Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Decentralised diminished mineralization incineration unit for dewatered sewage sludge lends resource efficient low-carbon electricity generation (DIMINU)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Secure, clean and efficient energy
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Slovakia,Czechia
Call: Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for a low carbon energy system (H2020-SMEINST-1-2014, 2014)
Start date: 2015-06-01
End date: 2015-11-30
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Sewage treatment and the management of the waste is a major cost factor for communities, as sewage treatment plants are often the biggest consumers of electrical energy (share up to 20%). Energy, in particular electricity, is also a valuable resource. Its rational use saves not only money but also resources and helps to reduce CO2 emissions. Through the prohibition of the dumping of untreated sewage sludge and discussions on limitations of its agricultural exploitation, many wastewater treatment plant operators, wastewater associations and disposers must develop and implement new concepts for the treatment of sewage sludge. It is therefore obvious to try to use sewage sludge as a fuel for energy production. Solutions have already been developed for larger communities. Smaller, especially rural municipalities still spend the sewage sludge remains on agricultural land because technologies for energy recovery from sewage sludge are so far not available in matching orders of magnitude up to 1 MW of thermal power capacity. The project aims at developing a marketable technology within 24 months consisting of a smart “in-cycle” system for energy-efficient, low-cost, low-carbon generation of electricity from the non-fossil fuel: pasty sewage sludge in the range 400 kW to 1 MW thermal capacity. The scale of the proposed technology should correspond to the throughput data of the upstream system, avoiding all concerns of logistic, transport, collecting, storage, deposing, pre-treatment of the sewage sludge; (a typical input from 480 to 1000 kWth is considered). Additionally, this proposed process should represent an affordable alternative to conventional routes of sewage sludge treatment, with their high release of GHG-emissions and a significant contribution to reduce GHG-emission of the necessary disposal service. The feasibility study developed in phase 1 will examine open technical, economic, organisational and legal issues.

Keywords: sewage sludge,low carbon electricity generation
Mechanisms of selective transmission of epigenetic marks through the male germ line (EpiRetention)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Standard European Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2016, 2016)
Start date: 2017-08-01
End date: 2019-07-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 158121.6
EU funding (EUR): 158121.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

During spermatogenesis, germ cells go through important chromatin remodelling steps, the most striking being the replacement of histones by protamines, which promotes the compaction of the paternal genome in the sperm . However, a proportion of nucleosomes, ~1% in mice and ~15% in humans, are retained following protamine incorporation. It is thought that those remaining histones might play a role in the development process after fertilization possibly by transmitting epigenetic information to the progeny. Investigating the process of histone/protamine exchange has been extremely challenging because of the difficulty to isolate and manipulate germ cells at different stages of their development in vivo. Recently, an in vitro system has been established to produce mouse embryonic stem cell (ESC)-derived male haploid gametes . We propose to use this remarkable system for a comprehensive genomics approach to get an understanding of the chromatin dynamics and functionally test the requirement of candidate proteins involved in the histone/protamine exchange process. This represents a novel approach to investigate the pathways responsible for histone eviction and protamine incorporation. Furthermore, we will determine how nucleosomes are retained at specific genomic regions in mature sperm and if they are involved in the transmission of epigenetic traits to the progeny. Such innovative study relying on advanced in vitro differentiation methods together with genome and chromatin editing techniques aim to bring valuable insight regarding germ cell development and determine whether stochastic or environment-directed changes in the nucleosome profile can be epigenetically propagated to the embryo via the sperm and affect the fitness of the offspring.

Keywords: in vitro spermatogenesis,epigenomics,histone protamine,exchange,nucleosome retention,intergenerational epigenetic inheritance
Microbiological conversion of renewable electricity and CO2 to a natural gas quality bio-fuel (ELECTHANE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Secure, clean and efficient energy
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Belgium
Call: Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for a low carbon energy system (H2020-SMEINST-1-2014, 2014)
Start date: 2015-06-01
End date: 2016-05-31
Duration (months): 12.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

