Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet QuasiHydro (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

What do black holes and particular exotic materials, where strong correlations preclude any description based on weakly-coupled quasiparticles, have in common? Their low energy dynamics are expected to fall within the regime of effective field theories, such as hydrodynamics, where the dynamics are governed by the flow of conserved densities based on the symmetries of the system. However it is often hard to know what the boundaries of this regime are. This is even more true when a system is “quasi”-hydrodynamic meaning one of the conserved quantities, such as the number of particles, decays due to the presence of a “breaking parameter”. Gauge/gravity dualities are relationships from string theory that connect classical black holes to particular quantum theories that have the unusual property of rapidly becoming (quasi)hydrodynamic when perturbed. I seek to use gauge/gravity dualities to answer the following questions: When is quasihydrodynamics a good description of nature (in particular for large values of the breaking parameter)? For what ranges of parameters is it applicable? The first question can be explored by considering models of interdisciplinary relevance and searching for commonalities through which we can categorise them. To answer the second we can make use of the special properties of gauge/gravity theories - the existence of relationships between distinct models (dualities) to compute new results from old. The Marie Curie fellowship will allow me to strengthen my position as the intermediary between condensed matter and string theory, with this project as the initial bridging point. I will use the fellowship to increase my output in high impact journals (e.g. Physical Review Letters), apply for longer term grants and gain knowledge in a new area of physics (condensed matter) through the guidance and experience of my project supervisor Dr.~Blaise Goutéraux. He is the ideal host for this proposal, having extensive experience in these areas.

Mots clés : string theory, cft correspondence, quasihydrodynamics

Participants :
- École polytechnique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 196707.84 €
Projet SSIAS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

What is the best way to attract and pursue a mate? This question is central for understanding how animal behaviour evolves through sexual selection. In the arctic, some male shorebirds almost entirely forgo sleep during the breeding season, and males that sleep least have the most offspring. These findings defy our understanding of the importance of sleep for optimal performance. So which specific behaviours are key to the success of these birds? Here, we propose using state-of-the-art accelerometers and machine learning models, together with conventional field methods, to explore how behaviour affects reproductive success in arctic shorebirds. Specifically, we will investigate whether the duration and frequency of courtship and territorial behaviours predicts number of offspring, and whether these behaviours vary with time spent awake. This unique research will focus on two species: polygynous pectoral sandpipers and sex-role-reversed red phalaropes. The research will combine the supervisor’s well-established methods for studying arctic shorebirds, the supervisor’s expertise in sexual selection, the researcher’s experience collecting and analysing large accelerometry datasets, and the researcher’s expertise in avian sleep. The proposed research will have four key implications. First, it will reveal whether overall time spent active is most important for reproductive success, as implied by previous research in pectoral sandpipers, or whether specific behaviours are key. Second, it will examine how extreme sleep loss relates to behaviour in wild birds, which might offer insights into sleep’s functions. Third, it will elucidate the behavioural strategies of males and females in a novel sex-role-reversed mating system, and compare these with a polygynous species in the same environment. Finally, the research will test the extent to which accelerometry can distinguish behaviour in a natural context, which has broader value for behavioural research.

Mots clés : sexual selection, reproductive success, fitness, ornithology, sleep, mating systems, courtship, activity, accelerometry, competition, arctic, sex role reversal, rhythms, data loggers, performance

Participants :
- Max Planck Society (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 174806.4 €
Projet LCLW (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

What part does context play in the making of literary works and their meanings? What, precisely, do literary scholars mean when they speak of context? These two fundamental questions are at the heart of Literary Communities and Literary Worlds (LCLW), which seeks to answer these questions by addressing the careers of several literary exiles of the mid-twentieth century: Vladimir Nabokov, Stefan Heym, Richard Wright, and Peter Abrahams. Each of these authors was forced to move abroad mid-career, at a time of global conflict and intense migration not dissimilar to our own. Moreover, each sought to gain entry to a new literary culture. It is by studying their strategies of entry and integration that we are able to reveal the special importance of literary context, and, indeed, literary community in the shaping of works; and it is by focusing on border-crossing and belonging that we are able to advance current conceptions of the literary world, and, indeed, world literature, and thereby respond to the trans-national turn across the humanities, which has tended to stress dislocation and displacement over location and embeddedness. LCLW will ask: How are literary communities constituted? What are the conditions of entry, departure and belonging? And how important is literary practice, rather than physical presence, in determining membership? Its method is innovative in combining formal analysis with book history and the sociology of literature. It builds on the ER’s previous research experience, especially his work on the ‘literary field’, and will be greatly augmented through the supervision of Professor Nicholas Brown at the University of Illinois-Chicago, a leading expert in theorising the field; and of Dr Danielle Fuller at the University of Birmingham, , whose own work has advanced understandings of twentieth-century book history and communities of readership. A secondment at the George Padmore Institute will give the project an inter-sectoral dimension.

