Award Recipients: 2022 Horizon Global Platform Competition

Based on a literature survey on the state-of-the-art for once-through conversion of syngas to sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) the baseline will be created for which the HORIZON Europe project ICARUS will develop a new set catalysis approach to biomass to syngas to SAF. In order to reduce current large scale SAF units (Shell, Sasol) the aim is to include additional functionality to reduce the yield of waxes (KPI: wax yield below 1%). To this end EHU will develop a set of screening catalysts for which the nature and quantity of the surface acid-sites will vary. The acidity will be carefully mapped to make a proper translation to the screening tests at TNO on a micro-flow PRO unit with 4 parallel fixed bed catalyst reactors. The experimental matrix on the PRO contains variations in temperature, pressure and WHSV.

UDS develops the two following new catalytic formulations:

1. Graphene and Nanofilaments-supported nanocatalysts using a proprietary thermal-plasma spray technique; both Fe and Co can be the catalytically active metals. Bimetallic catalysts and catalysts doped with K, Cu, Ni and Au are part of the efforts too. These formulations can be dispersed in a 3-φ kg-lab scale slurry CSTR but they can also be put under pellet form and used in fixed bed reactors. This type of formulation has been tested previously to produce kerosene and diesel fractions.

2. Biosourced hydroxy-apatite (HAp)-supported catalysts using the same active metallic phases as the catalysts described in point 1 above.

These new catalytic formulations will be tested to optimize the conversion of bio-derived SG into SAF. Despite the mass transfer phenomena which play important role, the type of the doping moieties will be decisive to minimize wax fraction and target a narrow distribution of MWs around the average chain length in typical SAF.

The test in slurry reactor configuration will be performed at the premises of the GRTP/UDS. Quantities of catalysts up to the kg scale in form of pellets can be produced and tested at the facilities of our EU partners.

UDS is fully equipped to perform comprehensive analysis of gaseous, liquid and solid phases including all products and catalysts. A full list of the analytical capacities can be found in this site: https://www.usherbrooke.ca/pram/.

POMP overall objective is to advance the science on climate change impacts on polar ecosystem carbon sinks and biodiversity, with a focus on the capacity of ecosystems to mitigate increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. POMP’s focus ranges from building detailed local- and regional-scale process understanding, for example on impacts of sea-ice loss and glacial melt on carbon burial rates, to pan-Arctic and Antarctic assessment of ecosystem functioning with the aim of translating project outcomes into management actions. Thus, POMP links local observations with national requirements for the polar regions. POMP will provide new knowledge that is instrumental to the successful management of polar blue carbon habitats, starting by answering the basic, yet unanswered, question of what is the extent and magnitude of the polar blue carbon sink, following on with how will it change, and how can we protect it for future generations? This will be achieved by building on knowledge and data from previous and ongoing EU projects combined with POMP-produced in situ data, process-focused experiments, ecological model, and remote sensing. In doing so, POMP will provide new quantitative knowledge of the biodiversity and mitigation potential of blue carbon habitats, natural carbon sinks and their responses to climate change.

Climate change and loss of biodiversity represent two key planetary-scale challenges that pose an imminent and growing threat to human well-being worldwide. In a two-way process, climate change is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss, and at the same time destruction of ecosystems undermines nature’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas concentrations, thus accelerating climate change and increasing ecosystem vulnerability. Therefore, these two global challenges must be addressed simultaneously by knowledge-based policies as outlined in the European Green Deal. The polar areas pose a special challenge in this context. Climate warming is occurring at elevated rates in the polar regions and these areas are at the same time understudied due to their remote and inaccessible geography. Significant knowledge gaps on carbon dynamics and biodiversity change in these regions have therefore made polar carbon quantification and climate feedback calculations highly uncertain.

POMP will fill these knowledge gaps and connect existing data sources to improve the knowledge base for quantitative assessments and management of the climate change mitigation.

