Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Sculpting cerebellar activity across timescales (SCULPTABELLUM)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Panel description: Nervous system development, homeostasis and ageing , nervous system  function and dysfunction , systems neuroscience  and modelling , biological basis of cognitive processes and of behaviour, neurological and mental disorders – In humans and all other organisms
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: ERC ADVANCED GRANTS (ERC-2024-ADG, 2024)
Start date: 2026-07-01
End date: 2031-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2499541.0
EU funding (EUR): 2499541.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Long-term memories are consolidated over time, progressively becoming more stable and resistant to interference. The consolidation of motor memories is particularly robust – so much so that we use the term “like riding a bike” to describe things that we never forget. And yet, compared to declarative memory systems, relatively little is known about the neural mechanisms through which motor memories are consolidated in the brain. Several forms of motor learning require the cerebellum, a brain area that is often thought of as a machine-like input-output device in which sensory inputs are combined with state estimation to compute motor commands. However, recent work has emphasized the extent to which cerebellar circuit function is influenced by external features, such as the animal's behavioral state, or the statistics of the environment. Moreover, activity that occurs offline – between experimental sessions and even between individual trials, within sessions – can be crucial for cerebellar function. Here, we will investigate how cerebellar activity is sculpted over time, not only during the execution of cerebellum-dependent behaviors themselves, but also during offline ‘rest’ periods, and across stages of learning, to consolidate recent memories and update the system to allow it to learn new things. We will use temporally precise, cell-type-specific neural circuit manipulations and recordings to ask: 1. What are the mechanisms through which offline cerebellar activity contributes to memory consolidation? 2. What roles does memory consolidation play in long-term motor adaptation and metalearning, or ‘learning how to learn?’ 3. How do climbing fiber inputs to the cerebellum contribute to determining what is learned? Together, these experiments will reveal how cerebellar activity patterns are orchestrated across timescales to enable flexible and coordinated behavior in dynamic environments.

Keywords: motor learning,locomotion,associative learning,cerebellum,optogenetics,neural circuits,mouse
New excited state methods for overcoming challenges in sunlight conversion (NEXUS)

Framework: Horizon Europe — 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: Iceland,Italy
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2024-STG, 2024)
Start date: 2025-05-01
End date: 2030-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499999.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499999.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

The dynamics of charges and atoms when electrons are excited to energy levels above the ground state underpins energy conversion in photosynthesis, photocatalysis and solar cell technologies. Modelling excited electronic states remains however a major challenge. While density functional theory (DFT) has been hugely successful in predicting ground state properties of systems with several atoms and electrons, excited state extensions based on time-dependent formulations often lack the required accuracy. I have pioneered alternative approaches where the excited state orbitals are variationally optimized by converging on saddle points on the electronic energy surface. Preliminary studies show that such time-INdependent methods have similar efficiency and predictive power as ground state DFT. The central idea of NEXUS is to develop an innovative computational framework leveraging saddle point search strategies to significantly expand excited state simulations beyond their current scope. Meanwhile, modern ultrafast X-ray techniques can achieve structural sensitivity for organic chromophores, offering a means to validate and complement the theoretical models for this important class of photoactive systems. By simulating the excited states in condensed phase rather than gas phase and directly visualizing atomic motion via ultrafast X-rays, NEXUS will provide unprecedented insights into the electronic and structural dynamics of organic molecules with application in photoswitching, singlet fission, and artificial photosynthesis. The goal is to unravel the elusive interplay between structure and function and pave the way to the rational design of photofunctional systems, enhancing the efficiency of solar energy conversion. An effective, low cost approach for modelling excited states of large systems is ground breaking and will have impact well beyond organic molecules, enabling the study of charge and atom dynamics in photochemical reactions for a wide range of applications.
Dynamics, Excitations and Phase transitions of Two-Dimensional encapsulated noble-gas clusters (DEPT2D)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Physics
Countries involved: France
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-11-01
End date: 2027-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 226420.56
EU funding (EUR): 226420.56
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Noble gases are governed by the weak and well-understood van der Waals interaction which makes them an excellent model system for different physical phenomena. Condensed noble gases on surfaces at cryogenic temperatures were the first experimental examples of 2D systems back in the 1960s. By encapsulating them between graphene and a substrate in the 2010s, these structures could also be studied at elevated temperatures via STM. However, here the encapsulation layer often obscures the arrangement of trapped atoms. I recently showed that by trapping noble gases between two graphene layers, the atoms can be observed directly via transmission electron microscopy (Längle et al. 2024, Nature Materials). This provides direct insight into the atomic arrangement and dynamics of this system with surprising properties: * Anomalous diffusion governed by defects in the encapsulating membrane was observed, mimicking diffusion through a 2D glass. * Clusters become more fluid when they grow, contrary to what is expected in nanomaterials. * For small clusters, the atomic arrangement deviates from the close-packed hexagonal structure indicating deviations from the assumed isotropic van der Waals interaction. In this project, I will track the structure of 2D noble gas clusters in time and space using a laser pump-probe setup in a scanning transmission electron microscope, which provides atomic-scale imaging with nanosecond temporal resolution. With this, I will study the diffusion, atomic arrangement, orientational order, symmetry breaking, and phase transitions of 2D clusters as a function of size, temperature, and pressure. Additionally, the bonding, electronic structure and band gap of these clusters under the same conditions will be probed by monochromated electron energy loss spectroscopy. This will contribute to the fundamental understanding of 2D physics with exciting possibilities for basic condensed-matter research opening avenues toward other 2D confined systems.

