Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Computational Learning Theory: compact representation, efficient computation, and societal challenges in learning MDPs (COLT-MDP)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Computer science and informatics
Panel description: Informatics and information systems, computer science, scientific computing, intelligent systems
Countries involved: Israel
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2019-ADG, 2019)
Start date: 2020-10-01
End date: 2025-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1878125.0
EU funding (EUR): 1878125.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Computational learning theory has been highly successful over the last three decades, both in providing deep mathematical theories and in influencing the practice of machine learning. One of the great recent successes of computational learning theory has been the study of online learning and multi-arm bandits. This line of research has been highly successful, both theoretically and practically, addressing many important applications. Unfortunately, the recent theoretical progress in Markov Decision Process and reinforcement learning has been slower. Based on my fundamental contributions to reinforcement learning (e.g. policy gradient, sparse sampling and trajectory trees), to online learning and machine learning in general, I propose to take the theoretical and practical success of online learning to the “next level” by making significant breakthroughs in reinforcement learning. Our main aim is to advance the state of the art in the theory of reinforcement learning, and our research will revolve around three pillars: (1) compact representation, (2) efficient computation and (3) societal challenges, including fairness and privacy. A successful project will greatly impact reinforcement learning in all its stages. Modelling: Introducing new compact representation models, will enhance our understanding how to structure complex problems, which would greatly extend the applicability of reinforcement learning. Efficient computation: New algorithmic methodologies will give new insight for overcoming computational and statistical barriers both for planning and learning. Learning: New learning paradigms would address fundamental issues of copping with uncertainties in complex control environments of reinforcement learning. Societal challenges: Allowing the community to understand, assess, address and overcome societal challenges is of the greatest importance to the acceptance of AI methodologies by the general public.

Keywords: online learning,reinforcement learning,computational learning theory,regret minimization,fairness,privacy
European Sepsis Academy: towards new biomarkers to improve sepsis management (ESA -ITN)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Innovative Training Networks (ITN)-European Training Networks
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Italy,Greece,Switzerland,France,France,Netherlands,United Kingdom
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (ITN-ETN) (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2016-03-01
End date: 2020-02-29
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3895551.0
EU funding (EUR): 3895551.0
Participants: 8
Project status: CLOSED

ESA-ITN will break through the state of the art in sepsis diagnostics and will train 15 early-stage researchers (ESRs) to determine the clinical potency of a variety of new complementary sepsis biomarkers. These cover the full range of the antiinflammatory response in sepsis, at genetic, molecular and cellular level. Rapid and practical biomarker diagnostics for sepsis will be developed by building on some of the world's most innovative diagnostic platforms. In addition, a whole new clinical research model that incorporates use of biomarker diagnostics will be designed and tested. All 15 interlinked ESR projects have an interdisciplinary component (intersection of sepsis research, product development, economics and medical practice) and international (representing 10 countries) and industry collaborations (incorporating 3 diagnostics firms, 1 bioinformatics company and a business school). Interactions within the network are strengthened by meaningful secondments, which take place at private beneficiary or partner institutes. The training programme covers: 1. Specialist training in an international, interdisciplinary and intersectorial sepsis-orientated research project; 2. Advanced technology training in pathogenesis, biomarker discovery, diagnostics, trial design and innovation management; 3. Professional training in transferable skills, including the special ESA-ITN mini-MBA. The setup of ESA-ITN is unique as it reflects the entire innovation value chain for sepsis biomarker diagnostics. ESA-ITN is composed of leading institutes in sepsis research and a selection of Europe's top biomarker diagnostics companies. Links to various global networks and shared research infrastructures in the field of sepsis further leverage the proposition of ESA-ITN.

Keywords: sepsis,biomarkers,diagnostics,clinical trial design
Functional optical probes for otology (FOIPO)

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: Netherlands
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2017-01-01
End date: 2019-04-23
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 177598.81
EU funding (EUR): 177598.8
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Various pathologies directly impede the conduction of sound through the human middle ear, and thereby produce a ‘conductive’ hearing loss which is the second most prevalent health issue globally. According to Hearing Health Foundation more than 360 million people suffer from hearing disorders worldwide. Hearing depends on a series of events that change sound waves in the air into electrical signals. Sounds that travel down the ear canal set the surface of the flexible eardrum or tympanic membrane (TM) into rapid pico- to nanometer scale vibrations. These motions are coupled to the inner ear by the ossicular chain (the malleus, incus, and stapes). Since the TM and ossicular chain are the primary portal through which acoustic stimuli reach the inner ear, pathological changes in the TM or ossicular chain result in conductive hearing losses. Accurate diagnosis of middle-ear diseases is critical to effective and timely treatments of hearing loss. No currently available clinical technique is capable of simultaneously visualizing and quantifying the structure and sound-induced vibration of the middle ear in vivo. Recently, a new functional imaging technique based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) and the principle of vibrography for middle ear imaging was demonstrated. In this method, termed OCT-vibrography, a speaker is used to excite acoustic vibration in the tissue, and the resulting tissue displacement is captured by OCT. The goal of this project is to make for the first time a miniaturized OCT-vibrography probe for middle ear imaging at high frequencies. The miniaturized probe will be designed through integrated optics which will enable high-speed imaging. The system will operate in two modes: static imaging mode for examining biofilms and ear infections behind the ear drum; dynamic imaging mode for capturing high frequency (up to 20 kHz) oscillations in the middle ear structures. The operation of the miniaturized probes will be validated on ex vivo specimens.

Keywords: optical coherence tomography,vibrography,modal analysis,middle ear imaging,ear drum,ossicles,sound excitation,integrated optics,miniaturized probes
Melting the Earth: The role of magma oceans in defining the Earth’s physical and chemical evolution (EarthMelt)

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: United Kingdom
Call: ERC ADVANCED GRANT (ERC-2020-ADG, 2020)
Start date: 2021-11-01
End date: 2026-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 3500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Catastrophic planetary collisions during the Earth’s first 500 million years provided enough energy to melt its interior, creating planetary-scale volumes of melt, or magma oceans. Their cooling and crystallisation determined the chemistry of the Earth and its long-term habitability. However, we do not know where and how the Earth’s magma oceans crystallised, whether remnants of early magma ocean melts and crystals, or the iron-sulfide liquid that may have separated from them, are still preserved in the mantle today, or what their role is in storing the Earth’s volatiles and rare metals. We also do not know if this residual material remained inert or whether it interacted with mantle melting events during the course of Earth history, potentially transferring its precious cargo to the planet’s surface. The main barrier to studying magma oceans is that most of the evidence of them on Earth has been erased by the tectonic mixing processes that have operated over the past ~3 billion years. EarthMelt will address this issue by developing novel isotopic tools to study ancient magma ocean events. Iron and calcium stable isotopes show high-pressure phase-specific partitioning effects that can identify the molten and crystalline residues of magma oceans. Copper and platinum stable isotopes can be used to trace the separation of iron-sulfide melt from the silicate mantle and its incorporation in modern and ancient mantle melting regimes. EarthMelt will combine ultra-high precision measurements of these novel isotope systems with experiments simulating the conditions of magma ocean cooling and crystallisation and will apply these isotope tracers to rare samples of the Earth’s interior. EarthMelt will determine how the Earth’s magma ocean crystallised and how this influenced the physical structure and chemical composition of our planet, opening up a new approach to the study of magma oceans and their role in controlling terrestrial planet chemistry and habitability.

Keywords: stable isotopes,mass spectrometry,mantle melting,magma ocean
The Cambodian Archaeological Lidar Initiative: Exploring Resilience in the Engineered Landscapes of Early SE Asia (CALI)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: The study of the human past
Panel description: Archaeology, history and memory
Countries involved: France
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2014-STG, 2014)
Start date: 2015-03-01
End date: 2020-02-29
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1482843.77
EU funding (EUR): 1482843.77
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

For over half a millennium, the great medieval capital of Angkor lay at the heart of a vast empire stretching across much of mainland SE Asia. Recent research has revealed that the famous monuments of Angkor were merely the epicentre of an immense settlement complex, with highly elaborate engineering works designed to manage water and mitigate the uncertainty of monsoon rains. Compelling evidence is now emerging that other temple complexes of the medieval Khmer Empire may also have formed the urban cores of dispersed, low-density settlements with similar systems of hydraulic engineering. Using innovative airborne laser scanning (‘lidar’) technology, CALI will uncover, map and compare archaeological landscapes around all the major temple complexes of Cambodia, with a view to understanding what role these complex and vulnerable water management schemes played in the growth and decline of early civilisations in SE Asia. CALI will evaluate the hypothesis that the Khmer civilisation, in a bid to overcome the inherent constraints of a monsoon environment, became locked into rigid and inflexible traditions of urban development and large-scale hydraulic engineering that constrained their ability to adapt to rapidly-changing social, political and environmental circumstances. By integrating data and techniques from fast-developing archaeological sciences like remote sensing, palaeoclimatology and geoinformatics, this work will provide important insights into the reasons for the collapse of inland agrarian empires in the middle of the second millennium AD, a transition that marks the emergence of modern mainland SE Asia. The lidar data will provide a comprehensive and internally-consistent archive of urban form at a regional scale, and offer a unique experimental space for evaluating socio-ecological resilience, persistence and transformation over two thousand years of human history, with clear implications for our understanding of contemporary urbanism and of urban futures.

Keywords: lidar,remote sensing,water management,palaeoenvironment,urbanism,resilience,angkor,southeast asia
Molecular trade-offs between adaptation to salinity and immunity in three-spined sticklebacks (EPI-TRADEOFF)

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: Life Sciences
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2020, 2020)
Start date: 2021-05-03
End date: 2023-05-02
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 212933.76
EU funding (EUR): 212933.76
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Climate change and its consequences on the oceans represent major challenges for marine species, which either need to migrate to remain in their optimal niche or need to adapt to avoid extinction. While the genetics and genomics of adaptation are well studied to predict the future state of marine biodiversity, major gaps remain about the role and mechanisms of phenotypic plasticity within and across generations. Particularly, climate change is multifold and non-parallel stressors limit evolution: indeed, organisms cannot allocate infinite resources into all responses, and trade-offs therefore emerge. Because stressors are often investigated in isolation, our overall understanding of molecular trade-offs is limited. In this project, we will study the impact of two major concomitant challenges induced by climate change, namely the change in ocean salinity and the associated change in the parasite community. We will use the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) fish from the Baltic Sea, which has been coined a “time machine” because of its rapid salinity change mimicking the future of the oceans. We will investigate the osmoregulation-immunity trade-offs mediated by DNA methylation. After identifying these trade-offs, we will use a network approach to shed lights on the interactions of methylation within gene clusters, and their expression (RNA-seq). We will use data generated by the hosting group on (1) natural populations of the Baltic Sea and (2) experimental acclimation to salinity, completed by a common garden experiment testing the induction of trade-offs by both parasite infection and salinity change. This project will advance our understanding of the mechanisms of phenotypic plasticity in marine organisms and their consequences on adaptive evolution.

Keywords: life history trade offs,three spined stickleback
Gene2Skin - Roadmap for advanced genetic engineering-based skin therapies (Gene2Skin)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Spreading excellence and widening participation
Programme: Widening participation and spreading excellence
Theme: Improved access to Excellence
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Ireland,United Kingdom,Portugal
Call: Twinning (H2020-TWINN-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2015-12-01
End date: 2018-11-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 992068.75
EU funding (EUR): 992068.75
Participants: 3
Project status: CLOSED

Skin diseases and disorders are among the most common health problems worldwide and are associated with a considerable burden. It encompasses psychological, social and financial consequences not only on the patients, but also on their families and on society. Chronic and incurable skin diseases/disorders, such as bullous disorders, fibrosis and ulcers, are associated with significant morbidity in the form of physical discomfort and impairment of patients' quality of life; moreover, malignant diseases, such as malignant melanoma and basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, are associated to substantial mortality. Advances in the field of skin tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have been progressively paving the way to develop innovative therapeutics but much is yet to be achieved. Deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying these diseases/disorders can be the key to further unravel advanced therapies. By establishing the linking between two of the best European Institutions that complement each other and that are the best in their field of research UMINHO will be able to, with the support of the leading Institutions, start reinforcing the network of collaborations within this field, establishing fruitful partnerships and improve the quality and the innovative nature of the developed research reaching excellence. Per se, these outcomes will promote the strengthening of the interaction between GENE2SKIN partners and will allow taking the research of excellence to the next level by fostering the successive transfer of technology at different levels. Ultimately GENE2SKIN will define a strategic plan to potentiate and propose, respectively under and behind the scope of GENE2SKIN, better and safer advanced therapies for skin disorders/diseases.

Keywords: skin genetic diseases,skin cancer,tissue engineering,genetic engineering,3d models,disease models
Flow physics and interaction of laminar-turbulent transition and flow separation studied by direct numerical simulations (TRANSEP)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Products and processes engineering
Panel description: Product and process design, chemical, civil, environmental, mechanical, vehicle engineering, energy processes and relevant computational methods
Countries involved: Sweden
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2015-AdG, 2015)
Start date: 2016-09-01
End date: 2021-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2097520.0
EU funding (EUR): 2097520.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The vision spelled out in this proposal is to overcome the failure of Computational Fluid Dynamics to tackle one of the central unsolved fluid physics problems, namely predicting the sensitive flow physics associated with laminar-turbulent transition and flow separation. A recent, highly influential report by NASA (Slotnick et al., 2014) clearly states that the major shortcoming of CFD is its “… inability to accurately and reliably predict turbulent flows with significant regions of separation”, most often associated with laminar-turbulent transition. The research proposed here will address this shortcoming and develop and utilize computational methods that are able to predict, understand and control the sensitive interplay between laminar-turbulent transition and flow separation in boundary layers on wings and other aerodynamic bodies. We will be able to understand enigmas such as the recent results from the experiments of Saric et al. at the Texas A&M Univeristy where the laminar area of a wing grows after a smooth surface have been painted (increased roughness), or the drastic changes of laminar-turbulent transition and separation locations on unsteady wings, or the notoriously difficult interaction of multiple separation and transition regions on high-lift wing configurations. For such flows there have been little understanding of flow physics and few computational prediction capabilities. Here we will perform simulations that give completely new possibilities to visualize, understand and control the flow around such wings and aerodynamic bodies, including the possibility to compute and harness the flow sensitivities. We will tackle these outstanding flow and turbulence problem using the new possibilities enabled by multi-peta scale computing.
Efficient Additivated Gasoline Lean Engine (EAGLE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Smart, green and integrated transport
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Partnership: EGVI (cPPP)
Countries involved: Germany,Italy,Germany,Spain,Italy,France,France,France
Call: Technologies for low emission light duty powertrains (H2020-GV-2016-INEA, 2016)
Start date: 2016-10-01
End date: 2020-11-30
Duration (months): 50.0
Total project cost (EUR): 5993062.74
EU funding (EUR): 5993062.74
Participants: 14
Project status: CLOSED

The decrease of CO2 & particulates emissions is a main challenge of the automotive sector. European OEMs and automotive manufacturers need new long term technologies, still to be implemented by 2030. Currently, hybrid powertrains are considered as the main trend to achieve clean and efficient vehicles. EAGLE project is to improve energy efficiency of road transport vehicles by developing an ultra-lean Spark Ignition gasoline engine, adapted to future electrified powertrains. This new concept using a conventional engine architecture will demonstrate more than 50% peak brake thermal efficiency while reducing particulate and NOx emissions. It will also reach real driving Euro 6 values with no conformity factor. This innovative approach will consequently support the achievement of long term fleet targets of 50 g/km CO2 by providing affordable hybrid solution. EAGLE will tackle several challenges focusing on: • Reducing engine thermal losses through a smart coating approach to lower volumetric specific heat capacity under 1.5 MJ/m3K • Reaching ultra-lean combustion (lambda > 2) with very low particulate (down to 10 nm) emission by innovative hydrogen boosting • Developing breakthrough ignition system for ultra-lean combustion • Investigating a close loop combustion control for extreme lean limit stabilization • Addressing and investigating NOx emissions reduction technologies based on a tailor made NOx storage catalyst and using H2 as a reducing agent for SCR. A strong engine modeling approach will allow to predict thermal and combustion performances to support development and assess engine performances prior to single and multi-cylinder test bench application. An interdisciplinary consortium made of nine partners from four different countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain) will share its cutting-edge know-how in new combustion process, sensing, control, engine manufacturing, ignition system, simulation & modeling, advanced coating, as well as after-treatment systems.

Keywords: automotive sector,combustion,energy efficiency,fuel consumption reduction,co2 and particulates emissions