Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Preventing lifetime obesity by early risk-factor identification, prognosis and intervention (eprObes)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Health
Theme: Health
Destination: Staying Healthy in a rapidly changing society
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Spain,Belgium,Lithuania,Germany,Denmark,France,Poland,Türkiye
Call: Prevention of obesity throughout the life course (HORIZON-HLTH-2022-STAYHLTH-01-two-stage, 2022)
Start date: 2023-05-01
End date: 2028-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 9875071.25
EU funding (EUR): 9875071.25
Participants: 22
Project status: SIGNED

Obesity is one of the main population health threats worldwide, with a sustained increase in prevalence over the last decades and a constellation of co-morbidities that seriously hamper individual wellbeing and life-expectancy. Despite major research efforts, obesity treatments have proven of limited efficacy. Thus, effective prevention strategies are essential to avoid the full spectrum of metabolic complications of overweight during the life-course. Adult obesity is rooted on early maturational events, including pathophysiological and psychological determinants occurring during the gestational, infantile and/or adolescent periods, which globally remain ill defined. Identification of such early pathogenic mechanisms and markers of metabolic disease is key for active prevention and personalized management of body weight disorders later in life. Of note, pathogenic mechanisms and susceptibility to obesity are seemingly gender-dependent, but this aspect remains underexplored and may compromise effectiveness of preventive measures and treatments tackling obesity and its complications. eprObes (for early Prevention of Obesity) is a multidisciplinary, patient-centered project, involving clinical studies targeting different maturational windows, coupled with cognitive, mental health, life-style and behavioral studies, as well as mechanistic analyses in suitable preclinical models, whose major aim is to define effective strategies for active prevention of obesity during the life-course, with particular focus on early developmental events, from prenatal (including peri-conceptional) to pubertal periods, and determinants of feeding behaviors. Multi-omics studies and integral analysis of eprObes data, assisted by bioinformatic technologies and artificial intelligence, will permit definition of tailored preventive measures and life-style interventions, at key maturational periods, to avoid excessive body weight gain and lifetime metabolic complications in both sexes.

Keywords: obesity,early prevention,nutrition,development,mechanisms,biomarkers,personalized medicine,gender based prevention
Mechanisms of human co-translational quality control and it’s role in neural tissue. (NeuroQuality)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Molecules of Life: B iological  Mechanisms , Structures  and Functions
Panel description: For all organisms : Molecular biology , biochemistry, structural biology, molecular biophysics , synthetic and chemical biology, drug design, innovative methods and modelling
Countries involved: Czechia,Italy
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2023-STG, 2023)
Start date: 2024-07-01
End date: 2029-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Ribosome-associated quality control (RQC) is crucial for degrading truncated nascent proteins produced on aberrant mRNAs. This is done by elongation of the nascent chain on the large ribosomal subunit in the absence of mRNA and the small ribosomal subunit (CAT tailing) and by marking the nascent chain for degradation. Mutations in RQC components cause neurodegeneration both in animal models and human patients. Moreover, RQC insufficiency and subsequent protein aggregation critically contribute to proteostasis impairment and systemic decline during ageing. Strikingly, we lack mechanistic understanding of this crucial process in humans. This project stems from my post-doctoral research, in which I have solved the structure of the yeast RQC complex and discovered a novel RQC factor, the eIF5A. This conserved protein is critical in yeast RQC and was recently implicated in brain development and Huntington's disease. Moreover, I have developed a human cell-free translation extract, which enables structural studies of co-translational processes in the human system. In the proposed research, we will provide mechanistic understanding of CAT tailing and nascent chain degradation in human RQC using cryo-EM. We will define working principles of RQC components and the mechanisms by which their disease-causing mutations specifically affect neurons in vivo using the C. elegans as a model organism. Our approach utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to provide detailed mechanistic understanding of the critical RQC system in combination with an in vivo study to reveal processes leading to RQC-driven pathological changes in neural tissue. Since the RQC pathway is conserved in all kingdoms of life and serves a pivotal role in protein homeostasis with critical implications for neurodegenerative disorders and ageing, our findings will have important implications for human health and the potential to reveal novel drug targets.

