Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Computational approaches to reveal the role of astrocytes in information processing and neural networks dynamics (ASTRONET)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Germany,Italy
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023 (HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-07-01
End date: 2026-06-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 173847.36
EU funding (EUR): 173847.36
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Information about the external world is encoded in the brain through the dynamical activity of neuronal ensembles, so-called neural population codes. Neurons, however, are not the only cell types making up the nervous tissue. Astrocytes interact with neurons at the synaptic and network level. Astrocytic intracellular calcium dynamics integrates and modulates surrounding neural activity over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Recent studies showed that these calcium transients encode information about external stimuli, and that this information is complementary to that encoded in neural activity, suggesting that astrocytes may play an active role in computations carried out in neural circuits. Here, I will investigate the role of astrocytes in shaping neural population, focusing on representations of space in the mouse the hippocampus during navigation. By using biophysically plausible network modeling and information theory I will characterize how the dynamics and information coding properties of networks of neurons are enhanced when they interact with astrocytes. The model will be constrained and guided by analysis of simultaneous dual-imaging recordings of neurons and astrocytes. Then I will consider new data, provided by the secondment lab, of longitudinal neural recordings during which astrocytic calcium dynamics was chemogenetically manipulated during the exploration of familiar and new environments over days. I will determine the causal role of astrocytes in neural information processing by using information theory and machine learning to analyze neural information coding when astrocytes are or are not perturbed. Then, I will use the data to construct biophysically plausible models of astrocytes contribute to the evolution of neural codes across days. These major advances in modelling and understanding how astrocytes support an complement neural networks will contribute to understanding how glial cells contribute to healthy brain function.

Keywords: neural coding population coding neural networks astrocytes information theory neural representations
BATTERY MATERIAL CHARACTERISATION AND DIGITAL TWINS FOR CELL TO PACK PERFORMANCE IN AGILE MANUFACTURING PILOT LINES AND AUTOMOTIVE FIELD (DigiCell)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Digital, Industry and Space
Theme: Digital
Destination: Digital & Emerging Technologies for Competitiveness and Fit for the Green Deal
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Austria,Italy,Spain,France,Germany,Switzerland,Belgium
Call: Adaptive multi-scale modelling and characterisation suites from lab to production (RIA) (HORIZON-CL4-2023-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-01-01
End date: 2026-12-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 5405098.0
EU funding (EUR): 5405098.0
Participants: 14
Project status: SIGNED

Reliability and innovations in current and upcoming battery technology as one core element of Europe’s green industrial transition are highly dependent on the understanding and systematic classification of the complex processes in advanced functional materials structured at the multiscale level. DigiCell provides a digitally integrated framework that improves reliability and quality in the manufacturing processes of high-performance Lithium-ion batteries (LIB) and beyond Lithium battery technologies through unified and adaptive models capturing the structure-property relationships in these complex energy materials. It is based on a toolset of innovative and state-of-the-art characterisation methods for multiscale materials, interoperable tests, and analytical models supported by and linked through machine learning. With this, the production costs, materials waste, and the CO2 footprint in production lines will be reduced, while in parallel the battery electrochemical performance at the single cell level will be increased. The new measurement tools and multi-scale modelling algorithms lead to a higher characterisation speed (factor of 5) and an improved accuracy in cell tests by an order of magnitude, as will be demonstrated on the lab bench and in pilot lines. DigiCell develops a new holistic approach for open-source algorithms and data standardization strategies; new quality assessments for a healthy, safe, and circular economy. The project readily interfaces and interacts tightly with EMMC.

Keywords: battery test,digital twin,modelling,pilot line,green deal,data accuracy,machine learning,lithium ion
Unified Nondestructive Evaluation of Historical Artifacts (UNVEIL)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Doctoral Networks
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: France,Italy,United Kingdom,Germany,Belgium,Norway,Spain
Call: MSCA Doctoral Networks 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-DN-01, 2024)
Start date: 2026-03-01
End date: 2030-02-28
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3825035.18
EU funding (EUR): 3704283.0
Participants: 21
Project status: SIGNED

UNVEIL aims to transform the diagnostics and preservation of cultural heritage by developing and applying innovative NonDestructive Evaluation (NDE) techniques and advanced digital tools for diagnostics, conservation, and public engagement. The project addresses key challenges in cultural heritage preservation by focusing on two main objectives: a) enhancing surface and subsurface analysis of multilayered and 3D artworks through advanced NDE techniques, such as terahertz imaging, thermography, and ultrasonics; and b) integrating and visualising multimodal NDE data using data fusion, augmented reality, and digital twins to provide a holistic understanding of artworks’ condition and structure. To achieve these goals, UNVEIL brings together 21 partners from academia, industry, and cultural institutions in a highly interdisciplinary consortium. Research will be carried out by 12 Doctoral Candidates within a structured training programme combining cutting-edge research, hands-on experience, and cross-sectoral collaboration. Specific innovations include super-resolution terahertz imaging and advanced ultrasonic and thermographic methods tailored for cultural heritage. The development of digital twins and augmented-reality tools will enhance collaboration among conservation professionals and engage the public through interactive exhibits. UNVEIL aligns with the Horizon Europe Work Programme by addressing cultural heritage preservation challenges and promoting digital transformation in the cultural sector. It contributes to European innovation by fostering collaboration between engineering and humanities, advancing NDE methods, and training a new generation of researchers equipped to bridge these fields. By improving conservation practices, enriching public accessibility, and supporting sustainable cultural heritage management, UNVEIL has significant scientific, societal, and economic relevance.

Keywords: nondestructive evaluation cultural heritage diagnosis and conservation data fusion digital twins multi and hyper spectral imaging terahertz imaging ultrasonic imaging thermography
High-speed integrated ultra-violet electro-optic modulators (HEIVOM)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Physics
Countries involved: Germany
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-05-01
End date: 2027-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 217965.12
EU funding (EUR): 217965.12
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Quantum computing has the potential to revolutionize various fields including life science, communication, and artificial intelligence. Strontium-based neutral atoms are emerging as a promising approach to quantum computing due to their long coherence time and scalability potential. However, a key challenge in these systems is the optimal and scalable control of qubit gates at UV wavelengths, an area where there remains a significant gap. The objective of this project is to develop high-speed integrated electro-optic modulators (EOMs) at UV wavelengths for optimal, high-fidelity control of neutral-atom-based qubit gates. To date, attempts to realize such systems have faced obstacles due to challenges of suitable materials, nanofabrication techniques, and integrated UV optoelectronic measurement strategies. To address these, I propose using the novel thin-film lithium tantalate on insulator (LTOI) material platform and exploring its nanofabrication methodologies. The first aim is to develop design guidelines and nanofabrication processes for LTOI UV photonic integrated circuits (PICs). The second aim is to explore a high-efficiency UV coupling method based on 3D nanoprinting. The third aim is to establish an optoelectronic measurement setup and realize high-speed UV EOMs with a high extinction ratio. To achieve these goals, I will collaborate with leading experts and interdisciplinary researchers in my host group at UHEI, and leverage my strong background in photonics, nanofabrication, and electrical engineering. The integrated EOMs developed through this project will fill the gap in UV PICs and bring us closer to the full potential of quantum computing. This fellowship will enhance my scientific and transferable skills, foster pioneering work in UV optoelectronics and enable further collaborations. It will expand my international network and strengthen my leadership and management skills, which are crucial for my growth into a senior researcher.

Keywords: nanophotonics,waveguides,electro optic modulator,nanofabrication,ultra violet photonics,lithium tantalate on insulator,lithium niobate on insulator,quantum computing
Twistoptics: Manipulating Light-Matter Interactions at the Nanoscale with Twisted van der Waals Materials (TWISTOPTICS)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Condensed Matter Physics
Panel description: Structure, electronic properties, fluids, nanosciences, biological physics
Countries involved: Spain
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2021-COG, 2021)
Start date: 2022-12-01
End date: 2027-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999500.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999500.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Van der Waals (vdW) materials are ideal platforms to host light at the nanoscale (nanolight) with unprecedented properties such as strong in-plane anisotropy, arbitrarily large momenta and high density of optical states, opening the door to develop planar optical nanodevices compatible with current on-chip technologies. Remarkably, the in-plane anisotropic propagation of nanolight can be steered by stacking two slabs of a vdW material rotated with respect to each other, resulting, for example, in canalization along one specific direction. Inspired by this breakthrough in nano-optics, which extends the exciting prospects of twistronics to the optics realm, this ERC project aims to develop the field of Twistoptics, where stacks of twisted layers of vdW materials enable unprecedented active control of light and light-matter interactions at the nanoscale. In a first stage, we will carry out a study of the most fundamental optical phenomena in Twistoptics - reflection and refraction of nanolight in twisted vdW structures-, and develop a technological platform that will enable active manipulation of nanolight via strain fields. In a second stage, we will make use of this knowledge and technological capabilities to design and fabricate functional nanodevices to explore directional strong coupling between nanolight and molecular vibrations, as well as inter-subband transitions in 2D semiconductors -in order to develop quantum Twistoptics. This proposal envisions the modification of material properties and dynamics at the nanoscale and the realization of efficient and compact sources of IR radiation and polaritons working at room temperature. These fundamental scientific advances will be of enormous relevance for the development of new nanotechnologies that will have a broad impact in various fields, such as molecular nano-sensing, quantum nanosciences, or nano-chemistry, where active control of fundamental light-matter processes at the nanoscale is of vital importance.

Keywords: nano optics,van der waals materials,surface polaritons,nanoimaging
Shaping the future bioeconomy across sectoral, governmental and geographical levels (ShapingBio)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Theme: Bio-Environment
Destination: Innovative governance, environmental observations and digital solutions in support of the Green Deal
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Germany,Czechia,Spain,Belgium,Ireland,Italy,Bulgaria,France,Denmark
Call: Strengthening bioeconomy innovation and deployment across sectors and all governance levels (HORIZON-CL6-2021-GOVERNANCE-01, 2021)
Start date: 2022-09-01
End date: 2025-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3999412.5
EU funding (EUR): 3999412.5
Participants: 11
Project status: SIGNED

The overall aim of ShapingBio is to support and accelerate bioeconomy innovation and the deployment of new knowledge in the EU and its member states. ShapingBio aims to provide evidence-based and concrete information and recommendations for better policy alignment and stakeholder actions to realize the cross-sectoral potential of the bioeconomy and to reduce the fragmentation across bio-based sectors and food system and policies across regions, domains and governance levels. These actions contribute significantly to the bioeconomy strategy and Action Plan, the farm to fork strategy, the EU Green Deal policy priorities and the EU's Climate ambition for 2030 and 2050. For that purpose, ShapingBio aims to create a better understanding and information basis of the bioeconomy innovation eco-system by providing a comprehensive mapping and analysis of initiatives, structures, policy instruments and key gaps related to the topics policy and governance, applied R&D and technology transfer, (cross-sectoral) collaboration and financing across the EU macro-regions and different sectors. This will be carried out in close collaboration with various types of stakeholders from different sectors, by ensuring the involvement of all the relevant actors. Multi-actor groups will be set up to support policy advice design, but also to propose new forms of matchmaking, networking and knowledge-transfer. Those propositions will be implemented and tested in around twenty events. Based on these actions, recommendations for an effective governance in terms of policy instrument and their mixes will be derived as well as guidelines for different stakeholder groups for better collaboration and exploitation of bioeconomy innovations. Follow-up events will be conducted, to ensure that the recommendations are understood, actively reflected and implemented into stakeholders' activities and action plans to foster the deployment of bio-based innovations.

Keywords: food system bioeconomy governance
Tests and Applications of a Peripheral Interference Theory of Reading (TAPIR)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Panel description: Cognitive science, psychology, linguistics
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2024-STG, 2024)
Start date: 2025-01-01
End date: 2029-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Reading ability is essential in modern society. Yet, for many people it comes with considerable difficulty; and to cognition scientists it remains rather mysterious. Here I outline a plan for testing and applying a novel cognitive theory of reading. The plan expands my recent model, PONG (Snell, 2024, Psych Rev), with a groundbreaking perspective on visuo-spatial attention to capture many reading behaviours (WP1). The exciting prospect is that PONG in a single stroke informs three big debates: parallel processing (WP2), position-coding (WP3) and peripheral interference (WP4). In WP2, a novel combination of eye-tracking and EEG, Gaze-Contingent Rapid Invisible Frequency Tagging (GC-RIFT), will provide a first-ever direct window on the attentional distribution during reading. It is konwn taht yuo cna raed tihs fnie. But many readers also fail to see the error in 'Do love you me?'. The topic of word position coding is new to the field, and PONG predicts key roles for attention and statistical learning herein. WP3 uses GC-RIFT to track their relative contributions in time and space, propelling a first-ever unifying account of letter- and word position coding. PONG predicts that letter and word recognition is hindered by surrounding text; and possibly this is more severe in dyslexic readers. WP4 tests PONG's new account of dyslexia in which diffuse attention plays a causal role. An exciting element here is my new reading interface IRIS (the Interface that Reduces Interference using Saliency). Readers view texts while their eyes are tracked. Fixated words are shown at a higher contrast than surrounding text. Preliminary results show strikingly faster reading. Upgraded IRIS will tune its parameters to individual readers on the basis of incoming oculomotor data. This holds both theoretical and practical promise: testing dyslexic and non-dyslexic readers, IRIS' parameters will reveal reading profiles, to inform specific treatments and to further bolster the PONG theory.

Keywords: reading,orthographic processing
ColorSensing Tracking true colors (ColorSensing.)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: European innovation ecosystems
Theme: Elevating the scalability potential of European business
Destination: Elevating the scalability potential of European business
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Women TechEU (HORIZON-EIE-2022-SCALEUP-02, 2022)
Start date: 2023-06-01
End date: 2024-05-31
Duration (months): 12.0
Total project cost (EUR): 107142.86
EU funding (EUR): 75000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Reducing food waste is an issue that concerns us all; the ColorSensing company was born to contribute to this urgent global call by developing an affordable smart packaging solution to help packaged food manufacturers and retailers reduce waste and ensure the quality and safety of their products. Thanks to its CEO Mª Eugenia Martín, what began as an idea in the research laboratory of the University of Barcelona has already transcended into a minimally viable product, which consists of the use of a QR label (Smart label) with integrated Smart inks that are capable of to determine the actual state and conditions of packaged foods. Users can read these smart labels simply by taking a photo, and with our Smart reading program developed with our algorithm, they will receive quantified information about the real state of the food they intend to consume. All the elements that this innovation includes were created and developed by our company, offering an easy-to-use solution for the food packaging industry, which does not have the necessary technology to receive information about the quality and real state of conservation of food packaged throughout its useful life. As a result, we can improve the efficiency of the supply chain and reduce the costs involved in not having constant control of the real state of the food. Our product has already been tested with excellent results thanks to our participation in the Vegalsa project, where we monitor the condition of the meat with our QR labels and through an App developed by us in a supermarket chain. We offer a solution framed within the EU standards regarding the food packaging industry, where a medium-sized manufacturer can save more than €300,000/year by using our product. Furthermore, consuming packaged food with our integrated technology would guarantee the sanitary state of the food, allowing our company to become the new standard of quality and food safety.

Keywords: smart packaging solution,sensor,smart label,smart ink