Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Small, but many: scalability to volume production in fiber-top technology (FTBATCH)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Proof of concept grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call:  (ERC-2011-PoC, 2011)
Start date: 2012-04-01
End date: 2013-07-31
Duration (months): 16.0
Total project cost (EUR): 164279.49
EU funding (EUR): 149190.91
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Fiber-top devices (Iannuzzi et al., patents filed) are a new generation of small sensors for research, medical, and industrial applications, obtained by fabricating a minuscule diving board on the tip of an optical fiber. Light coupled from the opposite end of the fiber allows one to remotely detect any tiny bending of the board, and, thus, of the event that has caused that bending. Miniaturization, remote sensing capability, resistance to harsh working conditions, ease-of-use, and the possibility to achieve ultimate sensitivity are only some of the advantages with which this award winning invention outperform the competing technologies. Unfortunately, there is one main limitation that prevents us to make the leap to market: the manufacturing process is way too expensive and complicated to be integrated in a series production line. To solve this problem, during my ERC StG project I have introduced a new technique that, mimicking the top-down approach that is conventionally used in silicon microtechnology, allows fabrication of fiber-top sensors via a series of steps that adapt well to batch production (Iannuzzi et al., patent filed). The goal of this ERC PoC project is to demonstrate that this fabrication technique can be now scaled up to achieve volume production at competitive costs. The project is divided into a technical part (demonstration of scalability) and a market-related part (market, cost, and price analysis). At the end of this project, we will be able to present a cost effective production method accompanied with a rigorous analysis of the marketability of the solution developed. Our close collaboration with Optics11 (a spin-off company that we launched during my ERC StG) will then guarantee a smooth transition of the results to market.

Keywords: 201739
Food Futures: Providing Independent Research and Advice to Food Businesses and NGOs (FOODFUTURES)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Proof of concept grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2011-PoC, 2011)
Start date: 2013-01-01
End date: 2014-04-30
Duration (months): 16.0
Total project cost (EUR): 162258.6
EU funding (EUR): 148652.41
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This proposal seeks to develop and advance the potential commercial application of the knowledge acquired during the course of an ERC Advanced Investigator Grant on Consumer culture in an ‘age of anxiety’ (CONANX). The CONANX project (2009-12) examines the extent to which consumer anxieties shape the contemporary food system at all points along the supply chain (from ‘farm to fork’) and at a variety of geographical scales (from the global scale of agri-food markets and questions of international food security to the household scale of consumer practices and domestic food hygiene). The proposal seeks to demonstrate the commercial significance of our theoretical understanding of social anxieties about food, drawing on a range of empirical work in the UK, Sweden, Thailand, Brazil and China concerning issues of food safety, quality and provenance, innovations in product reformulation and food labelling, and questions of marketing, mediation and consumer practice. Building on our current contacts with industry, government and NGOs, we propose to test the market for our ideas, offering our services as consultants, providing independent research and advice to a variety of clients in the food industry (including manufacturers, retailers and food service organisations) as well as to voluntary groups, NGOs and food campaigners, using an innovative workshop model, closely tailored to the specific needs of our prospective clients.

Keywords: 230287
Up-scaling Production of 2-Dimensional Materials (UP2DM)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Proof of concept grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Countries involved: Ireland
Call:  (ERC-2011-PoC, 2011)
Start date: 2012-04-01
End date: 2013-07-31
Duration (months): 16.0
Total project cost (EUR): 167955.6
EU funding (EUR): 149760.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Layered materials represent a diverse and largely untapped source of 2-dimensional (2D) systems with exotic electronic properties and high specific surface areas that are important for sensing, catalysis and energy storage applications. While graphene is the most well-known layered material, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), transition metal oxides (TMOs) and other 2D compounds are also important. The latter materials are of particular interest as topological insulators and thermoelectric materials. Current production methods for these materials make them uneconomical for most commercial applications. The project will develop and explore commercialisation of a unique method developed by the PI for producing single atomic layer materials. It will also evaluate the potential opportunity to commercialise the materials and or devices made using these materials. The project is linked to an ERC Starting Grant awarded to Prof Jonathan N Coleman in TCD called Semiconducting and Metallic nanosheets: Two dimensional electronic and mechanical materials (SEMANTICS). The proposal will seek to up-scale the process which has been developed within SEMANTICS (and which has already generated one patent application), and engage the commercialisation professionals in CRANN and the Technology Transfer resources in TCD to bring this technology out to the market place.

Keywords: 258616
microRNA-155 expression control and function in innate immune inflammatory response (MIR155)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG, 2011)
Start date: 2012-03-01
End date: 2016-02-29
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs which play critical roles in key biological processes, including immune response. miRNAs derive from transcripts (pri-miRNAs) which are processed by Drosha into intermediate hairpin precursors (pre-miRNAs). Pre-miRNAs are then processed by Dicer into mature forms of about 22 nucleotides. Mature miRNAs are loaded in the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) to mediate degradation and/or translation inhibition of specific target mRNAs. Many reports documented discrepancies in the levels of precursors and mature miRNAs indicating a wide potential for post-transcriptional control of miRNA expression. We recently discovered that the terminal loop structure of miRNA precursors plays a pivotal role as dock for co-activators of miRNA processing (e.g. KSRP) or co-repressors (e.g. Lin28), acting in a coordinated way to control miRNA biogenesis. Among the miRNAs post-transcriptionally regulated by KSRP we identified miR-155. miR-155 regulates both adaptive and innate immune responses. In macrophages, miR-155 maturation is induced upon lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulus. I hypothesize that a repressor complex is bound to pri-miR-155 in untreated macrophages to block the recruitment of KSRP and thus the maturation. LPS stimulus induces the dismissal of the repressor and the recruitment of the activator complex to pri-miR-155. Aims of my future work will be to identify in macrophages: i) the components of the regulatory complex(es) for miR-155 biogenesis; ii) the dynamics and the post-translational modifications that modulate the exchange between regulatory complexes; iii) novel miR-155 direct target mRNAs. This study will delineate the regulatory network that controls miR-155 maturation and function in macrophages allowing the design and the validation of tools capable of modulating it and, as a consequence, the magnitude of the innate immune inflammatory response.

Keywords: molecular biology,immunology
Targeting common mechanisms of pathogenesis in diseases of sterol homeostasis associated with lysosome dysfunction; development of novel and rapidly translatable clinical therapies (STEROLOSOME)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-06-01
End date: 2014-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200371.8
EU funding (EUR): 200371.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

We have recently discovered a link at the cellular level between two rare pediatric diseases, Niemann-Pick C (NPC) and Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome (SLOS). NPC is a disease where cholesterol and other lipids accumulate within the lysosome. SLOS is a multimalformation disease attributed to an inborn error of cholesterol synthesis, characterised by severe birth defects and neurological decline. Our data suggests that accumulation of a sterol precursor in patient-derived SLOS cells functionally inhibits the NPC1 protein, leading to an NPC disease-like phenotype that negates the therapeutic effect of elevated dietary cholesterol in SLOS. This discovery has important implications both conceptually and clinically. Based on these exciting observations, the fellow aims to: 1. Comprehensively characterise the similarities between NPC and SLOS at the cellular and whole organism level. 2. Determine the mechanism by which sterol accumulation inhibits NPC1 function and elucidate their role in regulating NPC1 activity. 3. Develop rapidly translatable therapies for SLOS based on currently available NPC therapies. 4. Discover clinical markers for SLOS for an upcoming clinical trial of miglustat. A multidisciplinary and cross-collaborative research approach will be employed to investigate this unexplored link. The host laboratory is a world-leader in rare disease research, within a high-level research institute. Utilising her adaptability and expertise, combined with that of the host and their collaborators (academic and industrial), the fellow would make a substantial impact in this area of unmet clinical need. Collectively, rare diseases affect ~26 million people in the EU. This project meets an important and current FP7 Health thematic priority namely “Translating research for human health”. This fellowship will represent a significant landmark for the fellow’s transition from basic to translational research and her establishment as an independent scientist in an emerging field.

Keywords: rare diseases,cell biology,health sciences,cellular metabolism,lysosomal function,sterol homeostasis,sphingolipid storage,metabolic regulation,signal transduction
Stacks and Categorification (STACKSCATS)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2015-10-01
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 270145.8
EU funding (EUR): 270145.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This proposal will support the applicant as a research fellow at the Mathematical Institute, Oxford University, for two years. The proposal has two objectives. Objective 1 is a joint project with the proposed host scientist, Professor Dominic Joyce. It studies the moduli stacks of coherent sheaves on a Calabi-Yau (C-Y) 3-fold. C-Y 3-folds are a major focus of research in Geometry and String Theory in Mathematical Physics. Donaldson-Thomas (D-T) invariants "count" coherent sheaves on C-Y 3-folds, and are interpreted in physics as numbers of "B-branes" or "BPS states". The host scientist Professor Joyce is well-known for his work on D-T theory. Objective 1 studies foundational properties of moduli stacks of coherent sheaves on C-Y 3-folds, which must be understood to extend D-T theory in several directions: "categorified" D-T invariants, extensions to fields other than the complex numbers, and D-T theory for the derived category. We will explore when moduli schemes (and atlases for moduli stacks) can be written as critical loci of holomorphic functions, find an algebraic substitute for this which works over other fields, and apply to Behrend functions and properties of D-T invariants. Objective 2 is a joint project with Oxford faculty member Dr Kobi Kremnizer. It aims to categorify the Verlinde algebra in a novel way using categories of twisted equivariant coherent sheaves on algebraic groups, and to use these to construct a new family of 0-1-2-3 Topological Quantum Field Theories.

Keywords: algebra,algebraic geometry,algebraic topology,representation theory,gerbes,stacks,categorification,enumerative invariants,donaldson-thomas invariants,calabi-yau 3-folds
Skill Assistance with Robot for Manual Welding (SKILLASSIST)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-09-15
End date: 2014-09-14
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 248451.4
EU funding (EUR): 248451.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The goal of this project is to develop the formalized knowledge of skill in terms of impendance parameters of performers and to use this knowledge for developing training and assistance systems with an interactive robot. This project will measure and make a comparative analysis of impedance parameters of skilled and unskilled manual welders. Pattern analysis will be performed on the impedance profiles to identify the constitutive patterns of skilled and unskilled impedance profiles. The patterns in both groups will be compared. The comparative analysis is important to understand what is to be reinforced and what is to be suppressed for a good performance. The knowledge of impedance characteristics of skilled and unskilled welders will be used to develop training and assistance systems with an interactive robot. The training system will detect the unskilled type movements in real-time and provide notice-feedback to the welder at the instant of the movement. This will let the welder be immediately aware of the causes of the errors. The training system will also provide off-line verbal instructions based on the performance of the welder. These instructions will be in the form such as “you go too fast”, “you hold it too loose”, and “you vibrate too much”. The assistance system will detect the arm impedance parameters of the performer in real-time. The system will have the knowledge of the impedance patterns of skilled performers. The assistive robot will compensate the impedance of the unskilled performer in the direction of that of an average skilled performer. The system will also estimate the dynamic skill-level. The level of impedance compensation will be adaptive, inversely proportion to the skill level.

Keywords: technological sciences,engineering,control engineering,robotics,assitive robotics,physical humanrobot interaction,impedance control,skill,training,welding.
Analysis of Aerosol Transport Patterns from Northern Europe into the Arctic - a Campaign-based Match Study using Raman Lidar Data from Multiple Stations (ANNA)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Finland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2017-03-06
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 210611.4
EU funding (EUR): 210611.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The main objective of the project ANNA is to analyze aerosol transport patterns from northern Europe into the Arctic in order to find correlations between anthropogenic aerosol sources in central and northern Europe and spring time aerosol occurrences in the European Arctic, called Arctic haze. This correlation has been suggested in the literature for several decades but recently been questioned based on extensive trajectory analysis. This project will strengthen the knowledge on Arctic haze formation by delivering optical remote sensing data of aerosols in the so far sparsely surveyed northern European atmosphere. Concentrating on two campaign periods in spring 2013 and 2014, a comprehensive Raman lidar data set based on data from five measurement sites will be achieved and evaluated regarding aerosol occurrences and characteristics in order to either support or reject the Arctic haze origin hypothesis. The project will be conducted by Anne Hoffmann at the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) in Kuopio in cooperation with three other institutions originating in Norway, Germany and Poland, which all operate Raman lidar measurement sites in northern Europe or on Svalbard. Match cases, in which the same air mass has been probed above two lidar stations, will be identified using trajectory analysis and the temporal development of the aerosol particle characteristics on their way into the Arctic will be investigated. The resulting data set will be made available to the scientific community and will be used to validate the aerosol module SALSA, which has been developed at FMI and is used in global climate models. ANNA is scheduled as a two year joined intra-European project, which will close the gap of remote sensing aerosol data between central Europe and the Arctic and improve the state of knowledge on anthropogenic sources of Arctic haze.

Keywords: atmospheric physics,aerosols,lidar,remote sensing,arctic,transport
The role of somatic mutation in the lifespan difference of queen and worker ants (ANTAGING)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-04-01
End date: 2014-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 184709.4
EU funding (EUR): 184709.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The social insects provide a unique system for the study of aging and senescence. The striking differences in longevity that exist between queens and workers can be used to examine how different life histories can lead to very different aging patterns despite shared genetic heritage. In the ant Lasius niger, for example, workers live up to two years while queens have been known to live as long as 29 years. For this reason, insect societies have been used to test models such as the free radical theory of aging. This model predicts that longer lifespan can be achieved by investing more resources into the removal from the organism of damaging oxidising agents such as Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). These agents are predicted to damage not only lipids and proteins, but also DNA by generating mutations. The accumulation of such mutations in the soma (non germ-line tissues) over time are assumed to play a part in the degeneration associated with senescence. Intrigingly, studies on social insect systems have consistently found results opposite to expectations: shorter-lived workers show greater expression of ROS removal genes than longer-lived queens. It is necessary now to take a step back and ask whether the different levels of damage of the type predicted by the free radical theory, such as DNA mutations, do indeed exist. Furthermore, enquiries are needed into whether the counter-intuitive pattern shown by ROS-removal genes are consistent across other maintenance processes such as DNA repair. Using quantitative PCR and single-molecule PCR, and using L. niger as a study species, I aim to find out: a. Whether queens and workers show an increase in somatic DNA mutations with age. b. Whether this increase occurs more rapidly in workers than queens. c. Whether queens invest more than workers in expression of DNA repair genes. This study will further our understanding of the causes of senescence and of the evolution of life history strategies that can prolong lifespan.

Keywords: aging,gene expression,social insects,ants,mutation,disposable soma,lifespan
Combining holographic optogenetics and STED microscopy for studying synaptic plasticity in Alzheimer ’s disease (HOLOSTED)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-03-01
End date: 2014-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 193594.8
EU funding (EUR): 193594.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

New perspectives are opening in neuroscience: the era of electricity is transitioning into the era of light. Super-resolution microscopy was elected “Method of the year 2008” and optogenetics “Method of the year 2010” by the Journal Nature Methods. HOLOSTED is a biophysics project using these modern optical methods to study the effects of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) on synaptic plasticity. It has two general objectives: First, improving optical methods, including STED (STimulated Emission Depletion) microscopy and wavefront shaping. For the first time, digital holography will be combined with STED microscopy. This will enable precise control of synaptic signaling and the simultaneous analysis of the neuronal response with high spatial and temporal resolution. Second, progressing the understanding of AD by examining - on the level of single dendritic spines - the role of Amyloid beta, a central protein in AD, in compromising synaptic plasticity. The potential of certain drugs to rescue plasticity will be tested. HOLOSTED provides training through research: The host, a leading lab in wavefront engineering for neuronal stimulation, will teach the fellow digital holography for optical stimulation of neurons by optogenetics or neurotransmitter uncaging. The fellow will not only be trained in physical methods, but also in biological application. Besides optics, he will learn neurophysiology and -pathology. Together with his background in super-resolution imaging this training will enable him to create a profile in Functional Super-Resolution Imaging for becoming an independent group leader. HOLOSTED creates genuine mobility and thereby enables the fellow to transfer expertise of super-resolution microscopy to France and, upon his return, competence about targeted stimulation and optogenetics to Germany. Favored by contacts from previous stays in different countries (Greece, USA, Germany) the fellow will tighten scientific and personal relationships between peoples.

Keywords: physiological biophysics,nanobiotechnology,experimental physics,microscopy,neurosciences,neurophysiology,degenerative diseases