Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Deconstructing Adaptive Piezoelectric Responses in Pathological and Healthy Microenvironments (DAPHNE)

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: United Kingdom
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2025-STG, 2025)
Start date: 2026-06-01
End date: 2031-05-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499550.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499550.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Tissues are piezoelectric materials, generating electrical signals in response to mechanical stress, and yet this important aspect has not yet been incorporated into the design of disease research models, particularly in conditions like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Piezoelectricity affects cellular migration, growth, and differentiation. However, most of our understanding of cell-tissue interactions comes from studying cells under ‘static’ mechanical conditions. Cells interact with their microenvironment by applying forces and receiving bioelectric feedback through ion channels, which are overexpressed in fibrotic tissues (16-fold). Because macrophages and fibroblasts are involved in IPF-related fibrogenesis, we hypothesize that piezoelectricity plays a critical role in their differentiation states during disease progression. Current IPF research models do not replicate the electro-mechanical cellular environment, widening the gap between predictive in vitro models and clinical outcomes. Bridging this gap requires a paradigm shift toward models that incorporate electro-mechanical coupling. With DAPHNE, the applicant will develop a state-of-the-art piezoelectric platform providing both electrical and mechanical signals, enhancing the physiological relevance of current models. This innovation will accelerate drug development by enabling the testing of novel anti-fibrotic therapies targeting ion channel activity and creating the first statistically powerful library of cell-ECM electro-mechanical interactions. At the core of DAPHNE is the ReShape platform, which integrates three key functions: • Force: Applying dynamic forces to modulate piezoelectricity and cellular activity. • Visualize: Using real-time, label-free Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM) to track cellular ‘metabolic state’ changes at relevant biological timescale. • ReShape: Evaluating tissue-wide responses to cellular activity at high throughput.

Keywords: piezoelectricity,fibrosis,fak,mechanobiology,ion channels
Hydrogen PEM fuel cell system to retrofit ships in the marine transport industry (HyEkoTank)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Climate, Energy and Mobility
Theme: Mobility
Destination: Clean and competitive solutions for all transport modes
Action type: Innovation actions
Partnership: ZEWT (co-programmed)
Countries involved: Norway,Netherlands,Sweden,United Kingdom,Iceland
Call: Transformation of the existing fleet towards greener operations through retrofitting (ZEWT Partnership) (HORIZON-CL5-2022-D5-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-02-01
End date: 2026-07-31
Duration (months): 42.0
Total project cost (EUR): 9551041.0
EU funding (EUR): 5092999.0
Participants: 16
Project status: SIGNED

The HyEkoTank project will develop cost-effective technology for retrofitting seagoing and inland waterway vessels with hydrogen PEM fuel cell systems for emission-free operations. Retrofit solutions are urgently needed to transform the waterborne transport and reach the reduction of green house gas emissions established by EU and IMO by 2050. HyEkoTank project proposes the design, development, approval and demonstration of a 1.6 MW hydrogen fuel cell system. The technology will be developed by a consortium of 13 partners who are experts in the field and demonstrated by retrofitting a container ship, Kvitnos, under operation at fix round trip from Rotterdam to the Northern Norway in the North Sea. The main challenges that need to be resolved concern the development of a cost-efficient fuel cell system specifically designed for maritime applications and suitable to retrofit existing vessels, as well as the assessment and creation of hydrogen infrastructure and logistics for vessel refueling in ports, as well as safe hydrogen storage and handling. We aim at approving the HyEkoTank technology to deploy it for any type of vessel and operation, while demonstrating the expected environmental impacts: 50% GHG reduction during voyage, 100% reduction in port, and 50% total reduction yearly. The project will take the technology from TRL 4/5 to TRL 8. The HyEkoTank consortium is mostly composed by companies with industrial/commercial interest in the project results: TECO 2030 AS (NO), Shell International Exploration & Production B.V. (NL), Shell International Trading & Shipping Company Limited (UK), Samskip (IS), Nav-Tech BV (NL), Tarbit Shipping AB (SE), TECO 2030 Innovation Center AS (NO), Fartygskonstruktioner AB (SE), Blom Maritime AS (NO), Teco Solutions AS (NO), Umoe Advanced Composites AS (NO). They are all experienced in providing services and commercializing products in the hydrogen and/or maritime fields. The consortium also counts with the participation of an academic partner, Universitetet i Tromsø - Norges Arktiske Universitet (NO).

