Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet diseaseINgroups (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the drawbacks of living socially; increased contact and high host density encourage the spread of disease in social groups, compared to those living solitary. Social interactions promote disease spread, but how do animal groups deal with the increased risk of epidemics? The goal of this proposal is to identify key factors governing disease management in groups, so as to enhance our understanding of how behavioural host defences and immunity evolve. In turn, this will help shed light on how group disease defences influence social evolution. This work is crucial as the importance of pathogens as a driver of social complexity and novel adaptations is still unclear. To achieve this goal, I will use a powerful genetically and genomically established insect model organism, the flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum), to manipulate group relatedness, size and structure, as well as epidemiological risk (pathogen species and infection stage). I will then explore how these factors influence group cohesion or dissolution. By using a combination of chemical analyses to identify disease cues and recognition profiles of healthy group members during a secondment, and bioinformatic approaches at my host institution, this project will also provide a detailed picture of the underlying olfactory circuits and genetic pathways behind disease management in groups. By combining behavioural, chemical and bioinformatic assays, this project will be able to address key gaps in our knowledge of group disease defence and will have a large impact on the fields of social evolution and behaviour. The transfer of knowledge at both institutions will significantly expand my technical skillset and allow me to development of my own, independent research niche. The data acquired and skills learnt during this project will be invaluable for applying for independent research positions after the fellowship.

Mots clés : group disease defences, animal behaviour, disease chemoreception, chemical ecology, evolution of social immunity

Participants :
- Rudjer Boskovic Institute (Croatie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 159463.68 €
Projet EXCHANGE_inLCs (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The organization of nanoparticles is important for tuning material characteristics, impacting electronic and optical properties. Systems in nanotechnology are reliant upon self-assembly. Recently, liquid crystals, famous for displays, have been employed to self-assemble particles, due to the medium’s ability to form complex patterns. However, the exact interactions between nanoparticles and liquid crystals at the submicron scale remain ambiguous. EXCHANGE_inLCs seeks to elucidate particle-liquid crystal interactions at the submicron scale, by EXamining CHemistry and Nanoparticle Geometry Effects at the INterface of Liquid CrystalS through: 1) varying system GEOMETRY to elucidate the impact of confinement, particle size, and shape, and 2) varying system CHEMISTRY to clarify the activity of certain chemical species around particles. The project will be performed at Utrecht University, where the host has expertise in nanoparticle assembly and light nanoscopy. By varying system length scales and types of surface treatments, key interactions can be isolated. The project will facilitate the following two-way transfer of knowledge between the host and me: A) The host has innovated methods of functionalizing, manipulating, and imaging particle assemblies, down to the single-particle resolution. Both skills are essential for me to investigate my systems at a challenging length scale where both chemistry and geometry can be equally influential. B) The host has a history of exploring the ordering of rod-like particles (colloidal liquid crystals), and my expertise in patterning rod-like molecules (molecular liquid crystals) would complement their body of knowledge. We share a mutual interest in interparticle interactions and their effects on self-assembly. The project combines our areas of expertise to advance fundamental knowledge of nanoparticle self-assembly in anisotropic fluids, essential for developing new bottom-up approaches in nanotechnology, a European priority.

Mots clés : liquid crystals, nanoparticles, self assembly

Participants :
- Utrecht University (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 187572.48 €
Projet oLife (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Cofund Postdoctoral programme
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The origin and evolution of life remains one of the biggest puzzles for humankind. We still do not know where we come from, nor do we know what the future will bring. While at the disciplinary level some aspects of the origin of life question have been unravelled, the answers obtained thus far are fragmentary and far from complete. We are convinced that an unconventional trans-disciplinary approach is needed for making substantial progress. The oLife FP brings together a wide range of disciplines ranging from molecular biology to astrophysics, and from evolutionary ecology to biochemistry. This ground-breaking broad approach will undoubtedly lead to major new insights and perhaps even to a real breakthrough in the origin of life question. This COFUND initiative is part of a national interdisciplinary research effort, involving 300 scientists from top research institutions in the Netherlands, who are joining forces to enhance our understanding of the origin, evolution, distribution and development of life in the universe, with the ultimate goal of developing methods for steering life on a human-dominated planet. Besides pursuing interdisciplinary research on an internationally competitive level, the oLife FP will provide top-level training to junior scientists, who by interacting with researchers from various disciplines and secondments in academia, companies and other non-academic institutions will be ideally prepared for a career inside and outside of academia.

