Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Learning Mobility for Real Legged Robots (LeMo)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Systems and communication engineering
Panel description: Electrical, electronic, communication, optical and systems engineering
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2019-STG, 2019)
Start date: 2020-01-01
End date: 2024-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1496370.0
EU funding (EUR): 1496370.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Research and applications in legged robotics has made significant progress over the last decade, driven by more advanced actuation systems, better on-board computation, and significantly improved sensors for perceiving the environment. State-of-the-art model-based planning and control algorithms can plan for contact points and body motions to move legged systems over complex environments. However, these methods have shown clear performance limits when it comes to behaviours and situations that are more complex, and it is unclear if and how these limits can be overcome with classical control methods. On the other hand, recent advances in reinforcement learning has put forward unprecedented capabilities to learn control policies for complex behaviours. With our preliminary findings, we were the first group to present methods that allow directly transferring learned behaviours from simulation to reality to create advanced motion skills for complex legged robots. This breakthrough has the potential to revolutionize the field of legged locomotion control. In this ERC project, we want to research this highly promising area and investigate the use of machine learning tools to make legged robots autonomously move in realistic outdoor scenarios. In three parallel research streams, we will learn how to accurately model the system dynamics from experience, how to abstractify, generate and coordinate different complex behaviours that involve multi-contact situations, and how to combine these with perception to enable autonomous navigation in complex environments. The proposed methods have the potential to overcome the limitations of commonly used optimization-based methods such as limited model accuracy, local minima, conservative performance, computational load and execution time, and it will help us to better understand the fundamentals of locomotion in robots and biology.

Keywords: legged robotics,locomotion control,learning locomotion,machine learning
Protecting Sensitive Data in the Computing Continuum (FogProtect)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Austria,Germany,Germany,Israel,Belgium,Greece,France,Netherlands,United Kingdom,Portugal
Call: Cloud Computing (H2020-ICT-2019-2, 2019)
Start date: 2020-01-01
End date: 2022-12-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4999925.0
EU funding (EUR): 4999925.0
Participants: 10
Project status: SIGNED

Cloud computing is transitioning from a few large data centres to a truly decentralized computing paradigm. Computing resources are increasingly provided near the network edge, in a geographically distributed way, in the form of so-called fog nodes. Data produced in end devices like smartphones, sensors or IoT devices can be stored, processed and analysed across a continuum of compute resources, from end devices via fog nodes to cloud services. This decentralized computing paradigm provides huge benefits in terms of reduced latency, increased processing speed and energy savings, but the protection of sensitive data in such a widely decentralized setting becomes a critical concern. FogProtect delivers new and advanced architectures, technologies, and methodologies for ensuring end-to-end data protection across the computing continuum, from cloud data centres through fog nodes to end devices. The FogProtect solutions are generic and can be used in multiple contexts to support many types of applications and services. FogProtect combines four main technology innovations: (1) secure data container technology for data portability and mobility, (2) data-protection-aware adaptive service and resource management, (3) advanced data protection policy management, (4) dynamic data protection risk management models and tools. Three complementary real-world use cases demonstrate the applicability of FogProtect solutions to multiple contexts and the impact of the project’s novel solutions for data protection: smart cities, smart manufacturing and smart media. FogProtect provides the essential building blocks to empower data protection, supporting resilience, trustworthiness and human-centricity in the Next Generation Internet. FogProtect brings together knowledge and solutions of major European ICT providers together with competence of innovative SMEs and deep technical knowledge of leading research organizations, ensuring it has high scientific, technological and economic impact.

Keywords: computing continuum,data protection
The power of diversity and social inclusion as a mean for reducing air pollution and achieving green urban nexus in climate neutral cities (DivAirCity)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Climate action, environment,  resource efficiency and raw materials
Theme: Fighting and adapting to climate change
Action type: Innovation actions
Countries involved: Germany,Spain,Spain,Italy,Germany,Italy,Spain,Belgium,Romania,Greece,Poland,Netherlands,United Kingdom,Denmark,Denmark,United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call: Innovative nature-based solutions for carbon neutral cities and improved air quality (H2020-LC-CLA-2020-2, 2020)
Start date: 2021-09-01
End date: 2025-08-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 10794875.0
EU funding (EUR): 9921987.5
Participants: 26
Project status: SIGNED

