Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Targeting the Polycomb Machinery in BAP1-related Pathologies (T-BAP)

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: Italy
Call: ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS2 (ERC-2022-POC2, 2022)
Start date: 2024-01-01
End date: 2025-06-30
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 214285.71
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

BAP1-related mutations are common genetic lesions of several cancers and neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). BAP1 is a deubiquitinase that removes the repressive mono-ubiquitination at histone H2AK119 (H2Aub1) deposited by the Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 (PRC1) by associating with several regulatory subunits to form the Polycomb Repressive Deubiquitinase (PR-DUB) complex. BAP1 inactivating mutations represent a hallmark in Malignant Mesothelioma (MM) for which genetic models proved its oncogenic role. Mutations further extend to several other cancers, also involving other essential PR-DUB regulatory subunits. This makes PR-DUB inactivation a major oncogenic event with ~40k new diagnosis each year between EU and US for which no precision therapeutic approaches exist. The work of my Dissect-PcG ERC project found that the major role of BAP1 is to counteract H2Aub1 diffusion across the entire chromatin. This preserves chromatin plasticity enhancing Polycomb-mediated control of transcriptional identity, which is decommissioned when BAP1 is inactivated and oncogenic H2Aub1 accumulates. We also found that diffused H2Aub1 is controlled by a specific form of PRC1 - namely PRC1.3/5 - immediately suggesting a strategy to “correct” the effects of BAP1-related mutations. Indeed, we found that specific PRC1.3/5 loss restored normal H2Aub1 levels while compromising MM cells viability, demonstrating the therapeutic potential of targeting this non-essential arm of PRC1 repressive machinery. By building a multidisciplinary team, the T-BAP project aims to develop compounds that can target PRC1.3/5 in living cells. We propose to use PRC1.3/5 structural data to identify specific binders that can function as warheads for the development of PROTAC degraders. This will generate a new class of molecules for the development of therapeutic strategies that can aid oncological patients with BAP1-related mutations, with a further potential application in specific NDD syndromes.
An Interdisciplinary Analysis of GenAI’s Systemic Risk to Cultural Pluralism in the Music Sector (musAIc)

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,Switzerland,United States
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-12-01
End date: 2028-10-31
Duration (months): 35.0
Total project cost (EUR): 376768.9
EU funding (EUR): 376768.9
Participants: 3
Project status: SIGNED

musAIc aims at exploring whether the legal category of systemic risk recently provided by the AI Act can include the systematic impacts posed by certain generative AI systems (genAI) on the fundamental rights of cultural pluralism. The use of genAI is growing rapidly, particularly in the music domain, which accounts for 8% of its global market. While their indisputable economic and societal benefits are well recognized in existing literature, concerns about their potential negative impacts on cultural pluralism are raising. Nonetheless, so far scholars have not yet fully acknowledged these impacts as systemic risks according to EU digital law (including the Digital Services Act), nor as potentially leading to cultural impoverishment. Focusing on the music sector as a paradigmatic case, musAIc aims to address this gap by building a new framework to facilitate the development of the methodology and criteria required by Art. 51 and ff. of the AI Act and the drafting of codes of practice (Art. 56). To build it, I will analyze and test in practical environments what is a creative process within an algorithm-dominated context, and I will explore cultural impoverishment as a possible consequence of the architecture of these systems and their usage context. This will culminate in developing guidelines to aid stakeholders to assess this risk and EU policymakers to address it. To reach this goal, musAIc uses a strong interdisciplinary approach, bridging law, sociology and computer science and considering the needs of the general public as well as professional and amateur musicians. To ensure the successful completion of the project, I will conduct my research at both EU and non-EU institutions (Switzerland, US) -which is invaluable for the global nature of the issues at its core and my ultimate policy goal. This project will prepare me to become a tenured scholar, strengthening my academic and policy-maker profile and enabling me to establish my own international network.

