that govern meiotic recombination. Importantly, these mechanisms are intimately linked not only to gamete formation, but also to the general recombination pathways that all cells use to maintain genome stability. In both contexts, our findings will be relevant to the development and avoidance of disease states.

Keywords: meiosis,homologous recombination,dna double strand breaks,crossovers,chromosome organization,protein structure,molecular mechanism
A Decision Support Tool to Manage Earthworks along Road and Rail Networks (DETER)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Ireland
Call: SME instrument (H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1, 2018)
Start date: 2018-06-01
End date: 2018-11-30
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Road and rail managers must maintain their networks to ensure the safety of passengers and the reliability of transport services. The management of earthworks is particularly challenging as many of these assets were constructed prior to modern engineering standards, meaning that earth/rock slopes and embankments are of poor construction quality. More frequent extreme weather events due to climate change are rapidly worsening the situation and increasing the occurrence of earthwork failures. At present, infrastructure managers are forced to make decisions about where to implement remediation works based on disparate information from various data sources, and are constrained by annual budgets. Gavin and Doherty Geosolutions Ltd. has developed an innovative software solution, DETER, which can be used to conduct a risk ranking of earthworks and to support decision making for optimised budget spending to prevent failures along road and rail networks. This is the leading Decision Support Tool available for the management of earthworks that is based on novel scientific algorithms, providing a quantifiable risk assessment for each earthwork asset. The product is at a TRL of 7 as it is currently being used by the national railway operator in Ireland to manage 3,700 earthwork assets. GDG aim to become the leading provider of DETER and intend to commercialise this innovative tool within the European and global markets. To do so, this feasibility study will conduct a detailed market analysis to establish the scale of the market opportunity and to verify that DETER is the leading solution for the management of earthwork assets. The feasibility study will also include a technical review of the compatibility of DETER with existing databases through engagement with infrastructure managers, a review of existing commercial barriers, and the development of a commercialisation strategy for GDG to bring this product to market, resulting in an elaborated business plan for DETER.
aN Enhanced pre-frontier intelligence picture to Safeguard The EurOpean boRders (NESTOR)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Secure societies - protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens
Theme: Strengthen security through border management
Action type: Innovation actions
Countries involved: Germany,Germany,Spain,Italy,Ukraine,Spain,Cyprus,Finland,Switzerland,North Macedonia,Bulgaria,Lithuania,Greece,Finland,Greece,Greece,Greece,France,United Kingdom,Portugal
Call: Demonstration of applied solutions to enhance border and external security (H2020-SU-SEC-2020, 2020)
Start date: 2021-11-01
End date: 2023-04-30
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 6108593.75
EU funding (EUR): 4999578.13
Participants: 22
Project status: SIGNED

For the past few years, Europe has experienced some major changes at its surrounding territories and in adjacent countries which provoked serious issues at different levels. The European Community faces a number of challenges both at a political and at a tactical level. Irregular migration flows exerting significant pressure to the relevant authorities and agencies that operate at border territories. Armed conflicts, climate pressure and unpredictable factors occurring at the EU external borders, have increased the number of the reported transnational crimes. Smuggling activity is a major concern for Eastern EU Borders particularly, as monitoring the routes used by smugglers is being hindered by mountainous, densely forested areas and rough lands aside with sea or river areas. Due to the severity and the abrupt emergence of events, the relevant authorities operate for a long-time interval, under harsh conditions, 24 hours a day. NESTOR aims to demonstrate a fully functional next generation holistic border surveillance system providing pre-frontier situational awareness beyond maritime and land border areas following the concept of the European Integrated Border Management. NESTOR long-range and wide area surveillance capabilities for detection, recognition classification and tracking of moving targets (e.g. persons, vessels, vehicles, drones etc.) is based on optical, thermal imaging and Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum analysis technologies fed by an interoperable sensors network including stationary installations and mobile manned or unmanned vehicles (aerial, ground, water, underwater) capable of functioning both as standalone, tethered and in swarms. NESTOR BC3i system will fuse in real-time border surveillance data combined with web and social media information, creating and sharing a pre-frontier intelligent picture to local, regional and national command centers in AR environment being interoperable with CISE and EUROSUR.

Keywords: pre frontier intelligence picture,360 wide area surveillance,radio frequency analysis and localisation,unmanned vehicles,social media,eurosur,cise