Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Paving the way for off-the-shelf adoptive Treg therapy using epigenetic forward programming (epi-hiPSC-Treg)

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 GRANTS (ERC-2024-POC, 2024)
Start date: 2025-01-01
End date: 2026-06-30
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Regulatory T cells (Treg) are a type of immune cell that can suppress harmful inflammation caused by autoimmune diseases or organ transplant rejection. Using Treg as a living drug is a promising form of precision medicine, but it faces many practical and economic challenges, such as the need to produce a specific cell product for each patient. A more feasible solution would be to create ‘off-the-shelf’ Treg products that are readily available and can be used universally without customizing them for each patient. One way to do this is to use human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), which can be differentiated into many different cell types. However, for Tregs, this has not been achieved yet in a clinically relevant way. In this proof of concept study, we will test our novel method of epigenetic editing on hiPSCs, which can modify the DNA structure and gene expression of the cells, to make them differentiate into functional Treg for their application in therapy. This method is based on our previous work in the ERC starting grant project EpiTune. If successful, it will open new avenues for the production of off-the-shelf therapeutic Treg products, which would mean a very important innovation for the field of Treg therapy. For this project, we assembled a team of experts who have experience in developing and testing new T cell therapy products in the clinic, including regulatory affairs experts, IP protection professionals, and marketing strategists. If the PoC succeeds, their advice and guidance will help us prepare for the next steps of developing a clinical-grade manufacturing process.
Accelerating Quantum Technology Development with Machine Learning (QruiseOS)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Transition
Destination: Open to supporting projects in all areas of science, technology,...
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: Germany
Call: EIC Transition Open 2022 (HORIZON-EIC-2022-TRANSITION-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-01-01
End date: 2025-09-30
Duration (months): 33.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2499000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2499000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The field of quantum technologies encompasses a wide range of very different devices whichThe field of quantum technologies encompasses a wide range of very different devices which must operate at the very edge of what is feasible, results are noisy, and only become clear if repeated many times and careful statistics are gathered. We are applying optimal control theory, optimization theory and machine learning to the challenge of controlling, characterizing and calibrating quantum technology devices in general, and quantum computers specifically. Qruise (as in cruise control) is GmbH is a young software startup from Forschungszentrum Jülich and Padova University, and the OpenSuperQ EU quantum flagship project, created for the purpose of commercializing the founders’ collective experience in control of quantum systems. Prof. Frank Wilhelm-Mauch, one of our co-founders, was the coordinator of the OpenSuperQ project (project no. 820363, started on 01.10.2018 and finished on 31.04.2022). Our project will increase the maturity of the Qruise technology via TRL 5-6 level activities of research, technology development and validation with pilot partners. In the end, we will deliver a viable demonstrator with fully vertically integrated components: QruiseOS. With QruiseOS, quantum technology development can be significantly accelerated, allowing even small academic labs and startups to compete with the large players in the field. This project covers all necessary steps for full commercial readiness, including problem/solution validation, market research, competition analysis, establishing IP strategy, ensuring regulatory compliance, stakeholder engagements, dissemination activities, construction of a detailed business plan and securing future funding. After the completion of this project, we will apply to EIC accelerator program while simultaneously seeking private investments to further mature the technology (towards TRL 7-8) and get ready for commercial scale up (TRL9).

Keywords: quantum computing,quantum simulations,scientific computing,simulation and modelling tools,digital twins,optimal control theory,optimization theory,machine learning,quantum technology
RRR-XAI: Right for the Right Reason eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (RRR-XAI)

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: Spain,Italy
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01, 2021)
Start date: 2022-11-01
End date: 2024-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 165312.96
EU funding (EUR): 165312.96
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Deep Deep Learning (DL) is a form of machine learning (ML) that enables computers to learn from experience and understand the world in terms of a hierarchy of concepts. This hierarchy allows a DL model to learn complicated concepts by building them out of simpler ones. A graph of these hierarchies would be many layers deep, and thus its name. A Deep neural network (DNN) is based on an artificial neural network model, and its core strength is that there is no need for human assistance to formally specify all the knowledge that the model needs. This makes DNNs represent the state of the art in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Despite their top performance and ubiquity of applications (from Healthcare to autonomous cars), DNNs suffer serious shortcomings. First, DNNs are considered black box models, i.e., with complex and opaque algorithms, hard to interpret and diagnose. Second, they suffer from bias, and the testing protocols for automatic recognition are not fair, as they learn patterns in the data that are not correlated to the output; e.g. they may focus on areas outside the lung in X ray images to predict the presence of COVID-19. Although DNNs outperform many other methods, they often are not right for the right reasons (RRR). RRR-XAI tackles this mismatch and bridges this gap through a tight integration of DL and symbolic AI, with the principal objective of making DL explainable. To achieve this I will follow the rationale behind XAI under the RRR philosophy and perform analyses to understand two types of phenomena that cause trouble in DNNs. Second, I will use: 1) Domain knowledge expertise as supporting evidence to explain a particular model output; 2) Neural-Symbolic computation to communicate the explanation of such phenomena in natural language. I will study two practical use cases where supporting explanations of the model output are critical: a) COVID-19 prediction from chest X-Ray images, and b) Weapon detection in alarm systems and crowds from images.

