Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
A disruptive multi-sensor chip for fast and effective management of Sepsis at the point of Care (SepsiCare)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Cyprus
Call: SME instrument (H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1, 2019)
Start date: 2020-01-01
End date: 2020-08-31
Duration (months): 8.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

SepsiCare project, aims at developing a profitable and scalable business based on SepsiCare integrated biosensors. SepsiCare is an integrated biochip that is capable to provide a set of key patient-condition indicators to the clinician in order to diagnose sepsis, monitor disease progression and assess the effects of treatment within minutes. The SepsiCare device integrates multiple highly sensitive photonic sensors on a low cost 20x20 mm2 semiconductor chip that is configured to quantify a panel of sepsis related biomarkers from small volumes of patient whole blood. What differentiates SepsiCare from the competition is that it offers a multi-sensor test to quantify multiple parameters that indicate sepsis, identify bacteria and guide therapy with high accuracy (concentrations of pg/mL) and at an affordable price (12 Euro per chip). Sepsis affects more than 30 million people worldwide each year and takes 8 million lives including more than 3 million children, translating into healthcare yearly costs nearly $24 billion in the US alone. Starting appropriate and effective antimicrobial treatment is crucial for sepsis survival. Previous reports have shown that the chance of survival drops by 7.6% each hour of disease progression until an appropriate antimicrobial treatment is started. Therefore, achieving an early and accurate diagnosis is a prerequisite for rapid and successful antibiotic therapy. However, point of care (POC) solutions for fast, affordable and effective management of sepsis remains a challenge. The impact of this unmet clinical need to the hospitals relates to the increased time & cost of patient hospitalization (~€30K per sepsis patient). For patients, this has an impact on increased mortality and morbidity (1 in 3 patients of sepsis die) resulting from suboptimal treatment of bacterial infections. By treating just 25% of sepsis patients on time using SepsiCare, a hospital saves up to €1M per year.

Keywords: plasmonics,photonic integrated circuit,sensor,biosensor,cmos,sepsis,point of care,lab on chip
Metatranscriptomics to discover root microbiome functions activated during recognition of stressed and non-stressed plants (MetaFun) (MetaFun)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Career Restart panel
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2019, 2019)
Start date: 2020-09-01
End date: 2023-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 263358.72
EU funding (EUR): 263358.72
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Plants benefit from their microbiome for specific functions such as nutrient uptake, defense and growth. When exposed to environmental stress conditions, plants are able to recruit specific helper microbiota to aid in the recovery from the stress. Understanding mechanisms underlying the interaction between plants and the myriad of microorganisms living in association with them is fundamental to fully harness the genomic potential of these microbes to improve crop agricultural performance. With a metatranscriptomics approach, MetaFun aims at investigating: 1) the microbiome functions involved in chemical communication with the host plant; 2) microbiome functions that become activated in response to recognition of a plant in need and act in co-operation within a community to help the plant to adapt to environmental stress. The innovative approach of MetaFun is based on the identification of microbial activities that become activated in response to specific biotic/abiotic stresses using a metagenomics and metatranscriptomics approach. Moreover, by combining a powerful experimental design, high resolution RNA-sequencing and advanced computational tools, MetaFun aims to decipher microbe-microbe interactions within the plant-associated microbiomes. The implementation of the MetaFun research project, combined with its training program carried out in an excellent scientific environment, represent a unique opportunity to restart the career of the experienced researcher and become an independent scientist.

