Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Sulfur-based solutions for the selective functionalization of organic substrates (SULFOSOL)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator 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 Consolidator Grant (ERC-2017-COG, 2017)
Start date: 2018-05-01
End date: 2024-01-31
Duration (months): 69.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1997500.0
EU funding (EUR): 1997500.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

The increasing demand of complex organic molecules, either by their biological activity or technical interest, and the need for the development of sustainable chemical processes are opening a new period in Organic Synthesis, which is mainly focused on the discovery of novel transformations that more intensively explore concepts such as atom-economy and redox-neutrality. As part of this trend, the development new reagents capable to transfer new functional groups at the desired positions of advanced synthetic intermediates is winning a crucial role. Areas such as crop science and drug discovery make extensive use of this working methodology for the identification of new targets. Several families of “Group Transfer Reagents” are known, the most prominent ones being arguably those based on hypervalent I(III) structures. However, their transfer ability is confined to a restricted number of functionalities, and in addition, their implementation in industrial processes is seriously limited by their highly reactive nature. Hypervalent iodine (III) compounds are known to be potentially explosive and for this reason, they usually require working in relatively small scale and under restricted safety conditions. To circumvent these drawbacks, I present in SULFOSOL a novel and general approach for the straightforward preparation of electrophilic group transfer reagents based on the use of sulphur-containing platforms. The low prize and chemical stability of these reagents make their use feasible at any step of a synthetic sequence, and render them highly appealing for large-scale applications. In addition, the combination of these new reagents with the power of actual metal catalysis will lead to an array of useful synthetic routes that will decisively enrich the toolbox of the synthetic chemist.

Keywords: sulfur chemistry,main group chemistry,development of new reactions,organic synthesis
Epigenetic Risk Assesment of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ERAofART)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Spreading excellence and widening participation
Programme: Widening participation and spreading excellence
Theme: Improved access to Excellence
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Germany,Italy,Poland,Poland
Call: Twinning (H2020-TWINN-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2016-01-01
End date: 2018-12-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1176700.0
EU funding (EUR): 1176700.0
Participants: 4
Project status: CLOSED

Assisted Reproduction Technologies (ART) are developing rapidly to provide response to infertility and to the cultural shift to postpone parenthood. Later childbearing and ART has been associated with an increased risk of the epigenetic disorders in offspring. Thus, in order to guarantee better and safer healthcare for EU citizens, risks and benefits of the use of various ART procedures needs to be thoughtfully tested. The project aims at overcoming the existing gaps and strengthening our capacity in Epigenetic Risk Assessment of Assisted Reproduction Technologies (ERA of ART). Long term GOAL of our project is to become the European Centre of Excellence and Innovation for Epigenetic Risk Assessment of ART. To do this, we will create link between IGAB PAS, providing high quality know-how in mouse embryology with University of Wuerzburg (leader in epigenetic assessment of ART embryos), with University of Teramo (having long-standing expertise in wide range of ART procedures in large animals) and with Uniwersytet Jagiellonski (having long-standing expertise in human genetics). This twinning project will provide technological platform and expertise for epigenetic analyses and ART in large and small animal models. The specific aims of our project based on SWOT analysis are: 1) to enhance the scientific and technical skills of our staff; 2) stimulate preparation of joint research projects; 3) produce high impact factor publications and; 4) establish the cooperation with infertility clinics. The expected impact of this project is the creation of European Reference Network for ART safety evaluation, which is within the priorities of The Third Health Programme 2014-2020 of EC as well as within thematic area: HEALTHY SOCIETY of National Smart Specializations. This will have positive impact on the research in reproductive medicine and ART sector in general and will create a unique opportunity for Polish institution to become the reference Centre for knowledge-based decision making while preparing ART legislation.

Keywords: assisted reproduction technologies,epigenetic modifications,dna methylation,embryology
The first real-time monitoring device able to determine the impact area of space vehicles’ fragments during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere and minimize risks for people and property (DeCAS)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Italy
Call: SME instrument (H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1, 2018)
Start date: 2018-04-01
End date: 2018-09-30
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In the last decade the space debris issue is being in the spotlight, with more than 13,000 artificial objects currently orbiting around the Earth, including almost 1,700 operating satellites, most of which are destined to re-enter the atmosphere and hopefully burn out. Unfortunately, on average 10-40% of satellite mass survives re-entry and impacts the Earth’s surface, posing serious hazard to both people and their property. The increasing risk led space agencies to impose progressively stricter regulations, but currently it is impossible to precisely predict the impact area of surviving fragments. In case of high perceived risks, authorities are forced to close large airspace supposedly concerned, with costs in the range of several millions. Aviosonic has developed and patented DeCAS, a small “black-box” device that is mounted on satellites and allows to track and model in real time the trajectory of the fragments and their impact area. DeCAS will enable safety agencies to be promptly notified about potential danger for people or property, with a highly precise overlay map of the dangerous area. The DeCAS system is directed to satellite operators/manufacturers, so as to significantly reduce risks associated to the re-entry phase, support them in being compliant with space agencies’ regulations, and reduce the high insurance premiums similarly to black boxes in the automotive sector. The DeCAS system has been tested during the D-SAT space mission in 2017, thus validating the software functionalities and performances. During Phase 1, we will define the most suitable hardware components to assess the compliance with market requirements. We will also consolidate the business model and perform a cost-benefit analysis so as to quantify the economic savings for the customers. The launch in the market is planned in 2021, starting with medium-size European satellites operators/manufacturers (50-500 Kg) and then moving to large satellites and other key market areas.
Interactive Natural Language Technology for Explainable Artificial Intelligence (NL4XAI)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Innovative Training Networks (ITN)-European Training Networks
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: Spain,Spain,Malta,Poland,France,Netherlands,Netherlands,Netherlands,United Kingdom
Call: Innovative Training Networks (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019, 2019)
Start date: 2019-10-01
End date: 2024-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2843888.04
EU funding (EUR): 2843888.04
Participants: 11
Project status: SIGNED

According to Polanyi's paradox, humans know more than they can explain, mainly due to the huge amount of implicit knowledge they unconsciously acquire trough culture, heritage, etc. The same applies for Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems mainly learnt automatically from data. However, in accordance with EU laws, humans have a right to explanation of decisions affecting them, no matter who (or what AI system) makes such decision. NL4XAI will train 11 creative, entrepreneurial and innovative early-stage researchers (ESRs), who will face the challenge of making AI self-explanatory and thus contributing to translate knowledge into products and services for economic and social benefit, with the support of Explainable AI (XAI) systems. Moreover, the focus of NL4XAI is in the automatic generation of interactive explanations in natural language (NL), as humans naturally do, and as a complement to visualization tools. As a result, ESRs are expected to leverage the usage of AI models and techniques even by non-expert users. Namely, all their developments will be validated by humans in specific use cases, and main outcomes publicly reported and integrated into a common open source software framework for XAI that will be accessible to all the European citizens. In addition, those results to be exploited commercially will be protected through licenses or patents. It is worthy to note that we have selected some of the most prominent European researchers (from both academy and industry) in each of the related fundamental topics and created a joint high quality training program that can be seen as a pyramid with the main research objective (designing and building XAI models) on top. It will be achieved as result of jointly addressing the research objectives in the pyramid base (NL generation and processing for XAI; Argumentation Technology for XAI; Interactive Interfaces for XAI). ESRs are also to be trained in Ethical and Legal issues, as well as in transversal skills.

Keywords: explainable ai,natural language generation,argumentation technology,computational intelligence,soft computing,computing with words,interpretable machine learning
Structural damage: robust, real-time, and data-driven adaptive modeling for online control (DREAM-ON)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — 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: France,France
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2020-COG, 2020)
Start date: 2021-06-01
End date: 2026-05-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1937500.0
EU funding (EUR): 1937500.0
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

