Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
High-Quality voice model for STatistical parametric speech Synthesis (HQSTS)

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: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2014, 2014)
Start date: 2015-10-01
End date: 2017-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 183454.8
EU funding (EUR): 183454.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

A speech analysis/synthesis method aims at representing a speech waveform, produced by a person speaking, as a time sequence of parameters. Based on this time sequence, the speech waveform can be resynthesized. The analysis/synthesis methods are cornerstones for many speech technologies (e.g. text-to-speech, telecommunications, voice restoration). For the majority of applications, these methods need to have two key properties: (i) a high perceived quality of the speech sound, and, (ii) a statistical characterization of the parameters' sequence necessary for statistical approaches, which have attracted great interest during the last decades in speech technologies. The current analysis/synthesis methods that provide a statistical characterization exhibit however a lack of perceived quality. This issue does not pose a problem in applications designed for noisy environments (e.g. navigation devices, smart-phone applications, announcements in train stations). On the contrary, it prohibits the use of statistical approaches in quiet environments, e.g. in the music, cinema and video game industries, where the listener is fully aware of all the details of the sound. This problem is mainly due to the lack of an accurate representation of the phase information and its correlation with the amplitude information. Indeed, recent phase processing tools allowed the description of the phase spectrum properties in a way that shows the drawbacks and limits of current analysis/synthesis methods. Additionally, these same tools are also promising means for modeling the phase information, which is paramount for good quality. The primary goal of the HQSTS project is to create a high-quality analysis/synthesis method that will broaden the applications of statistical approaches of speech technologies in quiet environments, where a high-quality is an absolute necessity.

Keywords: statistical parametric speech synthesis,high quality audio,speech processing,voice and speech modeling,speech synthesis,quiet environment,statistical approach
BIOCASCADES- Sustainable and Scalable Biocatalytic Cascade Reactions Training Network (BIOCASCADES)

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: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Germany,Germany,Germany,Germany,Spain,Austria,Sweden,Sweden,Netherlands,Netherlands,Netherlands
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (ITN-EID) (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2014, 2014)
Start date: 2015-01-01
End date: 2018-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2787956.64
EU funding (EUR): 2787956.64
Participants: 14
Project status: CLOSED

In BIOCASCADES, nine early-stage researchers (ESRs) will investigate the development of sustainable (chemo)enzymatic cascade reactions under the ‘green chemistry’ philosophy. The proposed BIOCASCADES project combines different techniques such as compartmentalization, protein engineering and reaction engineering in order to develop commercially viable and environmentally benign one pot reactions. By avoiding intermediate downstream- and purification-steps, cascade reactions minimize production costs, energy demand and waste production and are thus expected to make a major contribution for the development of sustainable and efficient production processes. Small- and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are emerging as main drivers of European Research. They are dynamic, explore new areas and create new ideas, while large companies rely more and more on outsourcing research or involving SMEs by joint ventures. However, small companies are not strong enough as stand-alone enterprises, which requires them to form networks with other SMEs and academia. This creates a strong demand for young researchers who can move freely in an international and interdisciplinary environment. In a tailor-made training program BIOCASCADES aims to provide the nine early stage researchers with specific scientific and transferable skills for careers in the highly dynamic European biotechnology sector. Training at leading laboratories of biocatalysis will develop their scientific skills, while secondments to the industry and specific workshops will develop their entrepreneurship. The graduates of this doctorate program will be highly qualified for collaborative research between European academia and industry. The consortium is formed by leading academic laboratories from biocatalysis and protein engineering together with a network of four innovative biotech companies. By combining their versatile expertise, the consortium can achieve a success that would not be possible in isolated projects.

