Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet SynneJunctions (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

In recent decades, research has revolutionized the conventional view of bacteria as solitary entities suspended in liquid media. Bacterial multicellularity, which leads to the formation of complex structures such as biofilms that comprises diverse bacterial species, challenges the outdated paradigm. Even less is known about the multicellular bacteria capable of aerial growth, raising questions about their access to essential resources found only in the substrate inaccessible to them. This project focuses on the study of two closely related bacteria, Actinosynnema mirum and Actinosynnema pretiosum, which form tree-like structures known as synnemata. Data have revealed the presence of intercellular cell junctions, the functions of which remain elusive but undoubtedly important within synnemata. Additionally, metal distribution within the synnemata has been studied using nano X-Ray Fluorescence, indicating the presence of metals throughout the aerial mycelium and patterns of discrete, non-uniform intracellular metal concentrations. This project aims to challenge the existing model of long-distance metal transport in synnemata. It begins with the development of translational fusion reporters, labeling membrane transporters with mNeonGreen, coupled with confocal microscopy to assess the relevance of the proposed model, depicting a restrained spatial localization of the transporters at cell junctions. Advanced cryoEM techniques will also be used to better characterize the cell junctions within synnemata. By examining metal transport and distribution within these multicellular structures, this research aims to shed light on their intricacies and potentially revolutionize our understanding of how bacteria efficiently share essential resources over long distances. In summary, this project ventures into the fascinating world of bacterial multicellularity and resource-sharing mechanisms within synnemata, providing new insights into a novel aspect of bacterial life.


Participants :
- Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 195914.88 €
Projet REFINE (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Electronic products are progressively smaller and more powerful, resulting to an exponential increase in the generated residual heat. Their effective and environmental-friendly cooling is therefore, of upmost importance for many applications such as Data Centres, Fuel Cells, Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistors, Lithium-Ion Batteries and Photovoltaic Cells, with a market value of several billions of dollars worldwide. Flow Boiling within micro-passages has been proven as one of the most efficient cooling strategies for such High-Power Density Electronics. However, such solutions, are not yet commercially available. This is due to a lack of a deep understanding of the underpinned flow and transport processes and unresolved ambiguities in micro-scales and hence, of reliable and easy-to-use thermal design tools for small-scale components. REFINE aims to give light at such crucial ambiguities, utilising a synergic combination of novel Volume Of Fluid (VOF) based numerical simulations and tailored high-resolution experimental diagnostics. Dr Andredaki will develop a novel cutting-edge simulation tool starting from an already enhanced VOF solver that she has been developing in the last years. This will be validated against parallel advanced experimental measurements on flow boiling, that she will perform using single and multiple parallel micro-channel heat sinks. The final optimised and validated numerical solver will then be applied for a wide series of parametric simulations that in combination with additional laboratory measurements will form a unique database that will lead to the development of novel, physics-based design correlations for flow boiling micro-channel heat sinks. The word-leading expertise of Prof. Moreira, who will supervise this project, on the experimental techniques for microscale boiling, guarantees the highest level of knowledge transfer, enabling Dr Andredaki to further develop her skills and enhance her future career opportunities in academia.

Mots clés : flow boiling, phase change heat transfer, micro channel heat sinks, numerical simulations, volume of fluid method, spatiotemporally resolved experimental diagnostics

Participants :
- João de deus & filhos sa (Portugal) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Vimasol - energias renováveis,lda (Portugal) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Lisbonne (Portugal) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 172618.56 €
Projet META-CYCLE (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Faithful eucaryotic cell division requires spatio-temporal orchestration of multiple sequential events. Among the crucial steps to providing the daughter cells with identical set of chromosomes is the DNA replication. During this phase, cells coordinate the speed of DNA synthesis with the length of the cell cycle to ensure genome integrity. To do so, growth factors and metabolic signals are integrated primarily by D-type Cyclins. Indeed. their deregulation can directly lead to some of the hallmarks of cancer by causing proliferation that is independent of normal extracellular cues. We previously demonstrated that aberrant accumulation of Cyclin D1 results in a faster cell cycle, with uncontrolled speed of DNA replication fork progression and genome instability (Maiani & Milletti et al., 2021). Despite, frequently altered in many tumors (Musgrove et al., 2011), a unifying theory that clarify how Cyclin D1 promote cancer transformation is still lacking. In the lab of Prof. Jiri Bartek, it was previously shown that PARP1 inhibition increases replication fork speed (Maya-Mendoza et al., 2018). PARP1i uncouples the leading and lagging DNA synthesis resulting in fast fork speed and genome instability. However, it is currently unknown whether the aberrant accumulation of Cyclin D1 has similar effect on DNA synthesis as PARPi. Furthermore, it is also undetermined whether aberrant levels of Cyclin D1 could trigger metabolic changes that accelerate the speed of DNA synthesis. Taking advantage of our previous observations, we aim with this proposal to: i) identify metabolic signatures that can predict dis-regulated DNA synthesis in response to cell cycle alterations; ii) define the molecular mechanism of how cyclin D1 accumulation induces accelerated fork speed; iii) identify new metabolic genes involved in the control of S phase progression and the speed of DNA synthesis by CRISPR-Cas9 screening technology; iv) suggest druggable targets that could be used in cancer therapy.

Mots clés : cell cycle regulation in cancer

Participants :
- Danish Cancer Society (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 230774.4 €
Projet Eco-Mortar 2.0 (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

One of the priorities of the 2030 Agenda is to achieve a sustainable development path to balance environmental, social and economic needs for present and future generations. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future. The Green Deal is the roadmap towards the application of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs in all European policies. In this context, the European construction industry faces great challenges that need real solutions. On the environment side, it is clearly a sector with an unsustainable environmental profile that will need to overcome the traditional linear path of production and consumption to adopt a Circular Economy model and Energy Efficient solutions. The number of studies on new sustainable solutions to minimize the incorporation of processed raw materials or improve thermal insulation properties of mortar have increased. Examples relate to the use of stone sludge waste from the cutting process as filler in rendering mortars or fibres from textile waste to reduce its cracking or to the increased insulation of rendering mortars through the incorporation of cork (recycled by-product of the cork industry) or silica-based aerogels (nano-structured material) as lightweight aggregates. However, studies focused on combination stone sludge waste, textile waste, recycled cork together with aerogel in mortars have not been found in the current literature. The main objective of the Eco-Mortar 2.0 project is to develop an eco-friendly and high-performance thermal insulating fibre reinforced rendering mortar for wall exterior retrofitting or wall panels coating of buildings by using diabase sludge from stone cutting as filler, recycled cork and aerogel granules as lightweight aggregates and textile waste as fibres. This mortar will decrease the use of non-renewable natural resources, improve thermal insulation and allow shrinkage cracking control.

Mots clés : circular economy, energy efficient, environmental, durability, mortar, waste, nanotechnology, thermal insulation, high performance, filler, fibre, aggregate, diabase sludge, textile, cork, aerogel

Participants :
- Université de Lisbonne (Portugal) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 156778.56 €
Projet MotoCor (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Accurate chromosome distribution during mitosis requires that each pair of sister chromatids attaches to microtubules from opposite spindle poles via centromere-based kinetochores. However, incorrect kinetochore-microtubule attachments can be formed. These errors must be corrected to prevent chromosome missegregation and the resulting aneuploidy, an abnormal chromosome count characteristic of most human cancers. Error correction relies on the centromere/kinetochore-localised kinase Aurora B, which promotes the depolymerisation of kinetochore-binding microtubules in response to lack of tension within erroneous attachments. Tension locally modulates the accessibility of Aurora B to its substrates, which include the microtubule-depolymerising motor MCAK. Paradoxically, Aurora B suppresses MCAK activity and should, therefore, stabilise erroneous tensionless attachments. This contradiction nurtures the ambiguity of the long-sought error correction mechanism. Findings from the host laboratory provide new insights into this process. Microtubule poleward flux, driven by motor-mediated sliding of interpolar microtubules, suppresses MCAK depolymerising activity, potentially by generating tension within attachments. My goal is to provide a precise and integrative mechanism on how motor proteins modulate the error correction mechanism. I will focus on three key objectives: (1) identifying the flux-generating motors that create tension within attachments, (2) determining the role of tension in MCAK-mediated error correction, and (3) dissecting the tension-related interplay between Aurora B and MCAK during error correction. To achieve this, I will integrate super-resolution live cell imaging with acute protein depletion using the auxin-degron system, delivered at endogenous loci through CRISPR-Cas9. This approach will enable the monitoring of multiple motors in error correction with unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution, providing new insights into how cells prevent aneuploidy.

