Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Care in Clinical Trials involving Youth. Exploring Vulnerability through Empirical Philosophy in a Clinical Trials Unit. (CareInTrials)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Society and Enterprise panel
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Social Sciences and Humanities
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2019, 2019)
Start date: 2021-04-01
End date: 2023-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 160932.48
EU funding (EUR): 160932.48
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Given the tragic legacy of unscrupulous research conducted on human subjects during the 20th century, ethics debates and regulations have taken a precautionary approach that gives pivotal attention to individual autonomy and protection of vulnerable subjects. While this approach has led to a much-needed increase of awareness about the importance of respecting human dignity and human rights in biomedical research and clinical trials, it risks causing two unintended consequences: 1) it might overshadow positive understandings of clinical trials; 2) it might limit participation of adolescents and young adults. CareInTrials therefore takes a bottom-up approach to research ethics and focuses on the experiences and narratives of youth participating in clinical trials. It is an empirical philosophy study. On the one hand, it conducts ethnographic observations and interviews with participants, their parents/legal representatives and researchers in a leading European Clinical Trials Unit. On the other hand, it does a philosophical analysis, which focuses on lived embodied experiences and the situated existential dimension of youth. For scientific rigor, a secondment in a Research Unit dedicated to philosophy and history of science is part of the action. This research ultimately aims to provide new insights and recommendations for more nuanced and tailored regulations on clinical trials, which acknowledge both youth’s demand for autonomy and their condition of vulnerability. Given the intersectoral and international cooperation involved, this action represents a unique opportunity for the researcher to gain experience and visibility to be spent in future academic and health-related employments, while contributing to societal strive for youth’s inclusion and empowerment.

Keywords: international regulations,research ethics,clinical trials,patient reported experience
Hypothalamic circuits for the selection of defensive and mating behavior in females (YinYang)

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: Portugal
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2017-COG, 2017)
Start date: 2018-03-01
End date: 2023-12-31
Duration (months): 70.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1952188.0
EU funding (EUR): 1952188.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Social interactions can take different courses depending on the internal state of the participants. For instance, a sexually receptive female mouse will allow a male’s attempt to mount her, but a non-receptive female will fight or flee the same male. Here, we propose to determine how neuronal circuits in the female mouse brain support flexible, state-dependent interactions with male conspecifics. It is known that female receptivity depends on the ventrolateral region of the ventromedial hypothalamus. Within this region there is a population of neurons that expresses receptors for the sex hormone progesterone (PR+ neurons), whose levels cycle with reproductive state. In pilot experiments, we found that PR+ neurons are not homogeneous: some respond during receptive behaviors but others respond during defensive or aggressive behaviors. Our main objective is to determine how female hypothalamic PR+ neurons participate in state-dependent behavioral responses to males. Our hypothesis is that two subpopulations of PR+ neurons are differentially modulated by the reproductive cycle and that each sub-population activates a different downstream circuit, one specialized for receptive and the other for defensive behaviors. Our specific aims are to: (1) characterize the functional selectivity of individual female PR+ neurons across the reproductive cycle; (2) map the connectivity of PR+ neurons to their output targets; (3) test the impact of different PR+ output pathways by genetically activating and silencing them; and (4) determine how reproductive hormones modulate the synaptic and intrinsic functional properties of PR+ neurons. These studies will elucidate the neuronal circuit mechanisms of a biologically essential female behavior. More broadly, this work will reveal mechanisms by which neuronal circuits can support flexible state-dependent adaptive behaviors.

