Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Gene Regulatory Network Architecture in Neuronal Development (GRAIN)

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 2021 (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01, 2021)
Start date: 2023-09-01
End date: 2025-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 214934.4
EU funding (EUR): 214934.4
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Stem cell-based therapy is an attractive way to treat a panel of as-yet incurable diseases, amongst which is Parkinson’s Disease, caused by the progressive degeneration of mesencephalic dopaminergic (mesDA) neurons. To make this a reality, efficient and precise differentiation protocols of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) need to be developed. While a protocol for differentiation of mesDA neurons exists, little is known about the resulting progenitors’ homogeneity and the mechanisms that control their maintenance, expansion and differentiation. MesDA neurons arise from ventral midbrain progenitors, whose differentiation requires the transcription factor Neurogenin 2 (NGN2). NGN2 acts as a “master regulator” by binding to, and stimulating transcription of, a panel of poorly defined target genes, while itself negatively regulated by HES1, one of the main effectors of Notch signalling. Yet, the involvement of Notch signalling in mesDA differentiation and the composition of the HES1/NGN2 gene regulatory network (GRN), i.e. the group of genes under their transcriptional control, in this context remains largely unknown. The aim of this action is to determine the mechanisms by which HES1, NGN2 and their GRN control mesDA differentiation. Building upon and expanding existing tools and knowledge in the host lab, I will use a multidisciplinary approach combining genome editing and hESC biology to derive mesDA progenitors from a panel of wildtype and HES1/NGN2 KO hESCs cell lines, with a multiomics approach to define the members of the HES1/NGN2 GRN and unravel its mechanism of action. The synergy between the expertise of the host lab in developmental and stem cell biology, and my extensive knowledge of bioinformatics and experience in the generation of multiomics datasets, will allow to both improve the efficacy and quality of the current mesDA differentiation protocols, as well as expand fundamental knowledge about the architecture of GRNs regulated by Notch signalling.

Keywords: next generation sequencing,bioinformatics,chromatin biology,development,neuronal differentiation
Catalytic Cavitation Membrane Agents for Ultrasound-Assisted PFAS Elimination and Wastewater Purification (CAVICLEAN)

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: 2025-12-01
End date: 2027-05-31
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pose a significant environmental and health risk due to their extreme persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity. Existing treatment methods, such as adsorption, incineration, and electrochemical degradation, suffer from high operational costs, secondary waste generation, and limited scalability. CAVICLEAN introduces an innovative catalytic cavitation-based approach, based on ERC funded project ConCASM, that leverages engineered catalytic cavitation membrane agents (CCMAs) to nucleate and stabilize cavitation bubbles, enhancing localized energy concentration and radical generation for efficient PFAS mineralization. The core innovation of CAVICLEAN lies in the development of specialized CCMAs that act as both cavitation nuclei, catalysts and membrane filters, promoting intensified acoustic cavitation while minimizing energy consumption. This process ensures complete mineralization of PFAS into harmless byproducts, addressing a critical gap in existing treatment technologies. Unlike traditional approaches that either capture or partially degrade PFAS, CAVICLEAN achieves direct molecular breakdown without secondary waste formation. The plug-and-play reactor design enables seamless integration into existing wastewater treatment infrastructure, offering a scalable, cost-effective, and energy-efficient solution. The project follows a structured methodology, beginning with fundamental investigations of cavitation dynamics and CCMA material properties, followed by laboratory-scale validation of PFAS degradation kinetics. A pilot-scale continuous-flow reactor will then be deployed in real wastewater treatment plants to assess long-term stability, energy efficiency, and regulatory compliance. Additionally, life cycle assessments (LCA) and techno-economic analyses will establish the environmental and economic viability of the technology.
Deep-learning for structure-based discovery of adaptive immune receptors (AIRstructure)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Molecules of Life: B iological  Mechanisms , Structures  and Functions
Panel description: For all organisms : Molecular biology , biochemistry, structural biology, molecular biophysics , synthetic and chemical biology, drug design, innovative methods and modelling
Countries involved: Israel
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2024-COG, 2024)
Start date: 2025-09-01
End date: 2030-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2000000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2000000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

B- and T- cell adaptive immune receptor (AIR) repertoires are highly diverse, enabling response to a wide range of pathogens. While sequencing of an individual's immune repertoires is becoming common, our ability to convert these datasets into comprehensive antigen exposure information to inform clinical decisions is limited. The major challenges are to identify the antigens recognized by B-cell and T-cell immune receptors (BCRs/antibodies and TCRs), model their structures and determine their epitopes. Experimental approaches for epitope mapping are costly and low-throughput. While deep learning-based models have revolutionized structural biology by predicting highly accurate structures of proteins and protein complexes, they rely on multiple sequence alignments (MSAs) that are not available for the AIR-antigen interactions. Recently, my group has designed geometric deep learning models for AIR structure modeling and for epitope prediction without MSA. In this project, I will build on my expertise in modeling protein-protein interactions, including AIR-antigen, and in geometric deep learning to develop accurate and high-throughput models that address the specific challenges of AIR-antigen systems. My main goals are to develop deep learning-based models for: (i) accurate and high-throughput end-to-end structure modeling of AIR-antigen interactions; (ii) design of epitope-specific AIRs for targeting broadly neutralizing epitopes and optimized antigenicity profiles; and (iii) structure-based specificity prediction for mining large AIR repertoires. These approaches will advance the analysis of immune repertoires, improve our understanding of immune response, and enable designing vaccines and therapeutics with broad specificity and resistance to antigenic mutations. Moreover, the methods will empower the cancer epitope discovery and the detection of autoimmune receptors.

Keywords: geometric deep learning protein complex modeling adaptive immune receptors
Artisanal Mines, Economic Development and Social Impact (ArtiMinDev)

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: France
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2022-COG, 2022)
Start date: 2024-01-01
End date: 2028-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1522748.0
EU funding (EUR): 1522748.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The adoption of green energy technologies worldwide is going to have significant consequences for mineral demand in a near future. The booming sector of artisanal and small-scale mines (ASM) that employs around 40 million people, represents about 20% of the global gold and diamond supply, 25% of tantalum and tin, and up to 80% of sapphire. Those numbers make the ASM sector a pivotal actor in the energy transition. The aim of ArtiMinDev project is to analyze the economic and social impacts of ASM in sub-Saharan African countries. Up until now, the absence of exhaustive time-varying information on the location of ASM has prevented researchers in social sciences from precisely quantifying the contribution of this activity to economic development. The ambition of this project is twofold. First, I intend to map the opening/closing of ASM in sub-Saharan African countries over the period 2000-2020 with exact information on location (GPS coordinates). Two other crucial information are also collected: the size and the mineral extracted from each ASM. I will use machine learning techniques and satellite image time series to identify sediment and open pit-mining activities. Second, equipped with this ground-breaking dataset, I aim to provide systematic and large-scale evidence of the impact of ASM on violence and conflict; environmental degradation and health; and internal migration. The proposal’s objectives, grounded in quantitative economics, are spanning several literatures from a wide variety of disciplines, by combining state-of-the-art machine learning techniques and remote sensing data. I expect the methodologies and the results to push the research frontier in several dimensions. Moreover, the conclusions drawn from the project would be highly relevant for policy-makers and NGOs aiming to improve the monitoring of those mining activities and their impacts on conflict, health and environmental degradation.

Keywords: development economics,natural resources,conflict,environment,health,migration
Engaging entrepreneurial ecosystems for the youth (Ecosys4you)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: European innovation ecosystems
Theme: Elevating the scalability potential of European business
Destination: Elevating the scalability potential of European business
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Germany,Bulgaria,Slovenia
Call: Expanding Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (HORIZON-EIE-2022-SCALEUP-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-06-01
End date: 2026-05-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 983401.61
EU funding (EUR): 899658.75
Participants: 4
Project status: SIGNED

