Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Solvometallurgy for battery-grade refining of lithium (SOLVOLi)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Proof of concept grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Products and processes engineering
Panel description: Product and process design, chemical, civil, environmental, mechanical, vehicle engineering, energy processes and relevant computational methods
Countries involved: Belgium
Call: Call for proposals for ERC Proof of Concept Grant (ERC-2020-PoC, 2020)
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: 1
Project status: CLOSED

To allow the rollout of e-mobility and stationary renewable energy storage in Europe, a secure, affordable and sustainable supply of battery-grade lithium salts for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) is key. However, Europe’s lithium supply chain is extremely vulnerable: Europe’s primary lithium resources (present as “hard rock”) are underexploited and, even if lithium would be mined domestically, there is no lithium refining capacity available in Europe to process the lithium into battery-grade lithium salts, i.e. Li2CO3 and LiOH (with the latter being vital for the emerging Li-ion NMC battery chemistries with lower Co and enriched Ni content). Concurrently, the state of the art Li2CO3 refining methods (cf. China, Latin America…) come with a large eco-footprint, while the conventional conversion of Li2CO3 to the coveted LiOH generates vast volumes of waste and introduces new impurities. Based on an innovation developed in the PI’s ERC Advanced Grant SOLCRIMET, SOLVOLi aims to develop the Proof of Concept for a disruptive, solvometallurgical flowsheet for the production, via LiCl, of LiOH. As this flowsheet allows to bypass the Li2CO3 step, SOLVOLi lowers the overall water, energy, CO2 and reagent footprint of LiOH production. Apart from validating and pre-demonstrating the novel flowsheet, SOLVOLi comprises a thorough IPR and upscaling strategy, in close collaboration with EU-based companies. SOLVOLi takes advantage of the fact that most of their decisions on lithium refining investments in Europe still need to be made, opening the door for the commercialisation of the new SOLVOLi process. Application of this flowsheet contributes to building up the urgently needed lithium refining capacity in Europe for both domestic lithium (hard rocks & slags from pyrometallurgical LIB recycling) and imported lithium resources. As such, SOLVOLi facilitates the EC's strategic battery value chain ambitions (COM(2019)176)) and supports A New Industrial Strategy for Europe (COM(2020)102).

Keywords: chemical engineering,technical chemistry,extractive metallurgy,lithium,lithium ion batteries,materials,energy materials,ion exchange,organic solvents
Postcolonial genealogy of intersexuality. Influence of US and Spanish scientific theories in the Colombian medical practices and discourses about intersexuality in the second half of twentieth century (Intersex Genealogy)

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: Social Sciences and Humanities
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2016-09-12
End date: 2018-09-11
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 158121.6
EU funding (EUR): 158121.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Historically, intersexuality has been a paradox for scientific, biological and sociological interpretation of sex. A body that does not correspond to normal parameters imposed by the medicalization process has been elusively understood by patriarchal and feminist discourses alike. Despite the importance of the sex/gender dichotomy for second wave feminism, this false dichotomy needs to be reviewed in light of the new queer and poststructuralist theories. Such an approach works to deconstruct the traditionalist boundaries constructed between nurture and nature and to rebuild a new concept of identity that includes our bodies’ sovereignty. The aim of this proposed project is to trace a postcolonial genealogy of intersexuality in the second half of Colombia’s twentieth century. Since the late 1950, Colombian medical discourses about sexuality and gender have been influenced by John Money’s (1921-2006), and Gregorio Marañón’s (1887–1960) theories. These two endocrinologists have been decisive in the consolidation of a worldwide concept of gender in the twentieth century. By doing a historic assessment of the theories of these two renowned scientists and studying their impact on Colombian medical discourses, we expect to unveil the network of postcolonial knowledge that has contributed to building the concepts of sex and gender in the Colombian context, as well as the historical construction of the medical and juridical concept of intersexuality as a disease. Currently, we know that at least one percent of the population is born as intersexual, and Colombia is the only country where the Constitutional Court has intervened and ruled in a case of a sex assignation. Today, diverse ways of being have to be defended; the denaturalization of patriarchal and heteronormative scientific discourses will contribute to the democratization of science and to greater inclusiveness in relation to gender diversity.

