Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Third Strategy in Tissue Engineering – Functional microfabricated multicellular spheroid carriers for tissue engineering and regeneration (THIRST)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator 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: Austria
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2017-COG, 2017)
Start date: 2018-05-01
End date: 2023-10-31
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999962.5
EU funding (EUR): 1746837.5
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

The field of tissue engineering (TE) pursues a noble goal, driven by the urgent need for tissue and organ repair. It is represented by a fairly large and extremely interdisciplinary scientific community. However, so far TE was not able to deliver to the expectations, with only a few examples of successful clinical translation mostly restricted to a particular disease or tissue type. Despite the fact that all major fundamental bottlenecks of conventional TE strategies have long been identified, a universal solution does not seem to be in sight. In this project I propose to launch a radically new approach, a third strategy in tissue engineering (THIRST), which holds the potential to produce a desperately needed technological breakthrough. THIRST relies on a tissue self-assembly from multicellular spheroids encaged within robust 3D printed microscaffolds. THIRST is enabled by a number of cutting-edge methods, some of which became relevant in the context of TE only recently. In combination, these methods offer a variety of new technological possibilities for the area of TE. The objectives of this project are focussed on establishing the means for automated large-scale production of tissue modules, protocols for microscaffold biofunctionalisation, and demonstrating THIRST potential with highly relevant clinical examples - cartilage, representing avascular tissue, and vascularized bone tissue. A distinct feature of THIRST is its universal applicability, meaning that such a tool-box can be further expanded to encompass other types of tissues without substantial adjustments to the basic tissue assembly procedure. The latter is particularly inspiring, taking into account the considerable regulatory hurdles associated with the development of new TE therapies. Due to its unconventional nature, realization of THIRST relies on overcoming several considerable technological challenges addressed by this project.

Keywords: biomedical engineering,tissue engineering,biomaterial engineering,laser based,microfabrication,additive manufacturing technologies
Ultralight membrane structures towards a sustainable environment (LIGHTEN)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Innovative Training Networks (ITN)-European Industrial Doctorates
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Italy,Italy,Switzerland,Netherlands,United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call: Innovative Training Networks (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2020, 2020)
Start date: 2020-11-01
End date: 2024-10-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1382415.01
EU funding (EUR): 1382415.01
Participants: 6
Project status: SIGNED

Clean energy transition imposes a drastic change of paradigm in the building construction technology. Among the several anthropogenic sources of pollution, building construction industry produces the highest environmental footprint, with massive global energy consumption and vast CO2 emission. Moreover, the enormous demand for buildings in rapidly developing countries characterised by extreme climates can cause an environmental shock, which can hardly be tolerated by our planet. LIGHTEN project aims to foster a new generation of highly qualified scientists and engineers to become experts in advanced design methods for a sustainable built environment. Novel fully recyclable and low-carbon structural membranes offer a thinner and green alternative to glass and other transparent cladding materials when implemented in lightweight buildings, resulting in significant weight savings in the envelope and supporting structures, thus drastically reducing the environmental impact. The remarkably incomplete scientific and technological understanding of the thermomechanical behaviour of such innovative structural membranes requires the development of engineering models capable of predicting their performances and allowing their rational use in ultralightweight buildings with enhanced energy efficiency and resilience. Experimental characterisation, mechanical modelling, computer simulation, and structural design will be taught and developed to educate the researchers through a tailored and integrated doctoral program jointly supervised by industrial and academic partners. The trained researchers will be equipped with unprecedented technical abilities and environmental sensitivity, to exploit the opportunities provided by the built environment sustainability challenge, in response to the Paris Climate Act for highly efficient and fully decarbonising buildings by 2050.

Keywords: solid mechanics,structural mechanics,computational mechanics
Fighting with Words: Poetic Duelling and its Performance across the Mediterranean (DUEL)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Spreading excellence and widening participation
Programme: Widening participation and spreading excellence
Theme: Other Widening
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Countries involved: Cyprus
Call: Widening Fellowships (H2020-WF-01-2018, 2018)
Start date: 2019-09-01
End date: 2021-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 157941.12
EU funding (EUR): 157941.12
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

DUEL is the first comparative study of poetic duelling across the Mediterranean. It focuses on six islands found in six Mediterranean European countries, moving from East to West: Cyprus, Crete (Greece), Malta, Sardinia (Italy), Corsica (France), and Majorca (Spain). At the heart of DUEL are two central questions: How are poetic duels performed, and what do they mean for both the producers (the performers) and the consumers (the audience) of this practice in the six chosen islands? Rather than looking at poetry or music in isolation, DUEL brings the poetic, musical, ethnographic, gender and performative aspects of this practice together in a ‘bottom-up’ study that puts the people involved in poetic duelling centre stage. Using an interdisciplinary approach and combining methods from ethnomusicology, life writing, visual anthropology, oral and cultural history, DUEL aims to bring performers from the six islands together on the page (in a book), on the screen (in an ethnographic documentary), and on the stage (in a festival). While the project is informed by theory, it is not side-tracked by it. The emphasis is on creating a vivid portrait of this performance practice (written, visual, and aural) that can have the greatest possible impact on academic and non-academic audiences alike. This is in line with the EU’s policy for making culture ‘accessible and inclusive’. There is a sense of urgency attached to this project, as it concerns a dying tradition practised among groups of performers across Europe who are also fast disappearing. In addition to interviewing performers through extended periods of fieldwork and recording poetic duelling performances in their particular social and cultural contexts, this project will also contribute to the understanding and preservation of European intangible heritage, against an increasing trend of homogenisation of both the production and the consumption of culture.

Keywords: oral poetry,poetic duelling,ethnography,gender in poetic duelling,mediterranean,island studies
Blockchain Attack and Defense Techniques (BAnDIT)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Innovative Training Networks (ITN)-European Industrial Doctorates
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: Spain,Spain,France
Call: Innovative Training Networks (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018, 2018)
Start date: 2019-03-01
End date: 2023-02-28
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1051413.84
EU funding (EUR): 1051413.8399999999
Participants: 5
Project status: SIGNED

As we move to the Internet-of-Things, the number of devices which will be connecting to the Internet – many of them without any direct human control - is estimated in billions in the immediate future. In October 2016, the Mirai Botnet performed the largest Denial-of-Service attack in history using infected consumer devices, showing how pressing is the need to properly secure the IoT. In parallel, a new technology has emerged which will be key in any future development in this sense: the blockchain. Initially designed as the backbone of Bitcoin a decade ago, Blockchain Technologies (BCT) are seen now as powerful digital abstraction of trust and stand out as a promising alternative to deal with it in the online world. Several initiatives are moving towards using BCT for securing the IoT, and the academic and industrial sector are participating in a race to envision and design new applications of BCT. However, there are few experts with a solid scientific background in IT Technologies who also have first-hand knowledge of the needs of the industry and who understand the financial and regulatory challenges of BCT. These professionals can be key to articulate converge of the BCT and the IoT technologies, to envision and create new business opportunities for the European economy. BAnDiT or Advanced Blockchain Attacks and Defense Techniques is an innovative research training network with two beneficiary organizations, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in the academic sector and Nokia Bell Labs in the private sector, which aims at bridging this gap. UPF will contribute through the network her knowledge and research experience in the departments of Information and Communication Technologies, Economics and Law and Nokia its hands-on experience in BCT. Partner organisations will contribute with transversal training events and providing access to existing blockchain ecosystems to test the results of the research conducted by the ESRs.

Keywords: blockchain security,iot attacks,iot defense,security auditing,security policies
Individual decisions and macroeconomic robustness (INDIMACRO)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Individuals, Markets and Organisations
Panel description: Economics, finance and management
Countries involved: Italy
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2014-ADG, 2014)
Start date: 2015-10-01
End date: 2021-09-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1394716.0
EU funding (EUR): 1394716.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Model uncertainty is a key issue and an active research area in Macro-Finance. Its study, pioneered by Hansen and Sargent, substantially improves the treatment of uncertainty in Macro-Finance models and the robustness of their conclusions. The interest of central banks on problems related to model uncertainty is a clear signal of the relevance of this novel concept and the related theoretical framework. Model uncertainty in Macro-Finance and ambiguity in Decision Theory share a common insight that inspires empirical and theoretical developments: the agents’ ignorance about the “true” probabilistic model that governs the uncertain environments they face. With few exceptions, decision theorists have studied ambiguity mostly in static contexts that are insufficient for the analysis of the steady state and dynamic decision problems that characterize Macro-Finance. Hence, this field keeps relying on decision models that cannot cope with model uncertainty. Our research agenda aims to create a unified Macro-Finance and Decision Theory framework for the study of model uncertainty, which broadens the scope of Decision Theory and provides novel foundations for a common framework. We will build new steady state and dynamic decision models that are powerful enough for a general analysis of model uncertainty in Macro-Finance. We will also develop a self-confirming equilibrium analysis, which by leaving room for agents to have “wrong” views about models, can much more naturally confront agents with model uncertainty than the rational expectations approach. Our project will foster cross-fertilization and lead to a deeper understanding of the empirical and theoretical effects of uncertainty in Macro-Finance phenomena. Because model uncertainty is pervasive (e.g., which climate model to use? which is the correct production function for human capital?), we expect that our theoretical findings will push the research frontier and the analysis of the role of uncertainty in other fields.

Keywords: decision theory,ambiguity,model uncertainty,robustness
Secure and protected interoperability (SPIN)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Sweden
Call: Open Disruptive Innovation Scheme (implemented through the SME instrument) (H2020-SMEINST-1-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2015-07-01
End date: 2015-12-31
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The objective of the proposed project as a whole (phase 1-3) is to plan, develop, secure and bring to the global market an interoperability platform as a service that enables secure and protected information sharing and cooperation between sovereign partners, their products, systems, services and/or apps, with, up to military grade security. inclose will address security and integrity challenges in a hyper-connected world where organisations and individuals will want and need to interact and share information with each other in a way were their integrity and privacy are protected. In comparison to other platforms available on the market no data is stored on inclose. Information is not possible to access for inclose i.e. only recievers, who also fulfill the requirements set by the information owner, will be able to access data. The platform will be opened up for development of modules/services and will, due to its non-proprietary, have the capacity to leverage the global software industry and serve as a secure back-end to Internet-of-Things. inclose can be used by customers across all markets and segments facing difficulties in finding solutions that meet the requirements they have on security and integrity when working or sharing information with others. inclose is based on over 10 years of concept development, demonstrations and prototyping in domains that have very high requirements on interoperability, security and integrity.

Keywords: interoperability,digital security,integrity,hyperconnectivity,cyber security,collaboration
Brain and body rhythms: on the relationship between movement and percept (BBRhythms)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Panel description: Cognitive science, psychology, linguistics, theoretical philosophy
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2015-STG, 2015)
Start date: 2016-07-01
End date: 2021-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1422907.0
EU funding (EUR): 1422907.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Exciting findings from animal electrophysiological research in the last years suggest that an increased rate of body movements results in an enhanced response of neurons within the visual system despite the absence of visual changes. It is unclear why such modulation occurs in areas which process visual input. In humans, little is known about the influence of body movements on sensory brain areas mainly due to the technical challenges of measuring brain responses during pronounced muscle activity. However, psychophysical studies in humans show that also percept and perceptual demands are connected to the rate of movements. These two lines of evidence suggest a general link between rhythmic body movements and perceptual processes. The main aim of the proposed research is to decode the relationship between body movements and percept and to identify the underlying mechanism. To this end human non-invasive recordings from electro- and magnetoencephalography (EEG, MEG) as well as invasive human and animal multi-electrode recordings collected during movement execution will be analyzed. Directly relating perceptual processes and their underlying neuronal oscillations to rhythmic body movements offers an approach circumventing some of the methodological problems. This research could uncover a new mechanism of how our system modulates perceptual processes through body movements. The proof of such a mechanism would constitute a ground-breaking step in understanding perception during natural behavior. We need to keep in mind that in the awake state our body is constantly in motion. However, up to now, the vast majority of studies which investigate sensory brain responses are conducted under strict movement suppression. Besides facilitating exciting new insights, this research can strengthen the assumption that the knowledge we have gathered about artificial situations generalizes to our natural behavior.