The objective of the overall EU project is to develop and assess the cost- and carbon-competitiveness of the exploitation of carbon sources from biomass to replace fossil fuels with renewable electricity enhanced bioLNG on a global scale. While the potential to harness the biomass resources converted to make use of existing infrastructure (e.g., European natural gas pipelines) shows promise, questions remain about both direct and indirect GHG emissions across the potential supply chains required. Our proposed research will improve the methods to assess emissions across the supply chain of current and potential future North American natural gas- and biomass-based sources of LNG for export to Europe. Methods for incorporating satellite based remote sensing into LCA will be developed. This will improve the LCAs of existing natural gas LNG inventories. Further innovation in these methods will improve the projection of these emissions to potential bioLNG pathways, the integration of latest research on the global warming potential biomass systems, and the biomass potential in North America. This research will also consider a broader set of environmental impacts through important connections between the research fields of LCA and ecosystem services to identify if there are any tradeoffs between economic and carbon competitiveness and other environmental impacts. The methods for assessing fugitive methane emissions across infrastructure used by the natural gas industry have received increasing attention over the past decade. New methods have been proposed and developed to better identify and measure fugitive methane emissions using satellite based remote sensing, onsite measurement techniques etc. However, consistency and consensus in the interpretation of these assessments has yet to be reached globally. More work is needed to collect, process, interpret and reconcile the various measurements to establish the credibility and transparency that society is now demanding about climate impacts of industrial activities. This project will develop and deploy new methods to automate monitoring and emissions quantification of data collected about the fugitive emissions of methane in natural gas supply chains throughout North America across a variety of satellite platforms. We will integrate our results into the EU project including new methods to assess emissions to inform prioritization of the most cost and environmentally competitive combination of technologies.

Le programme de recherche axé sur la « Performance des infrastructures de transports critiques et vulnérables construites sur pergélisol » vise à développer des connaissances et des outils permettant de maîtriser la performance des routes nordiques dans un contexte de changements climatiques et de dégradation du pergélisol. Ces routes sont primordiales pour desservir des communautés isolées et supporter une activité économique très dynamique et en constant développement dans les régions nordiques du pays. Cependant, les défis sont nombreux pour arriver à développer et maintenir des infrastructures d’accès fiables, sécuritaires et résilientes. En plus d’être critiques, ces infrastructures sont très vulnérables aux changements climatiques et à la dégradation du pergélisol, et peu de connaissances existent pour dimensionner et évaluer la performance et les risques d’une dégradation accélérée. Les objectifs sont les suivants :

- Mesurer expérimentalement avec un simulateur de véhicules lourds le comportement d’une route expérimentale construite sur pergélisol;

- Quantifier les effets saisonniers et l’impact de la dégradation progressive du pergélisol sur l’infrastructure;

- Développer une méthode de conception des routes non revêtues nordiques basée sur l’analyse saisonnière;

- Évaluer les risques et la vulnérabilité d’une infrastructure de transports nordiques;

L’approche expérimentale est séparée en 5 phases intégrées, et implique une première mondiale axée sur l’utilisation d’un simulateur de véhicules lourds sur des remblais routiers construits sur pergélisol : 1. Revue exhaustive de la documentation sur le dimensionnement et la performance des infrastructures de transports nordiques construites sur pergélisol; 2. Réalisation de campagnes d’essais avec des véhicules lourds et un simulateur de véhicules lourds sur un site expérimental routier instrumenté de la route ITH (Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk, T.-N.-O.); 3. Analyse des données pour supporter le développement d’un modèle numérique; 4. Développement d’un outil de conception thermomécanique; 5. Diffusion technique et vers les communautés. À terme, les avancements se traduiront par des ouvrages névralgiques plus fiables et une qualité de vie accrue dans le Nord Canadien pour le bénéfice de toute la population. Le programme fait intervenir des infrastructures de recherche routière importantes et uniques au Canada pour étudier les problématiques et développer des solutions adaptées.

The Arctic is undergoing rapid changes. Multiple stressors such as climate change and pollution from local and remote sources affect human life, wildlife and the ecosystems of the Arctic. These are inseparably connected and require a holistic approach to analyses and assessments of pollution issues, and to their solutions. Using this One Health approach, ArcSolution will provide knowledge and mitigating solutions, co-created with the people of the Arctic. The Arctic is home to a variety of Arctic communities. To capture this diversity, ArcSolution will work in the selected Arctic locations (e.g., Northern Canada, Northern Finland, Svalbard, Northern Norway (Tromsø) and Greenland), integrating local and Indigenous knowledge with environmental, health, technical and social science research in a One Health approach. The One Health framework will be instrumental in identifying knowledge and data gaps, and in synthesizing the information generated and collected in ArcSolution. In addition to scientifically relevant priority pollutants (e.g. per-/polyfluorinated alkylated substances, mercury, (micro)plastics and their additives, and key pathogens), ArcSolution will provide room for research and citizen science projects on locally prioritized issues. We will study pollution from local and remote sources in a climate change context, pollutant accumulation in food webs and human exposure. We will also evaluate current and predict future impacts of these pollutants on Arctic ecosystems and human health. Together with the local communities, we will develop solutions in the fields of circular economy, technology and chemicals management. Our results will be used in education programmes at Arctic schools already connected to ArcSolution. They will be communicated to policy-makers, industry and the scientific community. The One Health-based knowledge will strengthen the knowledge base and contribute to sustainable preventive actions for human life, wildlife and the ecosystems in the Arctic.

The objective of this research program is to identify systemic constraints and opportunities, generate new knowledge, and propose best practices for the scaling up of sustainable algal-based biofuel value chains. The project will contribute to cost-effective and more sustainable large-scale production of biofuels by developing and validating a bio-refinery concept that efficiently produces sustainable biofuel from non-food microalgae via CO2 fixation from high-emission facilities and through feeding of nutrient-rich wastewater, thereby minimizing biomass production costs and utilizing harmful CO2 emitted from energy-intensive activities.

The research approach to develop the proposed concept is to integrate multiple innovations to enable the building of a more efficient, less costly CO2-to-biofuels process from the bottom up. Carbon conversion efficiency of the process will increase, and the unit cost of biofuel production will decrease compared to a conventional microalgae-to-biofuel process thanks to the effective valourization of all side streams. The process will be coupled with green hydrogen to be used in upgrading of microalgae-based fuel. This whole concept will be realized through a smart integration of several biochemical and thermo-catalytic pathways, where in addition to biofuels, value-added chemicals will be produced. An international consortium comprised of leaders in the research and development of microalgal, biomass conversion, separations, and catalytic processes has been structured to facilitate the establishment of strong new links and networks for knowledge co-creation and sharing in sustainable biofuels value chains worldwide.

By employing innovative and interdisciplinary methodologies, this program will go beyond state-of-the-art in areas related to water/nutrient/land demand required for cultivation, optimizing energy consumption of each sub-process, and increasing the stability and efficiency of the catalytic conversion processes, to develop an entirely sustainable algae-based value chain for biofuel production.

Expected impacts of the program cover the whole innovation landscape in the biofuel and transportation sectors. Key end-use and stakeholders that will benefit from the outcomes of this program include industry across the value chain, including algae producers, chemical, biorefining, and CO2 emitters, aviation industry and users of value-added chemicals, policy makers, environmental agencies and energy regulators.

Recognition of the significant impact of microbial foodborne disease in terms of human suffering and economic cost to society and industry in traditional and modern contexts, combined with increasing global food trade, has underlined the need to change approaches to managing food safety. The Food Safety for Africa (FS4Africa) is to address food safety issues associated in African countries with weak channels for value chain organization, traceability & authentication of safe food. Food safety challenges addressed include mycotoxin contamination in multiple food crops including food and feed, pesticide residues in grains and vegetables, microbial contamination particularly Escherichia coli contamination, and food adulteration of foods. The aim of the proposed proposal is to improve African food safety systems—with particular attention to the informal sector and its interfaces with domestic and international formal sectors—through local market transformation enhancing food security and regional trade while reducing negative impacts on the environment, biodiversity, health and society. The program is organized around a food convergence innovation (FCI) methodology pioneered over two decades by Canada NPI L.Dube. FCI is designed to set the foundation for a world reset a 4th-industrial-revolution convergence economy, taking a modular approach to research and action at different scales employing various methods, and building interoperable integrative application tools and data platforms that can communicate and connect based on standards and protocols. Methodologically, FCI complements and builds upon living lab and supply chains approaches As per above, Dr. Dube will contribute specifically to activities in work packages 1, 5, and 6, with two other Canadian NPIs (Orsat and Kwofie) respectively supporting work packages 2 (Orsat) and 3,4 (Kwofie), all being collaborative with sub-contracted K. Dean supporting the EU and African partners in the successful achievement of the overall project, while leveraging national and international Canada leadership and investment in taking agri-food and food system transformation for a better and safer future for all.