Keywords: 2d confined clusters,atomic dynamics,phase transition,electron spectroscopies,electron microscopy,time resolved spectroscopy,out of equilibrium spectroscopy
In vivo metabolic determinants of T cell aging trajectories (IMMAGE)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Panel description: Organ and tissue physiology, comparative physiology, physiology  of ageing , pathophysiology, inter - organ and tissue communication, endocrinology, nutrition,  metabolism, interaction with the microbiome, non -communicable diseases including cancer (and except disorders of the nervous system  and immunity -related diseases)
Countries involved: Israel
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2022-STG, 2022)
Start date: 2023-01-01
End date: 2027-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

T lymphocytes play a central role in the immune defense against intruders, and support tissue homeostasis and function. Strikingly, an aged or dysfunctional T cell immunity is sufficient to promote organ aging and multiple age-related morbidities. In this proposal we hypothesize that there is a bidirectional relationship between T cells and their in vivo microenvironment that could develop into a vicious cycle under conditions of aging and disease. While a lot is known about the cellular mechanisms underlying T cell dysfunction with age, A profound understanding of how aging of the microenvironment impacts T cell immunity is missing. This work directly targets this gap to determine how the in vivo microenvironment in an aged mouse dictates T cells aging trajectories. Following on our preliminary findings, we will study two major mechanisms: (1) deficient metabolic support: we propose novel mechanisms by which stromal cells in the T cell zone of secondary lymphoid organs provide T cells metabolic needs for activation, and its failure in aged lymph nodes; and (2) toxic signals specific to the aged spleen that inhibit T cell metabolism and activation. Finally, we will investigate whether targeting these pathways would rejuvenate T cell immunity in vivo. The proposed study will discover unknown mechanisms supporting T cells metabolism in situ and will provide a causative link between T cell aging phenotypes and aging of their microenvironment. Finding new ways to rejuvenate immunity holds the promise for comprehensive and simultaneous targeting of multiple age-related pathologies.

Keywords: immunometabolism,immune aging,t lymphocytes
Exploring the Molecular Imprint of Microbe-Induced Plant Resistance in Plant-Associated Communities (MIMIR)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Biotechnology and Biosystems E ngineering
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: Spain
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2023-COG, 2023)
Start date: 2024-06-01
End date: 2029-05-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2543230.0
EU funding (EUR): 2543230.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Plant-beneficial microbes can modulate the plant immune system enhancing plant resistance to insect pests. This phenomenon, known as Microbe-Induced plant Resistance (MIR) has emerged as a sustainable pest control strategy. Strikingly, my latest results indicate that MIR-immune responses elicited in plants cascade upwards leaving a molecular imprint in surviving insect herbivores (a MIR-imprint). This suggests that MIR-triggered responses in plants could ‘travel’ beyond the plant and be incorporated into plant-associated communities. However, inclusion of the effects of MIR-elicited responses across different members of the trophic chain, from plants to herbivores, their natural enemies, and the soil microbiome, has been neglected in MIR research. The overall goal of MIMIR is to unravel how, and to what extent, MIR immune responses triggered in plants are transduced and incorporated in plant-associated communities. MIMIR will use a multidisciplinary approach combining multi-omics high-throughput techniques, computational biology, functional genomics, and mesocosm experiments to address three main challenges: (1) Disentangling molecular regulation of the onset and functioning of the MIR-imprint in insect herbivores; (2) Unravelling how and to what extent the MIR-imprint crosses to the third trophic level (natural enemies), and its impact on species interactions; and (3) Deciphering how and to what extent MIR imprints the rhizosphere microbiome generating a soil MIR-memory with impacts on aboveground insects. MIMIR will foster a detailed understanding of how MIR-triggered responses ‘travel’ from the plant to plant-associated communities, and to what extent they are incorporated into the agroecosystem, launching the field into new and exciting directions. In a broader context, MIMIR will provide multiple crucial insights into the fundamental question of how species interact in complex systems, a question of high relevance for the global challenge of food security.

