Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Engineering translation machinery to produce light-responsive protein-polymers (PolControl)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering
Panel description: Biotechnology using all organisms, biotechnology for environment and food applications, applied plant and animal sciences, bioengineering and synthetic biology, biomass and biofuels, biohazards
Countries involved: Israel
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2017-STG, 2017)
Start date: 2017-11-01
End date: 2023-10-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1328712.0
EU funding (EUR): 1328712.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

A general and versatile technology to engineer visible light-responsive biological agents will enable spatio-temporal manipulation and interrogation of proteins, pathways, and cells, and the design of “smart” biomaterials that can direct and respond to biological processes on-demand. Site specific incorporation of multiple visible-light-responsive chemical groups at the polypeptide level will constitute a universal methodology for precise production of light-responsive proteins and protein-based materials. However, inadequate engineering of the protein translation apparatus limits the number and complexity of chemical groups that can be incorporated into proteins as synthetic amino acids (sAAs). This limitation precludes the incorporation of recently discovered visible-light-responsive chemical groups, hinders protein engineering efforts, and excludes production of biomaterials in which multiple identical sAAs provide new physical or biophysical properties. We propose to overcome this challenge by generating a genomic-engineering based platform for co-evolution of multiple components of the translation machinery (the aminoacyl tRNA synthetase, tRNA, and elongation factor) to select for cellular machinery capable of multi-site incorporation of highly substituted azobenzenes with a range of biologically relevant photochemical properties. We will then utilize these translation systems to produce libraries of azobenzene-containing protein-based materials to elucidate the sequence-function requirements for directing light-responsive self-assembly of macromolecular structures, and to generate biomaterial formulations for control of various intra- and extra-cellular processes. By developing and marrying technologies in synthetic biology, chemistry, and biomaterials, this study will enable the synthesis of light-responsive proteins, deepen our understanding of natural and evolved translation systems, and create new classes of functional light-responsive biomaterials.

Keywords: synthetic biology,synthetic amino acids,genome engineering,orthogonal translation systems,drug delivery,biomaterials,genetically encoded polymers,protein engineering,protein evolution
Unraveling novel Familial Breast Cancer (FBC) predisposition genes. (FBC predisposition)

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: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Denmark
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2019, 2019)
Start date: 2020-05-01
End date: 2022-12-17
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 219312.0
EU funding (EUR): 219312.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Familial breast cancer (FBC) is expected to account for up to 15% of breast cancers. Although recent breakthroughs have resulted in the identification of distinct new groups of genetically inherent breast cancer genes, about 64% of the genetic predisposition to FBC remains unexplained. Therefore, new approaches are required to identify remaining genetic factors underlying FBC susceptibility. This is crucial because the elucidation of inherent cancer defects offers the ability to counsel and monitor patients. Importantly, it also provides firm ground for therapeutically targeting particular cancer pathways for example through Poly ADP-ribose polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) that exploit synthetic lethality with particular DNA repair deficiencies. To advance the field, my host lab has performed High-Throughput phenotypic screen, based on gene variants recognized in a FBC cohort of 135 early-onset (age <35 years) breast cancer patients through whole exome sequencing. The 270 new genes with potential disease association were enrolled in screens, focusing on genome maintenance and PARPi sensitivity. These unique preliminary data form the basis for my project. I hypothesize that by performing following specific analyses I will be able to elucidate new FBC predisposition genes: •Ranking of screen hits by performing FBC-associated variant analysis in an international and Danish FBC cohort. •Elucidating molecular function of novel FBC predisposition genes in genome maintenance. •Unraveling the molecular network of candidate proteins by unbiased Mass-spectrometry as well as follow-up analysis of interactors. I anticipate that my work will provide novel FBC predisposition genes, which will markedly contribute to clinical risk assessment tools (such as targeted sequencing) by ensuring identification of individuals at elevated risk who benefit from advances in surveillance and targeted interventions.

