Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Application of combined gene and cell therapy within an implantable therapeutic device for the treatment of severe hemophilia A (HemAcure)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Health, demographic change and wellbeing
Theme: Treating and managing disease
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Italy,Germany,Germany,Germany,France,United Kingdom,Canada
Call: Tools and technologies for advanced therapies (H2020-PHC-2015-two-stage, 2015)
Start date: 2015-11-01
End date: 2018-10-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 5564395.0
EU funding (EUR): 5564395.0
Participants: 8
Project status: CLOSED

The main objective of the HemAcure project is to develop and refine the tools and technologies for a novel ex vivo prepared cell based therapy to treat the bleeding disease haemophilia A (caused by genetic deficiency in clotting factor VIII (FVIII)) that should ultimately lead to improved quality of life of the patients. The concept is a further development of our approach, established during the FP7 ReLiver project led by Medicyte. From the very beginning, we balance two important goals, maximizing the product’s efficacy and safety profile on one side and minimizing production cost on the other by enhancing the product’s manufacturability. HemAcure relates to the work program as we focus on the refinement of all steps and tools of our ex vivo gene therapy approach. These steps involve 1) isolation and culture of cells from patients’ blood, 2) manipulation of patient cells to repair its genetic defect by ex vivo introducing the correct genetic copy of FVIII (mutations in this gene lead to hemophilia A), 3) automation of cell expansion in a novel and passage-less scalable bioreactor, 4) continuously monitoring of cells during and after expansion with respect to their safety profile and functionality, 5) cell implantation into a worldwide unique medical device for targeted delivery of therapeutic Factor VIII and 6) proof-of-concept and safety studies in appropriate haemophilia A animal models. The aim of adapting the proof-of-concept to GMP requires a risk based approach, by means of a clear understanding of the whole process from design to production of the therapeutic cells and a systematic way to identify and prevent risks that are not acceptable for the patient. All steps will be designed and conducted according to European GMP-regulations to ensure that the product will fully comply to the requirements for quality of the European authorities.

Keywords: cell isolation,gene therapy,cell therapy,medical device,gmp production,safety testing
Controlling Fluid Resistances at Membranes (ConFluReM)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced 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: Germany
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2015-AdG, 2015)
Start date: 2016-09-01
End date: 2021-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Today’s materials research in the field of synthetic membranes gives access to highly permeable and extremely selective membranes. However, their potential will remain ineffective as high and selective transport rates always go along with resistances emerging at the membrane fluid interface in the form diffusion limitations in the laminary boundary layers. In order to make full use of the very many new materials, also new means to control and minimize such fluid based resistances need to be developed. Yet another phenomena disturbs the full potential use of membranes: retained solutes, colloids and biological matter accumulates at the membrane interface and causes irreversible fouling and scaling. The proposed research aims to develop a rigorous translational methodology to control and improve mass transport through the fluid/membrane interface. ConFluReM will establish Strategic Tools and New Instruments to: (1) comprehend and quantify the prevalent mass transport resistances in representative membrane separation processes, (2) synthesize and fabricate new nano-, micro- and mesoscale material and device systems as instruments to control and overcome the limitations of concentration polarization and fouling, Strategic Tools are experimental and simulation methods to quantify and engineer the mass transport and hydrodynamical properties of the new membrane systems. These encompass flow imaging (flowMRI, microPIV and microfluidic transport studies) as well as computational fluidic dynamics (CFD and CFDEM). New Instruments are synthetic and fabrication means as well as process condition means to improve mixing at the membrane/fluid interface. These encompass (a) lateral patterning of chemical topology of the membrane surface by printing and stamping, (b) shaping the 3D geometry of channels using additive manufacturing techniques and (c) imposing dynamical gradients to destablize fluid side resistances.
Tenth Researchers' night Anniversary for Citizenship in the Knowledge Society (TRACKS)

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: Italy,Italy,Italy
Call: European Researchers' Night (NIGHT) (H2020-MSCA-NIGHT-2014, 2014)
Start date: 2014-04-01
End date: 2015-11-30
Duration (months): 20.0
Total project cost (EUR): 279250.0
EU funding (EUR): 184250.0
Participants: 6
Project status: CLOSED

