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

This interdisciplinary study investigates the place and function of ecotopian thought in contemporary climate change discourse and in ecocritical theory. Interdisciplinary ecocritical analysis will establish where ecotopian depictions of the future exist in British and North American climate change discourse, why they appear where they do, and what factors contribute to the widespread absence of ecotopian imagery and thought within depictions of humanity’s future in an age of climate crisis. An interdisciplinary ecocritical analysis of contemporary climate change discourse will be situated within a longer cultural history of ecotopian thought from the mid-twentieth century, in a monograph titled A Cultural History of Ecotopia. The study will also use collaborative, research-led public engagement to assess what the benefits might be of encouraging imaginative engagements with ideas of ecotopia, for both research innovation and for promoting widespread engagement with climate change and sustainable development.

Mots clés : environmental humanities, ecocriticism, literature and the environment, climate change, environmental futures, twentieth century literature, american literature, transatlantic literature

Participants :
- University of Bristol (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 271732.8 €
- University of California System (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet WaspCLIM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

This multidisciplinary fellowship will address a key emerging enigma in evolutionary biology: does variation in climate shape the evolution of animal ‘altruism’ (costly cooperation in the service of others)? Recent speculation has suggested that climate influences the power of kin selection (a central mechanism in the evolution of altruism). I will test this hypothesis in four work packages. First, I will provide an analysis of variation in the power of kin selection on an unprecedented latitudinal scale. The African wasp Belonogaster juncea ranges from the equatorial tropics to temperate South Africa, permitting an intraspecific test of the link between climate and altruism. Second, I will conduct extensive behavioural experiments over this latitudinal range to dissect variation in the motivations for cooperation. Third, I will undertake a global comparative analysis of the effects of climate on cooperation in simple eusocial wasps and bees, synthesising decades of published data to parameterise a mathematical model of the evolution of cooperation under different climate regimes. Fourth, I will develop a novel citizen science approach in Sub-Saharan Africa to collect fundamental data on variation in cooperation in wasps, engaging local populations in the practice of ecology at large scales. By providing a multidisciplinary synthesis to test the link between climate and kin selection, WaspCLIM will significantly advance our understanding of the ultimate drivers of altruism – one of the top 25 outstanding scientific questions identified by the journal Science.

Mots clés : altruism, evolution of cooperation, social evolution, kin selection, inclusive fitness, wasps, eusociality, climate, hamilton s rule, latitudinal gradients, social insects, hymenoptera

Participants :
- Columbia University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Bristol (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 271732.8 €
Projet NANOBIOME (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

This project addresses the quest for a new nanoparticle-based biosensing platform to study the chemical signaling within bacterial microbiome, bridging the gap from nanotechnology to biodiagnostic application. Healing-impaired and chronic wounds are a snowballing threat to public health and the economy. Their efficient treatment requires insight into the local wound microbiome, namely the composition and temporal evolution of bacterial communities. This project aims to provide access to the chemical cell-to-cell communication (quorum sensing, QS), which will enable monitoring changes in biofilms, specifically the competition of bacterial communities for resources and space, and the population density-depended change from non-virulent to virulent. To realize this goal, NANOBIOME will develop a plasmonic 2D screening platform for ultrasensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection of bacterial QS signaling. Contrary to other approaches, NANOBIOME will build on (1) well-defined self-assembled plasmonic nanoclusters, acting as sensing pixels; and (2) their ordered assembly on solid supports with defined inter-particle spacing - to avoid plasmonic coupling between pixels. Further modifications of the nanostructures will allow for facile tailoring of optical properties ideally suited for rapid screening for highest SERS activity. This SERS screening platform will grant quantitative insight into intra- and interspecies signaling to improve our understanding of bacterial competition in wound microbiomes using bacterial model systems (e.g., pathogens versus commensal bacteria).

