COMPARE aims to harness the rapid advances in molecular technology to improve identification and mitigation of emerging infectious diseases and foodborne outbreaks. To this purpose COMPARE will establish a “One serves all” analytical framework and data exchange platform that will allow real time analysis and interpretation of sequence-based pathogen data in combination with associated data (e.g. clinical, epidemiological data) in an integrated inter-sectorial, interdisciplinary, international, “one health” approach. The framework will link research, clinical and public health organisations active in human health, animal health, and food safety in Europe and beyond, to develop (i) integrated risk assessment and risk based collection of samples and data, (ii) harmonised workflows for generating comparable sequence and associated data, (iii) state-of-the-art analytical workflows and tools for generating actionable information for support of patient diagnosis, treatment, outbreak detection and -investigation and (iv) risk communication tools. The analytical workflows will be linked to a flexible, scalable and open-source data- and information platform supporting rapid sharing, interrogation and analysis of sequence-based pathogen data in combination with other associated data. The system will be linked to existing and future complementary systems, networks and databases such as those used by ECDC, NCBI and EFSA. The functionalities of the system will be tested and fine tuned through underpinning research studies on priority pathogens covering healthcare-associated infections, food-borne disease, and (zoonotic) (re-) emerging diseases with epidemic or pandemic potential. Throughout the project, extensive consultations with future users, studies into the barriers to open data sharing, dissemination and training activities and studies on the cost-effectiveness of the system will support future sustainable user uptake.

EarthServer-2 makes Agile Analytics on Big Earth Data Cubes of sensor, image, simulation, and statistics data a commodity for non-experts and experts alike through • navigation, extraction, aggregation, and recombining of any-size space/time data cubes; • easy to install & maintain value-adding services extending the existing portfolio of data and compute centers; • based on open standards, in particular: the OGC Big Data standards and the forthcoming ISO SQL/MDA (“Multi-Dimensional Arrays”) standard. In the Joint Research Activity, the project will advance the existing, world-leading rasdaman Array Database technology wrt. query functionality, inter-federation data processing with automatic data and query distribution, tape archive integration, and 3D/4D visualization based on NASA’s virtual globe technology. In the Services Activity, large data centers (ECMWF, PML, MEEO/ESA, GeoScience Australia, JacobsUni) will set up water, air, weather, and planetary services on 3D & 4D data cubes up to Petabyte-size with user-tailored clients for both visual and textual ad-hoc mix&match. In the Networking Activity, the project will advance open Big Data standards in OGC, RDA, and ISO (in particular: write ISO SQL/MDA). Further, all adequate channels will be used for strong dissemination & exploitation, specifically: writing a monograph explaining OGC Big Geo Data standards; scientific publications & active conference organization; Earth science data user workshops for each domain addressed; actively contributing technology & experience to GEO / GEOSS and further bodies; establish standardized Big Geo Data benchmark and run it against EarthServer-2 and further relevant systems. Altogether, EarthServer-2 will maintain and extend the lead in Big Earth Data services established in the highly successful EarthServer-1 project. Being already supported by ESA, rasdaman will form an enabling building block for COPERNICUS / Sentinel.

M-Cube aims at changing the paradigm of High-Field MRI and Ultra High-Field antennas to offer a much better insight on the human body and enable earlier detection of diseases. Our main objective is to go beyond the limits of MRI clinical imaging and radically improve spatial and temporal resolutions. The clinical use of High-field MRI scanners is drastically limited due to the lack of homogeneity and to the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) of the Radio Frequency (RF) fields associated with the magnetic resonance. The major way to tackle and solve these problems consists in increasing the number of active RF antennas, leading to complex and expensive solutions. M-Cube solution relies on innovative systems based upon passive metamaterial structures to avoid multiple active elements. These systems are expected to make High-Field MRI fully diagnostically relevant for physicians. To achieve these expectations, M-Cube consortium will develop a disruptive metamaterial antenna technology. This we will able us to tackle both the lack of homogeneity and SAR barriers. Metamaterials are composite structured manmade materials designed to produce effective properties unavailable in nature (e.g. negative optical index). They allow us to tailor electromagnetic waves at will. Thus, the scientifically ambitious idea is to develop antennas based on this unique ability for whole body coil. This technological breakthrough will be validated by preclinical and clinical tests with healthy volunteers. M-Cube gathers an interdisciplinary consortium composed of academic leaders in the field, eight universities, and two promising SMEs. Physicists, medical doctors and industrial actors will work closely all along the implementation of the project to guarantee the success this novel approach, a “patient-centered” solution which will pave the way for a more accurate diagnosis in the context of personalized medicine and will enable to detect a disease much earlier that is currently possible.

Pacific atolls are at the forefront of debates about effects of global warming and sea-level rise. The resilience capacities of atoll-dwelling populations often dominate discussions although with none or very little consideration for the long history of human occupation and adaptation to the hostile and restricting environmental conditions of these peculiar islands. To shed light on such complex processes, the PASTAtolls project offers a multidisciplinary and multifocal approach of atolls’ socio-ecosystems in Central-East Polynesia (today’s French Polynesia) over the long term. While the ecology of Polynesian atolls is well documented, dedicated Human and Social Sciences (SHS) research remains rare and heterogenous. The atolls’ societies have long been considered unable to achieve social complexity due to the supposedly constraining environments. Such environmental determinism was recently challenged thanks to archaeological and anthropological studies mostly led by members of our team. However, our knowledge on relationships and dynamics between humans and atolls is by far too incomplete. Our project aims at filling this gap by apprehending the unique lifeways of atoll-dwelling populations, both past and present, at a time when they are facing new challenges, especially climate changes. The project is fourfold: 1. Refining the chronology of geological history and human occupation on the Polynesian atolls; 2. Documenting the timing and processes of plants and animals’ introductions and their impact on ecosystems; 3. Reconstructing traditional knowledge and technical know-how now threatened of disappearance; 4. Examining symbolic representations of atolls environments through the investigation of ancient ritual practices. PASTAtolls is a 4-yr Collaborative Research Project (PRC), with eight partners. For the first time, it brings together specialists in archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, palaeoecology and geomorphology with long experience on Polynesian atolls. Our multidisciplinary approach, structured in eight work-packages, will be deployed on five targeted atolls in three different archipelagos, characterized by various environmental conditions and cultural backgrounds (from west to east: Teti’aroa, Niau, Anaa, Takume and Temoe). Several field seasons will allow for data collection through archaeological excavations, palaeoecological studies, and ethnographic and linguistic works. While questions and issues tackled in this project are of primary concern to the Humanities, they also participate in the diachronic perspective on biodiversity, which biologists are lacking. They will further increase our knowledge about the resilience mechanisms of Pacific populations in the face of global challenges.