Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet JAVIEROH (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The increasing resistance of microorganisms (bacteria, virus, fungi...) against antimicrobials and antiseptics is one of the most challenging topics in current medicine and biology. Statistics from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that bacterial resistance to antibiotics causes over 20.000 deaths every year in EU member states alone. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) alerts that healthcare-associated infections caused mainly by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria remain a public health issue and emphasizes the importance and urgency to search for effective alternative approaches based on completely different mechanisms. One of the promising approaches to fight against infections is the antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) using biocompatible photosensitizers. Compared to classical antimicrobials, the biggest advantage of aPDT is the very low probability that the target microorganisms have the opportunity to develop resistance. Furthermore, aPDT can be synergistically combined with other antibacterial treatments, such as radiotherapy, antibiotic treatments, and photothemal therapy, to improve its antibacterial efficiency. The main goal of this project is to engineer novel boron rich biocompatible photosensitizers, with suppressed π-π interactions and herewith enhanced for efficient singlete O2 production, to be used in a twofold objective: a) as aPDT agents for the inactivation of microorganisms in sanitary instruments and medical devices; b) as antitumor agents in dual PDT-BNCT cancer therapies. The innovation is focused on the development boron content PSs with multiple applications both for antimicrobial (aPDT) and anti-cancer (PDT and BNCT)

Mots clés : biocompatible photosensitizers, antimicrobial phodinamic therapy, boron neutron cancer therapy

Participants :
- Université autonome de Barcelone (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Conseil supérieur de la recherche scientifique (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 165312.96 €
Projet SUCCEPHS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Our oceans provide food security, nutrition, poverty alleviation, and livelihoods for millions of people worldwide. However, environmental and social pressures (e.g., overfishing, climate change, population growth, globalization) threaten the oceans, the marine resources and the people depending on them. This is especially true for small-scale fisheries (SSF), which play a crucial (often neglected) role for local coastal communities. In this sense, alternative and effective ocean governance approaches are crucial for sustainable development and must adequately reflect the multi-dimensional and interconnected role of oceans in environmental health, economic prosperity, and human well-being. SUCCEPHS – ‘A Pathway Towards Sustainable Use and Conservation of Cephalopod Stocks’ aims to: i. demonstrate how existing tools to assess fisheries sustainability succeed or fail to integrate multiple dimensions of sustainability and achieve improved ocean governance; ii. identify common and context-specific factors that enable or hinder the achievement of sustainability in three octopus SSF; iii. improve the way octopus SSF sustainability is assessed and monitored. Embracing qualitative and quantitative data, and applying a participatory approach, SUCCEPHS will tackle simultaneously environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainability, while considering the particularities of fishing communities and resources, aiming to achieve improved governance to ensure equitable, sustainable and resilient octopus fisheries now and for generations to come. The project is designed to be a highly collaborative process, requiring stakeholders, partners and institutions to work together to co-create novel and adaptive tools for achieving these goals. A multi-comparative approach will allow a deep learning and information exchange throughout the process.

Mots clés : sustainable fisheries small scale fisheries octopus fishing communities management

Participants :
- Institut polytechnique national (Mexique) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Conseil supérieur de la recherche scientifique (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 210174.24 €
Projet RECLAIM (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The European Union (EU) is rapidly transforming its energy landscape with the goal of becoming the world's first climate-neutral economy by 2050. Yet, nearly 10% of EU population struggles with basic energy needs. Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) - citizen-led initiatives for local clean energy production and sharing – are seen as a solution for combating energy poverty and meeting the EU’s climate targets. Does this model ensure that “no one is left behind” in the energy transition, as envisioned by the EU Green Deal? RECLAIM addresses this pressing question by evaluating how effectively RECs engage with vulnerable groups, particularly those at risk of energy poverty. It focuses on rural areas, which have long faced ecological, social and economic fragilities and are now central to the expansion of new energy developments. RECLAIM aims to: 1) identify vulnerabilities to energy poverty within emerging RECs; 2) assess how RECs facilitate participation and benefit-sharing among vulnerable groups and 3) implement community practices to enhance inclusion. RECLAIM introduces a transdisciplinary approach that weaves together advanced quantitative methods - such as multi-dimensional spatial analysis, Earth Observation, and vulnerability assessment - with qualitative tools, including surveys and participatory research. This innovative approach is made possible through collaboration with leading climate science institutes at CMCC, a secondment with the GIScience Laboratory at the University of Padova, a non-academic placement with an innovative energy start-up, and ongoing interactions with a diverse network of stakeholders engaged in local RECs. As a result, this project creates a unique training environment, boosting the Researcher’s skills and career. Finally, RECLAIM’s methodology aims to set the groundwork for future research pathways aiming to assess the complex impacts of the energy transition, with an emphasis on inclusivity and social equity.

