Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet FUNFIT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The number of people who die from fungal infections is estimated to be equivalent to or greater than the numbers that die from either tuberculosis or malaria. There are only 3 classes of antifungal drugs available to treat these invasive diseases and resistance against these drugs is increasing. In this study I will investigate how antifungal resistance is impacted by cell heterogeneity in the pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. The main hypothesis that I will test is that fungal cell heterogeneity provides subpopulations of cells with greater fitness to resist antifungal treatment. I will determine: (1) which features of three distinct fungal cell types contribute to cell heterogeneity; (2) which cell types and subpopulations of these cells show highest resistance or survival against antifungals; and (3) the roles of septal plugging and cell ploidy in the mechanistic basis of fungal cell heterogeneity. Cutting edge technologies that will be used in this study will include: (1) flow cytometry and fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) to identify and select cell subpopulations to test their antifungal resistance, (2) automated, high throughput, high content live cell imaging to analyse the resistance of single cells to antifungals, (3) advanced live-cell imaging techniques including GFP photoactivation and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) to identify septal pore plugging; and (4) laser microdissection to further analyse septal pore plugging. With these advanced techniques I will study the mechanistic basis of fungal resistance mediated by cell heterogeneity. My results will ultimately show how fungal cell heterogeneity impacts fitness against antifungal drugs and they will be the starting point for designing novel antifungal therapies that reduce this fitness.

Mots clés : antifungal drug resistance, cell heterogeneity, aspergillus fumigatus

Participants :
- University of Manchester (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet cTerF (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The objective is to develop a base cyanobacterial cell factory for terpene precursors that can be the development platform for commercial terpene production with cyanobacteria. Trends such as growth in world population, higher energy and food demand, depletion of raw materials and global warming make it necessary to implement breakthrough bio-based production technologies. A breakthrough is the use of genetically engineered cyanobacteria that turn CO2 directly and efficiently into predetermined products when exposed to light. This CO2-consuming process is based on circular economy principles and independent of first generation (food crop) feedstocks. A promising group of products for cyano-based production are terpenes and terpenoids. These compounds are of interest to chemical industry due to their potential of producing platform chemicals that are now obtained from fossil fuels. Terpenes have an advantage over other biobased commodities because they are drop-in chemicals that can be processed in much the same manner as crude oil. Despite potential uses in the medicine, food and fragrance sectors, the natural abundance of terpenes is too low for industrial production. Many approaches have been sought to engineer microbial strains capable of producing terpenoids in high yields. Up to now these do not result in increased production rates to the high levels needed. The project addresses this problem by producing a cyanobacterial strain capable of synthesizing high-levels of cell metabolite building blocks as an avenue towards the terpene production. The SME host, together with industrial partners, develops and markets cyano-based production technology. The fellow’s work will strengthen this and will give him the experience to establish a career in industrial R&D and entrepreneurship. A research and training program with ample industrial and academic interaction, supported by dissemination and communication actions, has been set up to realise this impact.

Mots clés : cyanobacteria, bioengineering, terpene and terpenoid production, sustainability, photosynthesis, biobased economy, innovation in sme, valorisation of research

Participants :
- Photanol bv (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 177598.8 €
Projet SCOOP (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The objective of SCOOP is to study the impact of innovative technologies and new funding mechanisms on the role and working practices on investigative journalism. Investigative journalism should play a key role in democracy, but developments in digital media and new technologies (drones, mobile cameras) and changing funding models (crowd sourcing) is transforming this. Traditional media organisations struggle to adapt to new patterns, work more efficiently with fewer journalists, and identifying new financing models for the resource-intensive practice of investigative journalism. Studies find that alternative practices and professionals have emerged becoming a marketing strategy for media outlets and a tool to gain market share and new customers in a digital world. But there is a research gap about how investigative journalism is in flux. SCOOP will address this gap with findings on alternative financing models, new and creative use of technology and social media, and new forms for collaborations in the UK. SCOOP involves a comprehensive ethnographic analysis of how investigative journalists in the UK media are adjusting to the challenges and possibilities created by new technologies; findings from a country with long tradition in investigative journalism will inform journalists, academics, decision makers, and the wider public in countries currently lacking funding and traditions for investigative journalism. I will interview and observe journalists and media actors from four major UK media organizations. SCOOP will enhance my career as a professional journalist and as an educator of journalists. Cardiff University and HiOA will benefit from my enhanced skills and by the establishment of a virtual centre of investigative journalism to implement the outcomes of SCOOP, this should expand journalism research and training. SCOOP will benefit the media industry and journalism studies in general at a time of profound changes in the profession.