Keywords: retrofit,h2,hydrogen,fuel cells,pem,maritime,decarbonization
stable Isotope Study of bone and dental remains: Hydrogen and Oxygen methodological Developments (ISHOD)

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: Belgium
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023 (HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-09-02
End date: 2026-09-01
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 191760.0
EU funding (EUR): 191760.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The study of the interactions between ancient societies and their environment is a key element to decision-making in the global context of climate change. Stable isotope analysis of biological (bone and dental) remains provides insights into climatic conditions, dietary habits and geographical mobility of modern and past populations. The ISHOD project sets up to refine the analysis and interpretation of two proxies: the hydrogen (d2H) and oxygen (d18O) stable isotope compositions of animal and human remains from modern and archaeological contexts. Traditionally, d2H and d18O values are respectively measured on distinct matrices (bioapatite for d18O and collagen for d2H). Both proxies face analytical (atom exchange during pretreatment procedures) and interpretative (what information are recorded) challenges. ISHOD aims to develop (1) d2H measurements of bioapatite and “whole bone” and (2) d18O measurements of collagen. Once operational, protocols and setups will be used to explore how d2H and d18O values compare with other isotopic systems (C, N, S, Sr) and record climate, diet and geographic origin. They will be applied to investigate the medieval city of Ieper (Western Flanders, Belgium). I will be hosted at Vrije Universiteit Brussels and supervised by Prof. Christophe Snoeck, a renowned expert in bioarchaeology specialized in isotope analysis of animal and human remains. During the fellowship, I will be trained to improve my scientific (stable isotope facility operating, pretreatment expertise) and interpersonal (leadership, networking) skills. ISHOD will lead to new chemical procedures and analytical setups to perform d2H and d18O measurements, which will advance our understanding of how ancient European societies experienced and adapted to climate changes. The project’s outcomes will be presented at scientific conferences (EAA, UKAS, Goldschmidt) and publicly communicated during outreach events (“Urban archaeology day”, “Dag van de Wetenschap”).

Keywords: stable isotopes bioarchaeology oxygen hydrogen bone remains dental remains paleoclimate diet mobility
The Swedish AI Innovation Factory (MIMER)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Digital, Industry and Space
Theme: Public-private partnerships
Destination: European High Performance Computing
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Partnership: EUROHPC (JU-JTI)
Countries involved: Sweden
Call: Artificial Intelligence Factories (HORIZON-JU-EUROHPC-2025-AI-01-IBA, 2025)
Start date: 2025-04-01
End date: 2028-03-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 19584750.0
EU funding (EUR): 9792375.0
Participants: 8
Project status: SIGNED

The MIMER AI Innovation Factory proposal, led by Linköping University (LiU) and RISE, will establish a groundbreaking AI Factory in Sweden to accelerate the adoption of AI across academia, industry, and public sectors in alignment with Swedish and European strategic priorities. The AI Factory will serve as a collaborative hub, providing seamless access to AI-optimized supercomputing resources and promoting innovation in sectors such as life sciences, materials science, autonomous systems, and the gaming industry. We will offer support services to help users maximize the benefits of AI in HPC environments. Through structured onboarding, the Factory guides new users in framing AI problems, organizing data, and selecting tools for model training. A competency-based knowledge system also assists users, particularly those new to AI, in identifying skill levels and accessing relevant training. RISE will lead the efforts in engaging SME users, providing tailored support and expertise to help them integrate AI into their operations, while LiU will focus on academic and research-based users. The training and workforce development are designed to address the increasing demand for AI skills, offering hands-on training, workshops, and events to support AI literacy and build a skilled workforce across Europe. By aligning with EuroHPC, we will engage in active partnerships with other European AI initiatives, supporting joint projects and data-sharing frameworks that ensure compliance with EU data privacy and AI regulations. The factory will democratize access to advanced AI infrastructure and expertise. It will empower a broad range of users, including academia, SMEs, and industry leaders, to develop cutting-edge AI applications. By promoting innovation, enhancing productivity, and supporting sustainable AI practices, the Factory will position Sweden as a strong hub in the European AI ecosystem, driving scientific excellence, technological advancement, and economic growth.

