Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Fellowship Residencies Offering science News professionals Tools and training for Independent and Ethical Reporting on Science (FRONTIERS)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Science journalism initiative
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Israel,Italy,Portugal,Spain
Call: ERC Science Journalism Initiative (ERC-2023-SJI, 2023)
Start date: 2023-06-01
End date: 2027-05-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499671.25
EU funding (EUR): 1499671.25
Participants: 4
Project status: SIGNED

The overall objective of FRONTIERS is to establish a program supporting science journalists’ residencies in European research institutions through a financial support to third parties mechanism. The program aims to and contribute to tackling the challenges of science journalism, specifically in the highly challenging area of Frontier research, as well as increasing the opportunities of interaction between research institutions and science journalists. The residency program will be established based on the principles of journalistic independence and the need for coverage of frontier (as oppose to other types of) research. To ensure a smooth and successful operation, we will develop a coordination and support office (CSO) that will oversee the development and implementation of the residency program and the ongoing management and monitoring. The CSO will also provide support and complementary services including a general and frontier science helpdesk for journalists, researchers and staff from hosting research institutions, matchmaking services to help journalists find hosting institutions. Our project activities will be supervised and accompanied by a strong advisory board consist of actors from the areas of science and science journalism, ensuring the independency and credibility of the program. Resident journalists and researchers and research staff participating in the program will also benefit from training activities and content contributing to the creation of meaningful journalists-researcher collaboration and the generation of high-quality and credible science journalism products. During the project, we will also benchmark the FRONTIERS residency program to other available programs offering fellowships to science journalists, and implement best practices to ensure the quality of the program. Finally, we will explore paths towards sustainability the residencies through additional funding channels.

Keywords: science journalism residency program best practices stakeholder training european fronteir science erc and eu funded science coordination and support office bridging researchers and journalists
Electrothermal Spatial Light modulator for neuronal tissue imaging in depth (ET-SLM neurons)

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: France
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01, 2021)
Start date: 2022-07-01
End date: 2024-06-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 195914.88
EU funding (EUR): 195914.88
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In the current era of images, spatial light modulators (SLM) are essential building blocks to improve the performance of new photonic devices, all the way from the consumer market, with displays and cameras, to the research and clinic environments with advanced microscopy. However, spatial-light modulation that is capable of generating sub-millisecond phase-shifts without artifacts and polarization dependence is challenging. The ET-SLM neurons project leverages on a concept based on an electro-thermo-optical effect recently introduced by the host laboratory (Institut de la Vision, Paris) in collaboration with the Quidant lab (ETH Zurich), and on a set of innovative know-hows of temporal pulse-shaping and thermal properties engineering developed by the fellow. The proposed approach relies on the temperature dependence of the refractive index of materials (physical effect involved in mirages). By engineering the temperature landscape in a thermo-optical material, one forms a distribution of refractive index associated with a desired optical function like a lens or a more complex free-form element (Nat. Photonics, 2019). However, this concept, coined as Smartlens, is still in its infancy, with limitations in terms of response time and heat confinement. Those problems have been recently overcome by the fellow (Nat. Communication, 2021), taking advantage of the transient heat state and using heat sink. The project aims at combining these innovations by first developing a tunable multiplane focusing and imaging system for microscopy, and applying it to monitor neuronal activities in 3D. Its validation will pave the way to developing an Electrothermal (ET) SLM featuring a sub µs response time. Such performances would particularly improve the domain of wavefront shaping to image through dynamic scattering media such as in-vivo brain cells. In this context, we aim to combine the use of the ET-SLM with advanced microscopy systems to perform in-depth, live neuronal imaging.