Mots clés : journalism, innovation in investigative journalism, traditional and digital media, new technologies impact on journalism, new practices and new funding mechanisms, ethnographic analysis

Participants :
- Cardiff University (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet RESIDUE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The objective of this project is to demonstrate how the imperishable materials, that Buddhist ritual items are now predominantly made of, are transforming Buddhist praxis in the contemporary period. Although Buddhism is often considered to be a religion defined by its lack of consumerist drive, this research will highlight the ways in which Buddhist ritual practices generate consumption, waste, and excess. Utilising the ethnographic methodology of ‘following the thing’, it will trace the social lives of Mongolian Buddhist ritual items from the doubts that surround their efficacy at purchase, to their troublesome persistence after use. This project will highlight the dynamic by which Buddhist purification rituals generate ecological and spiritual pollution. Utilizing theories from Anthropology, Buddhist Studies, Discard Studies and interdisciplinary studies exploring human life in the Anthropocene, this project will generate a robust theoretical framework to demonstrate how the material properties of ritual items, rather than being incidental to their use and conception, are integral to Mongolian Buddhist beliefs and practices. This project complements, and is complemented by, the changing research trajectory of the Buddhism, Business and Believers project at The University of Copenhagen’s Center for Contemporary Buddhist Studies, as it shifts its attention from Buddhist economic entanglements to the waste that is created by Buddhist economic exchanges. By exploring the seeming non-sequitur of ‘Buddhist waste’, this research will provide new insights into the generation and treatment of waste, drawing attention to the contemporary problems that industrial-scale consumption patterns are producing in Asia and around the world. The project will support my development as an expert within this critical field, as I work to address important issues facing Mongolians and EU citizens, both in the academy and within public discourse.

Mots clés : waste, buddhism, consumption, discard, excess, ritual, mongolia

Participants :
- University of Copenhagen (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 219312.0 €
Projet READESCARTES (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The objective of this project is to provide the first in-depth study of the handwritten commentaries on the treatises of René Descartes. This study is important because such sources were crucial in shaping the intellectual revolution occurring in Europe during the 17th century, in which Descartes played a foremost role. However, we still do not have a complete grasp of why his ideas were so important to this revolution, because we do not know how his texts were closely read. The key to understand this process of reading and knowledge-building is the analysis of this kind of sources, up to now neglected by historians. Andrea Strazzoni has preliminarily ascertained their crucial role for the reception of Cartesianism while working on two monographs in the history of philosophy and science, making him the ideal researcher for this project. He has assessed the existence of 109 not retrieved items, plus 38 already retrieved ones. These commentaries constitute a body of literature whose complete analysis will be made possible by this project, focused on those authored by the first teachers of Cartesian ideas: Johannes de Raey and Johannes Clauberg. This study is now timely, because it benefits from new directions of investigation: (a) the study of reading and note-taking practices, (b) a transnational approach to the history of thought, (c) the application of digital mapping tools to large amounts of texts. Such approaches are now at the centre of new researches, led at Venice Ca’ Foscari by the applicant’s supervisor, Marco Sgarbi, and by Dirk van Miert at Utrecht, destination of a secondment. The project integrates these approaches in order to pursue its objective along three lines of investigation: (1) the search for uncatalogued handwritten sources, (2) their textual reconstruction and mapping, (3) the analysis of their use and dissemination. This project will enable Strazzoni to become a leading scholar in early modern philosophy, and to apply for a tenured position.