Keywords: artificial intelligence machine learning data science life sciences material sciences autonomous systems gaming
Genomics and biogeography of Physalideae (Solanaceae): integration of molecules, morphology and fossils to resolve the evolutionary history of the physaloids (SOLgenbio)

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: Finland,Spain
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023 (HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-08-15
End date: 2026-08-14
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 215534.4
EU funding (EUR): 215534.4
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

The nightshade family, Solanaceae, at once illustrates the common challenges of molecular dating and presents a prime opportunity for expanding knowledge of biogeography and evolutionary history. Its most widely diverse tribe, Physalideae, contains roughly 300 species mostly distributed in South America, half of them with fruit key innovations known as the inflated fruiting calyx. The same structures are present in the oldest fossils of the family, recently discovered in the south of South America, reinforcing the idea of this area as the ancestral zone of origin and diversification for Solanaceae. After decades of molecular phylogenetics and fossil discoveries, I aim to introduce an integrative approach to disentangle the evolutionary and biogeographic history of the physaloids in the light of fossils, morphology, and museum genomics. To approach this, I will first infer a calibrated total-evidence phylogeny for the Physalideae including fossils and extant taxa. Building on these results, I will estimate diversification rates to test whether phenotypic changes in the fruiting calyx inflation affected them. Finally, and also using the calibrated phylogeny, I will reconstruct the ancestral areas of distribution of Physalideae, and I will test whether there is a correlation between the inflated calyx and the macroevolutionary dispersal rates. The convergence of genomics, paleobotany, and evolutionary morphology will allow us to test if the inflation of the fruiting calyx may have spurred the diversification and distribution of physaloids over the Americas and across continents, shaping the biogeographic patterns we see today.

Keywords: biogeography,evolution,nightshades,plant fossils,genomics
Geotechnical Research for spAce enVironments using an Innovative Tower Experiment (GRAVITE)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Earth System Science
Panel description: Physical geography, geo logy, geophysics, atmospheric sciences, oceanography, climatology, cryology, ecology, global environmental change, biogeochemical cycles, natural resources management
Countries involved: France
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2022-COG, 2022)
Start date: 2024-07-01
End date: 2029-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2294664.0
EU funding (EUR): 2294664.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

As the number of space missions involving surface interactions increases, so does the need to understand the behaviour of planetary surfaces. The surface properties also are crucial for human exploration, and play a key role in the evolution of planetary bodies. In terrestrial geophysics and planetary exploration, two techniques are widely used for in-situ determination of soil mechanical properties: seismic sounding, and penetration testing. However, the GRAVITE PI hypothesizes that these techniques are not directly applicable for space exploration due to implicit assumptions that become invalid in low-gravity environments, and that this has resulted in erroneous interpretations of data from multiple space missions. Whereas others use limited experimental data points, numerical simulations or untested extrapolations, GRAVITE will build a unique high-performance, low and variable gravity laboratory to extensively explore, for the first time, the complex interactions between particle size, friction and cohesion in the response of granular materials to both small and large deformations, under vacuum, and in reduced-gravity conditions. The GRAVITE facility, capable of reaching gravity levels three orders of magnitude less than Earth’s gravity (in order to simulate small body surfaces), and of finely adjusting the gravity level of each individual experiment, will bridge an existing gap in facilities and provide exceptional experimental data covering a wide range of gravity conditions. The GRAVITE data from two custom experiments will be used to test the limits of existing theories, and validate new models accounting for previously unexplored regimes. As such, GRAVITE will provide the planetary science and exploration communities with much needed models that can be used to predict and interpret the behaviour of extra-terrestrial surface materials. The results will have direct applications to current and future space missions that interact with planetary surfaces.