Keywords: copyright,systemic risk in eu digital law,generative ai in music,artificial intelligence act,cultural pluralism,mainstream music,cultural dominance
Ecosystem-based Adaptation and Changemaking to Shape, Protect and Maintain the Resilience of Tomorrow’s Forests (eco2adapt)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Theme: Bio-Environment
Destination: Land, ocean and water for climate action
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: France,Italy,Denmark,Serbia,Lithuania,Germany,Spain,Romania,Finland,Switzerland,China,United Kingdom,Greece,Sweden
Call: EU-China international cooperation on increasing the resilience of forests (HORIZON-CL6-2021-CLIMATE-01, 2021)
Start date: 2022-09-01
End date: 2027-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 10038932.5
EU funding (EUR): 9788452.0
Participants: 32
Project status: SIGNED

In eco2adapt we will develop the Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) framework, derived from Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), that harnesses biodiversity and ecosystem services to reduce vulnerability and build social-ecological resilience to climate change. We will work in Living Labs in Europe and China, located in climate hotspots, and adopt a cutting-edge approach to investigate how forest managers integrate disturbance and vulnerability into decision-making. Scenarios of how disturbance affects forest dynamics and ecosystem services at a landscape scale will be derived through modelling, and in Living Labs, stakeholders will learn how their choices affect ecosystem services in neighbouring forests. We will combine interdisciplinary knowledge from scientists and stakeholders in Europe and China to understand perception and provide incentivization for adopting EbA solutions, through local capacity-building and national policy plans. Through Scenario Workshops and Stakeholders Working Groups, we will use a capacity-building approach to create and promote innovative technical, economic and governance mechanisms at a regional level. Semantic technology will be applied to create a knowledge base for hosting FAIR data and creating a SmartPhone Application (named the OneForest ToolBox) that allows users to access and add data concerning climate-resilient species, provenances, mixtures, management techniques and ecosystem services, whilst taking into account future uncertainties about climate and societal changes. We also provide a suite of cutting-edge tools to monitor vulnerability and resilience (including invasive species and above-and below- ground biodiversity), at all levels of society – from the citizen to the policy-maker. By including tailored communication to all levels of society, we will reach out to a broad audience that has the capacity to cause positive change.

Keywords: bioeconomy,climate change,ecosystem service,forest,governance,insurance,invasive species,knowledge base,microbe,model,monitoring,policy,social ecological,soil,stakeholder,tree,wildlife
Thermochemical Solar Collector and Storage; One Breakthrough Technology for Multiple Challenges (TechSOLSTOR)

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: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: Denmark,Netherlands
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023 (HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-06-01
End date: 2026-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 230774.4
EU funding (EUR): 230774.4
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

The project introduces an innovative approach to enhance solar energy systems by integrating solar collectors with energy storage technology. The goal is to address some of the existing challenges in energy storage, such as maintaining consistent material quality over time and ensuring even heat distribution. In addition to resolving these issues, the system aims to store solar energy more efficiently and at a lower cost, potentially giving solar thermal systems a new competitive advantage for various applications. At the core of this new design is a mechanism that captures and stores solar energy, enabling it to be released when needed through a controlled process. The project aims to establish a strong foundation of research in this area, working on the theoretical, design, and economic aspects of the technology. By developing and testing this advanced solar energy system, the project hopes to create a highly efficient solution that could be adapted for different temperature ranges and a wide array of future applications.

Keywords: thermochemical energy storage,solar energy,parabolic trough collector,chemical reactions endothermic and exothermic processes
Identification of viroporin blockers for future antiviral therapy using automated high-throughput screening (ViPoFluX)

