Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
A novel NASH model for target and drug candidate identification (SPHERO-NASH)

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: Sweden
Call: ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS (ERC-2023-POC, 2023)
Start date: 2023-09-01
End date: 2025-02-28
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 171428.57
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

NASH is the progressive form of NAFLD that underlies the development of fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The global prevalence of NASH is estimated at 1 billion individuals. NASH is a major cause of death, now the major reason for liver transplantations and the disease is an important cause of hepatocellular cancer (HCC). Currently, there are no FDA-approved drug therapies available. Within the ERC project Hepaspher, a new liver model was developed in which human hepatocytes and non-parenchymal cells are grown in a 3D spheroid structure that phenotypically closely resembles human liver in vivo with respect to transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome for up to 35 days. This model has proven to be of valuable use for the development and treatment of liver diseases such as steatosis, cholestasis, hepatitis, insulin resistance, and fibrosis. In the SPHERO-NASH project, we focus on a more complex system whereby both inducers and mechanisms of NASH formation, drug-induced inhibition of NASH as well as studies of extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation including collagens and the role of ECM degradation control in the development and treatment of NASH can be studied. For this purpose HTS based screening in the SPHERO-NASH spheroid system will take place utilizing both siRNA target libraries and chemical inhibition libraries at HepaPredict AB with a proposed delivery of novel compounds/targets that can be further processed in drug developmental projects. We propose to commercialize the SPHERO-NASH model itself but also to commercialize targets and compounds found by siRNA and compound screening that regulate NASH formation and degradation. We aim to assess and demonstrate the commercial value to the pharmaceutical industry by building a strong knowledge transfer strategy. The SPHERO-NASH model thus has great fundamental and commercial potential in NASH drug discovery and development.
Breakthrough in micro-bolometer imaging (BRIGHTER)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Digital, Industry and Space
Theme: Public-private partnerships
Destination: Chips for Europe Initiative
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Partnership: CHIPS (JU-JTI)
Countries involved: France,Türkiye,Portugal,Spain,Belgium
Call: HORIZON-KDT-JU-2021-2-RIA (HORIZON-KDT-JU-2021-2-RIA, 2021)
Start date: 2022-12-01
End date: 2026-11-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 18222232.81
EU funding (EUR): 5656439.26
Participants: 16
Project status: SIGNED

Micro-bolometer sensors are compact, light, low power, reliable and affordable infrared imaging components. They are ahead of the cooled infrared sensors for these criteria but lag behind them in terms of performance: - Existing micro-bolometer technologies have thermal time constants around 10 msec. This is more than 10 times that of cooled detectors. - Moreover, there is no multispectral micro-bolometer sensor available today for applications such as absolute thermography and optical gas imaging. BRIGHTER will develop 2 new classes of micro-bolometer solutions to reduce the performance gap with their cooled counterparts: - Fast thermal micro-bolometer imaging solutions with time constant in the 2.5 to 5 msec range, that is to say 2 to 4 times faster than that of today’s micro-bolometer technologies. Read out integrated circuits able to operate up to 500 frames per seconds will also be investigated. - Multi-spectral micro-bolometer solutions with at least access at the pixel level to 2 different wavelengths in the range 7 to 12 µm. The developments will focus on pixel technology, Read Out Integrated Circuit, low power edge image signal processing electronic, optics, and image treatment algorithms. All stakeholders of the value chain are involved: academics, RTO, micro-bolometer manufacturer, algorithm developers, camera integrators and end users. They will collaborate to define the best trade-offs for all use-cases. The 2 new classes of products that will spring from BRIGHTER will generate concrete benefits. They will make it possible to save on material and energy in the manufacturing sector, perform efficient and affordable monitoring of infrastructures and trains, contribute to autonomous vehicles sensor suite, decrease the road casualties among Vulnerable Road Users, better control gas emission in cities and industrial areas. These new usages served by the European industry will allow Europe to increase its market share in the infrared imaging industry.

