Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Control of the blood-brain barrier integrity during seizures via the ATP-gated P2X7 receptor (EpiBarrier)

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: Ireland
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2018-04-01
End date: 2020-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 175866.0
EU funding (EUR): 175866.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Epilepsy is the most common chronic neurological disorder, affecting ~50 million people. Major challenges in epilepsy include non-responsiveness to treatment and no effect on disease progression provided by anti-epileptic drugs. Over the past decade, particular attention has been paid to dysfunction of cerebral vasculature and inflammatory processes as important players in epileptogenic processes, with a specific emphasis on failure of the blood–brain barrier (BBB). The BBB is a complex cellular network forming a continuous cellular barrier separating the CNS from the bloodstream. A functional BBB is crucial in maintaining brain homeostasis and to prevent the entry of toxic compounds and immune cells into the CNS. During pathology, however, the permeability of the BBB may increase with the resulting entry into the CNS of blood-borne molecules and cells. Leakage of the BBB is one of the earliest characteristic pathophysiological disturbances following status epilepticus and may play an important role in the development of epilepsy. Consequently, drugs targeting BBB function may represent novel treatment strategies in epilepsy. The purinergic ATP-gated P2X7 receptor has gained much attention recently as novel target in the treatment of epilepsy. Expressed on all cell types in the CNS including endothelial cells, P2X7 has been associated with numerous damaging processes pertinent to epileptogenesis, such as inflammation and opening of the BBB. ATP and the P2X7 downstream target Interleukin-1β contribute to the disruption of the BBB and P2X7 antagonism protects against BBB disruption during intracerebral hemorrhage. To date, however, we do not know whether seizure-induced changes of the BBB are dependent on P2X7 signaling, and whether this process can be targeted. By using newly developed transgenic animal models, RNA sequencing and cutting edge imaging techniques we will determine how P2X7 impacts on BBB integrity during seizures and what genes are regulated by P2X7.

Keywords: epilepsy,status epilepticus,blood brain barrier,p2x7 receptor,transgenic mouse models,patient tissue
Hydropower solutions for developing and emerging countries (HYPOSO)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Secure, clean and efficient energy
Theme: Low-cost, low-carbon energy supply
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Ecuador,Uganda,Italy,Germany,Belgium,Colombia,Lithuania,Bolivia, Plurinational State of,Poland,Poland,Netherlands,Netherlands,Cameroon
Call: Market Uptake support (H2020-LC-SC3-2019-RES-IA-CSA, 2019)
Start date: 2019-09-01
End date: 2023-05-31
Duration (months): 45.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2938373.75
EU funding (EUR): 2938373.75
Participants: 13
Project status: SIGNED

The renowned European hydropower industry and its know-how can foster the transition into a more sustainable energy system in parts of the world that still need support to develop the sector. While the European hydropower market does not allow huge developments, some countries present a big potential. HYPOSO will provide strategic support and tools for the European hydropower industry to boost their export of products and services to markets in Africa and Latin America, especially those with a high market potential hydro sector, i.e. Bolivia, Cameroon, Columbia, Ecuador and Uganda. The project will develop solutions which can be easily implemented for overcoming barriers to the broad deployment of hydropower solutions in these export markets. The consortium will bring representatives of the European hydropower industry together with their counterparts and politicians from Africa and Latin America. It will provide political, legal, technical and strategic advice while considering the regional specificities, socio-economic, spatial and environmental aspects all along the life-cycle of hydropower projects. Experts of the consortium will identify pilot hydropower projects and provide capacity building for local stakeholders and politicians. Communications activities such as brochures, events, and workshops highlighting European state-of-the-art technology will complement these measures. Moreover, a website will be created. It will serve as an information hub for the European hydropower industry and useful source of information for hydropower stakeholders worldwide. The outcome of the HYPOSO project will contribute to the promotion of the European hydropower industry, paving the way for better investment conditions in the targeted countries and increasing the share of renewable energy in these regions. It will support the development of policies, market supports and financial frameworks at the local, national and regional level for hydropower facilities.