Mots clés : self assembly, surface enhanced raman spectroscopy, nanoparticle library, plasmonics, gradient material, bacterial biofilms, quorum sensing, metabolite detection, sensor

Participants :
- CIC biomaGUNE (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 158121.6 €
Projet COLIBRI (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

This project aims at a cost-effective efficiency enhancement of Si solar cells towards their theoretical maximum of about 29% by moving away from the diffused-junction paradigm. This will reduce the energy fabrication costs on the €/kWh level and thereby increase the competiveness and profitability of photovoltaic systems. Crystalline Si (c-Si) solar cells are since decades the most established photovoltaic technology. Their main advantages are long lifetime (>25 years), non-toxicity and the high abundance of Si. However, for full competitiveness with traditional sources of electricity, important new steps need to be taken to increase their performance. An innovative contacting scheme will be developed that eliminates the main loss mechanisms in c-Si solar cells arising from doped pn-junctions and the direct contact of metal with Si. The novel contacts will be broadband optically transparent, generate a highly passivating and carrier-selective interface to Si and will enable solar cells without doped pn-junctions. No cost-intensive patterning technique is required for the device fabrication and parasitic optical absorption, as present in Si heterojunction solar cells, will be minimized. The novel contacts consist of three layers: a 1-2 nm thick tunnelling SiO2 layer for chemical passivation of the Si surface, a wide-bandgap conductive metal oxide layer providing a specific energy band alignment, and a highly conductive transparent oxide (TCO) for carrier transport to external metal contacts and optimum light coupling into the solar cell device. The contacts will be used for the fabrication of Si solar cells which are devoid of doped pn-junctions and achieve both high open-circuit voltages and photo currents. The structure of the photovoltaic device will be optimized for the application in regular 1-sun modules and for both III-V/Si and perovskite/Si tandem cell applications with potential for flat-plate efficiencies well above 30%.

Mots clés : high efficiency photovoltaics, c si solar cells, carrier selective contacts, tandem solar cells

Participants :
- Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 175419.6 €
Projet UNCERTAINPOWER (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

This project aims at analysing the authority of the viceroys and governors-general - the highest representatives of the Portuguese kings – in the States of India and Brazil between 1640 and 1750 and as such, it deals with the relevance of non-formal expressions of power and authority, and their role in the efficiency of political communication. UNCERTAINPOWER seeks early expressions of the combination between formal and non-formal expressions of power and authority, namely in places where the physical presence of the main decision-makers was impossible to happen. In a world with ever-changing systems of communication, where virtual forms of power become more and more present, to offer a diachronic perspective on the uncertainties that long-distance expressions of power entail is relevant. The choice of the early-modern Portuguese empire is related with its early presence in the four parts of the world in a period when technologies of power and of communication were very different from ours. In UNCERTAINPOWER, issues that are still relevant today, such as the ways of expressing authority in very different socio-cultural contexts, the reception of this authority, as well as the links between these processes and the conservation of society will be discussed. Which were the ways chosen by Portuguese viceroys and governors to communicate their power and authority with the societies under their control? How did these royal agents exercise the prerogative of representing the royal power in an empire with a significant territorial extension and with a plurality of cultural and political realities? How did they adjust their political cultures to the local needs? How did the local contexts influence their ways of governing? And how did mobility challenge the meanings of power and authority? The more tangible outcomes of this project include 6 articles, 1 book and a virtual exhibition.

Mots clés : portugal, empire, state of brazil, state of india, cultural history, colonial history, early modern age, viceroys, governors general

Participants :
- University of Lisbon (Portugal) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 148635.6 €
Projet LEUKEYOLK (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