Keywords: micro bolometer,focal plane array,thermal imaging,infrared,machine vision,smart mobility,safety and security,multispectral imaging,low power,life cycle analysis
The feeling of being there: Developing a practical framework for objective, continuous and standardized presence measurement for virtual environments (PRESENCE)

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: Netherlands
Call: ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS (ERC-2023-POC, 2023)
Start date: 2023-11-01
End date: 2025-04-30
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Presence is the feeling of being in a virtual environment. It is the concept that provides the most explanatory value to the degree of effectiveness of virtual reality applications. This concept has received an increase in relevancy due to the recent evolution of virtual reality (VR) technology and an increase in attention from the scientific community. Developing new immersive solutions to aid in healthcare, training, entertainment, and research hinges on the ability to objectively measure presence so that the quality of these applications can improve significantly. We aim to develop a tool for measuring and analyzing presence by combining two methodologies developed in the Attention Lab at Utrecht University. The methodologies utilize psychophysiological approaches to measure the internal state of the user through analyzing visual working memory and body movement patterns. Together with our industry partner EducationXR, we then plan on iterating on the tool by using real-life data and integrating the method into our partner's available analytics suite to identify how we can improve usability and compatibility. With the learnings from our work with EducationXR and our experience in transferring validated research into services and applications in the area of clinical assessment and rehabilitation, we plan to found a startup company to sell the tool we developed in the form of a software product. By working together with policymakers and interest groups, we plan to actively work on promoting standardization in the VR industry while marketing our tool as a way to achieve a higher quality user experience. Through this process, we hope to improve the VR infrastructure in the VR industry as well as in related industries. With the ability to produce more impactful solutions that contribute positively to society through education, healthcare, and research, we hope that VR can have a positive impact and lead to novel innovation.
Discovering chronic inflammation biomarkers that define key stages in the Healthy-to-NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis) transition to inform early prevention and treatment strategies (halt-RONIN)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Health
Theme: Health
Destination: Staying Healthy in a rapidly changing society
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: France,Spain,United Kingdom,Türkiye,Portugal
Call: Personalised blueprint of chronic inflammation in health-to-disease transition (HORIZON-HLTH-2022-STAYHLTH-02, 2022)
Start date: 2022-12-01
End date: 2026-11-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 6721927.51
EU funding (EUR): 6721927.26
Participants: 27
Project status: SIGNED

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a multifactorial chronic inflammatory disease that is prevalent in 1 of 4 individuals with a significant personal, socioeconomic and healthcare burden, especially at the later, more severe inflammatory stage of disease - non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Despite the severe negative impact of the disease on society, NAFLD remains difficult to diagnose and treat. Additionally, the molecular mechanisms underlying the transition from health to fatty liver to NASH remain poorly understood due to the lack of models that faithfully reflect the complexity of human disease. Hence, Halt-RONIN aims to uncover the early triggers of disease initiation and complex mechanistic drivers of disease progression by implementing a systems biology approach with integrative disease modelling resulting in opportunities for the improvement of the existing detection methods, providing a blueprint to inform personalized intervention strategies and drug discovery for NAFLD. To achieve this goal, Halt-RONIN will combine experimental data from advanced in vitro and in vivo models with multimodal data from extensive human NAFLD cohorts and biobanks and use in silico machine learning approaches, to discover new biomarkers and molecular targets specific to each stage of the health-to-disease transition. By validating preclinical experimental findings with real-world data, RONIN will allow for the discovery of novel biomarkers and molecular targets that are specific to the individual patient’s pathology. Consequently, healthcare professionals will gain the tools and knowledge required to diagnose and establish guidelines for the prevention and treatment of inflammation-driven health to disease. As such, in the long-term RONIN will decrease the number of NAFL patients who progress into NASH and provide disease-modifying strategies to improve patient outcomes.

Keywords: nafld,nash,chronic inflammation,disease transition,biomarkers,molecular mechanisms,blueprint,prevention,personalized,intervention chronic inflammatory disease risk,prediction,progression
Analysis of FLOATing microplastics: from the atmoshpere to lakes (FLOAT)

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: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Austria
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023 (HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-12-01
End date: 2026-11-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 183600.96
EU funding (EUR): 183600.96
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Plastics contaminate the environment at global level and are a major concern for ecosystem safety and human health. In particular, plastics of smaller size called microplastics (1 μm < plastics < 1 mm; MPs) are considered a higher risk for organisms due to the combination of widespread distribution and toxicity. Indeed, MPs can contaminate every ecosystem, even remote regions on the globe, for which the atmospheric transport plays a pivotal role. The aim of this project FLOAT is creating a model to simulate MP emissions in the atmosphere, their dispersal, and deposition for assessing the contamination of terrestrial and water surfaces by airborne MPs at local scale and large scale, i.e., Central Europe. Specific objectives are: 1) to generate simulations of MP emissions from densely populated areas, their atmospheric transport and deposition to remote regions in Central Europe; 2) to quantify the contribution of the deposition from the atmosphere on MP concentrations in land and lacustrine surface water by direct measurements; 3) to validate the model by the measurements, then use the tuned model to “upscale” the measurement outputs from the local scale to Central Europe. The FLEXPART model will be used for simulations. Direct data on airborne MP deposition will be measured by stationary passive sampling devices and lake water surface sampling. Microplastic contamination will be characterized in terms of polymer type, shape, size, mass, colour and abundance. By the end of the project, FLOAT will provide a tuned model for the dispersal of airborne MPs at large scale, which will be used quantify the deposition of airborne MPs on lakes in Central Europe.

Keywords: microplastics,plastic pollution
The Model City. Drivers and Mechanisms of Long-term Urban Evolution and Resilience (TheModelCity)

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: Denmark
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2023-STG, 2023)
Start date: 2024-09-01
End date: 2029-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1498511.25
EU funding (EUR): 1498511.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The past provides the most extensive and comprehensive record of the spectrum of human behaviours, adaptations and responses to change available to us. Its potential as an enormous body of comparative material, however, has yet to be fully realised. The Model City aims to understand the drivers and mechanisms of long-term urban evolution through the study of the historical trajectories of past cities. Focusing on the question of urban resilience, “why do some cities thrive while others fail?”, it will identify factors that predict city persistence over decades and centuries and evaluate social, environmental and economic mechanisms that increase or erode urban resilience. The Model City will aggregate and synthesize large amounts of Deep Past Urban Data and apply analytical methods developed in urban studies to investigate fundamental forces governing the long-term dynamics of urban systems. By deploying a swath of formal methods such as time-series analysis, ecological measures of resilience, network science, and agent-based modelling on a large and diverse sample of past cities for which we have full evolutionary trajectories, the project will identify factors, their interactions and processes that impact urban resilience. In looking for universals, The Model City will compare three very distinctive but data-rich research areas from across the spectrum of past urban systems: Roman Empire - the first large highly integrated socio-political body in human history; Classic Mesoamerica - one of the earliest urbanised systems in tropical environments and Medieval Northern Europe - an early example of increasing globalisation driving urbanisation. This comparative study will capture past urban variability to identify the most common causes of urban collapse as well as mechanisms that enabled past cities to survive for millennia and will unlock vast amounts of Deep Past Data to scholars across urban studies thus creating a new interdisciplinary research line.

Keywords: urban resilience,deep past urban data,complex systems simulation
Changing worldviews at the end of the European Bronze Age: Societal insights from technology and lifeways before and after the Mycenaean palatial collapse in Greece (1300-1000 BC) (Changing World)

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: Germany,Belgium
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01, 2021)
Start date: 2023-01-01
End date: 2026-02-28
Duration (months): 38.0
Total project cost (EUR): 189687.36
EU funding (EUR): 189687.36
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Established Mycenaean palatial systems collapsed during generalised socio-political crises in the eastern Mediterranean at the end of the Bronze Age. Fundamental questions about the social impact of these irreversible transformations remain with implications for fully understanding diachronic human responses to significant environmental and cultural stressors. Changing World aims to evaluate how social collapse interfered with cultural processes as expressed in metallurgy and lifeways. I will examine 150 metal objects (warrior equipment, jewellery, tools, utensils) microscopically, elementally, and isotopically from 5 key sites in Greece (Elateia, Lefkandi, Pefkakia, Voudeni, Nichoria) for investigating resource management strategies, metalworking choices, and supply networks during 1300-1000 BC. I will then integrate the metallurgical results with bioarchaeological data (aDNA, stable isotopes) on relatedness, sex, and diet from >300 individuals from Elateia and Voudeni to shed light on changing worldviews embodied in craft practices. This transdisciplinary methodology will offer new theorised multi-proxy insights that will directly inform ongoing academic debates about the nature of the Mycenaean collapse, and will open new pathways for future research on materials and humans, and for the study of societies in crisis. This project is now possible through combining my extensive analytical skills and access to highly representative, newly available study materials, Prof. Stockhammer’s (PI; LMU) recent and ongoing bioarchaeological research in Greece, and Prof. Degryse’s (secondment PI; KU Leuven) expertise in metals provenancing. My analytical (MC-ICP-MS) and theoretical training (Practice Theory) and critical understanding of aDNA data, alongside additional training in teaching and student supervision, will strengthen my profile for attaining a tenured position at a university and attracting future EU research funding, as well as my competences outside academia.