Mots clés : literary community, literary field, world literature, cold war, exile, vladimir nabokov, stefan heym, richard wright, peter abrahams, pierre bourdieu, context of intelligibility

Participants :
- University of Birmingham (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 251857.8 €
- University of Illinois System (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet HRRinDNAwithSSB (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

What role do conformational dynamics play in DNA function and repair? Structures of DNA show local dynamics, conformational flexibility of bases, and large conformational changes in the double helix, indicating easily accessible motions. Yet studying fast motions in nucleic acids is challenging. To address this we will introduce High Resolution Relaxometry (HRR) and apply it to study single strand breaks (SSBs) in DNA. Nucleic acids are often studied at atomic resolution with X-ray crystallography and high-field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). Yet neither is suitable to study ns-motions. X-ray crystallography does not report on dynamics while using high-field NMR leads to high resonance frequencies so little ns time-scale information is present. This presents a challenge: how to characterise fast motions in nucleic acids? We will develop a new methodological approach, HRR, to probe ns-motions in DNA. HRR was developed by the host team to study ns-motions in proteins. We will adapt these methods to investigate motions in DNA. We will compare dynamics occurring in intact DNA, DNA with a SSB and SSB DNA with a missing base. Understanding the motions in each DNA construct will establish the effects that each type of DNA damage have on the motional properties of DNA. This will elucidate how each type of damage affects the base pair stacking and the motions occurring at the breakpoint. Understanding the flexibility induced by DNA damage will have a significant role in understanding DNA repair and how damaged DNA is recognised. The DNA repair protein, PARP-1, is a cancer-drug target and recognizes SSBs. Our final objective is to uncover the role of DNA motions in SSB recognition by PARP-1. In summary we will develop HRR as a new method to investigate ns-motions in DNA, providing a general approach to study ns-motions in nucleic acids at atomic resolution. We will discover the fundamental motions in DNA, how they are affected by SSBs and lead to recognition by PARP-1.

Mots clés : high resolution relaxometry, dna dynamics, single strand breaks, nuclear magnetic resonance, dna repair

Participants :
- École normale supérieure PSL (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 184707.84 €
Projet MECASTARCH (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Wheat-based bread is a staple food in the European and North American diet, presenting a relevant economic importance. Early successes in the wheat selection (high in gluten) along with the use of additives (surfactants, supplementation in gluten) to smooth out the variability in batch-to-batch performance of wheat flours reduced the incentive to carry out in-depth characterization of the roles played by other flour ingredients in the inflation process during bread baking. However, supplies of bread-quality wheat are being threatened by climate-induced variability, while consumers are more critical regarding the use of food additives and more demanding of clean-label products. In this scenario, the bakery industry will demand a transformation and alternatives such as flour blending will become a hot topic. In order to obtain breads with similar performance, it is crucial to understand the exact role played by flour ingredients other than gluten in breadmaking, especially starches (~80% of the wheat flour). In this context, the MECASTARCH project proposes a cutting-edge approach of computer modelling offering the possibility to decouple the multiple roles played by starch in the stabilization/destabilization of Gas Cell Wall (GCW) during baking and focusing on the mechanical contribution of starch. Several experimental approaches applied to a selection of starches will feed this computer modelling, including rheometry on moderately hydrated starch, starch/gluten interactions by AFM, and morphometric observations of GCW by sophisticated microscopy. On the one hand, the fellow will share her large experience in the characterization and evaluation of starches with the host. On the other hand, the host will contribute to develop her scientific skills related to material science, as well as her management skills. The project will deeply contribute to the career development of the fellow who aims at promoting a holistic approach from her background science in a near future