The Researchers’ Night has been for the eight past editions a regular appointment for researchers and for the different publics of science in Piedmont. The opportunity to organize two subsequent editions of the Night allows an active involvement of the stakeholders in the co-production of the event to increase their engagement and mutual awareness. Researchers, young people, citizens and, for the first time, industries will participate together to create a unique event. In addition, the 2015 edition will be the 10th anniversary of the Night in Piedmont and in Europe, a milestone to assess the impact of the event. The acronym TRACKS intends to represent the scientific method that researchers use in their work, the way that science and technology are making within society and the need for society to get involved into science and technology, the route that young people can take for their future and the track that policy makers and citizens can choose to address in an innovative and democratic way the challenges of our time, as pointed out by Horizon 2020. In terms of communication and impact, the novelty introduced in 2013 “The human face of research” will allow public and researchers to meet before and after the Night on the web and through the new media to represent the impact that the Night has had in its first 10 years on the society. For this reason we suggest to extend this project to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the event throughout the EU and we have the intention to cooperate with the EU Commission in such context. Needless to say, the best traditional activities of the previous editions will continue in all venues but especially the European Coffee corner for science, a very appealing space where the public can get in touch with researchers and learn about the European dimension of science. The Night in Piedmont will also be an opportunity to promote in 2014 an active participation in the International Year of Light 2015 and of course in the EXPO2015.

Keywords: researchers,careers,science,technology,society,impact,europe,engagement,awareness,dialogue,knowledge,innovation,experiments,games,shows,citizens,youth,stakeholders,co creation
Advanced material for cost-efficient and enhanced heat exchange performance for geothermal application (GeoHex)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Secure, clean and efficient energy
Theme: Low-cost, low-carbon energy supply
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Iceland,Italy,Romania,Norway,France,France,Philippines,United Kingdom,United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call: Developing the next generation of renewable energy technologies (H2020-LC-SC3-2019-RES-TwoStages, 2019)
Start date: 2019-11-01
End date: 2023-10-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4989401.25
EU funding (EUR): 4989401.25
Participants: 14
Project status: SIGNED

Heat exchangers (HXs) are the most critical components of a geothermal power plant specially for organic Rankine cycle (ORC) based plant and the capital cost of heat exchanger accounts for a large proportion of ORC, and even reaches about 86% when air cooled condenser is used. Direct heat exchangers (e.g. geothermal brine to district heating) and ORC HXs such as superheater, preheater, evaporator are in direct contact with the geothermal brine, causing scaling and corrosion at different extent based on the thermophysical condition and chemical composition of the geofluid. To handle corrosion, expensive materials are recommended, but due to lower thermal conductivity and degraded performance over time compel to increases the size of the HXs. Hence, improvements in the antiscaling and anticorrosion properties as well as heat transfer performance of the HX material will lead to smaller, more efficient and less costly systems. GeoHex will rely on the use low cost carbon steel as base material for HX. Through modifying the surface with nano porous coating and controlling the surface chemistry (along with the surface structure), GeoHex will significantly improve the heat transfer performance of single phase and phase change heat transfer process respectively. To attribute the antiscaling and anticorrosion properties, the brine side of the surface will be Ni-P/Ni-P-PTFE duplex coated by electroless method. GeoHex will significantly reduce the cost of ORC plant while lowering the environmental impact. The technology concept can be exploited to build cost efficient HXs for solar thermal energy, heat pumps, absorption chiller, geothermal energy-based district heating cooling system. GeoHex enabled ORC plant, heat pumps and absorption chiller can be used for waste heat recovery application. Hence, GeoHex will significantly contribute to enhance the energy security, decarbonise the economy, establish the EU leadership on renewables.