DivAirCity “recognizes, accepts and celebratesDivAirCity is an ambitious project that aims at shifting the urban paradigm by valuing human diversity (with a focus on gender and multiculturalism) as a resource to define new urban services and models towards cultural-driven green cities. The project focuses on the Urban nexus that combines people, places, peace, economic growth, climate robustness and its impact on Air quality and decarbonization. DivAirCity, through citizen science and creativity will co-design solutions and trace their impact in a transparent and safe way. The project involves 5 EU cities representing replicable case studies: Orvieto (IT), Castellon (SP), Potsdam (D), Aarhus (DK) and Bucharest (RO). DivAirCity aims at creating different solutions: 5 Permanent Living Labs (PLL), 1 Diversity and Inclusion green city index (DIGCI), 5 Smart Cities Climate contracts (SCCo), 1 Community of Practice (CoP), 5 air pollution mitigation services, and 1 EU protocol for decarbonization diagnosis. The PLLs will implement NBS by leveraging over 55 mio budget already allocated by the cities; the DIGCI aims at assessing diversity and decarbonisation strategies; the SCCos will be delivered by co-designing new business models supported by blockchain technologies; the CoP will include the full urban ecosystem; and the air pollution new services have the ambition to enter in the market. DivAirCity presents a project beyond EU borders with an ambitious international dissemination strategy beyond Europe by the involvement of Belmont Forum CRAs, key international networks and H2020 funded projects. The consortium represents a mix of stakeholders selected out of the usual only research-focused organizations, to provide a real route-to-market, with the ambition to bring the project outcomes on the market by the end of the project. DivAirCity visibility will be enhanced by the participation of the Belgian National TV (RTBF) and its associated European and Global channels.

Keywords: social diversity,greencities culture,citizen science,air quality,carbon neutral cities
A treatment for BRAF inhibitor resistant melanoma (2MoveMate4Melanoma)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — 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 Grant (ERC-2015-PoC, 2015)
Start date: 2016-05-01
End date: 2017-10-31
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 149750.0
EU funding (EUR): 149750.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Some 50% of human melanoma tumors have activating mutations in the BRAF gene. BRAF inhibitor drugs given either alone or in combination with MEK inhibitors have improved progression-free and overall survival in patients with BRAF mutant metastatic melanoma. However, drug resistance invariably limits the duration of clinical benefit of such treatments and is almost always associated with re-activation of signaling through the MAP kinase pathway in the presence of drug due to secondary mutations in the pathway. This highlights the urgent need to develop strategies to treat melanomas that have developed resistance to BRAF and/or MEK inhibitors. As part of an ERC advanced grant, my laboratory has shown that BRAF inhibitor withdrawal in melanomas that have developed resistance to BRAF inhibitors leads to a transient growth arrest that is the consequence of temporary hyperactivation of signaling through the MAP kinase pathway, explaining the so called “drug holiday effect”. We have also found that subsequent treatment of such BRAF inhibitor resistant melanomas with Histone DeACetylase inhibitor drugs (HDACi) leads to persistent hyperactivation of MAP kinase signaling, causing both chronic proliferation arrest and cell death, ultimately leading to complete regression of BRAF-inhibitor resistant melanomas in mice. We propose here to perform a proof of concept study in at least 10 evaluable melanoma patients that, after proven initial tumor response, have developed resistance to BRAF inhibitors to validate that subsequent treatment of such patients with an HDACi drug will result in durable responses. Translational studies on tumor biopsies taken before, during and after HDACi treatment will be performed to study the cellular effects of HDACi treatment. Our goal is to provide initial proof of concept in patients for use of this sequential BRAFi-HDACi therapy as the treatment of choice for the some 40,000 BRAF mutant melanomas that are diagnosed in the EU annually.

