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

The project proposes to make use of modern molecular, microscopic and computational tools to analyze the embryonic development of several species of birds and compare how major differences in embryonic mode and tempo develop and what consequences they have in the morphological diversification of avian clades. I will collect embryonic series of species of several bird families that also represent independent evolutionary transitions in developmental mode and generate a large dataset of embryonic anatomical data to dissect how avian evolutionary patterns relate to developmental mode and tempo, combining tools of comparative anatomy, developmental biology, geometric morphometrics and phylogenetic inference, integrating the study of embryonic development with macroevolutionary analyses.  Many recent macroevolutionary studies have highlighted the need for the use of embryonic information, yet these kind of datasets are mostly inexistent. Classical developmental biology has made use of selected species as models, representing sometimes groups of thousands of species, as has been the case of Gallus gallus for birds. Only a few other avian species have been systematically studied and these represent an uneven coverage of the diversity of avian anatomies, ecologies and life histories. The project seeks to collect detailed embryonic information of several previously unstudied avian species, and study them in the context of a series of major evolutionary transformations, in order to bridge the existing gap between developmental biology with macroevolutionary studies. The project will serve as a proof of concept for expanding this kind of new-of-its-kind framework, and will provide large amounts of information that have been classicaly associated with distinct field of biological sciences, merging them into one interdisciplinary approach for studying the relationship between development and evolution.

Mots clés : avian embryology, comparative anatomy, macroevolution, life history, developmental timing

Participants :
- Sorbonne Université (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 211754.88 €
Projet SymFlux (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Beneficial microbes are essential for many animals and mutualistic interactions must be able to withstand environmental changes such as temperature fluctuations. However, with changing ocean temperatures induced by climate change, it is unclear whether symbioses will be able to adapt, leaving marine organisms at risk. Therefore, this proposal will characterize how bacterial symbionts respond to changing temperatures and identify whether microbes can increase symbiotic resiliency to temperature stress. To pursue this topic, the symbiosis between the squid Sepiola affinis and its symbionts (V. fischeri and V. logei) will be used. The project uses a unique squid husbandry facility to pursue three main objectives. The first objective will characterize initial and persistent colonization in the S. affinis light organ. Using confocal microscopy and genetic labelling, strain behaviors during colonization will be described. The second objective will examine how temperature affects colonization. The third objective will screen Vibrio spp. for growth under temperature fluctuations. RNA sequencing and metabolomics will be used to identify molecular mechanisms underlying resilience to temperature fluctuations. Finally, genetic modification and both in-vitro and in-vivo growth assays will test whether molecular candidates promote temperature resilience. The project will have a two-way transfer of knowledge, with the researcher providing knowledge of Vibrio spp. and bacterial genetics with the host institution providing bioinformatics and small molecule analysis. The SymFlux project will position S. affinis as a model for symbiosis research in Europe as well as contribute knowledge of how symbioses can adapt to climate change.

Mots clés : symbiosis, host microbe interaction, vibrios, vibrio fischeri, vibrio logei, sepiola affinis, colonization, temperature resilience

Participants :
- Sorbonne Université (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 211754.88 €
Projet DefHyp (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Hyperbolic geometry, and its connection to 3-dimensional geometry, have been a key topic in contemporary mathematics, leading for instance to the resolution of the Poincaŕe Conjecture (2006) and to the Fields medals awarded to Thurston (1982), McMullen (1998), Perelman (2006, declined) and Mirzakhani (2014). The project will enter the unexplored territory that opens when removing this fundamental hypothesis. Specifically, the PI plans to attack the very challenging problem of understanding the space of hyperbolic metrics on 3-manifolds that have a non-finitely generated fundamental group. The project lies at the intersection between the study of the topology and geometry of hyperbolic 3-manifolds and is well-suited to the complementary expertise of the PI and his supervisor, professor Schlenker, the PI being an expert of the topology of infinite-type 3-manifolds and the supervisor being an expert in hyperbolic geometry. An essential aspect of this research program is understanding the interplay between the topology and the geometry of infinite-type hyperbolic manifolds with the goal to borrow insights from each side to address issues in the other. One of the first objectives is to understand, by looking at topological properties, how much of the rich theory of the finite-type setting extends to the case where the fundamental group is not finitely generated. The second objective is more geometric and plans to study infinite-type 3-manifolds by seeing them as geometric ‘limits’ of finite-type hyperbolic 3-manifolds and looking at which geometric, or topological, aspects survive in the limit. The second part of the project will involve, under the direction of professor Krasnov, is to investigate the AdS-CFT correspondence, an important conjectural relationship linking quantum gravity (formulated as M-theory) in M and conformal field theories (CFT) in the boundary of M, using tools from hyperbolic geometry, e.g. renormalised volume.

Mots clés : hyperbolic geometry, deformation theory, low dimensional topology, ads cft correspondence

Participants :
- Trinity College (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 131940.0 €
- Université de Nottingham (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet PIONEER (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a grade IV glioma, considered as the most aggressive brain tumor with an average five-year survival rate of 7.2% and projected mortality rate of 46.6% by 2040. The prognosis remains poor, not only due to the severity of the disease but also due to challenges in treatment modality and recurrence. Temozolomide (TMZ) is the preferred anticancer drug for GBM owing to its effectiveness in reducing relapse but the efficacy is compromised by substantial hurdle of drug resistance. My strategy is to overcome this challenge and revolutionize GBM treatment by addressing the obstacles associated with TMZ resistance and prioritizing patient compliance. I hypothesize that combining a small dose of NO-releasing NONOates will activate p53 and inhibit HIF-1, effectively blocking TMZ resistance pathway and significantly boosting therapeutic efficacy. Moreover, NO dilates tumor blood vessels, enhancing the permeation and retention effect (EPR) which increases biodistribution of TMZ within the tumor, promoting apoptosis and oncogenic stress signals thereby reducing the likelihood of tumor recurrence. While the combination of TMZ and NONOates offers numerous advantages for efficient delivery, a major challenge remains: ensuring the transport across the blood brain barrier (BBB) to the tumor site. Here, I also propose the development of an enzyme-triggered injectable hydrogel encapsulating NONOates and TMZ nanocrystals (NCs) designed for post-resection GBM. The enzymatic crosslinking process involves oxidative coupling of catechol groups of tyramine-modified biomolecules, while TMZ NCs will be fabricated via antisolvent co-sonoprecipitation method. The in-situ hydrogel forms rapidly, adhering stably to the resection site, ensuring a targeted and sustained release of TMZ and enhancing efficacy through the synergistic action of NONOates. The combination of NCs, NONOates and enzyme-triggered gelation provides a robust platform for targeted GBM therapy.

Mots clés : enzyme triggered gels, in situ hydrogels, gas facilitated systems, nanocrystals, novel gbm therapy, potent antitumor

Participants :
- Trinity College (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 268568.64 €
- Université de Nottingham (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet Mig.Pro. (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Migrants’ workers exploitation in several fields of production is one of the most dramatic and serious aspects of our societies and at the same time one of the not enough explored, discussed, voiced. Nevertheless, hard structural and subjective conditions, migrants workers as several recent case show in Italy and worldwide, protest and more and more raise up their voices and claims, together some times with locals, to equal rights, dignity in work and life conditions. This project explores two contexts – Italy and Canada- of migrant’s labor movements with a central focus on migrants employed in agriculture. It intends to work on the following sets of research questions: how migrant’s workers mobilization and protests: 1) challenges the theory and practices of citizenship: do they restrict or enlarge rights for all? 2) impact on actors self-representation as citizens and their recognition by other actors in the field? For this very timely issue that urges attention worldwide, the two contexts will be approached recurring to multiple theoretical frames, the main being: Migration and citizenship studies and Social Movement studies. Qualitative methods will be privileged even though second hand quantitative data will be utilized as well. Additionally, in order to give ‘voice’ to the subjects’ lives and struggles the project intends to adopt a participatory action research (PAR) approach mixed with ethnography. Participant observations and interviews will provide mechanisms towards a strong orientation to the field. On the other side the direct engagement of participants throughout the research process will create opportunities for democratic and transformative knowledge creation that align with PAR principles.

Mots clés : migrants, mobilization, agriculture workers, interdisciplinarity, citizenship, borders, intersectionality, protests, participatory action research

Participants :
- Université Ca' Foscari de Venise (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 280202.88 €
- Université Western Ontario (Canada) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- École normale supérieure de Pise (Italie) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet FORWARD (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

FORWARD will enable a new generation of transformational probes of Cosmic Dawn (CD) to provide meaningful inference on key questions of galaxy formation. The CD contains some of the most sought-after insights into galaxy formation. Though these secrets remain locked away by a host of formidable real-world challenges, upcoming radio telescopes are optimistic. Interferometers such as HERA and future SKA, along with global experiments such as EDGES-3 are honed to observe the faint 21cm emission from neutral Hydrogen, redshifted to 50-150 MHz, in complementary ways. The dominant limitation of current experiments are spectral systematics that couple with overwhelmingly bright foregrounds. As we enter the regime in which the most extreme physical models begin to be ruled out by observations, meaningful inference of key parameters is most susceptible to inaccuracies in accounting for these systematics. Prior efforts to provide parameter constraints from CD have focused on forecasts, and treated systematics crudely and optimistically. FORWARD will synthesise the popular semi-numerical simulation code 21cmFAST and a radically overhauled parameter-inference engine, 21cmMC-2, with a series of new pluggable modules designed to efficiently forward-model the response of realistic interferometers, enabling the most direct comparison of theory to data. By applying this novel machinery jointly to observations from HERA and EDGES-3, we will (i) provide meaningful constraints on the parameters of galaxy formation during CD, (ii) build confidence in the reported detections, and (iii) enable future joint constraints from the SKA & EDGES-3. The framework developed will follow a legacy of code excellence, providing a bedrock for state-of-the-art developments over the coming years.

Mots clés : cosmic dawn 21cm cosmology semi numerical models bayesian inference

Participants :
- École normale supérieure de Pise (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 188590.08 €
Projet ImagingElasticity (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

ImagingElasticity is a project to develop, for the first time, a system to measure and image the elasticity of materials non-destructively. Determining elasticity of new material, typically a sample of a novel alloy or one innovatively fabricated, is crucial to understand its mechanical properties. Measuring local elasticity over a large area – imaging elasticity – is an important step forward, allowing to characterize its spatial distribution resulting from specialized treatments (typically heterogeneous thermal or mechanical processing) or specifically designed fabrication (e.g., additive manufacturing). The elasticity imaging will also provide a high-throughput characterization method, supporting rapid development of new materials. Along with the development of the method, we will apply it to the progress of biomedical β-Ti alloys intended for bone implants. To achieve biomechanical compatibility, leading to higher duration of the implant, the implant’s stiffness (i.e., its elasticity) should be very low compared to typical values of metals – but the strength and wear resistance must remain high. There is extensive research to find the right chemical composition and processing, which will be significantly accelerated by the newly developed characterization method. At the heart of this proposal is the use of a new technique for computing the solutions to the wave-propagation problem which the researcher has co-developed – the Ritz-Rayleigh method. This method will be adapted for the purpose and combined with spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy (SRAS), a unique laser-ultrasonic method for localized measurement of surface acoustic wave velocity developed by the supervisor and his team. This pairing is ideal for the researcher’s career development (by acquiring new research skills supervised by experts in optics and soft skills at the host-institution courses) and also for the host group, leaving a long-lasting impact of the newly developed method.

Mots clés : ultrasonics, elasticity, microstructure, materials design, laser ultrasonics, surface acoustic waves, numerical modelling, biomedical materials

Participants :
- Université de Nottingham (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 276187.92 €
Projet IBERIAN (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

One of the major goals of the European Union is to accelerate the twin green and digital transitions to achieve climate neutrality in Europe. One of the specific measurements that have been proposed is the development of novel organic materials to apply them in organic semiconductors (OSCs). The reasons behind this lie in their cost and their improved processability compared with the traditional inorganic materials. In addition, the synthesis of new OSCs is one of the key aspects of the scientific development of next-generation optoelectronic devices.  IBERIAN project aims to contribute with the synthesis of new organic structures perylene diimide-based with attractive chiroptical properties to apply them in organic electronics. The great novelty of the project is perylene diimide (PDI) derivatives will produce large chiral absorption and emission light even in the near infrared region, thanks to the insertion of an extremely distorted skeleton by the combination of helicenes with non-hexagonal rings. Such highly contorted and twisted structures incorporating rings of unusual size will be unique in the PDI chemistry landscape and push the limit of the structure/properties relationship understanding of chiral n-type OSCs. Besides, a through characterization, especially in solid-state, will be achieved to decide in which kind of device these new material can be implemented.  The development of organic electronics would have a huge impact at all levels, creating many job opportunities, contributing to reach the climate neutrality and rising the technologies of the future. The IBERIAN results will be broadly communicated as open as possible through open peer reviewed article resources, and public outreach activities.

Mots clés : organic semiconductors, chiroptical properties, nanographenes, perylene diimides, helicenes

Participants :
- Université d'Angers (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195914.88 €
Projet IMBS-Math (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The project focuses on the relation between integrable many-body systems and three important fields of mathematics: partial differential equations, Painlevé equations, and probability theory. The goal is to build new connections in this context by considering recent results as follows. The first objective consists in explaining how a class of integrable many-body systems that appeared over the last 5 years can be used to parametrise specific solutions to hierarchies of partial differential equations. An algebraic and a geometric interpretation of these parametrisations will be sought. The second objective deals with the extension of the Hamiltonian formulation of many-particle Painlevé equations, called the Calogero-Painlevé correspondence, to new cases. This investigation will make a central use of the current activity on discrete Painlevé equations and the quantum analogues of Painlevé equations. The third objective related to probability theory is two-fold. On the one hand, quantum versions of integrable many-body systems will be derived by adding noise to specific diffusion processes that are constructed using their classical versions. On the other hand, important properties of probability distributions appearing in random matrix theory or the study of beta ensembles will be obtained. The point of view will be to interpret these distributions in terms of suitable many-body systems whose integrability will play a key role for the computation of the desired properties.

Mots clés : integrable systems many body systems integrable probability painlev equations

Participants :
- Université d'Angers (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 211754.88 €
Projet EARTHCEM (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

In the pursuit of a more sustainable future, green concrete stands out as a crucial innovation in the construction industry. Cement, the primary ingredient in concrete, is essential for its production but is responsible for approximately 9% of global CO2 emissions. Rapid urbanization and infrastructure development have further amplified environmental concerns, particularly regarding carbon emissions. The stringent targets set to combat climate change and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 have driven the industry to seek effective solutions for reducing its carbon footprint.  The EARTHCEM project is at the forefront of this transformation, exploring the potential of Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3) to revolutionise the industry. By incorporating locally sourced clay materials and reducing clinker use, the project aims to minimise environmental impacts while optimising resource and energy efficiency. To ensure the durability and performance of LC3 under real-world conditions, the project will employ advanced accelerated testing methodologies, simulating long-term environmental exposure in shorter time frames. These tests will validate the mechanical properties, durability, and long-term performance of LC3, ensuring that it meets the rigorous demands of large-scale infrastructure applications. By providing the industry with a comprehensive and robust set of data, EARTHCEM will help to mitigate uncertainties related to the material’s behaviour over time, enhancing its appeal for broader adoption in construction.  This initiative represents a significant approach toward sustainable development, aligning infrastructure advancements with ecological and economic resilience. Through innovative research, practical solutions, and rigorous accelerated testing, EARTHCEM is paving the way for a greener and more sustainable construction future.

Mots clés : limestone calcined clay cement lc3 , green concrete, low carbon cement, sustainability, clinker reduction, calcined clay, limestone

Participants :
- Conseil supérieur de la recherche scientifique (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Cardiff (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 276187.92 €