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

Many decisions involve intertemporal choice: a choice between options whose consequences occur at different points in time. For example, choosing whether or not to eat cake when you also want to lose weight this month. Remarkably, we often choose small immediate rewards (e.g. eat cake) over large future benefits (e.g. lose weight), despite different intentions. How can we become better at resisting temptations and align our behavior with our long-term intentions? ‘Nudging’, a concept from behavioral economics, appears a promising strategy: by designing choice contexts that exploit our cognitive biases, it gently guides us into making choices that are better for ourselves and society. One way to nudge intertemporal choice is by ‘framing’ the timing of the choice outcome in a certain way: e.g. we make more patient choices when future outcomes are described in terms of calendar dates (‘on May 1’) than in terms of corresponding delays (‘in 30 days’). However, two problems hamper the use of time framing in practice: we do not know how time framing works nor who is susceptible to it. If we do not address these problems, we will not understand our seemingly irrational choices and we will not be able to develop framing interventions that change behavior. To solve these problems, I will determine the mechanisms and individual determinants of time framing in intertemporal choice, using new computational models, functional MRI, and an online experiment. My working hypothesis is that time framing changes how we perceive time and that individual differences in time perception determine whether or not time framing changes behavior. The proposed research will provide scientists, policymakers, clinicians, and businesses with a deep understanding of how framing influences our choices. This knowledge will guide smart policies, personalized interventions, and nudge-based technologies that promote future-minded behavior and reduce societal costs in Europe and the rest of the world.

Mots clés : functional mri, decision making, intertemporal choice, cognitive modeling

Participants :
- Radboud University Nijmegen (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 133199.1 €
Projet SustBracedMHaz (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Modern societies need building infrastructure that is designed and maintained according to high sustainability and resilience standards. Sustainability in construction can be realized with demountable (easy to deconstruct) structures that enable change of the building geometry (adaptability) and reuse of materials and structural members at the end of the building life. Resilience can be realized with structures that can be easily repaired, if damaged, so that building service can be restored within an acceptable short, if not immediate, time after extreme loading conditions. Moreover, the need to design structures against multiple natural (e.g. earthquakes) and man-made (e.g. bomb blast) hazards has been recognized. The goal of the project is to address the aforementioned urgent societal needs by developing a novel steel concentric braced frame (CBF) that can, for the first time, simultaneously achieve the following overall objectives: (a) Sustainability in construction, (b) Enhanced progressive collapse resistance and reparability against a sudden loss of column due to bomb blast; and (c) Easy inspection and repair of damage to allow rapid return to building use and occupation after strong earthquakes.

Mots clés : seismic design, steel design, resilience, earthquake engineering

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

Molecular chirality has profound as well as practical implications in chemistry, biology, and nanotechnology. While light is well established for distinguishing between opposite molecular enantiomers and there have been incredible advances in light sources, established methods for enantioselective synthesis and separation still rely on molecule-molecule interactions because the chirality of light couples only weakly to the chirality of molecules. This smallness stems from the dependence of this coupling on magnetic-dipole interactions. We recently found a new type of chirality in light – local chirality – which relies only on the electric field and is relevant for nonlinear light-matter interaction. Light’s local chirality (LLC) couples very strongly to molecular chirality – exclusively through electric-dipole interactions – as we already demonstrated distinguishing opposite enantiomers with perfect contrast [Nat.Phot.13,866(2019)]. Its immense potential in the fields of enantioselective synthesis and separation remains to be uncovered. The overall objective of this proposal is to set the cornerstones for realizing this potential. The specific objectives of this proposal are (I) To use LLC to demonstrate efficient enantioselective population transfer between electronic states. (II) To use LLC to demonstrate ponderomotive-force-like enantioselective deflection of molecular beams. (III) To explore the generation and the structuring of LLC using structured media. (IV) To explore the generation of topologically non-trivial structures in LLC with the help of beams carrying orbital angular momentum and structured media. Achieving these objectives will deliver the missing link needed to finally take advantage of our amazing control over light to synthesize and separate chiral molecules in an enantioselective fashion. It will bring efficiencies orders of magnitude better than previous magnetic-dipole-based methods and will have a direct impact on the chemical industry.