Keywords: translation,quality control,rqc
Presence and Role of Organic Matter in Icy Satellites and ExtraSolar planets (PROMISES)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Universe Sciences
Panel description: Astro -physics/ -chemistry/ -biology; solar system; planetary systems; stellar, galactic and extragalactic astronomy; cosmology; space sciences; astronomical instrumentation and data
Countries involved: Czechia,France
Call: ERC ADVANCED GRANTS (ERC-2021-ADG, 2021)
Start date: 2022-10-01
End date: 2027-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2251292.5
EU funding (EUR): 2251292.5
Participants: 3
Project status: SIGNED

There is growing evidence that heavy organic molecules are a major component of the outer solar system bodies such as icy moons, comets, and Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs). Density profiles inferred from measurements of space missions require a low-density component in the core of the largest objects such as Ganymede and Titan. These observations suggest that a previously overlooked low-density component, identified as carbonaceous organic matter (COM), is one of the three main components, in addition to ice and rocks, building planetary bodies that formed beyond the ice line. However, there is a dearth of laboratory experiments and numerical simulations exploring the interaction of the heavy organic molecules constituting the COM with both the ice component (mainly H2O ices) and the rocky component (hydrated silicates, oxides and sulphides) at pressures relevant to icy moons. Observations from space missions also demonstrated that most icy moons are differentiated into a refractory core and an outer hydrosphere that includes a liquid layer (deep ocean), thus the name of ocean worlds. This raises the questions of the emergence of life at the ocean/core interface and of the habitability of ocean worlds. How does the presence of COM affect the thermal and chemical evolution of ocean worlds? The interaction between COM, ice and rocks is therefore essential for understanding the evolution of ocean worlds and for assessing their habitability potential. First, this project conducts laboratory experiments using diamond anvil cells (DAC) coupled with in situ Raman spectroscopy, a combination that is best suited for this kind of investigation. Second, it develops a thermochemical evolution model that can handle the chemical reactions and the thermo-chemical properties of the three components. Third, it applies the results to the evolution of ocean worlds in our solar system and beyond.

Keywords: planetary geophysics
A sense of direction: cooperative behaviour and chemotaxis in the life cycle of Trypanosoma brucei (Tryptaxis)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Immunity, Infection and I mmunotherapy
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 imm unological tools and approaches , including  therapies
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC ADVANCED GRANTS (ERC-2023-ADG, 2023)
Start date: 2024-11-01
End date: 2029-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2499229.0
EU funding (EUR): 2499228.75
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Many protozoan parasites have complex life cycles requiring migration through different organs in their hosts. The current mind-set is that parasites act as individuals and that tissue specificity is largely dictated by receptor-ligand interactions between pathogen and host surface molecules. However, parasites are more autonomous and manipulative than we give them credit for. I propose that self-steering, a mechanism by which groups of cells migrate in response to gradients that they create and/or modify, is central to their ability to orient themselves and home into host tissues. Trypanosoma brucei, which causes sleeping sickness, cycles between mammals and tsetse flies. Trypanosomes lack G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) and heterotrimeric G proteins, which act as sensors and signal transducers in yeast and multicellular eukaryotes, but encode a large number of receptor adenylate cyclases. We recently discovered that trypanosomes generate pH gradients on semi-solid surfaces and use cyclic AMP (cAMP) signalling to move collectively in response to them. This correlates with their ability to cross barriers and sequentially colonise organs in tsetse flies. Our newest findings that trypanosomes respond chemotactically to other metabolites, together with evidence from several laboratories that T. brucei is not restricted to the blood and central nervous system in mammals, but also invades other organs, are the focus of this project. My objectives are: • to elucidate the intracellular mechanism of cAMP-mediated pH sensing • to explore other cues for chemotaxis and determine how signals are transduced • to establish whether the expanded family of adenylate cyclase genes in T. brucei plays a role in extravasation and colonisation of different organs in mammalian hosts. This is the first, comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms governing directed migration by a parasite and is a paradigm for new forms of sensing in eukaryotes lacking GPCR.

Keywords: trypanosome stage specific parasite social motility chemotaxis sensing cyclic amp signalling organ tropism
in situ microfluidics to study phytoplankton microscale interactions affecting global carbon capture and coral nutrition (PhytoSwim)

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: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: France,Australia
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2026-09-01
End date: 2028-11-30
Duration (months): 27.0
Total project cost (EUR): 263737.83
EU funding (EUR): 263737.83
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Climate change is a global priority, affecting all nations with escalating consequences including temperature increase and extreme weather events. Coral reefs - occurring in EU territories such as Bonaire and New Caledonia - are among the most vulnerable ecosystems. Potential solutions for climate change mitigation may come from phytoplankton, marine microalgae providing critical ecosystem services linked to carbon sequestration and coral reef nutrition. On the one hand, due to their sheer numbers, phytoplankton have a large-scale impact on global CO2 capture, acting as a natural carbon sink. On the other hand, phytoplankton nourish corals, which in turn protect adjacent blue carbon sinks (seagrass meadows, tidal marshes and mangroves), fostering climate resilience. Carbon sequestration and coral nutrition rely on phytoplankton’s complex sensorimotor capabilities. However, despite their immense ecological roles, the dynamics of phytoplankton motility in-situ remain poorly understood. Current research methods rely on bulk and static analyses which fail to capture the dynamic and fine-scale nature of phytoplankton interactions in their natural environments. In PhytoSwim, I will overcome these limitations by developing a cutting-edge methodology to study phytoplankton motility in situ, at relevant spatiotemporal microscales. I will first learn the current state-of-the-art of in situ microfluidics, and then adapt it to detect phytoplankton interactions (OBJ1). Next, I will use this new method to study phytoplankton behavior in the open ocean and in coral reefs, never done before (OBJ2). Expected outcomes: PhytoSwim will deepen our knowledge of phytoplankton microscale behaviors and their ecological impact, while directly contributing to EU’s objectives of advancing climate science. It will also place me at the forefront of the field, securing my path towards a research position in academia.

Keywords: phytoplankton motility,coral nutrition,in situ approaches,chemotaxis
Before Copyright: Printing Privileges and the Politics of Knowledge in Early Modern Europe (BE4COPY)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: The Study of the Human Past
Panel description: Archaeology and history
Countries involved: Norway
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2021-STG, 2021)
Start date: 2022-09-01
End date: 2027-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499099.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499099.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

BE4COPY examines the long-term history of printing privileges from a cross-disciplinary and European perspective. These privileges provided exclusive rights for the production of books and images: they can be considered one of the precursors of what we now call ‘copyrights’. Introduced around 1470, shortly after the invention of the printing press, privileges were abolished around 1789, when new notions of ownership emerged alongside new ideas about political representation. The BE4COPY project studies the changing nature of the printing privilege over the course of these turbulent 300 years. The intimate relationship between legal frameworks and the politics of knowledge is the primary focus of the project. Although numerous studies have examined printing privileges in their local context, there are to date no historical studies that have examined how different European systems of printing privileges were interrelated. BE4COPY will change that and thus contribute to a better understanding of the origins of copyrights as a specific form of shared European heritage. It does so by (1) examining the distribution of printing privileges on a European scale, exposing existing trade routes and political alliances, and (2) rethinking the relationship between legal protection and political interests. How did shifting discourses of expertise and stewardship influence the proprietorship of intellectual creations’ How did the interplay between law, economy, and politics shape the production of knowledge? And how did ‘authorship’ and ‘ownership’ eventually emerge in that context as twin categories? BE4COPY employs an innovative archive-based approach centred around the cross-cutting themes of ‘Censorship and Promotion’, ‘Travelling Ideas and People’, and ‘Authorship and Readership’. The project adds a new layer to our evolving understanding of copyright and opens up new perspectives regarding the question of how knowledge was produced and shared in early modern Europe.

Keywords: early modern history,history of knowledge,printing privileges,copyright history
Achieving the golden Grail in solid tumor treatment (AGAINST)

