Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Benchtop DNP polarizer enabling highly sensitive hyperpolarized NMR analysis (BenchHyp)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Proof of concept grants
Action type: ERC actions
Countries involved: France
Call: ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS (ERC-2025-POC, 2025)
Start date: 2025-11-01
End date: 2027-04-30
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a powerful analytical technique in chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and metabolomics, but requires complex and expensive infrastructure, limiting its widespread adoption. Since recently, the development of Benchtop NMR spectrometers offers a simple, compact, and low-cost alternative compared to traditional high-field systems, and their market has seen a significant growth. However, benchtop NMR faces a critical restraint which is its order of magnitude lower sensitivity. Hyperpolarization by dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (dDNP) offers a solution by dramatically enhancing NMR signal strength but is limited to a handful of groups due to its complexity and dramatic costs, as it operates at high-fields and very low temperatures. The BenchHyp project introduces a breakthrough approach by developing a compact, reusable, and scalable hyperpolarization system compatible with benchtop NMR spectrometers. The core innovation is a flow cryostat with a sliding-sample mechanism, enabling continuous hyperpolarization without sample destruction or dilution. Unlike conventional dDNP, BenchHyp allows multiple reuses of hyperpolarized solutions, significantly reducing costs and enabling real-time, repeated measurements for applications in chemical analysis, pharmaceutical quality control, and metabolomics. This Proof of Concept will advance the technology from TRL 2 to TRL 4, focusing on prototype optimization, industrial validation, and market assessment. The project will also explore commercialization pathways, evaluating licensing, co-development with industry, or a spin-off. An IP strategy and freedom-to-operate analysis will be conducted to safeguard the innovation. BenchHyp has the potential to revolutionize benchtop NMR, bridging the gap between cutting-edge hyperpolarization and routine laboratory applications, paving the way for its widespread industrial adoption and market deployment.
BESPOKE – Bacterial Enzyme and Surface Polymer Exploration Kit (BESPOKE)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2025-COG, 2025)
Start date: 2026-05-01
End date: 2031-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999675.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999675.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major health challenge and predicted to be associated with 8-10 million deaths per year by 2050. Gram-positive pathogens from the genus Enteroccocus and Gram-negative extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) are critical multidrug-resistant bacteria for which effective therapies are urgently needed. Both pathogens cause various types of infections, can survive in different biological niches, and can even be a beneficial part of the human gut microbiome. Glycoconjugate vaccines have proven highly effective for the prevention of bacterial infections. However, their development for Enterococcus spp. and ExPEC infections is hindered by the lack of knowledge about (i) the diversity, structure and identity of cell surface polymers expressed on Enterococcus spp. and ExPEC, (ii) how these polymers determine the biological niche a strain inhibits or the type of infection it causes, and (iii) what polymers to target to distinguish between beneficial and harmful strains. In BESPOKE we will explore and exploit bacterial cell surface polymers of Enterococcus spp. and ExPEC in an unprecedented manner. Using a bottom-up approach - from genome, to enzyme, to polymer – we aim to synthesize and structurally characterize the cell surface polymers in a pathogen-free way to elucidate the structural diversity that is presented to the human immune system during various types of infection. In addition, we will explore and biochemically investigate the as yet poorly understood cell wall polymer biosynthesis machineries on genome and enzyme level to make them available as marker for the surveillance of local epidemiology and as synthesis tools for biotechnological exploitation. Finally, we aim to build a highly versatile mix-and-match platform for the synthesis of glycoconjugate vaccines against bacterial infections that will help fight AMR and allow to respond quickly to local changes in epidemiology.

Keywords: enzymatic synthesis of polysaccharides and vaccine antigen,characterization of biosynthesis pathway and structure of bacterial surface polysaccharides
MagnetoElectric and Ultrasonic Technology for Advanced BRAIN modulation (HOP-ON) (META-BRAIN-HOP-ON)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area
Programme: Widening participation and spreading excellence
Theme: Improved access to Excellence
Destination: Improved access to Excellence
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Spain,Cyprus
Call: Hop on Facility (HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-06, 2023)
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 470250.0
EU funding (EUR): 470250.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