Keywords: soil mechanics granular dynamics seismology regolith experimentation gravity
ADvAnced 4D biomAteriaLs for mucosa and sub-mUcosa treatment in patients affected by intestinal diSeases (DAEDALUS)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Digital, Industry and Space
Theme: Industry
Destination: Increased Autonomy in Key Strategic Value Chains for Resilient Industry
Action type: Innovation actions
Countries involved: Italy,Germany,France,Belgium,Türkiye,Austria,Spain,Luxembourg
Call: Advanced biomaterials for the Health Care (IA) (HORIZON-CL4-2024-RESILIENCE-01-TWO-STAGE, 2024)
Start date: 2025-06-01
End date: 2029-05-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 8653655.3
EU funding (EUR): 7760778.22
Participants: 14
Project status: SIGNED

4D biomaterials enable new surgical treatments by autonomously acting in response to environmental stimuli, thus overcoming the limitations of standard medical strategies. DAEDALUS has the ambitious goal to develop two advanced 4D composite biomaterials designed to facilitate the re-epithelization of the colorectal mucosa and submucosa after their removal. Thus, DAEDALUS will provide an effective solution for addressing pathologies related to colorectal mucosa and submucosa, which are currently managed through proctocolectomy (removal of colon and rectum), a surgical procedure associated with drastic side effects. DAEDALUS biomaterials will combine synthetic and natural polymers (also derived from waste sources), with smart nano- and micro-carriers/particles. With the support of in silico tools, the biomaterials will be tailored to re-epithelize the mucosa and submucosa, adhere to each other and to the underlying muscle, and enable the release of oxygen, glucose, growth factors, and antibacterial and antifibrotic molecules. Moreover, the mucosal formulation will feature a shape morphing behavior triggered by a combination of magnetic field and light to mimic the colorectal mucosal crypts. To enable in situ printing of DAEDALUS biomaterials and provide the required stimuli, a multifunctional endoscope with a customized toolhead will be designed and validated ex vivo and in vivo. Throughout the project, the clinical translation of the DAEDALUS solutions will be continuously sought through: i) scaling up of the manufacturing routes by industrial partners, ii) feedback and acceptability from surgeons within the consortium, iii) social acceptance by patients and public. Moreover, the EU regulation framework will be identified to guarantee safe and effective solutions. Collectively, DAEDALUS will introduce a minimally invasive alternative to proctocolectomy and is expected to have a high impact on the quality of life of patients affected by colorectal pathologies.

Keywords: in situ printing 4d biomaterials smart nanoparticles colorectal diseases endoscopic surgery shape morphing biomolecules release
Relatedness and the Evolutionary Pathway to Worker Sterility in Ants (AntPolice)

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: Finland
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01, 2021)
Start date: 2023-09-01
End date: 2025-09-30
Duration (months): 25.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200860.4
EU funding (EUR): 200860.4
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The sterile worker castes found in the colonies of social insects are often cited as archetypal examples of altruism in nature. The challenge is to explain why losing the ability to reproduce has evolved as a superior strategy for transmitting genes into future generations. The leading explanation for the evolution of worker sterility is the monogamy hypothesis. The idea is that workers don't need to reproduce because they can transmit their genes indirectly by improving the reproductive success of the queen, who carries the same genes. For this to work, the queen should be monogamously mated, ensuring workers are raising full siblings, the genetic equivalent of their own young (r = 0.5). There has been no appropriate test of this hypothesis, however, and an alternative hypothesis, that worker sterility evolved via the enforcement of cooperation by policing, has not been ruled out. According to the policing hypothesis, workers suppress each other's reproduction by eating each other’s eggs or through aggression, leading to sterility through evolutionary time. Crucially, policing is predicted to evolve when relatedness is low, in contrast to the monogamy hypothesis. Here, I propose an interdisciplinary approach that combines a cutting-edge phylogenetic comparative analysis across ~500 ant species with novel lab-based experiments on the socially polymorphic ant, Formica exsecta, to test between the low and high relatedness evolutionary pathways to worker sterility. Contrary to common belief, workers in most ant species can lay eggs due to their haplodiploid sex determination system, making them an ideal system for answering this question. This project will fill a crucial gap in our knowledge of how complex life on Earth evolved and potentially overturn the long-held hypothesis that high relatedness is the only route to cooperation.

Keywords: major transitions,kin selection,cooperation,policing,ants,sterile workers