Keywords: hydropower,bolivia,cameroon,colombia,ecuador,uganda,capacity buidling,export markets,sites,gis maps,database,renewable energy,electricity,business case studies
The Transnational Divide: Local Triggers, Social Networks, and Group Identities (TRANSNATIONAL)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Panel description: Political science, international relations, law
Countries involved: Italy
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2019-ADG, 2019)
Start date: 2021-01-01
End date: 2026-06-30
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2498412.0
EU funding (EUR): 2498412.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

TRANSNATIONAL seeks to explain a surprising and consequential feature of contemporary democratic politics—the intensity of polarization on immigration, Europe, and climate change. While recent research has made impressive advances in understanding individual attitudes and party-political competition, there is currently no empirically verified theory of how a person’s social context shapes their response to issues that arise on the political agenda. Without such a framework we cannot understand the rising incidence of group solidarity and affective polarization in our societies. TRANSNATIONAL combines insights from the literatures concerned with networks and identity formation to theorize the social contexts in which people respond to major events. This approach provides a micro-social foundation for Lipset & Rokkan’s classic cleavage analysis and offers the prospect of a unified theory of political conflict. TRANSNATIONAL gains inferential leverage in the face of causal complexity by linking national surveys, natural experiments, and semi-structured interviews in three modules. The first module provides a comparative frame by conducting a cross-sectional survey of political attitudes, identities, and digital and face-to-face networks on the transnational divide in six countries. Modules 2 and 3 drill down by devising natural experiments that allow deep investigation of how local populations respond to a specific situational trigger. These are a) spatial proximity to refugee housing; b) the variable effect on UK localities of exit from the EU; c) new climate impact scores that differentially affect rural and urban localities.

Keywords: political parties,multi level governance,european integration,radical right parties,globalization,political conflict,immigration,climate change,public opinion,political attitudes,social networks,cleavage politics
Immune Niches for Cancer ImmunoTherapy Enhancement (INCITE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)
Theme: EIC Pathfinder
Destination: Novel ideas for radically new technologies
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Austria,Austria,Italy,Germany,Belgium,Norway,Netherlands
Call: FET-Open Challenging Current Thinking (H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2019-2020-01, 2020)
Start date: 2021-05-01
End date: 2025-04-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3998665.0
EU funding (EUR): 3998665.0
Participants: 8
Project status: SIGNED

Cancer is rapidly becoming the most frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in the EU, accounting for a quarter of all deaths in EU. Without breakthroughs in treatment, cancer is likely to remain one of the biggest killers in the 21st century. Immunotherapy of cancer by checkpoint inhibitors, vaccines or adoptive T cell therapy is coming of age and has the potential to cure cancer, but is still hampered by some major limitations. For instance, Adoptive Cell Therapy (ACT) with unmanipulated or engineered T cells (TCR-transgenic and CAR-T cells) has indeed demonstrated success in the treatment of patients affected by leukemias, but is much less effective against lymphomas and solid tumors. One likely explanation is that we do not educate the right type of anti-tumor T cells. The T cells considered to be the gold standard for tumor therapy have stem cell memory features, but the proper and safe way to generate these fit T cells for clinical purposes is still an unresolved matter. Here we propose an advanced transformative technology termed INCITE, utilizing a novel high-resolution 3D microfabrication technology to engineer a specially tailored microenvironment that will be inhabited by cells central for T cells education in order to generate the fittest anti-tumor T cells for advanced adoptive T cell therapy. INCITE will bring together a transdisciplinary consortium capable of developing this innovative platform by combining state-of-the-art 3D printing, computer modeling, bioengineering, bioinformatics, immunology, developmental and cancer biology approaches, toward the development of a functional immune niche for selection and expansion of tumor-rejecting T cells. The INCITE platform will revolutionize the treatment of cancer patients with ACT, with a profound impact on the quality of life and well-being of millions of people.

Keywords: cancer immunotherapy,3d printing,microfluidics,adoptive cell therapy,t cells
OLEAginous yeast platforms for FINE chemicals (OLEFINE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials, Advanced Manufacturing and Processing, and Biotechnology
Theme: Biotechnology
Action type: Innovation actions
Countries involved: Germany,Sweden,Greece,Greece,United States,United Kingdom,United Kingdom,Denmark,Portugal,Denmark
Call: Optimisation of biocatalysis and downstream processing for the sustainable production of high value-added platform chemicals (H2020-NMBP-BIO-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2018-01-01
End date: 2022-06-30
Duration (months): 54.0
Total project cost (EUR): 7606556.75
EU funding (EUR): 5442844.98
Participants: 10
Project status: CLOSED

The academic and industrial partners engaged in the OLEFINE project have the joint vision of demonstrating the techno-economic viability and sustainability of biological production of insect pheromones for use as safe and environmentally friendly insecticide substitutes. Biological production of cheaper pheromones will be a market disrupting technology that will allow rapid expansion of pheromone-based pest management products. The partners behind OLEFINE have developed a novel technology for biological production of pheromones using oleaginous yeast cell factories, however the strains, fermentation, and downstream process need to be further optimized to bring the technology to the market. OLEFINE aims to optimize, validate, and commercialize biotech process for production of high-added-value chemicals (insect pheromones) for use as non-toxic insecticide replacements. Cost-efficiency and sustainability of the current process will be lifted in this project by optimizing the yeast biocatalyst and by employing innovative fermentation and downstream processing with cascading of resources. The production cost will be reduced by at least 75% in relation to the current state-of-the-art. The process will be validated in industrial environment for two pheromones (TRL7), techno-economic viability will be estimated and business plans will be prepared. The environmental impact and sustainability will be evaluated by full Life Cycle Analysis. The technology will be brought to the market by OLEFINE industrial partners post project. In summary, OLEFINE will bring new sustainable high-value chemicals to the market and create new business opportunities and jobs in European biotech sector, which is in line with the challenge of the topic.

Keywords: oleginous yeast platform,cell factories,high added value bio based chemicals,pheromones,pest control
Biochemical and CryoEM studies of spliceosome activation. (SPLICEOSACT)

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-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2019-03-01
End date: 2021-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 195454.8
EU funding (EUR): 195454.8
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Pre-mRNA splicing is a fundamental maturation step of eukaryotic mRNAs that consists of the removal of introns and the concomitant ligation of exons by two successive transesterification reactions. This complex biological process is catalyzed by the spliceosome, a gigantic ribonucleoprotein particle that assembles de novo on each intron and uses a single RNA-based active site to perform both reactions. The spliceosome is composed of five snRNPs (U1, U2, U4, U5, U6) that are recruited to pre-mRNAs in a stepwise manner. When a pre-catalytic spliceosome, consisting of all five snRNPs, is formed on a pre-mRNA it has no pre-existing active site and undergoes extensive compositional and conformational changes to become “catalytically competent”. During this transition, two snRNPs (U1 and U4) are lost and several new factors are recruited, ensuring the formation and stabilization of the active site as well as the correct positioning of the pre-mRNA’s reactive groups in the catalytic centre. Thanks to recent technological advances in Electron Microscopy (EM), a series of cryoEM structures of fully assembled “active” spliceosomes at atomic resolution have been solved in the host group and elsewhere, in the past two years. These structures, which have created much excitement in the RNA community, visualize the spliceosome during each step of the catalytic cycle and allow a mechanistic understanding of catalysis. However, due to the scarcity of high-resolution information on earlier complexes, many questions remain regarding spliceosome activation. My project aims at filling a gap in our understanding of pre-mRNA splicing by unraveling the molecular details of spliceosome activation. To that end, I will use a combination of biochemical characterization and cryoEM to study yeast spliceosome captured at discrete early stages of activation.

Keywords: cryoem,structural biology,rna metabolism,rna splicing,biochemistry
Unveiling the relationship between brain connectivity and function by integrated photonics (BACKUP)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Systems and communication engineering
Panel description: Electrical, electronic, communication, optical and systems engineering
Countries involved: Italy
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2017-ADG, 2017)
Start date: 2018-11-01
End date: 2024-04-30
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2499825.0
EU funding (EUR): 2499825.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

I will address the fundamental question of which is the role of neuron activity and plasticity in information elaboration and storage in the brain. I, together with an interdisciplinary team, will develop a hybrid neuro-morphic computing platform. Integrated photonic circuits will be interfaced to both electronic circuits and neuronal circuits (in vitro experiments) to emulate brain functions and develop schemes able to supplement (backup) neuronal functions. The photonic network is based on massive reconfigurable matrices of nonlinear nodes formed by microring resonators, which enter in regime of self-pulsing and chaos by positive optical feedback. These networks resemble human brain. I will push this analogy further by interfacing the photonic network with neurons making hybrid network. By using optogenetics, I will control the synaptic strengthen-ing and the neuron activity. Deep learning algorithms will model the biological network functionality, initial-ly within a separate artificial network and, then, in an integrated hybrid artificial-biological network. My project aims at: 1. Developing a photonic integrated reservoir-computing network (RCN); 2. Developing dynamic memories in photonic integrated circuits using RCN; 3. Developing hybrid interfaces between a neuronal network and a photonic integrated circuit; 4. Developing a hybrid electronic, photonic and biological network that computes jointly; 5. Addressing neuronal network activity by photonic RCN to simulate in vitro memory storage and retrieval; 6. Elaborating the signal from RCN and neuronal circuits in order to cope with plastic changes in pathologi-cal brain conditions such as amnesia and epilepsy. The long-term vision is that hybrid neuromorphic photonic networks will (a) clarify the way brain thinks, (b) compute beyond von Neumann, and (c) control and supplement specific neuronal functions.

Keywords: hybrid photonics,photonic microring resonators,reservoir computing network,deep learning,optogenetics,neurons,interface between living and condensed matter,memory engrams,neuronal excitability
Foundations of Verifiable Computing (VERICOMP)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator 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 Consolidator Grant (ERC-2018-COG, 2018)
Start date: 2019-01-01
End date: 2024-12-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1882460.0
EU funding (EUR): 1882460.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SUSPENDED

Proof systems allow a weak verifier to ascertain the correctness of complex computational statements. Efficiently-verifiable proof systems are fundamental objects in the study of computation, and have led to some of the deepest and most celebrated insights in cryptography and in complexity theory. The vast and rich literature on proof systems focuses primarily on proving the correctness of intractable statements, e.g. ones that are NP-complete. While the verification can be efficient, the proofs themselves cannot be generated in polynomial time. This limits the applicability of such proof systems, both from a theoretical perspective and in their real-world impact. This proposal aims to obtain a comprehensive understanding of proof systems with polynomial-time proof generation, to explore their practical applicability, and to investigate their connections with foundational questions in cryptography and in complexity theory. Our study will focus primarily on interactive proof systems for tractable computations. The proposed research aims to revolutionize our understanding of these foundational objects by providing a complete and tight characterization of the complexity or proving and verifying general statements, by achieving breakthroughs in the study of related proof system notions, such as cryptographic arguments, and by building a fine-grained “algorithmic” theory of proof systems for central polynomial-time computational problems. Our research will leverage these advances towards diverse applications: from real-world security challenges, such as verifying the correctness of computations performed by the cloud and cryptographic “proofs of work”, to a complexity-theoretic understanding of the complexity of approximating problems in P and of solving them on random instances.

Keywords: proof systems,interactive proofs,delegating computation
Molecular Structure and Engineering of Synaptic Organizer Proteins in Health and Disease (SynLink)

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: France
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2019-STG, 2019)
Start date: 2020-03-01
End date: 2025-08-31
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499903.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499903.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Synapses are the specialized cellular junctions that form the basic units of communication between neuronal cells. Given the variety of network-dependent functions that synapses need to support, a fundamental question is how their properties are specified at the molecular level. Membrane-anchored and soluble “synaptic organizer proteins” form adhesive interactions that mediate synapse formation and differentiation. However, a structural and mechanistic understanding of how they recruit and organize the molecular machinery for neurotransmission is largely lacking. Simultaneously, dysfunction of synapses and loss of neurons are hallmarks of neurodegenerative disease that underlie a persistent deterioration of cognitive functions. The properties of synaptic organizer proteins to form and functionalize synapses could be exploited as a mechanism for synaptic repair to reverse neuronal degeneration. The aims of this proposal are (i) to reveal the structural basis for trans-synaptic molecular nanocolumn formation by determining the complex structures of synaptic organizer proteins and neurotransmitter receptors, and (ii) to leverage insights into the structure and function of soluble synaptic organizers for generating engineered variants that can remodel synapses with the potential for restoring neuronal circuitry and cognition in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common form of dementia associated with early defects in synaptic function. To achieve these aims, I will combine techniques of structural biology (X-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy and biophysical interaction analysis), protein engineering (combinatorial screening using yeast surface display), and cellular neuroscience (neuronal culture, electrophysiology, advanced imaging and mouse models). Our results will elucidate fundamental principles of synaptic signalling and pave the way for disease-modifying therapies that focus on recovery of synaptic connectivity and function.

Keywords: synapse,synaptic adhesion,synaptic plasticity,synaptic organizer protein,neurodegenerative disease,alzheimer s disease,protein engineering,protein structure,neurexin,ampa receptor,structural biology