Mots clés : structured light

Participants :
- Institute of Photonic Sciences (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 172932.48 €
Projet SECurITY (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

More than 286 internationally shared river basins supply 60% of global freshwater. The United Nations and the Council of European Union has highlighted the potential of transboundary water diplomacy. The complex interdependencies between humans and water in these transboundary basins remain poorly understood in the newly proposed discipline of socio-hydrology. Therefore, an assessment of social-ecological interdependencies in transboundary water resources systems is now urgently required for implementing target 6.5 of SDGs and for fulfilling the EU’s commitment on international peace and security. The overall objective of the envisaged research is to develop new understandings of complex human-water systems in large transboundary river basins with an aim to contribute scientific advancement of socio-hydrology and to enhance transboundary cooperation for international peace and security. The proposed research will be hosted in two highly qualified laboratories (during outgoing phase at MIT, with Prof. Susskind and during return phase at UNIVE with Prof. Giupponi). Going beyond the state-of-the-art, the proposed project will develop for the first time: an analytical framework of complex tranboundary water system; comparative network analysis for social ecological systems in two river basins; consideration of negotiation theory and role-play game in developing transboundary cooperation strategies. The proposed project is fundamentally interdisciplinary in characters. The scientifically innovative and socially relevant (for EU and the Globe) proposed project will help me achieve higher levels of professional maturity through innovative research, advanced training, the transferrable skills and interdisciplinary experiences in two highly qualified institutions both at MIT and at UNIVE. These unique experiences will support to achieve my short-(e.g., human-water interactions), medium- (e.g., young investigator) and long-term (permanent position in academia) career goals.

Mots clés : human water interaction, transboundary water system, network analysis, negotiation theory, socio hydrology, stakeholder engagement

Participants :
- Ca' Foscari University of Venice (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 262269.0 €
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet COLONINFO (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

More than 470,000 European citizens are diagnosed every year with colorectal cancer (CRC), accounting 12.2% of the total number of cancer deaths. The cumulative risk of CRC in persons aged under 75 is 4.17% in men and 2.3% in women. Screening options are used in EU for the early detection of CRC and the most likely one (after positive faecal test) is the endoscopy. However, the reduced field of vision of the endoscopic camera (<180°), the non-homogenous illumination, the polyp concealment due to angulations and folds of the colon or poor colon cleansing, and the dependence on the experience of the clinician who performs endoscopy, result in lack of efficacy of this technique. It is estimated that after a negative colonoscopy the risk of having CRC is 60-70%. The host has just invented MiWEndo, a low cost system of microwave image generation for clinical endoscopic applications. The pre-prototyped device is a small endoscope head composed by an array of antennas that transmits and receives microwave signals, and it will form anatomical and functional images of the interior of the gastro-intestinal tract as the endoscope travels along it. The goal is to provide real-time (360°) images in endoscopic explorations and interventions, offer a better understanding of the CRC behavior (by allowing quantification), and guide diagnosis and therapy. The objective of this MSCA is to ensure the computational efficiency and robustness (in terms of resolution and computational time) by developing a reconstruction software able to guide diagnostic and allowing quantification in real-time (not yet possible). This project will be completed in a leading multi-disciplinary research group. The applicant brings mathematical and bioengineering skills that will facilitate research in the group and the transfer of ideas. The proposed work will expand her experience, research competencies and professional networks, enhancing the development of her career as an independent researcher.

