Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet SEBAMAT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Most current machine translation systems are either rule-based or corpus-based. They typically take the semantics of a text only in so far into account as they are implicit in the underlying text corpora or dictionaries. This is also true for the recent neural machine translation systems, which - in comparison to standard phrase-based systems, tend to have the focus even more on fluency rather than adequacy. However, it has been pointed out that it is unlikely to be able to bring machine translation quality to the next level as long as the systems do not make better use of semantic knowledge. For example, according to Kevin Knight future machine translation systems should use information of the type "who is doing what to whom and when", i.e. involving the identification of the semantic roles of the items occurring in a sentence. To move forward in this direction, we propose to implement and evaluate three different approaches: The first approach is based on state of the art machine translation but considers word senses rather than words. That is, a word sense disambiguation system is used to identify the word senses in large parallel text corpora. Then, in analogy to standard word alignment, the word senses are aligned across languages, and the resulting multilingual sense dictionaries are used in conjunction with the word sense disambiguation systems for translating new texts. Our second approach uses role labeling for identifying the semantic roles of the words in a sentence. The roles are aligned across languages, and this information is then used to improve the translation process. The third approach is based on an algorithm which computes the semantic similarity between phrases. It considers the translation task as finding semantically similar phrases across languages.

Mots clés : machine translation, neural machine translation, semantics based machine translation, computational linguistics

Participants :
- Athena Research and Innovation Center In Information Communication & Knowledge Technologies (Grèce) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 165085.44 €
Projet SENCyclo (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Moving towards sustainable mobility will require improved understanding of the gendering processes across cycling mobility as the bicycle is a vector of sustainable lifestyles but gender norms still restrict its development. Research on gender and mobility neglects the sensitive materiality through which gender is constructed, and aesthetical approach of mobility infrastructure takes little interest so far in gender. To investigate how gender intersects with aesthetics in the ongoing formation of bicycling practices, equipment and infrastructure will lead to a better understanding of the potential of gender dynamics as an agent of change in creating more sustainable cities. The aesthetical experience of the bicycle has a key role in the continuous infrastructuring processes of bicycling practices, equipment and infrastructure. My main hypothesis is that the aesthetical experience also creates a tension with the dominant norms of feminity/masculinity, impacting the ongoing gender formation and deconstruction. The deconstruction of these unequal political categories constitutes an important step towards the development of more systemically sustainable cities. Focusing on French and Swiss cities at different stages in the implementation of their cycling policies, the research will develop an original interdisciplinary, comparative and multi-scale approach that deploys the concept of social imaginary to explore the spatial (micro)practices in relation to cycling materialities and ambiances, embodied experiences, meanings and representations, drawing on object-based, visual and mobile methodologies. It will cast light on affective and sensible resonances between infrastructure, environment, equipment and gendered bodies. In the longer term, to investigate the aesthetical dimension of mobility participates in the effort in research to overcome the curiously immaterial and disembodied conceptions of sustainability.

Mots clés : bicycle mobility, mobility studies, mobility infrastructure

Participants :
- Université Gustave Eiffel (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 196707.84 €
Projet SMOLAC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Organic solar cells are lightweight, mechanically flexible and potentially printable devices. To split an exciton, these cells use a mixture of electron donor and acceptor materials. At present, most of the electron acceptors are made up of fullerenes or their derivatives. However, fullerenes exhibit only weak light absorption in the visible spectrum. Hence, practically half of the active material in the solar cell does not collect light and thus does not contribute to exciton and charge generation, thereby limiting the maximum efficiency of organic solar cells to 12%. Recent experimental and theoretical works show that it is possible to improve this low efficiency by replacing fullerene acceptors with small molecules (strong dyes). These strong dyes can change the energy profile of the donor-acceptor interface in a way that improves the solar cell behavior by causing it to favor more efficient charge-transferred state splitting. The mechanism by which the efficiency is improved is complex and not well-understood and is mediated by the strong dye’s ability to alter the electrostatic forces felt by generated excitons. However, a rational approach to design such non-fullerene acceptors on a molecular level, accounting for the complex electrostatic interactions, has not been developed. In-depth molecular level understanding of donor-(non-fullerene) acceptor interfaces, including long-range electrostatic effects, is the first goal of this proposal. It will include simulations of morphologies and evaluation of electrostatic forces at donor-non-fullerene acceptor interfaces for several experimentally well-characterized systems. The second step will include the design of a pre-screening workflow for new acceptors, focusing on the optimization of the efficiency of the charge-transferred state splitting and minimization of the open circuit voltage losses.

Mots clés : organic solar cells, computer design of molecular structure, electrostatic environment, non fullerene acceptors, charge transfer state splitting

Participants :
- Max Planck Society (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 174806.4 €
Projet RRMAP (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Our project “Riemann-Roch and Motives for Arithmetic Problems” aims to develop techniques in the area of Motives and the Riemann-Roch to attack arithmetic problems. To be more concrete we aim to attack: - The integral Riemann-Roch: At SGA VI Grothendieck developed his landmark Riemann-Roch result stating an integral version of it as an open question. Later on, research of Fulton, MacPherson and Pappas raised Grothendieck original conjecture to a more complete statement related to traces, which is known today only in the complex geometric setting. We aim to prove this conjecture in its full generality. -The discrete Riemann-Roch: At SGA5 Grothendieck proved his wellknown Ogg-Shafarevich formula computing the Euler characteristic of a constructible sheaf over curve in terms of the genus, the Swan conductor and therank. This formula plays a central role in the original strategy to prove the Weyl conjectures. Grothendieck also conjectured that this formula would fit into a Riemann-Roch type theorem for the K-group of étale constructible sheaves and general schemes, which he called the “discrete Riemann-Roch”. We aim to attack this theorem from the motivic point of view. -Intersection theory in the arithmetic setting: A major objective of Algebraic Geometry is to define a product algebraic cycles for in the arithmetic setting. So far, this product has being defined with rational coefficients. The first definition, due to Gillet-Soulé, was achieved throughout the Adam’s operations, the Adams Riemann-Roch and the Grothendieck-Riemann-Roch. We aim to explore some of Gillet-Soulé’s ideas and the arithmetic bivariant integral version of the Riemann-Roch to explore a definition of the intersection product of cycles after killing certain torsion on the Chow groups related to the codimension of the cycle

Mots clés : motives, k theory, chow groups, riemann roch, arithmetic geometry, intersection theory, vanishing, conjecture

Participants :
- Spanish National Research Council (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 172932.48 €
Projet SyLeNCe (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Our understanding of the different layers of organization in tissues remains limited. Stem cell niches offer a tightly controlled environment and a unique opportunity to look into this question. Reductionist approaches have been proven highly efficient dissecting the complexity of stem cell niches in a unidirectional fashion. However, this approach fails to recognize the tri-dimensional complexity of tissue organization. Hence we propose a systems biology approach based on low input and single cell RNA sequencing of bone marrow niche populations in order to establish not only the molecular landscape of cells that comprise the stem cell niche in homeostasis and disease but also the lineage relationships that may exist between cells in the stroma. Using the mouse bone marrow niche during neoplastic transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), we will first unravel the cellular and molecular interactions that constitute the tumor microenvironment during disease development and progression using multi parametric flow cytometry and RNA-sequencing. Information gathered from these experiments will also provide a list of molecular candidates for therapeutic intervention in AML. We will validate those candidate cell populations and genetic pathways by means of gain and loss-of-function assays in vitro and in vivo using murine models and primary human AML samples. Completion of our interdisciplinary project will provide, for the first time a complete transcriptional and cellular map of a tissue, revealing the heterotypic interactions that define the real nature of a tissue. Perhaps then we could start to appreciate the elegant complexity of the ecosystem that the stem cell and its niche share. I hope SyLeNCe will facilitate the description of novel vulnerabilities that could be explored therapeutically for the treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia having an impact on the quality of life and long-term survival of AML patients.

Mots clés : acute myeloid leukaemia  aml, bone marrow  bm, microenvironment, haematopoiesis, leukaemia, initiating cells  lics, peripheral blood  pb

Participants :
- University of Navarra (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 160932.48 €
Projet HISMACITY-pro (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Over the last decade, the urban conservation challenge has grown critical due to rapid urbanization and the resulting growth and transformation of cities worldwide. Conserving historic urban environments is currently one of the most universally urgent and challenging cultural heritage conservation issues. The research project "Hismacity-pro" aims to develop a detailed protocol of multidisciplinary integrated interventions targeted at the recovery and revitalization of small historic centers by enabling smart city services, in order to improve the quality of life in these settlements, which are usually confined within marginal areas, far from the biggest cities. The protocol will be able to be replicated in other southern European towns with the same needs. At the moment, Italian small centers haven’t been rigorously mapped and requalified and local policies aimed at their recovery are quite absent, while the Italian Agency for Territorial Cohesion has recently set up a central policy for their valorisation. The protocol will be adoptable by this strategy and will convey an operative tool of guidance for municipalities in peripheral areas on policy management, in central Italy and Catalonia (Spain). The research will be grounded in an holistic management of sites and their surrounding context and will encourage a considerable increase in the competitiveness of small historic centers, as well as their conservation and economic sustainable growth. The project will assess the state of information available to practitioners and identify unmet needs in the conservation of historic cities and urban settlements. It will also try to find a response to how small historic towns can use local assets to revitalize their economy, and the logic of turning problems into resources will be adopted (“smart” growth). The protocol will foster interventions tailored to the real needs of Euro-mediterranean historic small towns under marginal conditions.

Mots clés : small towns revitalization, smart growth, peer to peer  urban planning, historical buildings retrofitting

Participants :
- Roma Tre University (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 168277.2 €
Projet PROTEAS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Recent advances in the development of iterative synthetic methodology (“assembly-line synthesis”) have the potential to bring about a paradigm shift in small molecule synthesis, by providing automated protocols similar to those used for oligopeptide and oligonucleotide synthesis. However, a clear limitation of such systems has been the synthesis of topologically complex frameworks. Drawing inspiration from Nature, this project aims to address this issue by providing an innovative protocol for the automated synthesis of complex natural product-like scaffolds. This will be done by combining two cutting-edge methodologies: (i) the automated synthetic platform developed by the Burke group in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which can rapidly provide libraries of small molecules by the iterative coupling of N-methyliminodiacetic acid (MIDA) boronate building blocks, and (ii) a novel supramolecular capsule catalyst developed by the Tiefenbacher group at the University of Basel, which has the unique capability to catalyse the tail-to-head terpene cyclization, the same transformation employed by Nature to give rise to the myriad of known terpene structures. The Burke group’s small molecule synthesizer will thus be used to rapidly assemble linear terpenoid precursors, which will then be subjected to tail-to-head terpene cyclization via the Tiefenbacher group’s catalyst to form cyclized terpenoid structures. The project will identify factors that influence the course of the cyclization and develop methods to control it so that desired scaffolds are produced on-demand. At its conclusion, it aims to provide a platform for the automated preparation of natural product-like compounds that will greatly impact chemical biology and medicinal chemistry research.

Mots clés : automated synthesis, supramolecular capsule catalysis, mida boronates, iterative coupling, terpenes

Participants :
- University of Basel (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 260840.64 €
- University of Illinois System (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet Umay4women (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Recent data estimate that approximately 8 – 10 % of couples are facing fertility problems which means more than 50 million people worldwide are struggling to get pregnant. One of the main reasons couples have difficulty conceiving is their inability to accurately predict the female’s ovulation period. Indeed, the quantification and monitoring of four specific female hormones is crucial for early identification of infertility and tracing of diseases associated with hormonal disbalances (e.g. ovarian cancer). In comparison with costly and complex conventional methods and commercially available test that only measure one or two of the four key hormones, Umay4women (Umay) proposes, for the first time, a unique and reliable quantification of all hormones involved in the ovulatory cycle to accurately determine the ‘fertility window’ by using non-invasive saliva samples. The novelty of this project relies on the combination of nanomaterials, photosensitizers, paper-based microfluidics and immunoassay disciplines to develop a multiarray biosensor, overcoming the drawbacks of current techniques and sampling methods. Importantly, the sensing strategy is based on a novel photoelectrochemical approach which uses the light to trigger the electrochemical response, thus eliminating potential interferences and empowering the readout. Although initially focused on fertility monitoring in women, the underlying technologies have the potential to be further extended after this fellowship for a wider range of applications and final users (e.g. monitoring of fertility in animal industry or tracing the evolution of patients after ovarian cancer treatment) to develop reliable, low-cost, multiarray platforms for healthcare applications. From the clinical perspective, Umay will facilitate the direct and rapid quantification of the key fertility hormones which will lead to faster and private decision-making processes toward an enhancement of the fertility management of each women.

Mots clés : paper based microfluidics, fertility hormones, electrochemical sensor, multiarray, screen printing electrodes, photoelectrochemistry, immunoassay

Participants :
- University of Antwerp (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 178320.0 €
Projet IMME-NEM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Recently discovered two-dimensional (2D)-honeycomb semiconductor materials have two inequivalent, degenerate valleys in their electronic band structure. This leads to a new “valley” degree of freedom known as pseudospin that, similar to real spin, has been proposed as an extra information carrier for new classes of electronic and optoelectronic devices. Monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are an important type of 2D material, in which, due to the strong 2D confinement and a reduced dielectric screening of the Coulomb interactions, electron-hole (e-h) correlations are extremely strong. This results in creation of e-h pairs (excitons) that are so strongly bound that excitonic effects completely dominate the optical properties of TMDs even up to room temperature. The pronounced excitonic effects in single-layer TMDs, therefore, provide a unique opportunity to investigate strong light-matter interactions associated with valley effects exhibiting exotic behaviour. However, the key fundamental question regarding the exact excitonic band structure, the valley-exciton energy-momentum (dispersion) relationship, and the corresponding excitonic transport properties, remains open. This proposal is devoted to a fundamental understanding of the valley-exciton band structure. It consists of two main research objectives: (i) to determine the exciton dispersion and the corresponding transport using momentum- and real-space optical imaging, and (ii) to achieve an external control of the exciton dispersion via applied magnetic and electric fields, charge density and strain. The results will deepen the understanding of valley-exciton transport in single-layer TMDs and help the development of novel valley-based technologies.

Mots clés : single layers, excitons, optical imaging, magnetic fields, photonics, optoelectronics

Participants :
- Radboud University Nijmegen (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 165598.8 €
Projet FORECASTING (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Economic Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Recently there has been considerable focus on methods that enable time varying estimation of parameters in econometric models in the presence of, possibly stochastic, structural change. An interesting strand of this literature dispenses with the, computationally expensive and theoretically unclear, standard Bayesian estimation methods in favour of kernel estimation. In this project we intend to extend that strand of the literature to the case of large dimensional datasets and perhaps the most commonly explored problem of covariance estimation. Our primary focus will be to combine kernel estimation with fixed coefficient estimation methods for large dimensional covariance matrices. We will then try to provide theoretical results that allow for time variation in the large data generating process. This is a novel extension in the literature. To strengthen our theoretical results, we aim to provide an extensive Monte Carlo analysis and illustrate the utility of our methods in terms of out of sample forecasting. The proposed estimators have many interesting empirical applications. On top of the theoretical paper, our aim is to provide, two empirical papers, in the area of Macroeconomic Forecasting and Optimal portfolio allocation. To this end, we will use the proposed estimators, to forecast key macro variables with large dimensional linear regression, and compare with similar, data rich methods, that are currently used in the literature. Finally we will combine our methodological advancements with optimal portfolio allocation theories. Our preliminary empirical results show that the benefits from the proposed estimators are expected to be high and significant.

Mots clés : structural breaks, forecasting, covariance matrix, portfolio allocation, large datasets

Participants :
- University of Cyprus (Chypre) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 151648.8 €