Keywords: explainable artificial intelligence,responsible ai,deep learning,knowledge representation,neural symbolic learning and reasoning,big data,information fusion,computational intelligence
Chip-Scale Optical Frequency Combs for Communications and Sensing: A Toolkit for System Integration (CombTools)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Transition
Destination: Challenges
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: Germany,Netherlands,France,Switzerland
Call: EIC Transition Challenge: Chip-scale optical frequency combs (HORIZON-EIC-2023-TRANSITION-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-01-01
End date: 2026-12-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2523585.0
EU funding (EUR): 2523585.0
Participants: 5
Project status: SIGNED

Chip-scale Kerr comb generators have emerged as a novel class of light sources with disruptive potential for a variety of applications such as hyper-scale optical communications, LiDAR, high-resolution spectroscopy, or ultra-broadband signal processing. Still, Kerr combs have not yet found their way into commercially relevant applications. This is mainly caused by the fact that high-performance comb generators are currently not available as commercial products. Another obstacle is the lack of additional tools that are needed for comb-based signal processing. CombTools aims at overcoming these obstacles by establishing a powerful technology base and a corresponding ecosystem for leveraging the full potential of Kerr combs in highly relevant application fields. On the technology level, we will develop copper-contamination-free silicon-nitride photonic integrated circuit with record-low propagation loss. Based on this, CombTools will offer low-barrier “democratized” access to comb generators with unprecedented performance, thereby preparing the ground for many follow-up innovations. We will further establish dedicated tools for comb-based signal processing, comprising comb-line processors, arrays of advanced electro-optic modulators, and control modules for comb synchronization. The performance of the developed technology will be shown in a series of ground-breaking demonstrations. CombTools brings together a carefully selected consortium that covers proven competences in technology, product engineering, and business development. The project can rely on a strong technology base developed by the group of Tobias Kippenberg at EPFL. This technology has been licensed to the high-tech start-up Deeplight, bringing Kerr-comb technology to the market through its German subsidiary Deeplight GmbH. The consortium further comprises Nokia as a leading international player, thereby offering an ideal framework for industrial innovation and entrepreneurial activities in the EU.

Keywords: integrated photonics,kerr combs,optical packaging,silicon nitride,optical communications
Market Uptake Measures of Floating Offshore Wind Technology Systems (FOWTs) (MARINEWIND)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Climate, Energy and Mobility
Theme: Energy
Destination: Sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Italy,Spain,Greece,Portugal,Belgium,United Kingdom
Call: Market Uptake Measures of renewable energy systems (HORIZON-CL5-2021-D3-02, 2021)
Start date: 2022-11-01
End date: 2025-10-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1380033.75
EU funding (EUR): 1380033.75
Participants: 10
Project status: SIGNED

MARINEWIND is a 36 months coordination and support action that will identify bottlenecks and potential opportunities to strengthen floating offshore wind's technology FOWT role in delivering innovative solutions to system integration and will consider how best to integrate such a system by exploring the market, policy and regulations issues, social, financial and techno-economic optimal solutions, and provision for storage and flexibility recommendations. The MARINEWIND methodology is based on the analysis of the MARINEWIND Labs, that are social, environmental, technological and financial pilot studies based upon a multi-faceted data collection and analysis on barriers and enablers related to: a) policy measures (WP1); b) societal engagement and environmental impact (WP2); c) financial solutions, techno-economic implications and commercialization of FOWT (WP3). The MARINEWIND Labs are located in five countries: Portugal and UK (actual applications of FOWT) and Greece, Spain and Italy (planned applications of FOWT). These Labs will support the transfer of knowledge from the established experiences to the potential FOWT sites where plans for installation of FOWT are still at various stages of planning or implementation. The MARINEWIND Labs will involve the Quintuple Helix stakeholders (industry, academia, public authorities, civil society and green innovation). The threefold analysis will be conveyed into the MARINEWIND web based Geographical Information System (webGIS) which will provide specifically tailored information on FOWT to the various stakeholders on the basis of their category, geographical location and their goals and policy recommendations on how to have more informed RES policy and how to increase societal acceptance (WP4). The Replicability Plan will support the transfer of knowledge. Dissemination, Communication and Exploitation activities (WP5) will assure widespread outreach of the projects’ results and outcomes and to reach its impacts.