Mots clés : inverse problem, forward problem, colorectal cancer, microwave imaging, colonoscopy, endoscopy, image reconstruction

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

Most of the civil and architectural heritage is built with masonry structures. The interventions on such structures require the usage of compatible materials such as natural hydraulic lime (NHL) mortars that offer a promising solution due to their large compatibility with original materials in terms of chemical, physical and mechanical performance. Furthermore, these interventions demand to be as durable as possible and in this sense, the self-healing capacity of NHL mortars seems to be of potential value. HeaLime will create a new testing method to measure self-healing in cementitious materials. It will also characterize systematically a combination of several variables in the context of the performance of the healing capacity. The project will be performed mainly at University of Minho, Portugal, under the supervision of Prof. Lourenço, one of the most prestigious researcher in masonry components and Dr. Azenha, whose proposed methodology of EMM-ARM has involved a revolutionary step in the characterization of the stiffness evolution of cementitious materials. For the purpose, a new testing method will be developed by adapting the technique of EMM-ARM to the measurement of self-healing of NHL mortars in service. At the same time, different materials (such as micro-fibres, crystalline admixtures and superabsorbent polymers) will be combined to create improved NHL mortars for self-healing. Moreover, two secondments will be performed. The first one at University of Ghent, with Prof. De Belie, a leading specialist on self-healing materials, and at Kerakoll, a non-academic institution devoted to the commercialization of sustainable building materials. Finally, a series of pilot demonstration tests will be approached to study the applicability of such improved NHL mortars to building sites. HeaLime will redound in more sustainable and durable repairing operations when approaching the different interventions of the civil and architectural heritage.

Mots clés : natural hydraulic lime mortars, self healing, building heritage, fibre reinforced lime mortars, crystalline admixtures, superabsorvent polymers, industrial constrains, applicability to real structures

Participants :
- University of Minho (Portugal) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 147815.04 €
Projet ivMX (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Mostly motivated by, but not restricted to the comprehensive analysis and understanding of biological phenomena with potential medical implications, structural biology gives access to the atomic details of macromolecules, allowing to decipher their biological functions. Using state-of-the-art developments coupled to third-generation x-ray synchrotron sources, macromolecular x-ray crystallography (MX) stands as the primary method for determining the structures of proteins, alone or in complex with partner ligands. The major bottleneck of MX lies in the requirement to obtain crystals of reasonable sizes that can easily by handled and readily give rise to interpretable diffraction patterns. Prior to x-ray diffraction studies, crystal production pipelines involve the characterisation, purification and handling of samples in large quantities through multi-step, complicated, time-consuming and costly procedures. The identification of protein crystals naturally occurring inside cells and organisms as diverse as bacteria, protists, fungi, plants, fishes, amphibians, insects and mammals has opened a window for a new type of MX and structural biology. Recently, the emergence of the in vivo crystallography (ivMX) approach took advantage in the developments of new intense coherent x-ray sources that allow collecting diffraction patterns from sub-micron crystals, targets so far unreachable at other x-ray sources. This proposal intends to get further insights into the yet uncontrollable events dictating in vivo crystal growth, by structure determination and analysis of readily available ivMX systems. While deciphering these phenomena and applying them to external proteins recombinantly expressed in hosts where in vivo crystal growth could be identified, a small platform for ivMX will be initiated, with the aim of reducing the tedious and costly sample preparation steps currently used in MX.

Mots clés : new biology, in vivo crystallography, serial crystallography, bioengineering, native condition

Participants :
- Synchrotron SOLEIL (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 185076.0 €
Projet FM-4NXTG (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Motivation: Wireless access is being used extensively in our life. Wireless access enabler, the frequency bands, on the other hand, is very scarce. It is very important that any wireless access system utilizes the frequency at outmost efficiency. One of the poorly utilized wireless bands is the FM Band between 88–108 MHz. The band is being allocated only for relatively high quality audio broadcast around the world. This band has good propagation characteristics and therefore its coverage range and its penetration through buildings are excellent. As FM coverage is so ubiquitous around the world, several applications are already considered to better exploit this useful band: (a) Software defined radios for public safety, (b) New digital audio broadcast services, and (c) the development of an emergency message delivery services. With one of these applications and good propagation characteristics, FM Band can enable a fully connected Europe. It is of significant interest to investigate and characterize channel properties of the FM Band for the potential wireless systems. Therefore, the objective of this novel research is for the first time to develop a complete channel characterization of FM Band and then to perform analytical directional channel modelling. The newly introduced models will then be validated through field trials, and will be able to support the parameters of the contemporary wireless systems with multiple antennae. Approach: The directional channel models will be developed through (i) geometrical (ray tracing) and (ii) tapped delay line (parametric stochastic modelling) approaches by considering 2-D (time and angular) channel impulse response. The models will be based on the specification of directional channel impulse response functions, large and small channel effects. The measurement campaigns will be carried out via channel sounders. Thus, we will have the first standard directional channel models of the FM Band.