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: Denmark
Call: ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS (ERC-2024-POC, 2024)
Start date: 2025-07-01
End date: 2026-12-31
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The potential for future viral pandemics to trigger a global crisis underscores the urgent need for the development of new antiviral drugs. Viroporins, identified in several RNA virus families, form pores/ion channels in cell and/or virus membranes, contributing to the virus life cycle and virus-induced pathology. Blocking viroporins with small-molecule compounds has proven to be an effective therapeutic strategy. However, the clinical success of these viroporin blockers has been limited due to emerging resistance and insufficient potency when repurposed for other viroporin targets. Expanding the repository of viroporin blockers by identifying new compounds that potently inhibit virus infections will advance the pandemic preparedness and likely make drug repurposing more successful in the future. A major challenge is the current methodology for exploring viroporin blockers, which is traditionally time-consuming and has low throughput. In this project. we will combine our novel viroporin inhibitor assay with an automated high-throughput screening (HTS) platform and a library of 50,000 compounds, creating a pipeline suitable for identifying new blockers of potentially any given viroporin. Our pipeline consists of four steps: (I) the identification of viroporin targets, (II) HTS, (III) cross-validation and (IV) and hit-to-lead optimization. Preliminary data from our group demonstrates the feasibility of the assay for viroporins from viruses relevant to global health. We plan to screen relevant viroporins in HTS to develop novel, high potency viroporin inhibitors and file intellectual property (IP) for rationally optimized hit compounds. Once the IP is filed, we will establish a spin-out company to raise funds from public and private sources, advancing our proof-of-concept studies and developing the lead compound further.
Revealing an active mechanism of horizontal gene transfer in fungi (Starship)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator 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: Sweden
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2023-COG, 2023)
Start date: 2024-04-01
End date: 2029-03-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999996.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999996.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Current theory asserts that eukaryotic evolution is almost exclusively mediated through vertical transmission, from parent to offspring, and relegates horizontal gene transfer (HGT), the movement of genes between individuals, to an extraordinarily rare event. In recent years, mounting evidence from high-quality genome sequencing has forced the field to consider that HGT is likely a persistent occurrence in eukaryotic evolution. However, as no active mechanism for HGT is known in eukaryotes, the evolutionary origin of these genes remains almost entirely a mystery. A potential vector of HGT in eukaryotes are transposable elements (TEs), parasitic genetic sequences that can replicate independently of their host genome. Recently, I discovered a novel group of TEs that are common in filamentous fungi, which I named Starships. These elements are massive, reaching sizes over 500 kb, and carry an extreme diversity of genetic “cargo”, some with adaptive functions such as plant pathogenicity. Furthermore, evidence suggests that many Starships have undergone HGT among a diverse set of lineages. Thus, I propose that the Starships represent the first known mechanism of active HGT among eukaryotes. I will examine this role by developing a tractable model system in which to observe HGT under laboratory conditions. This will be done by investigating the basic biology of Starship transposition in a model fungus with the use of transposon assays that we have recently developed and used to prove that the Staships are mobile. We will use this knowledge to design and create “donor” strains which we can pair with any recipient strain of fungus to monitor for HGT. Lastly, we will determine if fungi utilize the movement of the Starships to adapt to their environment by assaying the impact of a Starship on the fitness of a plant pathogenic fungus. This work will demonstrate that HGT is an active and ongoing process in eukaryotic evolution, dramatically reshaping our current views.

Keywords: horizontal gene transfer,molecular biology
Tuning graphene-based moiré materials with strain (StrainMoire)

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: Physics
Countries involved: Spain
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-11-01
End date: 2027-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 194074.56
EU funding (EUR): 194074.56
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The StrainMoiré project aims to advance moiré materials by experimentally studying magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) under controllable uniaxial strain. Despite its ubiquity, the effects of strain in moiré heterostructures are largely unexplored. Leveraging my expertise in the fabrication and the physics of moiré materials and the host group’s expertise on strain engineering, we aim to control strain and study its impact on the structural and electronic properties of MATBG. In particular, we will focus on the breaking of the symmetries of MATBG by the formation of the moiré superlattice and the applied uniaxial strain. We will fabricate MATBG on flexible substrates to study its strain-dependent properties, combining two complementary approaches. First, I will use advanced force microscopy to image strain-induced symmetry breaking in the moiré superlattice under applied uniaxial strain. Then, I will study the emergence of the nonlinear Hall effect in MATBG, enabled by strain-induced symmetry breaking, via low temperature electrical transport measurements.

Keywords: twisted bilayer graphene,strain engineering,topology,flexible electronics,force microscopy
Research initiative for Enhancing and Adapting Workforce SKILLs for Implementing TraNsport Automation with Employment Growth (RESKILLING)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Climate, Energy and Mobility
Theme: Mobility
Destination: Safe, Resilient Transport and Smart Mobility services for passengers and goods
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Partnership: CCAM (co-programmed)
Countries involved: Greece,Sweden,Belgium,Germany,Spain,Italy,Luxembourg,Netherlands,Switzerland,Latvia,France
Call: CCAM effects on jobs and education, plans for skills that match the CCAM development, and prerequisites for employment growth (CCAM Partnership) (HORIZON-CL5-2023-D6-01, 2023)
Start date: 2025-01-01
End date: 2027-12-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999815.62
EU funding (EUR): 1999815.62
Participants: 20
Project status: SIGNED

RESKILLING envisions to implement a strategic approach, which will empower the workforce and businesses of Europe's mobility (of people and goods) sector, to effectively cope with the anticipated changes in the sector from CCAM deployment, but also to actively participate in advancing and refining the sector. For this to be achieved, RESKILLING will propose, implement, apply and validate a comprehensive approach, guided by inclusivity, co-creation, and social innovation principles, which will efficiently and sustainably coordinate a range of novel services and tools, fostering optimal adaptation of the mobility sector (covering both people and goods) to the deployment of CCAM solutions and services. This will range from analysing the socio-economic and employment impacts of CCAM across the entire value chain to facilitate businesses and workers in mitigating drawbacks and leveraging opportunities brought about by CCAM deployment. It involves innovating business models and employing mechanisms and training tools for skill enhancement and adaptation, with an emphasis on their replication and transferability potential and customized scalability for adoption throughout the EU. RESKILLING aspires to create a CCAM innovation system capable of not only generating innovation but also delivering solutions to societal challenges.

Keywords: ccam,mobility of people and goods,workforce,employment and socioeconomic effects,social innovation,co creation,inclusiveness,business models,re skilling
The Drums' Many Lives: Stories of a Mapuche Shamanic Being in European Collections (DRUMS)

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: Netherlands
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023 (HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01, 2023)
Start date: 2025-09-01
End date: 2027-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 203464.32
EU funding (EUR): 203464.32
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Stories, like kulxug (drums), can bring newen (vital energy) back. This idea, of shamanic origin, is what guides this project's aims. Collaboratively conceived, this research engages with twenty-five Mapuche drums under European Museums' custody, aiming to retell their stories and, in so doing, reclaim their vital energy back home while reconceiving what repatriation may look like from the Mapuche perspective. In conversation with this perspective, this project will gather and analyze data about the drums, the most relevant mogen (living beings) in Mapuche shamanism. The objectives are (1) to trace the drums' provenance; (2) characterize the drums' musealization process; (3) document the drums' material identities; (4) collaboratively produce storytelling about the drums' lives, emphasizing the Mapuche traditional knowledge; and (5) re-conceptualize repatriation considering the stories' ability to reclaim vital energy. This project was designed collaboratively with Mapuche communities and representatives engaged with repatriation. Its methodology combines social sciences and humanities methods with gvxan (conversation), a Mapuche discursive and analytical genre based on storytelling. First, archives, legislation, museum practices, and the drums' materiality will be studied using material culture, legal, anthropology, history, and archaeology methods. Then, all data will be collectively analyzed with Mapuche communities during territorial meetings in Southern Chile. This will result in the storytelling of the drums' lives and rethinking what repatriation might be in this case. The research brings non-Western peoples' ontological self-determination to the fore, querying how repatriation has been practiced. As a result, while it deals with a priority issue for the Mapuche communities, it can impact the controversial condition in which matters of repatriation are currently debated in Europe.