Keywords: neuronal tissue imaging in depth
Phototransient InfraRed Holography (PIRO) (PIRO)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
Panel description: Analytical chemistry, chemical theory, physical chemistry/chemical physics
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2022-STG, 2022)
Start date: 2023-05-01
End date: 2028-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1937138.0
EU funding (EUR): 1937138.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Molecules are the fundamental building blocks of life: disease is intrinsically linked to molecular malfunction and, sometimes, a tiny molecular error in a single cell can kill an organism. Drugs, such as antibiotics, are designed to protect us: they rid us of pathogens by disrupting their molecular machinery. If unsuccessful, surviving bacteria might adapt to evade future attacks and a few resistant bacteria can cause great damage. Everything mentioned above relies on specific molecular changes. A technique that could rapidly visualise them holds great promise: it would allow us to specifically target this one deadly cancer cell or adopt antibiotics treatment before resistance emerges. Vibrational imaging, which combines spatial cues with molecular resolution, is the prime-candidate for revealing this molecular stand-off: Spontaneous Raman readily acquires broadband spectra but is too slow to interrogate large samples. Coherent Raman can measure them but lacks spectral resolution. Finally, Fourier transform infrared microscopy combines spectral resolution and speed but its spatial resolution is insufficient. PIRO promises to deliver the necessary tool for the job by combining concepts from nonlinear ultrafast spectroscopy and digital holography. PIRO implements a novel vibrational imaging platform: a phototransient infrared holographic microscope (PIROscope). The PIROscope, inspired by our recently introduced ultrafast holographic microscope, combines femtosecond IR-excitation with visible readout to, ultimately, retrieve spectrally resolved quantitative images with an unprecedented combination of imaging speed, spectral observation window and spatial-resolution. During PIRO we will implement the PIROscope and validate it for biomedical imaging. We will then use our edge over the state-of-the-art to take first steps towards PIRO-based diagnostics by high-resolution visualising breast cancer tissue and the metabolic activity of antibiotics-treated bacteria.

Keywords: ultrafast vibrational spectroscopy,digital holography,photothermal imaging,vibrational imaging,quantitative phase imaging,ir spectroscopy
BIO-INTELLIGENT MANUFACTURING OF MULTIFUNCTIONAL BIO-BASED POLYMER SYSTEMS (BIOMAPS)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Digital, Industry and Space
Theme: Industry
Destination: Climate neutral, Circular and Digitised Production
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Partnership: Made in Europe (co-programmed)
Countries involved: Finland,Spain,Italy,Croatia,Ireland,France,Germany
Call: Bio-intelligent manufacturing industries (Made in Europe Partnership) (RIA) (HORIZON-CL4-2024-TWIN-TRANSITION-01-TWO-STAGE, 2024)
Start date: 2025-06-01
End date: 2028-05-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 5573869.76
EU funding (EUR): 4997734.05
Participants: 11
Project status: SIGNED

During the times of diminishing natural resources, a huge challenge for our society is to efficiently design, produce, and optimize new safe and sustainable materials for various industrial sectors. Plastics industry has so far been slow to convert away from the non-sustainable petrochemical plastics due to worse economic cost, less than satisfactory manufacturability, and inferior performance of bio-based alternatives. In the proposed project we develop a fully circular manufacturing value chain for bio-manufactured plastics, vitrimerized PolyHydroxyAlkanoates (PHAs). These materials show potential for replacing many petrochemical plastics owing to their thermal, mechanical, and chemical stability. In addition, vitrimerization increases the tractability of PHAs towards manufacturing industries by enabling more flexible processability than traditional plastics, allowing for the introduction and fine control of novel bio-inspired functionalities, such as self-healing, while retaining biodegradability. We propose that these properties, together with the modelling and AI-based tools developed in BIOMAPS will speed-up the adaptation of these biologically produced plastics to replace their petrochemical competitors in the manufacturing industry in Europe. This will be reached starting from low volume, high-value products, which enable establishing circular material loops to first lower the raw material prize before moving towards the high-volume bulk applications. This sets the European manufacturing companies apart from their competitors and positions them as leaders in adopting innovative and environmentally friendly technologies.

Keywords: biotechnology,bioinspired materials
Elucidating the function-specific response of marine phytoplankton to climate change in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean and its influence on regional CO2 fluxes. An AI-based approach (AI-PhytoClim)

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: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Spain
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): 181152.96
EU funding (EUR): 181152.96
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Phytoplankton is the base of the trophic marine ecosystem and a main regulator of global CO2 fluxes. Climate-related shifts in the dominant phytoplankton functional types (PFTs), their blooming periods, and overall productivity, are expected to have major implications on oceans’ carbon cycle. The Southern Atlantic Ocean (SAO), renowned as one of the world's most biologically productive regions and the largest carbon sink, is already experiencing profound environmental changes due to climate change. Using AI-techniques, AI-PhytoClim seeks to analyze how climate-driven changes in physical forcings influence the functioning and structure of phytoplankton, and the implications these changes have in surface ocean partial pressure (pCO2sw) and CO2 fluxes. This study is founded on the analysis of a comprehensive dataset, encompassing 26 years of satellite data (ocean color), numerical modeling results, and in situ data. The first goal is to establish quantitative relationships between climate-driven physical forcings in the SAO and phytoplankton responses at the PFT level, employing neural network pattern recognition and classification algorithms (2S-SOM, AI). The second goal aims to assess the impact of the climate variability/change on the PFTs and the influence on regional CO2 fluxes. The responses each PFT to climate variability and interconnections between each PFTs variability and the pCO2sw and CO2 fluxes will be explored through time-series analysis (CENSUS X-13) and statistical approaches (e.g. cross-wavelets, correlations). Knowing the coupled physical-PFTs relationships over the last 26 years and using the forecasted environmental changes during the next decades (CIMP6 model), I will assess how PFTs are likely to evolve in the future ocean and the resulting implications for regional CO2 fluxes. The methodologies developed in AI-PhytoClim will provide important new insights on the ocean-climate nexus and on its influence on global climate.

