Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Scalable Microbial Metabolite Discovery Through Synthetic Biology (MeDiSyn)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting 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: France
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2023-STG, 2023)
Start date: 2024-01-01
End date: 2028-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1490250.0
EU funding (EUR): 1490250.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The discoveries of microbial secondary metabolites (SM) led to an incalculable impact on human health and lifespan. A large share of the antibiotics, anticancers and immunosuppressants in use today originate from microorganisms. However, discoveries of SMs of microbial origin through traditional approaches have declined in the past decades, depriving drug pipelines from a key source of bioactive molecules. The consequences are dire, in particular in the case of antibiotics. Encouragingly, the study of the biosynthetic genes responsible for the synthesis of SMs indicates that the natural repertoire remains vastly underexplored, and new ways to access it are enabled by DNA technologies. In particular, untapped biosynthetic genes can be interrogated by transferring them into heterologous hosts. I am developing a method for transfer which fulfils the conditions to unleash theoretically massive economies of scale. Here I propose to multiply the scalability of the current heterologous expression framework and effectively overcome the diminishing returns faced by traditional approaches. In the first axis, I will implement a full-fledged discovery platform, optimized to systematically interrogate novel biosynthetic gene clusters identified bioinformatically from a large collection of soil bacteria. Second, the scale and parallel nature of the heterologous expression setup will be used to better understand the logic of activation of biosynthetic genes, and identify optimal ways to increase activation rates among the large reservoir of conditionally silent biosynthetic genes. Finally, the general strategy will be extended to new fungal and bacterial clades to enable interrogation of their vast potential through scalable heterologous expression. Overall, this proposal aims at developing heterologous expression into a major way to discover microbial secondary metabolites and drug leads.

Keywords: natural products,specialized metabolites,drug discovery,antibiotics,sequencing
Novel Integrated Approach for Assembly Analysis of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins at High Resolution (IDP Assembly)

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: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Denmark
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-08-01
End date: 2025-07-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 214934.4
EU funding (EUR): 214934.4
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Protein aggregation hallmarks several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. In Parkinson's, aggregation of the intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) alpha-synuclein (αSyn) leads to its intracellular deposition into Lewy bodies, which causes neuronal dysfunction. Recently it was discovered that αSyn can undergo liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), whereby a protein solution spontaneously separates into a dense and a dilute phase. This process is initially reversible, but the high concentrations of the dense phase strongly favor the aggregation of αSyn into amyloid fibrils. Structural characterization of the transient αSyn conformations during LLPS and amyloid formation is therefore crucial for understanding the disease pathology on the molecular level. This project aims to develop a novel experimental concept for the high-resolution conformational analysis of αSyn assembly and aggregation using scanning mutagenesis combined with cutting-edge high-throughput biophysical techniques and computational analysis. The core idea is to apply multiple biophysical assays to quantify the effects of hundreds of αSyn mutations on the kinetics and thermodynamics of LLPS and amyloid formation. The resulting multidimensional experimental datasets will be processed within the phi-value analysis framework originally derived for protein folding and combined with molecular dynamics simulations. The integrated methodology will allow gaining important structural and mechanistic insights into the early-aggregation events of αSyn at a single amino acid level of resolution. The project includes extensive training to enhance my scientific skills in modern experimental and computational methods. The proposed strategy is widely applicable to other IDP systems that can undergo LLPS and aggregation and paves the way for the design of rational and precisely tailored intervention strategies against the diseases associated with these phenomena.

Keywords: amyloid,synuclein,phase separation,fibril,phi value analysis,thermodynamics,kinetics,intrinsically disordered proteins,aggregation,self assembly
GREEN TALENT – Building Capacity and Partnerships for Systemic Solutions to the Climate and Biodiversity Crises (GREEN TALENT)

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: Malta,Italy,Germany,Ireland,Finland,Bulgaria,Greece,Cyprus,United States,Belgium
Call: ERA Talents (HORIZON-WIDERA-2024-TALENTS-03, 2024)
Start date: 2025-06-01
End date: 2029-05-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2995850.0
EU funding (EUR): 2995850.0
Participants: 17
Project status: SIGNED

GREEN TALENT addresses gaps in knowledge, skills and competences in research and innovation (R&I) in 4 Widening Countries, supporting the green transition by contributing to halting biodiversity loss and advancing climate mitigation and adaptation through capacity-building, networking and knowledge exchange in four demonstration hubs. Academic and SME partners in each Widening Country provide expertise, support secondments, establish demonstration hubs, and connect to international R&I. Non-Widening partners catalyse GREEN TALENT by enhancing capacity-building, international cooperation, and joint R&I outcomes. GREEN TALENT develops 5 open-access (OA) training modules on R&I support, covering themes such as grant management, communication, entrepreneurship, and intellectual property rights. Additionally, 5 interdisciplinary OA modules focus on nature-based and integrative solutions that address the biodiversity-climate nexus. A programme of 45 secondments is established, providing R&I talents with hands-on learning through job shadowing, peer mentoring, workshops, and networking events. Personalised career plans and comprehensive reintegration strategies ensure secondees’ professional development, enabling them to apply their newly acquired skills within their home organisations. Ongoing follow-up and assessment guarantee the continued use and refinement of these competencies. The 4 Demonstration Pilots in Widening Countries deliver practical, scalable solutions to climate and biodiversity challenges, acting as collaboration hubs between academic and non-academic sectors. These hubs provide secondees with real-world experience and foster partnerships across sectors. All training materials are openly accessible via the GREEN TALENT Capacity-Building Platform, which also shares case-studies of best practices of cross-sectoral R&I, facilitates knowledge exchange and development, and includes an Exchange Forum furthering interdisciplinary dialogue and peer learning.

Keywords: biodiversity climate capacity building,secondments,training
Molecular-Layer-Engineered Artificial Synapses for Ultralow-Energy Computing (MoleSynap)

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: Italy,Belgium
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2026-07-01
End date: 2028-06-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 193643.28
EU funding (EUR): 193643.28
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Although the rise of artificial intelligence technology greatly benefits our life by improving work productivity, the increasingly high energy consumption required to operate these software programs to cope with huge computational tasks becomes a serious issue. This is mainly due to inefficient data transport between separated memory and computing units (von Neumann bottleneck) in traditional computers. To minimize energy cost while maintaining computing power, this MSCA-PF research project - MoleSynap - aims to design brain-inspired electronic devices. Specifically, MoleSynap will fabricate artificial synapses by emulating biological synapses. These artificial synaptic devices will be designed in three-terminal transistor configuration (synaptic transistors), given their excellent regulation of charge carrier flow during device operation. Current organic polymer-based synaptic transistors suffer from the decreasing long-term device accuracy and high device-to-device variations, mainly due to nonperfect active-layers thin-films prepared by traditional solution-based wet methods. In this regard, MoleSynap will go beyond the current state-of-the-art on two different levels: (1) employ emerging two-dimensional coordination polymers and ionogel electrolytes as active-layer materials for improving synaptic characteristics, and (2) develop all-dry solvent-free thin-film deposition technology to fabricate active-layer thin-films with high precision and consistency. Overall, MoleSynap aims to significantly advance the field in developing organic synaptic devices for low-energy-cost computing. Moreover, MoleSynap will lay the strong foundation for building my own research group, and fulfill my long term scientific goal of bridging basic science (fundamental polymer physics) and applied science (polymer electronics devices) in polymer materials to promote environmental sustainability.

Keywords: neuromorphic hardware,hardware neural network,organic electrochemical transistor,2d c mof,ionogel,artificial synapses,high vacuum thin film deposition,ald,mld,icvd
Democratic Roles of Universities (DRU): Practicing Democratic Values in Science, Education, Civic Engagement and Governance (DRU)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Staff Exchanges
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Social Sciences and Humanities
Countries involved: Portugal,France,Italy,Hungary,Australia,South Africa,Denmark,Germany,Belgium
Call: MSCA Staff Exchanges 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-SE-01, 2024)
Start date: 2026-02-01
End date: 2030-01-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1593180.0
EU funding (EUR): 1593180.0
Participants: 16
Project status: SIGNED

DRU’s objective is to find new ways that universities can strengthen the democratic fabric of society. The European Commission and Parliament see democracy - the cultural ‘glue’ that holds Europe together - under threat. The European Education Area and especially higher education institutions are tasked with connecting to their communities, being inclusive of students from disadvantaged and migrant backgrounds, and sustaining democratic values in everyday life. Democratic backsliding is not peculiar to Europe. DRU engages in mutual learning about universities fostering democracy in South Africa’s post-apartheid rainbow nation and Australia’s move to a post-colonial era. DRU’s consortium is from north, south, east, and west Europe, South Africa, and Australia. It consists of ten different kinds of universities and six non-academic organisations, all committed to collaborating in activities to enhance democracy spanning from community action to international policy making. DRU has the cross-disciplinary, cross-sectoral and international expertise to critically examine existing knowledge about universities and democracy. We break the issue into five constituent parts. Three are practical ways universities, academics and students engage with their local communities through research and civic action and create a thriving educational environment for refugees and all students. Two address how these practices are fostered or hindered by institutional frameworks and systems of governance. DRU designs experiments and case studies to test alternatives. DRU’s ‘whole system’ approach connects policy and governance priorities at the ‘top’ of the system to the conditions for embedding democratic practice in the everyday life of institutional members and citizens. Its practical results will be disseminated as toolkits, trainings and policy briefings to students, academics, stakeholders, leaders and policy makers to transform universities’ impact on democratic society.

Keywords: universities citizen science civic engagement
New Light On Dark Matter (NLO-DM)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Panel description: Particle, nuclear, plasma, atomic, molecular, gas, and optical physics
Countries involved: Austria
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2021-COG, 2021)
Start date: 2023-02-01
End date: 2028-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1991908.75
EU funding (EUR): 1991908.75
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Collisions of dark matter (DM) particles with nuclei or with themselves can be accompanied by the prompt production of (dark) Bremsstrahlung quanta or, in matter, by the emission of electrons. The latter is called the Migdal effect, and the former adds a dissipative process to DM self-interactions. Focusing on light, sub-GeV DM candidates, we will advance two fields of central interest to the particle physics community: the direct detection of DM in the laboratory and the DM-assisted formation of structure in the Universe. The first goal is to put recent ideas of prompt photon and electron production in DM-nuclear scattering on firm and undisputable grounds. We do so by new detailed theoretical calculations for the target compounds of direct detection experiments and by devising experimental verification schemes through Standard Model analogs. The results will pioneer how we understand signal formation in DM searches and clarify the reach of state-of-the-art and future DM direct detection experiments. The second goal is to give self-interacting DM with dissipative channels an exact theory embedding. We will provide a new formulation of the Bremsstrahlung process that is exact to all orders in the colliding particle-pair interaction and spans all kinematic situations: soft- and hard-emission, quantum, and semi-classical. The results will apply broadly: from the Standard Model, to particle dark matter, to primordial black hole relics. Astrophysical implications and observational signatures will be established. The findings of these works will increase our chances of discovering DM in the laboratory and the skies and bring us closer in our quest to unravel its non-gravitational nature.

Keywords: dark matter direct detection,sub gev dark matter,dissipative dark matter,bremsstrahlung
The role of human thalamus in selective attention via novel denoising applied to magnetoencephalography (ThalamicAttention)

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: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Denmark
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): 230774.4
EU funding (EUR): 230774.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The project examines the role of the thalamus in attention gain modulation by recording brain signal in response to rhythmic auditory and visual stimulation with non-invasive magnetoencephalography. The thalamus is a critical early structure modulating attention gain in the auditory and visual stream. However, underlying mechanisms are poorly understood not least because thalamic processes are extremely difficult to capture with non-invasive electrophysiological methods. Therefore, this project incorporates a significant methods development element to improve source localization to obtain superior signals especially from deep sources. I will employ fast rhythmic stimulation in a dual visual-auditory paradigm to track attention modulation especially in the thalamus, but also in early sensory areas like the retina and the early visual and auditory cortices. While thalamic impact on attention modulation within a modality is thought to be weak, I hypothesize that its structure and place within early sensory processing make it a prime candidate for selective attention modulation between different modalities - when attention selection can happen in very early processing stages. Results from this project will allow better understanding of how selective attention modulates and thus filters information across the visual stream in a more realistic multi-modal setting. In addition, the development of an improved source localization pipeline will help tap into deep cortical sources in particular and provide better source localization of non-invasive electrophysiological signals in general. Therefore, it will benefit non-invasive cognitive neuroscience (e.g. hippocampal activity), nad also clinical research (e.g. epileptic seizure zone detection). Finally, this project will provide me with exceptional means to learn from world-leading scientists at Aarhus University and the University of Lubeck and thus form an important steppingstone towards becoming an independent scientist.

