Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet NeuroN (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

One of the major issues when dealing with therapies for the rehabilitation of the lower limbs in stroke survivors is the in-deep assessment of their effectiveness and the lack of biomarkers for motor recovery. The motor functionality after therapy is evaluated only through clinical tests and scales which do not give information on the effective muscle state and the changes at the corticospinal level. The aim of restoring the motor functions has moved much of the attention of clinicians and researcher towards the use of the combination of brain stimulation techniques for the assessment of cortical excitability and Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) for the control of rehabilitation devices. This intervention induces cortical plasticity and reactivates the closed-loop pathway between the impaired cortical tract and the limb by using the cortical command to drive the device for the generation of the afferent volley. However, nothing is known about the changes of the neurophysiological correlates and how these influence the effective recovery of motor functions. NeuroN represents the first systematic attempt to investigate the neurophysiological correlates of changes in the excitability of the cortical areas responsible for ankle dorsiflexion in chronic hemiparetic stroke survivors with drop foot impairment and to identify novel biomarkers of motor recovery. NeuroN aims at filling the gap of knowledge on the functional effects of increased plasticity in chronic stroke survivors by integrating a BCI robot-based platform with the high-density surface electromyographic (HD-sEMG) recordings. The information coming from the decomposition of HD-sEMG signals give insight into the behavior of the motoneurons in the spinal cord and on the effective control command. NeuroN is expected to address one of the most intriguing issues in the neurorehabilitation field: the novel biomarkers developed will help in shaping new therapies for the recovery of motor function of stroke patients.

Mots clés : cortical plasticity, brain computer interface, high density electromyography, motor neurons

Participants :
- Universitätsmedizin Göttingen (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 79730.4 €
- Imperial College London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 79730.4 €
Projet GEOANATOMY (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

One of the most ancient, still puzzling, philosophical questions concerns how one should explain the structure of the surrounding world while being herself part of it. Believing that all bodies are part of the cosmos in the sense that they are governed by the same causal principles, ancient scientists communicated their observations by using analogy. Evidence of the various forms of communicative analogical scientific exposition is traditionally taken to reveal that medicine and natural science, though sharing a common interest in accounting for natural phenomena, manifest a keen eagerness to delimit their boundaries. There is, however, a largely underexplored type of analogical reasoning in which these disciplines are seen to create a trans-boundary scientific mixture, enabling us to speak of cross-disciplinary influence and assimilation. This project aims to determine the impact of ancient Greek and Roman medicine on the causal explanations of meteorological and geological phenomena offered by Aristotle (4th c. BCE), Lucretius (1st c. BCE) and Seneca (1st c. CE) by investigating the course of reasoning within which such explanations are embedded, what I call ‘the medical argument’. An analysis of this single, unified cross-disciplinary argumentative system will ultimately lead to a redefinition of our present historical knowledge about the beginnings of modern environmental conscience and consciousness. As its strategic intent, GEOANATOMY encompasses the following set of specific goals: (a) To reassess the relationship between ancient biomedicine and natural philosophy, two disciplines which are traditionally thought to have had clearly demarcated boundaries; (b) To bring to light for the first time and clearly identify the ‘fruit’ of this cross-boundary scientific collaborative amalgam; and (c) To advance awareness in both the academic world and the wider public of issues concerning proto-ecology and care for the environment.

Mots clés : ancient meteorology, ancient medicine

Participants :
- Utrecht University (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 187572.48 €
Projet OXIREC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

One of the most challenging problems in material science is establishing a relation between material’s properties and interfacial structure. The presence of interfaces may strongly affect the properties of most polycrystalline materials. Interfaces play a determining role in properties of functional oxide heterostructures – artificial materials that attracted an increased attention over the past decade due to the wide range of properties they exhibit. The ability to predict equilibrium atomistic structure of interfaces in multicomponent systems using theoretical methods would provide a better understanding of the relation of interfaces to the physical properties of materials. The OXIREC project aims to develop a robust and efficient methodology for theoretical prediction of structural reconstruction at complex oxide interfaces. The project addresses an insight into the principles of interfacial reconstruction in several technologically important heterostructures. The outcome of the project will provide a great fundamental impact opening pathways for prediction various systems with desired properties, as well as a practical impact for oxide industry and manufacturing technologies.