The overall objective of DECODE is to digitally connect multiple labs, boost the effectiveness and accelerate the development and integration of energy materials for sustainable hydrogen technologies. To achieve this, DECODE will devise, implement, and demonstrate innovative methodologies to expedite the integration of methods and tools in experimental characterization and testing, cloud-enabled data analytics, physics- and databased modelling, and accelerated simulations. Water electrolysis and fuel cell technologies with proton exchange membranes as well as variants that utilize anion exchange membranes will be harnessed to demonstrate DECODE’s decentralized future labs concept. DECODE will develop methods and tools in modelling and experiment to address critical knowledge gaps at the level of materials design, components fabrication, and operando characterization and testing. To this end, DR. STEVEN HOLDCROFT, Simon Fraser University (SFU), an associated partner of the ambitious EU Horizon DECODE Project will design, synthesize, characterize, and provide a range of novel ionic materials and model compounds, and collaboratively undertake experimental characterizations of the role of ionomer in catalyst layers, both of which are integral to DECODE, as performance and durability of electrochemical energy storage devices usually hinge on the ionic media materials in contact with electrocatalysts. This topic is critical because scale up and deployment of sustainable hydrogen and hydrogen fuel cells are an integral component of Canada's Strengthened Climate Action Plan designed to reduce net CO2 emissions to zero by 2050, as reinforced by Canada's Hydrogen Strategy.

Permafrost underlies a significant portion of the global northern hemisphere. Thawing permafrost can potentially mobilize a suite of stored anthropogenic and natural occurring contaminants that could have tremendous impacts on human and ecosystem health. This research project aims to understand the potential impacts of permafrost thaw on humans and ecosystems using a participatory research approach that engages northern stakeholders. The specific objectives of the proposed research are to: (i) investigate and predict the release of contaminants from thawing permafrost, (ii) assess the risks of released contaminants to both potable and non-potable water systems, and (iii) quantify risks of permafrost thaw to critical municipal infrastructure. This research project is linked with the ILLUQ Horizons Europe research program which is investigating the impacts of permafrost thaw on humans and ecosystems with a specific focus on the Mackenzie River/Delta region of Canada, the Western Coast of Greenland, and the Svalbard region of Norway.

Freshwater systems at the three ILLUQ study sites, spanning a climatic gradient with currently both sporadic, discontinuous and continuous permafrost, and used as either water supplies or for recreational/cultural/food harvesting activities, will be assessed. The research will focus on how landscape change (permafrost thaw) changes the delivery of carbon, nutrients, heavy metals, organic pollutants, microorganisms and particles to surface water systems, and identification of the potential related health risks. Targeted field investigations will be conducted to measure hydrological and water quality changes occurring in regions currently experiencing permafrost thaw. Numerical thermo-hydrological simulations will also be conducted to project the impact of permafrost thaw on contaminant mobilization potential at select study sites. Community engagement will contribute to identifying risks and concerns, and potential mitigation measures. This unique research project will aim to address the critical linkage between observations and predictions of permafrost thaw to the potential impacts on the people and ecosystems in arctic regions.

Challenge. Caring for the increasing numbers of people across Europe with advanced dementia with palliative care needs who live in Long-Term Care facilities is difficult and demanding. People with advanced dementia can be immobile, non-verbal and unable to take part in day-to-day activities. They can be unsettled or agitated, with low quality-of-life and elevated levels of discomfort. Family members can find it difficult to connect meaningfully with their relative and are anxious about what lies ahead. Care staff can struggle to provide care other than for basic needs such as feeding, toileting and skin care.

Solution. A solution which advances beyond the science takes account both of care ‘in-the moment’ (using Namaste Care) and planning for future needs (using the Family Carer Decision Support ‘Comfort Care’ approach). We call this the In-Touch intervention.

Plan. To deliver a cross-country cluster randomized controlled trial of the In-Touch intervention in 56 nursing care homes across 7 countries to determine its effect on comfort, social engagement and quality of life. This is supported by work packages ensuring the intervention is robustly planned and contextualised for different country settings; there is understanding of how it is delivered, and what people experience and think about the intervention; the cost-effectiveness is understood; and that we have effective plans to transfer knowledge about this intervention if it is successful.

The Canadian Team will lead the Work Package to:

1. Establish and coordinate Care Partner Advisory Group (CPAG) and national CPAG research champions.

2. Provide guidance to all CPAG members and champions on how to facilitate, maximize and evaluate care partner involvement and engagement throughout the project using a previously developed toolkit.

3. Co-adapt and localize the toolkit to produce virtual tools (information and training material & family resources) for use in national and diverse populations.

Impact. This intervention could herald a major change in the way that care for people with advanced dementia, in the palliative phase of their illness, is provided internationally. People with advanced dementia should have better quality of life as they approach death, improved engagement and reduced social isolation, care staff have an evidence-based intervention that is cost-effective to implement, and family members more involved in, and knowledgeable about, comfort care and future care plans

The climate system is changing rapidly and some regions have seen increases in extremes beyond what is expected from climate model simulations. To support targeted climate adaptation strategies, EXPECT will enable trustworthy assessments and predictions of regional climate change including extremes by developing a prototype operational capability for integrated attribution and prediction of climate. This ambitious goal is closely aligned with the WCRP Lighthouse Activity on Explaining and Predicting Earth System Change.

EXPECT will identify and quantify the mechanisms by which physical processes govern regional climatic changes, including extremes, on inter-annual to multi-decadal time scales. It will do so by exploiting newly available climate simulations and Earth Observations, and by combining machine learning with physical methods. The research will target fundamental knowledge gaps related to atmospheric circulation and land-atmosphere interactions, which represent major limitations in current climate predictions and projections, and in particular in understanding changes in European summer extremes.

To underpin the research, and benefitting the wider research community, EXPECT will develop tools to efficiently analyse a variety of large data sets in combination that are hosted in different repositories across institutions. This will facilitate the exploitation of recent investments into high-resolution climate models and Earth Observation data. EXPECT will further build data science capacity for the scientifically robust, efficient and reproducible analysis of the massive data assets, including novel machine learning approaches, and provide training for the climate science community and the next generation of researchers in particular.

EXPECT will thus deliver significant scientific and technological advances for society and the climate science community that will last well beyond the project, in support of World Climate Research Programme’s strategic objectives.

Canada will be an associated partner in this research, and will seek to extend the lessons learned about European summer extremes to the Canadian settings, including extremes like the Pacific Northwest Heatwave of 2021 and anticipated heatwaves that will affect Canada in the coming years as climate changes.

Recognition of the significant impact of microbial foodborne disease in terms of human suffering and economic cost to society and industry, combined with increasing global food trade, has underlined the need to change approaches to managing food safety. The Food Safety for Africa (FS4Africa) project seeks to apply newly developed innovative approaches, convergence strategies and stable partnerships to promote food safety. The proposed project will support FS4Africa through the development and integration of food safety system into the broader food system framework and validate the integration through specific use cases for local food system transformation

The specific objectives of the proposed research includes: (a) Review of existing African Union CAADP biennial reports and the development of a framework for inclusive food safety in collaboration with national and regulatory food safety authorities within a broader context of food transformation accounting for sustainability; (b) Develop an integrated food safety system framework that captures the linkages between food safety, regulatory authorities, and informal organizations and their respective contributions trickling down the value chain; and (c) Testing the developed integrated system framework within the formal and informal sectors to support and endorse food safety practices within the value chain; (d) Quantify the post-harvest handling food safety risk across key value chain activities and identify potential operational modification for safety risk reduction; and (e) Monitoring, evaluating, and assessing food safety solutions based on pre-set key performance indicators that takes into account food security, circularity, sustainability, and biodiversity. Additionally, lessons from other case study countries will be incorporated.

The proposed work will apply empirical findings and system thinking approach for integrated sustainability analysis to provide a holistic framework for local food transformation considering not only production but the link between food security, food safety, sustainability, and understanding the circular pathways for unsafe food products. This is particularly important for the post-Malabo agenda as we examine the path to African food system transformation. Additionally, tracking food safety risk across the value chain is a fundamental step to identify the nodes of food safety risk and appropriate modification to the processes/technologies.

Drug repurposing takes drugs already licensed for human use and repurposes them to treat other medical conditions. Because these drugs have already been tested in humans, more is known about their safety and mechanism of action. In comparison to traditional drug development, drug repurposing reduces the time and costs for drug development, regulatory approval, and market authorization. This approach can fill an important gap for rare disease patient groups with large unmet medical needs. Yet, we need to increase the efficiency of the drug repurposing pathway to provide broader access to new compounds for larger groups of patients. SIMPATHIC’s main objective is to accelerate drug repurposing for rare neurological, neurometabolic, and neuromuscular disorders. SIMPATHIC’s main accelerating innovation is the simultaneous drug development for groups of patients with different genetic diagnoses but overlapping neurological symptoms and disease mechanisms. The key outputs that will accelerate the drug repurposing pathway include: Standard operating procedures for culturing stem cell derived neuronal cell models with proven relevance for clinical symptoms that can be sued for high-throughput drug screens; New drug repurposing candidates with proven efficacy in advanced brain-on-a-chip and 3D brain organoid models; Designs of innovative basket clinical trials to which patients with different disorders are recruited, using personalized clinical endpoints; A training module for patients and patient organizations to empower them as drivers of the drug repurposing pathway; Blueprints for intellectual property strategies, business models, regulatory dossiers and patient access strategies, developed in co-creation between all relevant stakeholders. SIMPATHIC’s proof-of-concept for the simultaneous development of repurposed drugs for multiple indications will open the pathway to the development of personalized treatment opportunities for groups of rare disease patients in a cost- and time-efficient manner.

Paediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGGs) are one of the major causes of cancer-related deaths in children, with only 10% of patients surviving 2 years post diagnosis. The most prominent hallmark of pHGGs is a somatic mutation in the H3 histone gene, which results in the H3 lysine 27 to methionine substitution (H3K27M). The direct consequence of this mutation is a global loss of H3K27 trimethylation (H3K27me3), increase in H3K27 acetylation (H3K27ac) and an overall dysregulation of the key regulatory chromatin sites, leading to expression of specific pro-tumorigenic genes. Due to occurrence of some pHGGs (mostly H3K27M+) in the midline structures of the brain, classified as diffuse midline gliomas, the resection of these tumors is practically impossible, allowing only limited treatment with radiotherapy and adjuvant temozolomide/corticosteroids. Our goal is to pave the way towards immune therapy by elucidating the poorly understood interactions of pHGGs with their cellular environment. Our project unites pediatric glioma experts from Europe, Israel, and Canada. We will combine multiple models of pHGGs (patient samples, patient-derived organoids and co-culture assays, mouse models) that will allow a comprehensive characterization of glioma/immune cell interactions as well as systemic immune responses following standard radiotherapy. Multi-omic analysis of these models using cutting-edge single cell technologies combined with immune profiling will allow to better understand the interactions between pHGGs and interacting immune cells residing in the brain (i.e. microglia/macrophages) that are currently very poorly characterized. My group has been involved in the original discovery of histone mutations in pHGG and subsequent genome-scale analyses of molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis. Here, we will be involved in further applying multi-omic approaches to understand the tumor-microenvironment interaction. We will also provide computational and analytical support to the team, ensure optimal data storage, sharing, transfer of information and standardization of analyses. The novelty of its proposal lies in the ability of the large, collaborative team to create a range of pre-clinical models to custom-designed investigate the currently understudied tumor-immune environment interaction of pediatric HGG, and analyze the results using state of the art multi-omics approaches. The knowledge will help guide future precision and immune pHGG therapies.

Food Safety Knowledge Development and Transfer

Food safety entails the optimizing of production and handling conditions, processing parameters, distribution environments and point of consumption. The safety and quality of our food supply is put at risk at every step along the food chain, from the agricultural field to the consumer plate. General or precise interventions can be developed to mitigate the sensitivity of our food supplies and must be well adapted and integrated to local needs and limitations.

This project will look into categorizing existing food safety knowledge and practices (from around the world) to provide the baseline needed for transfer and influence specific adoption, in order to meet local needs as per selected study cases in Africa.

Optimally the success will lie in our capacity to translate from promising pathways to adopted practices that will ensure quality and safe foods that are locally and readily accessible.

This project targets the Work Package #2 Research Activities:

1) Baseline assessment of local postharvest handling/processing practices and their specific effects on food safety (in particular to the chose use cases) (mapping of resources and practices);

2) Knowledge integration of adaptable postharvest practices to ensure food safety (contributing to the promotion of promising pathways for improvement of food safety and reduction of losses along the value- chain);

3) We will train local capacity in food safety practices adapted to local produce as a function of available or limited infrastructure (ultimately leading to improvements of food safety using locally appropriate technologies and practices);

4) Support local policies adjustments to improve/ensure food safety in a sustainable manner (uplifting the local capacity to comply with good food safety practices ensuring quality food supplies).

The project will provide an analysis of the progress made from the baseline with adoption of improved food safety practices and our expected significant contributions target the promotion of fair, healthy and environment-friendly food systems from primary production to consumption adapted to local capacities in selected countries in Africa.