This project aims at dissecting the contribution of yolk sac (YS)-derived haemopoietic progenitors to childhood leukaemias, whose early onset suggests an embryonic origin. Using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) differentiation, we will determine the origin of the Down syndrome-associated transient myeloproliferative disease (DS-TMD), paradigmatic example of perinatal malignancy. TMD, due to megakaryoblast hyperproliferation, has an in utero origin. This supports the compelling hypothesis of a haemopoietic stem cell (HSC)-independent origin of DS-TMD, as during embryogenesis there are at least 3 waves of progenitors with megakaryocytic potential. A first primitive program, followed by the erythromyeloid progenitors (EMP), both YS-derived and devoid of HSC potential; lastly a definitive program, generating HSCs and all haemopoietic lineages. By differentiating iPSCs from a DS-TMD patient through recapitulation of embryonic development, we will interrogate the contribution of primitive, EMP and definitive haemopoiesis to DS-TMD with in vitro/in vivo functional assays. Moreover, we will investigate the molecular mechanisms triggering the disease. As mutations leading to a short GATA1 isoform occur in all cases of DS-TMD, we will analyse how this affects the transcriptional landscape of the cells relevant to the disease. We hypothesise that DS-TMD derives from a rarely appreciated developmental program (the EMP), whose life-long contribution is only beginning to be elucidated. Determining the developmental source and mechanisms of this disorder could help designing new therapies for myeloid malignancies in non-DS patients and could lead to a paradigm shift in the field of haemopoiesis and leukaemogenesis. Research on cancer and childhood leukemias is of broad interest for the EC, as shown by the extensive funding of projects on this topic within the FP7. Our project will further nurture this research area, contributing to increasing European research competitiveness.

Mots clés : human haemopoietic development, down syndrome, leukaemia, induced pluripotent stem cells, yolk sac, haemopoietic stem cells

Participants :
- Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 168277.2 €
Projet PerovSAMs (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

This project aims at optimizing the interface between halide perovskites and different semiconductors through the use of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). Such interface engineering will be applied to perovskite solar cells where SAMs will play the role of “molecular glues” between the active perovskite layer and charge transport layers (n- and p-type metal oxides as well as organic semiconductors). Through the grafting and self-assembly of short bifunctional molecules, PerovSAMs will ensure a smooth and close contact at the interfaces, favouring charge transfer in the cell, thus minimizing losses and enhancing the power conversion efficiency (PCE). Furthermore, this versatile methodology will also be applied to perovskite nanocrystals (NCs). Surface functionalization of the NCs with SAMs will allow the formation of a perovskite shell with a different chemical composition creating core-shell quantum dots with superior photovoltaic properties, boosting the incipient field of perovskite NC-based solar cells.

Mots clés : perovskites, self assembled monolayers, interfaces, optoelectronics, nanocrystals

Participants :
- University of Valencia (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 170121.6 €
Projet PROMETEO (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

This project aims at reconstructing the evolution of human oral health in Northern Europeans, from the late Mesolithic to modern days, by genomics and proteomics investigation of: human ancient microbiota, human immune response proteins, and food remains preserved in mineralised dental plaque (archaeological dental calculus). The human microbiota is essential to maintain health, but capable of eliciting disease. Ecological shifts and imbalances (dysbiosis) of the oral microbiota can significantly impact health and cause severe forms of oral pathologies resulting in systemic disease at different body sites. Taxonomic reconstruction of ancient microbiomes and identification of which genes have been gained or lost in their genomes in connection with major lifestyle changes in human history will contribute to the development of more effective preventive and therapeutic approaches for this disease. The two main research objectives are: • Reconstruction of the evolution of the oral microbiome composition over the last 8000 years, and • Characterisation of the associated human immune responses. Genomic and proteomics biomolecular evidence will be retrieved from archaeological human dental calculus: a rich, but so far mostly neglected, source of ancient oral biomolecules. Ancient DNA and proteins extracted from archaeological dental calculus will be analysed using state-of-the-art proteomics and metagenomics approaches at the Centre for GeoGenetics, by high-resolution mass spectrometry and high-throughput DNA sequencing-by-synthesis methods. CGG recently led a high-profile study demonstrating the potential of this approach and will further develop this concept using approximately 80 Northern European samples from a wide chronological range. The Researcher’s skills in computational proteomics will be beneficial to ancient proteomics analysis, and his skills extended to the field of metagenomics.

Mots clés : ancient dna, ancient proteins, ancient metagenomics, oral microbiome, mass spectrometry

Participants :
- University of Copenhagen (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 200194.8 €
Projet HTEPV (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

This project aims at the practical realization, the characterization, and the industrial/commercial evaluation of optimized hybrid thermoelectric-photovoltaic (HTEPV) devices. HTEPV devices can convert the solar energy more efficiently than normal solar cells, since the thermoelectric component recovers part of the unused heat generated within them. In this project the hybrid optimization will be obtained with an innovative approach recently proposed within a theoretical/computational study by the fellow, Dr. Bruno Lorenzi. The principal objective of this action will be the practical hybridization of two kinds of single junction solar cells in HTEPV devices achieving performances higher than the PV cell alone by at least 25%. The project will be organized in three main phases: outgoing phase (first HTEPV development), ingoing phase (second HTEPV development), and a secondment (encapsulation development at a non-academic institution). Dr. Lorenzi will acquire knowledge and know-how especially by training through research in achieving the objectives of the action. This will contribute to make Dr. Lorenzi an independent and expert researcher in the perspective of his future research carrier. The project will also surely contribute to the advance of field of the energy harvesting. Actually it is well known that for renewables, the higher the efficiency the lower is the total-cost/produced-power ratio. Thus the large expected increase of efficiency for the hybrid devices developed in this action will have a major impact on their price per watt. This will open new concrete possibilities for near-future commercialization of this novel generation of solar harvesters, stimulating industrial productions and new markets. This in turn will lead to a wider diffusion and a higher accessibility of a renewable source of energy for the EU citizens.

Mots clés : solar harvester, hybrid systems, photovoltaics, thermoelectrics, thermal losses

Participants :
- University of Milano-Bicocca (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 247924.8 €
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet CUPRES (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

This project aims to advance our understanding of the electronic structure of high Tc cuprate superconductors. In particular, we will use the unique combination of high pressure and high magnetic fields to study the evolution of two phases which exist alongside the superconducting state, namely the so-called pseudogap state and a charge ordered state. Both of these states have end points which approximately coincide with the point on the doping-temperature phase diagram where the superconducting transition temperature is maximal and it has been suggested that fluctuations in the order parameter of one or both of these phases could be responsible for the electron pairing that leads to high temperature superconductivity. Most studies to date of these phase, and indeed the cuprates in general, have used chemical doping to tune the materials across their phase diagram. Instead we plan to use pressure, which is a complementary tuning parameter which we expect to split the accidental phase degeneracies which complicate the interpretation of the doping dependent studies. Our experimental programme includes studies of Hall co-efficient, quantum oscillations and magnetic penetration depth to elucidate the changes in electronic structure. We will also perform x-ray studies under uniaxial stress to correlate changes in electronic structure to structural changes caused by the charge order.

Mots clés : cuprate, superconductivity, pressure, high magnetic field, london penetration depth

Participants :
- University of Bristol (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet DoRoThy (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

This project aims to advance the science and technology of meta-cognition in social robotics. During social interactions, humans use powerful cognitive mechanisms to represent and interpret what others know or intend. Doing so helps us respond appropriately in social interactions: we use a combination of sensory perception together with internal models of what others are (and will be) doing and thinking. We believe these capabilities to be equally important for social robots, a type of robot which is intended to interact with people. Endowing robot with skills to “read the minds” of others is not only key to build next-generation assistive and industrial robots, but also presents a considerable research challenge. A challenge with tremendous benefits but few successes to date. Relying both on a novel formal approach based on modal logics, and on a strong experimental component in real-world conditions, this proposal suggests an ambitious interdisciplinary approach to better comprehend and formalize higher-order artificial cognition. The aim of which is to advance the design and practical implementation of socially interactive robots, in line with the Horizon 2020 Future and Emerging Technologies priority of moving "cognition beyond problem solving".

Mots clés : cognitive systems

Participants :
- University of Plymouth (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €