Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
neurAl corRelate for the peRception of Others reWard (ARROW)

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: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Portugal,France
Call: ERA Fellowships (HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-TALENTS-02, 2023)
Start date: 2025-09-01
End date: 2027-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 156778.56
EU funding (EUR): 156778.56
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Perceiving what others feel is one of the most fascinating traits of humans, as social animals. It is believed that sharing emotions is critical to facilitate social coordination, empathic experiences, and prosocial behaviors. Over the past decade, thanks to a groundbreaking emergence of neuroscience tools it has been possible to explore brain activity systematically across humans, primates, and rodents in emotional transfer tasks. Up to date, studies have focused on the transfer of negative emotions such as pain, fear, and distress. Despite the importance of affiliative interactions and perception of positive emotional states from others in shaping how animals behave socially, it is surprising that the transfer of positive emotional states has been virtually unexplored. To fill this gap, I propose ARROW, where I will dissect the neural circuit mechanisms of the perception of others’ positive emotions using a recently developed vicarious reward task for rodents. I will ask how the perception of the rewarding states from conspecifics is implemented at the single neuron level in the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA), and modulated by long-range neuronal circuits (projections to and from the Anterior Cingulate Cortex). To address this aim, I will build on my previous in vivo electrophysiology skills and leverage on the state-of-the-art expertise of Dr. Márquez in studying social behaviors using quantitative approaches and neural circuit manipulations, and Dr. Charlet in dissecting neuron circuit functionality. This bold and innovative project is not simply incremental but will provide groundbreaking research on a fundamental brain function that is currently understudied. Finally, I will use this funding to catalyze my career as a future influential principal investigator, building the foundation for my future independent research aiming at how such neural mechanisms are impaired in disease.

Keywords: social neuroscience,reward,dopamine,transfer of emotions,rats,circuits
Silk fibroin tissue grafting for peripheral nerve repair (KLISBio)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Accelerator
Destination: Open to supporting projects in all areas of science, technology,...
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: Italy
Call: EIC Accelerator Open 2023 (HORIZON-EIC-2023-ACCELERATOR-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-07-01
End date: 2026-06-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3565000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2495500.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Peripheral nerve injury is a major source of disability, impairing muscle movement or normal sensations: 4Mn people annually experience traumatic nerve damage. Current solutions do not always achieve full motor and sensory recovery, leading to loss of sensation/function and pain, with a significant impact to patients’ lives. With 50% unsuccessful nerve repair procedures, patients require prolonged rehabilitation, and 30% of them experience permanent disability, producing a high socio-economic burden. KLISBio has developed SILKBridge, a novel cost-effective nerve guide made of silk fibroin for safe and efficient peripheral nerve repair. KLISBio’s solution, clinically tested with a first in human (FIH) study, supports and protects the regenerating nerve from compressive forces, restoring its function, and reducing pain without patient discomfort. SILKBridge enhances nerve healing without immune rejection nor fibrosis, reducing the costs of rehabilitation and prolonged surgeries.

Keywords: silk fibroin,electrospun fibers,peripheral nerve injury,off the shelf,neurosurgery,nerve conduit,suture,nerve regeneration,tensionless repair,tissue engineering,
A nano-matrix agrogel for eco-friendly farming and growing practices. (TOMGROWX)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Accelerator
Destination: Other destinations
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: Israel
Call: EIC Accelerator 2024 - Short application (HORIZON-EIC-2024-ACCELERATOR-01, 2024)
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

To combat the negative effects of traditional open- agriculture field (soil erosion, water overuse, GHG emissions), indoor farming has become more prevalent, representing a step towards sustainability and food security. Current solutions in indoor farming, while innovative and effective in many respects, still face significant limitations that hinder their scalability and sustainability. To overcome these hurdles, a breakthrough solution is key to tackle global challenges. TOMGROW is presenting TOMGROWX, a nano-matrix agrogel that is designed to transform indoor agriculture by serving as a complete soil replacement. The agrogel can transform agricultural practices in terms of resources, processes, and environmental footprint. Our innovation stands apart from traditional soil substrate companies by reducing dependence on natural resources like water, soil, or soil-like substrates, that are depleting, heavily regulated, and often unavailable for production. Development-wise, we have obtained TRL 5, and in the scope of this project we are planning to run our first pilot in an operational environment in collaboration with TopSeeds focusing on tomatoes, and to advance our scale up and commercialization capabilities. Targeting the Global Indoor Framing Market, our business model is focused on initially using TOMGROWX in traditional greenhouses with detached growing beds, but further down the road the use can be expanded to all sorts of indoor growing facilities relying on soil-based growing systems. Initially, production will be in Israel, but the company is currently in contact with a potential collaborator to discuss opening a manufacturing facility for the agrogel in Slovenia. Sales will be done by using channels like distributors or collaborators. We are aiming to be first to market with our innovative substrate technology, and plan to spearhead this technological advancement and set new standards in the agricultural industry.

Keywords: agrogel,agrotech,indoor farming,agronomy
Dwarf galaxies in context: connecting their physical and dynamical properties with the cosmic web (CWEBDWARFS)

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: United Kingdom
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2026-01-12
End date: 2028-01-11
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 260347.92
EU funding (EUR): 260347.92
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The 'Λ + cold dark matter' (ΛCDM) model is the cornerstone of modern cosmology. It successfully predicts the emergence of the cosmic web; a vast, filamentary network comprising all matter in the Universe that drives the evolution of galaxies. However, recent JWST observations of low-mass dwarf galaxies from the early Universe challenge key predictions of galaxy formation models within the ΛCDM framework. This could signal a fundamental issue with ΛCDM or reflect that dwarf galaxies are currently poorly understood. Crucially, existing models overlook the impact of the cosmic web on dwarf galaxies, which are often studied in isolation despite their sensitivity to their environment. This risks misinterpreting observations and obstructing efforts to test ΛCDM rigorously. The primary objective of this project is to develop novel models encapsulating the impact of the cosmic web on the internal physical and dynamical properties of dwarf galaxies. With the rapid influx of new dwarf galaxy observations from flagship observatories, and the promise of orders of magnitude more data from upcoming next-generation facilities, developing these models is not just timely but critical. They will unlock the full potential of this transformative data and offer unparalleled insights into the fundamental processes shaping galaxies.

Keywords: zoom in hydrodynamic simulations of dwarf galaxies
Long-term Microphysiological Sample Imaging for Evaluation of Polypharmacy in Liver (DeLIVERY)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Pathfinder
Destination: Open to supporting projects in all areas of science, technology,...
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: Germany,Norway,Belgium,France,Poland
Call: EIC Pathfinder Open 2021 (HORIZON-EIC-2021-PATHFINDEROPEN-01, 2021)
Start date: 2022-05-01
End date: 2026-04-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3547046.0
EU funding (EUR): 3547046.0
Participants: 7
Project status: SIGNED

DeLIVERY aims to build a radically new technology for personalized health care, which provides, for the first time, the possibility to investigate polypharmacy on individual patients. Polypharmacy is the effect that the many combinations and permutations of drug mixtures which are typically prescribed to the chronically sick or the elderly population (e.g. painkillers, beta blockers, blood thinners, anti-depressants, and statins) have on the human body. Polypharmacy is becoming a major issue in the ageing population, as well over 10% of hospital admissions for people over 60 years of age are due to currently unknown interactions of the multiple drugs being prescribed by the specialized physicians and general practitioners routinely visited by the elderly. Currently, no single platform exists that can be utilized in a highly parallelized fashion to monitor such effects at the cellular and tissue level. DeLIVERY will provide an integrated microphysiological system (MPS) culture and microscopic imaging platform specifically for the purpose of maintaining, treating and long-term imaging of patient-specific cells within their microenvironment. This MPS platform will allow physicians, biomedical scientists, and researchers to determine the individual response of human tissue biopsies to a combination of multiple drugs. DeLIVERY will enable individualized treatment options providing essential tools towards a better quality of life for older people by allowing improved personalized healthcare. Novel medicines with the potential to reverse the effects of ageing and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) will be tested within typical polypharmacy contexts to determine possible interactions, and the DeLIVERY MPS system will be the purpose-built platform to provide this service. Such a system also requires a paradigm shift in microscopy - away from the single, bulky instrument providing one imaging modality towards compact and modular, yet still high-end, devices.

Keywords: optical nanoscopy,high speed optical imaging,nanopores,cellular fenestrations,polypharmacy
Interlayer exciton interactions and their many-body physics (IXIXions)

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: Germany
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-04-01
End date: 2025-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 173847.36
EU funding (EUR): 173847.36
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) exhibit exceptional properties to study many-body physics with direct optical control through their tightly-bound excitons and enhanced Coulomb interactions. Even more versatile physics emerge in heterobilayers of TMDs, which host long-lived dipolar interlayer excitons (IXs), with promising potential for quantum simulation experiments and realizing a plethora of correlated phases. In recent years, TMD heterobilayers have been at the center of many-body physics where effects such as the formation of a Wigner crystal, the demonstration of Hubbard model quantum simulation and the realization of Bose-Einstein condensates are just a few examples. However, deterministic control of single IXs and therefore interactions among individual IXs has not been shown. For MSCA project, I propose to study many-body physics of IXs, starting from the individual IX level and then progressing to small and well controlled IX populations. To do so I will use nanoscale patterned graphene electrical gates to trap and manipulate them. This top-down approach is scalable and flexible, allowing for the creation of arbitrary trap potentials and geometries. The scope of this two-year project is to use this technique to fundamentally study the exciton-exciton interactions that are at the basis of the exciting physics that arises from these new materials. However, the scientific potential of a method that can site-control IXs does not end here, this technique could form the foundation for quantum-simulation, demonstration of Hubbard model physics and exploring new quantum phases.

Keywords: 2d materials,transition metal dichalcogenides,interlayer excitons,quantum confinement,coulomb interaction,exchange interaction
In-silico simulations for early detection of abnormal bone loads to prevent the development of bony deformities (INSIDE-BONE)

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: Austria
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2024-COG, 2024)
Start date: 2025-04-01
End date: 2030-03-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1924258.75
EU funding (EUR): 1924258.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Bones are pivotal to long-term health, providing structural support and facilitating mobility. However, various patient groups commonly develop torsional bony deformities, leading to numerous clinical problems. Understanding, monitoring, and ultimately modifying bone growth is crucial for improving the functional mobility of these patients and preserving lifelong health. Despite recognizing, since the 19th century, that bone growth is influenced by mechanical loads, the specific loading environments leading to typical growth or deformities remain unknown. This project fills this knowledge gap by examining the intricate relationships between mechanical loading, bone growth, and femoral morphology in typically developing children and those with torsional deformities. Quantifying an individual’s bone loads and predicting subsequent femur growth poses scientific and technical challenges. I will address these challenges by advancing state-of-the-art, multi-scale simulations to estimate muscle forces, joint loads, and growth plate stresses, and by refining a mechanobiological model to predict bone growth. The simulations will be personalized and validated using medical images and motion capture data – collected longitudinally – from growing children. Each simulation step will be extensively tested and validated. After testing, we will use this framework to investigate the effects of both surgical (i.e., derotation osteotomy) and non-surgical (i.e., gait retraining based on real-time biofeedback) interventions on growth plate loads, providing new insight into the capacity of these treatments to normalize bone growth. This project, if successful, may lead to a paradigm shift away from reactive interventions to treat bony deformities involving invasive surgeries towards proactive non-invasive interventions to prevent the development of deformities. Even partial success promises ground-breaking insights into the intricate relationship between bone loads and morphology.

Keywords: biomechanics,gait analysis,musculoskeletal model,finite element model,mechanical loading,anteversion angle,torsional deformities,multiscale models,predictive models
Polar Ocean Mitigation Potential (POMP)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Theme: Bio-Environment
Destination: Land, ocean and water for climate action
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Denmark,Norway,Portugal,Canada,United Kingdom,Germany,France,Greenland
Call: Ocean and coastal waters carbon- and biodiversity-rich ecosystems and habitats in Europe and the Polar Regions (HORIZON-CL6-2023-CLIMATE-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-02-01
End date: 2028-01-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4939601.95
EU funding (EUR): 4847238.27
Participants: 16
Project status: SIGNED

POMP will advance the scientific understanding of how climate change impacts biodiversity and carbon sequestration potential in emerging and rapidly changing polar marine ecosystems, and, through these impacts, the project will evaluate how resilience and adaptation potential in the polar regions are being altered. The aim is to provide new quantitative knowledge of the mitigation potential of blue carbon in emerging coastal and oceanic habitats and to assess the scope for their inclusion in carbon accounting at national and international levels. Our approach is to study each step in the biological carbon flow from CO2-capture by primary producers, through transformations and intermediate storage, to long-term sequestration. We will do this by combining analyses of new and existing data at several Arctic and Antarctic Learning Sites and use this to develop and validate new ecosystem models and remote sensing algorithms. These will then be used to provide large-scale assessments of changes in blue carbon habitat distributions and their CO2 capture and sequestration potential, both now and in the future. The new knowledge generated will be presented to the scientific community and to decision makers and managers as policy briefs to guide the designation of marine protected areas that recognize both diversity and blue carbon potential. The POMP consortium is highly qualified to meet this task with world-leading experts on blue carbon and climate change impacts in the polar regions, and partners that bring together scientific expertise, extensive unpublished data, polar infrastructure, and unique sampling opportunities as well as experience and resources from several national and EU projects directly related to this call. Participation of three Canadian partners eligible for national funding assures excellent opportunities for cross Atlantic collaboration with a pan-Arctic focus.

Keywords: polar marine biodiversity
Matrix-Enhanced Ionization for Nanoscale Chemical Mapping with MeV Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (MATRIX-MeV)

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: Croatia,Japan
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2026-09-01
End date: 2028-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 171791.76
EU funding (EUR): 171791.76
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

The capabilities of chemical composition nanoscale mapping are of utmost importance for the advance of microelectronics, power storage, cellular biology, 2D and quantum materials, sensors, photovoltaics, etc. Molecular distribution can be precisely analyzed with secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). MeV-SIMS is a version of this technique capable of detecting high-mass molecules exceeding 1 kDa with primary ions of MeV energies used for molecular desorption. Regardless of the type of SIMS, there are limitations, with the most important ones being low ionization yields between 0.1% and 10% and the matrix effect. They negatively affect the detection limits and almost entirely prevent quantitative analysis. The objective of the project is to overcome these limitations by implementing approaches for ionization enhancement and matrix-effect reduction. The hypothesis is that the main process crucial for achieving this is proton transfer. Changes in the ionization potential as a consequence of the introduction of proton-donor or acceptor organic matrices will be evaluated and cluster secondary ion formation during recombination of the analyte and the matrix will be studied. The formation of these cluster ions via electronic excitations occurring during sputtering will be the basis for the explanation of the recombination mechanisms. Our findings will be implemented in the field of innovative nano-imaging of the chemical composition of organic and biological samples. The research will be conducted on a ToF-SIMS instrument coupled with a state-of-the-art MeV accelerator, while testing different approaches for the deposition of solid and gaseous matrices. The combination of the candidate’s knowledge of the chemical aspects of the ionization and matrix effect, the supervisor’s experience in the field of MeV-SIMS and ion-beam analysis, and the excellent equipment at the facility will be the basis for the successful implementation of this interdisciplinary project.

Keywords: secondary ion mass spectrometry,surface analysis,analytical chemistry,accelerator based techniques,ultra high vacuum