Keywords: intersexuality,postcolonialism,history of medicine,gender studies,feminism and queer theories
CO2 LOSS FROM STREAMS IN EUROPEAN KARST SYSTEMS (EURO-KARST)

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: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Germany
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2017-02-01
End date: 2019-01-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 171460.8
EU funding (EUR): 171460.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The proposed study aims to elucidate novel aspects about carbon cycling within European karstic watersheds, via stable isotope and flux determinations of dissolved and particulate carbon. Rivers situated in karst bedrock are thought to emit significant quantities of CO2, and due to their large combined surface areas and the abundance of karst terrains worldwide, these features play a crucial but as yet unclear role in the global carbon cycle. The projected work will address this lack of information through the innovative use of stable isotopes, together with the modeling of CO2 evasion and simultaneous flux determinations of dissolved and particulate riverine carbon. The rivers of study are located in Bavaria, Germany, and are tributaries of the Rhine River in a prominent karst terrain of the Franconian Alb. For comparison, a watershed situated in silicate bedrock, the Uhlířská Basin in the Czech Republic, will also be investigated. The research findings will reduce uncertainties in the global carbon budget, and clarify linkages between carbon cycling and climate change. This is an important topic for policymakers in Europe, given the political and economic impacts of global warming. The applicant is an excellent scholar and adept researcher with ample fieldwork, analytical, and academic experience under the supervision of highly rated professors in Canada. Moreover, the proposed supervisor, J. Barth, is an accomplished scientist with 20 years of expertise in stable isotope research. At the Applied Geology Chair of the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Dr. Barth and his team also run a well-equipped laboratory that focuses on biogeochemical analyses. This asset, along with the applicants’ qualifications, the quality of the hosting arrangements, and supervisory credentials, will be beneficial to the study and ensure the maximization of project resources. As well, the applicant’s career prospects will be advanced through his mobility and excellent research output.
Mapping and modulating integrin mediated interactions (MIMIC)

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: Germany
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2018, 2018)
Start date: 2020-01-07
End date: 2022-01-06
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 162806.4
EU funding (EUR): 162806.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Multicellular life depends on the effective communication between cells and their surroundings. One of the primary conduits for cellular interactions is the membrane-embedded receptor family of integrins. Integrins are crucial for several key biological processes, from blood clotting, to proper immune response. Integrin misregulation is at the heart of several diseases, such as Crohn’s disease, MS, or cancer, and integrins are targeted by several viruses as entry points. Yet, our current drugs are not capable of efficiently combating these diseases, as we do not have sufficient molecular and network level knowledge of how integrins work. The main research objective of MIMIC is to develop an original hybrid in silico/in vitro framework that allows the identification and characterization of unknown elements of integrin signaling. It will present the first such systematic large-scale effort, integrating computational modeling with state-of-the-art experimental techniques. MIMIC will provide the first structured description of integrin ligand specificity profiles, extending our current limited descriptions of extracellular integrin interactions. Thus, MIMIC will be the missing link between integrin research and recent advancements in linear motif research. The developed framework will not only enable the identification of currently unknown integrin ligands, but will also lay the foundations for innovative approaches in the development of therapeutic agents for integrin-related diseases. Building on the developed experimentally verified computational models, I will construct a novel peptide-based inhibitor design pipeline. MIMIC will provide a structural basis for currently missing immune-specific interactions in atomic detail. I will use this knowledge to design the first immunomodulatory peptide-based integrin inhibitor, serving as a proof-of-concept for future therapeutic applications.

Keywords: motif mediated interactions,cyclic peptide,proto drug development
Montenight2020-Imagine future (Montenight2020)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: European researchers' Night
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Countries involved: Montenegro
Call: European Researchers' Night (H2020-MSCA-NIGHT-2020, 2020)
Start date: 2020-06-01
End date: 2020-12-31
Duration (months): 7.0
Total project cost (EUR): 52397.5
EU funding (EUR): 46021.5
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

