Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet RNAhome (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

RNA is a biomolecule central to all life forms, and cells regulate RNA production and degradation rates to maintain stable RNA concentrations (RNA homeostasis) through a largely unexplored mechanism. Increasing evidence indicates that a feedback mechanism coordinates mRNA synthesis and degradation, allowing cells to buffer mRNA concentration. For the coordination of these processes, I hypothesise the existence of a “sensor” that “measures” mRNA concentration and conveys this information to the transcription and/or degradation machinery, establishing a coordinated response.  Cytoplasmic Poly(A)-binding proteins (PABPCs) are highly conserved across eukaryotes, and specifically bind to polyadenylated mRNAs, regulating their stability, translation, and degradation. Several properties of PABPCs, such as nuclear shuttling and transcription inhibition in response to viral infection, make them ideal candidates as mRNA sensors, yet it is unclear whether they control mRNA homeostasis in physiological conditions.  RNAhome will characterise the role of PABPCs in mRNA buffering and homeostasis using a systemic approach. I will conduct PABPC titration, followed by metabolic labelling and multiplexed imaging, to analyse RNA dynamics in response to varying PABPC expression and localisation. I will use my extensive expertise in nanoinjection to introduce mRNA into live cells and assess if PABPCs can directly sense mRNA levels and modulate transcription/turnover accordingly. Finally, I will use SLAMseq to measure genome-wide RNA dynamics with transcript-level resolution, establishing the impact of PABPC expression on mRNA dynamics.  RNAhome is a prime example of interdisciplinary science, combining the researcher’s expertise in bio-nanotechnology and physical sciences with RNA dynamics knowledge of the host group, and world-class facilities of the host organisation to unravel the fundamental mechanisms governing RNA homeostasis and drive innovation in RNA-based technologies.

Mots clés : rna metabolism rna dynamics rna buffering homeostasis poly a binding proteins scaling transcription turnover modelling

Participants :
- Human Technopole (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 193643.28 €
Projet FGPS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

This project investigates why girls and women in Belgium and the Netherlands (increasingly) seek female genital plastic surgeries (FGPS) and how healthcare practitioners handle requests for these surgeries. The results will feed into the development of an informed decision-making tool for girls and women, a European standardised assessment tool to support health professionals in handling FGPS requests in a medically responsible and gender-sensitive way, and guidelines for policy-makers on how to regulate and/or reimburse FGPS. The project is important given the worldwide increase in FGPS and the current lack of insight into what drives requests for FGPS and how to handle these requests responsibly. The project creates an opportunity for Europe to establish itself as a world leader in responding to the surge in FGPS, which is happening across the (industrialised) world but which, so far, has not received an adequate response. The project is multidisciplinary and integrates theories from medical and social sciences, including medical anthropology, bioethics, and public health, transcending the disciplines’ traditional boundaries. It uses a mixed-methods approach, including semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and desk research. The project will be hosted by Rhea, the interdisciplinary research centre on gender, intersectionality, and bioethics at Vrije Universiteit Brussels, in collaboration with the Ghent University Hospital Gender Team, an internationally renowned multidisciplinary team of plastic surgeons, sexologists, and gynaecologists who specialise in genital surgeries. With these teams’ support and my background in sociology, gender, and social anthropology and expertise in women’s health and genital surgeries, I am confident that I will successfully carry out this project and establish myself as a leader in the field of female genital surgeries. The project will prepare me for a career in women’s sexual health in academia, government, or civil society.

