Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
INTERnational COmmercialization of innovative products based on MicroalgaE (INTERCOME)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Climate action, environment,  resource efficiency and raw materials
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Boosting the potential of small businesses in the areas of climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials (H2020-SMEINST-2-2016-2017, 2016)
Start date: 2016-12-01
End date: 2018-11-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2426437.75
EU funding (EUR): 1698506.43
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Microalgae are an inexhaustible source of proteins, lipids, pigments, vitamins or carbohydrates, among others. Therefore, they find potential commercial applications in several sectors of economic activity. Some of them are already commercially viable, i.e. in aquaculture, agriculture, human nutrition or cosmetics, while some others still need R&D to be further developed, i.e. in bioenergy or pharma. In addition, bearing in mind that microalgae are the most efficient natural CO2 capturing system, are very productive and do not compete with fertile lands, they have potential to simultaneously contribute to palliate the big crisis humankind is facing: environmental sustainability, energetic efficiency, and food security. AlgaEnergy, a solid Spanish biotechnology based SME, did identify this potential. Since its establishment, it has served as a vehicle to consolidate the existing knowledge within the scientific field of microalgae in Spain -a recognized international hub in the matter-, which was dispersed across universities. Using it as a stepping stone, it has been investing in generating further R&D in order to scale-up the processes and develop ready to market products, so that the achievements in the lab phase reach also the society. Within this task, AlgaEnergy has recently been able to reach a semi-industrial scale (TRL 7) with the start of the first phase operations of its semi-industrial plant in South of Spain, which captures real flue gas emissions directly from the second biggest combined cycle plant in Europe, being a worldwide premiere. Therefore, AlgaEnergy is now ready to orientate its technology towards the commercialization of its already commercially viable products. INTERnational COmmercialization of innovative products based on MicroalgaE (INTERCOME– the second phase of the SME Instrument project ALGAEPRINT) is based on the commercial orientation that is needed to make AlgaEnergy financially autonomous, after millionaire resources and 8 years of efforts invested in applied R&D.

Keywords: microalgae,algae,raw materials,eco innovation,circular economy,agroindustry
Transitivity in Courtroom Language: A Unified Solution (TICLAUS)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Global Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Social Sciences and Humanities
Countries involved: Spain,Canada
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2018, 2018)
Start date: 2020-09-01
End date: 2023-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 232497.6
EU funding (EUR): 232497.6
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

TICLAUS denotes a research proposal in which four areas are combined, namely Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), Corpus Linguistics (CL), Forensic Linguistics (FL) and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). The reason for doing so is that the aim here is twofold. On the one hand, TICLAUS strives to make theoretical advances within the field of SFL, through applying CDA and CL methods to analyse language and, thus, improve upon the two transitivity systems currently in use in linguistics. On the other hand, using a revised and enhanced transitivity model, TICLAUS also intends to reveal how a transitivity analysis of language use inside the courtroom and/or through informal interviews with rape victims and individuals who have been wrongfully imprisoned for rape, can provide invaluable insights into how two types of victim represent their experience of victimhood. Given the dearth of transitivity research in FL, in addition to a complete lack of studies that examine wrongful convictions, TICLAUS is clearly innovative. The methodology used in this project is better known as Critical Assisted Discourse Studies (CADS), which consists of a combination of CDA and CL procedures, thus enabling both a quantitative and in-depth qualitative analysis of a large dataset. TICLAUS is considered a high quality proposal as a result of the commitment of all those involved as well as the support from three separate institutions worldwide, all of which are leading universities in their country and further afield. Furthermore, the interdisciplinary nature of this proposal is nurtured by the fact that both supervisors, Professor Taboada and Professor Hidalgo Tenorio, are experts in CDA, CL and SFL whilst the ER, Dr Bartley, is able to contribute her expertise in transitivity and FL.