Mots clés : astrobiology, astrochemistry, exo planetary science, biophysics, cell biology, evolutionary biology, ecology, numerical analysis, systems biology, systems chemistry, computational biology, complexity science

Participants :
- University of Groningen (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 1986120.0 €
Projet Ceratina (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The origin of cooperation between individuals remains one of the main puzzles of evolutionary biology. Eusocial insects are one of most striking examples of extensive cooperation in which some individuals forego reproduction to help others. Yet research on eusocial insects concentrates mainly on species with large societies whereas species which exhibit facultative eusociality (some individuals live socially, other solitarily) are well suited for studying the origin of eusociality. I plan to study small carpenter bees (genus Ceratina), This is a globally distributed genus with approximately 200 described species which is an excellent model system for studying social evolution in a comparative approach because of their large interspecific diversity in social and parental strategies. My research has three main goals. Firstly, I shall construct a high-resolution molecular phylogeny of Ceratina based on next generation sequencing as a necessary framework for my comparative approach, namely the remaining two goals. Secondly, I shall evaluate the importance of traits underpinning sociality, parental care, nesting biology and mating by mapping them on phylogenetic trees. Thirdly, I will study covariance between relatedness and sociality across Ceratina species; they exhibit extensive variability in relatedness between offspring because females of some species mate with one partner, some with several and others are parthenogentic, allowing me to test the role of relatedness in social evolution. Biologists commonly study one or a few species in detail. However, I plan use comparative approach to compare strategies of multiple species and map life history traits onto phylogeny. My unique integrative approach will advance understanding of social evolution, parental care, and cooperative behaviour in general.

Mots clés : insect, eusociality, social evolution, parental care, offspring protection, relatedness, paternity

Participants :
- Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 233434.56 €
- York University (Canada) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet DROSI (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The origins of social inequality, a growing topic of concern in our interconnected yet increasingly fragmented world, are rooted in deep prehistory. The point at which these inequalities first begin to emerge, however, and, perhaps more importantly, the manner in which they manifest themselves is the subject of much debate among scholars, many of whom typically associate these sociocultural developments with the earliest settled communities of Southwest Asia (between c.14,500 and 9,000 years ago). As funerary practices are one of the key archaeological indicators through which social relations may be identified in the deep past, this project will investigate the emergence of inequality through the taphonomic analysis of human skeletal remains from a selection of Southwest Asian prehistoric sites using advanced archaeological-scientific techniques that have yet to be applied to this region and time period. Specifically, my research will address the following questions: (1) Can Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)/Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and other analytical techniques accurately identify and differentiate between various post-mortem treatments? (2) By incorporating contextual data from the various study sites, can we identify demographic or other selection biases among these post-mortem treatments suggestive of emergent social distinctions? (3) Are there differences in the pattern of funerary treatments observed between the study sites, and do these differences reflect broader temporal trajectories? (4) What lessons can be drawn from the ways in which earlier societies chose to organize themselves?

Mots clés : funerary practices, prehistory, inequality, taphonomy

Participants :
- University of Copenhagen (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 219312.0 €
Projet COLPHAM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The overall aim of the research activities presented in this proposal is to elucidate the general principles governing the physics of many-body systems of active particles when excluded-volume interactions compete with internal driving forces. We aim to reach a general understanding of this novel class of “active materials” and give an answer to the following question: How are the structure of the liquid and solid phases, and their mechanical response to an applied deformation, affected by self-propulsion? Statistical mechanics can efficiently deal with a broad class of soft matter systems at thermal equilibrium. However, active matter evolves in a non-equilibrium manner, as it is made of elements which have their own source of motion, which demands a new conceptual framework to describe it. By combining numerical simulations and theoretical analysis of model systems, we intend to get new quantitative predictions that can be tested experimentally in suspensions of self-propelled colloids, active emulsions or dense assemblies of cells, and exploit our results to design and characterise novel materials through collaboration with experimental groups. The completion of this programme will represent a major contribution into this fast-growing field with direct applications in materials science and biophysics: the engineering of synthetic materials that mimic the behaviour of living matter is a major challenge of current science and technology.

Mots clés : soft active matter, self propelled particles, numerical modeling, microswimmers, complex liquids, amorphous solids, rheology, mode coupling theory

Participants :
- University of Barcelona (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 158121.6 €
Projet DENOPHECK (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The overall aim of this fellowship is to develop an enzymes that catalyses the Heck reaction using de novo proteins. We now live in an age where the consequences of the emissions of greenhouse gases are having observable, detrimental effects on our planet’s ecosystem. Therefore, the need to develop non-toxic, cleaner and lower energy reactions is essential. Palladium(0)-catalysed cross-coupling reactions are a powerful method for generating carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds, leading to their extensive use in academia and industry. Among all cross-coupling reactions, it can be argued that the Heck reaction is one of the greenest because the reagents are not prefunctionalised with metals, boron or silicon. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that the Heck reaction can be performed in water, although truly catalytic examples to date require temperatures up to 140 °C and often more reactive and expensive aryl bromide and aryl iodide reagents. De novo protein design, the selection of an amino-acid sequence that will fold to a desired protein structure, is a newly established field. Successful designs have furnished a diverse range of protein structures. In contrast to most natural proteins, de novo proteins are well understood, have high thermal stability and are characterised to atomic detail. Dr Rhys, under the supervision of Prof Höcker & Prof Weber, proposes to purpose a range of de novo proteins to bind artificial co-factors to develop truly de novo Heckase enzymes. Functional enzymes will be optimised using well-established rational design and directed-evolution techniques. The development of an optimised Heckase could overcome existing challenges to produce an ambient temperature, stereoselective, water-soluble Heck catalyst.