Keywords: boiling,condensation,scaling,surface engineering,surface chemistry,organic rankine cycle orc,geothermal,heat exchangers
Deciphering archaeological Residues to understand the history of European Grape cultivation and winemaking Societies (DREGS)

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: United Kingdom
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2018, 2018)
Start date: 2019-09-01
End date: 2021-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 212933.76
EU funding (EUR): 212933.76
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The prehistoric development and spread of grape cultivation and winemaking have impacted the world to a remarkable extent, shaping core social traditions, religious and secular rituals, and the world economy. Despite the cultural significance of viniculture, there are major gaps in our understanding of its development, including: A) when and where white berries were first propagated, B) when varieties became established into local traditions, and C) how viniculture changed during cultural upheavals. In DREGS, I will explore these questions by analysing ancient seeds excavated from archaeological sites across Eurasia and North Africa dating 1000 BCE to the Middle Ages. Under the guidance of experts at the University of York, I will be trained in 2- and 3-dimensional documentation of seeds and then recover the ancient DNA (aDNA) they contain. Preliminary results demonstrate berry colour and variety can be inferred using aDNA, so I anticipate findings on the above questions will lead to publications in top journals and generate great public interest on social media. During the programme I will also be trained in residue analysis of artefacts. I hypothesize amphorae resin preserves aDNA in archaeological sites that do not yield grape seeds. To test this idea, I will characterize lipids from resinous deposits of dozens of amphorae as well as the DNA within the resin. To properly identify DNA sequences within these complex metagenomic palimpsests, a bioinformatician at the University of Warwick will guide my analyses. Although I have just begun a lectureship, the two years of research enabled by DREGS will allow me to acquire new skills that will ultimately be transferred to students and my collaborators. Furthermore, my novel direct testing of wine artefacts will allow me to explore the history of wine across the European Research Area, raising my profile in the field and helping consolidate myself as group leader of world-class palaeogenomics laboratory.

Keywords: cultural history,local traditions,wine,grapevine,residue analysis,ancient dna,palaeogenomics,scanning electron microscopy,three dimensional imagery,gas chromatography mass spectrometry
Sustainable and cost-effective production process for the upcycling of olive, grape and nut by-products into 4 natural and healthy ingredients for nutraceutical and cosmetic applications (UP4HEALTH)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy
Theme: Public-private partnerships
Destination: Bio-based Industries
Action type: Innovation actions
Partnership: BBI (Art-187)
Countries involved: Spain,Ireland,Spain,Germany,Spain,Spain,Spain,Türkiye,Portugal
Call: Produce bio-based functional ingredients and additives for high-end markets (H2020-BBI-JTI-2019, 2019)
Start date: 2020-06-01
End date: 2024-05-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 5542448.75
EU funding (EUR): 4009921.52
Participants: 10
Project status: SIGNED

The UP4HEALTH project provides the demonstration at pre-industrial scale of an INTEGRATED BIOREFINERY for the recovery of valuable biomolecules from food processing by-products and their conversion into natural, healthy and sustainable high added-value products for the NUTRACEUTICALS and COSMETIC sectors. UP4HEALTH ingredients will be of suitable quality to meet market requirements of CONSUMERS and INDUSTRY in these sectors: consumers are demanding functional natural products and industry is demanding bio-based formulations for better performance and higher sustainability. Olive and grape by-products are underexploited residual biomass rich in bioactive compounds, resulting in a great market opportunity for the UP4HEALTH project. Although existing technologies are promising for the recovery of high added-value ingredients inside the food chain, products from the valorisation of food by-products are still rather limited in the market. The main challenge is to validate an appropriate business model for the affordable upgrading at large scale of a wide variety in composition of by-products from the food processing industry, overcoming bottlenecks like logistic issues and investment costs. UP4HEALTH upcycling process integrates a unique ZERO WASTE sustainable process for 4 locally available Mediterranean feedstocks from food processing (olive pomace, grape pomace, nut by-products and olive pits) to deliver 4 ORGANIC, NATURAL, SUSTAINABLE & HEALTHY INGREDIENTS: natural fruit water rich in polyphenols, polyphenol-rich dietary fibre, fruit natural oily extracts and prebiotic Xylooligosaccharides. UP4HEALTH ingredients will be integrated intofunctional food, nutraceutical supplements and cosmetics, targeting a wide niche population. The remaining solid fraction from the hydrolysis of the olive pits is intended to be used for energy production responding to the concept of BIOREFINERY, since biomass will be processed into a spectrum of bio-based products and bioenergy.

