Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
A leaky evidence accumulation process (LEAP) for consciousness (LEAP)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: The Human Mind and Its Compl exity
Panel description: Cognitive science, psychology, linguistics
Countries involved: France
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2022-STG, 2022)
Start date: 2023-10-01
End date: 2028-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1496524.0
EU funding (EUR): 1496524.0
Participants: 4
Project status: SIGNED

How we consciously experience the world remains a mystery in science. To tackle this problem, scientific works on perceptual consciousness contrast brain activity when participants consciously perceive a stimulus versus when they are unaware of it. To report stimulus awareness, participants need to make decisions. However, the extent to which the well-studied mechanisms of decision-making apply to consciousness is unclear. One possible reason is that standard neuroimaging methods lack the sensitivity to observe whether the mechanisms of decision-making also operate in the absence of task relevance, as when participants become conscious of a stimulus irrespective of any task. In this project, I will test the hypothesis that a mechanism of decision-making –evidence accumulation– explains how perceptual consciousness unfolds over time. First, I will develop a computational model of a latent evidence accumulation process (LEAP) and test it on behavioral measures of phenomenal aspects of perceptual experience: its duration and intensity. Second, I will search for single neuron activity in humans that instantiates evidence accumulation and test whether it also determines these phenomenal aspects of perceptual experience. Third, I will stimulate the corresponding brain regions to disentangle their causal role in either solely triggering perceptual experience or shaping it. Last, I will use the LEAP model to explain hallucinatory-like experiences in patients with Parkinson's disease and test whether deep-brain stimulation affects only decision-making –as previously shown– or also perceptual experience. By combining computational modeling and cutting-edge electrophysiology, the LEAP project will provide unique mechanistic insights on how neuronal activity determines perceptual experience and guides its temporal dynamics. It will also provide a tool to better understand hallucinations, which remain today a major debilitating symptom in numerous psychiatric disorders.

Keywords: consciousness,perception,human,electrophysiology,neuron,model
Deciphering host-microbiome interactions in anti-cancer immunity (MICROBIOGUARD)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting 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: United Kingdom
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2024-STG, 2024)
Start date: 2024-10-01
End date: 2029-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2186133.0
EU funding (EUR): 2186133.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Despite unprecedented clinical success, T cell-based immunotherapies present significant heterogeneity in response rates, often attributed to dampened activation and limited tumour infiltration of CD8+ T cells. Studies in mice and humans have shown that gut commensals can modulate anti-cancer immune responses dictating the efficacy of immunotherapy, but have failed to identify species that are consistently associated with improved patient prognosis. I recently made a breakthrough in our efforts to understand the host determinants that define microbiome-dependent cancer immunity. I discovered that a single micronutrient, vitamin D (vitD), enhances the ability of the gut microbiome to induce potent T cell-mediated immunity to cancer, dictating immunotherapy success in pre-clinical models. Unlike any other study, I found that vitD modulates the function of the microbiome without significantly affecting its composition, diverging from a species-centric view of the microbiome to focusing on key host-microbiome interactions regulated by nutrient availability. MICROBIOGUARD attempts to systematically dissect the multidirectional gut-immune-cancer axis. We first address a key question in the field: what defines a ‘good’ microbiome that promotes immunity to cancer? Aim 1 of this proposal will dissect the mechanisms by which vitD transforms the function of the gut microbiome with a focus on identification of microbial-derived bioactive molecules. We will then assess how these altered microbial functions interact with host cells bidirectionally to shape anti-cancer immunity (Aims 1/2). We will broaden our findings and determine how vitD-microbiome-immune interactions impact cancer development. Finally, we will investigate if vitD enables human microbiome to augment immunotherapy response (Aim 3). Collectively, MICROBIOGUARD provides an unmatched opportunity to identify non-redundant microbiome-immune checkpoints that can be targeted to overcome immunotherapy resistance.

Keywords: host microbiome interactions,cancer immunology,diet,vitamin d,immunotherapy
sUstainable PlastiC biorefinerY for reCyclable and biodegradabLE packaging (UPCYCLE)

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: Denmark,Spain,Türkiye,Belgium,Croatia,Germany,Ireland,Austria,Sweden,France
Call: Biodegradable polymers for sustainable packaging materials (IA) (HORIZON-CL4-2024-RESILIENCE-01-TWO-STAGE, 2024)
Start date: 2025-09-01
End date: 2029-08-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 8551956.25
EU funding (EUR): 7947739.76
Participants: 19
Project status: SIGNED

UPCYCLE aims to demonstrate novel circular value chains that transform currently non-recyclable mixed plastic waste into biodegradable and recyclable materials for packaging applications. Building on the promising results of the H2020 UPLIFT project, UPCYCLE addresses specific scalability hotspots to reach economic viability. The project scales up its novel plastic biorefinery and ecopolymers with a strategy that leverages: (1) A Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design framework to ensure safety (i.e., non-toxic materials), a reduction in GHG emissions (-30%), and economic viability (<40% selling price); (2) AI-powered fast-track innovation for process intensification; (3) A versatile biorefinery process to valorise mixed plastic waste (both fossil- and bio-based) and secondary biomass residues; (4) A smart polymerisation and formulation strategy using bio-based, degradable additives to tune biodegradability and enhance technical performance for four selected packaging use cases. Leveraging a multidisciplinary consortium of top-tier academic institutions and industry leaders, UPCYCLE is poised to create significant impact in the packaging industry. UPCYCLE’s ecopolymers, derived from plastic and biomass waste streams, promote a viable circular business model for European recyclers, polymer processors, compounders, and packaging producers. Moreover, our strategy demonstrates how renewable and upcycled building blocks and additives can be blended into commercially available polymers to delivers novel PHA-, PLA- and Furan-based packaging formulations, to successfully modulate degradability and technical performance, based on the application. By providing the tools to improve properties and economic viability of polymers systems that are already in the market, we provide a fast-track pathway towards impact.

Keywords: environmental biotechnology,biodegradation,upcycling,plastic waste,depolymerization,enzymes,eco design,biorefinery,end of life,polymer,packaging
Artificial Intelligence for Conflict Analysis and Prediction (AICAP)

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: Ireland
Call: ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS (ERC-2025-POC, 2025)
Start date: 2026-07-01
End date: 2027-12-31
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

AICAP (Artificial Intelligence for Conflict Analysis and Prediction) aims to revolutionize conflict prediction and risk estimation by turning fundamental ideas into practical tools. Leveraging advanced AI and multi-scale temporal pattern analysis, AICAP intends to create a predictive model outperforming existing methods in forecasting conflict escalation and risk. The project's objectives are to: (1) identify and analyze patterns driving conflict escalation across time scales and regions, (2) create an AI-driven predictive model incorporating temporal and cross-regional analysis, and (3) develop practical tools and user interfaces, such as interactive dashboards for a wide range of users. Our multidisciplinary team of experts in conflict studies, AI, and data science will partner up with market analysts, business developers and IPR specialists to ensure the project's success. AICAP's value proposition lies in translating cutting-edge research into tangible, actionable insights for governments, companies, NGOs, and media corporations. Applications include early warning systems for governments, enabling proactive diplomacy and strategic resource allocation; targeted interventions for NGOs, optimizing humanitarian aid and conflict resolution efforts; political risk assessment for insurance companies, enhancing risk modeling and pricing strategies; informed investment decisions for multinational corporations, minimizing exposure to geopolitical uncertainty; and data-driven reporting for media corporations, delivering insightful, accurate, and timely conflict analysis to inform public discourse and decision-making.

Keywords: artificial intelligence conflict prediction risk assessment early warning systems temporal pattern analysis machine learning forecasting political risk
Audio simulation technology to make any product and services accessible for the blind and visually impaired (BlindLook)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: European innovation ecosystems
Theme: Elevating the scalability potential of European business
Destination: Elevating the scalability potential of European business
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Türkiye
Call: Women TechEU (HORIZON-EIE-2022-SCALEUP-02, 2022)
Start date: 2023-08-01
End date: 2024-04-30
Duration (months): 9.0
Total project cost (EUR): 107142.86
EU funding (EUR): 75000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Thirty million blind and partially sighted persons live in Europe, a number that it is much larger than the combined populations of Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, and Portugal. 4 in every 100 people are visually impaired, staying out of society not because they can't see, but because the way we design life is obstructive and not blind or visually impaired friendly. Our goal is to create a 100% audio-oriented, accessible and independent living space for 30 million blind and partially sighted persons living in Europe in this 80% vision-oriented world. To design an audio-focused layout where they can blend into life on their own in all areas from banking, e-Commerce, technology, to home life. To ensure that they can use every product and service they want to use with an advanced voice guidance. BlindLook is a social enterprise founded by freedom loving Sadriye Görece and serial entrepreneur Cihat Ersin Aydın. BlindLook is a freedom technologies company focused on inclusive transformation for the brands and blind people. We’ve also created EyeBrand, the first and only transformative inclusive certificate developed for companies for blind and visually impaired customers. We are creating a 100% audio-oriented world for the blind. BlindLook provides audio guidance with Audio Simulation Technology for the visually impaired product or service to be used. Our Audio Simulation technology includes analysis of product usage experience, audio mapping with voice prompts, integration with existing screen reader programs (Voiceover, Talkback, Jaws). We strengthen this audible world we have created with our technological infrastructure. Audio Simulation is the Audio mapping technology we developed so blind and visually impaired consumers can use every product and service offered, independently, without needing help.

Keywords: visually impaired audio description social inclusion audio guidance audio simulation technology
Enhanced Biomass Valorisation by Engineering of Polyoxometalate Catalysts (BioValCat)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Products and Processes Engineering
Panel description: Product and process design, chemical, civil, environmental, mechanical, vehicle engineering, energy processes and relevant computational methods
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2022-COG, 2022)
Start date: 2023-09-01
End date: 2028-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1996625.0
EU funding (EUR): 1996625.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

This project builds on a recent and ground-breaking discovery of the PI in the field of homogeneously catalysed, selective biomass valorisation. Materials technologies that promise improved catalytic performance are of utmost interest for a more sustainable chemical industry. Manipulating molecular catalysts like polyoxometalates (POM) in solution by tuning the solvent properties and gas atmospheres introduces a new paradigm in homogeneous-catalysed biomass valorisation technologies. It has been found that by using methanol as a (co)solvent, POM catalysts can completely suppress undesired total oxidation to CO2 under oxidative conditions. This drastically enhances the carbon efficiency from biomass to close to 100% yield. Remarkably, this manipulating effect could be explained with the formation of a new vanadyl-methanolate-complex in methanol-aqueous solutions having a methanol content of at least 10%. The proposed BioValCat project aims for developing this potentially disruptive technology towards an industrial viable biomass valorisation process by laying the foundations for a scalable, safe and economic process for the oxidation of biomass to valuable carboxylic acid esters. The project is structured according to the key challenges that have to be mastered in order to achieve this ambitious goal: a) Investigations to identify the nature of the POM-solvent interactions; b) Understanding and revealing the key organic mechanisms in solution; c) Development of novel POM catalysts specifically optimised to perform in aqueous-alcoholic solvent mixtures; d) Extension of the substrate and product scope to industrially viable biomass feedstock; e) Process development, with special emphasis on safety aspects, process intensification as well as product isolation and catalyst recovery. With the proposed project the PI aims for paving the scientific route to novel, low-cost biomass utilisation technologies with great promise for decentralised valorisation of biogenic waste.

Keywords: homogeneous catalysis,biomass valorisation,selective biomass oxidation,catalyst engineering,tailoring polyoxometalate catalysts
Coordination of mouse embryogenesis in space and time at implantation (COORDINATION)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and R egeneration
Panel description: For all organisms : Structure and function of the cell, cell -cell communication, embryogenesis, tissue differentiation, organogenesis, growth, development, evolution of development, organoids, stem cells, regeneration, therapeutic approaches
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: ERC ADVANCED GRANTS (ERC-2021-ADG, 2021)
Start date: 2023-03-01
End date: 2028-02-29
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3163750.0
EU funding (EUR): 3163750.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Self-organisation is a defining feature of living systems and entails complex interplay between multiple parameters across various spatio-temporal scales. Using pre-implantation mouse embryos as a model system, our studies revealed a principle of regulative development, in which feedback between cell fate, polarity and mechanics ensures robust control of embryo size, shape and pattern. However, as embryos undergo implantation, this self-organisation mechanism has to be integrated in its spatio-temporal context. In this project, we aim to understand how developmental mechanisms are coordinated in space and time. The peri-implantation mouse embryo is an attractive system in which to study this coordination, as it begins to interact with uterine tissues, marks a key transition in morphogenesis, cell cycle and growth, and exhibits a remarkable capacity for size regulation. We recently developed an ex vivo 3D culture, engineered uterus and light-sheet microscopy to recapitulate morphogenesis and embryo-uterus interactions, and analyse changes in cell shape, fate, polarity and mechanics. Using these new methods, we aim to mechanistically understand the transformation from blastocyst to egg cylinder as embryonic-extraembryonic tissues interact. We will use embryo size control as a paradigm to study the coordination of developmental programmes in space and time. At the cellular level, we will identify what triggers the transition from cleavage to proliferative cell cycle – mammalian mid-blastula transition. At the embryonic level, we aim to understand how animal size is sensed and changes the temporal progression of development. Finally, we will investigate the role of embryo-uterus interactions in embryo morphogenesis and positioning within the uterus. The bottom-up engineering approaches will be complemented by top-down intravital microscopy to monitor embryogenesis in utero. Together, this project will bring mammalian developmental biology into a new stage.