The pathological alterations of neurological function (e.g. stroke, trauma, neurodegeneration, epilepsy, neuropsychiatric diseases, chronic pain) are commonly associated with alterations in brain rhythms and activity patterns. There is an urgent clinical need for treatments that can precisely control and restore neural activity, taking advantage of state-of-the-art technological developments in a variety of fields including nanotechnology, nano- and microelectronics, novel materials, brain science, clinical neurology, and computational modelling. META-BRAIN (MagnetoElectric and Ultrasonic Technology for Advanced BRAIN modulation) brings together seven expert partners in these fields with the aim of achieving precise spatiotemporal control of brain activity using magnetoelectric nanoarchitectures that can be polarized by non-invasive, remote magnetic fields. This novel principle of brain activity control will minimize the amplitude of the required magnetic fields, be wireless, and have enhanced spatial resolution from single neurons to cortical areas. We will develop a model-driven fabrication of the coils and monitor the effects on brain function with arrays of graphene microtransistors that uniquely allow full-band recording, integrating all elements in a closed loop. As an alternative to remote brain stimulation we will also use novel ultrasonic technologies. The META-BRAIN control paradigm will be systematically studied in pre-clinical systems from individual neurons to the full brain. All developments and experiments will be carried out in conjunction with theoretical models that will simulate, quantify, and predict optimal arrangements and patterns for the desired output. Translation to humans will be evaluated with our clinical partners, and a detailed dissemination and exploitation plan will be developed by two expert company partners, one of which has extensive expertise in the fabrication of brain interface devices with a worldwide distribution capability.

Keywords: cerebral cortex,neuromodulation,nanoarchitectures,magnetic stimulation,ultrasonic,cmut,brain,neuroscience,graphene microtransistors,slow oscillations,brain activity,computational neuroscience
Defusing mini-chromosomes—the Achilles’ heel of the wheat blast pandemic (PANDEMIC)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Biotechnology and Biosystems E ngineering
Panel description: Biotechnology using all organisms , biotechnology for environment  and food applications, applied plant and animal sciences , bioengineering and synthetic biology , biomass and biofuels , biohazards
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2022-STG, 2022)
Start date: 2023-10-01
End date: 2028-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499999.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499999.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

PANDEMIC is an ambitious high-risk/high-gain program to deliver an innovative pathogen-guided strategy for crop disease resistance. The wheat blast pandemic is a clear and present danger to global food security. It is caused by the blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, which, after emerging in Brazil only ~35 years ago, has spread over the last 5 years to Southeast Asia and Africa. We discovered that all isolates of the pandemic wheat blast fungus belong to a single, asexual clonal lineage. These pandemic isolates carry a supernumerary mini-chromosome (mChr) of ~2 Mb, which encodes 19 secreted effector (virulence) proteins and renders the pandemic lineage highly virulent. We propose that this mChr is the Achilles’ heel of the pandemic fungus. In PANDEMIC, my team and I will target the mChr virulence properties by gene editing and engineering of disease resistance genes that target mChr-encoded effectors. The central hypothesis of this project is, that detailed knowledge about the biophysical properties of pathogen effector-host target interactions can guide bioengineering of non-transgenic disease resistance in wheat. To achieve our goal, we will employ a multi-disciplinary approach combining genetics, structural biology, and gene editing. Specifically, we will pursue the following objectives: 1. GENETICS. Determine the mChr-encoded effectors conferring high virulence on the pandemic wheat blast fungus. 2. BIOPHYSICS. Define the biophysical properties of effector-host target interactions. 3. IMMUNITY. Apply CRISPR/Cas gene editing to deliver innovative, non-transgenic solutions for blast disease management. At the completion of this project, my team and I will generate a detailed understanding of the biophysical properties of mChr-encoded effector-target protein complexes and deliver novel traits and non-transgenic solutions for developing resistance against the pandemic wheat blast fungus.
Elucidating drivers of human Inflammatory Bowel Disease by next-generation organoid modeling (EDIOM)

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: Netherlands
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-11-01
End date: 2025-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 187624.32
EU funding (EUR): 187624.32
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a collective term for bowel diseases caused by undesired immune reactions and can currently not be cured. To develop adequate treatments for IBD, we need to understand the nature and cause(s) of the pathogenic immune responses observed. To identify mechanisms driving IBD in humans, we need apart from diagnostic correlative studies, adequate in vitro cell models that realistically recapitulate the in vivo situation and allow for intervention studies. Thus far, in vitro models that incorporate next to intestinal epithelium also supportive stroma and immune cells are lacking. In my PhD studies, I generated a map of the IBD-associated immune cell network by single-cell analyses of healthy and IBD patient samples. In my postdoctoral work, I have developed an Air Liquid Interphase (ALI) intestinal organoid platform derived from human samples that supports tissue-resident immune cells. In this project, I aim to identify cellular and molecular networks driving IBD by diagnostic and intervention studies in intestinal ALI organoids. For this purpose, I will: 1) Validate ALI intestinal organoids as accurate ex vivo model by analyzing their immune cell composition and functionality in spatial context; and 2) aligning this with the in vivo situation by data mining of public single-cell RNA-seq of inflamed intestines. 3) Integrate datasets generated in 1-2) to reveal cellular and molecular immune cell interactions associated with IBD; and 4) Implicate interactions identified under 3) in driving IBD by molecularly targeted interventions in ALI organoids. The proposed work will take place at host institute Leiden Univ. Medical Center, with a 4-month secondment phase at Technical Univ. Delft. This project is expected to deliver insight into immunological mechanisms driving IBD and clinically translatable therapeutic interventions, by mechanistic studies in a novel in vitro system mimicking the in vivo cellular environment of human IBDs.

Keywords: inflammatory bowel disease,crohn s disease,ulcerative colitis,air liquid interface organoids,immunology,human immunology,mucosal immunology,systems immunology,data integration
Multi-scale multi-process machine for high value-added products with disruptive functionalities (WISE)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Digital, Industry and Space
Theme: Industry
Destination: Climate neutral, Circular and Digitised Production
Action type: Innovation actions
Partnership: Photonics (co-programmed)
Countries involved: Italy,Denmark,France,Greece,Sweden,Spain,Switzerland
Call: High-precision OR complex product manufacturing – potentially including the use of photonics (Made in Europe and Photonics Partnerships) (IA) (HORIZON-CL4-2023-TWIN-TRANSITION-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-01-01
End date: 2026-12-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 7427680.36
EU funding (EUR): 5573813.75
Participants: 16
Project status: SIGNED

WISE sets a new frontier for product complexity by shifting the focus from geometry to functionality, introducing features such as self-healing, triggered biomolecule diffusion, and smart repairing. This disruption redefines current design methodology, leveraging advanced AI-aided engineering and multi-scale, multi-process manufacturing to achieve unprecedented complexity. WISE has the potential to drive a discontinuity in the growth of the European industry by convincingly demonstrating an innovative, competitive, and scalable manufacturing concept based on a single machine that integrates macroscale processing (i.e., DED via hybrid blue-IR lasers) and micro-nano scale processing (i.e., fs and ns laser ablation, 2PP, DALP). WISE will deliver a TRL7 multi-process machine integrating high-precision, multi-scale techniques for producing complex multifunctional products. The project will demonstrate the machine's performance, flexibility, and precision by producing three complex hybrid products in MedTech, Aerospace, and Power generation sectors. The project builds upon TRL5-validated results from previous H2020 projects, which have brought significant innovations in the field of advanced manufacturing and enabling technologies. The work plan includes a final demonstration to validate the solution through the production of complex components based on end-user requirements. Upon completion, WISE will be further developed to reach TRL9 within 24 months, leading to its commercial launch as a multi-process manufacturing station. The WISE consortium is composed of 16 partners, including 8 SMEs, 4 LE, and 4 RTD. Their expertise covers mechatronics, intelligent nanostructured components, laser-material interaction, high-precision machines and tools. The project partners form a cluster of European countries playing crucial roles in the production of functionalized products with smart functionalities, adaptive photonic solutions, and advanced mechatronic systems.

Keywords: multi process machine,multi scale techniques,hybrid products,advanced mechatronics,intelligent nanostructured components,laser material interaction,ai assisted engineering,adaptive photonic
The Von Willebrand Factor-Macrophage Intracellular Signaling Study (VWF-MISS) in linking hemostasis and inflammation (VWF-MISS)

