Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
FLEXBIO – an innovative process for the decentralised treatment of organically contaminated wastewater with reduced energy requirements, CO2 emissions and operating costs (FLEXBIO)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Secure, clean and efficient energy
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: Germany
Call: Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for a low carbon and efficient energy system (H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2017-12-01
End date: 2018-05-31
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The company FLEXBIO Technologie GmbH will technologically finalise and commercialise the FLEXBIO process in form of a biological wastewater treatment plant for organically contaminated wastewater, e.g. from the food and beverage industry. In this process, which was developed in cooperation with the HAWK university in Germany, organic contaminants in the wastewater are converted into biogas under anaerobic conditions in a fixed-bed reactor. An optional second treatment step, a trickling filter, can moreover remove nitrogen compounds and further increase the treatment efficiency of the plant. Compared to the aerobic activated sludge process, which currently is the most important process for the treatment of organically contaminated wastewater, the FLEXBIO process has several important advantages: at a comparable treatment efficiency (more than 97 %), the FLEXBIO process requires much less energy (heating or aeration not necessary), produces much less sludge to be disposed of, is much more flexible to variations in the wastewater, can be installed in a compact and mobile container and produces biogas for the generation of heat or electricity. The FLEXBIO process offers an environmentally friendly solution for the decentralised treatment of wastewater especially for SMEs, clearly improving their economic performance. In phase 1 of the project, the feasibility of the finalisation and market introduction of the FLEXBIO wastewater treatment plant will be assessed. For this purpose, the technical and legal framework will be determined, potentials and limits of the FLEXBIO process will be defined, potential customers will be characterised, the costs of a FLEXBIO plant will be calculated, its market potential determined and first concepts for production, distribution and marketing will be developed. Moreover, a container-based prototype for further tests and demonstrations at potential customers to be conducted in phase 2 will be conceptualised and participants acquired.

Keywords: wastewater treatment,biogas production,reduction of energy demand,reduction of sewage sludge production,mobile and flexible solution
Network representations of contextual memory in a neocortical circuit (RSCmemory)

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: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Norway
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2017, 2017)
Start date: 2018-04-01
End date: 2020-07-14
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 208400.4
EU funding (EUR): 208400.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

How are memories formed and how do we remember them? Despite decades of memory research, these are still unanswered questions. There is consensus that the hippocampus is a key circuit for forming new memories. According to the classical model, memories that initially depend on the hippocampus, mature over time, and become increasingly dependent on distributed networks in the neocortex. While there has been great progress in understanding the molecular and genetic substrates of memory, how memories are represented by neuronal ensembles is still poorly understood. This is in part due to the lack of tools to monitor neural populations densely and repeatedly during memory formation and memory recall. The advent of two-photon microscopy and activity indicators that allow to measure the activity of nearly all neurons in a circuit, has created new opportunities to address these questions. To study how the neocortex supports memories, I will study a circuit called the retrosplenial cortex (RSC). This structure receives dense and direct input from the hippocampus and is therefore a key network to study memory. There is also substantial support for a role of RSC in memory recall, but the network mechanisms remain unknown. To study this, I will establish a novel head-fixed contextual fear conditioning task for mice that enables monitoring the activity of thousands of neurons in the RSC while conditioning under the microscope. The high spatial resolution of this method also enables measuring the activity changes of hippocampal axons projecting to RSC, thus allowing me to also measure the synaptic input to RSC. Finally, I will establish a novel technique to monitor hippocampal oscillations related to memory consolidation (so-called sharp wave ripples) and neural activity changes in RSC simultaneously. The results will address how memories are formed and recalled, and will provide important insights in what goes wrong during age- and disease related impairments of memory.

Keywords: retrosplenial cortex,calcium imaging,learning and memory,neural coding,animal behavior
Geometric Analysis and Potential Theory (GAPT)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Mathematics
Panel description: All areas of mathematics, pure and applied, plus mathematical foundations of computer science, mathematical physics and statistics
Countries involved: Spain
Call: ERC ADVANCED GRANT (ERC-2020-ADG, 2020)
Start date: 2021-06-01
End date: 2026-05-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1476000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1476000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

This project aims to solve several long standing questions in geometric analysis by combining techniques from harmonic analysis, geometric measure theory, and free boundary problems. These questions deal with harmonic measure and caloric measure, square functions and rectifiability, and some related free boundary problems. A common feature is that their study involves multiscale methods from Littlewood-Paley theory and quantitative rectifiability. Harmonic measure is a basic tool for the solution of the Dirichlet problem for the Laplace equation. The study of this notion is an old question which goes back to the 1910's, at least. Recently there have been some striking advances on this topic, in part motivated by the deeper understanding of the connection between Riesz transforms and rectifiability. However, there are still related open compelling questions that this project aims to explore. The main one consists of finding a sharp bound for the Hausdorff dimension of harmonic measure. Other challenging questions arise in the parabolic setting, where the connection between the caloric measure associated with the heat equation and parabolic rectifiability is not well understood. Also, the study of the Lipschitz removability for the heat equation is more difficult than in the case of the Laplace equation. Another exciting topic that will be studied by this project deals with the relationship between rectifiability, square functions, and some free boundary problems. An important question concerns the characterization of the L^2 boundedness of Riesz transforms in terms of the Jones-Wolff potential, essential to understand the behavior of Lipschitz harmonic capacity under bilipschitz maps. Square functions, techniques of quantitative rectifiability, and monotonicity formulas from free boundary problems also appear in the study of the blowups of the singular set in the two phase problem for harmonic measure and in problems of unique continuation at the boundary.

Keywords: harmonic analysis,geometric measure theory,potential theory,free boundary problems
A geologic approach to resolving critical uncertainties in the impact of geomagnetic variance on in-situ cosmogenic nuclide production (CoNTESTA)

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: Ireland
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2018, 2018)
Start date: 2019-08-01
End date: 2021-07-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 184590.72
EU funding (EUR): 184590.72
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Accurate prediction of future climate impacts hinges upon the robust reconstruction of past climate change. Palaeoclimate records serve as benchmark data for modern climate models and are a key element of model validation. Glaciers in particular are sensitive indicators of climate, providing geologic records of past climate fluctuations in the form of moraines. Recent advances in cosmogenic nuclide (CN) surface-exposure dating now allow these landforms to be dated directly, opening glacial geology as a potentially rich global archive of past climate change. However, fundamental limitations in our ability to exploit glacial records as a climate proxy are uncertainty in the 1) variance of CN production rates over time and 2) validity of numerical frameworks used to account for potential production rate variation. I propose to address these challenges directly by developing CN production rates for multiple periods from a single region in the tropics, where the theoretical impact of production rate variability is greatest. I will work with geochronologist Dr. Gordon Bromley of the host institution, National University of Ireland, Galway, to implement my field-based campaign in the Peruvian Andes, where I will map and sample volcanic deposits for CN calibration. I will be trained in noble gas mass spectrometry by Dr. Pierre-Henri Blard at partner institution Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochemiques, France. My ultimate fellowship goal is to refine and strengthen the surface-exposure dating technique in order to open the glacial geologic record as a global proxy for past change. Crucially, the results of my proposed research will provide both myself and the wider scientific community with the cutting-edge toolset required to apply cosmogenic nuclides to deposits of varying age and location and to quantify the impact of past – and future – climate change.

Keywords: cosmogenic nuclides,production rate,helium 3,climate change,glacial geology,tropical climate,surface exposure dating
Exploring mechanisms of gene repression and escape during X-chromosome inactivation (XPRESS)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems
Panel description: Genetics, epigenetics, genomics and other ‘omics studies, bioinformatics, systems biology, genetic diseases, gene editing, innovative methods and modelling, ‘omics for personalised medicine
Countries involved: Germany,France
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2014-ADG, 2014)
Start date: 2015-11-01
End date: 2021-04-30
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2312500.0
EU funding (EUR): 477468.69
Participants: 3
Project status: CLOSED

