Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
New approaches for the analysis and utilization of wheat genetic diversity (NextWheat)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Biotechnology and Biosystems E ngineering
Panel description: Biotechnology using all organisms , biotechnology for environment  and food applications, applied plant and animal sciences , bioengineering and synthetic biology , biomass and biofuels , biohazards
Countries involved: Israel
Call: ERC ADVANCED GRANTS (ERC-2024-ADG, 2024)
Start date: 2025-08-01
End date: 2030-07-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2498500.0
EU funding (EUR): 2498500.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Addressing the challenge of food security during the current environmental crisis will necessitate rapidly breeding a new generation of adapted cultivars. Genetic diversity and selection of natural variants are key to advances in breeding. However, there is a need for better tools to predict how natural variation impacts plant performances, to improve the precision and efficiency of gene modification, and transfer from wild relatives to crops. We will focus on wheat, one of the most important staple foods of humanity, and on the broad genetic pool of its wild relatives. Our goals are to develop a computational tool to analyze genetic variation in the genomes of modern and wild wheat and to identify deleterious mutations that impair fitness. We will build genomics tools for effective genotyping of deleterious mutations in classical breeding and we will test their effect on yield. Then, we will use genome editing tools to increase diversity via the precise transfer of genes from the wild into the domestic background and for targeted repair of deleterious mutations towards wheat improvement. We plan to achieve this by developing a machine-learning algorithm to predict the presence of deleterious mutations in whole genomes (WP1). Then, we will test how such mutations can affect crop fitness by designing a genotyping microarray for simple identification of deleterious mutations in segregating populations for use in classical breeding (WP2). We will also harness new breeding technologies to increase the genetic diversity in wheat through the precise transfer of genes or chromosomal segments from close and distant chromosomes of wild relatives to modern wheat and for repairing deleterious mutations through modification of the relevant genes (WP3). This project should provide a new understanding of how genetic diversity affects plant fitness and how better to exploit it in plant breeding. All materials and tools developed through this work will be freely available.

Keywords: plant breeding,inter species gene transfer,dna recombination,food security,sustainability
Fast and comprehensive structure identification in cryo-ET using deep learning and tomogram optimisation (TomoFind)

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: United Kingdom
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-10-01
End date: 2027-09-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 260347.92
EU funding (EUR): 260347.92
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) revolutionises cellular structure visualisation, but extracting biological insights is often hindered by limitations of subtomogram averaging (STA). With AlphaFold2's recent breakthroughs in structure prediction, identifying known structures in their 3D cellular context is often more important than structure determination by STA. The TomoFind project aims to significantly improve our ability to identify biomolecular structures within tomographic reconstructions. This goal will be pursued through three interconnected approaches: 1) Developing deep learning tools for rapid and comprehensive identification of known structures in tomograms; 2) Refining data acquisition parameters via mathematical modelling and computational optimisation; and 3) Enhancing reconstruction algorithms to fully leverage advancements from 1) and 2). This highly interdisciplinary project combines applied mathematics, machine learning, and structural biology, and close collaboration between computational and experimental groups ensures practical applicability and maximises chances of success. TomoFind will advance cryo-ET analysis capabilities, enabling investigation of cellular structures and processes at unprecedented resolution and scale. The resulting open-source software will lead to high impact across structural and cell biology research communities. The host institution's world-class technical expertise and state-of-the-art facilities provide an ideal environment for this project. This, combined with the applicant's interdisciplinary background spanning applied mathematics, data science, and computational imaging, forms a strong foundation, crucial for the success of TomoFind. The project will enhance the applicant's skills and network, boosting future prospects for prestigious European research positions. The host institute will also benefit from the project's outcomes, advancing its research capabilities in cryo-ET and structural biology.