Keywords: mice,sexual behavior,social behaviou,optogenetics,calcium imaging
video-rate holographic projection by novel meta-materials (VIDEO HOLOGRAPHY)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Systems and communication engineering
Panel description: Electrical, electronic, communication, optical and systems engineering
Countries involved: Belgium
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2016-ADG, 2016)
Start date: 2017-10-01
End date: 2023-03-31
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2499074.0
EU funding (EUR): 2499074.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Today, despite many efforts by researchers world-wide, there are no holographic projectors that allow video-rate electronically controlled projection of complex holograms. Optically re-write-able holograms exist, but they are too slow; Acoustically-formed holograms can be switched fast but the image complexity is very limited. We identify the essential roadblock as one that we intend to clear by a breakthrough innovation coming from a combination of electronics, optics and material science. We propose a radically novel way to make and control holograms, that will be based on the direct, analog, nanometer-resolution and nanosecond-speed control over the local refractive index of a slab waveguide core over several square centimetres. Holograms will be formed by leaky waves evanescent from the waveguide, and controlled by the refractive-index modulation profile in the core. That profile will be controlled and modulated by electrical fields applied with nano-precision through one of the cladding layers of the waveguide. To that end, a novel metamaterial is proposed for this cladding. Also novel driving schemes will be needed to control the new holographic projecting method. With this combined radical innovation in architecture, materials and driving schemes, it is the goal of this project to fully prove the concept of video-rate electrically-controlled holographic projection. This will be the basis for many future innovations and applications, in domains such as augmented reality, automotive, optical metrology (LIDAR, microscopy, ...), mobile communication, education, safety, etc..., and result in a high economic and social impact.

Keywords: holography,conductive oxides,cmos integration,ab initio calculation
Matrix degrading macrophages in cancer growth and invasion (MatrixMacrophages)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Reintegration panel
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Denmark
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2014, 2014)
Start date: 2015-07-01
End date: 2017-06-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 212194.8
EU funding (EUR): 212194.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Solid tumors consist of malignant cancer cells in constant interaction with the extracellular matrix and different types of non-malignant cells. Notably, these cells include macrophages which, during cancer progression, take part in an extensive degradation of the extracellular matrix. This process leads to destruction of the normal tissue and facilitates metastatic spread. It is now evident that tumor-infiltrating macrophages have a strong impact on cancer progression and this has led to the suggestion that therapeutic targeting of these cells could form the basis of a powerful new type of cancer treatment. However, there is a strong need for increased understanding of the function of these tumor-associated macrophages in order to optimize the development of such new therapy. Most importantly, different subtypes of macrophages exist, but how these subtypes affect cancer progression and whether they contribute to the cancer-associated extracellular matrix degradation is very incompletely understood. In this proposed project I aim to elucidate the exact role of different subtypes of macrophages for cancer progression and for the accompanying extracellular matrix degradation. By using several experimental state-of-the-art techniques, I will directly examine the effect of different subtypes of macrophages on cancer growth and invasion. These techniques include two-photon microscopy, flow cytometry based cell sorting, next-generation sequencing, cell biology assays, and mouse genetic engineering. In particular, I am currently developing transgenic mice that allow both the visualization of specific macrophage subsets using fluorescence microscopy and the specific depletion of these cell populations. When combined with tumor models, these mice will provide unique insight about the importance of the cell types in question. The study will add significantly to our knowledge about macrophages in cancer biology and aid in the development of new cancer therapy strategies.

Keywords: tumor associated macrophages,matrix biology,mouse gene targeting,cancer stroma,cancer therapy
Equidistribution, fractal measures and arithmetic (EFMA)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Mathematics
Panel description: All areas of mathematics, pure and applied, plus mathematical foundations of computer science, mathematical physics and statistics
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2018-STG, 2018)
Start date: 2018-10-01
End date: 2024-03-31
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1334109.0
EU funding (EUR): 1334109.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The subject of this proposal lies at the crossroads of analysis, additive combinatorics, number theory and fractal geometry exploring equidistribution phenomena for random walks on groups and group actions and regularity properties of self-similar, self-affine and Furstenberg boundary measures and other kinds of stationary measures. Many of the problems I will study in this project are deeply linked with problems in number theory, such as bounds for the separation between algebraic numbers, Lehmer's conjecture and irreducibility of polynomials. The central aim of the project is to gain insight into and eventually resolve problems in several main directions including the following. I will address the main challenges that remain in our understanding of the spectral gap of averaging operators on finite groups and Lie groups and I will study the applications of such estimates. I will build on the dramatic recent progress on a problem of Erdos from 1939 regarding Bernoulli convolutions. I will also investigate other families of fractal measures. I will examine the arithmetic properties (such as irreducibility and their Galois groups) of generic polynomials with bounded coefficients and in other related families of polynomials. While these lines of research may seem unrelated, both the problems and the methods I propose to study them are deeply connected.