Mots clés : female genital plastic cosmetic surgeries, sexual health, women s rights, health care

Participants :
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 175920.0 €
- Université de Gand (Belgique) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet MoBaFi (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The increasing technologization of society, combined with the transition to renewable energy sources, requires materials and architectures that can handle and retrieve large amounts of data on short time scales and with minimal power consumption. As a result, piezoelectric materials have attracted significant research interest. However, lead-free BaTiO3-based piezoelectric materials currently cannot match the performance of traditional lead-based Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 materials. The MoBaFi project aims to address the challenge of enhancing the piezoelectric response and increasing the Curie temperature of lead-free BaTiO3-based materials. Overcoming these challenges is crucial for improving performance and advancing applications.  The scientific approach of the MoBoFi project will focus on developing sophisticated compositional and microstructural modifications in BaTiO3-based films, along with an understanding of the relationship between microstructure-property via in situ characterizations. This project facilitates a two-way and transdisciplinary transfer of knowledge between (1) the applicant’s expertise in the chemical solution deposition (CSD) method and ex situ microstructural characterization, (2) the strong expertise of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method and in situ ferroelectric characterization at the research group of University of Twente (Host, Supervisor Prof. Gertjan Koster), and (new) the applicant’s own trajectory in building expertise in in situ microstructural characterizations. A secondment will take place at two departments of Ghent University (Prof. Klaartje De Buysser and Prof. Stefaan Cottenier) for size-controlled nanocrystal synthesis and computational screening of ABO3 perovskites. This MSCA-PF will certainly contribute to training the applicant in new scientific and transferable skills, enhancing the career perspectives to become an independent and mature researcher in the EU in the near future.

Mots clés : chemical solution deposition, nanocomposite, pulsed laser deposition, piezoelectric, in situ measurement

Participants :
- Université de Twente (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 217076.16 €
- Université de Gand (Belgique) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet COMPLENDO (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

(Endo)lysins are phage-encoded enzymes that degrade the peptidoglycan layer of bacterial cell walls, facilitating the release of viral progeny. Both wild-type and engineered lysins have shown promise as alternatives or complements to antibiotics, of importance in light of rising antimicrobial resistance. However, current lysin research and development (R&D) efforts remain largely empirical, needing resource-intensive screening processes that often yield limited generalizable insights. This challenge is further compounded by the recent failure of the first clinical trial intended as proof-of-concept for lysins as antimicrobials, alongside new findings that demonstrate an unexplored complexity of lysins.  This makes the case for an investment in fundamental research to address unresolved questions about lysin structure and function. Specifically, this project will explore two major issues related to lysins from the two major bacterial macrostructural paradigms, namely: (i) the specificity determinants of enzymatically active domains (EADs) in Gram-positive lysins and (ii) the role of cell wall binding domains (CBDs) and antimicrobial peptide-like elements (AMLEs) in Gram-negative lysins. To achieve this, I will deploy, for the first time in the field, advanced computational methods to generate fully synthetic lysins that will serve as scaffolds for testing specificity determinants in EADs. In addition, I will develop an "in virio" testing platform (IVTP) in collaboration with a research network that this project will help establish. The IVTP will be central to the project, allowing for the evaluation of functional diversity within the context of the phage-host interaction, thus overcoming the applied bias in current lysin research.  Ultimately, this project will deepen our understanding of the newfound complexity of lysins and contribute to the rationalization and de-risking of R&D pipelines addressing one of the 21st century's major healthcare challenges.

Mots clés : bacteriophages, endolysins, protein engineering, computational protein design, genome editing, antimicrobials

Participants :
- Conseil supérieur de la recherche scientifique (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 194074.56 €
- Université de Gand (Belgique) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet DoNoHarm (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