Diagnosing structural damage and predicting its evolution has been a perpetual engineering issue. It is nowadays the topic of intensive research works addressing online damage detection and control, and benefiting from experimental and numerical advances made during the last decad. On the one hand, embedded sensor technologies nowadays provide high-resolution in situ information on the internal damage state of materials. On the other hand, the booming development of virtual twins and artificial intelligence leads to envision connected engineering structures with computer-based monitoring. Nevertheless, using large noisy data sets and high-fidelity damage models is hardly compatible with the real-time, robustness, and portability constraints of such a revolution. This is today a major limitation for its application to real systems. The objective of the project is thus to address key numerical challenges in order to truly permit a manageable and seamless dialog between damage data and simulations for large scale structures. The idea is to create a real-time feedback loop including the physical system in service and an adaptive numerical model of this system, such that: (i) the model is dynamically updated and enriched from observations (hybrid twin); (ii) damage diagnosis is continuously made from this model in order to drive the physical system appropriately. The project, focusing on composite structures, will consist in the design of innovative and effective numerical approaches for real-time data assimilation, predictive damage computation, and command law synthesis on evolutive systems, all supported by reduced order modeling. The advanced numerical tools will be implemented into a dedicated computing infrastucture, and practically assessed through a proof-of-concept using specific experimental facilities. Outcomes are expected to represent a major scientific and technological breakthrough for damage tolerance on real-life engineering structures.

Keywords: data assimilation,model adaptivity,damage,real time simulations,structural health monitoring,reduced order modeling,system control,data driven techniques
Function and malfunction of the prion protein (PRION2020)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System
Panel description: Nervous system development, homeostasis and ageing, nervous system function and dysfunction, systems neuroscience and modelling, biological basis of cognitive processes and of behaviour, neurological and mental disorders
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2014-ADG, 2014)
Start date: 2015-11-01
End date: 2020-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) are caused by the ordered aggregation of PrPC into prions consisting of PrPSc. Similar pathogenetic principles operate in Alzheimer’s and Parkin-son’s disease, and a growing list of further diseases whose prevalence is steadily rising. Familial TSE are invariably associated with PrPC mutations, and the dearth of genetic modifiers has hampered our understanding of prion diseases. Therefore, the first objective of my proposal utilizes a cell-based high-throughput quantitative prion replication assay (developed during my previous ERC instalment) for genome-wide unbiased screens employing new genetics tools (CRISPR, siRNA li-braries, next-gen sequencing) to identify modifiers of prion uptake, replication, and secretion. The second objective aims at clarifying the basis of prion neurotoxicity and will be developed along two alleys: (a) we will uncover the molecular basis of spongiosis (the neuronal vacuolation characteristic of prion diseases), which we suspect to be a main driver of pathology, and (b) we will perform CRISPR-based synthetic lethality screens to identify genes that become essential to prion-infected cell lines (which do not experience prion toxicity) and may not be expressed by neurons. The third objective is to understand the function of PrPC in cellular physiology, and focuses on our evidence that (a) PrPC interacts with an orphan G-protein coupled receptor to maintain peripheral myelin integrity and (b) that PrPC may trigger cell death in response to ER stressors. While certain pathways of degeneration will undoubtedly be specific to prion infections, I expect that some targets will prove common to a variety of protein aggregation diseases including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and may perhaps translate into novel diagnostics and therapeutics. Hence the proposed project may not only open new perspectives in prion biology but also yield insights applicable to much more common diseases.
Impacts of Diseases on Wild Bird Populations (DisWildPop)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Standard European Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Spain
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2017-03-01
End date: 2019-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 170121.6
EU funding (EUR): 170121.6
Participants: 1
Project status: TERMINATED

Understanding what makes organisms ill, and the implications of diseases for dynamics and persistence of wild populations are receiving increased attention from epidemiologists, animal and public health scientists and evolutionary biologists since diseases have major impacts on human and non-human populations. Here I propose a research that capitalizes from recent advances in disease identification, demographic modelling and advanced phylogenetic comparative analyses to investigate the links between pathogen prevalence and life histories, demography and social behaviour of hosts. Using birds as model organisms, first I propose to investigate how prevalence of major causative agents of disease vary across taxa with variable patterns of life history, ecology and social behaviour. Second, I aim to investigate whether prevalence of a wide range of pathogens differ between males and females, and whether these differences result from the distinct roles they play in reproduction. Finally, I will examine whether sex differences in pathogen prevalence predict sex-specific mortality and biased sex ratios. To achieve these Objectives, I will integrate data and methodology from wildlife disease biology, behavioural ecology and population demography. The Fellowship will enhance my analytic skills and provide training in three major fields: disease biology, comparative phylogenetic analyses and population demography. The Doñana Biological Station (Spain) will provide a unique opportunity to acquire these skills en route to address the project Objectives, and excellent prospects for career development and interdisciplinary collaborations. In addition, the proposed project will have knock-on benefits for biodiversity conservation by providing key knowledge on the capacities of wild birds to respond to disease threats across diverse ecosystems.

Keywords: wildlife diseases,life histories,mating systems,population dynamics,adult sex ratio
Investigating the role of OPN-CD44 in mechanosensitive tumour invasion using biomimetic models (OPN-Can)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Global Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: United States,United Kingdom
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2016, 2016)
Start date: 2017-09-04
End date: 2021-04-09
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 251857.8
EU funding (EUR): 251857.8
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

New fields are rapidly emerging that provide exciting and unforeseen opportunities to target disease. This is especially relevant for difficult-to-treat tumours where, despite decades of promising research, successful clinical translation of therapeutic options remains intractable. The interrelated fields of mechanobiology and biomimetic engineered disease models have come to the fore in the last decade1–3 and provide a range of opportunities to investigate therapeutic modalities4. These fields have implications for cancer research in three major aspects: 1) dissection of the cell biology governing microenvironmental sensing; 2) development of biomimetic platforms that enhance both the relevance (accuracy) of experimental models and our understanding of tumour biology, especially at the level of microenvironment and cell signalling; and 3) creation of analysis tools to quantify cell sensing. In this MSCA Global Fellowship, I propose a formative advanced research training period at one of the world’s leading institutions of cell and molecular biology and bioengineering (UCB) to learn and apply state-of-the-art biomimetic platforms for a novel tumour biology research project investigating osteopontin(OPN)-CD44 in mechanosensitive glioblastoma invasion. This interdisciplinary collaboration will match the expertise of UCB in biomimetic tumour invasion modelling of the biomechanical and biochemical properties of glioblastoma with my expertise in matricellular biology developed through my prior postdoctoral studies of osteopontin in liver disease. On my return to Europe at KCL, this will provide a springboard to establish an innovative independent research program in promising and underinvestigated tumour biology. I will transfer the knowledge learned at UCB to establish to investigate hepatocellular carcinoma invasion with biomimetic models. This work will ultimately benefit the development of anti-invasive adjuvant therapies.

Keywords: osteopontin,tumour invasion
Innovative solution for maintenance and storage of Biospecimens at Room Temperature (Biotem)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Industrial Leadership
Programme: Innovation in SMEs
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Spain
Call: SME instrument (H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1, 2019)
Start date: 2019-05-01
End date: 2019-10-31
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Historically focused on educational and research purposes, biospecimen preservation has evolved in terms of complexity and demand due to the most recent developments in biomedical research and therapy design which established a trend towards an era of personalized medicine. This is supported by emerging fields, such as genomics and proteomics, which are dependent on the availability of rep-resentative numbers of high quality biospecimens. This puts an extra pressure on the biobanks whose major pain-point is the maintenance cost associated with the increasing numbers of specimens stored. 300K’s value proposition statement is “Unplug your sample storage” and we propose to offer all the products and knowledge needed to stabilize and store biological material at RT conditions. The primary benefits are the significant reduction in sample storage maintenance costs and the reduced risk of sample loss or degradation. The 300K’s proposal is unique since it is flexible in terms of sample formats, volumes and quantities that can be stored. The first market application for this solution is the storage of specimens for biological and biomedical research. This is usually performed by dedicated biobanks and this solution will make their work more efficient and cost effective. Nevertheless, this technology can also be used for other market applications being the industry of food production (agri-culture and livestock) the one that may benefit the most with this solution and will, most likely, be our main target as a secondary market application.

Keywords: storage of biospecimens