Keywords: beneficial microbes biological pest control microbe induced resistance multitrophic interactions plant microbe insect interactions
Autonomous Swarm of Heterogeneous resources in infrastructure protection via threat prediction and prevention (TESTUDO)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Civil Security for Society
Theme: Civil Security for Society
Destination: Resilient Infrastructure
Action type: Innovation actions
Countries involved: Greece,Cyprus,Italy,Spain,Norway,Germany,Lithuania,Bulgaria,United Kingdom,France,Poland
Call: Autonomous systems used for infrastructure protection (HORIZON-CL3-2022-INFRA-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-10-01
End date: 2026-09-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 6649286.69
EU funding (EUR): 5561035.25
Participants: 20
Project status: SIGNED

As its surroundings changes radically and climate conditions deteriorates, Europe and its Members adapt to these current challenges. To this end and in order to maximise their usability, the EC established a framework of a common policy (EU Security Market study) by categorizing potential technologies per security domain, including Critical Infrastructure (CI) Protection. This trend is indicative for the importance and significancy that the EC gives to these matters. Any potential disruption, either intentional as a terrorist attack or a natural disaster, may risk smooth operations of such structures that may have a severe impact on a local society and its daily activities or well-being. Current advancements in various technologies can be particularly beneficial in CI protection especially when they can provide a timely support without the necessity of a human in the loop. TESTUDO, aligned with the need of a holistic and autonomous security approach in CI protection domain and with the European Commission’s objectives, will utilize advanced unmanned vehicles along with existing equipment to deliver a highly mature platform for continuous monitoring even at harsh environments and remote territories. Tailored to the needs of the domain and targeting to maximize the platform’s autonomy capabilities, TESTUDO intends to incorporate state-of-the-art technologies for detection, prevention and prediction increasing their cognitive capabilities for different types of hazardous events. In addition, optimization techniques will identify the resources needed for the execution of high-level missions contributing to the total autonomy of the deployable system. A multidisciplinary group of technical innovators for AI-based models, CBRN, cyber-security detection, Digital twins and XAI along with the CI-related experts will collaborate to deliver an innovative action and solution to protect various CIs during a long operational period and completely autonomously.

Keywords: autonomous resource allocation,cognitive models,digital twins,simulated decision making
Feel-through Haptic Feedback for Augmented and Virtual Reality (FEEL-XR)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Proof of concept grants
Action type: ERC actions
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS2 (ERC-2022-POC2, 2022)
Start date: 2023-06-01
End date: 2024-11-30
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR and AR), often summarized as Extended Reality (XR), is moving from a niche product to a mainstream market. Due to recent advances in wearable sensing and display technologies, powerful VR and AR headsets are commercially available, even for the general public, and promise to become even more miniaturized and cheaper in the coming years. A myriad of important application cases, ranging from gaming or shopping to immersive design and engineering or to tele-surgery and virtual training, demonstrate the large innovation potential of XR. However, today’s technologies and applications for XR predominantly focus on the visual channel alone. In contrast, rendering the haptic feel of objects in XR is still mostly unaddressed, although it is common knowledge that haptic perception is an essential part of how humans experience the world, hence important for realism and immersion. This project sets out to mature the crucial components needed for feel-through tactile feedback in XR that can dynamically augment and alter the haptic feel of real-world objects, surfaces, and the human body. Our technology originates from the applicant’s ERC Starting Grant InteractiveSkin, where we developed the foundations for a new generation of body-worn user interfaces, which we call interactive skin. Our approach is unique in proposing computational design and rapid manufacturing of stretchable electronics as a means to customize on-body interfaces. FEEL-XR will enable tactile augmentation of the human body through a less than 35 μm thin tactile interface for wearable computing, which retains the natural tactile acuity (similar to bare skin) while delivering high-density tactile output, suitable for applications in tactile XR and on-skin interaction. As there are no moving parts, we can expect our technology to be built much cheaper than current solutions that rely on motors or pneumatics, at the same time being better suited for battery-powered usages.
Dual Antibacterial Hydrogel ADhesives (DAHAD)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Chemistry
Countries involved: Spain,United States
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01, 2021)
Start date: 2023-04-01
End date: 2025-05-31
Duration (months): 26.0
Total project cost (EUR): 186912.24
EU funding (EUR): 186912.24
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Nowadays, available surgical skin closure techniques still remain painful and are prone to infections. To assess these challenges, DAHAD aims to develop new hydrogels with a dual action: biological tissues adhesion and antibacterial activity. The hydrogels will be prepared by the gelation of biomimetic dendrimer-polymer hybrids in aqueous solutions. These hybrids will be composed of a central linear polymer, namely Pluronic® F-127, decorated at its extremities with multiple biomimetic catechol moieties to confer biological adhesive properties to the gels. The hydrogels will be loaded with diverse hydrophilic and lipophilic antibiotics to locally deliver them into the surgical site and prevent infections. DAHAD contemplates (i) the organic synthesis of the dendrimer-polymer hybrids, (ii) the hydrogels preparation and the study of their adhesiveness, physicochemical characterization and thermo-responsiveness (iii) the drug delivery of hydrophilic and lipophilic antibiotics throughout the hydrogels by direct diffusion or assisted by micellar nanoparticles and their skin biocompatibility (iv) and the back loop enhancement of the gelation abilities, adhesion and drug delivery results using hydrogen bonding (H-bonding) supramolecular chemistry. DAHAD is built as a multidisciplinary and international project along which the Purdue University (USA), the Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain) and the Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón (Spain) will combine their efforts and expertise to pursue the planned R&I objectives, as well as the dissemination of the results to scientific, industrial and public audiences. It aims to boost the applicant’s career, to complement the expertise of INMA in biomaterials for medical applications and be the kick-starter of a solid, international and successful collaborative network.

Keywords: hydrogels,adhesives,antibacterial,biomimetic,dendrimer polymer hybrids,drug delivery,supramolecular chemistry
Research, Intelligence and Technology for Heritage and Market Security (RITHMS)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Civil Security for Society
Theme: Civil Security for Society
Destination: Fighting Crime and Terrorism
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Italy,Germany,Bulgaria,Spain,Netherlands,Moldova, Republic of,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Switzerland,Finland,Romania,Belgium
Call: Fight against trafficking in cultural goods (HORIZON-CL3-2021-FCT-01, 2021)
Start date: 2022-10-01
End date: 2025-09-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4996972.5
EU funding (EUR): 4996972.5
Participants: 23
Project status: SIGNED

RITHMS project intends to boost the operational capacity of Police and Customs/Border Authorities in addressing the increasingly organised and poly-criminal nature of trafficking in cultural goods through research, technological innovation, outreach and training. Illicit trade in cultural heritage has progressed from a local phenomenon limited to the initiative of a few individuals to a highly remunerative source of income for criminal organisations and terrorist groups that have taken advantage of the opportunities offered by the web and social media to further expand an already flourishing market. Against this background, RITHMS proposes an interdisciplinary approach made necessary by the transnational character of this crime and its links to other criminal networks. The project will define a replicable strategy to counter the challenges in addressing the illicit trafficking of stolen/looted cultural goods and to investigate the mechanisms underpinning it, including its connection with organised crime. RITHMS will foster cross-cutting research bringing together all the domains relevant to expand the understanding of this type of crime (art market, criminology, law studies, forensic science, etc.). Inputs from these disciplines will inform the theoretical framework underlying an interoperable AI-based Platform able to identify criminal organised networks and to provide investigators with valuable intelligence on the activities and evolution of such networks. The Platform will be leveraging the methods of Social Network Analysis (SNA), a methodology that gives a way to better understand human behaviour through people's relations and interactions. Including four Police authorities, two Border Agencies, one Police School, SMEs, and researchers from SSH and ICT, RITHMS Consortium is well positioned to offer solutions to counteract more effectively organisations involved in illicit activities against cultural heritage.

Keywords: social network analysis,ai based evidence,knowledge graph,money laundering,legal guidelines,public engagement