Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet Trans C4 (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Water-related stress is the number one limiting factor for plant productivity and human well-being. One-third of the current world population faces water shortages and by 2025, two-thirds are expected to experience water stress conditions, i.e 1.8 billion people will be subjected to absolute water scarcity. The C4 photosynthetic pathway boosts plant productivity by ~50% but also increases water use efficiency. C4 photosynthesis is a remarkable trait that is thought to have evolved in response to environmental factors including increased aridity and seasonality. All C4 plants concentrate CO2 in leaves, increasing productivity by ~50%, but also maintaining lower stomatal conductance than C3 species. For example, under heat stress induced by a temperature rise from 20°C to 30°C, C3 plants double water loss via transpiration whilst C4 plants are able to decrease the diffusive efflux of water vapour by 50%, and are therefore considered as water-efficient users. A fuller understanding of C4 photosynthesis would facilitate water efficient and productive crops to be engineered in the future. In this programme the researcher will become familiar with state-of-the-art, genome-wide approaches that are used and operational in the host laboratory to better understand the genetic basis of C4 photosynthesis. Specifically regions of the rice and sorghum genomes that are bound by transcription factors as leaves develop will be determined. These data will be interrogated to test the hypothesis that genes of the C4 pathway evolved to become induced by light in C4 leaves. Secondly, transcription factor footprints associated with genes expressed in M or BS cells of sorghum will be identified. These footprints (DNA sequences) will test the hypothesis that multiple genes preferentially expressed in M or BS cells are regulated by the same cis-elements.

Mots clés : plant biology, photosynthesis, c4 pathway, regulatory dna

Participants :
- University of Cambridge (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet CADOACCFAP (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

We aim to establish a multidisciplinary research program focusing on the design and self-assembly of anisotropic colloidal particles into colloidal complexes in the presence/absence of external fields. We seek to achieve control over the anisotropies by means of component variation, shape tuning and surface functionality of the building materials. We envisage that these anisotropic build blocks will not only offer a direct route enriching our understanding of molecular behaviours (isomerisation, chirality and steric hindrance) at colloidal scales but will also open up a huge range of exciting possibilities in constructing novel colloidal structures and their application in controllable devices, such as colloidal surfactant and micro-swimmer.

Mots clés : anisotropic particles, colloidal complexes, self assembly

Participants :
- Aalto University (Finlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 191325.6 €
Projet COMEDM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

We are constantly required to keep recently encountered information about the world in mind, and to use that information to make appropriate decisions. These essential cognitive functions, known as working memory (WM) and decision-making (DM), are conventionally studied in isolation by psychologists and neuroscientists. Yet, recent theoretical developments suggest that both DM and WM could emerge from the same fundamental neural mechanisms. With this Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship, hosted by Trinity College Dublin and IDIBAPS Barcelona, I will empirically test this exciting proposal for the first time. In my career thus far, I have characterised new neural signatures of DM and established a non-invasive proxy for powerful neural systems linked to both DM and WM. Now, I will supplement these breakthroughs with a number of cutting-edge approaches in cognitive neuroscience specialised in by my host supervisors Prof. Robert Whelan and Dr. Albert Compte. This suite of tools will allow me to expose commonalities between DM and WM at an unprecedented level of detail, and interrogate a possible common neural basis for DM and WM deficits that exist in a large part of the global population – healthy elderly individuals. During my Fellowship, I will publish my findings in leading journals and work to communicate my research activities to the largest possible audience. I will participate in professional development programs to develop essential competencies in personnel management and grant writing, and will capitalise on my secondment in Barcelona to grow my global research network. Additionally, I will receive advanced training in sophisticated methodological and analytical approaches, which will continue my progression toward becoming a leading cognitive neuroscientist capable of competing for high-level funding opportunities. Thus, this Fellowship will prepare me well for a future career as the principle investigator of a multidisciplinary European research laboratory.