Keywords: floating offshore wind technology,co creation,environmental impact,market analysis,social acceptance,regulations
Impact Of The Gut Microbiota On Host Cells Energy Metabolism: Role In Health And In Inflammatory bowel disease (ENERGISED)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator 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: France
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2021-COG, 2021)
Start date: 2022-09-01
End date: 2027-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999265.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999265.0
Participants: 3
Project status: SIGNED

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, are immune-related disorders characterized by inappropriate gut inflammation. Their incidence has increased dramatically in Western countries in recent decades, supporting a role for environmental factors. Despite the development of new treatments, IBD are insufficiently controlled in a large proportion of patients, inducing an alteration in quality of life and a socioeconomic burden. A better understanding of the pathogenesis and identification of new therapeutic targets are therefore urgently needed. In this context, the gut microbiota has been recognized as a strong actor in IBD. Additionally, an alteration in intestinal and immune cell energy metabolism has been suggested in the pathogenesis. Classical host-microbe interaction concepts rely on the recognition of conserved microbial motifs by innate immunity sensors or on the action of microbial molecules on a host cell receptor. However, energy metabolism plays a crucial role in mounting the appropriate cellular response, and emerging data indicate that the gut microbiota may directly affect it. I hypothesize that the altered gut microbiota in IBD contributes to the impairment of host cell energy metabolism and pathogenesis. The aims of ENERGISED are to (i) identify the microorganisms and microbiota-derived metabolites impacting host cell energy metabolism and the mechanisms involved and (ii) decipher the consequences of gut microbiota alterations on host cell energy metabolism in IBD and design new microbiota-based therapeutic strategies to manipulate the host cell energy state in IBD. This challenging project involves multidisciplinary aspects from microbiology to immunology, metabolism, and medicine; the use of multiple cutting-edge technologies; and translational analysis from mice to humans. In addition to its scientific importance, it will have societal impacts due to the identification of new therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: microbiome,cellular energy metabolism,inflammatory bowel disease
Pioneering Sustainable CRM Recovery in European Mining (OPTIMINER)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Digital, Industry and Space
Theme: Industry
Destination: Increased Autonomy in Key Strategic Value Chains for Resilient Industry
Action type: Innovation actions
Countries involved: Greece,Chile,Spain,Austria,Belgium,Poland,Finland,Germany
Call: Technologies for processing and refining of critical raw materials (IA) (HORIZON-CL4-2024-RESILIENCE-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-01-01
End date: 2028-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 8384301.25
EU funding (EUR): 7298956.75
Participants: 21
Project status: SIGNED

The problem addressed by the OPTIMINER project is multi-faceted and significant in the European context. Europe's mining industry is grappling with the pressing need to efficiently and sustainably recover CRMs from increasingly complex and low-grade ores. OPTIMINER offers a comprehensive solution to Europe's mining challenges, encompassing five Key Exploitable Results (KERs). REMINER focuses on advanced technologies for efficient CRM recovery. These include smart ore sorters, membrane-based hydrometallurgical processes, bioleaching, and phytomining. They will comprise a marketplace of technologies that will be offered to the extractive industry through an innovative AI-enabled CRM Recovery Selector. DIGIMINER offers a digital platform for smart monitoring and control. It is enhanced with a Decision Support System and an NLP-based digital assistant, the Virtual Miner. Moreover, Digital Twins of the recovery pilot plants will be created to optimise productivity and provide with simulation capacities. ECOMINER delivers services enhancing sustainability and resilience. It boosts resource management and efficiency by designing a toolkit to optimise energy, water usage and waste valorisation, along with strategies for toxicity management and LCA. Financial sustainability is tackled by using an AI-enabled Market Observatory system to provide knowledge support and resilience to the end user. DEMOMINER showcases pilot lines for CRM recovery across different materials and geographical locations. Specifically, we are proposing 6 use cases in Spain, Greece, Poland, Finland and Chile, while focusing on CRM recovery, namely magnesium, tungsten, REE (esp. Neodymium), Copper, Cobalt and Coking Coal. GLOBEMINER promotes increased awareness and market uptake, highlighting the strategic EU-Chile strategic cooperation. Together, these components form an integrated approach to revolutionize CRM recovery, ensuring environmental sustainability and operational efficiency.

Keywords: crm recovery,digital twins,sustainability,waste valorisation,energy efficiency,toxicity management
chelOMICS: Application of multi-OMICS approaches to provide a holistic understanding of siderophore mediated host-pathogen interactions and new diagnostic options for aquaculture fish infections (chelOMICS)

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,Germany,Australia
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01, 2021)
Start date: 2022-09-16
End date: 2024-09-15
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 181152.96
EU funding (EUR): 181152.96
Participants: 3
Project status: CLOSED

Outbreaks of bacterial diseases pose a persistent challenge to fish farming around the world causing significant economic loss. To improve efficiency, safety, and sustainability of aquaculture new health monitoring and rapid disease diagnostics approaches are required. Here, we propose an ambitious multidisciplinary project that implements modern multi-omics tools, in particular metabolomics and metagenomics, to provide a holistic understanding of host-pathogen interactions in farmed fish in the context of three major bacterial diseases; vibriosis, photobacteriosis, and furunculosis. This project will focus specifically on the metabolome of siderophores, iron chelating microbial metabolites that are key virulence factors during infection, and their use as biomarkers for early disease diagnostics. In nature, microorganisms exist in diverse communities and therefore infections can be caused by a combination of species yet the involvement of co-species in disease progression is poorly understood and represents a great diagnostic challenge. I have gained extensive skills in metabolomics through my PhD in Australia and postdoctoral experience in Germany. This project will enable me to go one step further; I will use different bioinformatic tools as well as imaging analytical chemistry (MALDI-IMS) approaches to integrate metabolomics and microbiome data and answer important ecological questions in aquaculture. I am highly motivated to take on this new challenge and acquire new scientific and transferable skills, which will strengthen my profile as an independent researcher and increase my opportunities for a permanent position after the fellowship.

Keywords: siderophores,multi omics,aquaculture diseases,disease diagnostics,holobiont concept
Cultivating Leaders for Innovative Coatings and Additive Manufacturing Applications (CLiCAM)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area
Programme: Widening participation and spreading excellence
Theme: Attracting and mobilising the best talents
Destination: Attracting and mobilising the best talents
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Slovakia,Czechia,Poland,Austria,Germany,France
Call: Fostering balanced brain circulation – ERA Talents (HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-TALENTS-03, 2022)
Start date: 2023-09-01
End date: 2027-08-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1998125.0
EU funding (EUR): 1998125.0
Participants: 11
Project status: SIGNED

Too often, great research ideas as well as talented researchers from Europe are acquired by non-European players who turn them into impactful innovations whose economic benefits are realized outside the EU. In addition, the innovation divide between the widening countries and the other member states persists (patent applications per million inhabitants not reaching 15% of the EU benchmark). The problem of the inability to transform the potential of basic research into the development of commercially viable innovations thus becomes a serious obstacle for the sustainable economic development of countries such as the Czechia, Poland, and Slovakia. In response, the CLiCAM project will cultivate participating ERA talents into leaders who will make innovation happen through intersectoral collaboration. The innovation leadership provided by ERA talents shall transform participating research organisations from widening countries into innovation beacons turning basic research into sustainable prosperity in fields of coatings and additive manufacturing. In doing so, the project will create an R&I ecosystem contributing to the development of relevant key enabling technologies across three domains critical for Europe’s technological sovereignty: advanced manufacturing, advanced materials, and life-science technologies. The actions of the consortium will concern three pillars of innovation: (i) people – cross-sector secondments and Innovation Leadership training, ii) processes – reintegration actions and benchmarking initiative, iii) infrastructure – two virtual test bed ecosystems for better use of existing research facilities. The long-term impact will be to strengthen human capital base in R&I (qualified personnel for impactful innovation), initiate technology transfer activities (patent applications, licensing transactions, contractual research) and generate future R&D investments (intersectoral research projects, virtual test bed ecosystems, spin-offs).

Keywords: intersectoral secondments,innovation leadership program,virtual test beds,coatings,additive manufacturing