Cette proposition de recherche vise à réaliser le volet canadien du projet UNDETERRED dont l’intention, en réponse à l’appel à projets Horizon Europe 2022, est de développer une meilleure compréhension des inégalités raciales, ethniques et religieuses et des formes de discriminations perçues et vécues par les jeunes (18-35 ans) issus des minorités ethnoculturelles. Les trois objectifs principaux de UNDETERRED sont : 1) construire une base de connaissances sur la manière dont la discrimination (raciale, ethnique et religieuse) est institutionnalisée et structurelle en analysant en profondeur le fonctionnement des mécanismes non intentionnels (normes, processus, pratiques et contraintes); 2) améliorer les politiques et les pratiques de lutte contre le racisme et la discrimination en évaluant les politiques et réponses existantes; 3) documenter et diffuser les contributions, les luttes et l'héritage des minorités ethnoculturelles. Une série d’enquêtes seront menées dans cinq villes européennes (Bordeaux, Barcelone, Bucarest, Lausanne, Amsterdam) auxquelles s’ajoute Québec. Elles permettront de réaliser un inventaire des données disponibles sur les formes structurelles du racisme, les crimes haineux et les discriminations, en prenant soin d'étayer ce champ de connaissances par une vaste enquête qualitative auprès de différents acteurs (issus des populations majoritaires et minoritaires), et ce dans 4 domaines : emploi, éducation, santé et logement. Une enquête quantitative comparative sera également menée auprès de populations potentiellement discriminées et vulnérables en raison de leurs caractéristiques ethnoculturelles. Les données amassées contribueront à mieux comprendre les mécanismes de discrimination, particulièrement ses formes non intentionnelles. Par l’étude de cas de la ville de Québec, la participation canadienne offrira un point de vue comparatif éclairant en raison de son contexte (social, culturel, juridique) particulier et dans la mesure où les politiques de lutte contre les inégalités et de reconnaissance des minorités ethnoculturelles y sont mises en pratique depuis plusieurs années. On y sera davantage attentif aux obstacles et facilitateurs des mesures et politiques déjà engagées dans la lutte aux discriminations ainsi qu’à l’évaluation de pratiques et politiques mises en place dans les différents domaines.

A major global challenge is to develop cropping systems more resilient to climate change that can maintain high production of food and feedstock while maintaining their quality, but also provide ecosystem services by promoting biodiversity and other non-marketed benefits. Sunflower is a globally important oilseed that is adapted to semi-arid regions, including southern Europe and the southern prairies of Canada. It is considered as drought-tolerant and constitutes a major resource for honeybees and wild pollinators.

The overall aim of the HelEx project is to produce knowledge and tools to accelerate the breeding of sunflower varieties adapted to extreme drought and heat stresses and evaluate their environmental impact and economic outputs. We will focus on two traits increasingly impacted by climate change: the ecosystem service provided to and by pollinators and seed quality. HelEx will thus offer climate-smart sunflower lines that combine various important traits serving future complex demands. HelEx will exploit genetic diversity found in wild Helianthus species, which thrive in extreme environments, and represent a natural reservoir of genes conferring abiotic stress tolerance.

For this, the HelEx consortium brings together scientists and industry partners representing an international and interdisciplinary group of experts in sunflower ecology, physiology and genomics; plant biotechnology and breeding; pollinator biology and ecology; environmental impact assessment and feedstock processing; socioeconomic assessment at the local and life cycle levels.

This HelEx multi-disciplinary consortium will explore the genetic and molecular processes involved in tolerance to drought and heat in wild extremophile Helianthus species, and identify favorable wild alleles introgressed into cultivated sunflower, for seed quality and pollinator attractiveness resilience (WP1). These processes will be transferred using classical marker-assisted selection and innovative genome editing approaches (WP2), and the environmental and biodiversity impact of these new climate-smart sunflowers assessed (WP3). HelEx will investigate the socio-economic impact and benefits in relevant value chains for different feedstock (WP4). Our communication strategy (WP5) will engage a variety of societal stakeholders to ensure feedback and enhance project progress and outcomes, and make transparent the broader dimensions of plant biotechnology, biodiversity and benefit sharing.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has raised urgent questions concerning how the European Union (EU) and other states should respond to people fleeing the war and the sustainability of solutions such as temporary protection offered to Ukrainians. In previous mass displacements, one durable solution often favoured by the international community has been return/repatriation, which refers to the movement of a person or a group from a host country back to a country of origin. On one hand, swift, transparent and cost-effective procedures are needed, while on the other, it is essential to ensure humane and fair treatment in compliance with fundamental rights and procedural safeguards. GAPs is a comprehensive study on the drivers of return policies and barriers/enablers in international cooperation on returns. The project examines the disconnects between expectations of return policies and their actual outcomes by de-centering the dominant, one-sided understanding of “return policymaking.” GAPs will: a) scrutinize the shortcomings of the EU’s governance of returns with both its internal and external dimensions; b) analyse enablers and barriers of international cooperation c) shed light on the perspectives of migrants themselves to understand their knowledge of return policies, aspirations and experiences. By taking a close look at governance, cooperation and actor’s agency, the project is able to suggest new avenues for international cooperation, develop recommendations for stakeholders and explore alternative pathways to returning migrants. The project combines a decentering approach with three innovative concepts: a focus on return migration infrastructures that enable GAPs to analyze governance fissures; an analysis of return migration diplomacy to understand how relations among EU states and with third countries hinder cooperation on returns; and a trajectory approach that uses a socio-spatial and temporal lens to understand migrant agency. The project achieves its aims via multi-disciplinary, qualitative and quantitative comparative research in 11 countries in Europe, Africa and the broader Middle East. The project involves the creation of interactive data repository on returns, a return cooperation index, return governance indicators, policy briefs and workshops, the formation of stakeholder expert panels, a digital storytelling and video series, the launching of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) as well as open access policy and scholarly publications.

