Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet Symbcompat (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Symbiosis between multicellular organisms and microbial symbionts is near universal, and it is now clear that many aspects of organismal biology in health and disease cannot be understood without reference to interactions with microbes. In insects, this includes a diverse range of heritable symbionts, which pass from a female host to her progeny. These symbionts are highly adapted to their host, and encode important properties, such as defence against natural enemies. In contrast to classical adaptive phenotypes, symbiont traits generally arise through a host shift event – the movement of a microbe from into a novel host species. Experimental host shift experiments indicate that there is a compatibility filter: some symbionts in novel host species cause little pathology and transmit vertically efficiently, whereas other do not. Understanding this compatibility filter will clarify the patterns through which host shifts occur in nature, and create a principled basis for manipulation of compatibility, for instance in symbiont-mediated control of vector competence. In this proposal, the causes of poor symbiont-host compatibility will be established for the first time. We will first examine what symbiont/host systems malfunction in a poorly performing symbiosis, examining whether phage lysis or illegitimate toxin production affect symbiont titre and virulence in the novel host. We will then determine the genetic basis of symbiont compatibility using a novel experimental evolution approach. Symbiont compatibility is known to increase on passage in novel hosts, and the proposal will use comparative genomics of evolved vs ancestral symbionts to establish the loci that are subject to selection during the evolution of compatibility. The results of this project will impact both upon our understanding of an important natural process and enable better exploitation of symbiont encoded traits in control of vector born disease.


Participants :
- University of Liverpool (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet UCYNELLE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Symbiosis has been key to evolution on Earth. The success of eukaryotes was possible due to the establishment of endosymbiotic relationships between unicellular microorganisms that gave rise to specialized organelles (chloroplasts and mitochondria), yet the mechanisms underpinning such biological innovations are still unresolved. An unusual marine nitrogen-fixing symbiosis involving a cyanobacterium called UCYN-A and a single-celled haptophyte algae (Braarudosphaera bigelowii) was recently found to have undergone genome rearrangements analogous to organelle evolution. Since no eukaryotes fix nitrogen (N2), an essential nutrient for life, knowledge on this peculiar symbiosis may serve as a unique opportunity for understanding the acquisition of new organelle-derived functions in eukaryotes. The UCYNELLE project is designed to provide new insights on organelle evolution through the multidisciplinary study of the UCYN-A symbiosis from an ecological, evolutionary and metabolic perspective: First, experimental manipulations with the UCYN-A culture and field surveys will be conducted to identify the molecular basis regulating the metabolic coupling between symbiotic partners and the associated microbiome. Second, the organelle genomes of the haptophyte host will be compared to those of the different UCYN-A lineages via comparative genomics to explore any parallelisms in their mode of evolution. Finally, the natural variation in cell size shown by UCYN-A and its host across different UCYN-A symbioses will allow investigating the metabolic scaling (metabolic rates vs cell size) of the N2 fixation process compared to that of typical organelle-driven metabolisms (photosynthesis and respiration) through the study of the volumetric relationships between chloroplasts, mitochondria, UCYN-A and its host. Elucidating the mechanism underlying the UCYN-A symbiosis will help to understand the early evolutionary steps leading to the acquisition of plastids in eukaryotes.

Mots clés : single celled symbiosis, organelle evolution, marine microbial interactions

Participants :
- Spanish National Research Council (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 160932.48 €
Projet RoBE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE, Lupus) is a life-threatening and incurable autoimmune disease that affects primarily women, its pathogenesis is related with an exaggerated B cells activation that results both in the generation of antibodies against self-nuclear acid antigens and in the generation of subsets of B cells that can exert antibody-independent roles in Lupus. However, the mechanisms that regulate aberrant B cell functions are poorly understood. In this project, we propose to investigate the role of the B cell scaffold protein with ankyrin repeats 1 (BANK1) in the B cell activation signaling pathways in a mouse model of Lupus. We have previously reported that the absence of BANK1 signaling in mice susceptible to Lupus resulted in the reduction of the activation of B cells, circulating total IgG2c and IgG autoantibodies, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and transcription factors related with TLR7 activation. Our data suggest that BANK1 is an important mediator of B cell hyperactivation. We hypothesize that BANK1 plays an important role in B cell signaling affecting their activation and effector functions in Lupus, however we do not fully understand yet the mechanism behind the function of BANK1. Our specific aims are: 1) to define how BANK1 signaling drives class switch recombination, 2) to determine the mechanism by which BANK1 regulates the cytokine production in B cells, and 3) to examine the participation of BANK1 signaling in the differentiation of pathogenic B cell subsets. To accomplish our objectives, we will use flow and mass cytometry, RNA-based next-generation sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis, the assay for transposase-accessible chromatin followed by deep sequencing (ATAC-seq), and a chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay. We expect that the results of these studies will help to understand the molecular mechanism underlying the pathogenic B cell response in Lupus and will lead to identification of new avenues for therapeutic development.