Ecosys4you designs and implements a cross-country educational programme for young people with passion for entrepreneurship. We mobilise the flow of innovation resources in four dimensions: education, networking, market expansion, and people. Private, public and educational actors of three entrepreneurial ecosystems in the Ruhr (DE), Varna (BG), and Maribor (SI) regions co-create the programme. The activities add value to existing entrepreneurship education of the regional higher education institutions: based on our common competence, we establish and set up high quality cross-ecosystem activities for future entrepreneurs. The main activities are joint classes, mentoring, real-world challenges and internships at start-ups. Experience of founders and established entrepreneurs drive the programme’s design. Their benefit is the opportunity to enter new markets opened up by Ecosys4you. The programme is open to students and young alumni from higher education institutions, professional schools, graduates who wish to found a company, and other young people who want to discover entrepreneurial spirit. We expect to reach 200 young people, among them at least 80 women in 2 cohorts (2024-2025), and stimulate foundation of about 5-10 start-ups and innovations as a major outcome. Due to close collaboration with lecturers as well as organisational and financial measures designed in Ecosys4you, we assure a self-sustaining programme to continue after project finalisation.

Keywords: entrepreneurial ecosystems,innovation resources,networking
IMAGINE climate change adaptation in urban areas (IMAGINE adaptation)

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: Spain
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2021-STG, 2021)
Start date: 2023-01-01
End date: 2027-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499775.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499775.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Impacts of climate change are happening as a result of extreme temperatures, sea-level rise, storm surges or droughts. Communities and governments across the globe are preparing through actions to increase climate resilience. However, progress made to date to adapt is still poorly understood and tracked due to a lack of theoretical understanding and means to evaluate how well the world is adapting. Further barriers are unclear goals and metrics for adaptation in the absence of a shared definition of successful adaptation. Finding a response to this question is at the core of the international climate debate and has particular significance at the local level where assets and lives of millions of people are at risk. 'IMAGINE adaptation' addresses the imperative of how to evaluate adaptation in urban areas as a contemporary complex phenomenon with implications across governance scales. The current focus on policy progress can be useful as a first step, but it is not indicative of effective adaptation. A broader understanding of success in adaptation is required: one that transcends technocratic approaches and considers equity, justice and maladaptive issues. Through 'IMAGINE adaptation', I aim to respond to four timely and ambitious objectives: First, I will revisit and reformulate the concept of successful adaptation using expert and local views (Objective 1, O1). Second, I will explore trends and needs regarding monitoring and evaluation and how these may enable or hinder adaptation (O2). Third, I will participate and learn from local adaptation evaluation practices through a comparative case study research across 12 urban areas worldwide (O3). Finally, I will discuss how evaluations of local progress can inform global goals (O4). The outputs of this project will be a reference for future adaptation assessment studies and will pioneer the understanding of the ways to enable far-reaching transformative urban adaptation through processes of evaluation and learning.

Keywords: climate change adaptation,urban areas,urban policy and planning,urban adaptation,monitoring and evaluation,indicators and metrics,local knowledge,learning,justice and equity,succesful adaptation,effective adaptation,maladaptation,decision making,environmental governance,climate policy
Sound insulation prediction and optimization (SOPRANO)

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: Belgium
Call: ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS (ERC-2024-POC, 2024)
Start date: 2024-10-01
End date: 2026-03-31
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 162857.14
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

With urbanization accelerating on a global scale, airborne and impact sound insulation have become key performance quantities of building elements. Unfortunately, acoustic requirements do not naturally align with structural and thermal requirements. Achieving good sound insulation is difficult, especially for innovative, more sustainable building systems which are typically lightweight. There is an urgent need in the construction sector for adequate sound insulation design prediction software. In the ERC Starting Grant VirBAcous, new, dedicated numerical methods for sound insulation prediction have been developed that possess the required combination of a high prediction accuracy and a high computational efficiency. By doing so, they open up the possibility of reliable model-based design optimization. The aim of this ERC Proof of Concept project is to bridge the gap between the fundamental numerical methods from VirBAcous and the construction sector.
Formic acid oxidation reaction as model reaction for curvature effect towards fuel cell development (FORCEFuel)

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: Chemistry
Countries involved: Spain
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2026-01-01
End date: 2027-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 194074.56
EU funding (EUR): 194074.56
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Recently, it has been shown that the local catalyst structure plays a significant role in adsorption energies via the curvature effect. Currently, the curvature effect is mainly based on computational observations. My research objective is to validate my computational model of the curvature effect by experimental testing with Prof. Herrero's group at the University of Alicante. To validate the model, I will use the formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR), an important reaction for direct liquid fuel cell applications, as the model reaction. The research on validating the curvature effect is timely due to the established advancements in catalyst synthesis and spectroscopical studies. Namely, I will combine experimental methods of synthesising curved catalysts with the recent advancements in spectroscopical studies of electrochemical reactions. The resulting research will provide insights for curvature effect application on fuel cells research via the gained understanding of CO adsorbate energy correlation with curvature, and other electrochemical reactions by increased control of adsorption intermediate energies. During the fellowship, I will acquire new experimental skills in synthesis and surface characterisation. The obtained experimental experience will also further my current computational modelling expertise – directly, by helping to refine the existing computational model for curvature, and, indirectly, by helping to understand the experimental limitations and governing factors that currently might be neglected in modelling.

Keywords: formic acid oxidation reaction,direct liquid fuel cells,computational electrocatalysis
GYNODICY: gender-egalitarian fictions of origin in European philosophical culture (1673-1751) (GYNODICY)

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: Italy,Canada
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2024-09-01
End date: 2026-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 187248.96
EU funding (EUR): 187248.96
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

This project aims at producing the first comprehensive study of the philosophical problem of “gynodicy”, i.e., the incompatibility of, on one hand, a rational defence of women as naturally equal in capacities and in rights to men and, on the other, their factual subjection to men. GYNODICY concentrates on gender-egalitarian texts from the early modern period that circulated within European philosophical culture and specifically on the gender-egalitarian fictions of origin these texts put forth with the objective of arguing against the naturalisation of women’s submission to men. This study is important because the authors of said sources developed the intellectual foundations of the defence of the “equality of the sexes”, which lead to women’s civic and political enfranchisement. These writings on gynodicy have been generally overlooked in academic research, thus contributing to consolidate an incomplete panorama of early modern political thought. GYNODICY seeks to counter this by proposing a new narrative that recovers a body of literature comprised of both printed works and unedited manuscripts, which has hitherto received scanty attention. The project promotes a transnational approach to the circulation of gender-egalitarian ideas and an interdisciplinary perspective. Natalia Zorrilla’s experience studying fictions of origin in clandestine philosophical literature and early modern women philosophers make her the ideal researcher for this project. She will benefit from the expertise of her supervisors: Marguerite Deslauriers (McGill University, outgoing phase) and Marco Sgarbi (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, return phase). Thanks to the training planned during this GF, Zorrilla will acquire new skills and establish an international scientific network connecting Europe and the Americas, thus becoming a leading scholar in early modern philosophy.

Keywords: gender egalitarianism early modern political philosophy querelle des femmes
Smart and Proactive Multi-RAT Traffic Steering for V2X (TRACE-V2X)

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: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: France,China,Malaysia,United Kingdom,Greece,Türkiye,Germany
Call: MSCA Staff Exchanges 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-SE-01, 2022)
Start date: 2024-01-01
End date: 2027-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 138000.0
EU funding (EUR): 138000.0
Participants: 11
Project status: SIGNED

Connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) have the potential to provide efficient and sustainable transportation. However, road safety of autonomous driving remains a critical challenge, the lack of which hinders their widespread adoption and integration into the transportation system. It is thus pressing to evolve vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications to provide reliable and secure communications for CAVs to exchange critical information for cooperative decision-making, ensuring the road safety. This project sets an ambitious goal of designing smart and proactive traffic steering across multiple radio access technologies (multi-RAT) in the environment of CAVs. The technical approach is threefold. First, to ensure the reliability of communications, this project unleashes the full potential of massive sensing that involves the collection of vast amounts of data from sensors deployed on vehicles and roadside infrastructure, and then leverage the cooperation perception of environment for situational awareness and ahead-of-time decision-making in V2X. Second, it develops a security and privacy preservation mechanism to protect the integrity and privacy of the highly dynamic vehicular network as well as defending the widely used machine learning process. Finally, relying on the 5G testbed, Open RAN (O-RAN) solution, and other V2X facilities provided by some partners, the final step is to implement and evaluate the performance of developed solutions, which closes the gap between theory and practice. The planned secondments provide partners the opportunity to test their solutions on the infrastructure possessed by other partners.

Keywords: v2x communications,mmwave sensing,security and privacy