Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
SiC optical nano-strain-meters for pico-detection in Geosciences (SiC nano for picoGeo) (SiC nano for PicoGeo)

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: Italy,Germany,Italy,Italy,Belgium,France
Call: FET-Open Challenging Current Thinking (H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2019-2020-01, 2019)
Start date: 2019-11-01
End date: 2024-04-30
Duration (months): 54.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2736836.25
EU funding (EUR): 2736836.0
Participants: 7
Project status: SIGNED

The project addresses an innovative and radical vision, enabled by a new technology concept that challenges current paradigms of high resolution strain detection for Geoscience and Geohazard monitoring. The goal is the development of a radically new dynamic ground strain measurement technology with an ultra-high resolution of 10-12 that is about two order of magnitude better than the presently available technology. The new technology is based on combining the high performance 3C-SiC material with a high Young modulus (almost 3 times higher than silicon) that improves the sensibility of the actual strain sensor, with fiber lasers for novel all-optical closed-loop operation of the resonator. This design gives the opportunity to use an electronic readout far from the borehole and easily accessible out of the deep drilling. In geophysical monitoring the proposed innovative instrument will allow to detect precisions not obtainable with the current instruments. Ultra small and slow strain transients preceding earthquakes and eruptions could be revealed and both new understanding of the volcano and of the seismology process can be obtained. This new sensor will strongly reduce the cost of the strain sensor and will promote a large impulse in the physics study of both the volcanic areas and of the seismogenic faults. Moreover, the small dimension and the cheap cost will allow to monitor a dense vertical profile of strain along a same hole. Therefore, the project outcomes will have direct implications in forecasting volcanic eruptions and thus improve volcano-seismic crisis management. At the end of the project a start-up of one innovative frontier laboratory for advanced monitoring of dynamic strain associated to volcanic and seismic processes will be done. This “Pico strain Etna Lab” will be the starting point of a new network infrastructure that could support and improve the main volcanic regions and the main faults in Europe.

Keywords: noms,silicon carbide,very high precision strain meter,geophysics
Optomechanical quantum bus for spins in silicon (QBusSi)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — 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: Finland
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2019-STG, 2019)
Start date: 2020-03-01
End date: 2025-02-28
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1645000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1645000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Silicon has been the material underpinning the modern information technology revolution. I would argue that it might be the most important material of the coming quantum technology age as well. This will be of tremendous advantage to the diffusion of quantum technologies as they can then leverage the existing infrastructure of silicon electronics and photonics. My project is aimed at unlocking the quantum potential of silicon technologies. It is aimed at enabling a not too distant future where silicon chips encompassing quantum enabled sensors and/or quantum computing processors are widely available and only require push-of-a-button coolers and laser light to operate. Qubits are of fundamental interest not only for the tantalizing prospect of building a quantum computer but also because they can work as powerful quantum sensors. In this project, I will advance a novel emerging physical implementation of qubits: donor spin states in silicon. These states are now known to be excellent qubits with the longest single qubit coherence times demonstrated in solid state. This is a significant advantage for both quantum sensing and quantum information applications. However, at the moment the application potential of silicon donor qubits is hindered by two related obstacles: current readout techniques require nanoelectric connections, millikelvin temperatures and high magnetic fields, and - most importantly - there are no scalable methods to couple multiple qubits. This project will realize an optomechanical quantum bus for spins in silicon in order to enable optical and mechanical coupling and readout mechanisms for the donor spins and hence overcome all these obstacles. The created quantum bus will not only allow integrating the spin qubits with existing silicon photonics and NEMS platforms for integrated quantum circuits and optically readable practical quantum sensors but will also provide a solid-state on-chip testbed for creating and studying macroscopic quantum states.

Keywords: quantum technologies,quantum sensing,donor spins,spins in silicon,optomechanics,nanophotonics,silicon photonics,spin qubits,quantum information
Investigating the commercial feasibility of a novel biological enhancement technology for creating a sustainable, high value, insect-derived protein supplement for the EU aquaculture market (ENTOMICSBLUEGROWTH)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy
Theme: Cross-cutting marine and maritime research
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: Supporting SMEs efforts for the development - deployment and market replication of innovative solutions for blue growth (H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2017-05-01
End date: 2017-09-30
Duration (months): 5.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The FAO estimates that to we need to produce 70% more food by 2050 to sustain the world’s growing population. Aquaculture is a promising source of nutrition and food security due to relatively low resource requirements, accessibility for operators in the developing world and an increasing global demand for quality protein. During the last three decades, world aquaculture production increased from 5 million to 63 million tons, and represents an increasingly large component of human protein consumption. However, intensive aquaculture of carnivorous fish species – like salmon and trout – requires large inputs of unsustainable feed ingredients like fishmeal from wild-caught forage fish as far away as Chile, due to its high protein and oil content. Thus, feed costs can comprise up to 75% of an aquaculture operation’s overall cost in the EU. In addition, intensive aquaculture continues to be plagued by the incidence of disease and lice infestation – exacerbated by stressful conditions such as overstocking and poor water quality, and requiring the industry to respond with harmful antibiotic and chemical interventions. Entomics’ innovative technology enables the production of novel insect-derived protein feed that is sustainably grown from waste substrates at low cost, and presents a viable substitute for fishmeal given similar protein and omega-3 oil profiles. More importantly, our patent-pending processing technology enhances this protein feed with key biological characteristics that promote enhanced growth and overall fish health. We currently produce this feed in a Pilot facility, and are conducting fish feeding trials to test efficacy in different species. The purpose of this study is to investigate the commercial feasibility and technical scalability of our novel processing technology, with the aim of bringing this high-value, sustainable aquaculture feed to the European market.

Keywords: insects,bacteria,fermentation,hydrolysis,disease resistance,antibiotics
Assembly-disassembly-organisation-reassembly of microporous materials (ADOR)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Panel description: New materials and new synthetic approaches, structure-properties relations, solid state chemistry, molecular architecture, organic chemistry
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2017-ADG, 2017)
Start date: 2018-10-01
End date: 2025-03-31
Duration (months): 78.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2489220.0
EU funding (EUR): 2489220.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Microporous materials are an important class of solid; the two main members of this family are zeolites and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Zeolites are industrial solids whose applications range from catalysis, through ion exchange and adsorption technologies to medicine. MOFs are some of the most exciting new materials to have been developed over the last two decades, and they are just beginning to be applied commercially. Over recent years the applicant’s group has developed new synthetic strategies to prepare microporous materials, called the Assembly-Disassembly-Organisation-Reassembly (ADOR) process. In significant preliminary work the ADOR process has shown to be an extremely important new synthetic methodology that differs fundamentally from traditional solvothermal methods. In this project I will look to overturn the conventional thinking in materials science by developing methodologies that can target both zeolites and MOF materials that are difficult to prepare using traditional methods – the so-called ‘unfeasible’ materials. The importance of such a new methodology is that it will open up routes to materials that have different properties (both chemical and topological) to those we currently have. Since zeolites and MOFs have so many actual and potential uses, the preparation of materials with different properties has a high chance of leading to new technologies in the medium/long term. To complete the major objective I will look to complete four closely linked activities covering the development of design strategies for zeolites and MOFs (activities 1 & 2), mechanistic studies to understand the process at the molecular level using in situ characterisation techniques (activity 3) and an exploration of potential applied science for the prepared materials (activity 4).

Keywords: zeolites,metal organic frameworks
Attosecond X-ray spectroscopy of liquids (ATTOLIQ)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Panel description: Analytical chemistry, chemical theory, physical chemistry/chemical physics
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2017-COG, 2017)
Start date: 2018-04-01
End date: 2023-03-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2750000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2750000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Charge and energy transfer are the key steps underlying most chemical reactions and biological transformations. The purely electronic dynamics that control such processes take place on attosecond time scales. A complete understanding of these dynamics on the electronic level therefore calls for new experimental methods with attosecond resolution that are applicable to aqueous environments. We propose to combine the element sensitivity of X-ray spectroscopy with attosecond temporal resolution and ultrathin liquid microjets to study electronic dynamics of relevance to chemical, biological and photovoltaic processes. We will build on our recent achievements in demonstrating femtosecond time-resolved measurements in the water, attosecond pho-toelectron spectroscopy on a liquid microjet and measuring and controlling attosecond charge migration in isolated molecules. We will first concentrate on liquid water to study its electronic dynamics following outer-valence ionization, the formation pathway of the solvated electron and the time scales and intermolecular Coulombic decay following inner-valence or core-level ionization. Second, we will turn to solvated species and measure electronic dynamics and charge migration in solvated molecules, transition-metal complexes and pho-toexcited nanoparticles. These goals will be achieved by developing several innovative experimental tech-niques. We will develop a source of isolated attosecond pulses covering the water window (285-538 eV) and combine it with a flat liquid microjet to realize attosecond transient absorption in liquids. We will complement these measurements with attosecond X-ray emission spectroscopy, Auger spectroscopy and a novel hetero-dyne-detected variant of resonant inelastic Raman scattering, exploiting the large bandwidth that is naturally available from attosecond X-ray sources.

Keywords: attosecond spectroscopy,x ray spectroscopy,liquid microjets,electronic dynamics,charge migration,intermolecular coulombic decay,transient absorption spectroscopy
Advanced Volcanic Ash characteriSaTion (AVAST)

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: Germany
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2016, 2016)
Start date: 2017-08-01
End date: 2020-01-25
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 171460.8
EU funding (EUR): 171460.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Advanced Volcanic Ash characteriSaTion I aim to show how rapid characterisation of volcanic ash particle properties using QEMSCAN® Particle Mineralogical Analysis, an automated mineralogy tool, can help to determine risks to aviation and interpret deformation during volcanic eruptions in order to help predict and respond to volcanic crises. Through targeted experiments using specialised experimental apparatus, together with checks from cross-correlation and control samples, I will adopt an empirical approach in order to (1) characterise ash particles to identify diagnostic characteristics linked to fragmentation mechanisms that can be used to better inform ash-plume dispersion models and turbine engine resilience tests and to predict ash particle properties during monitored volcanic deformation and (2) challenge conventional wisdom that volcanic deformation is regulated by the strength of ‘intact’ magma and edifice rock and constrain the effects of phase distribution on ash sintering by conducting deformation experiments on progressively sintered ash samples. Through AVAST I will receive training in cutting-edge research techniques and establish intersectoral partnerships, helping to realise my goal as an independent research group leader in volcanology.

Keywords: volcanic ash,automated mineralogy,qemscan r,particle characterisation
SIMULATOR OF BEHAVIOURAL ASPECTS FOR SAFER TRANSPORT (SimuSafe)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Smart, green and integrated transport
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Germany,Italy,Italy,Germany,Israel,Spain,Spain,Sweden,Poland,Sweden,Belgium,Slovakia,France,United States,Netherlands,United Kingdom,Portugal
Call: Behavioural aspects for safer transport (H2020-MG-2016-Two-Stages, 2016)
Start date: 2017-06-01
End date: 2021-05-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 8739480.0
EU funding (EUR): 7991600.0
Participants: 23
Project status: CLOSED

Road transport is known to be the most dangerous of all transport modes and poses a major societal challenge for EU. It has been claimed that 90% of road-traffic crashes are caused by driver error, being a significant factor in traffic accidents. Improving road safety means understanding the individual and collective behaviour of actors involved (drivers, two wheelers, pedestrians) and their interaction between themselves and safety-related systems and services. The goal of SIMUSAFE (SIMUlator of Behavioural Aspects for SAFEr Transport) following the FESTA-V model methodology is to develop realistic multi-agent behavioural models in a transit environment where researchers will be able to monitor and introduce changes in every aspect, gathering data not available in real world conditions. Driving simulators of several vehicles (cars, motorcycles, bicycles) and Virtual Reality (for pedestrians) will be used to simulate test environments. This will also enable the evaluation of scenarios which are not possible even with naturalistic driving (dangerous conditions, multiple monitored actors in the same scene, under influence of substances). Data collected from simulations will be correlated with naturalistic driving tests, such that the simulation and model aspects are the closest possible to real world data. From the developed model and collected data, impacting factors causing an event (crash, near-collision, infractions) from the environment and road users will be identified and quantified. Such knowledge will be the base for the development of more effective and pro-active measures for the prevention and mitigation of such factors, with subsequent impact in the safety devices market, regulations and driver education.