Keywords: spectral gap,random walks on groups,local limit theorem,bernoulli convolution,self similar measure,furstenberg boundary measure,generic polynomial,irreducibility of polynomials
Rapid DNA screening to secure the global food supply chains (DNAFoil)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call: SME instrument (H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1, 2018)
Start date: 2018-12-01
End date: 2019-03-31
Duration (months): 4.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Counterfeit, contaminated or non-compliant ingredients cost the global supply chain €83.5bn+ annually. Both raw ingredients & finished products can become contaminated with bacteria, allergens & undeclared substances during processing at any stage of the supply chain. Putting the situation under control results in product recalls, health risks assessments & major facility decontaminations. These expensive mitigation measures could be prevented by proper food testing before it is released to the next step in the food supply chain or to the consumers. Unfortunately, this rarely happens because the laboratories that carry out tests require up to 7 days to produce the results. Such long waiting times are not compatible with the product shelf lives & distribution schedules. As a result, most of food products are brought to the market without comprehensive food safety tests, which results in ~30 food recalls per week both in the EU & the US. SwissDeCode has developed DNAFoil—world’s first portable, completely self-administered onsite DNA test, allowing food production managers to validate supply chain integrity in 30 minutes with no lab, no equipment & no disruption to the process. It also allows inspectors & food manufacturers to replace current lengthy DNA tests that are performed in the laboratories with instantaneous testing in the field. DNAFoil already available pork DNA test will be joined by beef detection and multi-spectrum vegetal detection in 2017, shortly followed by salmonella, e. coli & listeria. We have started commercialization through beta sales in the early access program. Our business model is B2B. Our customers operate throughout the complete value chain—food & drink producers, distributors, retailers, caterers & regulatory agencies. We are aiming at ~€16.7m in revenues by 2022 with 56 FTEs.

Keywords: rapid screening
A new generation high temperature phase change microemulsion for latent thermal energy storage in dual loop solar field (THERMES)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Standard European Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2018, 2018)
Start date: 2019-09-17
End date: 2021-09-16
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 224933.76
EU funding (EUR): 224933.76
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

New energy storage solutions and innovations play a vital role in fully realising solar energy potentials particularly in large-scale integration into future low-carbon energy systems. For concentrated solar power, one of key challenges lies in low-cost high-performance thermal energy storage. Latent thermal energy storage holds the key to resolving such a challenge and keeping energy supply over periods of inadequate irradiation. THERMES will develop a new generation high-temperature phase change microemulsion both as the latent heat storage material and heat transfer fluid for low temperature solar field of a dual-loop solar field system. The high-temperature phase change microemulsion is characterized by high energy density, enhanced heat transfer performance through the addition of nanoparticles, and cost-effectiveness due to the use of commercial grade paraffin as the latent heat storage medium. By integrating the expertise of the host and Dr. Wenzheng Cui, THERMES will combine cutting-edge experimental, computational and theoretical analysis methods to develop the next generation working medium for latent thermal energy storage in order to meet the key challenge faced by concentrated solar power and fill the research gap of lacking of knowledge on high-temperature properties of phase change microemulsion. This Fellowship will offer Dr. Cui an opportunity through mobility, diverse trainings for acquiring interdisciplinary expertise and transferable skills, and to two-way transfer of knowledge between him and the host. It will position him as an internationally-leading interdisciplinary academic in the research area of latent thermal energy storage for concentrated solar power. THERMES will aggrandize commercialisation of utility-scale concentrated solar power, provide adaptability and support solar energy integration in the energy system. Therefore it is in line with EU’s Energy Strategy and Energy Union for secure, competitive, and sustainable energy.