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: Ireland
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-06-01
End date: 2026-11-30
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 189546.48
EU funding (EUR): 189546.48
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Von Willebrand factor (VWF) is a large multimeric glycoprotein that circulates in plasma and plays a key role in primary hemostasis at sites of vascular injury. In addition, recent studies have highlighted a novel role for VWF in regulating inflammation in multiple human pathologies, including cardiovascular disease, von Willebrand disease, and several cancers. Notwithstanding these findings, the biological mechanisms through which VWF exerts its immunomodulatory effects remain poorly understood. The overarching aim of the VWF-Macrophage Intracellular Signalling Study (VWF-MISS) is to gain novel insights into the molecular mechanisms through which VWF regulates macrophage biology over the course of an 18-month fellowship. Specifically, VWF-MISS will characterize i) the macrophage receptors involved in modulating the pro-inflammatory response, ii) the molecular basis involved in the temporal regulation of VWF signalling, and iii) the role of specific VWF domains and/or mutations in regulating macrophage inflammatory signalling using a wide range of in vitro laboratory strategies and bioinformatics (RNA-sequencing). As such, the applicant will integrate existing expertise from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland O’Donnell laboratory (VWF biology; host organisation) and Trinity College Dublin Fallon laboratory (innate immunity; secondment) to address these research objectives. The concept that VWF plays a key role at the interplay of hemostasis and inflammation has clear translational relevance with respect to both bleeding and thrombosis and presents the intriguing possibility that specific targeting of the VWF-macrophage interaction could offer exciting therapeutic opportunities. The VWF-MISS project will equip the applicant with transferable laboratory and analytical skills, that, combined with her clinical background, will significantly advance her career goal to direct a scientific research program relating to the crosstalk between hemostasis and immunity.

Keywords: hemostasis,von willebrand factor,macrophage
Evaluating the Robustness of Non-Credible Text Identification by Anticipating Adversarial Actions (ERINIA)

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: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: Spain
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01, 2021)
Start date: 2022-11-01
End date: 2024-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 165312.96
EU funding (EUR): 165312.96
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

As challenges posed by misinformation become apparent in the modern digital society, state-of-the-art methods of Artificial Intelligence, especially Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning, are considered as countermeasures. Indeed, previous research has shown that NLP solutions can detect phenomena such as fake news, social media bots or usage of propaganda techniques. However, little attention has been given to the robustness of these approaches, which is especially important in the case of deliberate misinformation, whose authors would likely attempt to deceive any automatic filtering algorithm to achieve their goals. The goal of the ERINIA project is to explore the robustness of text classifiers in this application area by investigating methods for detecting adversarial examples. Such methods aim to perform small perturbations to a given text piece, so that its meaning is preserved, but the output of the investigated classifier is reversed. To that end, previously unexplored directions will be pursued, including training reinforcement learning solutions and leveraging research on simplification and style transfer. Finally, the developed tools will be used to check the robustness of the current state-of-the-art misinformation detection solutions. The project includes a range of training activities for the researcher and a plan for dissemination of the obtained results to various research communities. It also takes into account the society at large, as the project outcomes can inform further discussion on whether automatic content filtering is a viable solution to the misinformation problem.

Keywords: misinformation,adversarial examples,model robustness,adversarial examples,text classification,fake news,reinforcement learning,text simplification,style tranfer
Marginal Saharan élites. Extra-African and intra-african students mobilities (MARELS)

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: Social Sciences and Humanities
Countries involved: France,South Africa
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2024-05-02
End date: 2026-05-01
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 195914.88
EU funding (EUR): 195914.88
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

The MARELS project aims to study the connections between Saharan pastoral minorities and the conflictual situation in Mali and Niger through the unusual prism of growing higher-education student mobilities. Like other young Africans, Saharan students increasingly cross the borders in search of knowledge in another country for the purpose of gaining professional perspectives and acquiring global skills and languages, further weakening the number of highly trained Saharan professionals. Saharan nomadic populations have been characterized in the past by difficult access and high drop-out rates across all levels of education, largely due to conflicts, poor infrastructure and economic vulnerability compared to urban regions in the Sahara-Sahel. It is believed that student international mobilities have the capability of ushering in a new set of Saharan leaders who are competent to make the best use of human and material resources for the promotion of a peaceful, prosperous and integrated Sahara-Sahel in Africa. The challenge of this project is to write the unknown histories of Saharan graduates and to revise the common narrative of the Sahara as isolated and disconnected from the rest of the world, following the “mobility turn” in anthropology. Although much research has been produced on Saharan mobilities, scarce attention is given to student mobilities . The MARELS project aims to fill this gap and provide an answer to the following questions. What role do Saharan professionals trained in international universities play in their home societies, given the sometimes conflicting expectations from the local community, traditional élites, institutions, government, companies, foreign actors (e.g., NGOs, military forces) etc? How do Saharan graduate élites establish objectives and strategic actions oriented towards meeting these expectations when they are in a diaspora in the Global North?

Keywords: anthropology oral history student mobilities african studies sahara sahel