This project aims to design new anticancer drugs by using N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC), gold (Au), and selenium (Se), which have not been explored before. NHCs are chosen as key ligands in homogeneous catalysis with transition metals. Gold compounds, like auranofin, disrupt tumor growth by inhibiting key enzymes. Se triggers cancer cell death by inducing oxidative stress and blocking sulfur-based cell components. Cancer poses a global threat, causing millions of deaths and huge economic losses, while available chemotherapy often leads to severe side effects and drug resistance. Therefore, there is a need for more effective and less toxic drugs. I synthesized and tested several drug candidates in in vitro cancer models, showing selective anticancer activity superior to cisplatin. The project uses a "weak base route" to synthesize these new compounds, following green chemistry principles to reduce the ecological impact of chemical synthesis. The proposed synthetic strategy uses non-toxic solvents and energy-saving protocols to promote sustainable drug development. Cell-free and cell-based assays will assess cytotoxicity, efficacy, and selectivity towards the TrxR1 enzyme, which is critical to cancer growth. Molecular docking will confirm the inhibition of the biological target, allowing structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis to optimize drug structure. By refining the NHC ligand, Au-Se linker, and low core scaffold, the project aims to develop highly effective, targeted anticancer drugs. This research seeks to advance cancer treatment by creating targeted drugs that reduce side effects and improve patient outcomes. Additionally, it aligns with the EU's sustainability goals, promoting environmentally responsible drug development. The project also strengthens European cooperation in cancer research, both in academia and industry, and will inspire future chemists, with broader economic benefits through innovation in healthcare.

Mots clés : n heterocyclic carbene nhc complexes, organic synthesis, green chemistry, cancer therapy, anticancer agents, molecular docking

Participants :
- Université de Gand (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 200400.0 €
Projet MicroSymb (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Seagrass meadows are among the most productive marine ecosystems, playing essential structural and functional roles, and are recognized as the most efficient blue carbon sinks globally. The plant-associated microbiome, a diverse array of microbial taxa forming intimate symbiotic relationships with seagrasses, is critical for maintaining ecosystem stability and facilitating plant adaptation to environmental stressors. In the Mediterranean Sea, however, the endemic seagrass Posidonia oceanica is in decline due to climate change-driven stressors, particularly thermal stress. The sponge Chondrilla nucula is commonly found in association with P. oceanica, and it is hypothesized that this sponge-plant symbiosis enhances the metabolic capabilities of both organisms, mediated by key microbial communities, especially under thermal stress. Despite this potential, the precise dynamics of nutrient exchange and interactions between seagrasses and sponges, facilitated by their microbiomes, remain poorly understood. This knowledge gap limits our ability to fully comprehend the ecological and metabolic functions of these associations and hinders the development of nature-based solutions to mitigate the impacts of climate change. MicroSymb aims to address this gap by studying the P. oceanica–C. nucula association through their microbiomes, utilizing field sampling, mesocosm and stable isotope probing experiments, metabarcoding, and meta-omics approaches. This project will evaluate the capacity of this association to adapt and remain resilient in the face of ocean warming. Throughout MicroSymb, I will acquire advanced skills in metagenomics, metaproteomics, and nutrient cycling within holobionts, while contributing my expertise in marine ecology, host-microbiome interactions, holobiont functioning, molecular biology, and bioinformatics. MicroSymb will position me at the forefront of host-microbiome research and the study of adaptive capacities in marine organisms amid climate change.

Mots clés : seagrass meadows, microbiome, holobiont, thermal stress, adaptive capacity

Participants :
- Université d'État de Caroline du Nord (Etats-Unis) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 209483.28 €
Projet REFEMP (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

This project challenges the assumption that narrative fiction is valuable because it creates understanding of other people’s experiences and lived realities through empathy. Instead, the project addresses the main hypothesis that failed empathy is a strategically created effect of narrative fiction that activates affective, emotional, and cognitive processes by foregrounding differences between fictional characters and recipients. To date, popular perception frames failures of empathy also as failures of narrative fiction to engage recipients affectively, emotionally, and cognitively. In contrast, this project reframes failed empathy as an invitation to reflect on personal, cultural, and political beliefs, attitudes, and values. The innovation of REFEMP is twofold. First, the project develops a novel methodological approach for studying its multimodal dataset. This dataset consists of 1) a transmedia sample of narrative fiction in literature, graphic novels, films, television shows, and videogames released after the turn of the twenty-first century, and 2) a selected corpus of written online reviews of the primary texts as a shorthand for recipients’ responses to and empathic engagement with characters in narrative fiction. Second, the project is theoretically innovative by making the concept of failed empathy productive as an analytical framework for narrative fiction. The project's objectives are 1) providing a more refined vocabulary for talking about medium-specific possibilities of representation and narration that can facilitate, hinder, or block recipients’ empathic engagement with narrative fiction, and 2) theorizing the cultural effects of failed empathic engagement with narrative fiction based on recipients’ reviews. To this end, REFEMP highlights the value of moments of difference, subversion, or rupture – of being unable to feel with someone else – in narrative fiction to reflect on culturally shared beliefs and worldviews.