During mammalian development, precise gene expression patterns have to be established and then maintained, or reversed, in different cellular and tissue contexts. A striking example of such developmentally regulated gene control is X-chromosome inactivation (XCI), whereby one of the two X chromosomes in females is silenced during embryogenesis. XCI is initiated by the non-coding Xist RNA, which coats the chromosome in cis, triggering gene repression, chromatin changes and chromosomal reorganisation. Although Xist’s regulation has been investigated intensively, less is known about the actual mechanisms underlying the process of chromosome-wide gene silencing that it induces. Indeed, X-linked loci show very different kinetics of repression during development, implying regional and/or locus specific diversity. Furthermore, some genes avoid or escape XCI altogether, either constitutively or in a tissue or stage-specific fashion, but the molecular basis for this is unclear. Here we propose to dissect the mechanisms underlying gene regulation during XCI. We will investigate the roles of recently identified Xist partners in gene silencing and perform genetic screens to identify new factors involved in silencing and escape from XCI. Transcription, chromatin status and chromosome conformation during XCI will be investigated in an allelic-specific manner during precise developmental time windows to pinpoint the critical changes accompanying silencing and escape. We will use genetic engineering to alter genomic and epigenomic landscapes of selected loci and target candidate trans-acting factors to their putative regulatory elements. Finally, we will develop tools to explore gene expression during XCI using live cell imaging of embryogenesis. Using this innovative set of approaches, we hope to define both general principles underlying gene silencing and escape in XCI, as well as locus-specific features that could serve as new paradigms for research in developmental epigenetics.

Keywords: x inactivation,epigenetics,gene regulation
Reading the mind’s eye at 7 Tesla - A fMRI-based communication brain-computer interface for severely motor-impaired patients (MindsEyeBCI)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Proof of concept grants
Action type: ERC actions
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: ERC-Proof of Concept (ERC-2017-PoC, 2017)
Start date: 2018-01-01
End date: 2019-06-30
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 148530.0
EU funding (EUR): 148530.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The Advanced ERC project ColumnarCodeCracking has pioneered ultra-high field fMRI at 7 Tesla for sub-millimeter neuroscience applications targeting cortical columns and cortical layers. One sub-project of the ERC project was to explore whether it is possible to build new brain computer interfaces (BCIs) exploiting the strong signal quality and higher resolution achievable at ultra-high magnetic fields. As part of our research (Emmerling et al., 2017, http://cordis.europa.eu/news/rcn/124885_en.html) we discovered that it is possible to reconstruct letter shapes from activity in early visual areas that are merely imagined by participants during 7 Tesla fMRI scanning. Importantly, we could demonstrate that imagined letter shapes can be decoded from single imagination events of about 10 seconds without the need to average across multiple repetitions. These observations stimulated the idea for this PoC application, namely to use letter imagery for the first time as a communication BCI. We also have tested deep learning auto-encoder networks as part of the analysis and observed that these tools substantially increase the robustness of letter reconstruction. The three major goals of this PoC are 1) to perform 7 Tesla fMRI experiments with healthy participants to evaluate whether decoding brain activity patterns during letter imagery can be performed robust enough to be used as a communication BCI for severely motor-impaired (locked-in) patients, 2) to develop a BCI/neurofeedback software performing all required advanced online analyses, and 3) evaluate whether showing the online decoded letter during imagery helps participants to fine-tune the resulting shape. While 7 Tesla fMRI is not yet widely available in clinical settings, we aim to prepare first tests of the developed prototype with locked-in patients.

Keywords: brain computer interface,fmri,7 tesla,imagery,brain reading,decoding,deep learning,locked in patients
Spatial dependencies of storm surges and global risk assessment. (SpaDeRisks)

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: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Netherlands,United States
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2020, 2020)
Start date: 2022-01-15
End date: 2025-01-14
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 253052.16
EU funding (EUR): 253052.16
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

An extreme still water level (ESWL) event caused by a single storm can affect multiple populations, critical services, and industrial sectors, thus magnifying the impacts of the event. The identification of coastal stretches prone to be impacted simultaneously by an ESWL event is crucial for accurate risk analyses, development of efficient emergency plans, robust insurance schemes, and public adaptation funds. However, little attention has been paid to the study of the spatial extension of storm surges and ESWLs and the related studies were conducted under the assumption of stationarity. Also, the spatial dependencies of the storm surges and ESWLs have been systematically neglected in broad-scale coastal risk assessments. Through a combination of ESWL, surge, and socio-economic datasets, and by using advanced statistical and vulnerability assessment models, SpaDeRisks addresses these knowledge gaps. In this project, it will be (i) investigated, at a global scale, the non-stationarity spatial dependencies of ESWLs and storm surges; (ii) performed a novel framework to include the spatial dependencies into broad-scale coastal flood risk assessment and; (iii) assessed flood coastal impacts under present and future conditions. The new framework will provide additional risk metrics that cannot be derived from traditional broad-scale coastal risk analyses. Results from this project will be relevant for the scientific community and stakeholders involved in coastal management and thus, special attention will be devoted to dissemination and communication. The fellowship will contribute to the development of the researcher career through broadening the competencies in assessing coastal flooding, acquiring new knowledge in oceanographic sciences and advanced statistical techniques, and learning the use of the state-of-the-art models for vulnerability and impact assessment.

Keywords: coastal hazards risk and vulnerability assessment statistical model coastal flooding
The life cycle of extracellular vesicles in prostate cancer: from biogenesis and homing, to functional relevance (proEVLifeCycle)

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: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Austria,Spain,Spain,Spain,Finland,France,Netherlands,Netherlands,Netherlands,United Kingdom
Call: Innovative Training Networks (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019, 2019)
Start date: 2019-10-01
End date: 2023-09-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2672561.88
EU funding (EUR): 2672561.88
Participants: 10
Project status: SIGNED

The prostate cancer Extracellular Vesicle LifeCycle (proEVLifeCycle) network is an innovative, multidisciplinary training program focused on understanding the biology, biomarker potential and function of extracellular vesicles (EVs) to resolve unmet clinical needs of prostate cancer (PCa). It is within this realm, that we will equip early stage researchers with the knowledge, tools and a creative ethos to be independent scientists, leaders, and drivers of innovation. The lifecycle of EVs is poorly understood and their potential as non-invasive biomarkers and therapy target/agents, a growing area of interest. This research can perfectly be integrated with the high need for novel biomarkers and therapy targets for PCa. Any relief in the burden of this disease will have major impact on the huge socio-economic problems for patients, families, caregivers and society. The ambitious scientific objectives are to unravel the mysteries of EV biogenesis, homing and uptake to explain how vesicles operate in disease processes; their heterogeneity, their molecular complexity, the biological functions they drive, their local and systemic dissemination and how these may be manipulated. Using state-of-the-art, network-wide shared model systems, imaging and profiling tools, and systems biology, the program will enlighten the lifecycle of EVs and identify novel EV biomarkers and PCa therapy targets to address the unmet clinical needs. Our original network of 7 academic and 3 company beneficiaries and 11 partners, provides optimal scientific training, crosssectoral awareness, entrepreneurship skills, communication in the modern age, extensive opportunities for mobility and patient-facing experiences. We herein meet identified EU-skills gaps providing well-rounded and inventive experts primed for influential careers, contributing to patient well-being and economic prosperity within the EU.

Keywords: prostate cancer,extracellular vesicles,biomarkers,personalized medicine,systems biology
Engineering perennial barley (PERLIFE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering
Panel description: Biotechnology using all organisms, biotechnology for environment and food applications, applied plant and animal sciences, bioengineering and synthetic biology, biomass and biofuels, biohazards
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2020-COG, 2020)
Start date: 2021-10-01
End date: 2026-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1981251.0
EU funding (EUR): 1981251.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Today, annual crops account for more than 85% of the worldwide calorie consumption. Annual crops are sown and harvested within one growing season and therefore require annual tillage, and application of herbicides and fertilizers that cause land and water degradation. In contrast, perennial crops grow over many seasons, require low agricultural input and thereby hold great potential for sustainable production systems and climate change adaptation. However, current efforts to breed perennial cereals are hindered by hybridization barriers between annual crops and wild perennial relatives and the trade-off between longevity and seed yield. PERLIFE pioneers the knowledge-based engineering of perennial traits in annual crops using the important annual crop barley as study system. This project will thus open entirely novel avenues for breeding perennial crops. PERLIFE capitalizes on 1) recent technical advances in high-throughput genome sequencing for the identification of genetic variants and 2) the novel genome-editing technology Crispr/CAS9 for the targeted transfer of genes between species. PERLIFE will isolate genetic variants promoting perennial growth using comparative genomics in annual and perennial wild relatives of barley. In interspecific crosses, we will dissect the interrelationship of longevity and seed yield and identify linked coding and regulatory variation. Based on this information, we will design and implement strategies for the targeted modification of longevity in barley using transgenic approaches and genome editing. The engineered genotypes will be trialled in environmental simulation chambers for longevity, stable seed yield and stress resistance to select the most successful engineering strategy. This ground-breaking work will provide a highly efficient approach for the generation of perennial cereals and will thus have a profound impact on sustainable food production in the face of climate change and a growing human population.

Keywords: perennial crops,barley,genomics,quantitative genetics,development,genome editing