Mots clés : renewable energy communities, energy transition, green deal, rural development, energy poverty, vulnerability mapping, energy justice, spatial analysis, community engagement, participatory research

Participants :
- Université de Padoue (Italie) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Koala s.r.l. s.b. (Italie) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- CMCC Foundation - Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 261854.1 €
Projet RESISPORE (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The use of animal waste as agricultural fertilizers is a potential source of pathogens, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and antibiotics residues (ABs) and must be managed accordingly. Pre-treatments of organic waste prior to land application offer the potential to abate enteric bacteria, and therefore reduce the risk of contamination of crops or adjacent water resources with resistant pathogens carried in these materials. However, the reduction and fate of such fecal indicator bacteria may not properly predict the responses of of all types of pathogens, especially those that produce spores. The inactivation of spore-forming pathogens, such as Clostridium and Bacillus spp., from animal waste could be challenging given the recalcitrance of the spores these bacteria produce. RESISPORE is an interdisciplinary and innovative project in the field of environment & agriculture that aims to identify intervention management strategies to stop the initial movement of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and spore-forming pathogens from animal waste into the environment and food chain. RESISPORE aims are aligned with current European strategies to produce safe, healthier, and more sustainable food such as The Farm to Fork strategy or the EFSA recommendations for protecting food safety. This project will be delivered by the fellow Dr. Jessica Subirats, with a strong expertise in environmental microbiologist, under the supervision of Dr.Victor Matamoros, who has a strong track-record in environmental biochemistry and agricultural science. The fellowship will provide new expertise and training on analytical chemistry, large-scale biogas operations, agricultural science, and professional development for academics. The fellow will bring her knowledge of AMR and microbiology using both culture-dependent and independent methods. The proposed work will expand the fellow’s research competencies and professional networks, enhancing the development of her career as an independent researcher.

Mots clés : anaerobic digestion, aerobic composting, pathogen inactivation, spore forming firmicutes, antimicrobial resistance

Participants :
- Conseil supérieur de la recherche scientifique (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 181152.96 €
Projet HiddenFun (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Plant root systems have two key functions: they acquire water and nutrients and transport them to aboveground plant parts. As a single root segment cannot be fully efficient at both functions, plants face a trade-off in optimising whole-root-system functioning which is largely unexplored in herbs. Clonal growth, being common in herbs and widespread over the angiosperm phylogeny, offers an alternative transport pathway via horizontal stems, while adventitious roots formed on these stems shorten the transport distance from roots to leaves. I thus hypothesise that clonal growth allows for a higher acquisition efficiency of root systems. To test this hypothesis, I will apply a novel comparative experimental approach using pairs of phylogenetically related species differing in the extent of clonal growth. The main comparative test will be preceded by method optimisation and complemented by experimental manipulation of two model clonal species to estimate phenotypic plasticity of root functions. To investigate the acquisition-transport trade-off in root systems, I will combine an ecophysiological approach of stable isotope labelling to estimate acquisition efficiency with root morphology and anatomy to provide mechanistic insights. I will integrate my experience in plant clonality and stable isotope labelling with the host's deep knowledge of root functional traits. The project aims to establish methods to study root acquisition vs. transport in herbs of different growth forms and to determine the cross-organ belowground functional diversity and root phenotypic plasticity that underpins the ability of species to adjust to different environmental conditions. The results will significantly contribute to our understanding of basic principles of plant functions hidden belowground. Those functions, related mechanisms and consequences are fundamental to ecology, plant physiology and agriculture, and relevant to increasing drought and nutrient enrichment under global change.

Mots clés : clonality, fine roots, plant functional traits, nitrogen, stable isotopes, nutrient transport, nutrient uptake, stolons, rhizomes, experimental plant ecology, herbs

Participants :
- Leibniz-Gemeinschaft (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 217965.12 €
- Université Charles de Prague (Rép. Tchèque) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet MAPSOCEXTRACT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Economic Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Erradicating poverty, reducing inequality and achieving decent work and economic growth for the least developed countries is a major challenge in the 21st century. In this context, the way we provide and manage natural resources necessary for our day-to-day – athmosphere, water, minerals, wind, vegetation, sunlight, land – plays a fundamental role, as the resources tend to be extracted through large-scale infrastructures and in middle and low income countries. Since 1970, extraction of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) has increased from 6bn tonnes to 15bn tonnes, metals have risen by 2.7% a year, and other minerals (particularly sand and gravel for concrete) have surged nearly fivefold from 9bn to 44bn tonnes. Overall, resources are being extracted from the planet three times faster than in 1970, even though the population has only doubled in that time (UN Global Resources Outlook 2019). This study aims to build evidence based theories around and for the better understanding of the so-called Resource Curse, i.e. the paradox that countries with an abundance of natural resources tend to be associated with lower growth rates, promotion of authoritarianism and worsening living standard. We will give a central place to the concept of social disruption, a term used in sociology to describe the alteration, dysfunction or breakdown of social life, often in a community setting. By bringing together Earth Observtion (EO) and secondary data analysis to the study of natural resources extracition in Colombia, we will provide evidences that the large-scale extraction of resources disrupt regional economies in a number of ways: increase in crime, poverty and inequality and the creation of an “economic dessert” in the surrounding of the extraction sites. The results are expected to challenge some of the existing regional development theories, whille highlighting the conditions under which extractivism can still drive sustainable development.