OWS wants to commercialize a biological process that converts CO2 and H2 (after electrolysis of renewable electricity) to CH4 (main component in natural gas). Lab and pilot tests have been and are being conducted and show promising results. A next step in the development is creating a sound business model for further commercialization, and the construction of a first plant at full-scale for further optimization and demonstration purposes to potential clients. As renewable energy sources are gaining more ground in the electricity mix in Europe, imbalance problems on the electricity grid will increase in frequency. The proposed concept offers a solution to this imbalance problem by converting excess electricity via hydrolysis to H2 and using (waste) CO2 to CH4 that can be injected into the gas grid. The advantage of the proposed system is the small scale (< 10 MWe), so the conversion can be done near the production sites. When there is an excess of renewable electricity, fees are paid to the operators of renewable electricity for not producing, thus avoiding grid imbalance. Although this approach is understandable from a balancing perspective, it is contradictory to a sustainable approach and in conflict with the existing renewable energy targets. Therefore, producers of renewable electricity are a first important target group for our technology. CO2-intensive industries are a second important target group. By recycling their waste CO2, they become more sustainable, and it can generate extra revenues from buffering activities. During the feasibility study, OWS wants to elaborate a sound business plan for further development of the technology. It should result in a clear vision on technical, economic and legal issues. The final goal is to build a first full-scale demonstration plant in phase 2, which can serve as a test facility for further optimization (technical/biological), but also as a demonstration plant for potential customers.

Keywords: renewable electricity,biogas,biological energy conversion,renewable natural gas,power to gas,co2 recycling
Mass Spectrometry of Isomeric Ions (IsoMS)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Panel description: Analytical chemistry, chemical theory, physical chemistry/chemical physics
Countries involved: Czechia,Netherlands
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2015-CoG, 2015)
Start date: 2016-07-01
End date: 2021-12-31
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1612500.0
EU funding (EUR): 1182769.56
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Mass spectrometry (MS) in combination with electrospray ionization (ESI) is one of the principal tools currently used to gain insight into newly developed catalytic reactions. It is used to identify key reaction intermediates and to study their structure and reactivity. This proposal is based on the combination of modern MS approaches with novel experiments in a unique cryo-trapping instrument. This combination allows the study of short-lived ionic species that cannot be studied by other known methods. Our distinguishing feature is the in situ helium-tagging of ions, which allows us to record their infrared spectra via a pre-dissociation technique. Here, we will go beyond this state-of-the-art approach in two directions: (1) The unparalleled advantage of ESI-MS is its high sensitivity to low-abundant and reactive species. The pertinent question at the heart of all reaction mechanism investigations via MS is how the ions found in the gas-phase relate to the condensed-phase reaction. We will address this question using “Delayed Reactant Labelling”, which will directly link condensed phase kinetics to the abundance of isolated gaseous ions. (2) We will take advantage of long storage times in our cryogenic linear quadrupole trap and expand the portfolio of the methods available to address mixtures of ions with the same mass. Isobaric mixtures are resolved in MS by differences in ion mobilities, i.e. the ions are separated by their mass-to-charge ratios and by their shapes. We will perform ion mobility separation directly in the trap by excitation of the ion secular motion using a resonant dipolar electric field. Further, we will combine cryo-trapping experiments with the probing or modifying of the stored ions by reactive collisions with neutral molecules. The mobility experiments and the reactivity probing will be routinely combined with spectroscopic experiments.

Keywords: ion chemistry,reaction intermediates,low temperature experiments
Next-Level PDA Methodology to Enhance Public and Private Sustainable Energy Projects (BundleUP NEXT)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Secure, clean and efficient energy
Theme: Reducing energy consumption and carbon foorpint by smart and sustainable use
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Portugal,Portugal
Call: Aggregation - Project Development Assistance (H2020-LC-SC3-EE-2020-2, 2020)
Start date: 2021-05-01
End date: 2024-04-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 996375.0
EU funding (EUR): 996375.0
Participants: 4
Project status: SIGNED

