Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Artificial Lanthanide Enzymes for Selective Photocatalysis: 'Enlightening' Metalloenzyme Design and Evolution (PhotoLanZyme)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting 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: Germany
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2021-STG, 2021)
Start date: 2022-05-01
End date: 2027-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Enzymes are efficient and selective biocatalysts. They are in high demand in chemical and pharmaceutical industry, as they facilitate more sustainable production processes. However, it remains challenging to develop novel enzymes that catalyze reactions beyond nature's synthetic repertoire. To tackle this problem, I propose a fundamentally new approach that merges metal-dependent chemical photocatalysis with enzyme engineering. Photoexcitation is a powerful catalytic tool. It enables alternative modes of substrate activation by generating radical intermediates. Controlling these reactive species to confer regio- and stereoselectivity, however, is a major challenge in synthetic chemistry. The key idea of this proposal is thus to perform photocatalytic reactions inside the chiral environment of artificial metalloproteins, which can be optimized efficiently by directed evolution. My group recently established the formation of lanthanide-protein complexes from highly stable, computationally designed protein scaffolds. Based on this work, we now aim to engineer a photoenzymatic platform for synthetically valuable chemistry. The main goal is to implement and optimize lanthanide photocatalysis in these proteins to facilitate stereoselective C-H activation and C-C bond forming reactions. Moreover, a fundamental mechanistic understanding how such new photocatalytic function emerges in proteins will be crucial for enzyme engineering. To that end, I propose a strategy that mimics natural evolution in a two-step process. Starting from libraries of naive small proteins, a high-throughput screen will first identify lanthanide binders, which are then exposed to a selection system that couples the survival of a bacterial host to an enzymatic detoxification reaction. PhotoLanZyme will yield a new class of sustainable and stereoselective photobiocatalysts. The approach is transferable to other photoredox-active metals, emphasizing its broad potential for synthetic applications.

Keywords: artificial metalloenzymes,photoredox catalysis,photo biocatalysis,directed evolution,stereoselective c h activation,stereoselective c c bond formation,enzyme design,protein engineering,lanthanides,cerium photocatalysis
Brain Endothelium - TARgeted Gene therapy to improve Aβ clearance in Alzheimer’s Disease (BEndTarG)

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: Spain
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01, 2021)
Start date: 2022-09-01
End date: 2024-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 165312.96
EU funding (EUR): 165312.96
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia (60-80% of cases) with a prevalence near 50 million people. There is no cure available and there are only two classes of approved drugs that are effective in treat some of the cognitive symptoms and potentially delay the clinical decline. Despite the considerable progress achieved in the research of best performing disease-modifying agents, the main clinical challenge remains the accomplishment of an efficient and safe therapeutic option that can arrest the disease progression and prevent cognitive failure. In this project, I am proposing an innovative approach to improve AD pathophysiology by targeting the brain endothelium to improve the Amyloid-β (Aβ) clearance using gene therapy. I will use super-selective nanocarriers to carry relevant genes for the enhancement of the Aβ clearance mechanism. These nanocarriers will be functionalised to allow the specific targeting of brain endothelial cells and to increase its potency to deliver the therapeutic gene into these cells. This project will combine for the first time, the use of super-selective binding strategies and gene therapy for brain endothelium targeting and modulation in the context of AD. Overall, I will develop an innovative therapy for AD treatment, capable of reaching the BBB in a non-invasive way, being able to target the brain endothelium, overcome the defective Aβ transendothelial clearance, and potentially arrest the disease progression and prevent cognitive failure. Therefore, this project will reach a global impact by substantially contributing with a novel avenue to change the clinical course of AD pathogenesis.

Keywords: blood brain barrier,gene delivery,transcytosis,amyloid transport,alzheimer disease
Sexual and Reproductive Outcomes of Violent Crime (SeRO)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Human Mobility, Environment, and Space
Panel description: Human geography, demography, health, susta inability science, territorial planning, spatial analysis
Countries involved: Sweden
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2025-STG, 2025)
Start date: 2026-01-01
End date: 2030-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1637905.0
EU funding (EUR): 1637905.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Violent crime affects countries on all continents, with known negative impacts on victims and society. Recent research highlights that even nearby violence, without direct victimization, can affect people’s well-being. Sexual and reproductive health is a fundamental aspect of human well-being with profound importance for individuals, families, and societies. Yet, how local violent crime affects sexual and reproductive health remains poorly understood. The SeRO project provides the first systematic account of the consequences of local violent crime on sexual and reproductive health. SeRO focuses on Mexico, which is an ideal case study due to its recent dramatic surge and strong variation in violent crime, highly stratified sexual and reproductive health, and uniquely rich data resources. The project builds on an innovative mixed-methods research design, combining nationally representative surveys, administrative records, clinic data, and in-depth interviews. SeRO will: (1) Investigate how exposure to local violent crime affects sexual and reproductive health (2) Identify mechanisms mediating the impact of local violent crime on health (3) Analyze variations across intersecting social groups (4) Examine how society responds to violent crime regarding sexual and reproductive health Personal safety and sexual and reproductive health are key indicators of development, quality of life, and basic freedoms. SeRO breaks new ground in an emerging interdisciplinary field focused on the social, demographic, and health consequences of violence and crises. This research advances knowledge about local violence as a social determinant of health, analyzing how individuals are affected by complex social contexts, navigate their life courses, and respond to societal pressures and opportunities. The SeRO project will provide recommendations for future intervention research and evidence-based policies to address the health costs of violent crime, with relevance for diverse settings.

Keywords: sexual and reproductive health,gender based violence,gender norms,violent crime
Mechanics-tailored Functional Ceramics via Dislocations (MECERDIS)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Materials Engineering
Panel description: Advanced materials development: performance enhancement, modelling, large -scale preparation, modification, tailoring, optimisation, novel  and combined use of materials, etc.
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2022-STG, 2022)
Start date: 2023-04-01
End date: 2028-03-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499250.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499250.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Advanced functional ceramics play an indispensable role in our modern society and they are typically engineered by point defects or interfaces. The potential of dislocations (one-dimensional atomic distortions) in functional ceramics has been greatly underestimated until most recently. Exciting proofs-of-concept have been demonstrated for dislocation-tuned functionality such as electrical conductivity, superconductivity, and ferroelectric properties, revealing a new horizon of dislocation technology in ceramics for a wide range of next-generation applications from sensors, actuators to energy converters. However, it is widely known that ceramics are hard (difficult to deform) and brittle (easy to fracture), making it a great challenge to tailor dislocations in ceramics. This pressing bottleneck hinders the dislocation-tuned functionality and the true realization of dislocation technology. To break through this bottleneck, MECERDIS employs mechanics-guided design coupled with external fields (thermal, light illumination, electric field) to manipulate the 3 most fundamental factors of dislocation mechanics: nucleation, multiplication, and motion. These external fields greatly impact the charged dislocation cores in ceramics and open new routes for mechanical tuning. With these novel approaches, MECERDIS aims to generate, control, and stabilize dislocations in large plastic volumes up to mm-size with high density up to 10^15/m^2 to allow large-scale preparation for functionality assessment. Another essential benefit is, dislocations are an effective tool to combat the brittleness of ceramics by improving the damage tolerance and fracture toughness. MECERDIS will not only fulfil the key prerequisite of dislocation-tuned functionality but also secure the mechanical integrity and operational stability of future dislocation-based devices. With its success, MECERDIS will define a new paradigm of engineering functional ceramics using mechanics and dislocations.

Keywords: dislocation
Smart European Networks for Sensing the Environment and Internet quality (SENSEI)

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
Partnership: Photonics (co-programmed)
Countries involved: Italy,France,Iceland,Germany,Malta,Greece
Call: Smart photonics for joint communication & sensing and access everywhere (Photonics Partnership) (RIA) (HORIZON-CL4-2024-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01, 2024)
Start date: 2024-12-01
End date: 2027-11-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4972820.0
EU funding (EUR): 4972820.0
Participants: 17
Project status: SIGNED

The project aims to develop new tools and methods to operate global telecommunication networks as large-scale distributed sensors. We will develop novel photonic techniques for measuring the deformation of optical cables by interferometric means with high sensitivity and high resolution, making use of low-phase-noise laser sources. We will address the on-chip integration of such lasers, overcoming one important limit of present systems, i.e. of being bulky, costly and not suitable for mass-production and large scale implementation. At the same time, we will design an advanced network architecture in which the newly-developed sensing elements are made visible to the network control layer together with standard elements, and the information is processed and turned into exploitable information. This will provide the network with intelligence and awareness, in turns enabling: a wiser use of resources towards a more sustainable operation of global networks; self-healing functionalities by timely recognition of soft-failures and identification of correction pathways; time-critical tasks such as recognition of ongoing hazard and the implementation of actions to protect population and critical infrastructures. Our consortium brings together optical networking experts, photonic developers, seismologists and network providers and has a strong focus on long-term experimental tests in fibres shared with data traffic. Through unprecedented data collection campaigns and thanks to a multi-disciplinary approach, we will advance the interpretation of collected data and make them available to the wider scientifc community, aiming for a synergic and smarter exploitation of global networks for telecommunications, scientific research, citizen protection and the management of highly-populated areas.
Support and coordination of the European Technology and Innovation Platform on Wind Energy (ETIPWind) and the SET-Plan Implementation Working Group on Offshore Wind (IWG OW). (SETIPWind)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Climate, Energy and Mobility
Theme: Energy
Destination: Sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Belgium
Call: Support to the activities of the ETIPs and technology areas of the SET Plan (HORIZON-CL5-2021-D3-02, 2021)
Start date: 2022-09-01
End date: 2025-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 996107.5
EU funding (EUR): 996107.5
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The EU has committed to becoming the first climate neutral continent by 2050 and counts on wind energy to become the backbone of a sustainable and reliable European energy system. The European Commission expects wind energy to meet 30% of electricity demand by 2030 and 50% by 2050, from 16% today. To deliver on these ambitions the EU will need clear guidance on the wind energy Research & Innovation challenges and how to address them by 2030 and 2050. ETIPWind was established in 2016 by WindEurope with the support from the European Commission to bring stakeholders together to inform policymaking on the priority areas of Research & Innovation that will contribute to meet the EU’s climate and energy goals. This project, SETIPWind, will strengthen the activities of the European Technology and Innovation Platform on Wind Energy (ETIPWind) and the SET Plan Implementation Working Group on Offshore Wind (IWG OW) so they continue providing guidance on R&I through clearly formulated recommendations in a timely fashion. It will also foster cohesion and knowledge sharing among all energy research stakeholders to ensure robust implementation of the EU’s SET-Plan Implementation Plans. The project will achieve these objectives by establishing a joint Secretariat for both ETIPWind and the IWG OW that closely coordinates their activities, creating a joint work programme centred on EU energy and R&I policy-setting milestones, and offering more opportunities for stakeholder experts to come together and provide their feedback on the policy-making processes. The project will also connect the ETIPWind and IWG OW more closely with the other ETIPs and SET Plan stakeholder groups and develop joint positions, reports, and dissemination activities.
Voice Communication Sciences (VoCS)

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: Social Sciences and Humanities
Countries involved: France,Germany,Netherlands,Norway,Hungary,Spain,Czechia,Finland,Denmark,Switzerland,United Kingdom,Japan
Call: MSCA Doctoral Networks 2023 (HORIZON-MSCA-2023-DN-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-12-01
End date: 2028-11-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4428607.89
EU funding (EUR): 4070023.2
Participants: 26
Project status: SIGNED