Mots clés : food processing, baking, bread dough, gas bubble, aeration, expansion, thermo reaction, starch, polymeric film, computational modelling, rheology, microscopy, multi scale imaging

Participants :
- Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 184707.84 €
Projet TNS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

When designing new structures and devices, engineers are completely dependent on mathematical models to ensure that their designs function as intended. As technological boundaries are pushed to the limits, systems become nonlinear – the response of the system is no longer proportional to the input. These nonlinear systems can exhibit a wide range of complicated behaviour that is very difficult to predict and potentially disastrous. Take for example the F-117A Night Hawk stealth jet. Despite extensive modelling and design work, at an airshow in 1997 in Maryland, Essex, USA, it encountered a disastrous instability known as flutter. The aircraft was lost. Until now there has been no general-purpose systematic method that can directly measure and characterise nonlinear dynamic behaviour during laboratory tests; hence it is extremely challenging to incorporate nonlinear features into the model development and validation process. Control-based continuation (CBC) is a systematic method designed to fill this void in the nonlinear test and measurement field. Thought the method has already been demonstrated on several simple mechanical systems, it is still in its infancy and lacks robustness. The specific objectives of the research proposed here are to develop and incorporate in CBC effective and noise-robust algorithms and control strategies, hence leading to a solid and more general framework for testing nonlinear dynamic systems. The method will be demonstrated experimentally including on an aeroelastic rig that exhibits potentially dangerous flutter-induced limit cycle oscillations in a wind-tunnel.

Mots clés : nonlinear dynamics, vibration, testing, continuation techniques

Participants :
- University of Bristol (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet COPPOLa (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

When humans design devices to perform a given functionality, we often prioritize ordered patterns and symmetry over anything else. Optomechanics is a clear example where precisely fabricated nanometer-scale devices are required to interface efficiently light with the mechanical vibrations of matter at the nanoscale. This coupling provides an extra degree of freedom to control the light-matter interaction. In state-of-the art optomechanical crystals, unavoidable fabrication imperfections impose severe performance limits increasing the energy dissipation and hampering their optical and mechanical performance. Disorder and randomness are ubiquitous in nature. Complex biological systems are clear examples where the functionality is not optimized through symmetry. In fact, disorder and complexity can also be exploited as a resource instead of being suffered as a nuisance. But, even when considered detrimental, understanding the role of fabrication imperfections is crucial to avoid its dramatic impact in state-of-the art structures. In this action, we propose to study the role of fabrication imperfections in state-of-the art optomechanical crystals by deliberately introducing disorder in one- and two-dimensional structures. Our aim is to analyze the role of disorder by quantifying the coupling strength between photons and phonons vs. the amount of disorder, something so far unexplored in optomechanics. Furthermore, we want to investigate if the mechanical action of light is enhanced deep in the Anderson localization regime, as it has been proposed theoretically very recently. Understanding and quantifying the effect of disorder is crucial to reduce its impact but we can also use it to our benefit. The cutting-edge research proposed here can offer innovative solutions to open issues in different scientific disciplines ranging from cavity optomechanics at room temperature to spintronics, thermal conductance and micro-electromechanical resonators at very low temperatures.

Mots clés : optomechanics, multiple scattering, anderson localization, thermal conductance

Participants :
- Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 158121.6 €
Projet HNMT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Statut du projet : CLOSED

When radio was first introduced in Turkey in the 1920s, people considered this new medium an alien technology that promoted Western imperialism. In the 2000s, however, the Western origins of digital technologies—as the new media of the present—went unnoticed and they were mostly welcomed as new venues for expressing upward mobility, class distinction, and alternative political opinions. These shifting public responses to new media forms in countries such as Turkey—that are never fully “Western”—have received little attention from media scholars, who mostly trace similar histories in Western contexts. Filling this lacuna in interdisciplinary media studies, this project examines the changing relationship of technology to global, class, and gender inequalities since Turkey’s foundation as a nation-state in the 1920s to the current era. By specifically analyzing the country’s course from a nationalist and developmentalist economy to neoliberalization, the project addresses two particular questions: 1) As new political economic conditions transform gender, class based, and global inequalities, how do these newly reframed hierarchies make visible a medium’s novelty? 2) How does this perceived novelty inform the ways that lower and middle classes, different gender groups, and state officials use new technologies to challenge or reproduce inequalities? The study combines participant observation with archival research and comparatively examines the citizens’ and the state officials’ reactions to new media forms in three periods: radio in the 1920s, television in the 1950s, and mobile devices in the 2000s. As the first comprehensive study on the history of new media forms in a nation-state such as Turkey—that is at the intersection of Europe and the Middle East—my work highlights how technological novelty is constructed in relation to global and national hierarchies. It also shows that not only inventors but also users play a key role in creating technological newness.