Mots clés : mitosis, genome stability, kinetochore microtubule attachments, error correction mechanism, motor proteins, mcak, aurora b kinase, live cell imaging

Participants :
- Danish Cancer Society (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 247553.28 €
Projet SPIRAL (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Hexagonal ferrites are a class of magnetic oxides containing iron as the main element. They are produced industrially in large quantities and used for band filters, refrigerator magnets etc., but some of the subclasses, most importantly the one named Y-type ferrites, show an interesting behaviour called magnetoelectric effect, an ability of a material to acquire electric polarisation when submitted to the magnetic field, and permanent magnetisation when submitted to electric field. This behaviour is a basis of function of certain non-volatile memory designs and it is fundamentally connected to the ordering of magnetic moments inside the structure of the crystal. The Y-type ferrites can contain many elements such as Ba/Sr, Co/Zn, Al or In, which leads to many possible magnetic orderings. The most desirable are the conical orderings, which are necessary if one wants to find new materials with magnetoelectric properties. Most of the current magnetoelectric materials only order in this fashion at low temperatures, and are thus not suitable for use in memory devices. In this project, I plan to study the magnetic structure of the more promising ones, in which the magnetoelectric effect was observed just below the room temperature. I propose to prepare a series of single crystals of Y-type ferrites substituted with aluminium, gallium and indium, and to explain the mechanism by which these atoms influence the magnetic order. I will systematically study the crystal structure and magnetic properties of these ferrites, and in few selected cases I will study their magnetic ordering with the neutron diffraction. As a result, I aim to produce a quantum-mechanical model capable of explaining and even predicting the magnetic order of Y-type ferrites with complex stoichiometry.

Mots clés : single crystal growth, occupancy refinements, conical spin ordering, neutron scattering, magnetocrystalline anisotropy

Participants :
- Forschungsverbund Berlin (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 217965.12 €
- Université d'Édimbourg (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet SRMF (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

In 1997 Juha Kinnunen proved that maximal operators satisfy a Sobolev bound if the Sobolev exponent p is strictly larger than 1. His article initiated the study of regularity of maximal functions, a field which has attracted several dozens of authors to this day. Geometric techniques have recently lead to a series of breakthrough endpoint regularity bounds for maximal operators in higher dimensions. This project pursues the novel strategy of combining these new geometric tools with already established extremization techniques in order to solve a wide range of open questions in the field.  The goals of the project are organized around two themes: gradient bounds and sharp constants. The main goal from the first theme is to prove that the variation of the non-centered Hardy-Littlewood maximal function can be controlled by the variation of the function in all dimensions. This is the endpoint p=1 of Juha Kinnunen's original bound and is one of the main long standing open questions in the field. This project also aims to prove this variation bound for further maximal operators, along with the operator continuity of their gradient and bounds for higher derivatives.  The main goal from the second theme is to prove that the centered Hardy-Littlewood maximal operator in one dimension does not increase the variation of a function. This bound would be sharp because examples show that in general, maximal operators do not strictly decrease the variation of a function. This project further aims to prove this sharp bound for convolution type maximal operators and to find the sharp constant in the variation bound for the dyadic maximal operator in all dimensions.

Mots clés : maximal function, sobolev space, variation, endpoint, extremization, sharp constant

Participants :
- Organisation des Nations unies pour l'éducation, la science et la culture (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 172750.08 €
Projet PFSAIL (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

This project aims to study topological and dynamical aspects of two dimensional paradigm of chaos called Hénon attractors and introduce new treatable parametrised family of strange attractors appearing in smooth dynamical systems. Despite Hénon attractors have been known to mathematicians for more than 40 years, the topology of the attractors has not been studied in details yet. The main obstacle that such a study has not been established was the lack of techniques necessary to perform it. Building on recent advances in describing parametrised families of strange attractors using inverse limits we will delve in such a detailed study and give new results on topological, dynamical and measure-theoretic features appearing in parametrised families of strange attractors. We will use methods and techniques from Topological, Smooth, Surface and Symbolic Dynamics as well as Continuum and Ergodic Theory.