MONTENIGHT 2020 "IMAGINE FUTURE" has an aim to upgrade the image of researchers, novel technologies, and innovations, addressing their important role for the prospective of our society in Modern Era. The project will demonstrate the "human face" of R&I by clarifying practical benefits and impact on everyday life and motivate youth to pursue science studies and careers. The project will promote a knowledge-based society by emphasizing R&I in competitive sectors (ICT technologies, researches in the field of energy and sustainable environment, sustainable and health tourism and sustainable agriculture and food, as well as other relevant fields to build up Montenegro as a healthy, sustainable and digital society), while activities program will include MSC fellows for the first time. The events will be staged in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica (universities, museums, galleries, shopping malls, main squares) and in 8 more cities, while 10 pre-events smaller scale science Festivals would be held in all three regions. RN activities involve Open Science Show, 300 hands-on experiments, robot performances, Science and Art installations, Science Cafe, Quiz, student science and innovation competitions, Concert, Movie projections, Interdisciplinary workshops, friendly events for kids - Science Cooking, Science kindergarten, Funny Math ... Our target audiences are high school & university students, preschool and elementary school children, parents, school administrators, teachers, researchers, general public, and media. At least 5000 of them would be directly involved, and up to 50% of the population would be reached via media advertising. The pan-European values will be disseminated through EU Corners, public tribunes, and panels, introducing researchers who benefit from EU support.

Keywords: sustainable environment and energy,sustainable agriculture,sustainable tourism in general,as well as health tourism and the innovation
Bacterial small RNAs networks unravelling novel features of transcription and translation (BactRNA)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems
Panel description: Genetics, epigenetics, genomics and other ‘omics studies, bioinformatics, systems biology, genetic diseases, gene editing, innovative methods and modelling, ‘omics for personalised medicine
Countries involved: France
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2018-COG, 2018)
Start date: 2019-09-01
End date: 2025-08-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999754.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999754.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Regulation of gene expression plays a key role in the ability of bacteria to rapidly adapt to changing environments and to colonize extremely diverse habitats. The relatively recent discovery of a plethora of small regulatory RNAs and the beginning of their characterization has unravelled new aspects of bacterial gene expression. First, the expression of many bacterial genes responds to a complex network of both transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulators. However, the properties of the resulting regulatory circuits on the dynamics of gene expression and in the bacterial adaptive response have been poorly addressed so far. In a first part of this project, we will tackle this question by characterizing the circuits that are formed between two widespread classes of bacterial regulators, the sRNAs and the two-component systems, which act at the post-transcriptional and the transcriptional level, respectively. The study of sRNAs also led to major breakthroughs regarding the basic mechanisms of gene expression. In particular, we recently showed that repressor sRNAs can target activating stem-loop structures located within the coding region of mRNAs that promote translation initiation, in striking contrast with the previously recognized inhibitory role of mRNA structures in translation. The second objective of this project is thus to draw an unprecedented map of non-canonical translation initiation events and their regulation by sRNAs. Overall, this project will greatly improve our understanding of how bacteria can so rapidly and successfully adapt to many different environments, and in the long term, provide clues towards the development of anti-bacterial strategies.

Keywords: gene expression regulation,mathematical modeling,bioinformatics,regulatory networks,microbiology
NOVEL THERAPEUTIC NANOHYDROGEL FOR ACUTE AND CHRONIC PAIN TREATMENT TARGETED TO THE NERVES FASCIA (FasNaGel)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Spain
Call: SME instrument (H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1, 2018)
Start date: 2018-06-01
End date: 2018-11-30
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Worldwide chronic pain conditions are by far the greatest cause of disability. It has an enormous negative impact on quality of life and on personal and professional plane. Chronic pain is an important cause of depression, more sickness absences at work, productivity losses, unemployment, etc.). Chronic pain is one of the major reasons (30%) why people exit the labour market prematurely. 20% of current population in Europe suffers from chronic pain (102 mill.) and up to 50 % of that pain comes from wrongly treated acute post-operative pain. The total direct and indirect healthcare costs for chronic pain disorders in Member States have an EU average of 2.4 % of GDP and a cost of 271 billion euros per year. When acute pain is not properly treated in the first few days, it can become chronic. About 40-60% of patients report pain chronification after surgery. Current medicines do not prevent chronic pain from the start and have side effects. “Fast track” approaches have started to take the lead in pain management policies. Based on these approaches I +Med´s team works since 2014 in the development of FasNaGel, a new nanomedicinal product, unique in the world. It consists of a biocompatible and biodegradable injectable carrier, made of porous nanostructured hyaluronic acid hydrogel containing a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that i) efficiently, provides a 100% of functional recovery after surgery in one third of the time, ii) is easy-to-use by medical staff, and the most important iii) increases by 80% the treatment effectiveness. FasNaGel will reduce the overall treatment costs in Europe, deducting indirect costs coming from acute pain up to €149 billion. The objective of this proposal is to be able to perform a thorough feasibility study for the validation of the production and commercialization of this novel product. FasNaGel marketing will have a huge of a SME such as i+Med, who estimates to multiply the team size by 8 in 7 years.

Keywords: chronic pain,nanohydrogels,nerves fascia,hyaluronic acid,controlled release drug,nanomedicinal,product,pain chronification,acute pain relief,nanotechnology,nano materials,nano engineering
Explore, Create and Innovate in your region (WIRE2019)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Spreading excellence and widening participation
Programme: Widening participation and spreading excellence
Theme: Improved access to Excellence
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Romania
Call: WIRE X Conference (H2020-IBA-SEWP-WIRE-10-2019, 2019)
Start date: 2019-02-01
End date: 2020-01-31
Duration (months): 12.0
Total project cost (EUR): 224142.5
EU funding (EUR): 224142.5
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

A two-day conference (WIRE X) will be organised by the North-East Regional Development Agency (ADR Nord-Est) for the tenth edition of the Week of Innovative Regions in Europe (WIRE X) as part of the EU Romanian Presidency in Iași (North-East Region) from 26 to 28 June 2019. The event will gather actors active in the innovation, research and education ecosystem with the aim of creating a community of practice that will make use of their institutional learning and collective intelligence in order to solve societal challenges and to debate the future of research and innovation. The conference will formally discuss and will offer potential solutions regarding the positioning of R&I policies, regarding societal challenges, manifested through innovation, research and higher education. Representatives of European institutions, research organisations, clusters, education organisations, start-ups, SMEs, authorities and NGOs will exchange views on the role of R&I instruments in solving societal challenges and missions: - that reinvigorate the democratic policies and civic engagement (quadruple helix, S3, bottom-up processes, community led actions), - that address all forms of instruments (grants, prises, new forms of procurement, experimentation); - that cannot be addressed by national states (underlining the importance of the European approach); - that put the directionality in the centre of policy making so that multi-stakeholders from sciences, technologies and humanities could avoid the risk of alienation. A mix-method approach, that will facilitate the creation of a community of practice during the WIRE X will be used. The methods should increase the participant engagement, future cooperation and sharing of knowledge, delivering ways of a better understanding of R&I in the context of our immediate challenges (from climate change to migration, aging population and illiberalism).

Keywords: wire,innovation,eu regions
Characterizing information integration in reinforcement learning: a neuro-computational investigation (INFORL)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Panel description: Cognitive science, psychology, linguistics, theoretical philosophy
Countries involved: Switzerland,France
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2020-STG, 2020)
Start date: 2021-09-01
End date: 2026-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1272200.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Reinforcement learning (RL) characterizes how we adaptively learn, by trial and errors, to select actions that maximize the occurrence of rewards, and minimize the occurrence of punishments. While the behavioural, computational and neurobiological features of learning from singular experienced outcomes have been extensively studied, the mechanisms by which RL could leverage multiple, concurrent information samples – including abstract information about prospective outcomes – have been largely overlooked. As a consequence, little is known about how we prioritize, filter or value outcome information in RL, while these processes likely critically contribute to shaping learning behaviour. This project proposes to address this gap, and hypothesizes that humans can learn from multiple concurrent information samples, but that computational limitations and affective biases curb information integration. First, using a new experimental and computational framework, I will evidence and quantify these cognitive features. Using eye-tracking and complementary functional neuroimaging modalities (EEG, fMRI), I will build a neuro-computational model of information integration, by deciphering the interactions between attentional parieto-frontal network and the affective ventro-limbic networks during reinforcement learning. Then, I propose to investigate the strategic modulation of information integration, by investigating the effects of information quantity and quality on learning strategies and on the neural correlates of learning variables. Finally, I will assess several behavioural interventions to ameliorate information integration and improve learning performance. By investigating an overlooked aspect of reinforcement learning –the integration of available information–, this project could not only help refine computational and neurobiological models of the learning process, but also shed new lights on maladaptive traits of human behaviour in social and clinical contexts.

Keywords: reinforcement learning,neuroeconomics,functional neuroimaging,fmri,biases