Cancer development and progression are significantly influenced by the interactions between cancer cells and their microenvironment. Cancer cells impact their microenvironment in various ways, depending on their molecular profile, metabolic state, and signaling pathways. The immune response in the tumor microenvironment is crucial for the success of therapies such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Therefore, host-related factors, both intrinsic and extrinsic, can affect the prognosis and treatment outcome by influencing the local and systemic immune response. To fully comprehend the immune mechanisms of response and primary and acquired resistance to therapy, one must look beyond the tumor itself and consider host characteristics.

Our research hypothesis is that tumour-related features, which have been extensively studied, work together rather than acting independently to orchestrate tumour-host interactions and clinical responses in solid tumours. To investigate this, we plan to study several different tumours and hosts, which we believe will give rise to functional modules regulating tumour-host interactions. Our approach involves investigating tumour profiling using single-cell technologies combined with advanced bioinformatics and artificial intelligence (AI). The aim is to enhance our understanding of tumour-host interactions and build novel hypotheses that can be validated through in vivo and in vitro perturbation assays. We intend to investigate multiple molecular layers, such as mutation, methylation, proteomics, amongst others. In addition, we aim to widen the scope of research beyond cancer cell-immune cell interactions and explore the role of the host from a broader perspective, including non-immune stroma cell interactions such as extracellular matrix and vascularization, individual characteristics (age, sex, germline genetic profile, co-morbidities), and environmental factors (smoking, UV exposure, treatments, etc.). By employing multilayer profiling (transcriptomics, methylomics, proteomics, etc.) at the single-cell level for both tumour and host cells and integrating multidata based on AI, we expect to reveal patterns that reflect relevant features impacting tumour-host interaction, immune orchestration, and response to treatment, which is extremely innovative.

As the largest natural gas and oil producer in Canada, the Province of Alberta is committed to increasing the amount of green energy, including a legislated target of 30% renewable electricity by 2030. To achieve this goal, various energy conservation initiatives have been proposed in Alberta’s energy sector, including renewable energy generation and electric vehicles. Research activities have been conducted at University of Alberta to support such initiatives and create data-centric solutions for efficient and reliable integration of environment friendly power generation, transmission, and distribution. This research aims to perform several tasks: 1) Application of Artificial Intelligence in industry analytics for modelling, prediction, and planning; 2) Data-driven anomaly detection and health monitoring for major industry equipment in the energy generation process, such as turbine, compressor, and power electronic converters; 3) Modelling of power quality impact of distributed energy resources (DER), and 4) Advanced power electronics for the smart grid. Several challenges exist in preforming these tasks that require theoretic research investigation. For example, to develop data-driven and artificial intelligence assisted solutions for system modelling and monitoring, the use case aims to tackle two main challenges: 1) The accuracy and robustness of the data-driven model. How quality and availability of data (including data unbalance, errors and uncertainties) affect quality/accuracy of the constructed model is not well-understood. 2) Use of operator training simulator (OTS) and knowledge in data-driven models. In practical applications, there always exists the unbalanced data situation: abundant data under normal operation versus lack of (tagged) data under anomalous conditions, which are often of great interests in system health monitoring. High-fidelity simulation software such as OTS can help with this situation. In this project, a novel digital-twin framework will be designed aiming to integrate OTS data, physics-based knowledge with real-world plant data, and it will be applied to output prediction, anomaly detection and root cause diagnosis. In addition, under the task 3), to deal with the complexity and uncertainty of modern distributed energy systems, high-performance computing and methods of computational intelligence, including machine learning, neural networks, reinforcement learning and evolutionary computing will be investigated.