Keywords: self organisation,morphogenesis,pattern formation,size control,timing,mouse development,cell polarity,differentiation,microscopy,cell and tissue mechanics,modelling
Optimizing music-based rehabilitation for post-stroke aphasia (OPTIMUS)

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: Finland
Call: ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS (ERC-2024-POC, 2024)
Start date: 2025-08-01
End date: 2027-01-31
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Aphasia causes severe impairments in verbal communication, coupled with cognitive and motor deficits and depression, making it the most debilitating and socioeconomically burdening consequence of stroke. As our population ages and prevalence of stroke and associated care costs increase, persons with aphasia (PWA) often do not receive sufficient rehabilitation in public health care. Effective remote rehabilitation applications are urgently needed to ensure comprehensive and cost-effective aphasia care. PWA often retain the ability to produce words through singing, and rehabilitation methods using music and singing are promising tools for enhancing communication and psychosocial wellbeing in aphasia. However, there are currently no music-based remote rehabilitation applications available for PWA, which greatly limits the inclusion of music in aphasia care. In OPTIMUS, I will lead the development of a novel and innovative multicomponent music-based remote rehabilitation (MMRR) programme for aphasia and determine its usability, applicability, and effects, first through pilot experiments and engagement with stakeholders (PWA, patient associations, rehabilitation staff) and then in a 3-month feasibility randomized controlled trial in 30 PWA. Compared to existing aphasia rehabilitation methods, MMRR has the added value of being more (i) versatile, targeting verbal, cognitive, motor, and emotional functions through multiple musical training modules (singing, rhythm & movement, music listening); (ii) enjoyable and motivating, enabling better adherence to treatment protocol and larger training volumes; and (iii) widely scalable and easy to implement in stroke rehabilitation. OPTIMUS will have major scientific, clinical, and societal value and can lead to a breakthrough social innovation in aphasia treatment by providing a comprehensive music-based remote rehabilitation tool that can be made publicly available and integrated to the clinical stroke rehabilitation continuum.

Keywords: stroke,aphasia,music,singing,rhythm,remote rehabilitation,feasibility,randomized controlled trial
Inverse Design of Active Matter (IDAM)

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: Luxembourg
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-09-01
End date: 2025-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 175920.0
EU funding (EUR): 175920.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Active matter (AM) represents a fascinating class of non-equilibrium systems whereby continuous energy dissipation generates unique, dynamic behavior. For instance, when active systems like self-propelling particles (SPP) interact in large numbers they can spontaneously align and form collective phases resembling swarms or flocks of birds. In this project, we seek to inverse design (ID) i.e. to target and stabilize such spontaneous, collective phase transitions via the development of a novel ID framework. We will achieve this by combining recent developments in large deviation theory (LDT) and stochastic many-body optimization which allow us to discover and promote desired phase behavior in a general, systematic way. Chiefly, LDT allows us to exploit the natural tendencies of the system via the quantification of rare events linking the disordered to collective phase. Control forces can then be introduced and optimized to make such rare events typical. For example, in SPPs this would involve tuning torque parameters to stabilize flocking. We will apply this strategy to some representative AM models: i) deformable particle systems reproducing compression-waves in epithelium cells, and ii) field theories yielding arrested phase separation and fluid turbulence akin to those reported in assemblies of biological swimmers. We will further provide a unified picture of phase transition in AM by introducing and analyzing energetically consistent models using stochastic thermodynamics. Overall, the proposal presents an ambitious, interdisciplinary route to reveal novel strategies for ID in AM with technology implications in soft-matter systems, and to explore how energy consumption inevitably constrains the emergence of collective states in AM. This project thus combines the skills in AM from the host with the numerical and analytical experience from the fellow, setting a definitive path for the fellow to rise as an established independent researcher in statistical mechanics.

Keywords: non equilibrium systems active matter inverse design large deviation