Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Neuronal circuits for sensory-body state integration (WarmBodies)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced 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 – In humans and all other organisms
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC ADVANCED GRANTS (ERC-2023-ADG, 2023)
Start date: 2024-12-01
End date: 2029-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Thermal homeostasis is essential to survival. But how our brain processes thermosensory information and triggers behaviors that help maintain our physiological, body state remains a mystery. The neural circuits responsible for perception of sensory stimulation and those for regulation of body state have been studied independently, yet body state has a profound impact on sensory perception. What is more, animals constantly adapt their behavior to maintain homeostasis with moment-by-moment sensing of the environment. Current models suggest that the insular cortex plays a key role in integrating internal information about body state with external sensory information about the environment to generate signals that represent the difference between internal and external inputs. Such, ‘sensory-state difference’ signals allow us to navigate and adapt to a dynamic environment. To test this model, our aim is to leverage distinct features of the thermal system and examine species with and without the ability to thermoregulate. My team has recently located the primary cortical representation of temperature (a ‘thermal cortex’) in a posterior region of the insular cortex. We will examine its activity as we monitor and manipulate the internal, core body temperature and external thermal input during robust and sensitive thermal behavior. We will compare human and mouse, which are warm-blooded, to naked mole-rats, which are nearly cold-blooded. To identify the cellular mechanisms of sensory-state integration, we will use a combination of cutting-edge techniques including neural recordings, anatomical tracing and activity manipulations during a thermal perceptual task and thermoregulatory behavior. Our holistic and comparative approach will provide insight into a fundamental question regarding cortical function and may help tackle disorders of body state associated with insular cortex dysfunction.

Keywords: thermal,somatosensory,mouse,neuroethology,insular cortex,naked mole rat
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Non-Terrestrial Communications and Sensing (UNITE)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Staff Exchanges
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: Germany,Italy,United Kingdom,France,Spain,United States
Call: MSCA Staff Exchanges 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-SE-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-12-01
End date: 2027-11-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 496800.0
EU funding (EUR): 496800.0
Participants: 15
Project status: SIGNED

Satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) represent a perfect match for non-terrestrial sensing and communications in 6G. Hence, it is of great interest to combine UAVs with satellites to maximize their respective advantages for emerging applications. This project tackles the challenges of using UAV for non-terrestrial communications and non-terrestrial sensing, in combination with satellites, for 6G. The objectives of this research include: 1) Data-driven UAV deployment: to perform intelligent analysis of the spatial and temporal needs for UAV deployment using data mining techniques in important 6G scenarios; 2) Communications and sensing channel modelling: to establish realistic channel models to describe the 3D environment in non-terrestrial applications; 3) Separate non-terrestrial communications and sensing designs: to develop efficient data transmission strategies to ensure the reliable delivery of information and the accurate acquisition of network perception using new channel models, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces and computer vision; 4) Integrated non-terrestrial communications and sensing designs: to devise robust signal processing and networking algorithms to integrate non-terrestrial communications with non-terrestrial sensing using dual-functional waveforms and UAV wireless charging based on the previous separate designs; 5) Sensing-based communications designs: to design effective non-terrestrial communications methods using the network information acquired from non-terrestrial sensing; 6) Disseminate, exploit and communicate the outcomes of this research to the wider community. Achieving the above measurable objectives will provide crucial inputs to the exploitation of UAVs in non-terrestrial communications and non-terrestrial sensing for 6G by solving its major challenges, which will allow us to address the digital inequality issue and to enhance the terrestrial network functionality.

Keywords: uav communications,integrated communications and sensing,hybrid communications,computer vision
Long-term alterations of host-microbiome interactions and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases progression after pneumonia (Homi-lung)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Health
Theme: Health
Destination: Tackling diseases and reducing disease burden
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: France,Greece,Netherlands,Spain,Israel,United States
Call: Relationship between infections and non-communicable diseases (HORIZON-HLTH-2023-DISEASE-03, 2023)
Start date: 2024-01-01
End date: 2028-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 6999983.75
EU funding (EUR): 6999983.25
Participants: 11
Project status: SIGNED

Challenges. The incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) increases after infections, but causal mechanisms are not understood yet. Pneumonia, which can be acquired in the community (such as flu and COVID-19) or during hospitalization, is a leading cause of infectious diseases. The main idea of the Homi-lung project is to investigate the causal relationship between CVD progression and the immune and microbiome alterations observed after pneumonia. Objectives. During the Homi-lung project, we aim to i) define the medical and societal, and patient needs; ii) increase medical doctor’s knowledge of the physiological processes linking pneumonia and CVD; iii) enable early identification of patients at risk of CVD progression; and iv) preclinically develop new treatments. Implementation. The Homi-lung project will address this challenge by comparing CVD rates between patients cured of pneumonia and matched patients who had not developed pneumonia during a prospective 3-year follow-up. We will analyze longitudinal samples collected in these populations and develop new algorithms by artificial intelligence to associate host-microbiome interactions with CVD progression. We will also demonstrate the causal link between CVD progression and host-microbiome interactions in preclinical pneumonia models. The interdisciplinary and ambitious Homi-lung project brings together 8 partners from 5 EU countries, with expertise in pneumonia, CVD, immunology, microbiome, and artificial intelligence and is uniquely placed to reach these objectives. Impacts. The project will provide clinicians with robust evidence contributing to identifying patients at risk of CVD after pneumonia. By developing new biomarkers and preclinical validating treatments to TRL4, the project will contribute to improving patients’ recovery and reducing the burden of infections. This project, particularly timely after the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, will also increase European preparedness for the next pandemic.

Keywords: pneumonia,hospital acquired pneumonia,intensive care,microbiome,innate immunity,host microbiome interactions,stroke,myocardial infarction,artificial intelligence,patients related outcomes
Efficient materials and processes for high-energy supercapacitors for smart textiles and electromobility applications (EMPHASIS)

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: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Greece,France,Austria,Germany,Italy,Croatia
Call: Novel materials for supercapacitor energy storage (RIA) (HORIZON-CL4-2022-RESILIENCE-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-01-01
End date: 2025-12-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 5427117.5
EU funding (EUR): 5427117.25
Participants: 14
Project status: SIGNED

EMPHASIS aims to develop a new science-oriented and circular-economy approach, for the design and production of next-generation supercapacitors (SCs) achieving the technical specifications defined in the European SET plan targets for 2030. Three main SC components, i.e. electrodes, current collectors and electrolytes, will be optimized to achieve their best combination resulting in very high energy and power density, cyclability, and charge/discharge ratio, reducing at the same time production cost and environmental footprint in comparison to the extant technologies. Laser-assisted methods will be employed to transform biomass to high mass-density films of graphene and graphene/nanoclusters hybrids, offering a dry method for in-situ electrode fabrication. High-surface-area activated carbons and metal-free current collectors with 3D morphology will be produced starting from new bio-based (cellulose) precursors. Novel, green IL-based recyclable electrolytes operating over a wide temperature and voltage window, will be designed and synthesized by industrially-relevant processes to ensure upscaling. Various concepts of SCs (symmetric, asymmetric, hybrid) will be designed and optimized for two specific end-user applications, flexible SCs for wearable technology (medical clothing) and the automotive industry (fuel cell powered vehicles). In both applications, the custom-designed and implemented SCs target to the replacement of batteries in an effort to eliminate the use of CRMs and unsafe/toxic chemicals. Life-cycle analysis will consider environmental and cost-feasibility impact to ensure innovation in the frame of circular economy. EMPHASIS will establish new value chains with energy storage products, essential to future competitiveness and prosperity of the EU industry. To this direction, the project aspires to develop digital technologies that fulfill the Green Deal objectives for secure raw materials, to pave the way for a twin green and digital transformation.

