Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Harnessing the electrochemical power of oxygen (OXYPOW)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Chemistry
Countries involved: Spain
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01, 2021)
Start date: 2023-09-01
End date: 2025-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 181152.96
EU funding (EUR): 181152.96
Participants: 3
Project status: SIGNED

The recent discovery of anionic redox chemistry has unveiled a new transformational paradigm for designing sustainable rechargeable batteries with superior energy density. Li-rich layered oxide (LLO) cathodes exhibiting oxygen redox activity can deliver exceptional capacities (> 40% higher than state-of-the-art NMC811), due to the cumulative cationic and anionic redox processes. However, the LLOs suffer from poor energy efficiency, reduced power density and voltage decay, caused by progressive irreversible migration and trapping of transition metals in intermediate sites in the structure during operation. In this context, the aim of the project is to target new LLO polymorphs with improved stability and performance through crystal engineering of the oxygen stacking sequence and tuning of local cation-cation interactions. First, I will leverage my expertise in in situ X-ray/neutron diffraction and total scattering methods to study the evolution of the atomic structure (average and local) during synthesis of selected LLO compositions. This will (1) dramatically reduce the time needed to cover parameter space, (2) facilitate identification of the optimal reaction conditions for specific LLO polymorphs, and (3) provide fundamental mechanistic insight. Secondly, this information will be used to target LLOs with different structural configurations and systematically examine the relationship between their electrochemical performance and structural evolution during operation. Thirdly, I will investigate the charge compensation mechanisms (cationic and anionic) of the materials, which will be related to the structural changes as well as electrochemical data to yield a complete mechanistic picture of the synthesis-structure-property relationship in the system. This fundamental groundwork will allow development of a fabrication strategy for the next generation of sustainable high-performance cathode materials exploiting the untapped electrochemical potential of oxygen.

Keywords: li ion batteries,layered oxides,anionic oxygen redox,crystal local structure,neutron powder diffraction,total scattering,pair distribution function pdf analysis,in situ characterization,xas
All-in-one supramolecular approach as an innovative anti-infectious strategy (PATHO-LEGO)

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: France
Call: ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS2 (ERC-2022-POC2, 2022)
Start date: 2023-01-01
End date: 2024-06-30
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Despite the large therapeutic arsenal available to fight bacterial infections, the development of new anti-infectious strategies is a major public health concern. Pathogens have indeed developed a variety of Multi Drug Resistance mechanisms to escape destruction. To circuvment these problems, a few promising alternatives have been proposed. A first one focuses on the bacterial adhesion step to the host cells which involves multivalent interactions between the glycocalix and bacterial adhesins. Molecular constructs displaying clusters of carbohydrates have been shown to efficiently compete with these complex recognition processes, thus having the potential to prevent this key step of the bacterial infection. The recruitment of natural antibodies (NAbs) present in the human bloodsteam against biological targets to stimulate their destruction by the immune system is another alternative to fight pathogens. This approach is based on the utilization of bimodal molecules (namely ARGs, Antibody Recruiting Glycodendrimers) which are composed of two recognition domains, one for NAbs and one for receptors expressed by the pathogen. The potential of this "recruiting strategy" was demonstrated recently in the PI's team in the context of cancers where NAbs have been efficiently redirected against tumors (ERC CoG LEGO and ERC PoC THERA-LEGO). For the first time, PATHO-LEGO will take advantage of these two "antiadhesive" and "recruitment" strategies simultaneously to fight resistant strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We aim at developing hybrid ARGs that will block extracellular process that P. aeruginosa uses to infect host cells on the one hand, and that will redirect NAbs against the bacteria to induce their immune-mediated clearance on the other hand. With this unprecedented approach, we will be able to both prevent infection and kill the targeted resistant bacteria to optimize the antibacterial effect.
Dissecting the role of fatty acid oxidation in dendritic cell function and regulation of immune responses. (FADIR)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Spain
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2026-08-15
End date: 2028-08-14
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 194074.56
EU funding (EUR): 194074.56
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) are pivotal regulators of the immune system capable of tilting immune responses towards effective immunity or tolerance. Over the last 15 years, an increasing body of work has highlighted how changes in the metabolic state of immune cells influence their functions. It has been shown that melanomas can promote cDC tolerogenic functions by augmenting mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (FAO) via the β-catenin signalling pathway. Intriguingly, recent unpublished results in the host group suggest that boosting oxidative phosphorylation, a metabolic process closely related to FAO, increases cDC immunogenicity. Therefore, further work is required to delineate the relationship between mitchondrial metabolic adpatations and cDC tolerogenic and immunogenic functions. This action aims to further dissect the interconnection between FAO and cDC functions across different tissues both in steady-state and disease. To this end, I will use novel murine lines that allow for the modulation of FAO in cDCs and will combine classical immunology and biochemial assays to characterise cDCs both functionally and metabolically. This interdisciplinary approach will help us understand the relationship between metabolism and function in cDCs and how this affects the initiation of immune responses across tissues.