Keywords: forensic linguistics,sexual violence,critical discourse analysis,systemic functional linguistics,transitivity
Many-body theory of antimatter interactions with atoms, molecules and condensed matter (ANTI-ATOM)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Fundamental constituents of matter
Panel description: Particle, nuclear, plasma, atomic, molecular, gas, and optical physics
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2018-STG, 2018)
Start date: 2019-02-01
End date: 2024-07-31
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1318419.0
EU funding (EUR): 1318419.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The ability of positrons to annihilate with electrons, producing characteristic gamma rays, gives them important use in medicine via positron-emission tomography (PET), diagnostics of industrially-important materials, and in elucidating astrophysical phenomena. Moreover, the fundamental interactions of positrons and positronium (Ps) with atoms, molecules and condensed matter are currently under intensive study in numerous international laboratories, to illuminate collision phenomena and perform precision tests of fundamental laws. Proper interpretation and development of these costly and difficult experiments requires accurate calculations of low-energy positron and Ps interactions with normal matter. These systems, however, involve strong correlations, e.g., polarisation of the atom and virtual-Ps formation (where an atomic electron tunnels to the positron): they significantly effect positron- and Ps-atom/molecule interactions, e.g., enhancing annihilation rates by many orders of magnitude, and making the accurate description of these systems a challenging many-body problem. Current theoretical capability lags severely behind that of experiment. Major theoretical and computational developments are required to bridge the gap. One powerful method, which accounts for the correlations in a natural, transparent and systematic way, is many-body theory (MBT). Building on my expertise in the field, I propose to develop new MBT to deliver unique and unrivalled capability in theory and computation of low-energy positron and Ps interactions with atoms, molecules, and condensed matter. The ambitious programme will provide the basic understanding required to interpret and develop the fundamental experiments, antimatter-based materials science techniques, and wider technologies, e.g., (PET), and more broadly, potentially revolutionary and generally applicable computational methodologies that promise to define a new level of high-precision in atomic-MBT calculations.

Keywords: positron and positronium interactions with atoms and molecules,atomic many body theory,low energy antimatter,high precision atomic many body calculations
SLEEP IN THE CITY: How does artificial light at night affect EEG-based measures of sleep? (CitySleep)

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: Belgium
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2018-04-01
End date: 2020-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 160800.0
EU funding (EUR): 160800.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Sleep is an adaptive state of inactivity, which plays critical functions including replenishing energy and neurological recovery. Artificial light at night (ALAN) is ubiquitous in the urbanizing world, and has the potential to substantially alter sleep patterns. Our understanding of how ALAN affects sleep in wild animals is seriously limited, because past studies have relied on behavioural metrics of sleep, which cannot distinguish different types of sleep (rapid eye movement (REM) versus slow wave sleep (SWS)), or accurately quantify sleep intensity (amount of slow waves within SWS). In this study (CitySleep), the Experienced Researcher (ER) will use state-of-the-art neurologgers to obtain electroencephalogram (EEG) data on sleep in wild great tits (Parus major) exposed to ALAN. She will obtain data from free-living nestlings and from adults in semi-natural aviaries. Great tits sleep in nest boxes that can be experimentally exposed to ALAN, and have served as a model species in behavioural sleep studies. The ER will work with the University of Antwerp’s Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology (BECO) Group, which has developed methods to manipulate ALAN inside boxes, and has high-quality publications on how ALAN affects sleep behaviour. She will receive expert training on implanting neurologgers from Prof. A. Vyssotski (University of Zurich), and training on interpreting EEG data from Dr. N. Rattenborg’s Avian Sleep Research Group (Max Planck Institute). She will contribute expert knowledge of urban ecology, stress physiology and bird handling, and introduce neurologgers to the BECO Group, facilitating a major advance in research methodology. Results will be disseminated through top-tier publications, international conferences and public engagement, and used to advance scientific knowledge and motivate environmental policy changes. The ER will gain skills that will propel her research to a higher level and allow her to secure a permanent research position.

Keywords: artificial light at night,sleep,electrocephalogram,corticosterone,oxidative stress,great tit
Proof of concept of prognostic test for critical Septic Patients based in Early Detection of NLRP3 Inflammasome impairment activation. (SPEDI-TEST)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Proof of concept grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy
Panel description: The immune system, related disorders and their mechanisms, biology of infectious agents and infection, biological basis of prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, innovative immunological tools and approaches, including therapies
Countries involved: Spain
Call: ERC Proof of Concept Grant (ERC-2019-PoC, 2019)
Start date: 2020-10-01
End date: 2022-03-31
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Sepsis remains the leading cause of death in critical care units of Hospitals, affecting more that 18 million people worldwide and causes a systemic inflammatory response driven by the production of proinflammatory cytokines. Several studies have been conducted to find out whether data mining and machine learning could be used to identify patients at risk of sepsis. Although the currently available biomarkers can help shorten this decision process, there is still a need for additional early disease biomarkers that could anticipate the decision-making identifying immunocompromised septic patients. In this sense, ongoing efforts in the development of a point-of-care testing kit, enabling quick and reliable detection of immunocompromised patients by using blood biomarkers, will aid greatly the early prognosis of sepsis. In this scenario, the prognosis and therapy selection still remains a clinical decision by assessing the patient’s history, symptoms of infection, and development of acute organ dysfunction. Our group have determined under the ERC consolidator grant ref. 614578 (DangerATP) that during the initial 24 h of the inflammatory response in sepsis, monocytes from human septic patients present an early impairment of the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome that is associated with higher late mortality. This group of septic patients was not identified with any of the clinical or biochemical determinations performed. We have developed an in vitro prognostic (IVD) product for the fast detection in less than 4 hours of early impairment of the NLRP3 inflammasome activation, as a biomarker for the prognosis in sepsis. This IVD will be used in intensive care units and immunology units of hospitals. The objective of the action is to demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility and evaluate the new business opportunity of introducing this novel IVD product.

Keywords: sepsis,prognostic,nlrp3 inflammasome,technical and commercial viability,start up
P4SB – From Plastic waste to Plastic value using Pseudomonas putida Synthetic Biology (P4SB)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials, Advanced Manufacturing and Processing, and Biotechnology
Theme: Biotechnology
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Germany,Ireland,Spain,Germany,France,France,France,United Kingdom
Call: Synthetic biology – construction of organisms for new products and processes (H2020-LEIT-BIO-2014-1, 2014)
Start date: 2015-04-01
End date: 2019-03-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 7056968.75
EU funding (EUR): 7056968.5
Participants: 12
Project status: CLOSED

P4SB is about the utilization of the conceptual and material tools of contemporary Synthetic Biology to bring about the sustainable and environmentally friendly bioconversion of oil-based plastic waste into fully biodegradable counterparts by means of deeply engineered, whole-cell bacterial catalysts. These tools will be used to design tailor-made enzymes for the bio-depolymerization of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and PU (polyurethane), but also for the custom design of a Pseudomonas putida Cell Factory capable of metabolizing the resulting monomers. Pseudomonas putida will undergo deep metabolic surgery to channel these diverse substrates efficiently into the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) and derivatives. In addition, synthetic downstream processing modules based on the programmed non-lytic secretion of PHA will facilitate the release and recovery of the bioplastic from the bacterial biomass. These industry driven objectives will help to address the market need for novel routes to valorise the gigantic plastic waste streams in the European Union and beyond, with direct opportunities for SME partners of P4SB spanning the entire value chain from plastic waste via Synthetic Biology to biodegradable plastic. As a result we anticipate a completely biobased process reducing the environmental impact of plastic waste by establishing it as a novel bulk second generation carbon source for industrial biotechnology, while at the same time opening new opportunities for the European plastic recycling industry and helping to achieve the ambitious recycling targets set by the European Union for 2020.

Keywords: synthetic biology,metabolic modeling,pseudomonas putida,enzymes,biobased materials,fine chemical products,bulk chemical substrates,retroactivity,waste valorization
Towards a new EU-LAC partnership in Research Infrastructures (EU-LAC ResInfra)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Research Infrastructures
Theme: Research infrastructures
Destination: Support and infrastructures
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Spain,Uruguay,Germany,Spain,Italy,Colombia,Finland,Romania,Portugal,Chile,Costa Rica,Mexico,United Kingdom,Brazil,Portugal
Call: Policy and international cooperation measures for research infrastructures (H2020-INFRASUPP-2019-1, 2019)
Start date: 2019-12-01
End date: 2023-02-28
Duration (months): 39.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1587218.75
EU funding (EUR): 1499718.75
Participants: 18
Project status: SIGNED

EU-LAC ResInfra will identify a number of Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Research Infrastructures (RIs) that may be considered eligible for the construction of a bi-regional collaboration. This will be carried out through the definition of minimal key requirements these RIs would need to develop in the coming years. To this aim, the Project will build on the prioritisation results of the EU-CELAC Senior Official Meeting on Science and Technology (SOM) Working Group (WG) on Research Infrastructures (RI) and, more specifically, will take as a reference the mapping exercises developed in previous EU funded projects. In addition, EU-LAC ResInfra will develop a map of National and Regional Research Infrastructure policies, and their corresponding strategies and plans, including funding mechanisms that might be used to support the construction and operation of future EU-LAC RIs. Furthermore, EU-LAC ResInfra will use all the results and information obtained for drafting a Sustainability Plan, which will be presented to the EU-CELAC WG RI for discussion and endorsement. The Plan will include specific actions to support the bi-regional collaboration in a mid-term perspective. The objectives are to design specific variable geometry instruments for co-funding RIs of common interest, and to design measures that pursue the strengthening of the bi-regional RI cooperation, seeking to maximise the impact of the RI collaboration in the construction of the EU-CELAC Common Research Area. Finally, the Project aims to show the feasibility of the EU-LAC RI collaboration through existing examples, thanks to the development of four Pilots in different scientific domains that are linked to some existing Research Infrastructures: INSTRUCT-ERIC, LIFEWATCH-ERIC, E-RIHS and RICAP.