Mots clés : systemic lupus erythematosus, b cell scaffold protein with ankyrin repeats 1  bank1, b cells, signalling, toll like receptors  tlr

Participants :
- Regional Government of Andalusia (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 259398.72 €
Projet TEXDANCE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

TEXDANCE will explore Etruscan dance through textiles from 8th to 5th centuries BC. It will use the visual sources to analyse Etruscan society and its élite’s ritual practices in a multidisciplinary approach. This study will make us understand the movements of dance, their ritual functions, their diversity, their performativity and the social relations which intertwine. This is important to understand as textiles in Etruscan dance in particular reflect a different community organisation from the Mediterranean and contribute to question our contemporary European community organisations. Also, for the first time, the two-way transfer of knowledge between dance studies and costume studies will be connected via an innovative approach. The project combines three types of sources: primarily the iconographic representations as they constitute the most important documentation for Etruria, literary sources and archaeological evidence. TEXDANCE has seven objectives: 1. the types of dress and textiles used in dance; 2. dress motion; 3. the acoustics of textiles; 4. Etruscan fashion and dress identity; 5. Etruscan community organisation; 6. ritual textiles making; and, 7. the visuality of textiles. The comparative and interdisciplinary approach includes the history of dance, rituals and religion, performance studies, ethnoarchaeology, archaeoacoustics, sensory studies, motor praxeology, and visual studies. The application of new digital technologies is a crucial aspect with the opportunity to 3D model how cloths move in dance. Digital humanities will also play a fundamental role in the presentation and diffusion of the results that will be made available thanks to a fully open-access philosophy to the scientific community and the general public. Conceived as such, the project is fundamental for both the proposer and the hosting institution, and it will contribute to European excellence and competitiveness in the creation of a common and widespread European culture and history.

Mots clés : textiles, ancient dance, etruria, iconography, digital humanities

Participants :
- University of Copenhagen (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 207312.0 €
Projet THEIA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

THEIA is the resubmission of the project “Themistius, Heavens and Elements. Interpretations of Aristotle’s Cosmology Across the Ages” that has received the Seal of Excellence 2019. THEIA is a project on the paraphrase of Aristotle’s De Caelo by the 4th century rhetor and philosopher Themistius. It aims to shed light on Themistius’ presentation of the Aristotelian cosmos, that is contained chiefly in this paraphrase. Its importance in the history of Aristotelianism is beyond doubt, as it is the first complete exegesis of the De Caelo that has come down to us, but adequate study of it has been hampered by the fact that the original Greek is lost: only a medieval Hebrew version of the lost Arabic version, and in a Hebrew-into-Latin version survive. Both are edited, but the Latin is derivative, and the Hebrew text requires a new critical edition. THEIA will edit, translate into English, and comment upon the Hebrew text. Once the task accomplished, this will allow the scholars in the field to get a more complete picture of 4th century Aristotelianism. To the importance of THEIA for the history of philosophy another reason of interest should be added, that concerns the text of Aristotle. The Hebrew version allows the scholar who is conversant with Themistius’ exegetical habits to reconstruct some passages in the Greek original, and to single out the Aristotelian lemmata of the De Caelo interspersed in Themistius’ wording. The retroversion of these lemmata into Greek will provide the philologists with an extremely important piece of documentation: parts of the text of Aristotle’s De Caelo as it was read in the 4th century, i.e. five centuries before the most ancient ms of it. In this sense, THEIA can be considered an interdisciplinary project that, through the reconstruction and interpretation of a Greek work transmitted in Hebrew and Latin, paves the ground to a fruitful cooperation of philosophical and philological skills.

Mots clés : aristotelian tradition, late antique philosophy, arabic philosophy, medieval philosophy, jewish, thought, renaissance, early modern thought

Participants :
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 196707.84 €
Projet THOT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

THOT is an ambitious project for delivering estimated ages for large numbers of stars in the Galaxy. The main aims of THOT are: 1) To gather all the techniques for stellar dating, 2) to update those having the most potential for application to data from new and upcoming missions, 3) to develop a code to automate stellar dating and, 4) to apply this code to study exoplanetary systems observed by direct imaging. This ambitious programme will be delivered at the University of Birmingham (UoB) by Dr. Moya, supervised by Prof. William Chaplin in close collaboration with Drs. A. Miglio and G. Davies. A two-year plan including working packages, deliverables, milestones, and training objectives is presented, showing the feasibility and innovation of the project. THOT has three secondments planned at different academic institutes: 1) CAB – INTA/CSIC, Spain, Dr. David Barrado, 2) IA, Portugal, Dr. Elisa Delgado, and 3) UNED, Spain, Dr. Luis Manuel Sarro. These secondments complement the needed skills for the project and open key collaboration lines for THOT and for the long-term project for which THOT is the first step: an EU collaboration network for stellar dating and the development of a “map of ages” to understand how the region of the Galaxy around our Sun evolves. Because of his career, Dr. Moya will be able to make the most of this fellowship opportunity. The Solar and Stellar group, led by Prof. Chaplin at UoB, is the best option for him to deliver success. The proven leadership and independent thinking of Dr. Moya, together with the new opportunities and skills that the UoB research group offers, will provide a major boost to Dr. Moya’s scientific career. A complete plan for dissemination, exploitation and communication of the results is also presented. The UoB is committed to the successful outcome of THOT. UoB and the institutes that will host the secondments all have proven track records of successfully hosting Marie Curie fellows as outlined in Part B section 5.

Mots clés : stellar dating, stellar structure and evolution, asteroseismology, observational data, space missions

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

TO DESTROY OR TO PRESERVE? MONUMENTS, LAW AND DEMOCRACY IN EUROPE (MELoDYE) When the past is contested, the monuments are the first to be destroyed. Over centuries, the totalitarian regimes removed the monuments they did not agree with. Should the democracies then follow this path? MELoDYE is original in its approach, noble and ambitious in its goal: (i) it uses monuments as a lens to analyze current memory conflicts and wars in Europe; (ii) it challenges the existing concept of public commemoration and European memory policies; (iii) it elaborates a set of constitutional principles – mnemoconstitutionalism – with regard to monuments. T MELoDYE is the first attempt to think about monuments and their controversies in the context of democracy and the rule of law to answer the questions: •How should the commemorative symbols be constructed, maintained, or revised to ensure free speech and European solidarity? •What should be the legal standards for memory policies and public commemorative practices in a democracy? To tackle these questions MELoDYE, first, maps the controversies around the monuments and provides a taxonomy of the main European memory conflicts and memory wars. It examines methods of national memory policies and commemorative practices to figure out how the states chose historical narratives and heroes to be honored with the erection of a monument. Then, it considers legislation and administrative practices related to the monuments. It scrutinizes the actors which make decisions on monuments as well as the legal and administrative procedures behind these decisions. Finally, MELoDYE examines the ways in which memory policies related to monuments may be revised to meet demands of a democratic society. It criticizes politization and populist use of history. In the last step, the project elaborates a set of democratic principles – mnemoconstitutionalism – to guide monument-related decisions to ensure democracy, the rule of law and historical reconciliation.

Mots clés : memory laws, memory policies, monuments, collective memories, freedom of speech, democracy, memory wars, mnemoconstitutionalism

Participants :
- Ghent University (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 178320.0 €
Projet TOPOPOLIS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

TOPOPOLIS aims at the development of semiconductor microcavity photonic crystal structures which are generally designed for the realization of solid state quantum simulation and specifically for the first ever observation of topological exciton-polariton edge states. With the ongoing refinement of semiconductor growth and etching techniques it has become possible to create microcavity photonic crystals to study new, complex and non-trivial phenomena of light-matter coupling. Here, polaritons in e.g. hexagonal lattice structures (artificial graphene) can serve as a tool to perform quantum simulation and to emulate the systems Hamiltonian. Polaritons are particularly well suited, because of their tunable mass and particle interactions, inherited from the excitons, as well as their open dissipative nature which allows a direct monitoring. In this context it has been proposed that with a suitable photonic crystal design a topological gap can emerge under magnetic field. This topological gap leads to optical quantum-Hall-like edge states that allow for an unidirectionally propagating polariton mode, protected from back-scattering. This exciting goal is of great interest as it will shed light into the physics of topological hybrid interacting bosons as well as from an application point of view. Reaching this goal most importantly requires very high Q-factor microcavities with low overall energetic disorder as well as low etching-induced sidewall damage. In this project, a scaleable photonic-trap method is proposed that allows for a precise control of the confinement potential in the microcavity photonic crystal and does not require an etching into the optically active quantum wells. This approach will be combined with electro-optical tuning to create a versatibe platform for quantum emulation and will allow for the experimental observation of topological polariton edge states that have the potential to enable new technologies in quantum simulation and logics.

Mots clés : strong light matter interaction, photonic crystal lattices, quantum simulation, topological states

Participants :
- University of Würzburg (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 159460.8 €
Projet EUROVISION (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The European Coalition for Vision (ECV) exists to raise the profile of eye health and vision, help prevent avoidable visual impairment and secure an equal and inclusive society for those with irreversible blindness or low vision in Europe. Members of the group have assessed the evidence base for prevalence of vision impairment and blindness in Europe [ref: Bourne, Jonas et al. Br J Ophthalmol 2014 May;98(5):629-38] by collating prevalence data from all population-based surveys of eye disease. While these efforts have established estimates of numbers of people affected by vision loss, we are unaware of the self-reported visual problems of European Union citizens. This Research Fellowship (supported by ECV) will involve analysis of Eurostat data which provides an opportunity for us to investigate the prevalence of self-reported visual difficulties and also to relate this to potential risk factors that are also collected by the Eurostat program. The primary objective is to estimate the prevalence of self-reported distance and near vision impairment in Europe, and change over past 10 years. Secondary objectives include estimation of prevalence of refractive correction in Europe, demographic, environmental and healthrelated risk factors for self-reported vision loss and to investigate the association between self-reported vision loss and selfreported hearing loss. Additionally, access to health services for those with these impairments will be investigated. This is relevant given the importance of social inclusion in European policies of health goals and universal health coverage. The Fellow will be supported by Professor Rupert Bourne, who coordinates the Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden Disease Study, in Cambridge, UK, and a team of researchers that include bioinformatics, public health and statistics expertise at Anglia Ruskin University with collaborations with Queens University Belfast and University of Ulster.

Mots clés : eye health, vision, visual impairment, eurostat data, self reported vision loss, access to health services, social inclusion

Participants :
- Anglia Ruskin University (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet NRGcitizens (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Economic Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The European Commission, with its "Clean Energy for all Europeans" package, calls for stronger participation of residential electricity consumers—individually or through communities—in the energy value chain, that is, production and sharing as well as flexible and responsive demand. While European legislation is promoting the end user of electricity (and therewith, both, the consumer and so-called prosumer) as a key player in the future market, national regulation is often not proceeding fast enough in this transition process. While pilot projects in many countries have shown the technical and economic feasibility of energy communities in Europe and around the world, the impact of widespread implementation on existing markets remains unclear. In theory, these local electricity markets could form a bridge between decentralized electricity production and wholesale electricity exchanges as well as driving investments in distributed energy resources without governmental subsidies. Yet, research on local market designs and associated features developed on the basis of pilot projects is still in an early stage, especially in regard to regulatory and economic frameworks. Subsequently, there is a mismatch between developed market designs and their feasibility in the current regulatory framework. The project NRGcitizen will therefore address the following research questions: What are advantages and disadvantages of a decentralized energy transformation from a system perspective? How could organizational models be designed and what business models arise in energy communities? What are possible market designs for a 100% renewable energy transformation, integrating the heating and transportation sectors? Techno-economic modeling will be used to quantitatively assess those designs. The project will enlarge policymakers’ toolbox for the analysis of energy markets to assess the value of decentralized small-scale production and flexibility, thereby making it highly policy-relevant.

Mots clés : electricity market design, energy communities, local energy sharing, peer to peer trading, energy systems integration

Participants :
- Copenhagen Business School (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 207312.0 €