Keywords: brain oscillations,ecog,subdural electrode,monkey,human,locomotion,eye movements,hippocampus
Institutions for Resilient Groundwater Dependent Rural Economies (RURECO)

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: Economic Sciences
Countries involved: France
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2016, 2016)
Start date: 2018-02-01
End date: 2020-01-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 173076.0
EU funding (EUR): 173076.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Groundwater is a strategic resource for modern economies worldwide; yet it is over-exploited at an alarming rate. New forms of governance are sought, in particular in rural areas with intensive agricultural irrigation where authorities lack the means to regulate large numbers of dispersed users. During the Fellowship, I will develop new understanding of strategies and institutional arrangements for increasing the resilience of groundwater dependent rural economies, and develop and test a methodology that support local actors to design collective solutions. Overall, the Fellowship aims to: (1) carry out a global assessment of strategies and institutions currently used worldwide; (2) develop a participatory foresight methodology to support the design of innovative strategies and institutional arrangements in two case studies; and (3) promote academic exchange and disseminate research. The Fellowship will enable me to strengthen my empirical and theoretical knowledge of the design of institutions for common-pool resource management and natural resource management, and position me as a leading scholar in the competitive research community on environmental and institutional economics. A carefully crafted series of scientific exchanges and collaborations will expand my outreach to a global level, and open opportunities for new research collaborations. The French Geological Survey (BRGM), France, is the ideal host organisation to carry out this research because of its established expertise on groundwater management with an emphasis on inter-disciplinary research of high societal relevance, and its extensive global networks. I will contribute to BRGM’s current research agenda and strengthen its collaborations in and outside Europe. My research will contribute to Europe’s knowledge base economy by providing new insights to safeguard society against water-related vulnerabilities.

Keywords: institutional economics,common pool resource management,groundwater governance,participatory foresight,water scarcity,agricultural development
DYNAMICE: An integrated framework for biomechanical phenotyping of arteries to disentangle mechanical causes of arterial stiffening in diabetes (DYNAMICE)

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-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2019-04-01
End date: 2022-03-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 260929.8
EU funding (EUR): 260929.8
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Accelerated arterial stiffening, an important complication in diabetes, increases cardiac workload eventually leading to heart failure. The arterial wall —consisting of elastin, collagen, smooth muscle, and glycosaminoglycans— may stiffen in diabetes due to 1) advanced glycation end-product (AGE)-induced collagen cross-linking, 2) calcification, or 3) changed glycosaminoglycan composition. The exact mechanical stiffening effects of these processes are unknown. Current preclinical, state-of-the-art measurement methods characterise arterial wall mechanics under static conditions. However, AGE-induced and glycosaminoglycan-associated wall stiffening may particularly affect dynamic characteristics (viscoelasticity) — especially relevant in vivo where arteries are subject to pulsatile blood pressure. The novel set-up for mechanical characterisation under such dynamic conditions I have previously developed still requires a matching computer modelling framework to correctly interpret the multidimensional, dynamic measurement data. I aim to 1) develop this modelling framework and 2) use it to quantify the characteristics of diabetes-associated stiffening processes by studying murine arteries with increased calcification, collagen cross-linking, glycosaminoglycan content, and combinations thereof. The forthcoming measurement platform —already sparking interest among international collaborators— enables realistic preclinical biomechanical arterial characterisation and will be the integrative keystone in my multidisciplinary research career. Its application to diabetes-associated arterial stiffening may yield breakthrough target and focus to further treatment of patients. Furthermore, its accessibility to (inter)national collaborators will be ensured by its implementation at the independent Special Skills & Advanced Phenotyping unit at the Maastricht University Biomedical Center — a dedicated core laboratory for phenotyping of small animal models.

Keywords: blood vessel mechanics,structure function interaction,constitutive computer modelling,tissue structure,arterial stiffness,hypertension,vascular complications of diabetes,large arteries