Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Unravelling the motivations to wisely seek information (WiseSeek)

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: Belgium
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2025-STG, 2025)
Start date: 2026-09-01
End date: 2031-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499934.0
EU funding (EUR): 1499934.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Each day, 60% of the world’s population engages in online information consumption, often encountering negative content. For example, social media contains three times more negative than positive information. This exposure to negative information has been linked to adverse effects on people’s well-being and mental health. For example, persistent engagement with negative online content, often termed ‘doomscrolling’, heightens the risk of psychopathological conditions. This is an issue for both individuals grappling with deteriorating mental health and governments contending with such a decline. WiseSeek aims to confront this challenge by developing an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the mechanisms underlying decisions to consume information with such negative consequences, referred to as doom information consumption. First, I propose a new hypothesis that doom information consumption arises as a result of altered reinforcement learning dynamics within the value of information, and I introduce a novel computational model to test this. Second, I hypothesize that the neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) plays a key role in computing such a value to guide information consumption. I will test this hypothesis using an innovative methodology that measures subsecond fluctuations in DA signals in conscious humans and pharmacological interventions. Third, I will test whether attention-based interventions can interfere with how the value of information is computed to change information consumption. Finally, lab findings will be translated to the real world by developing a novel web-based methodology. Laying at the frontiers of cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and computer science, WiseSeek will provide the first insights into the mechanisms underlying decisions to consume information with negative consequences on people’s well-being and mental health, with major implications for behavioral science, clinical psychology, public policy, and society as a whole.

Keywords: seeking information in the digital landscape information seeking decisions and motivations reinforcement learning models dopamine subsecond fluctuations in dopamine signals pharmacological interventions changing behavior with attention based interventions from lab to society
Quantifying peatland pH across past periods of natural climate change using lipid biomarkers (PeatCHEM)

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: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2026-05-01
End date: 2028-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 260347.92
EU funding (EUR): 260347.92
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Peatlands play a major role in the global carbon cycle storing around 25% of all soil carbon and being the largest natural source of methane to the atmosphere. Their future carbon (and other nutrient) dynamics are poorly constrained given the many environmental and biotic variables affecting them. A crucial parameter, controlling peatlands carbon storage and methane emissions is pH, which is closely related to vegetation and microbial community dynamics. Long term pH measurements are limited to at most a few years to decades, limiting our understanding of the long-term consequences of climate change on peatland pH and hence peatland carbon cycle dynamics. The PeatCHEM project will dramatically change our understanding of the response of peatland pH to long-term environmental change. I will quantify peatland pH across the last 68 million years (Cenozoic), a period characterized by major climatic and evolutionary change, using a unique database of over >450 lignites (fossilised peat) from all over the world. Peatland pH will be quantified using two pH proxies that were recently developed at the University of Bristol based on two distinct family of lipid biomarkers: branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) and hopanes and complemented by vegetation and temperature reconstructions based on n-alkanes, triterpenoids and brGDGTs. This project will identify the main parameters controlling pH variations in peatlands and ascertain the impact of both abrupt and long-term climatic and ecological changes across the Cenozoic on peatland pH. I will constrain the response of peatlands pH to major climatic events such as the Paleocene- Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) and the Eocene Oligocene transition (EOT). This project will produce an unprecedented database of peatland pH covering a large range of environmental settings that will revolutionise our understanding of the vulnerability of peatlands to climate and environmental change.
Transients Illuminating the Fates of the Most Massive Stars (TransPIre)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Universe Sciences
Panel description: Astro -physics/ -chemistry/ -biology; solar system; planetary systems; stellar, galactic and extragalactic astronomy; cosmology; space sciences; astronomical instrumentation and data
Countries involved: Sweden
Call: ERC STARTING GRANTS (ERC-2021-STG, 2021)
Start date: 2023-01-01
End date: 2027-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1634250.0
EU funding (EUR): 1634250.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Two recent revolutions in time-domain astronomy are transforming our understanding of stellar evolution in the most massive regime: the detections of gravitational waves (GW) from binary black holes, and the discovery of new and rare classes of supernovae from wide-field transient surveys. With this, a long-standing prediction from stellar evolution theory is gaining new relevance: that stars with He cores above ~35 solar masses will encounter an instability due to pair-production, resulting in either a series of pulsations and corresponding mass ejections, or the complete disruption of the core in a pair-instability supernova. GW detectors can search for the resulting gap in the black hole mass distribution, while supernova surveys can constrain the occurrence of the pair-instability phenomenon in the low-redshift universe by searching for the associated transients. With the upgrade in survey volume in the 2020s by the LSST project, we have an unprecedented opportunity in finding and studying such rare transients, but first need to solve the substantial needle-in-haystack problem of identifying the relevant candidates from a stream of several million alerts per night. TransPIre will address this by drawing on both the analysis and properties of the current state-of-the-art supernova samples being collected, as well as theoretical expectations of (pulsational) pair-instability supernovae, to build the necessary identification software and deploy it on the LSST alert streams to select the best candidates for follow-up and further analysis. As a result, we will uncover the relation between pair-instability phenomena and extreme transients such as superluminous supernovae, identify which interacting transients have mass-loss histories consistent with pulsational pair-instability mass-loss, and either find the first bona-fide pair-instability supernova in the low redshift universe or place the strongest constraints to date on their occurrence.