Keywords: familial breast cancer,precision medicine,genetic instability,pathogenic variants,parpi sensitivity,crispr cas9 based gene editing,automated image based screening,molecular network
Securing a healthy indoor air climate while saving energy in buildings with space technology (SALLY R)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Sweden
Call: SME instrument (H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1, 2018)
Start date: 2018-08-01
End date: 2018-11-30
Duration (months): 4.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

90% exposure to air pollution does occur indoors, causing almost 70% of the total burden of disease related to indoor air quality. With 90% of European citizens spending 90% time indoors, good environment inside buildings is a key public health issue, costing €1,273 B each year. Overall, air treatment is responsible for 40% of total building energy consumption, and ventilation-related operations represent alone up to 26% of the electricity expenses. This is because current ventilation approaches consume huge amounts of energy by replacing indoor air with air from polluted outdoor environment. Thus, they need to choose between air quality and energy savings, so the better indoor air quality they achieve, the more energy spending, and the opposite way around. SALLY_R is a Swedish cleantech SME that has been awarded twice already for its disrupting innovation, s8AIR, an Air Handling Optimization System that guarantees optimum indoor air quality spending 40% less energy. For an average office building area of 870m, S8AIR‘s energy savings (0.3 kWh/m2/day) would lead to less 63.5 MWh/year energy consumed, amounting for €12,970/year. s8AIR combines ventilation approaches used on Earth with the actual technology for climate control in the International Space Station to enhance the performance of air handing units no matter capacity. This is achieved thanks to our own developed smart algorithm that intelligently exploits the real-time data acquired from several sensors. Our novel system can be integrated either into existing Air Handing Units in building refurbishment/renovation operations or into new units, so after having demonstrated our product capabilities through the easy deployment in refurbished buildings, we will target AHU manufacturers to integrate S8AIR into their well-known products. With this strategy, we aim to generate €30.2 million accumulated revenues (€10.7 million profit) by 2023, with the creation of 17 direct jobs.

Keywords: indoor air quality,energy efficiency,ventilation technology
Force-responsive Deformable User Interfaces (FORCE-UI)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Computer science and informatics
Panel description: Informatics and information systems, computer science, scientific computing, intelligent systems
Countries involved: United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2019-STG, 2019)
Start date: 2020-09-01
End date: 2025-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1422060.0
EU funding (EUR): 1422060.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Touch input is the universal approach for communicating intention to interactive computing systems. However, touchscreens are flat, solid surfaces that fail to reproduce the qualities of real-world object interaction (e.g. deformation, stiffness, springiness). Further, their expressivity is fundamentally bounded by a single measurable dimension: contact with a solid, touch-sensitive surface. This project will radically increase the expressivity of touchscreen-based interaction by co-locating three force modalities into a single visual display surface (force input, resistive- and kinetic- force feedback). This will create a new paradigm for Human-Computer Interaction (HCI): Force Responsive Deformable User Interfaces (FRUI). FRUIs will allow users to ‘push through’ a display and for the display to ‘push back’. To achieve this ambitious goal, I will combine innovative hardware prototyping with experimental computer science and psychophysical study methodologies to complete four key research objectives: (1) Develop novel engineering approaches to construct FRUI; (2) Empirically characterise humans’ capabilities and responses during interaction with FRUI; (3) Construct conceptual models, metaphors, and principles for user interaction with FRUI; (4) Evaluate the expressivity, efficiency, and user satisfaction of FRUIs. I am considered an international leader in the development of shape-changing interfaces (interfaces whose physical geometry adapts to underlying digital content), as evidenced through my strong research track record (including two recent agenda-setting papers at the premier HCI conference), international community leadership, and external grant success. This background ideally places me to conduct all aspects of this highly ambitious programme of work. FORCE-UI has the potential to revolutionise touch input, and in doing so will have a significant impact on society’s use of interactive systems.

Keywords: deformable user interface,force input,force output,touch input,display
Discovering the Deep Mediterranean Environment: A History of Science and Strategy (1860-2020) (DEEPMED)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: The study of the human past
Panel description: Archaeology, history and memory
Countries involved: Spain
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2020-COG, 2020)
Start date: 2022-03-01
End date: 2027-02-28
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1858541.0
EU funding (EUR): 1858541.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Few geographical spaces have been more relevant to human life and more intensively theorized than the Mediterranean Sea. Today, this sea poses some of the most pressing challenges and opportunities for European economic, security, and environmental policies. Answers to how to manage the region depend on ideas and perceptions of integration and division of the basin and its peoples. But the Mediterranean as a spatial concept has radically changed in the last 160 years as humans have gained access to its depths, unveiling an underwater world to discover, exploit, and navigate. The Mediterranean has become a volume. DEEPMED is the first historical account of the discovery of the deep Mediterranean environment. Its main hypothesis is that science and strategy jointly made the Mediterranean depths into an object of analysis and a political space, which in turn shaped science and strategy in the region. DEEPMED pursues three specific objectives: 1) identifying the actors and contexts that enabled perceptions and practices of depth in the Med; 2) describing how natural and human time-scales interact in this body of water, and 3) tracking key conceptual landmarks defining the uniqueness and representativeness of the Mediterranean volume vis à vis the global ocean. DEEPMED is the first basin-scale step in a novel approach to oceanic history that incorporates analyses of deep and bottom layers of the Sea to gauge the causes and effects of the historical emergence of depth. This requires an innovative interdisciplinary, transnational and digital methodology. The project identifies overarching trajectories of human engagement with Mediterranean depths from the mid-19th century to the present, including contrasting timelines and perspectives. The availability of digital tools for creating a database that facilitates geospatial and visual analyses make the project timely. The current security and environmental Mediterranean crises make it essential.

Keywords: mediterranean,maritime,oceanography,science,technology,strategy,environment,spatial,hgis,global,submarines,acoustics,instruments,infrastructures,resources,borders,climate change
European Climate Observations, Modelling and Services - 2 (Climateurope)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Climate action, environment,  resource efficiency and raw materials
Theme: Fighting and adapting to climate change
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Germany,Spain,Italy,Sweden,Serbia,France,France,Netherlands,United Kingdom,United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call: Earth-system modelling and climate services (H2020-SC5-2015-one-stage, 2015)
Start date: 2015-12-01
End date: 2021-01-31
Duration (months): 62.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3052435.0
EU funding (EUR): 2994372.5
Participants: 11
Project status: CLOSED

The Climateurope Action will coordinate and support Europe’s knowledge base to enable better management of climate-related risks and opportunities thereby creating greater social and economic value. Climateurope has four main objectives: 1. Develop a European framework for Earth-system modelling and climate service activities. The framework will be built around a managed network of European, national and international activities and organisations. Such a network does not yet exist but is becoming increasingly necessary. 2. Coordinate and integrate European climate modelling, climate observations and climate service infrastructure initiatives (including JPI-Climate, Climate-KIC, Copernicus C3S) and facilitate dialogue among the relevant stakeholders, including climate science communities, funding bodies, providers and users. This will improve synergies, reduce fragmentation and promote alignment between activities. The user communities will include public sector, businesses, industry and society. 3. Establish multi-disciplinary expert groups to assess the state-of-the-art in Earth-system modelling and climate services in Europe; and identify existing gaps, new challenges and emerging needs. 4. Enhance communication and dissemination activities with stakeholders, in particular through events to bring the network together and showcase progress; stakeholder-oriented reports on the state-of-the-art in Earth-system modelling and climate services in Europe; operating a website; and undertaking additional stakeholder interactions to increase awareness and maximise project impacts. This CSA will deliver a range of highly beneficial impacts. Two key impacts are (i) to greatly enhance the transfer of information between suppliers and users to improve the resilience of European society to climate change and mitigation of the risk of dangerous climate change; and (ii) to improve coordination to increase efficiency, reduce fragmentation and create synergies with international R&I programmes.

Keywords: earth system modelling,climate services,coordination,network
Development of a Novel Computational Toolbox for Stochastic Electronic Structure in Chemistry and Condensed Matter (WFNQMC)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — 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: United Kingdom
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2017-STG, 2017)
Start date: 2018-02-01
End date: 2023-09-30
Duration (months): 68.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Atomistic computational modelling is increasingly an integral component of almost all areas of chemistry, physics and materials science, especially as its predictive ability improves. However, not all systems are equal when it comes to the predictive capabilities of current methods, and many systems are too large or many-body effects too complex to be routinely tractable. The result is that the promise of ‘materials by design’, deduction of reaction pathways or routine simulation on a par with experimental accuracy has not in general come to fruition. This ambitious proposal aims to address this, with development of a suite of novel approaches to stochastically sample the wavefunction. Recent work by the PI has already made huge strides in this direction, with an emerging approach in quantum chemical space having remarkable success for accurate solutions of small problems. Here, we first propose a number of novel developments to order to extend this approach from a tool for small systems to a widespread disruptive technology, with application to a variety of challenging problems. This involves development of the scope, scaling, accuracy and capabilities of this sampling, including admitting time-dependent, spectral and relativistic extensions. Next, we aim to take the successful philosophy of this sampling and exploit its powerful approach in order to reformulate a number of well-established electronic structure tools. Allowing stochasticity has the potential to yield low-scaling formulations of these methods, able to naturally exploit inherent sparsity, and have a revolutionary impact on their use and success. This proposal is highly interdisciplinary, spanning a range of applications and techniques in quantum chemistry, condensed matter and materials science, brought together under the banner of exploiting inherent sparsity by establishing a new paradigm of stochastic tools for correlated electrons, with the opportunity for tremendous impact in a number of fields.

Keywords: quantum monte carlo,quantum chemistry,electronic structure methods
Knowledge management platform for clinical use of brain data (BrainBase)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Germany
Call: SME instrument (H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1, 2018)
Start date: 2018-09-01
End date: 2019-02-28
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The connectome is a map of all neural connections in the brain that can provide information about the brain’s (re)wiring in neurological diseases, injuries, or drugs responses. The use of connectomes in clinical practice has enormous potential to improve treatment efficacy, enhance patient stratification, disease characterization, and ultimately diagnosis. However, the means to clinically utilize connectomes are limited. Therefore neurologists still rely on subjective analysis of brain scans. Although the use of big data tools in neuro-diagnostics is growing, no commercial application for clinical practice is available yet. Biomax developed the first commercial solution to translate big connectome data into clinically relevant information: NeuroXM. In combination with patients’ clinical data this can be valorized to improve neuro-diagnosis. NeuroXM has successfully undergone pilot studies at two major institutes. The proprietary NeuroXM platform includes all features and security levels that are required in the clinic. Biomax is a strong bioinformatic SME with 20 years’ experience, including >25 European grants, 5 successful bioinformatic products, and a pioneering reputation. NeuroXM targets a very large and diverse neurology market with multiple clinical applications, e.g. diagnosis of dementia using brain imaging, detecting brain wiring “disconnections” in schizophrenia, and establishing treatment efficacy (longitudinal assessments of the connectome). This SME Phase 1 project will assess the feasibility of these different applications, which will help Biomax to establish a Go/No-go for further clinical validation for the specific clinical applications. With a strong first mover advantage and freedom to operate, NeuroXM has the potential to become the gold standard for working with connectome data. Commercialization of NeuroXM will provide Biomax a cumulative revenue of €47,4 million (2025) and further company growth.

Keywords: connectome,neurology,connectomics,brain wiring,neuroscience,neuro analysis,neuro informatics
Setting up the ERA Chair of Comparative Medicine in the Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences of the Estonian University of Life Sciences (COMBIVET)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Spreading excellence and widening participation
Programme: ERA chairs
Theme: Attracting and mobilising the best talents
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Estonia
Call: ERA Chairs (H2020-WIDESPREAD-2018-04, 2018)
Start date: 2019-09-01
End date: 2025-02-28
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2468750.0
EU funding (EUR): 2468750.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The aim of the COMBIVET project is to establish an ERA Chair of Comparative Medicine under the Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences (IVMAS) at the Estonian University of Life Sciences. Comparative medicine has great untapped research potential as many of the health challenges faced by humans and animals are the same. This includes age-related diseases, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, bone and joint diseases (e.g. osteoarthritis and osteoporosis) and metabolic diseases (e.g. diabetes and insulin resistance). Thanks to these similarities, knowledge gained from studying and treating animal patients can be applied in humans while developing new diagnostic tools, vaccines and therapies for both humans and animals. As such, IVMAS seeks to establish the ERA Chair of Comparative Medicine in order to develop its competences and capacities in the research field and ultimately become one of the leading European research organizations in comparative medicine. As the first step, the COMBIVET project will focus on e.g. creating the new ERA Chair as a physical unit at IVMAS, recruiting an outstanding Chair holder and research team with complementary skillsets, improving the ERA team’s comparative medicine skills and knowledge, developing databases and animal models based on collected samples and carrying out various activities designed to increase the sustainability of the ERA Chair beyond the project lifetime (including making presentations, preparing publications, organizing seminars, industry and public sector meetings, submitting research proposals and popularizing comparative medicine in society).

Keywords: comparative medicine,one health,animal models,veterinary science,antimicrobial resistance,metabolic disorders,joint and skeletal diseases,cancer