Keywords: latent thermal energy storage,high temperature phase change microemulsion,dual loop solar field,functional nanoscale additives,concentrated solar power
FUTURES: Create. Imagine. Explore. (FUTURES)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: European researchers' Night
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Countries involved: United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call: European Researchers' Night (H2020-MSCA-NIGHT-2018, 2018)
Start date: 2018-07-01
End date: 2020-01-31
Duration (months): 19.0
Total project cost (EUR): 190058.75
EU funding (EUR): 190058.75
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

FUTURES: Create. Imagine. Explore. will bring together learning from the past and visions of the future by celebrating cultural heritage and exploring innovation. We will achieve this by hosting two nights of activities across the cities of Bristol and Bath engaging the South West region in a celebration and discovery of European cutting-edge research and its place in society. The consortium will be led by the University of Bristol, with the University of Bath as bid partner plus Bath Spa University as a core partner. FUTURES will have a distinctive regional flavour, as we are bringing together Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellows from the Universities of Bristol, Bath, Exeter and Cardiff, and utilising the strong research connections across the West of England and south Wales that exist through the "GW4 Alliance" between these universities. We will also work closely with popular venues such as We The Curious and The Holburne Museum, as well as community spaces such as The Island and Barton Hill Settlement. This range of partners in both cities will ensure a diversity of citizens across the South West region will be able to participate in a range of thought-provoking and inspiring activities engaging them with research. We have a strong emphasis on engaging school children and families to increase awareness of careers in research and to break stereotypes about researchers. We are also aiming activities at specific groups who may not normally have access to research or researchers. For all activities, direct interaction with researchers will allow audiences to engage with the people behind the science. We will provide a coherent story of cultural heritage and innovation that have characterised the region’s scientific and socio-economic development. With Responsible Research and Innovation in mind, working with socially engaged artists we will reflect on how current developments have the potential to influence the future of the region and beyond.
IN-CYTES A HIGH-DENSITY MICROELECTRODE ARRAY PLATFORM FOR LARGE-SCALE INTRACELLULAR FUNCTIONAL ASSAYS (In-Cytes)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call: European SME innovation Associate - pilot (H2020-INNOSUP-2019-02, 2019)
Start date: 2019-10-15
End date: 2021-01-14
Duration (months): 15.0
Total project cost (EUR): 135500.0
EU funding (EUR): 135500.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

MaxWell Biosystems AG (MxW) is a Swiss public limited company (AG) who developed electrophysiological platforms (hardware-software-bioassays) for basic research and drug testing on nerve cells. MxW’s aim is to develop In-Cytes, a radically innovative electrophysiology platform to assess neural connectivity for preclinical drug discovery for brain diseases. In contrast to the state-of-the-art technologies for quantifying neural connectivity, which either estimate indirect connectivity or feature poor spatial resolution, In-Cytes can measure physiological direct neural intracellular connectivity among thousands of neurons. This directly addresses the industrial need in pharmacy for neural connectivity bioassays, featuring high-throughput and minimum interference with neurons’ physiology for the development of effective drugs to cure neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The proposed recruitment of an Innovation Associate will have significant impact on the business opportunities of MxW by bringing in lacking expertise for the development of In-Cytes. The envisaged grant will help to overcome the recruitment barriers of being a relatively unknown, small start-up enterprise that cannot compete with larger companies due to limited visibility, brand awareness, (perceived) career opportunities, salary and recruitment budget. The development of In-Cytes requires the employment of an academic expert with a multidisciplinary set of skills combining knowledge in neuroscience, microfabrication and data analysis. In turn, the innovation associate will have the opportunity to become an expert in the emerging field of bio-engineering. It is in the interest of the company to continue the employment after the initial year in order to develop the first prototype of In-Cytes into an industrial end product.

Keywords: neurosciences,neurophysiology,electrophysiology