Keywords: cryo et,cryo em,inverse problems,mathematical optimisation,geometric deep learning
Elucidating the role of microbial metabolites in stabilising and protecting the leaf microbiome (MeStaLeM)

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: Germany,United States
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-07-01
End date: 2026-01-31
Duration (months): 31.0
Total project cost (EUR): 173847.36
EU funding (EUR): 173847.36
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

The oomycete pathogen Albugo laibachii plays an important role in structuring the phyllosphere microbiome of Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant-associated microbial communities are known to provide protection against pathogens, at least in part, through the production of specialised metabolites that suppress the activity of pathogen-derived proteases. Thanks to the advances in next-generation sequencing and non-targeted mass spectrometry, we have gained new insights into the community and metabolic dynamics of the plant microbiota. Nevertheless, we are just at the beginning of fully capturing the sheer number and complexity of the community members and the countless, still unknown, metabolites they produce. The molecular mechanisms underlying microbe-microbe and plant-microbe interactions remain thereby mainly elusive. So far, only a few metabolites have been identified as plant-protecting agents but the full protective potential of a microbiome through the synergistic action of multiple microbial compounds remains largely hidden. To shed light on the bioactive potential of the exo-metabolome of the plant microbiome as a whole, I will apply a multi-modal functional metabolomics strategy that provides information on the potential protease inhibitory activity of all the compounds secreted by a predefined synthetic microbial community. Our focus will be on the stabilisation of the microbial community composition mediated by protease inhibition and the related plant-beneficial activities through synergistic interactions with other defence strategies. Connecting those activities to individual metabolites will allow us to better understand the beneficial effects of the community as a whole and how dysbiosis may contribute to pathogenesis. It will also allow for the rational design of next-generation microbiome derived biocontrol agents which are urgently needed for a more sustainable agriculture.

Keywords: microbial community,cross feeding,plant microbe interaction,microbial community common good,microbial community function
European Heterogeneous Cloud/Edge Infrastructures for Next Generation Hybrid Services (HIGHER)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Digital, Industry and Space
Theme: Digital
Destination: Digital & Emerging Technologies for Competitiveness and Fit for the Green Deal
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Greece,Spain,France,Germany,Sweden,Switzerland
Call: Open Source for Cloud/Edge to support European Digital Autonomy (RIA) (HORIZON-CL4-2024-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01-CNECT, 2024)
Start date: 2025-01-01
End date: 2027-12-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 5996250.0
EU funding (EUR): 5996250.0
Participants: 12
Project status: SIGNED

HIGHER brings together 11 partners from industry and academia to jointly develop and validate open-source designs for high-density rack-scale systems capable of supporting cloud and edge services at scale in standards-based data center environments. Starting with the ARM RHEA2 and RISC-V EPAC processors from EPI and the RISC-V EUPilot processor chip, HIGHER adopts the Open Compute Project (OCP) Server family of standards to build processor modules for computation and acceleration, alongside a system security/control module, all operating with fully-featured operating systems and runtimes. HIGHER aims to design OCP server mechanics to provide modular rack systems incorporating reusable standards-based infrastructure, encompassing hardware, low-level firmware, and systems software, ensuring trustworthy functionality for managing, securing, and controlling servers. The project's open-source hardware and software outcomes will enhance European Digital Autonomy and facilitate wide adoption. Furthermore, the project will assemble representative software stacks supporting a range of use cases, including accelerated data processing and analysis for converged Cloud and HPC platforms, Infrastructure-as-a-Service with standardized management and monitoring, Platform-as-a-Service facilitating large-scale data processing for ML inference and data analytics, and memory pool management at the server rack level, with access control safeguards aligned with maturing CXL standards.

Keywords: cloud,edge,arm,risc v,computing continuum
Alzheimer's Disease Diagnostics Innovation and Translation to Clinical Practice in Central Europe (ADDIT-CE)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area
Programme: Widening participation and spreading excellence
Theme: Improved access to Excellence
Destination: Improved access to Excellence
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Czechia,Slovakia
Call: Excellence Hubs (HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ACCESS-04, 2022)
Start date: 2023-01-01
End date: 2026-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4939299.5
EU funding (EUR): 4939299.5
Participants: 13
Project status: SIGNED