Mots clés : history of early modern philosophy, ren  descartes, manuscripts, reading, note taking

Participants :
- Ca' Foscari University of Venice (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183473.28 €
Projet REQUE 2 (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The objective of this project is to uncover the source materials of current humanitarian norms (Responsibility to Protect and Duty to Prevent) within the first and most important tool of International Humanitarian Law – the 4th Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilians (1949). Specifically, this project aims to generate a comprehensive historical and legal account of the drafting process and of the 4th Geneva Convention, as to date, no such comprehensive account exists. The research agenda envisages an innovative Multi factor framework approach, examining alongside the Red Cross archives in Geneva, the important National Archives of the US, France, the UK and Switzerland (the Conventions’ Custodian), who all advocated and pushed for the Convention’s endorsement after WWII. The recent opening of national archives, following the lifting of the 50 year disclosure ban provides unprecedented access to hitherto unpublished materials, which could shed much-needed light upon our comprehension of the Convention’s terms and legal interpretation, based upon the original intentions of the drafters. With the interpretation of this convention deeply contested in both judicial and policy circles, uncovering the original drafting sources of the 4th Geneva Convention’s, could shed much needed light on questions regarding the nature of military occupation, of judicial oversight over armed conflict, and of the attitudes to be attributed to irregular fighting forces and non state actors. Recent events, most notably in the Middle East and North Africa point to an alarming tendency of the erosion of any limits to armed conduct. This process goes hand in hand with the exponential surge in civilian casualties in these armed conflicts. Uncovering the original sources which motivated drafters to limit war – while accepting its existence as a feature of human nature is all the more timely and relevant today.

Mots clés : humanitarianism, non state actors, jus in bello, intervention, laws of war, protection, civilians, echr, 4th geneva convention, non combatant immunity

Participants :
- University of Verona (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 180277.2 €
Projet Spatialec (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The objective of this proposal is to implement a programme of research and impact activities intended to provide a step change in the level of understanding of, and modelling capacity for, spatially disaggregated temporal domestic electricity demand in a smart grid and demand response context. This programme will be developed in partnership with internationally recognised experts led by the University of Otago (host) who are pioneering in this field. It will be exploited via an applied research programme at the University of Southampton (beneficiary) which intends to integrate census, social science time use and detailed consumption data to develop local area level demand response models to support the analysis of a range of demand response scenarios. In so doing the fellowship will provide the applicant with a foundation from which to build a new career pathway by applying his substantial existing social scientific data analysis and spatial microsimulation expertise to the development and leadership of a substantial new European research capacity in an area of emerging commercial, societal and political significance.

Mots clés : demand response, spatial microsimulation, electricity demand, time use, census

Participants :
- University of Otago (Nouvelle-Zélande) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Southampton (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 257017.35 €
Projet EU-Drones (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The objective of this research is to examine how the European Commission is shaping regulatory framework development, production and use of drones considering the diverging interests among actors concerned in Europe (and beyond) where multiple authorities overlap. A comprehensive analysis of drones operations as a whole, including actors’ perceptions, expectations, interests and practices is still lacking. This research will therefore study the European Commission’s strategy to join and shape the drone community (rule makers, interest groups, manufacturers, operators and users) as well as the impact of its action. Referring to the Commission’s policy entrepreneurship literature, it is interested in how the Commission, by building on its competencies and resources, has exercised its leadership capacity to initiate action in a new domain that may not fall de facto under its prerogatives and thus has an effect on a strategic industry. Based on a relational approach, the project will analyse the power structures (configuration of relations, diverging and converging interests, resources, skills), perceptions of issues at stake (discourses) and action rationale (cooperation dynamics, informal and formal practices, strategies and means) of actors involved in EU initiatives: the single drones market, the regulatory framework, as well as research and development. The research methodology will be qualitative and based on a triangulation of methods (documents, discourses and interviews analysis). In line with the researcher’s previous work on the Commission’s actions in the security sector, it will be argued that the Commission’s leadership in drone matters, regarding its market, regulation and development, offers a lever for action to strengthen its position in the field of security at the crossroads between all actors involved as a bridge between the internal and external security, civil and military dimensions.

Mots clés : european commission, supranational policy entrepreneurship, drone community, field, security, civil and military actors, power struggles

Participants :
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 160800.0 €
Projet PRIME (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The objective of this research project is to enhance business process (BP) model comprehension in European organisations through dynamic process invigoration. Analysis and improvement of BPs are key to organisations’ cost efficiency and competitiveness. A growing number of organisations in Europe implement BP management solutions to analyse and automate their processes. BP models are invaluable to define, control, improve and communicate BPs. BP models abstract a dynamic phenomenon in the form of a static representation, thus they are often difficult to comprehend. In this research, I aim at redefining the BP model comprehension problem and developing innovative solutions through a synergetic usage of process modeling and multimedia disciplines. In this way, models will be dynamically invigorated and presented to business professionals in a comprehensible manner. To fulfil the overall objective, related literature will be reviewed; BP model invigoration techniques will be designed for eight different embellishment components; the techniques will be evaluated through industrial experiments and field studies; an open source BP model invigoration tool will be developed; and results will be disseminated in European academy and industry. Eventually, organisations from various domains in Europe can utilize their BP models in a better way by using the freely available PRIME tool to invigorate their processes. This will create an opportunity to increase organisational efficiency throughout Europe. This project will contribute to my career development in many ways. I will obtain regular training on scientific and transferable skills through interdisciplinary trainings with my supervisor and other scholars, courses in research schools, and the preparation of publications. Collaboration and networking will be enhanced through joint studies with scholars and industry, enabled by the supervisor’s previous collaborations as well as my experiences.

Mots clés : business process modeling, model comprehension, process model visualization, process model animation, process modeling tool

Participants :
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 165598.8 €
Projet QSIPP (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : TERMINATED

The ocean is by far the largest reservoir for carbon dioxide (CO2) on Earth and represents a driving force for climate mitigation. Through photosynthesis, active marine microorganisms (e.g. phytoplankton) convert atmospheric CO2 into biomass, where the majority of it is cycled in the surface waters by diverse processes including bacterial respiration and hydrolysis. Some of this biomass is exported as particulate organic carbon (POC) into the deep ocean, where bacterial cells play a critical role in regulating the efficiency of carbon export because they colonize and enzymatically hydrolyze POC as it sinks . A recent study suggested that signaling mechanisms within particle-associated bacterial communities enhance the activity of hydrolytic proteins involved in POC degradation. This overlooked process, known as quorum sensing, might impact the amount of carbon sequestered in the marine environment and ultimately affect the rate that CO2 is removed from the atmosphere. Quorum sensing (QS) involves the excretion and reception of distinct signaling molecules, but the biogeochemical implications of these bacterial “conversations” are poorly understood. To date, only a few culture-independent studies on QS in the marine environment have been carried out. This project will elucidate the role of QS systems among marine bacteria in triggering the synthesis of specific infochemicals and hydrolytic proteins, as well as its impact on shaping particles and particle-associated bacterial communities. Proposed methods include mass spectrometry, proteomics, three-dimensional particle imaging, molecular assessment of bacterial assemblages, and in situ localization of bacteria on intact particles. The outcome of the project will provide critical information on the importance of QS in regulating the efficiency of POC degradation in the ocean, which is necessary to understand and predict future climate scenarios.


Participants :
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 239860.8 €