Participants :
- Université de Gand (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 200400.0 €
Projet COLCAT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Using the lens of the cattle frontier in Madagascar in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this project explores the transformation of livestock production, pastoralist societies, imperial economies and animal landscapes in colonial and postcolonial Africa. It builds on the concept of commodity frontiers, moving sites of capitalist commodity production and extraction, to disentangle the complex interplay between global capitalism, science and empire in the making and unmaking of the cattle frontier in Madagascar. COLCAT examines why and how European (mostly French) and Malagasy administrators, entrepreneurs and veterinary experts, in often conflictual interaction with indigenous pastoralists, tried to transform pre-existing cattle economies on the island and to turn cattle into profitable commodities. It argues that the making of a capitalist and imperial cattle frontier implied a broad range of interventions, from the improvement of local breeds and new methods of cattle disease management to the sedentarisation of cattle pastoralists and the establishment of meat factories and new cattle trading networks. COLCAT analyses the rationales and dynamics of these interventions, including the manifold conflicts, negotiation processes and (intended and unintended) social, economic and ecological consequences. It thereby pays particular attention to the role of science and expert knowledge. While COLCAT’s main focus is on the profound transformations of the colonial era (1895-1960), it embeds them in a longue-durée perspective, spanning late Merina rule in the precolonial period (1870s-90s) to the postcolonial era (1960s-70s). This will facilitate teasing out the tensions between capitalist, imperial and (post)colonial expansion and development goals. Overall, COLCAT will make a substantial contribution to the history of global capitalism, the history of (French) colonialism in Africa, environmental history and the history of science and knowledge.

Mots clés : history of africa, french colonial empire, madagascar, agricultural history

Participants :
- Université de Gand (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 191760.0 €
Projet NGOsteerIACtHR (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Through litigation strategies and third-party interventions, non-governmental (NGOs) set the normative agenda of, and thereby constantly (re)shape, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). Yet most studies on the evolving jurisprudence of the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAS) relating to environmental matters primarily centre on the interpretative innovations made by its judiciary. NGOsteerIACtHR develops and applies an analytically and empirically grounded framework to examine the influence of NGOs’ agenda-setting power on the IACtHR’s case law, in which environmental protection serves the interests of human rights. Whilst generating up-to-data knowledge on the role of NGOs within the IAS, this projects differs from the state-of-the-art by illustrating to what extent the evolving human rights and environment agenda of NGOs is behind the evolving IACtHR’s jurisprudence on the subject. To this end, it will combine doctrinal and content analysis of selected contentious cases (involving indigenous groups, environmental defenders and the right to a healthy environment) and the Advisory Opinion No. 23 on Human Rights and the Environment. As children are now getting involved in litigation before the IAS (Soleil v Haiti), NGOsteerIACtHR will provide a better understanding of how and to what extent the human rights and environmental agenda can be incorporated throughout the written and oral phases of contentious cases. Besides, considering that the IACtHR may employ its advisory proceedings to influence state behaviour and address questions that are likely to arise before its contentious jurisdiction, it will offer clear insights into the role (implicitly) played by NGOs in shaping the normative countours of the Advisory Opinion No. 23 and state conduct alike.

Mots clés : ngos inter american court of human rights human rights inter american human rights system indigenous people environmental defenders right to a healthy environment

Participants :
- Université de Gand (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 191760.0 €