Keywords: driving simulators,traffic simulators,mobile biometric devices,drivers,trainning,standards,naturalistic driving,vulnerable users,two wheelers,multi agent models
Early Jewish and Christian Magical Traditions in Comparison and Contact (EJCM)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Cultures and cultural production
Panel description: Literary studies, cultural studies, study of the arts, philosophy
Countries involved: Italy
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2019-STG, 2019)
Start date: 2020-02-01
End date: 2025-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1311355.55
EU funding (EUR): 1311355.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

This interdisciplinary project will contribute to the study of both Mediterranean magic and Jewish–Christian relations during late antiquity (III–VII CE) by providing a comparative analysis of the Jewish and Christian magical texts and objects (e.g., amulets and incantation bowls) that is informed by an innovative, synthetic interpretative framework. This project will investigate the contacts between Jewish and Christian practitioners as well as the dynamics of religious assimilation, cooperation, and differentiation in the everyday lives of ancient Jews and Christians. Although scholarly study of the early Jewish and Christian practices, rituals, and texts deemed “magical” has blossomed over the past few decades, this research has tended to be divided along disciplinary lines, with historians of Judaism studying Jewish magic and historians of Christianity studying Christian magic. Independent from this line of inquiry there is a long history of scholarship devoted to early Jewish–Christian relations which has detailed the diverse ways Jews and Christians interacted in the ancient world. However, the study of early Jewish–Christian relations has not taken into serious consideration the “magical” evidence. In short, despite these respective lines of scholarship within and across early Jewish and Christian studies, there has not yet been a sustained analysis of early Jewish and Christian magical traditions in comparison and in contact. An interdisciplinary team (PI, 1 Postdoc, and 2 PhD students) will address this scholarly gap by examining local and global features of the magical artefacts – and the literary traditions about magic – from late-antique Jewish and Christian communities. In particular, this group will focus on the similarities, differences, and contacts between these traditions in four central areas of their magical practices: biblical texts and traditions; sacred names and titles; the word-image-material relation; and references to illicit rituals.

Keywords: magic,judaism,christianity,ritual,lived religion
Developing a feasibility study for the future commercialization of BranchyDOSE – an innovative accurate and simple brachytherapy measurements tool (BrachyDOSE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials, Advanced Manufacturing and Processing, and Biotechnology
Theme: Nanotechnologies
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Lithuania
Call: Accelerating the uptake of nanotechnologies advanced materials or advanced manufacturing and processing technologies by SMEs (H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2017-06-01
End date: 2017-11-30
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy represents the increasingly popular internal radiation therapy method commonly used as an effective treatment for cervical, prostate, breast, skin cancer and tumors. While HDR brachytherapy is relatively fast, safe and highly beneficial, its results are often corrupted by human error. It is essential to measure the radiation dose delivered to ensure a safe and effective delivery of the treatment plan. The most accurate way of measurement is by comparing dosimetry results with the mathematic modeling results. Nonetheless, the use of dosimeters is not a standardized procedure so this is done only in hospitals and cancer clinics providing high-quality healthcare services. In turn, healthcare practitioners rely on modeling methods alone. Miscalculation and mistakes in dose calculation algorithms cause inaccuracy in treatment plan, which results in a continuously flawed treatment. This can induce insufficient amount of radiation, over radiation, secondary cancer and radiation burns. The widespread use of dosimeters would prevent these missteps as the treatment plan could be adjusted according to real dose measurements. Nonetheless, the currently available dosimetry solutions are inefficient and not fit to be used in everyday medical procedures (time consuming, expensive, complex). Sesi Partneriai, an innovative science SME, has developed an advanced material dosimeter system (TRL6) that is tailored to be used in everyday medical procedures – it is fast, easy to use and retains extremely high accuracy and reliability. With this solution the company seeks to standardize the use of dosimeters in HDR brachytherapy and further develop a universal dosimeter system that could be used in a wide range of radiotherapy procedures. The feasibility study will provide an essential stepping-stone towards these goals by allowing Sesi Partneriai to develop a comprehensive business plan ensuring perfect product market fit and smooth commercialization.

Keywords: cancer treatment,radiotherapy,hdr brachytherapy,dosimetry,radiation measurement,advanced,chemical materials