Keywords: melanoma,braf,clinical trial,drug resistance
SpinCo, new energy saving worm gear technology by gear rolling contacts (SpinCo)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Secure, clean and efficient energy
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for a low carbon and efficient energy system (H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017, 2016)
Start date: 2016-08-01
End date: 2016-11-30
Duration (months): 4.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Power loss in the gearbox is mostly due to friction, which also generates heat. SpinControl Gearing BV has developed, tested and patented a new energy saving power transfer technology that is uniquely versatile and adaptive to hundreds of applications in nearly every gear market segment. The SpinCo worm gear improves efficiency, acceleration and power density as compared with conventional worm gearing. The invention is to use rolling contact between gear mating surfaces, replacing the rubbing and sliding gear contact found in conventional power transfer systems. SpinCO drecreases greenhouse emissions by 30% by reduced frictional forces in the power transfer process. Phase 1 will develop further the IP management strategy and the plan for EU and worldwide commercialization, calculate financial projections and assess sale agreements on global scale. The project scale-up is built on two essential pillars: the pre-production of gear models to be validated with initial users, and to complete the design of the SpinCo screw manufacturing and gear-assembling machine for industrial production by potential customers. A key activity to accomplish this will be identifying and discussing commercial partnerships with selected gear manufacturers in different key market applications. SpinControl is in ongoing discussions with Bierens Group and SKF in Netherlands as potential partners for manufacturing and commercialization.

Keywords: carbon emissions,fuel efficiency,rolling contact,friction,cost of energy,enegy efficiency,decarbonize,power transmission,power transfer system,lubrication,gearboxes,industrial machines
How does the brain organize sounds into auditory scenes? (SOUNDSCENE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Panel description: Nervous system development, homeostasis and ageing, nervous system function and dysfunction, systems neuroscience and modelling, biological basis of cognitive processes and of behaviour, neurological and mental disorders
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2017-COG, 2017)
Start date: 2018-09-01
End date: 2025-05-31
Duration (months): 81.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999999.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999999.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Real-world listening involves making sense of the numerous competing sound sources that exist around us. The neuro-computational challenge faced by the brain is to reconstruct these sources from the composite waveform that arrives at the ear; a process known as auditory scene analysis. While young normal hearing listeners can parse an auditory scene with ease, the neural mechanisms that allow the brain to do this are unknown – and we are not yet able to recreate them with digital technology. Hearing loss, aging, impairments in central auditory processing, or an inability to appropriately engage attentional mechanisms can negatively impact the ability to listen in complex and noisy situations and an understanding of how the healthy brain organizes a sound mixture into perceptual sources may guide rehabilitative strategies targeting these problems. While functional imaging studies in humans highlight a network of brain regions that support auditory scene analysis, little is known about the cellular and circuit based mechanisms that operate within these brain networks. A critical barrier to advancing our understanding of how the brain solves the challenge of scene analysis has been a failure to combine behavioural testing, which provides a crucial measure of how any given sound mixture is perceived, with methods to record and manipulate neuronal activity in animal models. Here, I propose to use a novel behavioural paradigm in conjunction with high-channel count electrophysiological recordings and optogenetic manipulation to elucidate how auditory cortex, prefrontal cortex and hippocampus enable scene analysis during active listening. These methods will allow us to record single cell activity from a number of brain regions more typical of functional imaging studies in order to understand how processing within each area, and the interactions between these areas, underpins auditory scene analysis.

Keywords: auditory cortex,auditory scene analysis,behavioural neurophysiology
TurboSol: Turbo-Solar Thermal Power for Industrial Drying Processes (TurboSol)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Secure, clean and efficient energy
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for a low carbon and efficient energy system (H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2018-03-01
End date: 2018-06-30
Duration (months): 4.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

TurboSol is an innovative solution to provide heat for industrial processes using solar thermal power in a system in which solar collectors and a turbocharger integrate to provide hot air at 300ºC without the use of any additional energy sources other than the sun. Our system reduces the operational costs of industrial drying process by not requiring electricity or any other fuel, as well as thermal oils or any other heat carrying fluids, since our system uses air as heat carrier. In addition, the emissions of combustion derived pollutants and greenhouse gases are reduced to zero. Industrial drying processes are energy intensive and they are used in multitude of industries. Conventional industrial driers consume great amounts of fossil fuels and electricity and produce vast amounts of greenhouse gases. A TurboSol system of 240 kW power producing 480,000 kWh of hot air at 300ºC, will save more than €60,000 per year compared with an equivalent diesel oil facility, recovering the initial investment in just 4 years. The recovery is even faster compared to an equivalent system using electricity, 3 years. The greenhouse gas emissions saved are 126 tCO2 and 120 tCO2 compared to the previously mentioned equivalent facilities. There are other solar thermal solutions in the market, however all of them require an input of fossil fuels and the use of thermal oils or water vapour as heat-carrier. The identified market for our technological solution is the industrial driers market and the market segments are wastewater treatment plants, chemical industry, food & beverages industry and pharmaceutical industry. Our target users are European industrial facilities located in high solar irradiation zones requiring process heat up to 300ºC for drying operations. Thanks to TURBOSOL project, DEMEDE forecasts a total profit of €4.8M in 5 years and a ROI of 2.69.

Keywords: renewable energy,thermo solar,drying process,turbocharger,solar thermal collectors,solar heat for industrial processes ship,greenhouse gas emissions
Urban Sharing: Sustainability and Institutionalisation Pathways (Urban Sharing)

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: Sweden
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2017-COG, 2017)
Start date: 2018-09-01
End date: 2023-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999948.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999948.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Urban sharing of assets has emerged as a prospective solution to sustainability challenges faced by cities. But, its sustainability potential and institutionalisation pathways have not been systematically examined. Urban Sharing aims to examine, test and advance knowledge about urban sharing organisations (USOs) across 5 cities from 5 continents: Amsterdam, Toronto, São Paolo, Seoul and Melbourne by undertaking a novel multi- and inter-disciplinary study with three objectives: 1. DESIGN: To examine how USOs are designed and operate and how they vary in different city contexts 2. PRACTICES: To study the sustainability impacts of USOs and how they vary across cities 3. PATHWAYS: To advance theoretical understanding of institutionalisation pathways of USOs across cities Using a combination of methods, including case studies, mobile research labs, interviews, expert panels, in-situ field work, Urban Sharing will provide: 1. Unique international empirical evidence about design and operations of USOs across five cities that creates foundation for further research on emerging phenomenon of urban sharing, 2. A sustainability assessment framework to evaluate economic, environmental and social impacts of USOs that helps USOs and cities operationalise their sustainability ambitions, 3. Advanced theoretical understanding of institutionalisation pathways of USOs in diverse cities bridging disparate sciences: organisational, institutional and sustainability. This will produce a step-change in scholarship, open up new horizons for further research on urban sharing and new avenues for fostering sustainability in society. The PI’s skills and commitment to the project and level of staffing (3 seniors, 1 post-doc and 2 PhD students) will be complemented by a prominent Advisory Group. Detailed pilot work has proven the methodological feasibility of this research.

Keywords: institutionalisation,organisation,sustainable consumption and production,neo institutional theory,institutional entrepreneurship
Low Curing Temperature and Energy Efficient Powder Coatings (PULVERCOAT)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Italy
Call: SME instrument (H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-2, 2018)
Start date: 2018-10-01
End date: 2021-03-31
Duration (months): 30.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2074956.25
EU funding (EUR): 1452469.38
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Worldwide demand for powder coatings has increased over the last few decades based on their excellent durability and finish, easy application and low environmental impact. Thermosetting powder coatings cure between 180ºC-200ºC and need beyond 20 minutes curing depending on the resin and cross linker used. Its application takes place in big ovens (2x7m2) and the energy consumed during the curing process represents nowadays 50% of the total operational costs of the applicators, which are either coating enterprises or directly product manufacturers (OEMs). A major challenge for powder coating manufacturers is therefore to offer their customers more energy-efficient products by reducing the polymerization temperature and increasing the speed of the reaction. PulverCoat is a new generation of advanced thermosetting powder coatings that polymerize at lower temperature (110ºC-130°C) with a reaction mechanism 10 times faster than common powder coatings, enabling curing to take place in just 3-5 minutes. The use of PulverCoat will therefore significantly improve the energetic yield of the application process, representing a total energy saving between 40 – 70% depending on the dimension of the painted part and, consequently, reducing the financial and environmental impact of this operation. Furthermore, this low curing temperature range enables its use for coating heat sensitive substrates, like wood and plastic. Moreover, our new generation of advanced powder coatings has shown additional advantages, such as improved, outstanding resistance to UV radiation (50% better than common polyesters), and excellent anti-graffiti properties thanks to its dense net of amino bonds grants. The PULVERCOAT project is expected have a significant impact on our company, PUVERIT: forecasted sales in 2025 will render revenues of €45.9 million, and a total of 90 new jobs will be created in the first five years of commercialization.

Keywords: energy efficient,powder coating,themoset,polyamide,low curing temperature,energy consumption reduction