Keywords: biorefinery,functional ingredientes,polyphenol,xylooligosaccharides,prebiotics,natural ingredients,healthy ingredients,olive extracts,olive bioproducts,grape bioproducts,nuts bioproducts
Dynamic Attitude Fixing: A novel theory of opinion dynamics in social networks and its implications for computational propaganda in hybrid social networks (containing humans and bots) (DAFINET)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: The Social World and Its Diversity
Panel description: Sociology, social psychology, social anthropology, education sciences, communication studies
Countries involved: Ireland
Call: ERC Starting Grant (ERC-2018-STG, 2018)
Start date: 2018-12-01
End date: 2024-05-31
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499925.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499925.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Understanding the coordination of attitudes in societies is vitally important for many disciplines and global social challenges. Network opinion dynamics are poorly understood, especially in hybrid networks where automated (bot) agents seek to influence economic or political processes (e.g. USA: Trump vs Clinton; UK: Brexit). A dynamic fixing theory of attitudes is proposed, premised on three features of attitudes demonstrated in ethnomethodology and social psychology; that people: 1) simultaneously hold a repertoire of multiple (sometimes ambivalent) attitudes, 2) express attitudes to enact social identity; and 3) are accountable for attitude expression in interaction. It is proposed that interactions between agents generate symbolic links between attitudes with the emergent social-symbolic structure generating perceived ingroup similarity and outgroup difference in a multilayer network. Thus attitudes can become dynamically fixed when constellations of attitudes are locked-in to identities via multilayer networks of attitude agreement and disagreement; a process intensified by conflict, threat or zero-sum partisan processes (e.g. elections/referenda). Agent-based simulations will validate the theory and explore the hypothesized channels of bot influence. Network experiments with human and hybrid networks will test theoretically derived hypotheses. Observational network studies will assess model fit using historical Twitter data. Results will provide a social-psychological-network theory for attitude dynamics and vulnerability to computational propaganda in hybrid networks. The theory will explain: (a) when and how consensus can propagate rapidly through networks (since identity processes fix attitudes already contained within repertoires); (b) limits of identity-related attitude propagation (since attitudes outside of repertoires will not be easily adopted); and (c) how attitudes can often ‘roll back’ after events (since contextual changes ‘unfix’ attitudes).

Keywords: social identity performance,opinion dynamics,network influence,social identity,group attitudes,network science
Genomic Strategies Against STB disease of wheat (GSAS)

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: Ireland
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2018-07-16
End date: 2021-01-13
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 175866.0
EU funding (EUR): 175866.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

A primary crop in Ireland, wheat is the most important cereal within the EU. Zymoseptoria tritici, the causal agent of septoria tritici blotch (STB) disease, continuously threatens Europe’s wheat crop causing loses of up to 50%, if left untreated. The absence of commercial varieties with adequate STB resistance means the sector is wholly dependent on fungicides to offset STB, with control costs >€1bn pa. This chemical dependency has driven the appearance of fungicide resistant strains of Z. tritici. In addition, EU legislation has removed several fungicides due to environmental concerns. In short, the European wheat sector has an unsustainable future unless greater effort is made to identify durable sources of resistance to STB. This is where new breeding methodologies (e.g. genomic selection, GS) can assist traditional breeding initiatives. GS is a form of marker assisted selection that simultaneously estimates all loci, haplotype or marker effects across the entire genome to calculate Genomic Estimated Breeding Values (GEBVs). GEBVs are then used to select individuals of interest for advancement in the breeding cycle. This proposal will apply a GS strategy to a unique population (>600) of wheat lines (DiverseMAGIC, NIAB), that are firstly phenotyped in the presence of natural field-borne STB inoculum. Taking advantage of NIAB resources (35K SNP data, exome capture, genetic maps), this action will combine genotype and field phenotype data so that relevant QTL associated with contrasting STB resistant profiles can be identified. In parallel, an in-house gene editing system will be employed to edit several gene sequences that have demonstrated to be STB responsive based on previously accumulated RNAseq data. Multi-disciplinary in nature, we envisage this proposal (plus secondment) will identify novel sources of resistance to STB disease that thereafter will be integrated into European wheat breeding programmes through existing networks with this project’s partners.

Keywords: wheat,septoria disease,genetic resistance,genomic selection,fungicide reduction