Keywords: magnetoencephalography,attention,neuronal oscillations,visual processing,auditory processing,source localization,beamforming,volume conduction model
Sustainable Thermoelectric Generators for Low-Power Applications (SUSTEG)

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: Belgium,Sweden
Call: ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS (ERC-2025-POC, 2025)
Start date: 2026-02-01
End date: 2027-07-31
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 156428.57
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

The Internet of Things (IoT), where everyday objects sense their environment and communicate with each other, is a key drive of digitalization expected to make our society safer, more sustainable, and more competitive. The full deployment of the IoT requires sustainable and long-lasting energy solutions to minimize e-waste. Thermoelectrics (TEs) can convert the ubiquitous waste heat into electricity and could complement or even replace batteries to meet the renewable energy needs of IoT nodes. However, commercially available TEs are expensive, rely on raw critical materials, and present a limiting form factor (small, rigid, and flat) preventing their application on curved and dynamic surfaces. This research proposes the development of cost-effective and sustainable flexible TEs to power IoT devices. The devices will involve exclusively environmentally friendly materials, namely conducting polymers dissolved in non-toxic solvents, along with a compostable substrate to minimize e-waste. Fabrication will be carried out using brush and inkjet printing, performed at ambient conditions and temperatures below 150 °C. The process flow will be limited to 5-6 simple steps, avoiding post-treatment with harmful chemicals or energy-intensive procedures. Despite their minimalistic processing, the devices performance will be comparable to the state-of-the-art organic TE generators. They will generate a ~ 100 nW/cm^2 from a temperature difference of 20 K, a condition easily met in daily life scenarios such as contact with a wall heater, proximity to a motor, or mounted on human or pets skin. This power density over surface areas of a few cm^2 is sufficient to operate low-power IoT edge devices like low-sense rate accelerometers, pacemakers, RFID tags, thermometers, or light sensors.
International Conference on Research Infrastructures (ICRI) 2022 in Brno (ICRI 2022)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Research infrastructures
Theme: Research infrastructures
Destination: Other destinations
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Czechia
Call: International Conference on Research Infrastructures – ICRI 2022 (HORIZON-INFRA-2021-ICRI-IBA, 2021)
Start date: 2021-07-01
End date: 2022-12-31
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 300000.0
EU funding (EUR): 300000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

International Conference on Research Infrastructures (ICRI) is a major event bringing together policy experts, facility managers, leading researchers and a variety of other stakeholders to discuss challenges and emerging trends for research infrastructures (RIs) in the global context. The aim of the project is to facilitate the organization of ICRI 2022 conference in Brno, Czech Republic, in October 2022. The conference will be co-organized by Masaryk University (MU), the second largest Czech university, Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC), interdisciplinary centre of excellence co-hosted by MU and 5 more Brno universities and research institutes, the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MEYS) and the European Commission. The objectives of the conference are: 1. To explore the role of research infrastructures in tackling current and future societal challenges, e.g. that of post-COVID recovery and international collaboration. 2. To explore organizational models and operational systems of research infrastructures, e.g. concerning data management, integration of smaller sized facilities, promotion or impact assessment. 3. To allow community building in the area of research infrastructure policies and management. 4. To promote the stories of host country, region, city and institution as dynamically developing areas fuelled by research infrastructures. 5. To promote science and technology as the driver of societal and economic progress among general public, highlighting the role of research infrastructures. Improved policy and management in the area of research infrastructures may have widespread impact across regional economies and may significantly contribute to tackling global challenges. ICRI 2022 will facilitate sharing of knowledge and spreading of best practice on how to efficiently organize RIs.

Keywords: research infrastructures,international cooperation,randi policy