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: Poland
Call: ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS2 (ERC-2022-POC2, 2022)
Start date: 2023-10-01
End date: 2026-03-31
Duration (months): 30.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Macrophage therapy is promising for solid tumor treatment as these cells are continuously recruited into the tumor mass, even the most hypoxic regions. Our pioneering research demonstrated that macrophages are able to take up ferritins loaded with anti-cancer drugs, creating Macrophage-Drug Conjugates (MDCs), and transfer these to cancer cells and kill them, a phenomenon we named TRAIN. In my ongoing ERC Starting Grant PROJECT ‘McHAP’, we have proven that MDCs can be sucessfully used not only to treat solid tumors but also to induce subsequent resistance to the tumor re-challenge. Acquisition of resistance to tumor development after specific therapy is a 'Golden Grail' in oncology. Now we aim to turn the MDC technology into a commercial and social value proposition by confirming mechanisms of tumor-resistance in tumor-bearing mice and identify immune response. This is crucial to raise interest of and establish a co-development (or licensing) deal with big pharma’s to realize commercialization and clinical uptake of our IP-protected MDC technology. During the ERC PoC project, we will perform high-dimensional spectral flow cytometry, spatial transcriptomics and single-cell transcriptomics of the tumor before and after MDC treatment to identify mechanisms of tumor-resistance and optimize our business case. This project will thus provide proof of concept for the immune activation after the MDC treatment and thus establish the viability, feasibility, commercialization and overall direction for our innovative MDC technology. This project will substantially contribute to bring our MDC technology to the market and clinical practice.
Novel bioelectrochemical factory system for energy production and treatment of industrial wastewater: Electroactive and non-electroactive microbiome (MFCBioFactory)

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: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Spain,Germany
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-05-01
End date: 2025-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 165312.96
EU funding (EUR): 165312.96
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

The overarching objective of the MFCBioFactory project is to develop and evaluate a microbial technology for the treatment and generation of electrical energy using wastewater from the canned food industry and to characterize electroactive (EAMs) and non-electrochemically-active (non-EAMs) microorganisms involved in energy production and reduction using metagenomic sequencing and specific marker genes. A novel biofactory system that produces zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, zero energy consumption, and allows the valorisation of the generated waste, known as a microbial fuel cell (MFC) together with a photobioreactor (Microbial Fuel Cell Biofactory, MFCB) will be developed. The metagenomic microorganism characterization will be used to optimize the performance of the electrochemical biofactory system. This project will allow the establishment for the first time of circular economy in the biological treatment of industrial wastewater that is difficult to treat and has a high salinity, thus contributing to the UN Sustainable Development goals, Green Deal (MSCA Green Charter), and UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The MFCBioFactory involves a multidisciplinary research team including researchers and industry professionals dedicated to process engineering, bioelectrochemistry, applied microbiology, and chemistry.

Keywords: biofactory,greenhouse emissions,electroactivity,microbial fuel cell,microbial metabolism,microbial diversity
A novel microaerobic bioreactor to enhance Magnetotactic Bacteria growth and magnetosome production for application as biosorbents for metal recovery from electronic waste (MS-GMT)

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: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: United Kingdom,Spain
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2026-01-05
End date: 2028-01-04
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 260347.92
EU funding (EUR): 260347.92
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Annually, the world generates over 62 million tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste), which contains metals (e.g. lead, mercury, cadmium), which, if not properly managed, can leach into the environment, contaminating soil, water, and air. This situation poses a significant risk to human health and ecosystems, necessitating innovative recycling measures. So far, hydrometallurgical processes for metal recovery have made strides in addressing these issues. However, challenges such as their sustainability approaches, storage capacity, high energy costs, and scalability are problematic, leading to an urgent need for new solutions. The use of magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) represents an alternative low-carbon route for metal recovery, as they can uptake and store large amounts of metals in the form of magnetosomes, (magnetic nanoparticles that can be doped with a variety of metals for superior biotechnology applications) and biosorb a wide range of metals on the bacterial membrane. However, MTB are typically cultivated using off-the-shelf bioreactors as a one-fit-all system, with sparging hydrodynamics significantly limiting microbial growth as they require tightly controlled microaerobic conditions. Therefore, this interdisciplinary project aims to develop, optimize and scale up a sustainable biomanufacturing strategy (via enhancing production performance) for MTB growth using e-waste with a novel bioreactor design. This aim successfully addresses a significant environmental problem with a low-energy, sustainable process. Overall, the developed technology will create industrial potential for its utilisation in other applicable processes, such as the health sector. This project will have a great social and economic impact in Europe by contributing to reaching Net Zero and the Green Deal targets by 2050 while advancing bionanotechnologies. It also has the potential to create new business models and technology development while promoting circular bioeconomy principles.

Keywords: bioreactor design,computational fluid dynamics,particle image velocimetry,fermentation,magnetosome production,environmental impact assessment