Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Understanding Nitrous Oxide Production from The Mainstream Partial Nitritation and Anammox Process (N2OPNA)

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: Belgium
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2016-11-01
End date: 2018-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 160800.0
EU funding (EUR): 160800.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Sustainable nitrogen removal from wastewater is of increasing significance in the future, aiming to achieve savings of energy consumption and operational cost as well as minimized emission of greenhouse gases. Under such a context, the proposal of N2OPNA is developed to give first insights into nitrous oxide (N2O) production, a potent greenhouse gas, from the mainstream partial nitritation and Anammox (PNA) process. The influencing factors such as sludge particle size, dissolved oxygen, nitrite, hydroxylamine and inorganic carbon will be investigated using enriched granular ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and Anammox bacteria. Isotopic technique will be applied to shed some light on the transformation of N2O production pathways under varying operational conditions. Based on the process and isotopic data obtained from experiments, an integrated mathematical model for predicting N2O production in PNA system with the consideration of electron transfer, energy balance and bacterial growth will be established. The findings in this proposal would be beneficial for the design and operation of full-scale wastewater treatment plant with the aim of N2O mitigation.

Keywords: nitrous oxide,partial nitritation,anammox,mainstream wastewater,isotopic technique,mathematical modeling
Unobtrusive, Continuous and Quantitative Assessment of Parkinson’s disease: Hard Evidence for Optimal Disease Management with Information Technologies (PARK-IT 2.0)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Health, demographic change and wellbeing
Theme: Active ageing and self-management of health
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Accelerating market introduction of ICT solutions for Health, Well-Being and Ageing Well (H2020-SMEINST-2-2016-2017, 2016)
Start date: 2017-02-01
End date: 2019-07-31
Duration (months): 30.0
Total project cost (EUR): 998510.83
EU funding (EUR): 698957.35
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

S4C is high-tech spin-off of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) focused on improving the quality of life of people with chronic diseases. After seven years of R&D efforts, and a European project we achieved to develop and validate our PARK-IT technology for continuous monitoring of Parkinson motor symptoms in ambulatory conditions in a real environment (based on a unique complex algorithms able to detect ON/OFF fluctuation). Recently, thanks to a funded Phase 1, we performed the feasibility study where we successfully proof its effectiveness, and also we validated the soundness of the technological result. PARK-IT is a small device that, worn on the patient’s waist, is able to monitor activity of patients in ambulatory conditions, and provides quantitative insights to inform patients and their health professional about their PD status and evolution. PARK-IT that reduces by 30% the costs related to PD, and improves the effectiveness of the medication and the quality of life of PD. This Phase 2 project aims to perform the necessary activities for launching PARK-IT 2.0 into the market in 24 months: redesign the sensor and the app according to stakeholder’s feedback, prepare its industrialization readiness, obtain the certification as a medical device (Class IIa), conduct a pilot demonstration and, finally, prepare its commercialization. This will allow to introduce in a market of €18,Bn and 6.3M patients worldwide. PARK-IT 2.0 is assessed in the promising results of our technology, and in a realistic business plan (based on selling devices at a retail price of € 590), which proves that we would be able to generate return on investment on €5.47 per invested euro, revenues of € 35.3M, sells of 60k units, and 12 staff members fully dedicated to this project 5 years after its market launch.

Keywords: parkinson,disease management,unobtrusive,quantitative assessment,medical device,ambulatory conditions,off periods,monitoring,neurologist,cost of care,innovation,advanced algorithms
Deciphering deep architectures underlying structured perception in auditory networks (DEEPEN)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Panel description: Nervous system development, homeostasis and ageing, nervous system function and dysfunction, systems neuroscience and modelling, biological basis of cognitive processes and of behaviour, neurological and mental disorders
Countries involved: France
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2017-COG, 2017)
Start date: 2018-09-01
End date: 2024-02-29
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1983886.0
EU funding (EUR): 1983886.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The principles of sensory perception are still a large experimental and theoretical puzzle. A strong difficulty is that perception emerges from networks of recurrently connected brain areas whose activity and function are poorly approximated by current generic mathematical models. These models also fail to explain many of the fundamental structures effortlessly identified by the brain (shapes, objects, auditory or tactile categories). I here propose to establish a new approach combining high-throughput population recoding methods with a tailored theoretical framework to derive computational principles operating throughout sensory systems and leading to biologically structured perception. This approach follows on the recent mathematical proposal, suggested by Deep Machine Learning methods, that complex perceptual objects emerge through series of simple nonlinear operations combining increasingly complex sensory features along the sensory pathways. Starting with the mouse auditory system as a model pathway, we will recursively extract, with model-free methods, the main nonlinear sensory features encoded in genetically tagged output and local neurons at different processing stages, using optical and electrophysiological high density recording techniques in awake animals. The role of these features in perception will be identified with behavioural assays. Specific intra- and interareal feedback connections, typically not included in Deep Leaning models, will be opto- and chemogenetically perturbed to assess their contribution to precise nonlinearities of the system and their role in the emergence of complex perceptual structures. Based on these structural, functional and perturbation data, a new generation of well-constrained and predictive sensory processing models will be built, serving as a platform to extract general computational principles missing to link neural activity to perception and to fuel artificial neural networks technologies.

Keywords: two photon calcium imaging,auditory system,deep learning
New geochemical approach to reconstruct tropical palaeo-atmospheric dynamics (PALADYN)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Earth system science
Panel description: Physical geography, geology, geophysics, atmospheric sciences, oceanography, climatology, cryology, ecology, global environmental change, biogeochemical cycles, natural resources management
Countries involved: Spain
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2018-ADG, 2018)
Start date: 2019-12-01
End date: 2022-12-31
Duration (months): 37.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1475489.22
EU funding (EUR): 1475489.22
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Tropical climates are changing rapidly in the most populated regions of the planet. The changes largely arise from alterations in the Hadley circulation driven by natural and anthropogenic factors, whose relative roles and temporal variability are unclear. These knowledge gaps are in part due to the shortage of methods to study the atmospheric circulation before the advent of instrumental and satellites observations, and compounded by the contradictions between models and palaeo-data. The aim of the project is to develop an innovative palaeo-proxy approach to investigate the natural range of variability of the Hadley circulation during past episodes of extreme warmth and cold. The approach relies on the exploitation as climate proxy of an untapped but widespread material in marine sediments: windborne pyrogenic carbon (PyC) derived from savannah and grassland fires in the tropics. Through the geochemical and isotopic spatial characterization of PyC, along with the analysis of mineral dust in the modern tropical deep ocean, and a PyC biogeochemical model, we will build an interpretative framework of PyC deposition in deep-sea sediments. Its application in Pliocene-Pleistocene sequences from the Atlantic and the Pacific will allow the reconstruction of past meridional and zonal shifts in the Intertropical Convergence Zone and the Southern hemisphere westerlies, and provide new constraints on the natural variability of the Hadley circulation and associated hydroclimates. PALADYN is possible thanks to the combination of cutting-edge geochemical and satellite data, and GIS methodologies, with in-depth interdisciplinary expertise on the palaeoclimatic study of marine sediments. We will provide new important datasets of windborne deep-sea PyC for testing and refining prediction models of atmospheric circulation, carbon cycle, precipitation and wildfires, issues which are of paramount global importance from scientific as well as societal standpoints.

Keywords: hadley circulation,atmospheric circulation,hydroclimate,climate proxy,pyrogenic carbon,biomarker,stable isotopes,biomass burning aerosols,bpca,pleistocene,pliocene,wildfire,itcz,southern hemisphere westerlies,high pressure ridge,easterlies,palaeoceanography
Molecular Biology of Sulfide-Oxidizing Nitrate-Reducing Microorganisms Involved in Microbiologically-Influenced Corrosion (MOLMIC)

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: United Kingdom
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2014, 2014)
Start date: 2016-01-06
End date: 2018-01-05
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 183454.8
EU funding (EUR): 183454.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Dr. Sven Lahme proposes to work with Prof. Ian Head at Newcastle University, UK, to study the Molecular Biology of Sulfide-Oxidizing Nitrate-Reducing Microorganisms Involved in Microbiologically-Influenced Corrosion (MOLMIC). Corrosion is a multi-billion Euro problem for the oil and gas industry. Microbiologically-influenced corrosion (MIC) in this sector is usually linked to souring of oil fields due to production of toxic and corrosive H2S by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). Injection of nitrate into sour oil fields is a bioengineering strategy, which removes H2S by promoting sulfide-oxidizing nitrate-reducing bacteria (soNRB). However, recent reports involved soNRB in MIC due to incomplete oxidation of H2S to corrosive sulfur intermediates. The end products of soNRB metabolism vary depending on the ratio of sulfide to nitrate. This suggests that a predictive understanding of soNRB metabolism and appropriately adjusting the nitrate dosage can prevent the risk for soNRB-mediated MIC. MOLMIC will investigate the ecophysiological role of soNRB in oil field corrosion by using isolated cultures, specific enrichments and complex communities. It aims to i) understand the sulfur metabolism of oil field soNRB by gathering genomic and transcriptomic information through next-generation sequencing, ii) link different soNRB metabolisms to corrosion by monitoring corrosion rates and gene expression under various conditions and iii) evaluate soNRB MIC and countermeasures in complex communities by testing different nitrate dosing strategies and predictive genetic diagnostics. Dr. Lahme will expand his skills in microbial physiology and molecular biology acquired in Germany and will be introduced to petroleum microbiology, bioengineering and electrochemical techniques. New academic and industrial collaborations will emerge, which are both essential for becoming an independent and leading researcher.

Keywords: petroleum microbiology,souring,nitrate treatment,biocorrosion,nitrate reducing microorganism,sulfide oxidizing microorganism,next generation sequencing,gene expression
Aquaporin-Inside™ Membranes for Brackish water Reverse Osmosis Application (AMBROSIA)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Climate action, environment,  resource efficiency and raw materials
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Denmark
Call: Boosting the potential of small businesses in the areas of climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials (H2020-SMEINST-2-2016-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2017-10-01
End date: 2020-06-30
Duration (months): 33.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2095726.3
EU funding (EUR): 1423310.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

More than a billion people currently live in water-scarce regions, and as many as 3.5 billion could experience water scarcity by 2025. Forecasts estimate that water demand in 2040 will exceed supply by 50%. Seawater amounts to 97% of all water contained on Earth and can, fortunately, be converted into fresh water by desalination. Desalination processes are still expensive, energy intensive and commonly pose great negative impacts on ecosystems. Presently, no current state-of-the-art solutions suggest sustainable technologies to the Earth’s ecosystem. The Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane segment, which is the largest of the membrane market, was valuated at €1.1 billion in 2015 and is projected to grow by 43% over the 8-year period from 2014 to 2021, reaching a €2.5 billion revenue by 2021. Part of the RO market is dominated by brackish water reverse osmosis membranes (BWRO). Brackish water is water that has higher salinity than fresh water (more than 0.05%) and lower than seawater (less than 3%). Aquaporin A/S has acknowledged this huge business opportunity and has developed a ground-breaking biomimetic technology to separate and purify water from other compounds based on nature’s own principles: Aquaporin water channel proteins. This technology will potentially disrupt the current RO technology, making it more energy and water efficient as well as more sustainable and cost-effective. Since we have a commercial Aquaporin Inside™ RO membrane already tested and validated at low pressure conditions (house hold, 7 bar), our main goal within this project will be to optimise and up-scale this to work at brackish water conditions (15 bar) in both flat sheet and spiral wound module formats. Aquaporin Inside™ Brackish Water RO membranes will boost our growth and consolidate a worldwide reference for us, thereby drastically differentiate us from competitors, and will open the possibility to also get into the seawater desalination market in the near future.

Keywords: water,brackish water,desalination,reverse osmosis,membrane,biomimetic membrane,ro membrane,aquaporin,aquaporinbased membrane,flat sheet,spiral wound module,low fouling,membrane longevi
Turning food industry's organic wastw into value (HOMEBIOGAS)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Climate action, environment,  resource efficiency and raw materials
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Israel
Call: Boosting the potential of small businesses in the areas of climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials (H2020-SMEINST-2-2016-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2017-08-01
End date: 2020-01-31
Duration (months): 30.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2292500.0
EU funding (EUR): 1604750.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

HOMEBIOGAS LTD develops and markets advanced biogas systems that reduce our clients’ waste management fees, energy expenses and environmental footprint by converting organic waste into biogas, a clean energy source. Since 2016, we commercialise HOMEBIOGAS TG1, an advanced, cost-effective household biogas system. So far we have sold more than 540 units in 46 countries, generating over €400,000 in revenues. We have been financed by private investors (€2.5 million) and government funding (€700,000) while a successful crowdfunding campaign has demonstrated an ample public interest in our products by collecting 219% of the targeted funding. We participate as editors of the ISO TC255/WG3 Domestic Biogas International Standard. There are more than 2.32 million food service and retail businesses in the EU, which annually generate over 15 million tonnes of food and kitchen waste . Waste management carries significant costs for them while public concern on the environmental impact generated by unsustainable waste management practices is growing. We aim to leverage the success of our household systems by offering these companies an affordable (€10,000), high performance biogas solution to fulfil their specific necessities: HOMEBIOGAS TG6 will convert their organic waste (100 kg per day) into free clean energy (120 kWh per day), generating important savings (over €5,000 per year) and improving their environmental footprint and corporate image. HOMEBIOGAS TG6 has been demonstrated at TRL6 through the successful development and commercialisation of our TG1 system and the development and trial of two different large (200-250 kg per day) business-to-business pilots. Thanks to HOMEBIOGAS TG6, we will increase our profit by €31.7 million and hire 36 new employees by 2023.

Keywords: biogas,anaerobic digestion,digester,organic waste,food waste,clean energy,waste valorisation,resource efficiency,food industry
Deciphering the magnetic record of planetary rocks using spacecraft and laboratory measurements (PETRA)

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: Physics
Countries involved: France,United States
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2018, 2018)
Start date: 2019-09-01
End date: 2023-10-26
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 257619.84
EU funding (EUR): 257619.84
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Magnetized rocks hold answers to fundamental questions about the formation and evolution of terrestrial planets. However, retrieving this information is far from trivial. Currently, there are two approaches to tackle this. One is through processing of spacecraft magnetic field measurements and the other one is through laboratory measurements of planetary samples. The first aim of this project is to develop a novel mathematical technique that will allow the extraction of magnetization information both from spacecraft measurements and laboratory samples. The second aim is to apply this methodology to constrain the evolution of the terrestrial and Martian magnetic fields over geological times. This has important implications concerning the planets’ evolution of their thermal state, composition, atmosphere, climate and ultimately of their habitability over geological times. This project will strengthen the position of Europe in space research as it will increase the benefits of space missions such as the ongoing ESA mission Swarm and the future sequence of Mars sample return missions, for which a statement of intent to collaborate has been recently signed between ESA and NASA. Moreover, this project will allow the transfer of expertise concerning the use of a SQUID magnetic microscope, from the US (MIT, the Partner Organization) to Europe (IPGP, the Beneficiary). This laboratory instrument, currently being installed at IPGP, is the first one to be installed in a European lab. This project will allow me to complement my experience in the study of the lithospheric magnetic fields of Earth and Mars using satellite measurements with training in ultra-high sensitivity laboratory paleomagnetic measurements. My solid background in mathematics, signal processing and planetary magnetism, the world-leading expertise of the supervisors and the research excellence of the host institutes will enable a successful outcome for the project and a broad dissemination of its results.

Keywords: planetary magnetism,paleomagnetism,geomagnetism,satellite data,martian meteorites,terrestrial rock samples,scanning magnetic microscopy,inverse problems,martian dynamo,geodynamo
Fair predictions in health (FPH)

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: Italy
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2019, 2019)
Start date: 2021-09-01
End date: 2023-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 183473.28
EU funding (EUR): 183473.28
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

In clinical care, machine learning is progressively used to enhance diagnosis, therapy choice, and effectiveness of the health system. Because machine-learning models learn from historically gathered information, populations that have suffered past human and structural biases (e.g. unequal access to education or resources) — called protected groups — are susceptible to damage from inaccurate projections or resource allocations, reinforcing health inequalities. For example, racial and gender differences exist in the way clinical data are produced and these can be transferred as biases in the models. Several techniques of algorithmic fairness have been suggested in the literature on machine learning to ameliorate the performance of machine learning with respect to its fairness. The debate in statistics and machine learning has however failed to provide a principled approach for choosing concepts of bias, prejudice, discrimination, and fairness in predictive models, with a clear link to ethical theory discussed within philosophy. The specific scientific objectives of this research project are: O1: ethical theory: mapping the ethical theories that are relevant for the allocation of resources in health care and draw connections with the literature in fair machine learning O2: probabilistic ethics: understand how standard moral concepts such as responsibility, merit, need, talent, equality, and benefit can be understood in probabilistic terms O3: epistemology of causality: understand if current claims made by counterfactual and causal models of fairness in AI are robust with respect to different philosophical understandings of probability, causality, and counterfactuals O4: application: to show the relevance these philosophical ideas by applying them to a limited number of paradigmatic cases of the application of predictive algorithms in health care.

Keywords: fairness,probability,statistics,decisions