Mots clés : new media, digital media, political economy, radio, television

Participants :
- Koç University (Turquie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 157355.52 €
Projet SELENe (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

When transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are thinned down to monolayer thickness, they exhibit a direct bang gap at the K and K’ points of the Brillouin zone, which represents a binary quantum degree of freedom, referred to as valley pseudospin. The fabrication of high quality samples is currently based on the mechanical exfoliation of monolayer flakes from bulk crystal. While this approach gives excellent results at the laboratory scale, it lacks potential for upscaling, in particular if one wants to achieve a systematic coupling with surrounding photonic structures. This drawback can be overcome by controllably creating single-layer thick domes by performing hydrogen irradiation of a multilayer TMD sample. SELENe aims at exploiting this fabrication approach to perform a paradigm-shifting experimental activity, which merges the investigation of so far unexplored fundamental electronic properties of TMDs, and the first implementation of a practical interface between TMD-based emitters and basic photonic structures. We will perform a systematic investigation of the optical properties of monolayer-thick domes formed after H irradiation and extend this by controllably applying strain via piezoelectric actuators to H-inflated domes. We will investigate the influence of the strain also on interlayer excitons formed across van der Waals heterostructures. We will achieve control of the emission intensity of the interlayer exciton in domes formed in heterobilayers, because the interlayer distance can be varied acting on the temperature, due to the condensation of H2 trapped into the dome. Finally, it is possible to selectively expose prescribed regions of a sample to H irradiation by defining openings in H-opaque masks. We will take advantage of this approach by making use of electron-beam lithography to fabricate nanometer-sized domes, which we will then exploit as site-controlled emitters and for coupling into waveguides and photonic crystal cavities.

Mots clés : transition metal dichalcogenides, strain engineering, van der waals heterostructures, single photon emission, hydrogen irradiation

Participants :
- Sapienza University of Rome (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 171473.28 €
Projet GentriHealth (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Where we live has a major impact on our health; indeed, 23% of global deaths are caused by modifiable environmental factors. The New Urban Agenda has inserted the ambition for liveable cities (those that promote active living and health of its citizens) as a priority to improve population health and wellbeing globally. However, liveability attributes carry a risk of ‘unintended consequences’ that can widen health inequities, especially when market-oriented regulatory processes and uneven dynamics of policy formation are at play. For instance, enhancing the liveability of a neighbourhood might increase housing prices and, in turn, provoke urban displacement of the most vulnerable, stimulating gentrification. Thus, the aim of the GentriHealth project is to generate policy-relevant evidence for the relationships between neighbourhood liveability, gentrification, and health. Specifically, the GentriHealth project has four objectives that seek to: 1. Identify gentrification-related urban planning policies and legislation in Madrid, Spain 2. Investigate the relationship between gentrification and changes in neighbourhood liveability 3. Examine how gentrification impacts the health of ‘stayers’ and ‘movers’, and whether this differs by gender and socioeconomic status 4. Work with policy-makers to develop policy-relevant solutions to reduce the potentially harmful effects of gentrification The GentriHealth project will be based at RMIT (Australia) and UAH (Spain). This project will use data on gentrification, liveability, and health from the HABITAT and the ERC-granted HeartHealthyHoods projects. This project will combine quantitative and qualitative data, mixed methods analysis ang GIS integration of data. Through a multidisciplinary approach and using a gender perspective, the GentriHealth project will generate evidence in order to develop policy-relevant solutions to allow neighbourhoods to become more liveable but not become gentrified.

Mots clés : gentrifiation, liveability, built environment

Participants :
- University of Alcalá (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 251939.52 €
- RMIT University (Australie) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €