Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
The Unparalleled AI Platform using High-Performance Computing to Scale Industrial Operations (AIASGA)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Norway
Call: SME instrument (H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1, 2018)
Start date: 2018-08-01
End date: 2018-11-30
Duration (months): 4.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The 4th industrial revolution is ongoing. The manufacturing and process industry have started transitioning into automated and data exchange operations. Still, the challenge for these players is to handle the massive amounts of data that is produced in large-scale real-time operations –and quite often– needs to be managed under time-pressure. As of now, the process industry has to choose between implementing large-scale analytics systems (using a scale-out or scale-up architecture) to control real-time operations and find metrics for predictions or alternatively, rely on machine learning (ML) technologies to discover meaning in data sets. At AIA Science –a spin-off from Numascale, world leader in high-computing performance or HPC– we have created AIA SGA, the first platform that integrates in a single solution a scale-up graph analytics architecture (based on HPC hardware) and the most advanced ML technology, allowing to automate real-time operations, whilst optimizing production and using anomaly detection to prevent accidents (e.g. the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster). Our current prototype (TRL6), combines three main components: The AIA Analytics engine; the AIA ML Suite and Neo4j Graph database software. Our priority market will be the European oil/gas and aluminium industries, having already a solid network of partners within our home market (e.g. Statoil, Aker BP or Norsk Hydro), where most European oil rigs and aluminium plants are concentrated. The market of ML-based large-scale analytics is gaining traction, being expected to be worth €1.1 billion by 2021 with an staggering CAGR of 29.5% (2016-2021) , translating into an appealing business opportunity for first movers (like AIA Science). With our AIA SGA project, we will increase our revenue to €9.75 million and to create 20 new direct specialized jobs only 3 years after starting commercial activities.

Keywords: machine learning,artificial intelligence,graph analytics,databases,high performance computing,scale out technologies,process industry,optimisation
Extreme Soliton Driven Light Sources (XSOL)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Fundamental constituents of matter
Panel description: Particle, nuclear, plasma, atomic, molecular, gas, and optical physics
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2020-COG, 2020)
Start date: 2021-07-01
End date: 2026-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2404702.0
EU funding (EUR): 2404702.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Many important breakthroughs in science have occurred when investigating the laws of nature at extremes. Strong-field effects, such as relativistic plasma dynamics, high-harmonic generation and laser-driven particle acceleration, appear at extreme intensities of electromagnetic fields. By using very short laser pulses and focusing them very tightly, these effects and their applications come within reach of table-top systems. I will explore extreme strong-field physics at the fundamental limits of spatio-temporal confinement and open the door to a completely new regime of strong-field interactions in the vacuum ultraviolet. I will achieve this by scaling soliton-driven light sources in hollow capillary fibres by two orders of magnitude in power compared to the state of the art. I will create optical attosecond pulses (sub-cycle electric field transients in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum) with multi-terawatt peak power and excellent pulse contrast, with homogeneous linear polarisation, circular polarisation, or as radial vector beams. The latter can be focused to sub-wavelength spot sizes and create a relativistic electric field in the longitudinal direction. In combination with the sub-cycle duration, this will be a completely unique driving pulse for plasma physics and particle acceleration. I will use these pulses for the generation of high-energy isolated extreme ultraviolet and X-ray attosecond pulses from plasma mirrors and for the creation of isolated multi-MeV attosecond electron bunches using in-vacuum strong-field electron acceleration, both in a compact table-top system. I will generate few-femtosecond pulses tuneable across the vacuum ultraviolet (100 nm to 200 nm) with 300 GW peak power, opening the door to a regime of ultraviolet-driven strong-field and relativistic nonlinear effects in both gases and plasmas that has been almost entirely inaccessible, and hence unexplored.

Keywords: pulse compression,frequency conversion,vacuum ultraviolet,deep ultraviolet,soliton dynamics,ultrafast optics,attosecond pulses,high harmonic generation,plasma mirrors,electron acceleration
Role of bacterial cellulases in the transition from free living to root endophytes in rapeseed crops and in the design of efficient biofertilizers (BIOFERTICELLULASER)

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: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2016, 2016)
Start date: 2017-06-01
End date: 2019-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 170121.6
EU funding (EUR): 170121.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

One of the main challenges for humanity during next decades will be to increase food production while using scarce resources and protecting the environment, being therefore one of the priorities of the European Program “Horizon 2020”. Plant’s productivity can be enhanced by the activity of Plant Growth-Promoting (PGP) bacteria, applied in agricultural fields as biofertilizers or plant probiotics, constituting an environmental friendly manner to increase crop yields. Biofertilizers have been applied in agriculture during decades, but in many cases bacteria which showed great PGP potential in lab conditions, fail when applied in natural soils, probably because they are out-competed by the soil native microbial populations or they are unable to adapt to the new environmental conditions. Based on the model Rhizobium-clover, it is known that bacterial cellulases are crucial in the bacterial entrance into the root. Nevertheless, the implication of these enzymes in the active entrance of bacterial endophytes in non-legume crops has not been studied yet. This project aims to research, using a trascriptomic approach and endophytes mutant strains isolation, the role of cellulases in the capability of endophytes to enter non-legume plant roots, using rapeseed (B. napus) as model plant. If cellulase encoding genes enable active root infection, giving an advantage over passive mechanisms, selection of bacterial strains not only on the base of their PGP capacity, but also on their ability to enter the plant -where they have less competitors and are protected from abiotic stresses-, will allow the design of more efficient bacterial biofertilizers. The ultimate goal of this project is to lay the firm foundations for the development of biological microbial-based fertilizers which shall allow the reduction or even suppression of chemical fertilizers (dangerous for human health and environment and contributing to the climate change) while maintaining or increasing crops production.

Keywords: biofertilizers,plant probiotics,bacterial endophytes,rapeseed,cellulases,lytic enzymes,root colonization,root infection,transcriptome,microbiome,culturome
MEdiating between Driver and Intelligent Automated Transport systems on Our Roads (MEDIATOR)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Smart, green and integrated transport
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Germany,Israel,Italy,Italy,Norway,Norway,Sweden,Sweden,Netherlands,Netherlands,Netherlands,Netherlands
Call: Human Factors in Transport Safety (H2020-MG-2018-TwoStages, 2018)
Start date: 2019-05-01
End date: 2023-04-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 6461615.0
EU funding (EUR): 6461615.0
Participants: 16
Project status: SIGNED

Problem: Automated transport technology is developing rapidly for all transport modes, with huge safety potential. However, the transition to full automation brings new risks, such as misuse, overreliance, reduced situational awareness and mode confusion. The driving task changes to a more supervisory role, reducing the task load and potentially leading to degraded performance. Similarly, the automated system may not (yet) function in all situations; it must intelligently assess the strengths and weaknesses of both driver and system and select the best control mode according to the context. Solution: MEDIATOR proposes an intelligent ‘mediating’ support system for road transport, enabling safe, real-time switching between human driver and system. It will constantly evaluate driving context, driver state and vehicle automation status, personalising its technology to the driver’s general competence. Approach: MEDIATOR pursues a paradigm shift away from a view that prioritises either the driver or the automation, instead integrating the best of both. It will use state-of-the-art knowledge, including that from other transport modes, and develop new knowledge about human behaviour and human-machine interaction. It will apply the latest artificial intelligence technology to evaluate driver state, automation status and driving context in real time. It will produce several prototypes in the lab and in actual vehicles, for evaluation in simulation, simulator and on-road studies—as well as several tools for further exploitation. Impact: MEDIATOR will optimise the safety potential of vehicle automation, especially during the transition to full automation. It will reduce future as well as current risks (such as inattention or fatigue). MEDIATOR will facilitate market exploitation by actively involving the automotive industry during the development process. Further, the involvement of experts from other transport modes will maximise the transfer of knowledge to these domains.

Keywords: adaptive automation,intelligent support system,transition of control,shared control,artificial intelligence,multi modal,road safety
''One size fits all'' unique drug to eradicate multiple viral species simultaneously from the central nervous system of co-infected individuals (NOVIRUSES2BRAIN)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)
Theme: EIC Pathfinder
Destination: Novel ideas for radically new technologies
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Spain,Germany,Portugal
Call: FET-Open Challenging Current Thinking (H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2019-2020-01, 2018)
Start date: 2019-09-01
End date: 2024-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3933965.63
EU funding (EUR): 3933965.63
Participants: 3
Project status: SIGNED

Viruses that infect the brain and other parts of the central nervous system are a worldwide threat of terrible dimensions. Viruses such as Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya, HIV or measles, for instance, and more recently the Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are responsible for thousands of victims severely impaired at neurological level each year in the world. One of the most recent large scale threats in this domain was a Zika virus outbreak in South America. Zika virus, like Dengue virus or Chikungunya virus, is spread mainly by mosquitos of the genus Aedes. While Dengue and Chikungunya viruses, as many others, might causes diseases with severe neurological disorders, Zika virus is much more dreadful in this regard. When a pregnant woman is infected, the virus is able to translocate the blood-placental barrier and then the developing blood-brain barrier of the foetus, causing microcephaly and serious neurological disorders to newly born babies. Although co-infections with Aedes-borne viruses, such as the above mentioned Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya viruses, are likely because several viral species coexist in the same vector, the classical drug development strategies completely overlook this striking reality. Moreover, additional co-infections with HIV, SARS-CoV-2 and measles virus, using other routes of infection, are also possible. A drug able to target a very large spectrum of viral species is urgently needed. Importantly, this drug must be able to traverse the blood-brain barrier and reach the viruses accumulated in the brain. NOVIRUSES2BRAIN is a project that aims at finding and selecting drug leads that are both efficacious and able to translocate the blood-placental and blood-brain barriers so that Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya and other viruses, such as the recently discovered SARS-CoV-2 can be targeted across barriers, including during pregnancy. The project gathers the expertise of medicinal chemists, biochemists, drug development specialists and virologists to create drug leads able to clear all viral species from brain simultaneously.

Keywords: medicinal chemistry,blood brain barrier,placental barrier,lipid membrane,central nervous system,antiviral
WarehouseBook: Creating a new market by offering an unused warehouse space to cargo drivers on the go (WarehouseBook)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Slovenia
Call: SME instrument (H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1, 2019)
Start date: 2019-08-01
End date: 2020-01-31
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

WarehouseBook is a logistics' booking.com for warehouses and storage spaces, creating new market on EU level. In modern societies, logistics has become one of the most important economical sub-systems. With e-commerce and cargo transport rising, a lean manufacturing and on-demand supply chain delivery, there is the abundance of warehouses and storage spaces. But still, this huge warehouse network is reachable only through personal contacts, in known environment. There simply is no online database or platform where logistics planners would be able to book a warehouse for transporters to deliver the goods, but it has to be done personally, and weeks in advance. This causes issues both for drivers and for warehouse providers. Drivers and their office support simply don't have a plan B if delays occur. If driver comes to the delivery location after hours, he/she often needs to spend the night and come again in the morning, which produces further delays along the delivery route, more costs, and penalties. On the other hand, warehouses are almost never fully occupied, and are continuously missing opportunities for additional income. WarehouseBook is a booking.com for such warehouses, enabling them streamlined process of listing their offer and type, market exposure and admin automation, while on the other side enabling logistic planners and drivers to easily rent a warehouse, unload the cargo, and continue on the delivery route, while the warehouse service can make the last-mile delivery to final recipient. IDL Logistika is an awarded industry insider cooperating with 90% of European transport providers. Its key markets are Slovenia, Croatia and Czech Republic, and it organizes transport throughout Europe. WarehouseBook will enable the company to bring 10.000+ EU warehouses and transport providers together to make business that otherwise wouldn't exist! For the company this would result in 23 mio revenue in 5 years.

Keywords: warehouse booking,blockchain for logistics,ai based warehouse booking automation,digitization of logistics,logistics platform,digital warehouse book when in delay
Inflammatory processes underlying cognitive deficits in schizophrenia: epigenetic mechanisms and pharmacological regulation (Schizo-EPICOG)

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: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2016, 2016)
Start date: 2018-04-11
End date: 2021-01-26
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 158121.6
EU funding (EUR): 158121.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Cognitive deficits represent nuclear symptoms of schizophrenia and are considered prognostic factors of the disease. Moreover, they are resistant to the currently available treatments and it is clinically suspected that atypical antipsychotics might worsen cognitive conditions of schizophrenic patients. Preliminary data indicate the involvement of epigenetic regulation of histone deacetylases (HDACs) in this effect and the possibility of neuroinflammmatory activity as the inductor mechanism. In the etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia a double-hit phenomenon has been suggested. Thus, a prenatal priming event that would induce vulnerability is followed by a second stressful hit in peripuberty. Physio- and psychopathology could emerge from these mechanisms through neuroinflammatory hyperactivity. The aim of the present project is to study the relationship between cognitive deficits and neuroinflammatory activity in a traslational "double hit" mouse model based on the maternal inmmune activation during gestation followed by social isolation at puberty. In this animal model will be evaluated: 1) Gene and protein expression of inflammatory signalling proteins, HDACs and the status of histone acetylation; 2) Cognitive and psychotic status by means of validated behavioural tests; 3) Modulation of cognitive responses by chronic treatment with the antipsychotic clozapine, the HDAC inhibitor SAHA and the inflammatory activity inhibitor minocycline. Cognitive responses will be related to neuroinflammatory alterations at molecular level. The findings in the animal model will be compared with those obtained in the study of neuroinflammation markers, HDACs expression and histone acetylation status in postmortem human prefrontal cortex of subjects with schizophrenia under antipsychotic treatment or drug-free conditions and matched controls. In these subjects the possibility of an excess of inflammatory activity associated to antipsychotic treatment will be analyzed.

Keywords: schizophrenia,cognition,animal models,epigenetics,human brain,antipsychotics
Topological Polaritons in Semiconductor Photonic Crystal Structures: Exotic band structures and topological polariton states for quantum simulation and future optoelectronic devices (TOPOPOLIS)

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: Physics
Countries involved: Germany
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2016-03-01
End date: 2018-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 159460.8
EU funding (EUR): 159460.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

TOPOPOLIS aims at the development of semiconductor microcavity photonic crystal structures which are generally designed for the realization of solid state quantum simulation and specifically for the first ever observation of topological exciton-polariton edge states. With the ongoing refinement of semiconductor growth and etching techniques it has become possible to create microcavity photonic crystals to study new, complex and non-trivial phenomena of light-matter coupling. Here, polaritons in e.g. hexagonal lattice structures (artificial graphene) can serve as a tool to perform quantum simulation and to emulate the systems Hamiltonian. Polaritons are particularly well suited, because of their tunable mass and particle interactions, inherited from the excitons, as well as their open dissipative nature which allows a direct monitoring. In this context it has been proposed that with a suitable photonic crystal design a topological gap can emerge under magnetic field. This topological gap leads to optical quantum-Hall-like edge states that allow for an unidirectionally propagating polariton mode, protected from back-scattering. This exciting goal is of great interest as it will shed light into the physics of topological hybrid interacting bosons as well as from an application point of view. Reaching this goal most importantly requires very high Q-factor microcavities with low overall energetic disorder as well as low etching-induced sidewall damage. In this project, a scaleable photonic-trap method is proposed that allows for a precise control of the confinement potential in the microcavity photonic crystal and does not require an etching into the optically active quantum wells. This approach will be combined with electro-optical tuning to create a versatibe platform for quantum emulation and will allow for the experimental observation of topological polariton edge states that have the potential to enable new technologies in quantum simulation and logics.

Keywords: strong light matter interaction,photonic crystal lattices,quantum simulation,topological states
An innovative Pulsed Laser Deposition process for next generation of Li-ion batteries (Coldab)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Finland
Call: SME instrument (H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1, 2019)
Start date: 2019-06-01
End date: 2019-09-30
Duration (months): 4.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Although the global number of EVs has been increasing since 2010, EVs still have only 1.4% of global vehicle market share. This is mostly due to the fact that the development in the battery industry has been rather incremental, without revolutionary breakthrough since 1991’s launch of the first commercial Lithium-Ion batteries (LIB) by Sony. The advancement and maturity of the battery directly influence the industrialization of EVs. Thus, the biggest challenge the EV market is facing today is related to the limitations of batteries. These are mainly related to insufficient performance, in terms of size, energy density and safety (EV batteries are very flammable), and to expensive battery production, as available deposition methods generally fail to meet the requirements necessary to scale up and automate the production and require fixed casting on each battery specification type. Pulsedeon developed Coldab, a film coating process leveraging Ultra-Short Pulsed Laser Deposition (USPLD), that can optimize the production of LIB components on a large scale. Coldab’s unique PLD coating process allows cost-effective manufacturing of a new class of safer, smart tailored, high-performance EV batteries. Pulsedeon favors the competitiveness of European battery producers by offering a cutting-edge manufacturing process, and promotes a ‘clean environment’. In order to increase the EV’s affordability and improve their performance, Coldab brings EV’s battery manufacturing to a new level of scalability guaranteeing cost-effectiveness, at the same time preserving excellent performance by increasing the battery’s energy capacity and safety. During the phase 1 feasibility study, Pulsedeon will establish a sound go-to-market strategy and supply chain, and will draft further development plans. During the innovation project, Pulsedeon will optimize process automation, set up an industrial manufacturing line, and carry out in-vehicle testing with prospect customers.

Keywords: battery,coating,laser