Mots clés : directional channel modelling, fm band, ray tracing, channel measurements

Participants :
- Istanbul Şehir University (Turquie) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 78922.8 €
- Istanbul Medipol University (Turquie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 78922.8 €
Projet MoThal (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Motor learning is a fundamental process enabling an organism to improve movement efficiency during a motor task. It is supported by motor cortex, which organizes movements into complex sequences. Yet, how this structure is informed of planned and generated actions is poorly understood. Anatomically, motor cortex is highly interconnected with the motor thalamus (Mthal). Interestingly, this structure is involved during the acquisition of different motor tasks, but also shows homologous roles in motor function to brainstem areas. In line with these observations, we hypothesize that pathways between the brainstem to Mthal represent an interesting and unexplored way for motor information to reach cortical areas during motor learning. This project aims at exploring the anatomical organization and functional importance of brainstem-Mthal pathways in motor learning and transmission to the cortex. It will first explore the bidirectional synaptic organization of these pathways according to neuronal subpopulation identity using mouse genetics and viral tools for anatomy. In a second step, it will explore the hypothesis of a specific role of the different brainstem-Mthal pathways in motor learning, including dexterous vs sequential motor learning tasks. The involvement of the observed pathways in these tasks will be explored with in-vivo calcium imaging. This will allow us to determine whether changes in neuronal activity of brainstem-Mthal projection neurons are correlated with ongoing motor behavior and with which phases. Finally, these results will be probed for functionality by direct manipulation of these circuits in behaving mice. To this end, opto- and pharmacogenetic tools will be used in combination with viral technology to target and manipulate the characterized neuronal networks in mice performing motor learning tasks. Together, the results obtained through this project will lead to a better understanding of circuits involved in motor program execution and learning.

Mots clés : motor learning, brainstem motor thalamus pathways, transgenic mice, functional anatomy, circuit manipulation

Participants :
- Friedrich Miescher Institute (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 175419.6 €
Projet MetChromTx (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Organismal responses to environmental threats involve the activation of both resident and monocyte-derived macrophages, key components of the innate immune system. Macrophages are capable of rapidly sensing micro-environmental changes and of reacting with distinct activities ranging from specialised homeostatic functions, to the activation of effector functions in tissue immune surveillance. These diverse biological outcomes are brought about by the coordinated rewiring of both metabolic and transcriptional networks. Although much is known about the metabolic configuration and the transcriptional signatures of activated macrophages, their reciprocal influences have not been systematically investigated. Metabolic changes linked to acute activation are primarily, although not exclusively, driven by transcriptional changes; nevertheless, how these changes are coordinated and implemented over time remains unsolved. In addition, changes in metabolic state are accompanied by changes in metabolites availability, some of which are cofactors or co-substrates of chromatin-modifying enzymes, essential players in the control of gene expression. I aim to unravel key mechanistic principles on the interplay between transcriptional and metabolic control in macrophages by adopting two complementary approaches: (1) I will identify the complement of transcription factors controlling dynamic metabolic changes at different times during macrophage activation by combining genomic and metabolomic techniques; (2) I will characterise how metabolic pathways signal to specific enhancers thus eventually affecting inflammatory gene transcription and chromatin changes. This project will contribute to systematically dissect fundamental principles of integrated cell control in response to micro-environmental stimuli, advancing our understanding of the coordination between metabolic re-programming and gene transcriptional programs.

Mots clés : macrophage activation, signal induced gene expression, signal induced metabolic changes, signal induced chromatin changes, transcription factors activation, genomics metabolomics data integration

Participants :
- Humanitas University (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 180277.2 €