Keywords: supernovae pair instability transient surveys massive stars
Deciphering regulatory principles of proteasome heterogeneity and the degradation landscape in cancer (Cancer_Deg)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Integrative B iology : from Genes and Genomes to S ystems
Panel description: For all organis ms: Genetics, epigenetics, genomics  and other ‘omics studies , bioinformatics, systems biology , genetic diseases , gene editing, innovative methods and modelling,  ‘omics for personalised  medicine
Countries involved: Israel
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2021-COG, 2021)
Start date: 2022-08-01
End date: 2027-12-31
Duration (months): 65.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1978750.0
EU funding (EUR): 1978750.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Proteasome activity is crucial to removal of defective or obsolete proteins, cell signaling and antigen presentation. In cancer, proteasomal degradation was shown to play key roles in tumor growth, antigenicity and response to immunotherapy. Yet, comprehensive analysis of proteasome subunit composition and the degradation landscape in cancer has not been performed to date, rendering our understanding of inter-patient proteasome heterogeneity and proteasome-dependent mechanisms underlying tumor-immune interactions far from complete. Our novel, unbiased approach, MAPP, for MS Analysis of Proteasome-cleaved Peptides, is ideally suited to examine the missing link between cellular degradation and cancer immunity. We have already demonstrated its utility in identifying degradation events associated with inflammation, proteasome cleavage, substrate alterations and an anti-inflammatory role of the proteasome subunit PSME4, in lung cancer. We aim to capitalize on our powerful analytical methods, vast experience and preliminary data and develop further our cutting-edge technology, to shed light on the uncharted area of degradation pathways in cancer. We plan to: (1) Characterize both proteasome composition and the degradation landscape across cancer types and develop MAPP further to enable in vivo, tissue-specific, and proteasome-type-specific profiling. We strive to provide a near complete narrative of proteasome activity and distribution in tumors and their role in shaping tumor-immune interactions. (2) Study proteasome-dependent mechanisms underlying tumor immunogenicity and response to immunotherapy at the biochemical, cellular and physiological levels. (3) Exploit inter-patient proteasome heterogeneity for translational opportunities, in particular as an adjunct to current immunotherapies. Cancer_Deg will transform our understanding of proteasomal degradation in cancer, with important implications for numerous diseases, precision oncology and drug discovery.

Keywords: proteasomes,pa200 psme4,immunoproteasome,ubiquitin proteasome system,proteolysis by ms,proteasome degradation,lung cancer,tumor immune interactions,precision oncology,tumor immunogenicity
Graphene-enzyme-based nanohybrid agent to overcome environmental and sustainability thresholds in water management systems (BioNanoAct)

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: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Portugal,Germany,Netherlands
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023 (HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-09-01
End date: 2026-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 156778.56
EU funding (EUR): 156778.56
Participants: 3
Project status: SIGNED

Biofouling on surfaces is one of the most pressing global threats, exacerbated by the world growing population and subsequent industrial activities, as well as climate change. It affects all societal infrastructures, including maritime operations, water management and food/beverage systems. The main problem underlying all these infrastructures is the colonisation of microorganisms on water-contact surfaces, forming biofilms. Biofilms can harbour microbial populations of disease-causing pathogens, which are associated with waterborne disease outbreaks that occur every year worldwide, and their disinfection is currently a critical and challenging process. Biofilms are also associated with Microbially Influenced Corrosion (MIC), which is estimated to affect up to 20% of corrosion in water management systems, costing billions of dollars only for rehabilitation. Hitherto, the most effective anti-biofouling strategies rely on the release of toxic and persistent bioactive agents, remaining ineffective to prevent biofilm formation on surfaces under the current demand and environmental guidelines. Under BioNanoAct, a new bioactive bio-nanohybrid agent generated by the in-situ synthesis of metal nanoparticles in enzyme-grafted bio-graphene matrices will be developed and immobilised in polymeric formulations to produce novel nanocomposite coatings with long-lasting anti-fouling and anti-MIC protective effects on surfaces. These multifunctional bio-based nanomaterials will overcome current limitations in biofouling mitigation and enable scientific breakthroughs, particularly in synthesis and grafting methodologies, as well as in the interaction between biofilm-smart material and engineered waterborne systems. This project will also bring together researchers and industry professionals working on state-of-the-art strategies for biofouling mitigation and MIC that will provide interdisciplinary training and a solid platform for knowledge transfer to the MSCA researcher.

