Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Receptor-Focused Interventions Against Orthoflavivirus Neuroinvasion and Entry (REFINE)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Health
Theme: Health
Destination: Tackling diseases and reducing disease burden
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Netherlands,Finland,Italy,Germany,Australia
Call: Pandemic preparedness and response: Host-pathogen interactions of infectious diseases with epidemic potential (HORIZON-HLTH-2024-DISEASE-08, 2024)
Start date: 2025-01-01
End date: 2028-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 7705338.75
EU funding (EUR): 7705321.75
Participants: 6
Project status: SIGNED

REFINE confronts the escalating challenge of mosquito-borne orthoflavivirus infections, focusing on West Nile and Usutu viruses as emergent threats to European public health. The overall goal is to identify novel targets for therapeutics and to deliver a suite of validated models to assess efficacy and safety of novel compounds (antibodies, inhibitors, and vaccine candidate targets) for Phase I clinical trials. In the first of its six experimental objectives, REFINE characterizes genomic diversity of orthoflaviviruses to select representative clinically relevant strains. A unique strength of the proposal is the extensive suite of model assays (objective 2) designed to unravel the complex dynamics of virus-host interactions at each step of the infection pathway. These assays form a basis for receptor and pathway characterisation (objective 3). Objective 4 aims to asses both efficacy and safety of novel intervention strategies targeting these receptors and pathways, based on nanobodies, peptides and monoclonal antibodies. Objective 5 studies the key infection steps and putative receptors in humans, utilizing previously collected patient samples to ensure real-world applicability of developed strategies. Ultimately, objective 6 is to integrate knowledge gained to establish a robust and sustainable platform capable of rapid validation of new therapeutic interventions. The overall mission of REFINE is to significantly enhance Europe's preparedness and response abilities against the expected wave of mosquito-borne viral diseases. The team members share a lifelong commitment to advancing our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying various aspects of host-pathogen interactions at the human-animal-environment interface. Together, the REFINE team embodies a comprehensive approach to address one of the priority health security concerns of our time by delivering effective and safe countermeasures against emergent viral pathogens in Europe.

Keywords: orthoflaviviruses,mosquito borne infectious diseases,targetable receptors,antiviral treatments,viral entry pathways
Locating Literature, Lived Religion, and Lives in the Himalayas: The Van Manen Collection (VAN MANEN)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Texts and Concepts
Panel description: Literary studies , literature,  philosophy
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2022-STG, 2022)
Start date: 2023-08-01
End date: 2028-07-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1496250.0
EU funding (EUR): 1496250.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

This project offers an ambitious study of an important, yet mostly forgotten, collection of Himalayan texts and artifacts collected between 1920 and 1940. It will, for the first time, provide a view of the Van Manen collection through a study of its rare manuscripts, the material objects, undocumented marginal writings, and the unique Tibetan language autobiographies by ordinary Himalayan people commissioned by Van Manen. This collection, held in the Leiden University Library, contains a large number of Tibetan and Himalayan texts, collected by Johan van Manen who lived in India. After his death in 1943 a large part of his personal collection became housed at the university, totaling more than 1500 mostly Tibetan texts. He also collected Himalayan artifacts, now stored separately from the texts, in Museum Volkenkunde in Leiden. The texts and artifacts reflect the collector's interest in the lived religion and the lives of Himalayan people. The project's goal is the examination of the van Manen Collection as a whole using historical, ethnographic and philological methods, and by employing Digital Humanities methods through which the origins of the texts and artifacts can be traced, mapped, and be made available, linking them to other editions in online databases as well as to local Tibetan archives. The main aim is to get an understanding of the proliferation, usage, and presence of religious and ritual literature and artifacts in the greater Darjeeling area in the first half of the 20th century and, by extension, their religious milieus 1). Many of the texts are unica in Tibetan literature - and as they are mostly unstudied, they merit a thorough examination 2). The broader question is how to 'read', and engage with, a multi- media collection curated by one single collector, and how to understand the 'collection formation' process 3). The project results will contribute to the analysis of multi-media collections of non-Western literature and material culture 4).

Keywords: tibetan and himalayan studies,buddhist studies,autobiographies,himalayan archives
MARine bioMass valorizAtion for fooD and fEed innovation (MARMADE)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Theme: Public-private partnerships
Destination: Circular Bio-based Europe
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Partnership: CBE (JU-JTI)
Countries involved: Italy,Greece,Denmark,Spain,Germany,Ireland,United Kingdom
Call: Innovative bio-based food/feed ingredients (HORIZON-JU-CBE-2024, 2024)
Start date: 2025-09-01
End date: 2029-08-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3499985.0
EU funding (EUR): 3499985.0
Participants: 11
Project status: SIGNED

The MARMADE project aims to develop sustainable, high-value food and feed ingredients from marine biomass, focusing on crustacean residues (shrimp shells and blue crabs) and seaweed. The key objectives are to 1) establish efficient biorefinery processes for extracting ingredients (pre/postbiotics, vitamins, peptides, oligosaccharides, fats, emulsifiers, and digestibility enhancers); 2) develop innovative food and feed prototypes with improved nutritional and sensory properties; 3) ensure compliance with safety, sustainability, and regulatory standards, paving the way for future market uptake. To achieve these objectives, MARMADE will leverage advanced technologies, including Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs), Supercritical CO2 extraction, dynamic high-pressure processing (e.g., microfluidization, high-pressure homogenization), wet milling, screw pressing, ultrasonication, and cavitation, to optimize extraction efficiency and maintain the purity of bio-based food and feed ingredients. Key ingredients will be validated through in vitro and in vivo testing, ensuring compliance with safety standards, while consumers’ and end-users’ insights will guide product design to ensure market acceptance, in a multiactor approach. MARMADE aligns with the RIA-05 topic addressing the need for sustainable, affordable bio-based food and feed ingredients. It supports the Circular Economy Action Plan and Zero Pollution Action Plan objectives by valorising marine resources and reducing reliance on petrochemical-based ingredients. The project contributes to the Farm to Fork Strategy by enhancing the nutritional profiles of food products and aligns with the EU Bioeconomy Strategy by fostering bio-based cascading extraction processes. Additionally, MARMADE promotes environmental sustainability by integrating the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD).

Keywords: marine biomass,food and fish feed ingredients,circular economy,biorefinery approach,cascading extraction processes
Black Narratives of Transcultural Appropriation: Constructing Afropean Worlds, Questioning European Foundations (AFROPEA)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Texts and Concepts
Panel description: Literary studies , literature,  philosophy
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2022-STG, 2022)
Start date: 2023-12-01
End date: 2028-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499500.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499500.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

How is Europe imagined by African, African European, and African diasporic writers? The research project argues that there is a temporarily and spatially expansive, only partially known Black literary tradition engaging with Europe in subjective and aesthetically innovative ways. This tradition has not yet been studied from a perspective anchored in literary studies. The project proposes a new, literature specific, and comparative approach by employing transcultural appropriation as a heuristic lens. This will allow focusing on the following aspects: 1) On literary strategies of transcultural appropriation, i.e. on ways of imaginatively building Afropean worlds, shuffling hierarchies, reversing (neo-)colonialist discourse, rewriting modernity, and employing a rhetoric of property. 2) On literary references to (neo-)colonial logics of property, heritage, and belonging, i.e. on ways of revealing and questioning the European foundations that forced Black people into the position of being “appropriated” or excluded from claims of ownership since colonialism and slavery. The goal is to develop a new perspective on Europe-related Black literature that challenges the reactive dependency and balances the Anglo- or Francocentric orientation associated with the framework of “writing back”. This will be achieved by studying texts written in minor and midsize European languages; depicting middle, eastern, and provincial parts of Europe; revealing gray areas beyond dominator vs. dominated; disclosing “forgotten” colonial histories; and addressing Europe as a unity. The scholarly impact is threefold: 1) The focus on a Black, multilingual, heterogeneous Europe will revise research on Europe in comparative literature. 2) The literature specific methodology will bring a missing disciplinary perspective to African European studies. 3) The utilization of an explicitly transcultural, theoretically refined concept of appropriation will challenge ongoing scholarly and cultural debates.

Keywords: europe african european studies african and african diasporic literature rhetoric of appropriation
Building Excellence in Spectral Characterisation of Exoplanet Hosts and Other Stars (EXOHOST)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area
Programme: Widening participation and spreading excellence
Theme: Improved access to Excellence
Destination: Improved access to Excellence
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Estonia,Sweden,Austria,United Kingdom
Call: Twinning (HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ACCESS-03, 2021)
Start date: 2023-01-01
End date: 2025-12-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1220267.5
EU funding (EUR): 1220267.0
Participants: 4
Project status: SIGNED

Planetary systems around other stars (exoplanets) and their diversity are the highest-profile topic in Galactic astronomy, with broad public interest that further translates into motivation for students to enter STEM fields. The number of known exoplanets has grown to nearly 5000 and may soon grow to a total of 20000 or more. With the UCL-led Ariel mission, the European Space Agency aims to take the lead in measuring the composition of a large sample of exoplanets, and the James Webb Space Telescope is also expected to study dozens of planets. In contrast, the characterisation of the stars that host planets or planet-forming disks has received less attention. Spectroscopy of planet- or disk-hosting stars is, however, crucial to the detection and in-depth study of extrasolar planets, including understanding their chemical diversity, and for studying the relation between formation processes and diverse outcomes of star-planet systems. By strengthening the relevant capacities, Europe can be a world-leading region in the study of extrasolar planetary systems while stimulating national-level STEM education and R&D activities. With the EXOHOST Twinning project, we will strengthen the expertise at UTARTU in modern research and management practices, stellar spectroscopic methods and tools, exoplanets, and planet formation. EXOHOST will enable UTARTU to increase its visibility and attractiveness, to implement modern research methods and tools, to become an independent regional leader in exoplanet host star characterisation, and to pose and solve new science questions, leveraging continued partnerships with UU, OEAW, and UCL for future projects, publications, and funding applications. The partner institutions will benefit from strong ties with the UTARTU team for research synergies and new mutual training opportunities.

Keywords: exoplanetary systems stars spectroscopy stars composition stars photometry planet formation
Exploring the role of NMDA receptors in K+ channel nanoscale organisation, surface dynamics and function (DynamiK)

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: France
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-10-01
End date: 2025-09-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 195914.88
EU funding (EUR): 195914.88
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

NMDA glutamate receptors (NMDAR) are undisputed key players in synaptic plasticity, a role that has been attributed to their calcium permeability. It emerged over the past decade that the membrane trafficking and nanoscale organization of NMDARs also plays a major role in synaptic adaptation. This was further substantiated by the discovery that patients’ autoantibodies targeting NMDARs (NMDAR-Abs) induce major psychiatric and neurological symptoms through compromised NMDAR surface trafficking but intact ionotropic function. NMDAR-Abs rapidly alter NMDAR membrane dynamics by disrupting their interaction with specific interactors whose membrane organization and function are also possibly corrupted. Herein, I hypothesize that the whole surface interactome of NMDARs, which is still poorly defined, is altered by NMDAR-Abs, explaining the complex neuropsychiatric presentation observed in NMDAR-Ab-positive patients. To tackle this, I will perform an unbiased proximity labelling approach coupled to quantitative proteomics to provide the first identification of the NMDAR surface interactome in hippocampal neurons, and determine how it is altered by patients’ NMDAR-Abs. Among the targets, the potassium K+ channels, which tightly control neuronal excitability, are of prime interest since they functionally interact with NMDARs, and preliminary evidence from the host laboratory show that NMDAR-Abs alter hippocampal neuron excitability. Using super-resolution microscopy and electrophysiology, I will test whether NMDAR-Abs modulate the membrane trafficking and nanoscale topography of K+ channels, impairing K+ channel currents. Genetic or pharmacological modulation will be used to question the membrane interplay between NMDARs and K+ channels in a pathological, as well as basal, context. This original proposal will thus shed new light on the NMDAR membrane interactome, its dynamics at the nanoscale, and implication in a severe neurological and psychiatric autoimmune paradigm.

Keywords: nmda type glutamate receptors k channels synaptic plasticity neuronal excitability autoimmune psychiatric disorders autoantibodies
Recapitulating and preventing epileptogenesis in early human brain network development (Epi-Stop)

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: Austria
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023 (HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-04-01
End date: 2026-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 262287.09
EU funding (EUR): 183600.96
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, yet current treatments fail to prevent seizures in more than a third of cases (~37%). Most drug targets focus on seizure suppression; however, these are symptoms of abnormal developmental changes in the neural network. The processes that give rise to epileptic brain regions are summarized by the concept of epileptogenesis. Therefore, preventing epileptogenesis is critical for long-lasting seizure freedom. Studying epileptogenesis is challenging, as the developmental processes involved in it occur before birth during neurodevelopment itself. Recent progress in stem cell models, however, has the potential to change this. The Knoblich Lab pioneered the use of human cerebral organoids to model disease in-vitro, such as Tuberous Sclerosis (TSC). Cortical tubers are the source of drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) in TSC, which our recent study (Eichmüller et al., Science 2022) uncovered to originate from a specific precursor cell type; CLIP cells. Strong preliminary evidence shows that pathological processes are occurring in TSC organoids which recapitulate epileptogenic electrical biomarkers called high frequency oscillations (HFOs). In this proposal I will utilise our brain organoid model to understand human circuit-level dysfunction in epilepsy and identify evidence-based causal treatment for epileptogenesis prevention. Therefore, I plan to classify stages of epileptogenesis in human brain TSC organoids using large-scale signal features and in-depth molecular characterizations to identify biomarkers for abnormal circuit initiation and progression. I will reveal stage-specific druggable targets for epileptogenesis and then test novel anti-epileptogenic compounds on pathological network activity prevention. Together, this project marks a change in the approach towards epileptic drug discovery to combat the significant socioeconomic burden of drug-resistant epilepsy.

Keywords: organoids high frequency oscillations epileptogenesis electrophysiology neural networks optogenetics multi electrode array mea epilepsy tsc
Designing, Managing and Debugging Quantum Networks (QUESTING)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Doctoral Networks
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: Ireland,Netherlands,Italy,Bosnia and Herzegovina,France,United Kingdom,Cyprus,Czechia,Spain,Austria,Germany
Call: MSCA Doctoral Networks 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-DN-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-12-01
End date: 2029-11-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4552002.36
EU funding (EUR): 4552002.36
Participants: 20
Project status: SIGNED

QUESTING is a groundbreaking Doctoral Network (DN) initiative aimed at revolutionizing the field of Quantum Technology by addressing critical gaps in interdisciplinary education and training. This program will cultivate a new generation of "Q-System Innovators," equipping 15 doctoral candidates with expertise in quantum networks, hybrid classical-quantum systems, and interoperable cultural co-design. By integrating mathematics, physics, computing, and communications engineering with socio-cultural and ethical perspectives, QUESTING pioneers an innovative approach to building scalable, robust, and adaptive quantum systems. QUESTING tackles foundational challenges in quantum networking, including entanglement optimization, fault-tolerant design, and resource-efficient hybrid systems. By leveraging advanced methodologies such as small-world network modeling, Bayesian optimization, and quantum game theory, it addresses issues like the fragility of entanglement, network scalability, and adaptive fault detection. The program’s innovative approach encompasses the development of key performance indicators, physical models for noise and decoherence, and algorithms for resource management, ensuring seamless integration of quantum technologies with existing classical systems. The program's holistic methodology spans from theoretical advancements to real-world applications, including secure quantum communication, distributed resource management, and sustainable network topologies. Through its unique blend of participatory research, co-design processes, and industry-academic collaboration, QUESTING ensures alignment with global challenges such as cybersecurity, digital transformation, and equitable access to emerging technologies. This initiative is instrumental in advancing the European Union's Quantum Technologies Flagship and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, fostering innovation-driven growth while preparing Europe to lead responsibly in the quantum revolution.

Keywords: distributed quantum networks,hybrid classical quantum communication,quantum internet,quantum key distribution
Cold Organic Chemistry (COLDOC)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Panel description: New materials and new synthetic approaches, structure -properties relations, solid state chemistry, molecular architecture, organic chemistry
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC ADVANCED GRANTS (ERC-2021-ADG, 2021)
Start date: 2022-09-01
End date: 2027-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2493529.0
EU funding (EUR): 2493529.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

This proposal ventures into organic chemical reactions under not-so-common conditions, namely in the cold, at insufficient energies, and under the action of hard radiation. As many organic molecules have been discovered in space or brought to earth in meteorites, they must have formed under such conditions through hitherto largely undisclosed mechanisms. One key hypothesis is that quantum-mechanical tunneling (QMT) and novel reactions with exceptionally low barriers are at work. Hence, one of the key objectives is to uncover how QMT, where reactions occur through and not over barriers, controls chemical reactivity and selectivity. A second goal is the examination of cryogenic reactions of hydroxycarbenes or enols with carbonyl compounds. Our methods include organic synthesis of starting materials (also isotopically labelled) and products, infrared as well as ultaviolet/visible matrix-isolation spectroscopy, ab initio computations of structures, spectra, and potential energy surfaces as well as QMT rate calculations. We will examine isotope-selective reactions of competing QMT reactions that can be made selective through strategic isotope incorporation. QMT also offers new ways to activate carbon dioxide and even to catalyze reactions. We propose a unifying synthesis of carbohydrates and alpha-amino acids through a common mechanistic scenario, namely a newly discovered hetero-carbonyl-ene reaction of carbenes or enols in the gas phase. Finally, chemistry far from thermodynamic equilibrium is explored with probing the activation and reaction of highly stable molecules under irradiation with energetic electrons, thereby mimicking conditions of the interstellar medium exposed to galactic cosmic rays. This should shed light on the formation of larger “complex organic molecules” found in this medium and often considered as building blocks for life.

Keywords: physical organic chemistry,quantum mechanical tunneling,tunneling catalysis,matrix isolation,carbenes,prebiotic chemistry