Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Artificial intelligence for automated, standardised interpretation of DNA testing results (FastFinder)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Belgium
Call: Open Disruptive Innovation Scheme (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

UgenTec is an award winning Belgian bio-IT start-up that develops software for automated and standardised analysis of DNA detection tests. Founded in 2014, it is venture backed and as raised a capital of €3.45 million. The company is led by Wouter Uten and Tom Martens, both with a track record in successful business development. UgenTec has a contracted revenue of €427.000, a team of 24 software engineers, data scientists and molecular biologists and is supported by Deloitte, IMEC, KU Leuven university, EIC-ICT labs and Microsoft Innovation Centre Flanders. Public health expenditure in the EU continues to rise with projected growth at 8.5% of GDP in 2060, driven by an ageing population and associated rise in chronic diseases and the promotion of personalised healthcare, demanding molecular information. This highlights an increasing need for automation in molecular diagnostics, including software solutions for interpretation of results. The market for genetic analysis software will grow substantially at 6.9% CAGR already by 2018. There is a clear market pull for automated solutions: as genetic testing volumes are growing every year and quality standards become stricter, the lab budgets are coming under pressure. As a disruptive innovative solution to this problem, UgenTec has developed the FastFinder software platform, advancing state of the art artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to automate the interpretation of results in the genetic testing workflow. FastFinder USP allows interpretation 30 times faster than manual interpretation and removes human errors that can lead to serious – and often costly – implications in treatment decisions for patients. Platform application potential extends beyond a clinical setting, (e.g. pharma, food safety) boosting commercial gain. This innovation has a revenue potential for UgenTec of over €100 million within 10 years coupled to the hiring of 100 additional highly skilled employees.

Keywords: interpretation software,genetic testing,dna analysis,artificial intelligence,algorithms,medical device,clinical diagnostics,food pathogens,plant breeding,seed selection,pharma,real time pcr
Next-generation water testing for the European market (NG-WTEM) (NG-WTEM)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: SME instrument (H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1, 2018)
Start date: 2019-03-01
End date: 2019-11-30
Duration (months): 9.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

WaterScope is Cambridge University spin-out developing a rapid, simple to use water testing system for the developing world. The system has been trialled in one of the largest refugee camps in the modern world, and the organisation has won the University of Cambridge, Vice Chancellor’s Overall Impact Award. WaterScope has raised over £200,000 of non-dilutive funding from grants and competitions. The technology is currently at TRL 5/6. The proposed project is to investigate the use of the technology in the European market. The majority of testing done in European labs use conventional bacteria culturing methods, which are slow (>24 hours), and labour intensive requiring manual sample processing and quantification. WaterScope’s automated testing system allows for a much faster test, with results obtained in less than 6 hours - quicker than anything on the market at the moment - with results automatically quantified. In addition to this WaterScope’s novel cartridge makes sample preparation simple, significantly reducing human error and sample preparation times. The water testing market is a global market with the U.S.A. being the largest consumer market segment, representing over 40% of the market, followed by Europe (~25%) and Asia Pacific. However, the European market is the leading global manufacturer and exporter of water testing instruments. The European E. coli environmental testing market was valued at 46.06 million USD in 2015 and estimated to reach 60.67 million USD by 2020. The proposed project will investigate feasibility of WaterScope’s current system in the European market, in particular for the regulatory and contractual water testing market. The objectives are: 1. Identify and quantify the most appropriate market segment and resulting product requirements. 2. Build and formalise partnerships between WaterScope and developers, manufacturers, and distributors. 3. Refine WaterScope’s IP strategy to allow correct utilisation of developed markets.

Keywords: contamination water testing drinking water e coli coliforms
The worldwide first exoskeleton for the creation of ergonomic, age-neutral and low-fatigue workplaces in industry and for the reduction of physical strains in the ageing workforce (Chairless Chair)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Germany
Call: SME instrument (H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-2, 2018)
Start date: 2018-09-01
End date: 2020-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2341250.0
EU funding (EUR): 1638875.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

noonee was founded in 2014 as spin-off from the robotics lab of ETH Zurich. The mission of noonee is to develop and distribute exoskeleton-like devices specifically tailored to the needs of industry. Caused by the demographic change, the European workforce is continuously ageing. This represents a huge challenge for the employment across all sectors. Since older workers are becoming a growing part of the workforce and people must work for longer, appropriate measures to improve working conditions and obtain health are becoming a main priority. Even though workers in manufacturing plants are constantly ranked among the occupations with highest prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, the problem of bad workplace ergonomics is still very present. With our first product, the Chairless Chair, we are directly addressing the physical needs of workers in manufacturing and processing industries. The idea is to provide lowerback support to workers that normally must stand all day long and often in awkward body postures. Through close collaboration with large automotive and manufacturing companies, the Chairless Chair was specifically tailored to fit the needs of these workers in terms of usability, health benefits and user acceptance. In parallel, the Chairless Chair helps companies to save high amounts of costs related to sick or absent workers, fluctuating performance and the establishment of age-neutral and ergonomic workplaces. Based on the present first-mover advantage and a product that perfectly fits the nerve of time, the full commercialisation of our Chairless Chair will position noonee as market leader in the segment for wearable ergonomics mechatronic devices. To achieve this goal, the fast establishment of a European and global distribution channel is foreseen. During the first 5 years of commercialisation, we expect to generate cumulative revenues of 32 million € and establish at least 37 new jobs at noonee and more than 30 new jobs at our global distributors.

Keywords: manufacturing,ergonomics,exoskeleton,workforce,occupational,safety,health,assembly line,manufacturing plant,wellbeing
Rare Earth - Diamond Hybrid Materials for Photonics (RareDiamond)

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: France,France
Call: ERC ADVANCED GRANT (ERC-2020-ADG, 2020)
Start date: 2022-01-01
End date: 2026-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2499013.0
EU funding (EUR): 2499013.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Hybrid materials associate distinct components to achieve new functionalities. The key challenge in these composite systems is to harness new effects that cannot be obtained by a single material while preserving the necessary underlying properties of each component - a tremendously difficult task in materials science. The fantastic achievements of micro-electronics in this field have boosted similar developments in optics, and especially in the infrared range, where integrated optical chips combine a variety of functionalities like light sources, modulators, and detectors in circuits based on low-loss waveguides. In particular, silicon integrated optics have witnessed impressive scientific and technological progress as well as industrial production, since this architecture offers seamless integration between optics and electronics. Among optically active materials, NV- color centers in diamond and rare earth doped crystals have both exceptional properties that are separately used in, or investigated for, a broad range of applications such as lasers, lighting, fluorescence-based sensing and imaging, and quantum technologies like quantum processing, sensing and communications. In RareDiamond, I will design and grow hybrid materials in which rare earth ions and NV- centers can interact on the nanoscale while preserving their outstanding properties. This will be achieved using techniques allowing the growth of complex, high-quality structures with extreme localization of active centers, combined with advanced spectroscopy. These materials will enable interfacing diamond NV- centers with infrared light, a capability currently out of reach that I will exploit for innovative demonstrations in magnetometry, fluorescent imaging, and quantum light-matter interfacing. RareDiamond hybrid materials will open the way to diamond NV- integration with photonic chips and telecom fibers, for unprecedented functionalities in sensing, quantum processing, and quantum communications.

Keywords: light matter interface,luminescence,sensing,energy transfer,up conversion
Communication Platform for Tenders of Novels Transport Networks - COMPLETE (COMPLETE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Greece,Poland,Czechia
Call: Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support (H2020-ICT-2014-1, 2014)
Start date: 2015-01-01
End date: 2017-12-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 718250.0
EU funding (EUR): 718250.0
Participants: 3
Project status: CLOSED

The objective of the COMPLETE project is to optimize spending of public resources when purchasing network equipment and the related services. As a key approach towards this goal, the project proposes to create a common information platform for public procurers and support them in the procurement process by providing the organizational and technical expertise. Required information under such platform will be gathered from the biggest vendors of optical transport system equipment. Relations with mentioned key vendors need to be established, sustained and promoted. Such platform will significantly improve the quality of decisions taken by public procurers and in some cases would enable to conduct such procurement that previously would not have been possible due to various organizational and technological constraints (for example lack of access to specific technical information and roadmaps). Gathered and sustained information under the platform will be accurate, measurable and comparable as it would be easy for the reader to understand each vendor’s positioning regarding particular technical features. Project will directly coordinate procurement procedures in respect of optical network solutions for the National Research and Education Network environment and public entities. It will support public bodies in procurement procedures and indicate how the procurements can be synchronized with other European Commission programs. Another objective is to define common procurement procedures to help NRENs with the whole process of purchasing new optical networking equipment. There is a number of Horizon 2020 program activities for research, innovation and entrepreneurship that are linked with the project. The results achieved under this project’s proposal will be especially useful for the following two ICT calls: • ICT-27-2015 • ICT-36-2015 • ICT-06-2014

Keywords: procurers platform,photonics,nren,optical equipment
Revolutionising optical fibre transmission and networking using the Orbital Angular Momentum of light (ROAM)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Theme: Future Internet: Software, hardware, Infrastructures, technologies and services
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Germany,Italy,Switzerland,Poland,United Kingdom,United Kingdom,Canada
Call: Smart optical and wireless network technologies (H2020-ICT-2014-1, 2014)
Start date: 2015-02-01
End date: 2018-04-30
Duration (months): 39.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3371155.0
EU funding (EUR): 2559405.0
Participants: 7
Project status: CLOSED

The overall objective of the ROAM project is to investigate and demonstrate the use of the orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes of light for communications and networking. Two are the primary objectives. The firs objective is to exploit the use of OAM modes in optical fibres as a disruptive means of increasing optical fibre transmission capacity for short-reach high data density applications. A transmission testbed utilising OAM multiplexing and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) dimensions will be demonstrated. The target will be a 10x or more capacity increase by employing 10 or more OAM multiplexed channels over a conventional WDM system. The combination of 10x OAM states with 16 wavelength channels will provide a total of 160 multiplexed channels. Full compatibility with legacy technologies will be demonstrated. Speciality fibres will be employed to support OAM modes transmission in the range up to 2 km. The second objective is to exploit the use of OAM domain as a switching resource in conjunctions with the wavelength domain to significantly improve the scalability and the power consumption of the switches in data-centres applications. A 10x improvement of the scalability of the data-centre switches will be targeted with the study and development of an OAM-based switch compatible with the WDM layer. A switch exploiting 10 OAM modes and 16 wavelengths as switching domains will be implemented. The developed two-layer switch will enable a more than 10x reduction of power consumption/Gb/s with respect to the current commercial switches. OAM switch configuration time of 100 ns will be demonstrated, with 8x improvement with respect to commercial switches. The project goals will be enabled by integrated high performance OAM components build on silicon photonics technology. ROAM consortium is composed by three universities, two research institutes, and two large companies, with the required knowledge and infrastructures to satisfy the project objectives.

Keywords: optical multiplexing,optical switching,high capacity optical transmission,optical interconnection networks,integrated silicon photonics
Earth Observation for Maritime Navigation (EONav)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Space
Action type: Innovation actions
Countries involved: Italy,Cyprus,Sweden,Norway,Denmark,Anguilla,United Kingdom
Call: Bringing EO applications to the market (H2020-EO-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2016-05-01
End date: 2019-04-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2606937.5
EU funding (EUR): 1999793.75
Participants: 9
Project status: CLOSED

EONav presents an entirely new concept of combining space-based remote sensing observations which are offered by Copernicus with local maritime ship observations to aid maritime sail planning for fuel, emission and fatigue optimization. High fuel costs, consequences of delays in ship passages, reduction of SO2/CO2/NOx and similar emissions and other constraints are now putting more pressure on the maritime industry. Thus utilizing sea state, sea ice and AIS observations from space-based remote sensing, and particularly from Copernicus, allow the sea masters and planners to integrate more accurate and reliable observations to optimize their sail plan and thereby greatly increase profitability. This project is going to bring Copernicus remote sensing observations into sail planning tools with the objective of very significantly improve sail plan accuracy and reliability.

