Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet Elite Defections (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Autocrats cannot rule alone. To guarantee their personal safety/regime survival, they often build authoritarian parties/coalitions. In return for their services and support, authoritarian elites receive benefits, privileges, spoils and protection. This support, however, is not unconditional and autocrats know so. Therefore, they have to constantly watch over these elites -and resort to blackmail, repression, or jailing- to prevent splits and/or spin-off movements that could lead to regime collapse. In spite of the uncertainty and risks that come with defections, including losing privileges, benefits or protection, some elites still choose to break away. Why does this happen? Several studies have looked at the role of defectors in transition processes and have tried to answer why defections occur. They have found that spoil-sharing, institutional framework, co-optation, repression, economic crisis or liberalization (or lack thereof) can promote elite cohesion or, in turn, incentivize defections. While this scholarship makes important contributions, several questions remain. Given that defections do not always occur at once, what explains defections over time? To what extent do linkages to the opposition and their capacity to absorb defectors matter? Does international pressure hinder or promote defections? Does regime popularity inhibit defections? By using quantitative and qualitative tools and a cross-regional comparative approach, this project titled “The Origins of Elite Defections” will address these questions. So far there has been no systematic research on defectors in Latin America that combines both qualitative (elite interviews) and quantitative analysis (creation of original database on defectors), with a cross-regional comparison using African cases, such as Ghana and Uganda. In doing so, this project will shed light on the patterns and timing of defections thereby contributing to a better understanding of authoritarian demise and survival.

Mots clés : authoritarianism, political parties, democratisation, latin america

Participants :
- Smithsonian Institution (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Organismes publics (hors enseignement & recherche), subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Oxford (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 271732.8 €
Projet ARCAID (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Cofund Doctoral programme
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Autoimmune rheumatological diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, vasculitis and systemic lupus erythematosus continue to exert significant tolls on the quality of life of millions of afflicted patients and on European societies in the form of loss of (work-)productivity and costs. Major advances in our understanding of the immunological processes underlying these diseases have been made, but it has not always been possible to translate these to improved diagnostics or therapeutic health care interventions. At the AMC and collaborating institutions and partners, we have developed the translational platforms for true bench-to-bedside development of the next generation of diagnostics and therapeutics for these diseases. To contribute to this effort, the next generation of scientists that work on translational immunological rheumatology need to be educated. Therefore, a multidisciplinary research team of scientists based at several faculties at Amsterdam UMC, The Netherlands are applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND grant. In this programme, 20 PhD students will work in the field of translational immunological rheumatology. The ARCAID applicants at the Amsterdam UMC consist of leading and renowned research groups on this subject and we are confident that these groups can achieve the ambitious goals of the program.

Mots clés : immunology, rheumatic diseases, translational research, diagnostics, prognostics, therapy

Participants :
- Amsterdam University Medical Centers (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 2169600.0 €
Projet BioConTact (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

BioConTact will engineer electrical conductors with a controllable biodegradability that are flexible, lightweight, scalable, and produced with readily available materials. The tunable degradation will be finely controlled through the material formulation. Thus, this unique technology will be indispensable for applications where long-term stability is crucial, such as robotic skin, or those requiring environmental control of degradation, such as bioresorbable transient electronics. These conductors will be assembled as human mimicking robotic skin for the iCub, the flagship open-source robot developed by the beneficiary, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia. The fellow will utilise his experience in the design of materials for sustainable electronics, exploit the supervisor’s and co-supervisor’s knowledge on biodegradation and robotic tactile sensors, and benefit from their excellent laboratories, Smart Materials and Humanoid Sensing and Perception, respectively. This research is motivated by the ever-growing need for sustainable and biodegradable materials for electronics. Consumer electronics are indeed pervasive in European society, with more than 230 million users. Yet, materials for electronics are not sustainable because of their scarcity, toxicity, and recycling complexity, which are detrimental for manufacturers, governments, and society. Besides, electronic wastes are accumulating globally and will reach a production rate of 120 million metric tons per year by 2050. Simultaneously, robotics, which are vital for a thriving European economy, are becoming omnipresent. Hence, the transition to sustainable and biodegradable alternatives to current electronics will boost the progress of environmentally friendly technologies in robotics. This transformation is in line with the 2030 European Sustainable Development Goals and the Horizon 2020 Societal Challenges program that promotes a greener and sustainable European society.