With AI-driven advances, the rapidly developing field of voice technology (VT) has transformed European life through voice assistants, text-to-speech systems, and cochlear implants. However, severe challenges remain in processing paralinguistic information such as identity, emotional state or health in voices. The Voice Communication Sciences (VoCS) project is an ambitious initiative to address these challenges and advance Europe's position at the forefront of VT. VoCS aims to train a new generation of scientists with interdisciplinary expertise in Voice Communication Sciences. The project gathers a consortium of 23 academic and non-academic partners across 12 countries, collaborating to provide a world-class training-by-research program. The primary goal is to equip 19 doctoral candidates (DCs) with integrated knowledge spanning cognitive neuroscience, acoustics, phonetics, and computing science, via a unique combination of hands-on research training in labs, with cross-sectorial workshops in fundamental, technological, and clinical domains relevant to voice communication. The project's innovative aspects lie in its comprehensive approach to voice processing, bridging disciplines from neuroscience to engineering. The VoCS research program is structured around three scientific objectives: (1) advancing basic knowledge of natural voice processing, exploring paralinguistic information in voices; (2) building on these insights to design more natural and flexible synthetic voices; (3) transferring this knowledge into user-oriented applications in health and forensics, including the improvement of voice perception for hearing-impaired individuals, advancements in forensic speaker comparison methods, and the development of tools to combat deepfake speech. VoCS aims to contribute not only to scientific knowledge but also to the exponential growth of the VT industry by creating a network of skilled experts shaping the future of VT in Europe.

Keywords: voice technology,acoustics,phonetics,cognitive neuroscience,artificial intelligence,synthetic voices,hearing aids,forensics,voice quality,social signal processing,digital health,perception
Agricultural Productivity and Technology Adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa (ADAPT)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Individuals, Markets and Organisations
Panel description: Economics, finance , management
Countries involved: Sweden
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2023-COG, 2023)
Start date: 2024-06-01
End date: 2029-05-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1575812.0
EU funding (EUR): 1575812.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Agricultural productivity is strikingly low in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, exposing the large fraction of the population who lives from agriculture to low incomes and periods of hunger. Despite high returns to modern agricultural inputs elsewhere, their adoption in the region has been persistently low over the past decades. In the absence of adaptation, climate change is expected to severely impact the agricultural productivity of Sub-Saharan Africa. I propose three projects which will significantly improve our ability to understand the effect of modern agricultural inputs for agricultural productivity, and encourage their efficient adoption. First, existing methods for measuring the outcome of interest are notoriously imprecise, or costly, which is a fundamental limitation for research on agricultural productivity in developing countries. I will develop and evaluate an approach to substantially improve the precision with which researchers can measure agricultural output, at low costs. Second, existing approaches to encourage the adoption of modern agricultural inputs have had muted success. I will test a potentially highly impactful, novel approach: teaching farmers how to assess the returns to agricultural inputs on their own plots. In light of heterogeneous returns to input adoption across plots, this promises to encourage the right farmers to adopt the right inputs for their plots. And third, existing approaches to assess the degree of misallocation of inputs and associated output losses rely on strong functional form assumptions. I will leverage the plot-level estimates of returns generated in the second project as well as the knowledge embedded in bio-physical models of plant growth to quantify the extent of misallocation of inputs in agriculture. This radically new methodology to quantify misallocation will yield substantially more credible estimates, and has the potential to significantly expand the possibilities to learn about the sources of misallocation.

Keywords: agricultural productivity,technology adoption,climate adaptation,poverty,economic development,misallocation
Positive Peace and Mobilities: Europe and Latin America (Peace and Mobilities)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Staff Exchanges
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Social Sciences and Humanities
Countries involved: Germany,Spain,Italy,Mexico,Colombia,Ukraine,Netherlands,Chile
Call: MSCA Staff Exchanges 2023 (HORIZON-MSCA-2023-SE-01, 2023)
Start date: 2025-01-01
End date: 2028-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1656000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1656000.0
Participants: 8
Project status: SIGNED

The research program seeks to provide a conceptualization of peace´s vision which provides new understandings for the conceptualization for peace beyond the absence of violence. These visions of peace are produced by people on the move. We did not found research available about this topic. We will fill a gap in the current research both peace-conflict studies and migrations studies about the role of people on move in construction of peace. Moreover, we want to track and analyze violence suffered by people on the move both on the way to their destiny and in societies which are not normally categorized as violent or conflictive. This is to des-sedentarize peace and violence studies in order to understand the way in which peace and violence are also mobilized.

Keywords: mobilities peace studies memory studies media studies positive peace