Keywords: plant microbiome,plant beneficial microbes,microbial functions
Virtual AntennaTM Technology: the Next Generation Antenna for Wireless Devices (VATech)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Open Disruptive Innovation Scheme (implemented through the SME instrument) (H2020-SMEINST-2-2014, 2014)
Start date: 2015-06-01
End date: 2017-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1082485.0
EU funding (EUR): 757739.5
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The main objective of the project is to take to market a new disruptive antenna technology (Virtual AntennaTM) which has been patented by Fractus, based on a new element (antenna booster) as replacement of existing antennas in wireless devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops. The aim is to obtain a unique miniature and multiband solution (10 times smaller in volume than conventional antennas) for these devices and valid for all frequency bands of operation (2G, 3G, 4G). Fractus is marketing this product and the technology that underpins the project has been validated in real environments, but as specific objectives in this project, the company needs to design and validate new solutions to cover more market needs. The appearance of new mobile bands (4G and future 5G) and smart antenna technologies (LTE/MIMO), adds additional challenges to the integration of conventional antenna solutions inside handset platforms. All these requirements represent a bottleneck of the current technology, meaning a great business opportunity for the Virtual AntennaTM Technology, which as a miniature multiband antenna technology can solve all detected drawbacks by offering advantages (mainly cost, size reduction, off-the-shelf, pick&place maintaining technical performance) for wireless devices manufacturers. A new product will be built upon the novel technology patented by Fractus which presents relevant competitive advantages within conventional and alternative solutions in terms of performance, size, standardization (off-the-shelf) and costs (part+assembly) for potential clients and end users. These aspects, the intellectual property protection and with the huge potential market ahead (more than 2300 million units), represent a great opportunity for a European technology to compete in the international scene. Virtual AntennaTM will mean a significant increase in sales revenue and growth in corporate terms and employment, being core project action for the next years for Fractus

Keywords: antenna,antenna booster,smartphones,wireless devices,patented technology
Catalytic Enantioselective Allene Cycloisomerisation Reactions for Alkaloid Total Synthesis (CATRATS)

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: Chemistry
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2016, 2016)
Start date: 2017-06-12
End date: 2019-06-11
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 183454.8
EU funding (EUR): 183454.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

A new catalytic enantioselective cycloisomerisation reaction for the direct creation of the azabicyclic core of strychnos alkaloids is proposed. Strychnos alkaloids have been the subject of intensive investigation over the last decades. Recently, leuconicines A and B, which are new members of the Strychnos alkaloid family, have been isolated from extracts of the Malaysian plant Leuconotis maingayi. Leuconicines possess significant bioactivity and they potently reverse multidrug resistance in vincristine-resistant leukemia cells. However, further studies into the biological profile of these natural products are hindered due to insufficient quantities being available from the natural source. In order to secure sufficient quantities and fully determine the therapeutic potential of the leuconicines, a new source of these target molecules is required. A new synthetic route which develops and incorporates ‘state-of-the-art’ methodologies to rapidly forge the extremely complex 6,5,5,6,6,6 hexacyclic ring system and 4 stereocenters, will provide the material. Nevertheless, the synthetic routes toward complex natural products are usually long, contain many individual steps and involve manipulations after each step. For these reasons, new, simple and synthetically efficient organic transformations which reduce the drain of resources are desired. This Fellowship project combines total synthesis, new catalytic enantioselective methodology development, computational calculations and biological evaluation. It has been designed to augment and complement the research and transferable skills sets of the Marie Curie fellow and will greatly enhance his career prospects accordingly. Through the training and the research results arising, the Fellowship will be beneficial to the fellow, the host institution and European science.

Keywords: enantioselective catalysis,organic chemistry,new methods development,total synthesis,desymmetization
Fully robotic system for swapping electric car batteries within 3 minutes. (POWERSWAP)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Smart, green and integrated transport
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Sweden
Call: Small business innovation research for Transport and Smart Cities Mobility (H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2018-03-01
End date: 2018-08-31
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Our proprietary robotic technology can swap the 200 kilo car battery in a bit more than 2 minutes, saving vast amount of time and ensuring uninterrupted mobility. Batteries go to the battery storage where they can get suitable time for a harmonious charging at peak-off time. This lengthens their lifetime and puts much smaller pressure on the electric grid, allowing for the efficient management of power system and smart synchronization with distributed green energy resources (DERs) in power grid. Powerswap makes the bold step forward addressing challenges related to smart and clean e-mobility as charging time of batteries in battery storage can be flexibly adapted, minimizing additional pressure on power systems. Our automated batteries storages can also provide “grid balancing” services and return power to the grid at a time when managing the network is becoming increasingly complex as variable sources of wind and solar power grow. Our project will have a huge social added value by creating healthy urban environment and accelerating the development of clean transport systems based on electric cars. Powerswap will give the EU EV infrastructure a major boost and encourage new surges in EV transportation leading to definite elimination of combustion engines. We have engaged in the project well-known global market players: Renault (Renault Zoe), Sound Group (major supplier of batteries in China), Taxi Stockholm (will use our cars in the demonstration phase) and Didi (Chinese smart transportation company). The project will also have a vast impact on the applying SME and will stimulate its growth with a potential of reaching a turnover of €28M for in year 2024, and increasing employment by 40 jobs in the same year.

Keywords: electric cars batteries,battery swapping system,robotic system,automation,harmonious charging,electric cars
Bioactive peptides from human brown fat cells mediating metabolic control (BALDER)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator 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: Denmark
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2020-COG, 2020)
Start date: 2021-05-01
End date: 2026-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2000000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2000000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Obesity is an increasing problem where the central nervous system (CNS) plays a major role by regulating food intake. This regulation is based on feedback systems from peripheral organs, including adipose tissue. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a subtype of adipose tissue that produces heat in response to cold by switching from an idle state to a highly energy-consuming state. BAT also secretes signalling molecules called batokines, but the biological effects of batokines on distal tissues are unclear. My overall hypothesis is that the energetic state of BAT will be communicated to the CNS, via batokines, to mediate appetite control, in a BAT-brain axis. To test this, we will establish a peptide library of human plasma peptidomes of samples collected during different states of BAT activity, combined with peptidome datasets generated from human brown fat cells using two complementary approaches: peptidomics and smORF mapping. Joining these datasets will allow us to select batokine candidates that are consistently regulated by alterations in BAT activity in plasma and brown fat cells. Using in silico approaches for peptide ranking and bioactivity prediction, we will select peptides, and create a neural bioactivity screening platform, assessing neural activity and/or plasticity. For this, we will establish 3D-cultures of appetite-regulating neurons, including human iPSC-derived AgRP and POMC neurons as well as of murine primary hypothalamic neurons. These models will be incorporated with high-content screening and imaging approaches. Successful peptides will be tested for metabolic effects in mice models, and targeted neurons and signalling pathways will be tracked down to a single cell level. All experimental data will be integrated with the in-silico data to generate a searchable online atlas of appetite regulating peptides, promoting my overall goal of discovering novel appetite-regulating circuits to identify new strategies to target obesity and its related diseases.

Keywords: secretome,secreted peptides,brown fat crosstalk,appetite regulation
Scalable, point-of-care and label free microarray platform for rapid detection of Sepsis (RAIS)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Theme: Micro- and nanoelectronics and photonics: Key enabling technologies related to micro- and nanoelectronics and to photonics, covering also quantum technologies
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Partnership: Photonics (cPPP)
Countries involved: Germany,Italy,Italy,Spain,Spain,Germany,Switzerland,Belgium,United Kingdom
Call: Photonics KET (H2020-ICT-2014-1, 2014)
Start date: 2015-01-01
End date: 2018-03-31
Duration (months): 39.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3388572.5
EU funding (EUR): 2988572.5
Participants: 12
Project status: CLOSED

The diagnosis and management of acute Sepsis is a critical area where fast and accurate results can translate into life changing health outcomes for individuals. The overall aim of RAIS is to develop a new point-of-care label-free microarray platform and validate it for quantifying levels of specific Sepsis’ biomarkers. The approach uses a novel interferometric technique ultimately capable of providing very large arrays of tests. Specific objectives and activities include: (i) an optical microarray reader based on a disruptive proprietary design combining interferometric lens-free microscopy and proximity CCD or CMOS image sensing; (ii) a microarray plate, in a proper microfluidic cartridge, consisting of a transparent slide with a novel nano-structured surface geometry to increase the detection sensitivity and covered by specific receptors to capture bio-markers; (iii) their integration in a portable and battery powered label free microarray platform potentially capable of measuring more than 1 million bio-targets simultaneously. The developed technology will be capable to detect micro-ribonucleic acids (microRNAs), interleukins and other specific proteins associated to Sepsis using a few microliters of blood or serum samples, in a concentration of a few pg/ml, within 30 minutes (sample to result) and at a cost per patient of less than 50€. In this way, patients will be put on the right treatment more rapidly, potentially reducing the Sepsis mortality rate of more than 70%, with estimated cost savings of more than €10 billion per year as a consequence of shorter hospital stays, reduced use of unnecessary drugs and lower associated insurance bills. The technical approach, targeted device, application and the addressed market sector are perfectly in line with the call H2020-ICT-2014-1 - Photonics KET - Biophotonics for screening of diseases: Mobile, low-cost point-of-care screening devices for reliable, fast and non- or minimally-invasive detection of diseases.

Keywords: lens free microscopy
European Young Eye (EYE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Innovative Training Networks (ITN)-European Industrial Doctorates
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Spain,United Kingdom,Portugal
Call: Innovative Training Networks (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2020, 2020)
Start date: 2021-01-01
End date: 2025-03-31
Duration (months): 51.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1280422.8
EU funding (EUR): 1280422.8
Participants: 3
Project status: SIGNED

EYE project will advance the scientific knowledge in order to develop new therapeutic solutions for presbyopia. The consortium is formed by a highly inter-disciplinary team involving optometrists, chemists, biochemists, physicists, and computer engineers who have been successfully studying the different properties of the contact lenses (CLs) and presbyopia for many years. The consortium of this EID project comprises two Beneficiaries - a private sector partner – CL manufacturer (Mark’ennovy) and a university delivering PhD degrees - Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM). Alain Afflelou, optical centres group with more than 1.400 optical centres around the world, collaborates with EYE consortium as a Partner Organization providing access to the end users and clinicians (optometrists). The ambitious objectives of the project are: 1. To train 5 early-stage researchers (ESRs), and more specifically provide them with (i) training in state-of-the-art concepts and leading-edge research techniques essential to study the human eye’s behaviour, (ii) extensive training in complementary skills (iii) 18 months working experience in the private sector, (iv) solid professional connections for future career development. 2. To advance the scientific knowledge in the Vision Science field in order to develop more satisfying presbyopic therapeutic solutions which will positively impact the quality of the life of the patients. 3. To boost the impact and the international visibility of the European research and EU funding through the dissemination, communication and exploitation activities incorporated within the project, as well as by establishment of a long-term synergic collaboration among an academic and private sectors.

Keywords: ageing,vision science,presbyopia,personalised eye care
Data activism: The politics of big data according to civil society (DATACTIVE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Panel description: Political science, international relations, law
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2014-STG, 2014)
Start date: 2015-09-01
End date: 2021-06-30
Duration (months): 70.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1498352.0
EU funding (EUR): 1498352.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

With the diffusion of ‘big data’, citizens become increasingly aware of the critical role of information in modern societies. This awareness gives rise to new social practices rooted in technology and data, which I term ‘data activism’. While activists see massive data collection by governments and businesses as a challenge to civil rights, big data also offer new opportunities for collective action. This research will investigate civil society’s engagement with massive data collection by addressing three research questions: How do citizens resist massive data collection by means of technical fixes (re-active data activism)? How do social movements use big data to foster social change (pro-active data activism)? How does data activism affect the dynamics of transnational civil society, and transnational advocacy networks in particular? The project will develop a multidisciplinary conceptual framework integrating social movement studies, science and technology studies and international relations. It will analyze organizational forms, action repertoires and the enabling role of software in data activism, and will identify emerging structures and strategies of transnational advocacy networks. Data will be collected via qualitative (interviews with activists, field observations, infrastructure ethnography on software platforms) and computational methods (such as data mining in online repositories). ‬ ‪This research is groundbreaking in four ways: 1) by analyzing civil society’s engagement with massive data collection, it evaluates risks and promises of big data; 2) by addressing an uncharted but rapidly growing field of human action, it sets the basis for understanding future civic engagement; 3) by integrating adjacent disciplines that seldom interact, it magnifies their ability to understand the interplay between society, information, technology and power; 4) by developing dedicated data collection tools, it adds to methodological innovation in big-data analytics.

Keywords: digital technology,technical activism,open source software development,resistance to massive data collection,data journalism,information policy,transnational advocacy network