Mots clés : interfacial phenomena, oxide interfaces, oxide heterostructure, functional materials, structure prediction, density functional theory, defects

Participants :
- CIC nanoGUNE (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 170121.6 €
Projet TOTIPOTENCY2014 (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

One of the most critical epigenetic and chromatin remodelling processes in mammalian development occurs shortly after fertilization restoring totipotency. Due to limited cell numbers and lack of experimentally tractable systems, the mechanisms and regulation of this developmental stage are poorly understood. This proposal will provide important mechanistic insights into the epigenetic control of early embryonic gene expression, and its relevance to somatic reprogramming. Murine embryonic stem cells (ESCs) contain a rare sub-population of early embryonic like (EEL) cells expressing genes normally restricted to the pre-implantation embryo, with enhanced extra-embryonic differentiation capability. Firstly, using novel single-cell technologies, I will characterize the EEL cells in detail, validating them as an in vitro model of pre-implantation development. On-going research in the host lab that I am involved in has identified an epigenetic enhancer that expands this EEL sub-population. Through bioinformatic analysis of pre-implantation transcriptome data, I have shortlisted 34 epigenetic and chromatin-associated proteins, including the previously identified factor, which will be systematically screened to identify new enhancers of totipotency. Validated EEL regulators, including two additional newly confirmed factors, will be analysed mechanistically determining their interaction partners, interdependencies, and mode of action. Finally, the contribution of the totipotency regulators towards the efficiency and fidelity of somatic reprogramming will be determined, potentially improving the use of this technology for personalised gene therapy and regenerative medicine. This state-of-the-art proposal uses innovative and novel cutting-edge technologies and combines the expertise of the researcher and the host. It has the potential for significant impact across several fields from epigenetics and stem cell biology to reprogramming and regenerative medicine.

Mots clés : totipotency, chromatin biology, imaging, induced pluripotent stem cells, somatic reprogramming

Participants :
- UK Research and Innovation (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet NumBraInf (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

One of the most critical quests of neuroscientists is the discovery of the origin of human cognition, such as number processing. Previous studies have shown that the ability to process numerical information in adulthood can be traced back to the first months of life. Although the natural number concept is not expressed until childhood it is built upon a nonsymbolic competency (e.g., child A has more toys than child B) that has an evolutionary origin and is available early in life. The human infant brain is the only known system, which is able to master a natural language and symbolic knowledge that represents the external world. Fascinatingly, infants are able to represent and discriminate quantities, solve addition and subtraction problems, calculate probabilities, and understand ordinality. These abilities rely on two core systems: (1) track a small number of individuals and (2) estimate the numerosity of large sets across different sensory modalities. However, the role of supportive cognitive abilities in number processing has been overlooked in both behavioral and neuroimaging studies in infants. Studies in adults, and even more in children, frequently reveal that in addition to the above-mentioned magnitude processing ability – understanding the quantities – different cognitive abilities – e.g., working memory, inhibition, sustained attention – are needed for number processing and arithmetic. These cognitive abilities mainly rely on prefrontal activation. Furthermore, as an index of maturation, myelination in the prefrontal cortex takes place before that in several other brain regions, such as the temporal lobe. Infant studies in other domains have already revealed the involvement of the prefrontal cortex in response to the mother’s voice, and when working memory is elicited. So, in this project, I investigate the role of prefrontal cognitive abilities in number processing in infancy, which might be crucial to explaining human learning.

Mots clés : mathematics, numerical cognition, magnitude process, cognitive process, developmental trajectory, infant, prefrontal and parietal cortex, neuroimaging, functional near infrared spectroscopy  fnirs

Participants :
- Harvard University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Tübingen (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 264669.12 €
Projet MIDEHA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

One of the most exciting developments in the second half of the last century in combinatorial research has been the search for Hamilton cycles in graphs and hypergraphs. Since the decision problem, whether a given graph contains a Hamilton cycle, is computationally intractable, no `simple' characterization for their existence is known. The main approach to finding Hamilton cycles has thus focused on natural sufficient conditions. A classic example for this is Dirac's theorem, which provides optimal minimum degree conditions for the existence of a Hamilton cycle in graphs. The aim of this project is to resolve several problems regarding hypergraph analogues of Dirac's theorem. The proposed research considers two natural generalization of cycles: (i) Tight cycles, which have been extensively researched in the past two decades, and (ii) Spheres, a topological generalization of cycles, which was suggested by Brown, Erdős and Sós in the Seventies and has recently resurfaced in extremal graph theory. To determine optimal minimum degree conditions for spanning tight cycles and spheres, the experienced researcher plans to develop new techniques based on hypergraph regularity and combinatorial optimization, which will likely find application beyond the proposed research.

Mots clés : hypergraphs, hamilton cycles, tight cycles, spheres, dirac type problems, minimum degree conditions

Participants :
- Universität Hamburg (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 174806.4 €
Projet MOTOR SIMULATION (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

One of the most intriguing, yet controversial findings in neuroscience in the past two decades is the discovery of the mirror neuron system (MNS). These visuo-motor neurons discharge both when a monkey does a particular goal-directed action and also when it observes another individual doing a similar action. The result of this mechanism is thought to be the capacity to recognize that an individual is performing an action, to differentiate this action from others analogous to it, and to use this information in order to act appropriately. This mechanism has been proposed as the basis for social cognition, and deficits in social understanding, such as those seen in autism spectrum disorder, have been linked to deficits in the MNS. Here I propose to use 2 novel approaches to address the neurobiological and behavioral significance of the human mirror neuron system (hMNS). (a) I will use Electrocorticography (ECoG) in neurosurgical patients to assess where, when, and how neurons in the prefrontal, parietal and sensorimotor regions are involved in action recognition. (b) I will employ scalp EEG and behavioral measures in a unique cohort of patients with damage centered in the Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG) or the Inferior Parietal Lobule (IPL). If the IFG and IPL are the core regions of the hMNS, patients with lesions to these regions should show deficits in understanding others’ actions, intentions and emotions (when these are expressed by body motion). This research will further our knowledge on the neural underpinnings of social understanding, and on the consequences of deficits in these neural networks.

Mots clés : mirror neurons, motor simulation, understanding others, embodied cognition, lesion patients, ecog

Participants :
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israël) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 263385.0 €
- University of California System (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet NRST (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

One of the most profound problems in modern theoretical physics concerns the formulation of quantum gravity. A predominating paradigm for addressing questions in quantum gravity is string theory. One important lesson from string theory is that different string theories must be unified in a nonperturbative theory called M-theory, to probe which corners of string theory with significant simplifications are valuable to consider. Notable examples of such corners are AdS/CFT duality and Matrix theory, with numerous applications to the information paradox in black hole physics, heavy-ion collisions in nuclear physics, superconductors in condensed matter, etc. The project focuses on a self-contained corner in string theory that treats space and time differently and has a nonrelativistic (NR) spectrum. This corner is called NR string theory. I will study the foundation of NR string theory and its relation to nonperturbative methods in string/M-theory. I will also explore applications to NR field theories, with impacts on condensed matter theories of ferromagnetism and 2D systems of electrons. During my PhD at UC Berkeley (US) and postdoc at Perimeter Institute (Canada), I collaborated with some of the world experts in the field and sophisticated my expertise for this project. The host institution, Nordita, hosted by Stockholm University and KTH, provides an excellent environment for cutting-edge research on fundamental physics. The expertise among faculty members and postdocs, and the stimulating and extensive international visitor program at Nordita make it an ideal place to conduct this project and to sharpen my interdisciplinary skills in condensed matter and pure mathematics. In addition to my North American background, I also have long-term collaborations with research groups from prestigious EU institutions. The host, EU and I will all benefit from the international collaborations brought by the integrated background and worldwide connections of both the host and me.

Mots clés : string theory, sigma model, conformal field theory, nonrelativistic gravity, nonrelativistic quantum field theory, cft correspondence

Participants :
- Stockholm University (Suède) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 191852.16 €
Projet MELODIC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

One of the most promising technologies to search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0nubb) is a high pressure xenon gas (HPGXe) time projection chamber (TPC) with electroluminescent (EL) amplification. The key advantage of an EL HPGXe TPC is the capability to uniquely image the track of the two emitted electrons in a 0nubb event, together with high energy resolution. The current imaging performance is limited by the diffusion of the ionization electrons during drift. This proposal describes a research program to reduce diffusion by adding CH4 molecular additives to the xenon gas to improve the imaging capability in an EL HPGXe TPC enhancing the sensitivity to the 0nubb decay, within the context of the NEXT collaboration. Dr. Lopez March and the two supervisors Prof. Gomez Cadenas and Prof. Nygren propose to develop the project in two stages: 1) characterization of the CH4 molecular additive in a small detector at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), Outgoing Phase); 2) exploit the new gas mixture to perform the measurement of the topological signature with the NEXT-DEMO TPC at the Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular (SPAIN) and with the NEW TPC at the underground Laboratorio Subterr\'aneo de Canfranc (LSC) (Return Phase). The objectives of the MELODIC project have been planned to boost the career development of the fellow. The overall training received by Dr. Lopez March in the proposed research project will give her independence and professional maturity. She will become a truly, multidisciplinary researcher capable of integrating different areas of research (operation of detectors and physics data analysis) making her uniquely trained for leading her own line of research.

Mots clés : neutrinoless double beta decay, gas tpcs, gas mixtures, xenon

Participants :
- The University of Texas System (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Valencia (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 159126.0 €
Projet Inventing GPS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

One of the most significant technological innovations of the post-war era, the development of GPS revolutionised the way we navigate, fight wars, design maps, and keep time. However, a GPS historiography does not exist yet. The objective of this project is to provide the first in-depth historiographical study of Global Positioning System (GPS) development through new empirical archival evidence and extensive oral history interviews. Relatedly, by exploring the history of satellite-navigation, the project will also contribute to designing policies relevant to the EU’s Common Defence and Security Policy (CDSP). The project will highlight the interconnection of technological innovation in the field of satellite-based navigation with Cold War politics and military-strategic culture. The overarching argument is that the development of GPS was born out of the paradigm transformation that took place within the U.S. Air Force in the early-to-mid 1970s in favour of a ‘counterforce’ military doctrine. The ancillary argument is that GPS was part of a broader attempt by the United States to direct R&D efforts towards regaining qualitative and technological superiority over the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. Additionally, through innovative ‘applied history’ methods, the project will analyse the implications of GALILEO for the future of European security. These issues are particularly timely in the context of increased international tension, the erosion of U.S. leadership in European defence matters, and the related initiatives to further integrate EU defence policies parallel to NATO, particularly after Brexit. Against this background, the project will assess the relevance of independent access to satellite-navigation as an essential tool in any far-sighted policy of EU defence integration. The action will allow the ER to establish himself as a leading scholar in his field and be competitive in the European academic job market.

Mots clés : cold war, history of technology, satellite navigation, global positioning system  gps, nuclear history and strategy, international security, u s  history

Participants :
- University of Toronto (Canada) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Ca' Foscari University of Venice (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 237768.0 €