Mots clés : attractor dynamics, biophysical modelling, cognitive modelling, ageing, neuromodulation, persistent activity

Participants :
- Trinity College Dublin (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 184590.72 €
Projet REGenPLACE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

We are experiencing unprecedented environmental and societal changes at a global scale that affect all living beings on earth at a local scale. The epoch of humanity's impact on the biosphere with its irreversible degradation of ecosystems, devistating pandemics, economic and governance failures, unequal development, social and environmental injustice and discrimination, has a name - the Anthropocene. It is synonymous with destruction, inequality and increased vulnerability driven and accelerated by many factors but primarily by the enduring impacts of colonisation, the industrial revolution and the spread of capitalism. A ‘restorative’ Anthropocene instead sees human activity give back more than it takes. Such activity can be seen in place-based land practices that regenerate land and ecosystems. However, many of those practices are marginalised or silenced as they emerge from diverse worldviews and narratives that are perceived as incompatible with contemporary scientific natural resource management approaches. This study aims to compare marginalised land practices, their associated narratives, and regenerative potential for land and biodiversity across the local-global dimension, by investigating three cases from the Celtic parts of the UK, Bhutan and Australia using a place-based approach within the framing of a ‘restorative’ Anthropocene. The practices to be compared include fire management techniques of Australian indigenous communities known as ‘cultural-burning’ of the landscape, the Bhutanese cultural practice of Reedum [closing of mountains] and the transition from degraded landscapes to 'rewilding' woodlands in the Celtic parts of the UK. The findings from this research will suggest pathways for how we can apply knowledge from culturally, geographically, ontologically and epistemologically diverse regenerative land practices to inform current policy, practice and research agendas across the local-global dimension towards a 'restorative' Anthropocene.

Mots clés : regenerative sustainability, land practices, narratives, restorative anthropocene, biocultural diversity

Participants :
- Cardiff University (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 224933.76 €
Projet TOMMY (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

We are poised to make huge leaps in our understanding of the Milky Way. In 2018 ESA's Gaia satellite will release measurements of the positions and velocities of almost a billion stars. In millions of those, astronomers on the ground are accurately measuring the abundances of ~15 elements. These detailed star-by-star measurements are possible only in our Galaxy, and promise to make the Milky Way a Rosetta Stone for understanding in detail the fundamental processes that shape and form all galaxies. However a global understanding of the Milky Way will remain a challenge: Gaia's horizon lies in front of the Galactic centre, and its view is obscured in the dusty Galactic plane where most of the stellar mass lies. 65% of the Galaxy's stars lie within 5kpc of the Galactic centre, so we cannot use the Milky Way as a template without understanding the Inner Galaxy. We will use novel techniques to shed light on these important inner regions. Utilising Red Clump Giants (RCGs) as standard candles we will tomographically decompose the Galaxy: 1) By combining Gaia data with near-infrared proper motions, we will identify RCGs in the inner Galaxy, and use them to map the stellar mass in the inner disk and spiral arms. 2) We will measure the abundances of RCGs towards the bar and so make 3D chemical maps of the inner Galaxy to understand how the bar formed, and how it is related to the inner disk. 3) Combining Gaia proper motions with RCGs in the inner Galaxy we will measure the Galactic potential, and thereby infer the inner dark matter profile. The Host Group are leaders in Milky Way surveys, and the Experienced Researcher (ER) has written important works in Galactic structure and dynamics. These synergies will result in long-lasting collaborations, and help the European astronomical community harvest the rewards from its investment in Galactic science. In an era where we will finally understand our home galaxy, the research in this proposal will place the ER at the forefront.

Mots clés : the milky way, the galaxy

Participants :
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 173076.0 €
Projet MYTH (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

We are witnessing today a renewed mythologisation of the political sphere: myth has returned to occupy a persuasive and central role in modern political and cultural life, taking on the form of fictional narratives, “false myths” and ideologies, which are dangerously replacing rational debate. The process of demythologization (Entmythologisierung) of religious, political, cultural and social dynamics that began after the Second World War seems to have reached a standstill, revealing the unresolved contradictions inherent to the cult of reason and the Dialectic of Enlightenment. The question of the need for myth in every culture, modern culture not excluded, is still unanswered. Critical awareness of myth and its function as a cultural agent in today’s climate is critical, although the all too obvious demonization of myth should not be supplanted by the facile—and equally mythical—valorization of reason. As Jan Assmann argues, the function of myth in the modern world goes beyond a simple elaboration of the past. Indeed, all mythopoetic activity has immediate productive value and can be characterized as a dominant historical agent. A critical-historical study of the origins and development of the modern concepts of myth and mythology is of capital importance if we are to redefine our categories of thought and understand the pervasive phenomena that have dominated European culture for the last two centuries. My research takes on the first systematic study of mythology by way of a very telling case study: the birth of German Mythology studies. My aim is to show how German intellectuals created a system of Germanic mythology based on materials appropriated from Nordic myth and the model prevalent in European culture at the time: Greco-Roman mythology. This newly established Germanic myth imposed itself as an alternative model to the classical one, providing a new foundation for the construction of nationalistic cultural and political identities.

Mots clés : myth, culture, civilisation, national identity, mythology, intellectual history, 18th 20th century, germany, grimm, nordic mythology, german mythology, comparativism, ideology

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

We easily categorize places and objects in a single glance, a computationally complex task presenting a central challenge for vision neuroscience. Considerable evidence points to a division of scene and object processing into two distinct neural pathways, relying on different types of visual cues. However, scenes and objects are also known to strongly interact in visual perception, as seen in contextual effects of background on object perception. At present, the neural mechanisms by which scenes and objects interact remain unknown, leaving a critical gap in our understanding of these two major visual paths. The main goal of this multi-method proposal is to uncover the neural mechanisms of scene-object interactions. I therefore propose three competing theoretical models. A parallel model predicts only stimulus-driven representations of scenes and objects in the visual cortex. In contrast, interactive models predict that representations of scenes and objects in the visual cortex are influenced by one-another. However, whereas a visual-interactive model suggests direct interaction, a feedback model suggests that the interaction is mediated by frontal regions. To test this, I propose a novel psychophysical paradigm of seeing objects from scene context and scenes from object context. Thereby, I will examine how scene and object processing are affected by one-another and identify the potential neural sources of these modulations using fMRI (objective 1). Thereafter, I will use MEG to decode the timeline of these neural processes (objective 2). Establishing a clear neurocognitive model for scene-object interaction would not only advance our understanding of the two central paths of the ventral visual stream, but also significantly contribute to the definition of vision as an interactive system rather than a set of specialized parallel modules. Shifting from localized visual modules to interactive visual processes will broaden my expertise as a cognitive neuroscientist.

Mots clés : scene perception, object perception, visual streams, visual context, top down perception, fmri

Participants :
- University of Trento (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 180277.2 €
Projet UBPDS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

We investigate the versal unfolding and bifurcations of planar polynomial differential systems having some topological structure. Specially, we classify the systems of high degree which have centers or degenerate equilibria. Then we study the degeneracy of the system and prove the existence of versal unfoldings. All possible bifurcations of unfolding systems will be discussed and topological phase portraits of the systems are presented. Finally, we give a rigourous mathematical explanation for our results in some bio-mathematical models.

Mots clés : unfolding, bifurcation, center, limit cycle, integrability

Participants :
- University of Maribor (Slovénie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 78643.8 €
Projet 2DSTOP (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

We live in a technological world where usage of electronic devices for information technology is an integral part of everyday life. Present and future technological progress requires miniaturization of such devices, continuous improvement of their performances and decreasing of energy consumption. Spintronics, a growing research field based on the manipulation of the spin of the electrons, offers devices that fulfil these needs. However, a new generation of proposed spintronic devices are yet to be realized due to the lack of a tuneable spin transport channel. The major obstacle to build such channel is that the transport and the manipulation of spins (which require weak and strong spin-orbit coupling, respectively) in the same material are mutually exclusive. 2DSTOP addresses this problem by exploiting the unconventional spin-dependent properties of the transition metal dichalcogenides. In these two dimensional (2D) layered materials, electrically tuneable spin transport in the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling is theoretically predicted. 2DSTOP envisions the experimental realization of such predictions. Combining these materials with other 2D materials such as graphene and hexagonal boron nitride, this proposal plans to investigate not only the spin transport, but also some of the exotic spin-orbit-related phenomena. This way, the project aims at acquiring scientific knowledge with potential technological applications to be useful for both academia and industry. Moreover, the ultimate goal of 2DSTOP is to offer high-quality interdisciplinary research training for an aspiring young researcher helping him to build a promising scientific research career.

Mots clés : spin transport, spin hall effect, 2d materials, graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides

Participants :
- CIC nanoGUNE (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 170121.6 €
Projet COOPCAT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

We plan to make innovative use of two catalysts in combination to achieve reactivity impossible with single catalysts acting alone and so develop new synthetic methods for the synthesis of biologically important compound classes. Catalytic approaches to chemical synthesis provide great benefits in terms of reducing the demand for energy and resources, and outwork will enable a ‘greener’ approach to molecules of value in medicine and healthcare. The combination of two catalysts (one acidic, one nucleophilic) offers particular advantages, but presents challenges of compatibility that we intend to overcome. Previously, Gong has demonstrated that chiral isothiourea Lewis base catalyst may be combined with the second mode of activation, such as Lewis acid catalysis, to enable α-amination of esters and decarboxylative [4+2] annulation of 4-ethynyl dihydrobenzooxazinones. We will build on this work by developing a new class of catalytic asymmetric C1 ammonium enolates as nucleophiles for ring opening and ring expansion chemistry. A chiral Lewis base and a metal salt will work together to promote acylammonium ion formation, ring opening, ring expansion and [4+3] and [4+2] cycloaddition chemistry. The reactions will exhibit regio- and stereocontrol, and we will aim for high yield and enantiopurity. This cooperative catalytic strategy, using a chiral Lewis base and a metal salt together, provides a powerful synthetic tool for the rapid stereoselective synthesis of small ring natural products and other bioactive targets. For the first time, it will provide a method for enantioselective [3+2], [4+2] and [5+2] annulations to generate ε-lactones, dihydropyridazinone, and dihydroquinolinone structures. It remains a challenge to selectively generate diverse products from identical substrates, and we intend to demonstrate that this is possible by employing catalyst rather than substrate control.

Mots clés : asymmetric cooperative catalysis, chiral isothiourea lewis base catalyst, asymmetric c1 ammonium enolates, enantioselective  3 2, 4 2  and  5 2  annulations

Participants :
- University of Bristol (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 224933.76 €
Projet MUTAnTS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

We propose a novel high-throughput method to study the chemo-mechanical coupling in molecular motors using helicases, enzymes that couple ATP hydrolysis to unwinding of the double helix, as a model system. The method combines a cell-free expression system, droplet microfluidics and fluorescent assays with next generation sequencing to test large (up to millions of elements) libraries of helicase mutants for both unwinding and ATPase activity. The aim is to identify all sequence positions that, if mutated, lead to uncoupling, i.e. abolish unwinding while preserving ATPase activity. Once these positions are identified, their distribution on the enzyme sequence and structure will be analysed to obtain insight into the coupling mechanism. Notably the methodology could be applied to systems where the classical, structure-based analysis of the chemo-mechanical coupling is not possible. We will demonstrate our method on the RecQ helicase from e. coli using existing information on this system as a means of validation. Any further insight will be a demonstration of the power of our approach. When fully developed, our method will serve as a discovery tool for the interdisciplinary community working on helicases that includes medical, biological and physical sciences. It may be applied to aspects of helicase biophysics beyond the chemo-mechanical coupling, to other enzyme families and to screen for helicase inhibitors with higher throughput and lower cost when compared to robotic mictotitre-plate techniques. The proposed work will be carried out at the Griffiths Lab (ESPCI Paris) with a secondment at the Crick Institute (London). This project integrates the training in biophysics of the Experienced Researcher with the expertise of the Host Institution on high-throughput methods and the experience of the Secondment Institution on helicases. The Experienced Researcher will be trained in next generation sequencing and fluorescence-based approaches to molecular motors.

Mots clés : helicases, microfluidics, next generation sequencing, molecular motors, mechano chemical coupling, high throughput methods, deep mutational scanning

Participants :
- École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 173076.0 €