Mots clés : topological dynamical systems, strange attractors, parameterised families of functions, inverse limits, inhomogeneities, h non attractors, standard family of circle maps

Participants :
- Organisation des Nations unies pour l'éducation, la science et la culture (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 188590.08 €
Projet METASCALE (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Modern nanophotonic devices are redefining what can be achieved in terms of manipulating light, as they provide a versatile design platform for moulding the propagation of light at will. In particular, free-space and integrated optical metasurfaces (MS) are currently offering a promising route towards the realisation of compact and lightweight optical components for sophisticated engineering of the amplitude, phase and polarisation of electromagnetic waves, which could ultimately replace current conventional bulky optics in a near future. Yet, today the realisation of MS is based on the combination of precise, but time-consuming and energy inefficient nanofabrication techniques that rely on expensive and highly specialised equipment operated in strict cleanroom environments: conditions which are beyond the capability of a vast majority of industrial entities.  The main objective of METASCALE is to develop alternative fabrication techniques based on ultrafast laser processing (ULP) strategies, towards the realisation of MS operating in the visible and infrared spectrum. Such processes will be compatible with large-scale, cost-effective and green manufacturing routines, thus appropriate for current industrial environments. For this purpose, METASCALE will specifically focus on the physical fabrication and testing of pre-designed metasurfaces, based on ultrafast laser assembly techniques such as direct laser writing, or laser interference patterning. Such ULP techniques are highly versatile and repeatable in terms of surface micro- and nano-patterning, but at the same time require a deep understanding and careful adjustment of a broad range of linear and non-linear laser-matter interaction mechanisms and their related timescales. METASCALE is therefore an interdisciplinary and collaborative effort involving many scientific branches ranging from material science to ultrafast optics or computational physics.

Mots clés : microfabrication, nanofabrication, mass production

Participants :
- Conseil supérieur de la recherche scientifique (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 165312.96 €
- Université d'Exeter (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet EVANGELION (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The project will analyse how the evangelizing method of the medieval philosopher Ramon Llull (1232-1316) has had a strong impact on the clergy during the 15th and 16th centuries. Throughout history, Llull’s Art of converting believers of other religions has been adapted and elaborated upon by learned clerics, who were closely related to royal power, in order to set the bases of the ideological legitimation for facing and conquering new lands from other monotheistic religions (Muslims, Jews), as well as from gentiles (Canary Guanches, Congolese, Caribbean Tainos). Modern scholarship has devoted its attention almost exclusively to Llull’s work and thought as such, failing to recognise his paramount role in later evangelization processes led by the Castillian and Portuguese clergy. Thus, the objectives are: to describe the network of Lullists working on missiological strategies in close contact with royal power, their works and their relationships; to make accessible and disseminate through critical editions some of the unpublished works by this Lullist network; to explore a first attempt of Catholic globalization behind the activities of this network. To achieve these goals, I will extract data from Latin and old vernacular written sources, while I will also unravel the philosophical concepts behind the discourses of evangelization. The results will be published in a book and several articles, as well as in a blog and scientific profiles in social networks, freely available for the scientific community and general public. The relevance of the project lies in revealing a so far unknown program behind all the Atlantic evangelization attempts in which the Lullian Art was present. This will allow to shed light on new aspects of the beginnings of the globalization process, along with the improvement of our knowledge of the first encounters of Latin Christendom with other civilizations, in other words, Europe’s first steps towards a pancontinental vision of the world.

Mots clés : ramon llull, evangelization, medieval philosophy, church history

Participants :
- Université autonome de Barcelone (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 181152.96 €
- Université de Fribourg-en-Brisgau (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Institut de Recherche et d’Innovation en Santé de l’Université de Porto (Portugal) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €