Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Investigating the crosstalk between Notch and YAP/TAZ in sprouting angiogenesis (Angio-NYT)

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: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Netherlands,United States
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2018, 2018)
Start date: 2020-09-01
End date: 2022-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 170419.2
EU funding (EUR): 170419.2
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Our limited understanding of angiogenesis, the process leading to the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones, hinders the design of new treatments for associated diseases such as cancer, ischemia, and diabetic retinopathy. It is well established that sprouting angiogenesis involves a process of endothelial cell phenotype selection mediated by the interaction between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and Notch signalling. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the Yes-associated protein (YAP) and the transcriptional coactivator with a PDZ-binding domain (TAZ), the main mediators of the Hippo signalling pathway, interact with VEGF and influence Notch signalling. However, it is still unclear how the effects of YAP/TAZ on Notch signalling contribute in regulating angiogenesis. In this project, I will adopt an approach combining experimental and computational techniques. First, I will culture endothelial cell monolayers on differently stiff substrates and I will perturb Notch via ligand-coated beads and YAP/TAZ activity via pharmacological inhibition. With the information deriving from these experiments, I will develop a unique agent-based computational model for angiogenesis, accounting for the interplay between Notch and YAP/TAZ. I will use this model to predict the effects of the Notch-YAP/TAZ crosstalk on angiogenesis. Finally, I will adapt previously established in vitro experimental systems recapitulating angiogenesis in three-dimensional environments. In these systems, I will vary the matrix stiffness, inhibit YAP/TAZ activation, perturb Notch signalling with ligand-coated beads, and measure the changes to parameters such as sprout and branch density and the dynamics of individual cell behaviour. This interplay between experimental and computational techniques will enhance our understanding of the crosstalk between Notch and Hippo-YAP/TAZ in regulating angiogenesis, with the potential to inspire new medical treatments.

Keywords: angiogenesis,signalling pathway,microfluidics,notch signalling,mechanotransduction
e-Sequence: a sequential approach to engineer heteroatom doped graphene nanoribbons for electronic applications (e-Sequence)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Panel description: New materials and new synthetic approaches, structure-properties relations, solid state chemistry, molecular architecture, organic chemistry
Countries involved: Spain,Spain
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2016-COG, 2016)
Start date: 2017-11-01
End date: 2024-10-31
Duration (months): 84.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2000000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2000000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Graphene nanoribbons (NR) are quasi-1D nanostructures with discrete band gaps, ballistic conduction, and one-atom thickness. Such properties make them ideal candidates to develop low-dimensional semiconductors, which are essential components in nanoelectronics. Atomically-precise control over the structure of NR (width, length, edge, doping) is crucial to fully exploit their potential. However, current approaches for the synthesis of NR suffer from several drawbacks that do not allow attaining such level of precision, therefore alternative methods need to be sought. e-Sequence will develop an unprecedented approach that assembles stepwise small molecular building blocks into NR to specifically target the most important challenges in NR synthesis. Such approach will enable the preparation of an unlimited number of NR with atomically-precise control over their structure and with almost no synthetic and purification effort, exceeding the limits of existing methods. The impact of e-Sequence will not be limited to NR synthesis but it will also extend to other disciplines, since NR are promising candidates to develop new technologies with applications in electronics, sensing, photonics, energy storage and conversion, spintronics, etc. e-Sequence ambitious research programme will be orchestrated by an independent scientist with an excellent track record of achievements in low-dimensional carbon nanostructures, and who has already established a fledgling and internationally competitive research group. Building on this and on his recent permanent appointment as Research Professor, the award of this ERC project will enable him to consolidate his group, build a portfolio of excellent research, and produce results that compete on the world stage.

Keywords: carbon nanostructures,carbon nanoforms,nanocarbons,fullerenes,carbon nanotubes,heteroatom doped nanocarbons
Open Mining INfrastructure for TExt and Data (OpenMinTeD)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Research Infrastructures
Theme: Research infrastructures
Destination: e-Infrastructures
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Germany,Germany,Germany,Spain,Spain,Switzerland,Greece,Greece,France,Netherlands,Netherlands,United Kingdom,United Kingdom,United Kingdom,United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call: Managing, preserving and computing with big research data (H2020-EINFRA-2014-2, 2014)
Start date: 2015-06-01
End date: 2018-05-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 6068072.5
EU funding (EUR): 5375535.5
Participants: 18
Project status: CLOSED

Recent years witness an upsurge in the quantities of digital research data, offering new insights and opportunities for improved understanding. Text and data mining is emerging as a powerful tool for harnessing the power of structured and unstructured content and data, by analysing them at multiple levels and in several dimensions to discover hidden and new knowledge. However, text mining solutions are not easy to discover and use, nor are they easily combinable by end users. OpenMinTeD aspires to enable the creation of an infrastructure that fosters and facilitates the use of text mining technologies in the scientific publications world, builds on existing text mining tools and platforms, and renders them discoverable and interoperablethrough appropriate registriesand a standards-based interoperability layer, respectively. It supports training of text mining users and developers alike and demonstrates the merits of the approach through several use cases identified by scholars and experts from different scientific areas, ranging from generic scholarly communication to literaturerelated tolife sciences, food and agriculture, and social sciences and humanities. Through its infrastructural activities, OpenMinTeD’s vision is tomake operational a virtuous cycle in which a) primary content is accessed through standardised interfaces and access rules b) by well-documented and easily discoverable text mining services that process, analyse, and annotate text c) to identify patterns and extract new meaningful actionable knowledge, which will be used d) for structuring, indexing, and searching content and, in tandem, e) acting as new knowledge useful to draw new relations between content items and firing a new mining cycle. To achieve its goals, OpenMinTeD brings together different stakeholders, content providers and scientific communities, text mining and infrastructure builders, legal experts, data and computing centres, industrial players, and SMEs.

Keywords: text data mining
Spontaneous and sensory-evoked activity shape neural circuits in the developing brain (NeuroDevo)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting 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: Germany
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2018-STG, 2018)
Start date: 2019-09-01
End date: 2025-08-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1290525.0
EU funding (EUR): 885897.45
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

To generate brain circuits that are both flexible and stable requires the coordination of powerful developmental mechanisms acting at different scales. How does the brain prepare to efficiently compute information and reliably generate behavior during early development without any previous experience? A prominent transient feature of developing circuits is the ability to generate spontaneous activity before sensory organs mature. We know little about the detailed structure of this activity; however, blocking or perturbing this activity leads to miswiring defects, suggesting its powerful role in shaping local and brain-wide neural circuits. After the onset of sensory experience, ongoing activity continues to modify sensory circuits, and plays an important functional role in the mature brain. Together with advances in experimental techniques, we propose that theory and models are needed to establish a unifying framework of neural circuit development. Using quantitative data analysis, experiment-driven theory and computational modeling, we will derive key principles for how neural circuits are built and organized during early postnatal development into functional units, and how they are modified by intact and perturbed sensory-evoked activity. We will provide a quantitative analysis of longitudinal recordings of single neuron and network activity for the first time by synthesizing data from three collaborating labs. Our goal will be to reveal novel aspects of this activity that drive circuit refinement over a prolonged timescale during development, and to identify the powerful ways in which activity and circuit properties influence each other. Our models will generate and test hypotheses for how individual components affect different aspects of circuit organization during development. Therefore, the unique potential of our theoretical approach lies in dissecting the influence of each developmental process, making predictions to be tested in the real biological system.

Keywords: neural circuits,spontaneous activity,activity dependent plasticity
Of beasts and men. The animals of the Proto-Indo-Europeans (PIE ANIMALS)

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: Denmark
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2018, 2018)
Start date: 2019-09-01
End date: 2021-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 207312.0
EU funding (EUR): 207312.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

“Of beasts and men. The animals of the Proto-Indo-Europeans” is a research project whose goal it is to reconstruct and analyze the animal-related lexicon of the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) language in order to find out what animals (wild and domesticated) were known to the speakers of PIE, which word-formation patterns were involved in the naming of the animals, and what the etymology of these animal names can tell us about the structure of the prehistorical PIE society and/or their view of the world. I plan to attain these goals by comparing the animal names attested in the Indo-European (IE) daughter languages for cognates (i.e. words that go back to the same PIE source), analyzing their derivational structure using a modern methodology of morphosemantic breakdown that I have successfully adopted and refined in my PhD thesis, and interpreting the semantic constituents and concepts of the animal names in view of their derivational meaning. The important benefits that will be gained by this research project are a better understanding of the fauna, and thus the environment, surrounding the speakers of PIE, knowledge about the most archaic PIE nominal word-formation processes, and precious cultural insights into the every-day lives and into the minds of our linguistic ancestors. The project will be an important contribution to our understanding of the prehistory of Europe and its speakers, and valuable for specialists of PIE word formation, historical linguists in general, scholars of archaeology, genetics, prehistory, and even the broad public.

Keywords: indo european linguistics,word formation,etymology
Genuine Quantumness in Cooperative Phenomena (GQCOP)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Fundamental constituents of matter
Panel description: Particle, nuclear, plasma, atomic, molecular, gas, and optical physics
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2014-STG, 2014)
Start date: 2015-05-01
End date: 2020-10-31
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1351461.0
EU funding (EUR): 1351461.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The proposed research programme addresses issues of fundamental and technological importance in quantum information science and its interplay with complexity. The main aim of this project is to provide a new paradigmatic foundation for the characterisation of quantumness in cooperative phenomena and to develop novel platforms for its practical utilisation in quantum technology applications. To reach its main goal, this programme will target five specific objectives: O1. Constructing a quantitative theory of quantumness in composite systems; O2. Benchmarking genuine quantumness in information and communication protocols; O3. Devising practical solutions for quantum-enhanced metrology in noisy conditions; O4. Developing quantum thermal engineering for refrigerators and heat engines; O5. Establishing a cybernetics framework for regulative phenomena in the quantum domain. This project is deeply driven by the scientific curiosity to explore the ultimate range of applicability of quantum mechanics. Along the route to satisfying such curiosity, this project will fulfill a crucial two-fold mission. On the fundamental side, it will lead to a radically new level of understanding of quantumness, in its various manifestations, and the functional role it plays for natural and artificial complex systems traditionally confined to a classical domain of investigation. On the practical side, it will deliver novel concrete recipes for communication, sensing and cooling technologies in realistic conditions, rigorously assessing in which ways and to which extent these can be enhanced by engineering and harnessing quantumness. Along with a skillful team which this grant will allow to assemble, benefitting from the vivid research environment at Nottingham, and mainly thanks to his creativity, broad mathematical and physical preparation and relevant inter-disciplinary expertise, the applicant is in a unique position to accomplish this timely and ambitious mission.

Keywords: measures of quantumness,quantum correlations,quantum classical border,quantum enhanced technology,quantum engineering,cooperative phenomena,complex systems,statistical complexity,cybernetics
Shaping the ethical dimensions of smart information systems (SIS) – a European perspective (SHERPA)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Science with and for Society
Programme: Develop the governance for the advancement of responsible research and innovation by all stakeholders, which is sensitive to society needs and demands and promote an ethics framework for research and innovation
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Germany,Cyprus,Belgium,Belgium,Finland,Netherlands,Netherlands,Netherlands,United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call: The ethical dimensions of IT technologies: a European perspective focusing on security and human rights aspects (H2020-SwafS-2017-1, 2017)
Start date: 2018-05-01
End date: 2021-10-31
Duration (months): 42.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2865947.5
EU funding (EUR): 2865947.5
Participants: 12
Project status: CLOSED

In collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders, the SHERPA project will investigate, analyse and synthesise our understanding of the ways in which smart information systems (SIS; the combination of artificial intelligence and big data analytics) impact ethics and human rights issues. It will develop novel ways of understanding and addressing SIS challenges, evaluate with stakeholders, and advocate the most desirable and sustainable solutions. SHERPA will: (1) represent and visualise the ethical and human rights challenges of SIS through case studies, scenarios and artistic representations, (2) work with a range of stakeholders to identify their concerns and preferred solutions (via interviews, a large-scale online survey, a Delphi study, a stakeholder board), (3) develop and publish a workbook on responsible development of SIS, (4) present technical and regulatory options (e.g., terms of reference for a regulator), (5) validate and prioritise the proposals through multi-stakeholder focus groups, and (6) advocate, promote and implement the most promising solutions through targeted dissemination and communication activities. The SHERPA consortium has 11 partners from six European countries (representing academia, industry, civil society, standards bodies, ethics committees, art).

Keywords: artificial intelligence,privacy,human rights,big data analytics
Controlling the timing of human cortical neuron development: from upstream mechanisms to impact on circuit plasticity. (NEUROTEMPO)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced 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: Belgium
Call: ERC ADVANCED GRANT (ERC-2020-ADG, 2020)
Start date: 2021-12-01
End date: 2026-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2499496.88
EU funding (EUR): 2499496.88
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Human brain development is characterized by a prolonged timing of maturation of cortical neurons compared with other species. The resulting ‘neoteny’ may constitute a key evolutionary mechanism enabling the exceptional gain of complexity of human brains compared to other animals. However the molecular mechanisms underlying human neuronal neoteny, and its impact on circuit function, are largely unknown. We previously discovered that human cortical neurons transplanted in the mouse cortex develop along their species-specific timeline, pointing to cell-intrinsic mechanisms as major players in the timing of neuronal development. We also recently found that mitochondria dynamics and function regulate neurogenesis through direct impact on chromatin remodeling, and that they display striking species-specific differences during cortical neuron maturation. These data lead us to propose that mitochondria and metabolism act as key species-specific modifiers on the timing of cortical neuron maturation, through epigenetic effects on the underlying gene regulatory network, ultimately leading to human neural neoteny. To test this radical hypothesis we will identify which molecular features of mitochondria and metabolism differ during cortical neuron maturation of mouse, macaque and human species. Then we will test the impact of the species-specific molecular features on neuronal maturation timing, using an innovative screening platform for human cortical neuron maturation. Factors that accelerate neuronal maturation will be studied by focusing on their effect on chromatin remodeling. Finally we will determine the impact of manipulating neuronal maturation timing at the circuit level, using a new model of in vivo human neuron plasticity. This project will shed new light on how developmental timing uniquely controls human brain structure and function, with far-reaching implications for our understanding of neural evolution, plasticity and disease.

Keywords: human brain evolution,temporal patterning,allochrony,synaptogenesis,morphogenesis,metabolism and development,mitochondria,epigenetic,transcriptomics,genetic screen,cerebral cortex
Diagnostic autoantibody assay to stratify bone marrow failure diseases (STRATIFY)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Proof of concept grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy
Panel description: The immune system, related disorders and their mechanisms, biology of infectious agents and infection, biological basis of prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, innovative immunological tools and approaches, including therapies
Countries involved: Finland
Call: ERC Proof of Concept Grant (ERC-2019-PoC, 2019)
Start date: 2020-01-01
End date: 2021-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Bone marrow failure syndromes (BMFS) such as aplastic anaemia (AA) are a heterogenous group of rare diseases that manifest as loss of red and white blood cells. In these potentially life-threatening diseases, blood producing stem cells may be inherently defective or become destroyed due to acquired cause. Diagnostic difficulties of BMFS constitute a significant clinical problem as the diagnosis takes long, and misdiagnosis may lead to inappropriate management with serious side effects. In our ERC-CoG project we made an exciting discovery and identified a novel autoantibody in AA patients’ blood samples. Autoantibody positivity defined a distinct group of patients with similar genetic background suggesting common pathogenesis. Our preliminary results show that the autoantibody analysis has great potential to reveal cases of AA and define a subset of other BMFS patients with similar underlying pathology that currently lack proper diagnosis. Furthermore, vast commercialisation potential lies in introducing it as an exclusion laboratory test in patients with unexplained anaemia or leukopenia (common problems in elderly). The improved diagnostic accuracy and the targeted personalised therapy that follows has the potential to impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of patients over time and bring simultaneous healthcare savings. Further, understanding of the role of target protein of the autoantibody in bone marrow failure may lead to targeted therapies in the future. We believe that the test can be developed as an inexpensive reagent kit to be used in serology machines for autoantibody screening. In order to improve the commercialisation potential, we will carry out 1) Technology PoC for confirming the approach validity, and 2) Pre-commercialisation actions for evaluating the best commercialisation options for bringing the innovation to clinicians managing haematological patients and for pharma companies as companion diagnostic tests together with their therapies.

Keywords: autoantibody,autoimmune disease,diagnostic test,rare disease,personalized therapy,hematology,bone marrow failure