Mots clés : flexible electronics, biopolymer, conductive ink, biodegradability, metallic particle, robotic skin, tactile sensor, degradable conductor, spray coating, sensor integration

Participants :
- Italian Institute of Technology (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 171473.28 €
Projet Yamnomics (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Biodiversity conservation has become a priority concern for both science and society. Human population growth and resource exploitation have impacted on worldwide species richness, and affecting evolutionary trajectories of species and the stability of ecosystems. The increased focus on understanding biodiversity and its sustainable use have evolved concurrently with the new genomic (next-generation sequencing, NGS) and bioinformatic techniques that have revolutionized the availability of DNA sequence data for comparative biodiversity studies and lead to the emergence of Phylogenomics, in which evolutionary relationships are recovered based on comparative analyses of genome-scale data. The overarching goal of the proposed project, YAMNOMICS, is to elucidate the evolutionary relationships within the highly diverse genus Dioscorea (Dioscoreaceae). The genomic-scale methods proposed in this project constitute the key for this goal and open up opportunities for the researcher and YAMNOMICS participants to generate substantial and long-term career outputs in biodiversity science. Dioscorea contains 600 species distributed in the tropics and with a low representation in temperate regions, and includes crops that feed tens of millions worldwide. Its economic importance is complemented by other species which accumulate secondary steroidal compounds of pharmacological interest. Molecular studies in yams have focused on studying species of agricultural interest.Additionally, Dioscorea constitutes a focus of interest in evolutionary studies due to its high diversity and the enormous distribution range of its lineages. Several studies focused on the phylogeographic patterns at low taxonomic levels for endangered species. Broader molecular approaches have dealt with phylogenetic relationships des, establishing a Cretaceous Laurasian origin. However traditional molecular methods remain insufficient to determine evolutionary relationships among recently derived species.

Mots clés : phylogenetics, phylogenomics, biodiversity, evolution, systematics, biogeography, polyploidy

Participants :
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet BioScal (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Biodiversity is a critical indicator of ecosystem functioning and health. Greater native biodiversity enhances ecosystem function, productivity, resilience, variability of the genetic pool, and a multitude of other ecosystem services. With the technology available now, remote sensing is the only efficient tool to assess biodiversity over regional to global scales because it can provide measurements at appropriate spatial and temporal resolutions. Recent studies have started to explore the potential of remote sensing to estimate biodiversity attributes and patterns in natural and managed ecosystems. Most studies to date have used moderate resolution satellites to investigate species richness with somewhat mixed results. Few studies have had access to image spectroscopy data, which allows greater power in determining the relationships between spectral variability and biodiversity. While it is crucial to measure biodiversity across systems and scales, achieving this goal is challenging. Metrics or indicators are necessary for measuring and monitoring biodiversity at regional to global scales. In this line accurate information on functional traits can provide a baseline for monitoring biodiversity. The main objective of this study will be to assess biodiversity based on functional trait monitoring on a diversity of forest communities along Europe. The proposed study will exploit the high spectral, spatial and temporal resolution data obtained from multiple remote sensing instruments. From a remote sensing point of view, the novelty or this research will be to take advantage of each sensor’s capabilities and extend our analysis in both space and time; and from an ecological point of view the novelty could be to develop a workflow for both downscaling and upscaling biodiversity across multiple forest types along Europe.

Mots clés : biodiversity monitoring from space, functional traits, ecosystem functioning, biodiversity change

Participants :
- University of Zurich (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 203149.44 €
Projet NTPleasure (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Biogas (CO2, 15~60 vol.%, CH4, 40~75 vo.l%) is produced by the anaerobic digestion of organic wastes such as sewage, food wastes and landfill, which can produce biomethane as the transport fuel. Therefore, extensive efforts have been dedicated for the separation of CO2 from biogas to enrich CH4 present. In addition, the further utilization of separated CO2 (e.g. CO2 to methanol or CH4) is also a challenge for directing its carbon cycle and hence reducing the current greenhouse gas emissions. In this project, an integrated separation-nonthermal plasma (NTP)-catalyst system will be developed to enable the full utilization and valorisation of biogas. The system will be based on selective capture of CO2 from the biogas stream using ultra-thin SAPO-34 zeolite membranes (~1 μm thickness) and the subsequent NTP-assisted catalytic CO2 methanation on Ni- and/or Co-based catalysts supported on 5A zeolite membrane (~3 μm thickness). The integrated design combining CO2 capture with CO2 methanation at ambient temperature will be an excellent candidate for further exploitation in the industrial scale biogas upgrade process. This project will also use transient kinetics and advanced in-situ characterization methods to understand the reaction mechanism and nature of the active site, including steady-state isotope kinetic analysis, short-time-on-stream diffuse reflectance infra spectroscopy and near ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, etc.

Mots clés : plasma, catalysis, methane, valorisation, biogas

Participants :
- University of Manchester (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet srpabsotcpfaaieps (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Biological activity of cells depends on timely production of natively folded proteins by powerful translation and folding machineries. At a critical regulatory intersection of translation and folding, ribosomes act as integration hubs coordinating chaperone, enzyme and membrane targeting factor activity, influencing folding. Final assembly of proteins into oligomeric complexes however, has long been considered post-translational and dependent on random collision of fully synthesized diffusing subunits. In a shift of paradigm, recent evidence from the Bukau laboratory now suggests that in bacteria, assembly initiates co-translationally assisted by chaperones, and gene organization into operons drives co-localized translation of complex subunits that impacts efficiency of assembly. Fundamental differences in eukaryotes such as rarity of operons and differing chaperone constellations imply a widely different folding and assembly biology, which remains largely unexplored. The selective ribosome profiling (SeRP) method, developed by the Bukau lab, now allows ground breaking identification and definition of dynamic interactions of nascent chains, at near-residue resolution. Using SeRP with supporting biochemistry, I will unravel the nascent chain molecular biology underpinning protein folding and assembly in yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a powerful model for studying the fundamental aspects of this biology. Specifically, I will establish (1) basic features and prevalence of co-translational protein assembly, (2) how chaperones guide co-translational protein folding to affect assembly. Subunit interaction profiles complemented by chaperone interaction profiles, will expose the timing and interplay of protein folding and assembly steps linked to protein synthesis, establishing a detailed conceptually new biology of complex assembly in eukaryotes.

Mots clés : yeast, ribosomes, protein folding, chaperones, co translation protein complex assembly

Participants :
- Heidelberg University (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 171460.8 €
Projet InvasiveSDM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Biological invasions represent a major component of global change through their impacts on biodiversity, ecosystems and societies. Awareness of biological invasion impacts and the critical importance of evidence-based decision making have led to a persistent effort to understand the factors driving invasion success so as to be able to predict invasion outcomes. To this end, a range of modelling tools has been developed. Among them, species distribution models (SDMs) -phenomenological models that statistically relate observed species occurrences to environmental variables- play a critical role in invasion risk assessments. These models rely on ecological niche theory, which predicts that for recent events such as biological invasions, conservatism of the climatic niche is expected. However, recent studies have demonstrated that this approach could be hampered by apparent niche shifts in invasive ranges. Mismatches between native and invasive distributions derived from SDMs have been often interpreted as species adaptations in response to selection pressures in novel environments. However, methodological drawbacks of previous approaches fuel doubts about the biological meaning of these findings. In this project, two unresolved challenges faced by SDMs when applied to the biological invasion process will be examined: how (1) species’ association with human-modified habitats in native ranges and (2) intraspecific niche variation shape the distribution of invasive species at biogeographical scales and how these effects influence the reliability of predictions of invasion risk. To accomplish these goals, I will use an interdisciplinary approach combining global bird distribution data, with molecular phylogenetic data and modern statistical and ecological analyses. The results of the project will contribute to improve prediction accuracy of biological invasions, and will also help better understand the invasion process.

Mots clés : biological invasions, human associations, intraspecific variation, phylogeographic niche structure, species distribution models

Participants :
- University of London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet BiomCatOx (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

BiomCatOx will explore a unique catalyst design for the valorisation of hydrocarbons by oxygen insertion into a C–H bond under mild reaction conditions and using O2 as cheap and benign oxidant. The key concept of BiomCatOx is to rigorously control the activation of O2 and the formation of metal-based reactive oxygen species (ROS) to accomplish selective and catalytic oxidation of hydrocarbons. The novelty of BiomCatOx lies in the design of the catalyst that consists in connecting a heavily truncated protein as electron relay for controllable intramolecular electron transfer (IET) to a synthetic oxidation catalyst. The intramolecular electron transfer can be rationally custom-tailored and therefore provides strict control on the reactivity of the catalytic center and on the formation of the ROS. BiomCatOx will use a stepwise approach involving (i) the development of copper-NHC complexes as powerful catalysts for the formation of ROS and hydrocarbon oxidation, (ii) the development of a copper peptide derived from the azurin active site for efficient electron transfer, and (iii) the covalent connection of the two copper sites into a peptide-complex dicopper conjugate for controlled intramolecular electron transfer. The implementation of BiomCatOx will provide efficient catalytic systems and fundamental insights into electron transfer, and discloses a new catalyst design concept. BiomCatOx is highly interdisciplinary and merges organometallic chemistry, homogeneous catalysis, enzymology, and spectroscopy. This training at the University of Bern (CH) and of Nottingham (UK, secondment) will convey a unique skill set. Together with the personalized career development plan, I will gain significant scientific and soft skills to boost my career and to become an internationally recognized academic leader in Europe at the bioinorganic chemistry/catalysis interface. Communication and management trainings will increase my competence and strongly support my career perspectives.

Mots clés : dioxygen activation, copper complexes, electron transfer, hydrocarbon oxidation, n heterocyclic carbenes

Participants :
- University of Bern (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 175419.6 €
Projet SUBLUBE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Biomass valorization through biorefineries is integral towards the transition to a circular and climate neutral economy by 2050, as envisioned in the European Union Circular Economy Action Plan and in support of the European and Spanish Bioeconomy Strategy and the RIS3 Castilla y Leon Regional Strategy. To realize this, two important challenges need to be addressed: an efficient biomass fractionation system and the development of products close to market. In response to these challenges, the SUBLUBE project aims to recover pristine suberin from cork industry byproducts through a cascaded fractionation-hydrolysis process with supercritical water as reaction media and to convert pristine suberin into highly functionalized biolubricant building block through subcritical water hydrolysis. The research will focus on evaluating the process conditions that would achieve high pristine suberin yields and highly functionalized building blocks in a laboratory scale and pilot scale continuous microreactors. Based from the results obtained, a techno-economic model will be prepared through process modeling and simulation. SUBLUBE is founded upon the integration of applied chemistry, chemical engineering, process fundamentals and materials science as a strategy for forestry products valorization. The findings of this research will benefit the society as a model for scalable biorefineries in continuous microreactors (innovation) that utilizes agro-industrial waste byproducts as resources for the sustainable generation of value added products (pristine suberin, biolubricants). It will lead to additional income streams for the cork processing industry (job creation) while reducing our dependence on vegetable oils and synthetic esters and greenhouse gas emissions. As a whole, this fellowship will support a female foreign researcher in demonstrating ability to work on a project that advances natural product valorization through green and sustainable technologies.

Mots clés : suberin, biolubricant, hydrolysis, subcritical water, supercritical fluid, cork byproducts, microreactors

Participants :
- University of Valladolid (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 172932.48 €