More than 55 million people worldwide suffer from dementia. Alzheimer disease (AD) is the main cause of this fatal disorder, without any effective disease modifying therapy. Early diagnosis and lifestyle modifications can significantly reduce the costs of care and treatment. There is no conceptual plan implementing modern diagnostic methods in the clinical practice in Czechia and Slovakia. The interaction between universities and private sector developing molecular diagnostic tools is fragmented and lacking. Limited number of talented students are invested in applied AD-focused research. The aim of ADDIT-CE is to interlink two ecosystems in Brno and Bratislava region, embracing the full quadruple helix of innovation driving actors: excellent scientific teams from Masaryk University and Slovak Academy of Sciences, collaborating with top biotech companies: Geneton, BioVendor, and MultiplexDX. Societal actors will be represented by organisations such as Slovak and Czech Alzheimer Societies, Memory Center and Czech Brain Aging Study. The regional government will be involved via Ministry of Health Slovak Republic, and South Moravian Innovation Centre. The joined ecosystems will unite R&I activities focusing on new diagnostic methods and their applications and further interlink academia and business spheres by creating a pilot industrial PhD programme. ADDIT-CE will generate a joint cross-border strategy covering basic and applied research activities aiming on accelerating the development of new tools for preclinical AD diagnostics and lifestyle/pharmacological intervention monitoring. New cutting-edge technologies will be transferred into clinical practise. Results of ADDIT-CE will be used to develop the Slovak National Plan to Combat Dementia, to enrich the Czech National Plan for AD, and will be widely disseminated to end users and society. ADDIT-CE will join forces of the involved ecosystems to revolutionise diagnostic approaches in both countries.

Keywords: alzheimer s disease,dementia,early alzheimer s disease diagnostics,strengthening linkages between academia and industry,new tau and apoe biomarkers,research based tau diagnostic assays
.lumen - Empowering the blind (.lumen – Glasses for the blind)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Accelerator
Destination: Open to supporting projects in all areas of science, technology,...
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: Romania
Call: EIC Accelerator Open 2021 (HORIZON-EIC-2021-ACCELERATOROPEN-01, 2021)
Start date: 2022-11-01
End date: 2024-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3094041.25
EU funding (EUR): 2165828.88
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

There are over 40 M blind and over 238 M visually impaired people in the world struggling with everyday mobility, who can’t be employed or educated because of it. While technology advanced, and solutions appeared for multiple challenges that they face, the area of mobility has not seen much change. Most of the technological solutions available are expensive, they don’t help to navigate and work only with some eyesight. Lumen has tackled these problems and created a solution, which has a system able to understand the world like a vision capable individual. The device understands the environment, computes navigation paths for the users, and transmits information through the sound and impulses on the forehead. Moreover, it is affordable and easy to use. Lumen already made an incredible progress with its patents, research, and product iterations. Now, the team is applying for the EIC Accelerator to finalise the product, pilot it, and enter the market, thus requests EUR 5.5 M of funding.

Keywords: assistive technologies
Drivers and consequences of host microbiome control (FROGMICRO)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Environmental B iology, Ecology  and E volution
Panel description: For all organisms : Ecology, biodiversity, environmental change , evolutionary biology, behavioural ecology, microbial ecology , marine biology, ecophysiology, theoretical developments and mod elling
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2025-STG, 2025)
Start date: 2026-02-01
End date: 2031-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499751.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499751.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The epithelial surfaces of animals harbour symbiont communities that influence the health of their hosts, including defending against pathogens. Whilst microbiome effects on host biology have been extensively studied, much less is known about how hosts regulate their microbiomes to ensure that they are pThe epithelial surfaces of animals harbour symbiont communities that influence the health of their hosts, including defending against pathogens. Whilst microbiome effects on host biology have been extensively studied, much less is known about how hosts regulate their microbiomes to ensure that they are populated by beneficial rather than harmful symbionts. The study of host control is critical for both understanding how microbiomes function and for the development of targeted therapies. To meet this need, I will develop an amphibian skin model to ask three key questions exploring host control across major life-stages: 1) How does host control promote symbiont colonization? 2) How does host immune policing and symbiont counter-adaptation shape the microbiome? 3) Can host control be exploited to select transmissible protective microbial therapies? I will examine these questions using the deadly chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) that is devastating amphibian populations worldwide, and the highly susceptible common midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans), which can be defended by its dermal symbionts. The project has risks, with microbial communities being ecologically complex and fundamental aspects of host biology that are relevant to symbiont control not fully understood. To overcome these challenges, I will apply a combination of novel approaches in glycobiology, proteomics, competition experiments, genomics, in vivo experimentation, AI computer vision and field work. By identifying the major drivers of host control, this project promises to transform our ability to predict microbial community assembly and develop protective symbiont therapies.
Engineering of Superfluorescent Nanocrystal Solids (PROMETHEUS)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Materials Engineering
Panel description: Advanced materials development: performance enhancement, modelling, large -scale preparation, modification, tailoring, optimisation, novel  and combined use of materials, etc.
Countries involved: Sweden
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): 1875938.0
EU funding (EUR): 1875938.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

The time is right for light-emitting colloidal nanocrystals to meet the demands of the second quantum revolution. The cooperative emission (superfluorescence) was recently observed in the micron-sized solids of colloidal lead halide perovskite nanocrystals, offering a path to low-cost, solution-processed sources of bright and coherent light. Superfluorescence, characterized by high-intensity and ultrashort bursts of indistinguishable photons, makes nanocrystal solids desired targets for photonics and quantum information applications. However, the exact origin of the superfluorescence is debated, and the rules of nanomaterial design for on-demand cooperativity are unknown. PROMETHEUS tackles these issues by combining nanochemistry with spectroscopy and tools of quantum optics. The project's approach consists of 1) synthesis and judicious selection of emissive metal halide nanocrystals with minimal exciton energy inhomogeneity, 2) accelerated self-assembly of nanocrystals into binary solids with a tunable fraction of emitters, 3) cryogenic micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy at the level of individual nanocrystal solids. The control of the coupling between emissive nanocrystals is achieved by diluting optically-dense nanocrystal solids with a second, transparent nanocrystal component. Measurements of spectroscopic observables, coherence, and photon statistics on single nanocrystal solids are used to dissect the roots and properties of cooperative emission. The project introduces a concept of light-coupled nanocrystal solids where light-matter interactions are engineered through structure and composition. This concept goes beyond metal halides and applies to emissive nanocrystals of any shape, opening a class of colloidal nanomaterials with light emission controllable between single-particle and many-body regimes. Such materials are expected to expand applications of emissive nanocrystals in quantum technologies and yield new uses in materials science.

Keywords: metal halide nanocrystals,lead halide perovskites,colloidal self assembly,colloidal superlattices,nanocrystal solids,accelerated discovery,high throughput fabrication,optical spectroscopy,cryogenic photoluminescence,cooperative emission,superfluorescence,lasing,structure property relationship
Revolutionary SquarE-Phase 2D Materials for AdvanCed NIR-active AntimicrObial CoATings (REDCOAT) (REDCOAT)

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: Poland,France
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-05-01
End date: 2027-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 163166.16
EU funding (EUR): 163166.16
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant superbugs necessitates the development of innovative antimicrobial strategies. The "Revolutionary Square-Phase 2D Materials for Advanced NIR-active Antimicrobial Coatings (REDCOAT)" project aims to address this challenge by leveraging the unique properties of square-phase transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), specifically MoS2 and WS2, to design advanced antimicrobial coatings on titanium implants. REDCOAT will explore the synthesis, surface modification, and application of square-phase TMDC nanosheets, targeting their integration into next-generation NIR-active antimicrobial coatings. MoS2/WS2 nanosheets will be synthesised with precisely controlled dimensions (100-500 nm edge lengths, 3-10 nm thickness) to exploit their NIR absorption and photothermal conversion capabilities. These nanosheets will be functionalized with an Iron-Gallic Acid-based metal-phenolic network (MPN) to enhance the interaction with bacterial membranes while ensuring biocompatibility. The functionalized TMDCs will be uniformly coated onto Ti6Al4V alloy implants, aiming for a coating thickness of 10-50 µm and surface roughness of 50-200 nm, optimised for effective antimicrobial activity and improved osseointegration. To elucidate the interaction mechanisms between these coatings and bacterial cells, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations will be performed at 310 K with femtosecond resolution. These simulations will focus on the deformation of lipid bilayers and pore formation under different TMDC coverage levels (5%, 10%, 20%), providing insights into the antimicrobial efficacy of the coatings. Complementing this, in vitro biocompatibility studies will be conducted using human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) seeded on the coated Ti6Al4V discs, assessing cell viability, proliferation, and differentiation. The antimicrobial efficiency of the coatings will be tested against common pathogens and superbugs.

Keywords: 2d materials 2d square transition metal dichalcogenides nir active antimicrobial coatings iron gallic acid based metal phenolic network molecular dynamics superbugs titanium implants infections