Prof. Dr. Michael Hoffmann from OVGU has expressed interest, proposing the working title "Tele-I: Combating Rural Depopulation with Innovative Telemedical Ophthalmological Care."

 He leads the Section for Clinical and Experimental Sensory Physiology at OVGU’s medical faculty. His research focuses on telemedicine in ophthalmology and its connection to sustainability. Prof. Hoffmann has extensive experience with EU-funded projects, including four DN projects under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.

Cyril Mauclair https://scholar.google.fr/citations?user=qJteulIAAAAJ&hl=fr works on shaping ultrashort laser beams for materials processing. The project he would like to lead could combine advanced laser beam shaping and control for highly selective removal of layers by laser ablation for the recycling of complex components.

Contact: cyril.mauclair@univ-angers.fr (cyril.mauclair @ univ-angers.fr) 

Science communication faces the challenge of conveying highly complex topics to diverse target audiences in the public sphere, requiring not only clear explanations but also appealing forms of presentation. Recently, the media landscape has changed significantly, and content is now being communicated not only through traditional text formats and lectures but increasingly through internet-based formats such as social media. Especially in an European-wide context, were several local languages should be included to reach a broader audience.

Basic Idea:
By leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI), an automated process is being developed to transform scientific content such as research papers, press releases, or interviews with researchers into i.e. targeted Instagram posts. The source texts and generated posts could then be distributed across various channels, each following a distinct communication strategy:

    A “Persona Channel” portraying an artificially generated researcher,
    a “Visual Channel” utilizing visual information from image databases,
    an “Information Channel” combining AI-generated images with corresponding scientific posts.

The goal of this project is to explore the potential and impact of AI in science communication through these different presentation formats. Can we develop an automated process to offer considerable flexibility for optimizations and adjustments to continuously improve the quality and precision of the generated posts? Can we adapt the content focus and audience communication strategy to suit the specific target groups (students, science enthusiasts, educationally disadvantaged groups)?

The following partners are missing:

a) a partner who provides the scientific topic for communication

b) a partner with expertise in communication/education/new media.

Contact: Ingo Siegert ingo.siegert @ ovgu.de (ingo.siegert @ ovgu.de) 

With the evolution of European open data policy and the Law for a Digital Republic in France (Lemaire Law, 2016), access to judicial decisions from French courts has become increasingly easy. This openness represents a major opportunity for research, but the massive amount of data makes manual processing almost impossible.

This is the background to the idea of ‘predictive justice’, also known as ‘Jurimetrics, a concept first proposed by Loevinger in 1963.  The aim is to formulate models capable of predicting judicial decisions on the basis of existing data.

Thanks to recent advances in artificial intelligence, particularly in the field of automatic natural language processing, research into Jurimetrics has taken on a new dimension. I have already had the opportunity to work on a predictive justice project, called Lawbot, aimed at encoding court decisions in plain text into a structured format.  An annotation platform was developed to annotate these decisions, facilitating the training of machine learning models capable of detecting legal entities, processing requests from parties and predicting the outcomes of these requests.

Sid Ali Mahmoud from the University of Angers is looking to collaborate with a European university to explore the application of predictive justice to other European legal systems. The aim is to carry out a comparative study of different legal frameworks, considering the specific features of each country (language, legal system, etc.), in order to see how Jurimetrics can be adapted and applied on a European scale. This collaboration will not only deepen our understanding of legal systems across Europe, but also lay the foundations for a generic predictive model that could have a significant impact on the efficiency of justice in different countries.

If you are interested in this research project and would like to participate in this initiative, I would be delighted to discuss the possibilities for collaboration and to exchange views on the prospects offered by predictive justice in the European context.

Title : Genetic evolution of fungal pathogens in transplant recipients
Specifically, we are trying to identify a partner with intensive transplantation activity (kidney, lung, liver and/or haematopoietic stem cells) to collect fungal strains from transplant recipients with fungal infections, including Aspergillus, Cryptococcus, Candida and Pneumocystis samples.
All these life-threatening fungal pathogens in transplant recipients are now emphasized in the WHO fungal priority pathogen list.
Our aim is to collect a sufficient number of clinical samples to characterise the genomic evolution of fungi that colonise transplant recipients and cause fatal invasive infections.

Contact: nicolas.papon@univ-angers.fr & Guillermo Gervasini Rodríguez ggervasi@unex.es 

 Ukrainian partners within the Interact project, National Aviation University, are looking for partners in the following project: 

TITLE: AI/ML-based post-quantum data protection system for the data security and privacy ensuring in ICS of the critical infrastructures

ABSTRACT: At the current stage of computing technologies development, it is necessary to apply post-quantum methods of data protection, especially for critical infrastructure facilities of the state. Modern post-quantum cryptography (PQC) is key to ensuring the security of communications and data in the age of quantum computing. The main aspects of the importance of PQC include: Resistance to attacks using quantum computers; Protection of existing information systems; Long-term security; Promoting the development of quantum technologies; Standardization and widespread adoption; Adaptation to future threats; Privacy protection; Investing in security. However, the combination of PQC with other modern technologies, such as AI/ML, will ensure the flexibility and adaptability of security systems, which is necessary in the face of cyberattacks and a constantly changing environment. This is especially important for ICS of the critical infrastructures that need to be protected at the highest level, recover quickly from attacks, and take into account not only known but also new types of threats.

The combination of cryptography and artificial intelligence (AI) opens up new opportunities to improve security, privacy, and efficiency in many areas, including cybersecurity, data processing, and automation. Here are a few key aspects that highlight the importance of combining them: Improving security; Privacy protection; Automation and optimization; Development of quantum-resistant cryptography; Fighting phishing and fraud; Smart contracts and blockchain; Increased trust; Adaptation to new threats;Optimization of resource utilization; Development of new technologies.

The main research aim of the project is to improve the efficiency of cryptographic data protection, in particular at critical infrastructure facilities of the state, by integrating AI methods and tools into the components of PQCinformation security systems in the face of cyberattacks.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks (objectives)including the methodology of project:
1. Analysis of the capabilities of AI in the context of improving the efficiency of cryptographic data protection;
2. Development of the method for determining the most effective cryptographic primitives for optimizing cryptographic data protection systems
3. Development of the intelligent decision support system for choosing a certain cryptoalgorithm based on a neural network;
4. Development of the method for testing and verifying the statistical characteristics of encryption keys and cryptographic data protection algorithms using machine learning;
5. Implementation a key management protocol using AI tools;
6. Development the and optimization of the protocol for secure multilateral computing protected from known quantum attacks;
7. Realization of the synthesis of the proposed methods controlled by AI for to form a cryptographic data protection system;
8. Forming a methodology for experimental research based on the best practices in the field of cryptography and AI;
9. Development of the experimental sample of an intelligent cryptographic data protection system;
10. Experimentally study the cryptographic data protection systemaccording to the criteria of performance and resistance to traditional and quantum cryptanalysis attacks;
11. Implementation and approbation of the obtained results to improve the efficiency of cryptographic data protection, including at critical infrastructure facilities of the state.

Contact :   serhii.hnatiuk @ npp.nau.edu.ua (serhii.hnatiuk @ npp.nau.edu.ua) +380971934425 

Whats is the INTERACT 2.0 Project? Its aim is to design new internationalization paths through the EU GREEN consortium 2.0

It can fund:

• study visits with the participation of universities representatives and scientists from Ukraine, aimed at consulting future projects, execution of the existing ones and establishing new scientific alliances,
• involvement of students from Ukraine in summer schools,
• participation of representatives of Ukrainian universities in the EU GREEN consortium meetings in order to network and establish cooperation between Ukrainian universities and members of alliances,
• research internships dedicated to scientists and representatives of Ukrainian universities.

More information here 

Creating sustainable cities for people and biodiversity in a context of climate change. In this context, they are still missing a few beneficiaries (i.e. people who will supervise theses) in specific areas:

1/ Transportation and (service) planning in the city: How to plan cities to optimize human accessibility under biodiversity and climatic constrains

2/ Ecology: Effects of extreme climatic events (droughts and temperatures) on cities plant and animal and mitigation potential of management and design

3/ Hydrology, geography, planning: Developing water and watering management and planning strategies for livable cities in a changing world

4/ Sociology and ecology: Mapping plant and animal management intensities and drivers in cities and relationships between biodiversity management and human health and well-being

Link to the MSCA  HORIZON-MSCA-2024-DN-01-01 call: https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/calls/msca-doctoral-networks-2024

To contact the researcher, please write to anne.mimet @ univ-angers.fr (anne.mimet @ univ-angers.fr) & keep eugreenwp3 @ univ-angers.fr (eugreenwp3 @ univ-angers.fr) in cc' !

- Resource Efficiency of PV in Production, Use and Disposal

Coordination and Support Actions - deadline = 4 february 2025

contact : Enrique Romero Cadaval : eromero @ unex.es (eromero @ unex.es)

Innovation Actions - deadline = 11 february 2025

contact : Luis Guerreiro : lguerreiro @ uevora.pt (lguerreiro @ uevora.pt)