The BundleUp NEXT project builds on the successful experience of BundleUP (Ponto Energia), a PDA project funded by Horizon 2020, which has developed a very effective methodology that resulted in over 32M€ of investment in energy efficiency (EE) projects (32€ for every 1€ of grant) in Portugal. The BundleUP methodology incorporates energy efficiency projects in different stages of development and proceeds to technical, legal and financial development assistance to bring them to the “investor-ready” (or “tender-ready” in case of public sector) stage. The methodology also focuses on grouping small projects in bundles, in order to provide procurement advantages and more attractiveness for investors and building owners. Due to the success of its predecessor and the strength of the consortium partners, BundleUP NEXT has received more than 60 letters of support and the formal endorsement of the Portuguese Deputy Minister for Energy and the national Directorate-General for Energy and Geology BundleUP NEXT will focus on the following project types: LED and public lighting, PV self-consumption, solar thermal, building envelope and electric mobility, creating a complete array of competences to support projects in any part of Portugal. The project is promoted by a concise and powerful consortium composed by PARITY, experts in sustainable energy investment and coordinators of the previous BundleUP project, ADENE, the national energy agency of Portugal with extensive experience in PDA and close ties to the public central administration, RNAE, the national network of local energy and environment agencies, establishing the projects connection to local administration all across the country and SRS, a law firm that was also part of the BundleUP project with extensive experience in the public and energy sectors. The project is expected to leverage up to 50M€ of investment, overcoming its predecessor’s success (around 1:50 leverage factor on the requested grant).

Keywords: bundle,aggregation,portuguese regulatory framework,public buildings,solar thermal,solar pv,public lighting,private buildings,local energy agencies,esco,energy communities,investment
Development of a non-invassive breath test for early diagnosis of tropical diseases (TROPSENSE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Research and innovation staff exchange
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: Germany,Spain,Israel,Germany,Poland,Colombia,Sweden,Tunisia,Romania,Romania,Romania,Morocco
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) (H2020-MSCA-RISE-2014, 2014)
Start date: 2015-02-01
End date: 2019-01-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1386000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1386000.0
Participants: 14
Project status: CLOSED

This project aims at demonstrating the feasibility of a non-invasive, safe and patient-friendly methodology for on-site rapid diagnosis of tropical diseases. The proposed approach is based on breath samples analyses, which are easy to obtain and present no discomfort or risk for patients health. In this study will be enrolled patients with three different types of neglected tropical diseases (Hydatidosis, Leishmaniasis and Dengue) from different geographical locations (Europe, South America and Maghreb). Breath sampling will follow a standardised procedure. Analytical chemistry methods will be employed for the identification of the breath volatile biomarkers of these diseases. A pool of potential nanomaterials with high affinity towards the identified VOCs will be selected (e.g., gold nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes and semiconducting nanowires, either pristine or functionalised with selected hydrophobic organic molecules and/or bio-molecules). For maximising the possibility of success of our methodology, we will investigate the synergic effect of different advanced and complementary chemical sensing techniques: Mid-Infrared Quantum Cascade Laser spectroscopy and different types of Chemical Gas Sensors devices. These techniques are particularly attractive, since they can be miniaturised and are suitable for building on-site portable systems. Advanced pattern recognition algorithms will be employed for building discriminative models for the identification of the fingerprints of the different tropical diseases studied, and multisensors data fusion will be then applied for obtaining enhanced resulyts. A point of care prototype will be proposed on the basis of the results obtained and validated on-site.

Keywords: tropical diseases,breath analysis,diagnosis,volatile biomarkers,gas chromatography,mass spectrometry,nanomaterials,chemical gas sensors,middle infrared quantum cascade lasers
Multilingual, Open-text Unified Syntax-independent SEmantics (MOUSSE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Computer science and informatics
Panel description: Informatics and information systems, computer science, scientific computing, intelligent systems
Countries involved: Italy
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2016-COG, 2016)
Start date: 2017-06-01
End date: 2023-05-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1497250.0
EU funding (EUR): 1497250.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The exponential growth of the Web is resulting in vast amounts of online content. However, the information expressed therein is not at easy reach: what we typically browse is only an infinitesimal part of the Web. And even if we had time to read all the Web we could not understand it, as most of it is written in languages we do not speak. Computers, instead, have the power to process the entire Web. But, in order to ”read” it, that is perform machine reading, they still have to face the hard problem of Natural Language Understanding, i.e., automatically making sense of human language. To tackle this long-lasting challenge in Natural Language Processing (NLP), the task of semantic parsing has recently gained popularity. This aims at creating structured representations of meaning for an input text. However, current semantic parsers require supervision, binding them to the language of interest and hindering their extension to multiple languages. Here we propose a research program to investigate radically new directions for enabling multilingual semantic parsing, without the heavy requirement of annotating training data for each new language. The key intuitions of our proposal are treating multilinguality as a resource rather than an obstacle and embracing the knowledge-based paradigm which allows supervision in the machine learning sense to be replaced with efficacious use of lexical knowledge resources. In stage 1 of the project we will acquire a huge network of language-independent, structured semantic representations of sentences. In stage 2, we will leverage this resource to develop innovative algorithms that perform semantic parsing in any language. These two stages are mutually beneficial, progressively enriching less-resourced languages and contributing towards leveling the playing field for all languages. Enabling Natural Language Understanding across languages should have an impact on NLP and other areas of AI, plus a societal impact on language learners.

Keywords: semantic parsing multilinguality
Environmental Spaces and the Feel-Good Factor: Relating Subjective Wellbeing to Biodiversity (RELATE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Panel description: Political science, international relations, law
Countries involved: United Kingdom,United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2016-COG, 2016)
Start date: 2017-10-01
End date: 2023-05-31
Duration (months): 68.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1953715.63
EU funding (EUR): 1826921.25
Participants: 3
Project status: SIGNED

We live in a time of profound environmental change. Phenomena such as urbanisation and agricultural intensification have led to ecosystem degradation and species extinctions, and thus a reduction in biodiversity. Yet, while it is now widely asserted in the research, policy and practice arenas that interacting with nature is fundamental to human wellbeing, there is a paucity of evidence characterising how biodiversity, the living component of nature, plays a role in this accepted truth. With RELATE, I will pioneer a completely novel approach to investigating this challenging problem, innovating through interdisciplinary (human geography, environmental psychology, economics and ecology) integration and the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. As such, RELATE will initiate a step-change in our understanding of how nature underpins human wellbeing. Three objectives will be met: (1) explore how people relate to different biodiversity attributes (particular morphologies, sounds, smells, textures, behaviours and/or cultural meanings associated with species), positively and negatively, across all classes of cultural ecosystem service and types of human-nature experience (intentional, incidental, indirect, thereness); (2) quantify variation in how people value, or not, different biodiversity attributes using a range of monetary and non-monetary valuation techniques, including new subjective wellbeing measures; (3) understand how co-occurrence between biodiversity and people may alter across space/time (both seasonal and inter-decadal), and the impact this may have on human-biodiversity relationships. The crucial trade-offs decision-makers tasked with managing environmental spaces have to make between multiple biodiversity, individual and societal deliverables cannot be optimised until we understand human-biodiversity relationships specifically. Consequently, RELATE will deliver a timely, rich and holistic evidence-base, supported by transformative science.

Keywords: biodiversity,cultural ecosystem services,human wellbeing,human wildlife interactions,green space,seasonality,species traits,urbanisation
The Art of Deleting: A Study of Erasure Poetry, Practices of Control, Surveillance, and Censorship (ARTDEL)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Global Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Social Sciences and Humanities
Countries involved: Norway,United States
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2018-08-13
End date: 2021-10-19
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 276330.6
EU funding (EUR): 276330.6
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

The research project “The Art of Deleting” (ARTDEL) investigates the topic of deletion and redaction as a poetic, aesthetic, and political act. ARTDEL aims to analyze works of erasure poetry as forms of resistance and activism in digital culture. The project addresses various levels of erasure poetry, by focusing on its social, political, and aesthetic dimensions, and by tracing its antecedents. The first stage of the project involves researching archive material and developing methodological tools in literary studies and digital literature on the materiality of censoring techniques. Secondly, it presents case studies on the cultural and political contexts of production and reception of poetry in Portugal, China, and the United States. The research will compare practices of "hard" censorship applied to works of poetry in fascist and communist regimes, and practices of "soft" censorship applied in contemporary democratic and network societies. Thus, ARTDEL is a comparative study of the material practices applied by the state apparatus in the control and regulation of the literary field, particularly in poetry. Thirdly, it investigates whether the superstructures of state control and surveillance influence contemporary works of erasure poetry. Due to the scientific, socio-political, and critical perspectives concerning technology, ARTDEL is a timely project that will significantly contribute to new knowledge on cultural production in the digital age, and enhance European scientific excellence and policy-making.

Keywords: digital culture,digital humanities,digital literary studies,electronic literature,digital poetry,erasure poetry,experimental poetry,censorship studies,societies of control,surveillance