Keywords: immunometabolism,dendritic cells,immune regulation,fatty acid oxidation
Continuous, Automated Validation, and Evaluation of Cognitive Robots in Open-Ended Environments (CAVECORE)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Doctoral Networks
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: Germany,France,Denmark,Austria,Spain,United Kingdom,Cyprus
Call: MSCA Doctoral Networks 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-DN-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-09-01
End date: 2029-08-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4963815.62
EU funding (EUR): 4574522.52
Participants: 10
Project status: SIGNED

What technology can enable more agile production, personalized healthcare, efficient logistics, and expand scientific reach into ocean depths? We need cognitive robots that interact with environments, humans, and agents to autonomously acquire skills and perform diverse tasks in open-ended contexts. CAVECORE addresses a critical challenge in AI-enabled robotics: evaluating the quality of robotic agents in open-ended environments, including performance, safety, and reliability. How can we validate robot behavior with trustworthy measurements and automate this task over long periods? CAVECORE aims to streamline the innovation process into goal-oriented, efficient technological progress for organizations developing cognitive robots by training AI robotics researchers in methods for replicable, unbiased validation and evaluation in virtual and real-world environments, allowing humans to calibrate trust towards cognitive robots. CAVECORE enables stakeholders (users, developers, policymakers) to understand the expected and actual quality of cognitive robots, ensuring conformance with emerging ethical, legal, social, and economic requirements of the EU AI Act, and delivering robots capable of continuous self-assessment and improvement. CAVECORE's principle of evaluability-by-design mandates that validation and evaluation concepts be integral to the robot development process, not an afterthought, and that cognitive robots continuously provide evidence of their quality. This principle shapes the training program and expert consortium, which offers interdisciplinary training in cognitive science and robotics, AI metrology, and automated testing and validation.

Keywords: benchmarking and performance evaluation
Ultrafast topological engineering of quantum materials (UTOPIQ)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Condensed Matter Physics
Panel description: Structure, electronic properties, fluids, nanosciences, biological physics
Countries involved: France
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2022-STG, 2022)
Start date: 2023-09-01
End date: 2028-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1754304.0
EU funding (EUR): 1754304.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Topological phases of matter emerge from the interplay between broken symmetries and many-body physics and exhibit many fascinating quantum phenomena. Ultrafast switching between different topological phases using light pulses holds the promise for disruptive optoelectronic functionalities, like dissipationless and fault-tolerant logical operations. However, the lack of proper observable being simultaneously sensitive to the local (in momentum-space) topology of the band structure and compatible with time-resolved measurements prevents the real-time monitoring of ultrafast non-equilibrium topological phase transitions. I will address this fundamental challenge by introducing innovative control and measurement methodologies using tailored light pulses in time-, angle- and polarization-resolved extreme ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy. This approach will enable to follow the ultrafast evolution of the electronic band structure’s local topology, in photoexcited quantum materials. This will represent a major advance in photoemission spectroscopy, by moving from band structure mapping to accessing the dynamical evolution of the Bloch wavefunction of solids. I will use these novel time- and quantum-state-resolved dichroic observables to investigate the rich non-equilibrium physics underlying ultrafast topological phase transitions occurring on various timescales following impulsive optical excitation using shaped pump pulses: i) during the formation of hybrid light-matter (Floquet-Bloch) states, ii) upon the transient modification of electronic correlations, and iii) following the excitation of coherent phonon modes. UTOPIQ will deliver a dramatically improved understanding of the interplay between the non-equilibrium behaviour and non-trivial topology in photoexcited quantum materials, while further representing a decisive step towards the development of the field of ultrafast ‘on demand’ topology.

Keywords: ultrafast,photoemission,topology,quantum materials,2d materials,extreme ultraviolet,floquet,phonons,correlations,broken symmetry,topological phase transitions,berry curvature,femtosecond lasers,nonlinear optics
Connectome cost conservation model of skill learning (COSMOS)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Panel description: Cognitive science, psychology, linguistics
Countries involved: Israel
Call: ERC ADVANCED GRANTS (ERC-2021-ADG, 2021)
Start date: 2022-10-01
End date: 2027-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2484375.0
EU funding (EUR): 2484375.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Inter-subject variability in learning and hence plasticity is fundamental in behavioral research. Neuroplasticity is studied either by exploring biological aspects of the synapse or regional brain activity. Lacking from these is a network, holistic and integrated view of the brain as an inter-connected organ. The connectome, the wiring diagram of the brain, is one of the greatest promises of neuroscience. The only methodology that allows the exploration of the human brain connectome in-vivo, is MRI via diffusion or resting state fMRI. This project will explore and model the connectomes of subjects before and after skill learning compared to skilled-controls. I hypothesize that the brain connectome alters its details in response to skill learning. I anticipate that the baseline individual connectome will predict the ability of the brain to change in relation to specific task. I suggest that balancing mechanisms of the connectome underlie network rewiring in response to learning and may predict the behavioral outcome. We have recently revealed a connectome efficiency conservation law across mammals driving the premises of this project. The outcome of this project is to bridge the gap between neuropsychology and neurobiology views of neuroplasticity. The indication that the connectome is a key feature in plasticity will lead to a paradigm shift in the field and provide cognitive neuroscientists new empirical tools to explore the relations between brain and behavior. Finally, as I anticipate that the connectome predisposes the capacity to rewire, the suggested predictive modelling framework could be the bases to simulate individual ability to learns, rehabilitates or develop degenerative processes. Learning, memory, decision-making and other cognitive process happen at the whole organ level. We have invested a lot of effort to explore brain plasticity in a segregated manner – it is high time for a more global, network view of the neuroplasticity.

Keywords: connectome,dti,brain network,functional connectivity,structural connectivity,plasticity,network dynamics,skill learning
Critical Archives of Ordinariness: Vernacular Moving Image Practices and Migrant Identity in Polish Chicago (Not-So-Ordinary)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Social Sciences and Humanities
Countries involved: Belgium,United States
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-10-01
End date: 2027-06-30
Duration (months): 45.0
Total project cost (EUR): 290444.16
EU funding (EUR): 290444.16
Participants: 3
Project status: SIGNED

This project explores home movies and related oral histories of Polish Chicago before the digital era (1960s–2000s) to challenge and broaden our understanding of evolving migrant and diaspora identities. Following critical archive studies’ call to empower communities underrepresented in historiography by developing and interrogating archival collections, the project juxtaposes home movies – “ordinary” motion pictures created for family and close friends – with interviews with their creators to uncover the “not-so-ordinary” capabilities of this underused data source for studying minority groups. The project investigates a specific case: the interplay of vernacular moving image practices and the transformations of Polish diaspora identity in Chicago; however, it leads to conclusions of wider significance. By creating a research collection of home movies and related oral histories, it demonstrates how to contextualize historical home movies. By showing how evolving analog home movie technology (shift from film to video) altered vernacular moving image practices of the Polish diaspora, it contributes to media archeology. By reconstructing transnational micro-histories of home movies circulating between countries, it expands the field of transnational history. By identifying the role of vernacular moving image practices in shaping identities, it contributes to cultural anthropology and migrant/diaspora studies. By providing guidance on home movies as a research source and by showing the use of the movie-interview analytical unit, it enhances the empirical toolbox for social sciences and the humanities. To go beyond the state of the art while ensuring mutually beneficial knowledge exchange, the project combines the complementary expertise of a postdoc (visual culture, identity, archives, qualitative methods) and supervisors from the University of Chicago (transnational history), Chicago Film Archives (archiving and digitalization), and KU Leuven (media and film studies).

Keywords: migrant identities diaspora identities polish chicago home movies vernacular visual culture critical archival studies oral history cultural history transnational history
Intelligent Personalised Disease Monitoring Device: a-Doc (a-Doc)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: European innovation ecosystems
Theme: Elevating the scalability potential of European business
Destination: Elevating the scalability potential of European business
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Norway
Call: Women TechEU (HORIZON-EIE-2021-SCALEUP-01, 2021)
Start date: 2022-07-01
End date: 2023-06-30
Duration (months): 12.0
Total project cost (EUR): 107142.86
EU funding (EUR): 75000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

600m people globally suffer from autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis, and multiple sclerosis. The symptoms can be severe, causing intense pain and suffering for patients. The cost of RA alone for Europe is €45.3 billion p.a. A growing need: Unlike diabetes patients for example who can measure their own blood sugar levels, there is currently no method to measure disease activity quickly and accurately for autoimmune patients, non-invasively at home. Furthermore, most autoimmune diseases have unpredictable flares in disease activity despite stable medication, and the causes of such flares differ between patients and are largely unidentifiable. Our deep-tech innovation is an Artificial Intelligence approach to the Monitoring of Autoimmune Diseases at Home with a Novel Biomarker Algorithm: Through 15 years of research in this field, the founder of Kaass Discovery, Dr Anita Kaass, has shown a key biomarker, Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH), is common to several autoimmune diseases. It has been scientifically shown that GnRH levels increase with increasing disease activity. Kaass Discovery is developing a highly novel, deep tech solution to allow autoimmune disease patients to self-manage their conditions and minimize or even eliminate the symptoms of autoimmune diseases. The solution, which we call ‘a-Doc’, uses a saliva sample to indicate disease activity and provide an accurate, instantaneous value. In line with this need, it is also low cost, accurate and simple to use ensuring it is suitable for home use. The data collected from the device will be sent to the Kaass Discovery Cloud for improving the predictive analytical models, and giving an individualised meaningful result to the user on their mobile device The aims of the Women TechEU programme align perfectly with the needs of Kaass Discovery. The business coaching support provided will ensure we are prepared and able to successfully commercialise this exciting technology.

Keywords: deep tech,artificial intelligence,autoimmune disease,ageing
Reduce, Reuse, Rethink PACKaging: towards novel fiber-based packaging and reuse schemes uptake (R3PACK)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Theme: Bio-Environment
Destination: Circular economy and bioeconomy sectors
Action type: Innovation actions
Countries involved: France,Germany,Italy,Denmark,Sweden,Belgium,United Kingdom
Call: Innovative solutions to over-packaging and single-use plastics, and related microplastic pollution (HORIZON-CL6-2021-CIRCBIO-01, 2021)
Start date: 2022-06-01
End date: 2025-11-30
Duration (months): 42.0
Total project cost (EUR): 8562577.71
EU funding (EUR): 6854936.05
Participants: 24
Project status: SIGNED

Packaging waste accounts for 36% of solid waste in EU towns, with plastics being the most widely used material in European food retail, covering 37% of food sold. Recent research shows that important reductions can be achieved by focusing on six plastic applications that are projected to account for 86% of the total reduction achievable by 2040, with multilayer/multimaterial packaging constituting the biggest untapped potential. Consumer awareness of packaging waste and their environmental and social externalities is driving change, while major brands encounter difficulties in self-regulating, as they lack innovative solutions immediately applicable for their most complex packaging. Retailers, as key actors in the food value chain, can choose to lead the transition by promoting a fundamental rethinking of their delivery chains. R3PACK will contribute to Reduce, Reuse, Rethink PACKaging by securing fast and extensive uptake of industrially relevant, cross-sectorial, cost-effective innovative technologies allowing immediate substitution of complex multilayer plastic packaging with high performing fiber-based packaging and economical, industrial and environmental optimisation of reuse schemes demonstrated at large scale and transnationally in 3 EU countries by 2 major retailers, covering the needs of 13 different food product types. R3PACK will moreover offer a clear pathway towards a normalized framework for reusable packaging’s food safety and for reusable packaging’s washing methods, that will serve as reference at EU level. R3PACK will finally offer decision support tools ready to be used by businesses to choose the right packaging solution (between optimized reuse schemes and developed R3PACK paper-based packaging) meeting closely the needs of their products.