Mots clés : extractivism, nighttime lights, remote sensing, inequality, poverty, crime

Participants :
- Université de Varsovie (Pologne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 155793.6 €
- Leibniz-Gemeinschaft (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet CE4Plastics (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The advent of plastics to society has entailed a global dependence on this material. Special attention should be paid to nanoplastics, which are present in bottled drinking water due to weathering during usage. From a scientific point of view, it is important to get an insight into the risks that nanoplastics may bring to human health. Analytical Chemistry is called to provide a response to this actual problem with new methodologies to characterise nanoplastics that are released to water from commercial bottles. The main goal of CE4Plastics project is to advance the-state-of-the-art methods for identification and quantification of nanoplastics released to drinking water from single-use and reusable plastic bottles in the short and long-term and raise awareness in the population about nanoplastic risks. The feasibility of capillary electrophoresis to characterise nanoplastic particles will be investigated. Next, bottle weathering during normal usage and its implications in nanoplastic release to bottled water will be assessed. The project will be carried out at Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), in Belgium, with an European researcher resuming his path in research and innovation. CE4Plastics will give him an excellent opportunity to be engaged in a wide range of transferable and scientific skills and to lead a necessary breakthrough to promote nanoplastic separation, quantification and position himself as a leading researcher in the future.

Mots clés : capillary electrophoresis, nanoplastics, water quality, analytical separation and detection techniques

Participants :
- Flemish Institute for Technological Research (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 175920.0 €
Projet LeVec (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Leishmania, transmitted by sand flies, comes second only to malaria in terms of parasitic causative fatalities globally. Tunisia, as well as the Mediterranean region are endemic for the disease, reporting hundreds of cases annually. In the absence of human vaccines, controlling the population size of sand flies using insecticides is a key component of leishmaniasis control efforts. Nevertheless, the reliance on insecticides has triggered the selection of resistance, which is threatening the efficacy of sand fly vector control programs. The molecular aetiology behind the insecticide resistance status of sand flies, unlike other insect vectors, remains largely unknown. The aim of LeVec is to unravel the mechanisms that underpin resistance to pyrethroid insecticides in sand fly populations, collected in Tunisia. I will use comparative transcriptomic analysis to identify genes differentially expressed in resistant individuals and functionally validate their role using state of the art in vitro (biochemical assays) and in vivo (transgenesis and CRISPR genome editing) approaches. The outcomes will substantially improve our ability to track the phenomenon of sand fly resistance in the field and design mitigation strategies. Furthermore, LeVec aims to identify genes that determine the ability of sand flies to transmit the Leishmania parasites. For that I will focus on the sand fly’s midgut, the site where the complete development of the Leishmania parasites takes place, and perform comparative expression analysis, using a unique collection of 12 sand fly species with different degrees of vector competence. Silencing of candidate genes followed by experimental infections will allow me to validate their role in Leishmania transmission. The outcomes of this analysis will help the design of novel Leishmania control tools, based on disrupting the adherence and/or development of parasites within the sand fly vector.

Mots clés : leishmania, sand flies, insecticide resistance, comparative transcriptomics, midgut, parasite transmission

Participants :
- Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (Grèce) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 153486.72 €
- Université Charles de Prague (Rép. Tchèque) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet ImmunoZoneHubs (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : TERMINATED

Agriculture, which underpins the livelihoods of over 2.5 billion people, is nowadays confronted with an array of new threats including plant pests. This project tackles the urgent need to develop new, technology-based sustainable strategies to combat the constant agricultural losses and economic drain derived from plant pests, which have been worsened because of climate change. The understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlaying plant pathogen interaction and defence responses is not only a fundamental scientific challenge, but it is also relevant to practical applications. Despite decades of research on host-pathogen interactions, knowledge on fundamental aspects of the plant immune system is still missing. This proposal provides an excellent opportunity to help filling this gap of knowledge as it targets the question of how cells translate molecular pathogen recognition into immune cell death, and how dying cells and their neighbours communicate to tightly control this process and ensure the proper balance in between defence responses and plant growth and fitness. To address this question, I have designed a multidisciplinary and international project using Arabidopsis thaliana plant as a model system to study the molecular determinants of plant immune cell death zonation and the involvement of plant metacaspases, distant relatives of animal caspases, in cell death. A plethora of techniques including molecular and biochemistry techniques, plant phenotyping and engineering, FACS and cell biology microscopy techniques will be used for the proper execution of this project. In addition to generate high-impact knowledge in plant immunity that will ultimately impact on society, this proposal will provide me with the expertise, resources, training, and network to become extremely competitive in the field of molecular plant pathology, helping me to progress in my scientific career and to achieve my scientific goals.

Mots clés : arabidopsis thaliana, immune cell death, cell death zonation, plant protein hubs, plant metacaspases, bacterial diseases and plant cell death, plant cell signalling, immune cell death facs

Participants :
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Autres, subvention : 165312.96 €