Keywords: archaeological science archaeometallurgy archaeogenetics late bronze age archaeology
Traces de la Verité: The reappropriation of ancient wisdom in early modern natural philosophy (VERITRACE)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: The Study of the Human Past
Panel description: Archaeology and history
Countries involved: Belgium
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): 1472349.0
EU funding (EUR): 1472349.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

VERITRACE addresses the influence of ancient wisdom writings on the development of early modern natural philosophy. During the Renaissance, works such as the Chaldean Oracles, the Sibylline Oracles, the Corpus Hermeticum and the Orphic Hymns were rediscovered and reappropriated into a prisca sapientia, a perennial tradition that considered these writings to contain truths about God, mankind, and the cosmos. Johannes Kepler, Francis Bacon, Pierre Gassendi, Isaac Newton, and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, foundational for the development of modern science, all ascribed to this tradition, and with them many others; yet so far no comprehensive account exist of exactly what they took from these ancient wisdom writings and how the idea of a perennial truth influenced their knowledge-making. This project focuses on the influence of the Renaissance prisca on early modern natural philosophy in its broadest sense by deploying existing yet bespoke techniques for distant reading on a large corpus of early modern printed works. It traces how the most prominent ancient wisdom writings returned in the natural philosophical discourse, what exactly natural philosophers took from these writings, and how these writings functioned in the economy of early modern science. It also traces the debate surrounding these ancient wisdom texts and the supposed truths contained therein throughout early modern Europe, differentiating between the various sentiments with which these texts were perceived, read, and discussed. As such, VERITRACE fills in a major lacuna in our understanding of the emergence and development of early modern science, focussing not on isolated events but on the movement as a whole, whilst making use of state-of-the-art digital techniques adapted for an early modern environment.

Keywords: natural philosophy,ancient wisdom,distant reading
Unveiling algaenan metabolism in eukaryotic microalgae (BreakThrough)

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: Denmark
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2026-02-01
End date: 2028-01-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 247553.28
EU funding (EUR): 247553.28
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Microalgae are exceptionally rich in essential nutrients such as proteins and fatty acids (e.g., omega-3 fatty acids). Their cultivation requires significantly less land and water compared to traditional crops, reducing the strain on these resources. However, accessing the nutrients of eukaryotic microalgae as a food source, particularly from the economically important genera Nannochloropsis and Chlorella, requires substantial resources. These algae are encapsulated by a resilient cell wall composed of a polymer known as algaenan. The development of algaenan-deficient strains or enzymes degrading algaenan to make nutrients accessible, has been hindered severely by the lack of knowledge about algaenan metabolism. In the BreakThrough project, I will team up with Prof. Johan Andersen-Ranberg from the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences of the University of Copenhagen. The goal is to clarify the evolutionary conserved mechanisms underlying the algaenan metabolism throughout the cell cycle, particularly during autospore release. The proposed work involves co-expression analysis, genetic engineering, confocal microscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry to identify and characterize the genes in algaenan metabolism in the eukaryotic microalgae Nannochloropsis oceanica. Insights obtained in this project will benefit both fundamental and applied sciences. On the fundamental side, BreakThrough will uncover the biochemical process underlying algaenan anabolism and catabolism. For the applied aspect, the project will improve the use of microalgae as a future food source and biotechnological applications by developing energy-efficient and food safe methods to bypass the recalcitrant algaenan polymer in extraction processes.

Keywords: microalgae metabolism,eukaryotic algae,nannochloropsis oceanica,biosynthetic pathway,cell wall,algaenan,fatty acid metabolism,recalcitrant polymers