Keywords: biomass derived materials,graphene hybrids,activated carbon fibers,green electrolytes,ionic liquids,supercapacitors,smart clothing,automotive
Many paths to separate sexes: the genomics of sex-determination in the Hawaiian Wikstroemia (separatingSexes)

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: Sweden
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2023-STG, 2023)
Start date: 2024-01-01
End date: 2028-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1447995.0
EU funding (EUR): 1447995.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Life on earth has undergone several major evolutionary transitions, but perhaps none so striking or relevant to our daily lives as the origin of separate sexes. Yet, despite intense study for over 100 years, understanding how and why genes determining sex evolve - and the consequences for the chromosomes harboring them - remains an open problem in evolutionary biology. One obstacle is that most previous work has focused on ancient sex chromosome systems, like those found in mammals, where recombination suppression and genetic degeneration has obliterated any signs or signals of how genetic sex-determination evolved in the first place. But here, flowering plants (Angiosperms) come to the rescue! Compared to animals, Angiosperms exhibit a staggering diversity of reproductive forms, and have transitioned from combined (hermaphroditism) to separate sexes (dioecy) many times in their evolutionary history. The goal of this project is to understand the genomic changes giving rise to at least two and possibly three parallel transitions from hermaphroditism to dioecy via the evolution of new sex chromosomes within an endemic Hawaiian radiation of the flowering plant genus Wikstroemia (Thymelaeaceae; 12 spp.). Using a combination of genomics, bioinformatics, gene expression, and greenhouse experiments, I aim to achieve three key objectives: (1) locate and fully annotate sex-linked regions of the genome associated with each form of dioecy; (2) clarify the systematics of this radiation and study the biogeography of sex-linked genes, and the relative times of origin and whether/how recombination suppression has evolved for each form; and (3) determine what genes/developmental pathways are involved in sex-determination in these closely related lineages. This fascinating radiation offers a unique snapshot of repeated evolution of genetic sex-determination from a common genetic starting point, shedding new light on how and why evolutionary transitions to separate sexes occur.

Keywords: major evolutionary transitions,sex chromosomes,mating systems,angiosperms
The Mitochondrial Paradox: Embracing Mitohormesis for Improved Metabolic and Aging Health (MitoHealth)

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-2023-POC, 2023)
Start date: 2024-03-01
End date: 2025-08-31
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Obesity and aging are two of the most important health challenges facing our societies in the 21st century. However, there are currently no effective therapeutic approaches to mitigate the growing obesity pandemic or to promote healthy aging. Therefore, it is essential to explore new research frontiers in order to develop more effective and safer strategies. Mitohormesis, the process by which induced mitochondrial stress can trigger beneficial health effects, has emerged as a promising area of study in biomedical research. However, its potential effectiveness against metabolic and aging-associated disorders in vertebrate organisms is poorly explored. We have generated a mouse model that exhibits enhanced mitohormesis in the vascular endothelial cells. In this proposal, we intend to conduct a proof of concept to assess whether triggering endothelial mitohormesis can serve as a novel approach for treating obesity and age-related health issues. To this aim, we will execute 4 work packages to determine: (a) the preventive and (b) curative effect of endothelial mitohormesis on obesity and associated metabolic alterations; (c) the impact of the promotion of endothelial mitohormesis on aging markers; (d) the identity of new circulating mitohormetic mediators with the potential to be pharmacological targets. These studies will be carried out by a research team with an extraordinary track-record in the fields of metabolism and aging. Our objective will be bringing the technology from TRL3 to TRL4 by evaluating the performance and feasibility of the technology in a controlled laboratory environment. The research team will closely work with the Tech Transfer Office to ensure the implementation of a successful IPR strategy. A therapy based on the controlled induction of endothelial mitohormesis could have a great impact on the quality of life of millions of patients, reduce the burden of chronic diseases on the health system and have important economic repercussions.
A European “shield” against colorectal cancer based on novel, more precise and affordable risk-based screening methods and viable policy pathways (ONCOSCREEN)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Mission
Theme: Cancer
Destination: Cancer
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Greece,Germany,France,Lithuania,Austria,Portugal,Romania,Israel,Netherlands,Belgium,Cyprus,Ireland,Spain,Italy,Bulgaria
Call: Develop new methods and technologies for cancer screening and early detection (HORIZON-MISS-2021-CANCER-02, 2021)
Start date: 2023-01-01
End date: 2026-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 12972076.25
EU funding (EUR): 12972076.0
Participants: 41
Project status: SIGNED

With Colorectal Cancer (CRC) being accountable for 12.4% of all deaths due to cancer, and with only 14% of EU citizens participating in screening programmes, there is an urgent need for accurate, non-invasive, cost-effective screening tests based on novel technologies and an increased awareness on the disease and its detection. Furthermore, personalized approaches for screening are needed, to consider genetic and other socioeconomic variables and environmental stressors that lead to different onsets of the disease. ONCOSCREEN responds to these challenges by developing a risk-based, population-level stratification methodology for CRC, to account for genetic prevalence, socio-economic status, and other factors. It complements this methodology by a) developing a set of novel, practical, and low-cost screening technologies with high sensitivity and specificity, b) leveraging AI to improve existing methodologies for CRC screening, allowing for the early detection of polyps and provision of a personalized risk status stratification, and c) providing a mobile app for self-monitoring and CRC awareness raising. Furthermore, ONCOSCREEN develops an Intelligent Analytics dashboard for policy makers facilitating effective policy making at regional and national levels. Through a multi-level campaign, the above-mentioned solutions are tested and validated. For the clinical solutions specifically, a clinical validation study has been planned with the participation of 4100 enrolled patients/citizens. To ensure the adoption of the developed solutions by the healthcare systems, their cost-effectiveness and financial viability will be assessed. The 48-months duration project will be implemented by a multidisciplinary consortium comprising of 38 partners, including technical solutions providers, hospitals, Ministries of Health as policy makers, legal and ethics experts, Insurance companies, involving actively end-users/citizens in all phases of implementation through targeted workshops. This action is part of the Cancer Mission cluster of projects on ‘Prevention, including Screening.

Keywords: colorectal cancer screening,early detection,health economics,health technology assessment,
Sustainable renewable energy VALUE chains for answering FARMers’ needs (VALUE4FARM)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Climate, Energy and Mobility
Theme: Energy
Destination: Sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply
Action type: Innovation actions
Countries involved: Belgium,Denmark,Italy,Netherlands,Germany,Iceland,France,United Kingdom,Croatia,Poland
Call: Renewable energy incorporation in agriculture and forestry (HORIZON-CL5-2022-D3-02, 2022)
Start date: 2023-09-01
End date: 2027-02-28
Duration (months): 42.0
Total project cost (EUR): 6866486.25
EU funding (EUR): 6377839.88
Participants: 14
Project status: SIGNED

In order to defossilise the agricultural sector in line with the EU Green Deal, the local incorporation of renewable energy technologies matching local farmers’ needs in terms of electricity, heat, mobility, waste and land management is key. In this context, the VALUE4FARM project will gather 14 partners (including 7 research-oriented partners, 3 SMEs and 3 associations) in a 42-month project to demonstrate at TRL6-7 the effectiveness, sustainability and replicability of three renewable-based local value chains based on biogas, and coupling sustainable food and renewable-energy production. In Denmark, add-ons to the traditional biomethane pathway will be brought for answering the local specificities of large-scale farms. In Belgium, a pathway towards better use of already-existing residual streams will be demonstrated for efficient production of electricity/heat and fuel, thus answering mobility needs for small-scale farms. In Italy, hybridisation compatibilities will be investigated towards the creation of an efficient off-grid biomethane plant. Sustainable agricultural crop protocols will be developed, based on at least 200 farmers’ specifications, meeting the challenges of the agricultural sector, while matching renewable energy production. All value chains will promote circularity through nutrient recovery. The uptake of the demonstrated value chains will be facilitated by a strong involvement of farmers from the very beginning of the project. Three replication sites in Iceland, Italy and Poland have already been selected in the project. The assessment of the economic, environmental and social benefits of the VALUE4FARM value chains will be widely shared and disseminated to relevant stakeholders. In particular, to encourage the wider farming community across Europe to benefit from producing both food and energy from their land and showcasing the lessons learnt in the demonstration sites, an online decision support tool will be made available in open-access.

Keywords: biogas biomethane renewable energy agriculture sustainability farmers value chain agricultural protocol crop rotation decision tool