Mots clés : de novo protein design, artificial enzyme, rational design, directed evolution

Participants :
- University of Bayreuth (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 162806.4 €
Projet Islamic Law Egypt (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The overall aim of this fellowship is to provide opportunity for an early career researcher to carry out a research project dealing with adjudication of family law in Muslim courts of law. The project focuses on the case of Egypt, a Muslim majority country with a hybrid legal system combining civil and Islamic law. Relying on ethnographic fieldwork, the project investigates adjudication of Muslim family law by five Cairenese family courts during the period 2011-2015, a critical juncture in modern Egyptian history. The project aims to accomplish the following three objectives: (1) The project aims to contribute to the scholarly literature on law in action and context, more specifically a growing literature on the implementation of shari‘a-derived family legislations in courts. (2) Given that Muslim family law is ostensibly drawn from the stipulations of Islamic shari‘a, a further aim is to shed light on the intersection between law and Islamic normativity in this field of law, and how legal reasoning is shaped by a modern, positivistic conception of law. With the intention of developing novel concepts on the role of courts in developing the law, it combines an in-depth study of shari‘a in practice in Egypt with a comparative perspective on adjudication of family law in other Muslim jurisdictions. 3) To foster career development through publications, research training, and public outreach. The project explores how male and female judges on Cairenese family courts construct idealized notions of family, marriage, and gender relations by drawing upon sources as diverse as legislation, precedent, custom, Quran, hadiths, uncodified fiqh, and international conventions in a way that is sensitive to context. The project crosses draw upon different disciplines. However, the primary aim of the project is to address legal-sociological theory and debate. The project involves transfer of knowledge to the host institution as well as the experienced researcher.

Mots clés : sociology of law, family law, post revolutionary egypt, islamic shari a, gender, law and society, legal pluralism

Participants :
- Lund University (Suède) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 173857.2 €
Projet CaPE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The overall goal of CaPE is to contribute new insights into the role that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) plays in the preservation of peace and global governance. In view of the geopolitical challenges of the 21st century, the project will investigate the potential that ICJ holds in relation to the settlement of international disputes and the preservation of international peace and security. CaPE’s two key hypotheses are that not only does the ICJ occupy a central position in the system of international adjudication and preservation of peace as the World Court, but it can also steer the evolution of international law by guiding the case-law of the other international courts and tribunals (ICs), and by offering a common frame of normative reference. The hypotheses will be tested by critically assessing the role and function of the ICJ in the complex environment of world society, and by locating the counter-trends of its jurisprudence. CaPE is the first project to systematically and holistically explore the peace/law distinction in the ICJ jurisprudence, and the steering function of this distinction by the operation of other ICs. The key ambition of CaPE is to contribute to the cause of peace in the current, unpredictable international environment through new insights into the role of ICJ. I am convinced that CaPE will contribute significantly to the development of an important research field, which will also impact future work of lawyers, diplomats, politicians, and NGOs within the area of preservation of peace and global governance. CaPE is based on the combination and complementarity of my academic/practical background, and that of the host, iCourts and its Director, Professor Mikael Madsen. iCourts provides the ideal academic environment for CaPE, which will provide me with training on new forms of socio-legal research, broaden my methodological approach, and improve my scholarly horizons and career perspectives significantly.

Mots clés : international court of justice, preservation of peace, governance, adjudication, international courts, authority and power, european new legal realism, social constructivism, legal hermeneutics

Participants :
- University of Copenhagen (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 212194.8 €
Projet REWIRE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Cofund Postdoctoral programme
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The overall goal of the REinforcing Women In REsearch (REWIRE) COFUND Programme is to establish a support scheme for excellent postdoctoral female researchers to foster their scientific development, to nurture their expertise and to make a profound impact on their future careers. We are aiming to create a sustainable support structure where the most talented, qualified researchers want to be. Through its own success, REWIRE is expected to influence the general recruitment practices at the University of Vienna and have further impact at regional, national and international levels. The highly competitive nature of this fellowship programme should also give the fellows the confidence to continue in their academic careers and become role models for future female talents. With a customised career development plan, the fellow will be encouraged to: participate in non-research oriented training programmes; develop transferable skills; be part of and build upon an enhanced research network; and enjoy international exposure through publications in high-profile journals and participation in conferences. This five year Programme will offer 16 fellowships of 36 months in any discipline hosted by the University of Vienna. In turn, the University offers excellent research facilities, additional training in areas of importance to the development of the fellow, an enhanced research network and international exposure.

Mots clés : postdoctoral training, women in academia, fellowships, career development

Participants :
- University of Vienna (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 1765440.0 €
Projet CLIMPRO (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The overall objective of this study is to quantify how adaptive management can affect the provision of ecosystem services, focusing on wood production, river runoff and climate change mitigation. The study will enhance our understanding of how adaptive management can contribute to climate change mitigation or, on the contrary, may exacerbate climate change while sustaining forest-based ecosystem services.

Mots clés : ecosystem modelling, abrupt tree mortality, natural disturbance, adaptive management, earth system, model, coupled simulation

Participants :
- University of Antwerp (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 166320.0 €