Keywords: earth observation,copernicus,eo data,products,services,commercial use
Illuminating aptamers and ribozymes for biomolecular tagging and fluorogen activation (illumizymes)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator 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: Germany,Germany
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2015-CoG, 2015)
Start date: 2016-07-01
End date: 2022-06-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2061250.0
EU funding (EUR): 1977500.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

RNAs are linear biopolymers that consist of only four types of building blocks, but can fold into complex three-dimensional structures that are endowed with selective, high-affinity ligand-binding abilities known as aptamers, and catalytic activities known as ribozymes. Genome projects have brought the surprising insight that a large part of the human genome is transcribed into RNAs, but only a very small fraction is translated into proteins. The actual number of noncoding RNAs with specific functions is currently unknown, but many are considered as prominent regulators of cellular functions. Posttranscriptional modifications of RNA add an extra layer of complexity, but their regulatory roles in RNA metabolism are only poorly understood. Despite the relative simplicity in molecular composition, the available methodological repertoire for manipulation, interrogation and visualization of RNA is rather limited. This project aims to solve the challenge of RNA labeling in both fixed and living cells, using aptamers and ribozymes for RNA imaging and functional characterization. We introduce the term illumizymes for novel tools that attach bio-orthogonal tags and fluorophores to specific RNA sequences, in vitro and in vivo. Ribozymes and aptamers for small, stable, and specific labels will be identified by in vitro selection and systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) to activate the fluorescence of latent chromophores by restricting their conformational flexibility and/or formation of covalent bonds by new bio-orthogonal reactions. Using naturally inspired, cell-permeable and non-toxic ligands, we will specifically select for increased brightness and photostability, and evolve illumizymes into color-switching probes for RNA microscopy. The new genetically encodable RNA devices will find widespread applications in diverse disciplines to enlighten our understanding of cellular RNA functions in health and disease.

Keywords: bio orthogonal chemistry,nucleoside synthesis,solid phase synthesis,aptamer,ribozyme,in vitro selection,selex,fluorescence,rna labeling,sequencing,cloning,imaging,microscopy
Thresholds and tipping points in ecosystem responses to global warming (THRESHOLD)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Panel description: Ecology, biodiversity, environmental change, evolutionary biology, behavioural ecology, microbial ecology, marine biology, ecophysiology, theoretical developments and modelling
Countries involved: Sweden
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2019-COG, 2019)
Start date: 2021-01-01
End date: 2025-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2167635.0
EU funding (EUR): 2167635.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Terrestrial ecosystems are important in providing key services to humankind, but under global warming the provisioning of such ecosystem services is at risk. However, there is little consensus on how the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems will change under projected scenarios of global warming, or when we will reach or surpass thresholds and tipping points. This is largely because most studies have failed to unravel ecosystem responses to increasing temperatures in terms of the underlying non-linear responses of plants, soil organisms, and their communities. Since plants and their associated soil organisms (i.e., pathogens, mutualists, and decomposers) can vary in their responses to temperature change, global warming may disrupt or decouple interactions among coexisting and co-evolved species. This may have unforeseen consequences for key ecosystem functions, such as carbon and nutrient cycling. THRESHOLD will use a novel cross-disciplinary approach to advance our fundamental knowledge of how non-linear temperature responses transcend different levels of ecological organization. Specifically, this project aims to: 1) Establish a global network of forest-tundra and forest-alpine ecotone sites, to assess how responses of ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycling to global warming will be pushed across thresholds and tipping points. 2) Perform mesocosm experiments under different temperatures, to estimate how ecosystem process responses to global warming can be predicted from the reordering of plant and soil communities, as well as from the functional traits that they possess and express. 3) Reveal how community responses to warming and extreme temperatures can be predicted from the physiological responses of their component species. To achieve these aims, this work will utilize a powerful approach that harnesses an array of cutting-edge tools, and it will advance our conceptual understanding in an area of urgent importance for ecology and society.

Keywords: ecotone,extreme temperature,global network,global warming,non linearity,plant soil interactions,threshold,tipping point