Keywords: ocean color,phytoplankton functional types,co2 fluxes,artificial intelligence
Functional Piezoelectric Nano Composite Fibers for Smart Drug Delivery (SMRT-DRUG-DLVR)

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: Belgium
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2024-09-01
End date: 2026-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 191760.0
EU funding (EUR): 191760.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The development of controlled drug delivery systems has been extensively investigated to improve the therapeutic efficacy of conventional drug products. The control over biodistribution and pharmacokinetics is critical to enhance the efficacy and minimizing the side effects of therapeutic agents. An on-demand drug delivery system for precise control over the release time and the quantity of drugs is needed which has not been studied comprehensively and remains to be explored. Piezoelectric materials provide a superior platform for the electrically controlled drug delivery system due to their ability in converting mechanical forces to electric potentials through the direct piezoelectric effect. The importance of this project is the contribution of the piezoelectric effect on drug loading and release. This project proposes the mechanoresponsiveness of piezoelectric electrospun nanocomposite fibers for drug delivery applications. The novelty of the project is adding two-dimensional (2D) ferroelectric nanofillers to the composite to enhance piezoelectric efficiency which leads eliminating additional post-treatment processes (poling) reducing fabrication complexity and cost. The large surface area inherent to nanomaterials, fiber’s porosity, together with the transformative piezoelectric properties, allow electrospun fiber to be a drug delivery platform driven by the piezoelectric effect. The drug release quantity will be tuned by a mechanical stimulus in in-vitro conditions. This project will demonstrate the utility of piezoelectric nanocomposite electrospun fiber for mechano-responsive controlled drug release and its potential for in-vivo applications in a facile manner in the future. Ten years of experience and knowledge in functional fibers that come to this project by the applicant will strengthen the KU Leuven lead in smart fibers based on piezoelectric materials for a wide range of applications not only in biomedical applications but also in wearable technology.

Keywords: piezoelectric,2d ferroelectric nanofiller,fiber spinning,drug delivery,smart fiber,electrospinning,sensor
NEONATAL KIDNEY STEM PROGENITOR CELLS AS A NOVEL TYPE OF CELL THERAPY (NEOGRAFT)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Prevention,  Diagnosis and T reatment of Human Diseases
Panel description: Medical technologies  and tools for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases, therapeutic approaches and interventions , pharmacology, preventative  medicine, epidemiology and public health , digital medicine
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2021-COG, 2021)
Start date: 2023-01-01
End date: 2027-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1934500.0
EU funding (EUR): 1934500.0
Participants: 3
Project status: SIGNED

Global mortality from chronic kidney disease (CKD) is estimated at more than 1.2 million annually. CKD is caused by the irreversible loss of nephrons, the structural and functional units of the kidney. Lineage tracing revealed that all renal cells are derived from a SIX2+ embryonic progenitor population originating at the cap mesenchyme (CM). SIX2 is essential for cells’ self-renewal, and its cessation signals the initiation of nephron differentiation. However, SIX2+ progenitor cells are exhausted in the mature kidney. My team has recently discovered a novel unique source of kidney stem/progenitor cells (nKSPCs) derived from the urine of neonates born before the completion of nephrogenesis. nKSPCs express SIX2 as well as various other CM progenitor markers, and they show a high capacity to differentiate into functional kidney epithelial cells. Additionally, our data show that nKSPCs have an immunomodulatory capacity in vitro. Using normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) of human kidneys, we have discovered that nKSPCs are able to reduce inflammatory responses and activate regenerative processes. Building on these findings, I aim to establish nKSPCs as a potent novel cell type for the development of kidney-targeted cell therapy for preconditioning kidney allografts prior to transplantation. To this end, I will elucidate the immunomodulatory profile of nKSPCs and demonstrate their potential for engraftment and regeneration at single cell level using advanced methodologies for the first time in this field. Moreover, I will use the ground-breaking pre-clinical platform of whole organ culture system to trace single nKSPCs in kidney tissue over a longer period of time after injection. nKSPCs are an unexplored progenitor cell type, which might revolutionize the field of kidney diseases. My long-term goal is to establish clinical-grade nKSPCs for the development of kidney-targeted cell therapy with the capacity to directly immunomodulate and regenerate kidney tissue.

Keywords: chronic kidney disease,kidney transplantation,kidney stem progenitor cells,kidney graft,kidney regeneration,immunomodulation,normothermic machine perfusion,whole organ culture system,single nucleous rnaseq
Functional bioinks for engineered tissues (FACTORINK)

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: Spain
Call: ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS (ERC-2025-POC, 2025)
Start date: 2025-11-01
End date: 2027-04-30
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Bioinks are materials that hold cells during bioprinting. They perform key functions, including protecting cells from high shear stress during the printing process but also, and importantly, provide the extracellular environment for cells after printing. Bioinks must be made of biocompatible materials that in addition should provide the functional environment needed for cells to perform their functions. This is critical as bioprinting underpins developments of in vitro tissue models to advance biomedical research and drug testing. The functionality of bioinks must recapitulate aspects of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and should include mechanical and biochemical considerations. For example, bioinks should result in constructs of well-defined rigidity as this influences processes such as stem cell differentiation or cancer progression. Also, bioinks must provide cells with controlled density of adhesion proteins and growth factors – this is key to induce relevant signalling pathways. Yet bioinks that are currently in the market are limited to basic adhesion peptides and lack the ability to retain growth factors that instead quickly diffuse out of the system after printing. We have recently developed a new class of bioinks that incorporate ECM proteins (like fibronectin and laminin) that are incorporated into a hydrogel matrix without crosslinking, enabling an easy and robust printing process. We want to unleash the potential of the bioinks by demonstrating their ability to hold multiphasic models containing stem cells, endothelial cells and the immune system. The data gathered through this application should help define the commercial route of the products and would lead to creating new intellectual properties.
Agroecological strategies for sustainable weed management in key European crops (AGROSUS)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Theme: Bio-Environment
Destination: Fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food systems from primary production to consumption
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Spain,Ukraine,Poland,Portugal,Estonia,Germany,Romania,Hungary,Italy,Türkiye,Iceland
Call: Agroecological approaches for sustainable weed management (HORIZON-CL6-2022-FARM2FORK-02-two-stage, 2022)
Start date: 2023-06-01
End date: 2027-05-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4689926.25
EU funding (EUR): 4689926.25
Participants: 16
Project status: SIGNED

AGROSUS will identify appropriate tools and agroecological strategies (AS) to prevent and manage the occurrence of weeds in relevant crops, in conventional, organic and mixed farming, at the eleven biogeographic regions of the European Union and associated countries (Continental–Mediterranean–Atlantic–Macaronesian–Pannonian–Anatolian–Black-Sea–Boreal–Alpine–Steppic–Artic), while reducing the reliance of synthetic herbicides to the environment and increasing biodiversity of agroecosystems. The consortium integrates a multi-actor approach for farmers’ decision making and for including the different perspectives from stakeholders to decision-makers that regulate and administer policies. In summary, AGROSUS will rely on i) expanded knowledge on problematic weeds on European agriculture, current weeding techniques, and problems encountered by farmers and advisors (around 500 farmers and advisors will be contacted for surveys, workshops and discussion groups), ii) advanced detection tools iii) establishment of cultural, mechanical, physical, biological, and biotechnological AS in 68 short-term experimental units sprayed all over Europe, iv) actions carried out with stakeholders and policy makers to promote the most appropriate initiatives at the field, administration and regulatory levels, and v) technology transfer and training of stakeholders for prevention and management of weeds. The tools and strategies designed will be developed, in collaboration with stakeholders, for the most problematic weeds of the different regions. These strategies will be implemented in the most economically relevant crops at the 11 biogeographic regions, and in conventional, organic and mixed farming systems. As well, the environmental impact, and economic and social costs and benefits of combined AS for weed control will be assessed in the 68 short-term fields and in 15 medium to long-term already in course agroecological fields, both in comparison with classical chemical weed management.

Keywords: sustainable agriculture,farmers know how,cultural strategies,mechanical and physical strategies,biological strategies,biobased herbicides,farming digitalization