Excellent Science

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The Excellent Science pillar aims to increase the EU’s global scientific competitiveness. It supports frontier research projects defined and driven by top researchers themselves through the European Research Council, funds fellowships for experienced researchers, doctoral training networks and exchanges for researchers through Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, and invests in world-class research infrastructures

Essay
Revised
Peer review process completed

Us and artificial intelligence: Questioning agency and the need for critical and humanist perspectives

Authors: Marco Guglielmo, Petra Ahrweiler, Oscar Barberà, Simon Dario Brockschmidt, Nathan Critch, Ana Luisa de Moraes Azenha, Alejandro Fernández Del Río, Crystal A. Ennis, Pedro García Guijarro, Eva Gomís Jaen, Darcy Luke, Blanca Luque Capellas, Michal Malý, Masoumeh Iran Mansouri, Andrea Medrado, Ben O'Loughlin, D'arcy Ritchie, Mar Sánchez Montell, Giulia Sandri, Carla Sentí Navarro, Saori Shibata, Henry Snowball, Andreu Teruel, Bradley Ward

Funders: Excellent Science, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), Horizon Europe

Peer reviewers: David Bailey, Rebecca Scheffauer, Rosalie Waelen

Published: August 21, 2026
Systematic Review
Revised
Peer review process completed

Rebound effects in circular business models: A review of cases and mitigation strategies

Authors: Ankita Das, Daniel Guzzo, Daniela C. A. Pigosso, Nancy Bocken

Funders: European Research Council (ERC), Excellent Science, Horizon 2020

Peer reviewers: Changhee Kim, Christian Koldewey, Joël Ntsondé, Koen Dittrich, Konstantin Remke, Mariantonietta Ferrante, Teresa Paiva, Vivian Tunn

Published: May 7, 2026
Research Article

Peer review process completed

Study of thickness distribution on a robotic rotational moulding system by experiment and simulation

Authors: Hangtian Zhou, Jarne Vanherck, Peter Martin, Elke Deckers

Funders: Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Peer reviewers: António GASPAR-CUNHA, Jian Wang, Marek Szostak

Published: October 15, 2025
Research Article

Peer review process completed

Early prediction of potential hepatotoxic metabolites to aid lead selection in drug discovery

Authors: Linda Chiappalupi, Domingo Gargallo-Viola, Antoni Torrens

Funders: Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Peer reviewers: VIVEK GOHEL

Published: October 7, 2025
Research Article
Revised
Peer review process completed

A Translator at Work: Samuel ben Judah of Marseilles’s Translation Notes on Alexander’s De Anima

Authors: Hanna Paulmann

Funders: European Research Council (ERC), Excellent Science, Horizon 2020

Peer reviewers: Daria Vasyutinsky Shapira, Jacobus Naudé, Michael Engel, Richard Pleijel, Yehuda Halper

Published: March 9, 2026
Research Article
Revised
Peer review process completed

Crizotinib and Darovasertib Significantly Reduce Metastatic Uveal Melanoma Cell Proliferation, Alone and In Combination

Authors: Ellie Swords, Eve O'Reilly, Toni Oladimeji, Michelle Carey, Valentina Tonelotto, Breandán N. Kennedy

Funders: Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Peer reviewers: Daniel Delgado Bellido

Published: June 23, 2026
Research Article
Revised
Peer review process completed

Development of a systematic coarse-grained model for poly(ε-caprolactone) in melt

Authors: Petra Bačová, Gonzalo González Huarte, Vagelis Harmandaris, Sergio I. Molina

Funders: Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation, Horizon Europe

Peer reviewers: Dimitrios Tsalikis, Paola Carbone, Sara Ranjbareslamloo, Tejas Shah

Published: December 24, 2025
Open Letter

Peer review process completed

Sustainable open data ecosystems through data quality, governance, and infrastructure: Unlocking social, political and economic value

Authors: Ramya Chandrasekhar, Melanie Dulong de Rosnay

Funders: Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Peer reviewers: Arwid Lund, Enric Senabre Hidalgo, Sophie Weerts

Published: September 23, 2025
Research Article

Awaiting peer review

SPIRIT-based prediction of clinical trial completion in intervertebral disc degeneration

Authors: Francis Chemorion, Jerome Noailly, Marc-Antonio Bisotti

Funders: Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Peer reviewers: No information provided

Published: September 17, 2025
Systematic Review

Peer review process completed

A systematic review of intervertebral disc degeneration clinical trial protocols

Authors: Francis Chemorion, Jerome Noailly, Marc-Antonio Bisotti

Funders: Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Peer reviewers: Thomas Hedman, satyajit kulkarni

Published: September 17, 2025
Research Article
Revised
Peer review process completed

“You give everything the child requires to attend school”: Exploring caregiver involvement in children’s education in Ghana

Authors: Esinam Ami Avornyo, Richard Appiah, Elisabetta Aurino, Sharon Wolf

Funders: European Research Council (ERC), Excellent Science, Horizon 2020

Peer reviewers: Charlotte Haines Lyon, Janet Goodall

Published: March 12, 2026
Research Article

Peer review process completed

Investigating the effect of electrolyte incorporation on the thermoelectric power factor of bismuth and antimony telluride alloys

Authors: Md Mahmudur Rahman, Bejan Hamawandi, Lourdes Márquez-García, Mauricio Solis-de la Fuente, Muhammet S. Toprak, Jorge García-Cañadas

Funders: Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Enhanced European Innovation Council (EIC) Pilot

Peer reviewers: ABHIGYAN OJHA, Oscar Juan Dura, Yasuhiro Hasegawa

Published: September 16, 2025
Systematic Review

Peer review process completed

Digital transformation of healthcare: Exploring paradoxes and the approaches to alternate between opposing demands.

Authors: Alejandra Rojas

Funders: Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Peer reviewers: Brian Kee Mun Wong

Published: September 16, 2025
Research Article
Revised
Peer review process completed

Awareness and Acceptability of Prenatal Diagnosis of Sickle Cell Disease among Mothers of Affected Children in a Northern Nigerian Teaching Hospital

Authors: Aliyu RM, Sada SI, Adebiyi NM, Randawa AJ, Abdulkadir I, Ahmad HR

Funders: Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Peer reviewers: Aisha Galadanci Akilu, Lori Jordan, Miguel Brito, Ravindra Kumar, Vincenzo Voi

Published: January 22, 2026
Research Article

Peer review process completed

Functional mapping of auditory responses to complex sounds under light anesthesia in rhesus macaques

Authors: Régis Trapeau, Luc Renaud, Melina Cordeau, Yoan Esposito, Pascal Belin

Funders: European Research Council (ERC), Excellent Science, Horizon 2020

Peer reviewers: Kirill Nourski, Mathilda Froesel, alix trouillet

Published: September 5, 2025
Research Article

Peer review process completed

From True Believers to Institutional Skeptics: Classifying conspiracy theory supporters and their media consumption

Authors: Malgorzata Kurjanska

Funders: Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Peer reviewers: Dan Romer, Lotte Pummerer, M Dentith

Published: September 2, 2025
Essay
Revised
Peer review process completed

The rise and flaws of the mission machine: A historical critique of research success metrics since the 1960s

Authors: Gabi Lombardo, Jonathan Deer, Poul Holm

Funders: Excellent Science, Horizon 2020

Peer reviewers: Carter Bloch, Maria del Mar RUBIO VARAS, Mario Coccia, Merle Jacob

Published: August 4, 2026
Method Article
Revised
Peer review process completed

Assessing universities' practices on student diversity and inclusion in higher education: The INSTADINE rubric

Authors: Hemendra Mistry, Maria Cruz Sancehz Gomez

Funders: Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Peer reviewers: Beatriz María Morgado Camacho, Martin Skutil

Published: January 12, 2026
Research Article
Revised
Peer review process completed

A systematic exploration of current limitations of cognate-based phylogenetic inference

Authors: Luise Häuser, Gerhard Jäger, Alexandros Stamatakis

Funders: European Research Council (ERC), Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area

Peer reviewers: Angie Hinrichs, Osama Ali Salman

Published: January 28, 2026
Research Article

Peer review process completed

Evidence from over 30 studies suggests the existence of evolved adaptations to war in humans

Authors: Henrikas Bartusevičius, Samira Aminihajibashi, Stefan Goetz, Eric Skoog, Thomas Hagen

Funders: European Research Council (ERC), Excellent Science, Horizon 2020

Peer reviewers: Aaron Sell, Anthony Lopez, Gijs Schumacher

Published: March 19, 2026
Research Article
Revised
Peer review process completed

Mapping the adoption of artificial intelligence in urban mobility

Authors: Meng Cai

Funders: European Research Council (ERC), Excellent Science, Horizon Europe

Peer reviewers: Liang Zhao, Miguel Valdez, SILA CEREN VARIS HUSAR

Published: August 24, 2026
Brief Report

Peer review process completed

A real common ground: A case for confronting agential realism and critical realism

Authors: Valentina Bortolami

Funders: Excellent Science, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), Horizon Europe

Peer reviewers: Martin Willis, P.J. Wall

Published: February 23, 2026
Review

Peer review process completed

Positive and negative selection of extracellular vesicle-based biomarkers: insights from L1CAM immunocapture and emerging immunodepletion strategies

Authors: Adam P. S. Bennett

Funders: Excellent Science, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), Horizon Europe

Peer reviewers: Suman Dutta, Vasily Yakovlev

Published: February 23, 2026
Research Article

Peer review process completed

A study on students' perspectives on participation in a cultural activity and nutrition knowledge in physical education

Authors: Aue Te Ava, Poonam Singh

Funders: Excellent Science, Horizon 2020, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Peer reviewers: Low Jinghong, Wali Muhammad Khoso

Published: March 2, 2026
Data Note

Peer review process completed

Ceramic assemblages from late antique destruction deposits at Campanaio (Sicily)

Authors: Fabrizio Ducati, Roger J. A. Wilson

Funders: Excellent Science, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), Horizon Europe

Peer reviewers: Alejandro Gares Molero, Gijs Willem Tol

Published: February 26, 2026