Keywords: international cooperation,research infrastructures,eu celac cooperation,political dialogue
Plasmonic Heaters Linked to Lanthanide-Based Nanothermometers for Photodynamic Therapy in the Near-Infrared (PHELLINI)

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: Chemistry
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2014, 2014)
Start date: 2015-11-01
End date: 2017-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 158121.6
EU funding (EUR): 158121.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This project addresses the quest of new materials and approaches that nanotechnology requires to solve the current limitations of medicine. The potential to externally activate and control cellular processes inside the body by using light, or even to carry out treatments through drug delivery, photothermal and photodynamic therapies becomes a reality thanks to the use of especially tailored biocompatible nanoplatforms. However, the options are limited in terms of penetration depth, since most of the developed nanoplatforms work under visible light, which can only penetrate a few millimetres inside the body. Instead, the use of near-infrared wavelength allows light to travel distances in the centimetre range. Temperature is a key parameter for the metabolism of cells and to control chemical reactions. Therefore, we propose a hybrid nanoplatform that, working within the biological transparency windows in the near-infrared, optically measures and controls temperature with the accuracy that is required for biomedical applications. The novelty of the approach is based on coupling two different types of nanoparticles with complementary functionalities: lanthanide-doped materials as remote optical sensor to measure temperature, and metal nanoparticles with plasmon resonances in the near-infrared to exploit their excellent heating properties. This approach involves the development of new materials with outstanding physical properties for thermometry in the infrared (hardly existing now), as well as tailoring the heating properties of plasmonic nanoparticles with different morphologies (rods, stars or cages) and finally, the creation of a heater/thermometer hybrid structure and the study of its performance for in vitro photothermal therapies.

Keywords: thermometry,plasmonics,lanthanides,near infrared,therasnostics
Novel bio-inspired environmentally-friendly process for producing durable and dimensionally-stable wood (SafeWood)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Climate action, environment,  resource efficiency and raw materials
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Estonia
Call: Boosting the potential of small businesses for eco-innovation and a sustainable supply of raw materials (H2020-SMEINST-1-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2016-03-01
End date: 2016-08-31
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Wood is a natural, renewable, reusable and recyclable material, thus contributing positively to EU’s 2050 goals, by enabling a high standard of living from reduced energy and resource consumption. To ensure a long and useful life, timber — especially softwoods – needs protection from hazards of fungal decay and weathering. The current approach to wood preservation is based on toxicity. Wood impregnation with biocides (containing creosote, arsenic, zinc, copper, chromium, etc.) prevents biological degradation, but the European directive on the use of biocides place severe restrictions nowadays on the active substances that can be used in wood preservation and their fields of application. Wood treated with such preservatives is classified as hazardous waste. Furthermore, current treatments don’t have positive contributions to other critical properties of wood, such as dimensional stability or water absorption. Recent research has demonstrated that antifungal components and hydrophobic extractives produced by trees themselves can be effectively used as environmentally-friendly wood preservatives. This novel patent-protected bio-inspired approach is based on "wood preservation as trees do it", in effect, converting sapwood to have characteristics of durable heartwood. SafeWood offers an innovative solution for safe and environmentally-friendly preservation of wood. The approach benefits from a synergetic combination of material (tall oil, a natural extractive from heart-wood obtained as a by-product of paper manufacturing), together with a novel emulsion-based impregnation process. In Phase 1, technological and implementation feasibility will be assessed, together with development of a business model to evaluate economic viability, assessment of risk and return on investment. In the expected Phase 2, the innovation will be commercialised in collaboration with SME and research partners, ensuring synergies are exploited between complementary expertise and resources.

Keywords: novel impregnation process,hydrophobic wood extractives,tall oil,natural fungicides,dimensional stability,eco innovation,environmentally friendly,safe