Keywords: water contamination,biofouling,microbiologically influenced corrosion,biofilm mitigation,bioactive natural based nanohybrid agent,antifouling nanocomposite coating
CO2 Geological Storage: Mineralization in mafic rocks (GEOMIMIC)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: Spain,United States
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01, 2022)
Start date: 2023-09-16
End date: 2026-03-15
Duration (months): 30.0
Total project cost (EUR): 236499.6
EU funding (EUR): 236499.6
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Deep mineralization in mafic rocks has emerged as one of the most secures technologies for long-term carbon sequestration. Although small-scale validations have shown promising results, the fracture-controlled hydraulic properties of mafic rocks are still not properly understood, which imposes significant uncertainties for industrial-scale operation. The objective of GEOMIMIC is to develop a better understanding of fluid flow and fracture-matrix interaction to improve carbon mineralization efficiency in fractured mafic reservoirs. In the outgoing phase at Georgia Institute of Technology (USA), we will develop a comprehensive taxonomy of mafic rocks, which will set the foundations for a screening framework to evaluate potential storage sites. We will also provide new fundamental knowledge on transport properties and coupled hydro-chemo-mechanical processes in fractured media using an innovative experimental setup for studying reactive fluid transport in fractured samples. We will perform complementary numerical simulations for upscaling testing results to the field spatial and temporal scales relevant to carbon mineralization. Finally, in the return phase at Universidade da Coruña (Spain), we will use for the first time a testing approach originally conceived to measure rock fracture toughness, to assess coupled chemo-mechanical phenomena. GEOMIMIC will contribute to the selection of suitable CO2 storage sites and accelerate the design and operation of field validations, which is urgently required as climate change intensifies. This MSCA PF will provide me a unique opportunity to learn core technical skills in subsurface applications, as well as key transferable skills to become an independent researcher. I will take fully advantage of available facilities and support from my supervisors, who are highly experienced experts in the subject-matter of the project and are in an excellent position maximize the outputs of the project and benefit my future career.

Keywords: carbon sequestration carbon mineralization fluid rock interaction mafic rocks fractured reservoirs
Random Copolymers Enabling Nonimmunogenic PEGylation for Medical Therapeutics (RandoPEGMed)

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: 2022-10-01
End date: 2027-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2499933.0
EU funding (EUR): 2499933.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

PEGylation, the attachment of the highly hydrophilic, biocompatible polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG) to therapeutics, has become a key strategy in current nanomedicine. PEGylation is indispensable for a broad variety of commercial therapeutics. They range from protein drugs to relevant nanocarriers, such as liposomes and lipid nanoparticles. PEG leads to the particular “stealth effect”, i.e., strongly prolonged blood circulation times and apparent “invisibility” for the immune system. This is also used for lipid nanoparticles (LNP) transporting mRNA vaccines, used worldwide against the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this powerful weapon is now in danger of becoming blunt: An increasing body of literature from immunologists, clinicians and biochemists shows a rapid increase of individuals (50-70% in industrialized countries) possessing anti-PEG antibodies (APAs). This causes undesirable rapid elimination of PEGylated drugs from the bloodstream, hypersensitivity and strong allergic reactions. RandoPEGMed introduces PEG-derived random copolymers for nanomedicine. These PEG copolymers with well-defined chain length possess randomly distributed “point mutations” along the chains, which both disables recognition by the immune system and formation of antibodies. The project will thus exploit monomer sequence statistics to eliminate immunogenicity, representing a radically new approach in polymer therapeutics. One pivotal aim is precise understanding of monomer sequence statistics in the anionic copolymerization of glycidyl ether monomers with ethylene oxide (EO). At the interface of polymer synthesis, pharmaceutical chemistry and medicine this project aims at preserving the benefits of PEGylation for the future. Based on our preliminary results and the hypothesis that anti-PEG antibodies cannot be formed against random PEG copolymers, this concept will have vast therapeutic implications for polymer conjugates, therapeutic nanoparticles and stealth liposomes.

Keywords: copolymerisation,polyether,monomer sequence regulation,polyethylene glycol,pegylation,bioconjugation,nanomedicine,polymer protein conjugates
No time for cosmology: Decoding dynamics from static cosmological correlations (NOTIMEFORCOSMO)

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: Italy
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2023-COG, 2023)
Start date: 2024-09-01
End date: 2029-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1610469.0
EU funding (EUR): 1610469.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The beginnings of the universe are encoded in the statistical properties of primordial perturbations imprinted at the hot Big Bang. Our understanding of primordial cosmology comes from measurements of these imprinted spatial correlations. They form a static pattern, and its apparent lack of causality is elegantly explained by an earlier period of time evolution. This time evolution from very primordial eras of the universe can not be observed directly. For conceptual and practical purposes, a reformulation of cosmological perturbation theory in which time is emergent is of fundamental importance. We hypothesize that there is an intrinsic description of primordial fluctuations that only uses their statistical properties and in which time emerges. Our approach has three steps. First, we propose a systematic development of the theory of "boundary differential equations" for cosmological correlation functions, and the development of new kinematical variables for cosmological correlators. With these tools in hand, we will calculate a large set of ``theoretical data": cosmological correlations of many different particles, coming from a variety of early universe scenarios. With this data in hand, we will search for new principles from which time evolution emerges from the static distribution of cosmological perturbations. Having a reformulation of cosmological evolution with emergent time, a glimpse into the possible beginning of our universe might become accessible, as well as its imprint in cosmological correlations.

Keywords: cosmological perturbation theory,scattering amplitudes,inflation,bootstrap