Keywords: chemo enzymatic cascade reactions,chiral amines,aminoalcohols,transaminases,oxygenases,halohydrin dehalogenases,decarboxylases,dehydrogenases,pd catalysis,compartmentalization
Cyber-Security Visualization and CAD-Tool for the Vulnerability Assessment of Critical Infrastructures (CyberWiz)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Secure societies - protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Germany,Sweden
Call: Critical infrastructure protection topic 7: SME instrument topic: “Protection of Urban soft targets and urban critical infrastructures” (H2020-SMEINST-2-2014, 2014)
Start date: 2015-09-01
End date: 2017-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2279375.0
EU funding (EUR): 1595562.5
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

The ICT environments of critical infrastructures (such as energy distribution systems) are composed of a large number of systems connected to form a complex system of systems. Recent initiatives to upgrade power systems into smart grids target an even tighter integration with information technologies to enable the integration of renewable energy sources, local and bulk generation and demand response. To fully estimate the security of an enterprise’s system architecture, a large number of issues must be considered. Enterprise systems security managers must be able to assess how vulnerabilities in one system influence vulnerabilities in other systems. In addition, security managers must be able to assess how individual vulnerabilities influence the security of the entire system of systems, given the protection solutions that are used in different locations in the architecture. The project will deliver and validate a tool that helps to 1) better understand current cyber security levels across complex enterprise-wide architectures, including relationships and interdependencies between systems, 2) prioritize areas to address and cyber security investments to pursue and 3) proactively manage cyber security e.g. when building or modifying architectures. The solution is based on a cybersecurity metamodel that 1) describes the qualitative structure (which assets, attacks and defences that should be included, and how these should be associated and 2) populates this qualitative structure with quantitative data (how likely different attacks are to succeed given the system parameter values and the presence or absence of different defences, using Bayesian networks). The tool generates a vulnerability “heat map” for each system configuration, allowing a user-friendly and visual comparison of the different alternatives. The project will validate the tool in 2 pilots with energy utilities in Sweden and Germany. The project duration is 24 months and the requested EC funding €1.6M.

Keywords: vulnerability assessment,cybersecurity,iacs,scada
Applying risk communication strategies to reduce speeding-related risks (Speedingrisk)

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: Social Sciences and Humanities
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2017-09-01
End date: 2019-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 183454.8
EU funding (EUR): 183454.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In the EU, road accidents are in the top three causes of deaths and hospitalizations . WHO finds it crucial to discourage speeding, because it is a main cause of road accidents. The Fellow’s research in the psychology of human factors engineering shows that people underestimate the risks of accidents from speeding and overestimate how much time is saved through speeding. Public campaigns have typically not yet sought to correct these misunderstandings but rather have focused on emotional fear-appeals to reduce speeding. The Supervisor’s work on risk communication provides a systematic method for correcting such decision-relevant beliefs, which has been successfully applied to a variety of contexts, but not to the design of dashboard tools. We take the novel approach of combining the Fellow’s and Supervisor’s fields to design dashboard tools and public campaigns that discourage intentions to speed by correcting drivers’ misunderstandings of the risks and benefits of speeding. This project will benefit from Fellow's experience in leading projects on informing driver perceptions with dashboard tools, and her ongoing partnerships with the car industry and governmental agencies. The project will lead to knowledge transfer between the Fellow’s Swedish Transportation Institute, partners at Volvo Cars and government agencies as well as the Supervisor’s Centre for Decision Research and the associated Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds (UK). The project will boost the Fellow’s academic career progression, as she aims to become a world-leading expert in evidence-based interventions that improve driver safety and save drivers’ lives.

Keywords: risk communication,speeding risk,drivers safety
Hybrid Particle-Field Approach Including Electrostatics for Large-Scale Simulations of Biological Systems (HYPERBIO)

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: Norway
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2016-09-01
End date: 2018-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 196400.4
EU funding (EUR): 196400.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Despite the continuous progress in computer simulations, the typical time and size bottlenecks are nowadays still heavily affecting the feasibility of large-scale simulations of complex biological systems at the molecular resolution accuracy. The current proposal aims at formulating a new hybrid particle-field approach including explicit treatment of electrostatic interactions for computational modelling of complex biological environments. The proposed method will combine the computational advantages of a self-consistent field approach (linear scaling cost for computation of intermolecular interactions, easy parallelization), becoming increasingly popular in polymer and soft-matter simulations, with a rigorous treatment of particles and explicit electrostatics. The proposed approach will allow fast and reliable simulations of polyelectrolyte mixtures, including biological charged membranes, multi-phase systems, and biological polymers (polysaccharides, proteins, nucleic acids etc), and it will make it possible to break by orders of magnitude the current limits for biomolecular simulations both in time and size. The project will have a main development part, where the self-consistent field formalism with electrostatics will be derived and implemented, and an applicative part, where the new methodology will be tested on lipopolysaccharide moieties. These large amphiphilic and chemically complex molecules constitute the outer membrane of Gram- bacteria, and are to date one of the major research targets to in antibiotic resistance studies. This project is multidisciplinary and involves international collaboration. This project would have a great positive impact on the applicant’s early stage researcher career, identifying her as one of the key players in the opening a new pathway into molecular simulations of biological systems.

Keywords: multiscale modelling,coarse grained,mesoscale systems,biomolecular simulations,self consistent field theory
Qur’an and Qital. The violence against the Other in a historical critical deradicalizing perspective. (DerRadIslam)

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: Social Sciences and Humanities
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

The main target is to provide a de-radicalized exegesis of violence against the Other in the Qur’an: from the first verse pronounced in chronological order to the last, without altering the historical reality and thus the cruelty of the Prophet Muhammad’s age, but deconstructing the sources of contemporary neo-Salafist fundamentalism. Violence in its religious premise as well as its adoption in Islam, has become a normal praxis both in reference to a sharp increase in internal conflict: not only between Sunni and Shi’a, but among Muslims who support different radical points of view in relation to other religions: Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhist and atheism. This topic could be considered very popular; however, the exegetical studies that focus on each individual verse on the relationship between the Islamic revelation and the violence against non-Muslims, are limited and usually not linked to a historical-critical and metaphorical approach. This work raises the triple target of understanding, first of all, where and when every single verse of “violence” was pronounced, the historical exegetical interpretation in relation to a literary and metaphorical understanding and finally the trivialized deconstruction adopted by Islamic fundamentalism today.

Keywords: islamic studies,quranic studies,violence,non muslims,deradicalization
Deciphering and engineering centriole assembly (CENGIN)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Cellular, Developmental and Regenerative Biology
Panel description: Structure and function of the cell, cell-cell communication, embryogenesis, tissue differentiation, organogenesis, growth, development, evolution of development, organoids, stem cells, regeneration, therapeutic approaches
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2018-ADG, 2018)
Start date: 2019-09-01
End date: 2024-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Deciphering and engineering the assembly of cellular organelles is a key pursuit in biology. The centriole is an evolutionarily conserved organelle well suited for this goal, and which is crucial for cell signaling, motility and division. The centriole exhibits a striking 9-fold radial symmetry of microtubules around a likewise symmetrical cartwheel containing stacked ring-bearing structures. Components essential for generating this remarkable architecture from alga to man have been identified. A next critical step is to engineer assays to probe the dynamics of centriole assembly with molecular precision to fully understand how these components together build a functional organelle. Our ambitious research proposal aims at taking groundbreaking steps in this direction through four specific aims: 1) Reconstituting cartwheel ring assembly dynamics. We will use high-speed AFM (HS-AFM) to dissect the biophysics of SAS-6 ring polymer dynamics at the root of cartwheel assembly. We will also use HS-AFM to analyze monobodies against SAS-6, as well as engineer surfaces and DNA origamis to further dissect ring assembly. 2) Deciphering ring stacking mechanisms. We will use cryo-ET to identify SAS-6 features that direct stacking of ring structures and set cartwheel height. Moreover, we will develop an HS-AFM stacking assay and a reconstituted stacking assay from human cells. 3) Understanding peripheral element contributions to centriole biogenesis. We will dissect the function of the peripheral centriole pinhead protein Cep135/Bld10p, as well as identify and likewise dissect peripheral A-C linker proteins. Furthermore, we will further engineer the HS-AFM assay to include such peripheral components. 4) Dissecting de novo centriole assembly mechanisms. We will dissect de novo centriole formation in human cells and water fern. We will also explore whether de novo formation involves a phase separation mechanism and repurpose the HS-AFM assay to probe de novo organelle biogenes

Keywords: centriole biology,self assembly,cell free assay
Managing forage fisheries and marine predators to maximise conservation gains (MANMAX)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Global Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: South Africa,United Kingdom
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2018, 2018)
Start date: 2020-09-01
End date: 2023-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 233163.84
EU funding (EUR): 233163.84
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Global fisheries catch ~100 million tonnes annually and this is set to increase. This harvest is driving extinctions and altering marine ecosystems. Fisheries targeting forage fish (small, schooling fish) have the capacity to alter prey availability for marine predators, but whether this is the case or not is hotly debated. Progress in understanding this issue has been hampered by a lack of experiments and studies across marine predator age--classes. Without these elements we cannot understand fully the ecological impacts of forage fisheries, so cannot sustainably manage these vital stocks. By collecting fisheries, fish, and seabird data across key age- classes, and combining and combining novel experimental manipulations (time-area fisheries closures and dispersal experiments) with state--of--the--art statistical modelling, this project will establish the true impact of forage fish extraction on predator populations. Crucially, fisheries effects will be expressed as biologically--meaningful impacts on the components of demography, allowing for intuitive comparisons of the relative merit of MPAs vs stock--based catch limits designed to conserve threatened marine predators. The results will be fed directly into policy in South Africa, will inform the sustainable management of the fisheries that catch one third of all global landings and have important implications for efforts to support healthy marine ecosystems, a central tenet of the Common Fisheries Policy. The current skill set of the experienced researcher, along with newly acquired skills gained under world-class supervisors at the host organisations, will make this timely research possible. The project will facilitate new collaborations, cement a long-term relationship between the host institutions and allow the experienced researcher to meet his career goal of undertaking research that contributes to EU and global policy on sustainable fisheries.

Keywords: benguela ecosystem,fishing closures,forage fish,marine protected areas,seabird fisheries interactions,fisheries management,predator prey interactions,juvenile dispersal,marine conservation
Oblow, an effective solution in the reduction of stress (Oblow)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Open Disruptive Innovation Scheme (H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017, 2016)
Start date: 2017-02-01
End date: 2017-07-31
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

European Working Conditions Survey highlighted that 22% of European workers reported suffering from stress, lower back pain, muscular pain and fatigue. About a quarter of those employed in Europe are exposed to job strain. In fact, the annual economic cost of work-related stress in the European Union was estimated at around €20 billion. Breathing techniques are the easiest and most affordable way of relaxing when we are nervous, when we feel anxious or cannot sleep. We have developed a complete and low-cost solution called Oblow to prevent and reduce stress. With Oblow, stress is not only combated, but relaxation and concentration is also developed through breathing, which results in improvements to well-being and mental and physical performance. Over the last three years, the Oblow solution has been developed by a team made up of psychologist, engineers, programmers, industrial designers and customer experience consultants. Oblow encourages relaxing experiences and positive feelings through the use of a device that uses concentration and breathing exercises, and an application that motivates users and monitors their training. Currently, Oblow Project is at TRL 7 – a system prototype demonstration in operational environment. The Oblow device has been successfully tested by more than 200 people. Some of these people already use Oblow regularly to avoid stress. We have developed Oblow from a deep benchmarking of other solutions to reduce stress and Oblow is the only device that accurately measures whether or not the user is breathing correctly to achieve relaxation. Our Unique selling proposition (USP) is: Oblow provides users with a sense of relaxation and focus by guiding their breathing techniques. Our aim is to test Oblow commercial scaling on a European level. Phase 1 of SME Instrument represents an opportunity to get a thorough business plan to minimize risks.

Keywords: stress device breath concentration sport app training osh occupational safety wearable