Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet MuSe-BDA (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Climate change and anthropogenic modifications are bringing multiple changes in different regions of the world, affecting the patterns of rainfall, evapotranspiration and stored terrestrial water, which will increase the probability of climate disasters, such as agricultural losses, water scarcity, and famine. Drought monitoring and hydrological early warning system are important tools for water resources management, and they must be further complemented by forecasting facilities that are well integrated with the EU’s Earth Observation data. In this project, based on Forootan and Mehrnegar's expertise, an accurate and efficient, as well as physically and mathematically consistence Bayesian-based Data Assimilation (DA) framework(s) will be developed to integrate the benefits of synergistically available satellite geodetic and Earth Observation (EO) data and the state-of-the-art of hydrological models to better understand and forecast the recent and future spatial-temporal changes in continental water storage and water fluxes. The proposed Multi-Sensor Bayesian Data Assimilation (MuSe-BDA) are unique in terms of flexibility to assimilate various satellite data, and they are computationally efficient. Building on the effort in MuSe-BDA, this is the first attempt to simultaneously merge multi-land surface models with satellite-derived Surface Soil Moisture (SSM), Surface Water Level (SWL) anomaly from satellite altimetry, Land Surface Temperature (LST) from remote sensing data, and gravity field estimates from GRACE and GRACE-FO missions. The application will be demonstrated in simulating and forecasting episodic large-scale droughts within Europe (north and south) and USA (e.g., California and Texas) covering 2003-onward with an unprecedented spatial resolution of 0.05° (~5 km) at daily temporal rate, which is essential for practical applications such as agricultural early warning and the assimilation of satellite data ensures the compatibility with the real world.

Mots clés : bayesian, data assimilation, drought monitoring, europe, conus, hydrology, meso scale, remote sensing earth observation eo

Participants :
- Université d'Aalborg (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 230774.4 €
Projet CLINIAR (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The research project CLINIAR – Celtic Language and Identity in Northern Italy and the Alpine Region investigates the linguistic and sociolinguistic landscape of Celtic Northern Italy and the Alpine region in the Iron Age. The project will be conducted at Maynooth University (MU, Ireland) under the supervision of the leading authority in Celtic linguistics, Professor David Stifter, with secondment to Université Bordeaux Montaigne (UBM, France) under the supervision of Dr Coline Ruiz Darasse to receive training in Gaulish epigraphy and historical sociolinguistics. Short visits to repositories in Italy will be made for data collection. Through close linguistic analysis of the Cisalpine Celtic corpus of inscriptions and the subsequent integration of the data into their archaeological and historical context, the project will result in a better understanding of the earliest attested Celtic languages in their historical and social dimensions, and offer new methodologies to scholars and professionals working in Celtic studies, fragmentary languages, ancient history, and digital humanities.

Mots clés : lepontic, gaulish, cisalpine gaulish, cisalpine celtic, north italic epigraphy, celtic studies, comparative linguistics, historical sociolinguistics

Participants :
- Université nationale d'Irlande à Maynooth (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 199694.4 €
- Université Bordeaux Montaigne (France) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet HetCat4CO2activation (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere because of burning fossil fuels and industrial production processes has increased in concentration and enhanced the "greenhouse effect", causing “climate change” and extreme weather. Converting CO2 into energy-rich fuels is one of the sustainable solutions to mitigate carbon emission challenges, while also remedying the over-reliance on fossil fuels as well as contributing to achieving the “European Green Deal”. A reliable and affordable CO2 conversion process remains a grand challenge because thermodynamic and kinetic constraints limit the CO2 conversion reactions; hence, novel approaches are needed to increase the reaction rate by altering the kinetics to reduce the activation energy. This project will focus on CO2 activation and its hydrogenation to valuable products. It proposes to develop and explore unconventional approaches to activate and convert CO2 molecules; including designing catalysts with energetic surface/interface sites and employing novel plasma or electromagnetic activation with light or microwaves that can act as semiconductors in a similar way to photocatalysis but also provide “hot spots” at low temperature to activate CO2. Supported metal catalysts with rich oxygen vacancy surface and interface sites will be designed and studied for efficient and highly selective CO2 hydrogenation in combination with energetic radiations. This project will deepen understanding of CO2 transformation (hydrogenation) catalysis and contribute to an efficient, innovative CO2-to-chemical/fuel processes under relatively mild conditions, as well as integrated CO2 emission and valorisation technology in Europe. Additionally, it will provide a practical framework for improving the CO2 industrial value chain and help push progress toward achieving the ambitious goal recommended by the EC in February 2024 to reduce CO2 emissions by 90% by 2040 and achieve “climate neutrality” by 2050.

Mots clés : heterogeneous catalysis, high energy catalytic sites, hot electrons, electromagnetic radiation, co2 activation, co2 hydrogenation

Participants :
- Université de Cardiff (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 276187.92 €
Projet HYCO (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The HYCO project tackles the growing challenge of sustainable sewage sludge management, a critical issue for wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the EU, which produce 10-13 million tons of dry sludge annually. Current sludge treatment methods, particularly anaerobic digestion (AD), suffer from inefficiencies like slow reaction rates and high disposal costs. HYCO aims to revolutionize AD with the development of a novel compartmentalized plug-flow reactor (CPFR). By integrating advanced microbial process optimization, H2 addition for CO2 fixation, and innovative feeding strategies, HYCO will double hydrolysis rates, improving sludge treatment efficiency by over 50%. This will significantly reduce sludge disposal costs and enhance renewable methane production.  This project builds on my PhD and postdoctoral work at TU Delft, where I deployed cutting-edge metagenomic techniques and innovative feeding strategies to boost microbial activity and eliminate harmful pretreatment processes. At KU Leuven, I will collaborate with Prof. L. Appels, who specializes in optimizing AD treatment processes and developing AD reactors. Her expertise, combined with two secondments at Aalborg University and INRAE and two industrial stays at Aquafin and Waterleau, will further drive interdisciplinary advancements in microbiology, process engineering, and AI modeling.  HYCO will deliver a cost-effective, environmentally friendly solution for sludge management, contributing to the circular economy and the EU’s energy transition goals. By reducing waste, increasing methane yields, and improving reactor performance, HYCO aligns with sustainability objectives, offering a scalable approach for WWTPs across Europe. The project's impact extends beyond technological innovation, supporting local energy grids, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and promoting sustainable urban waste management.

Mots clés : anaerobic digestion, sewage sludge, plug flow reactor, protein sip, ai modeling

Participants :
- Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (France) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- KU Leuven (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 200400.0 €
- Université d'Aalborg (Danemark) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet SPADYN-SM (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : TERMINATED

Microbial secondary metabolism (SM) is critical to ecological interactions because it is a source of bioactive products such as antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs. Marine microbes are prolific sources of these compounds. Until now, the prospection of biosynthetic gene clusters has primarily focused on cataloguing SM diversity by using machine learning (ML) tools, with little regard to their importance for the microbial dynamics. Microbes benefit from SM by providing a chemical language for inter-specific communication and improving environmental interaction. The dynamics and evolutionary aspects of this interaction, as well as its effects on spatiotemporal microbial dynamics, have not been studied due to a lack of suitable datasets. To elucidate this, the SPADYN-SM project aims to investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of SM in the ocean microbiome using an innovative genome-resolved work frame to verify diversity, mutations, selection pressures, and effects on environmental variables in a collection of metagenomes from monthly marine samples collected by the host and collaborators over a 7-years period. Dr. Santos will combine his unique expertise in biochemistry, molecular biology, bioinformatics, and ML with the host's notorious experience in microbial ecology and evolution to document the fluctuation of SM in marine microbes for the first time on an unprecedented temporal scale. SPADYN-SM could lead to a better understanding of seasonal patterns of SM in marine microbes, environmental effects, and possible impacts on microbial evolution. SPADYN-SM continues to advocate for the analysis of polymorphisms at the protein structure level, which may lead to the discovery of novel drug-like compounds. This highly interdisciplinary project, with its international collaborative network and innovation, will advance the EU's research and policy strategies, such as biotechnology and microbial community modeling fields, and will boost Dr. Santos' promising carreer.

Mots clés : marine microbiology, biotechnology, machine learning, bioinformatics, secondary metabolism, spatiotemporal dynamics

Participants :
- Conseil supérieur de la recherche scientifique (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 165312.96 €
- Sorbonne Université (France) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet CoMet (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

With the advent of large language models (e.g. ChatGPT), the use of artificial neural networks has become ubiquitous in our society. However, the energy consumption is currently doubling every two months, leading to an unsustainable growth. This is primarily caused by the extensive interconnectivity that characterizes neural networks’ hardware architecture, which are notably challenging and power-consuming to implement in electronics. Photonics offers a promising solution, enabling faster operations with significantly reduced energy consumption. Fully-connected layers are already available in several photonic platforms, including complex media, one of the applicant’s main areas of expertise. However, optics still lacks a fundamental building block for implementing neural networks with advanced learning capabilities: a nonlinear activation layer that is non-polynomial and able to cascade its signal to subsequent layers. This MSCA PF will focus on developing a thermo-optically reconfigurable nonlinear metasurface, designed to implement such nonlinear activation layer. With this innovative device, the COMET project will demonstrate that the combination of COmplex media and METasurfaces can provide a scalable, computationally powerful and efficient photonic neural network. The project will be conducted at Politecnico di Milano with Prof. Michele Celebrano, expert in nonlinear optics and metasurfaces. It will also include a secondment at Sorbonne Université, in Prof. Sylvain Gigan’s group, which specializes in complex media and their applications in photonic computing. The combined expertise of the applicant and the two host institutions will ensure that CoMet makes its unique contribution to the development of more efficient next-generation AI. The scientific excellence of CoMet, along with the experience gained during the PF, will greatly improve my chances of obtaining an ERC Starting Grant, or secure a tenure-track position to establish my own research group.

Mots clés : metasurfaces nonlinear metasurfaces nonlinear optics thermo optically reconfigurable metasurfaces complex media photonic neuromorphic computing photonic neural networks random projections

Participants :
- École polytechnique de Milan (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 193643.28 €
- Sorbonne Université (France) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet PlaSeatic (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Microplastic pollution is an issue of increasing concern for the ecosystems and human health. In the last decade, microplastic ingestion and impact in biota has received significant attention. Despite the extensive research conducted, there is still need for improvements in the methodologies used for sample analysis. PlaSeatic aims to provide a new methodology for quantification and characterization of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) ingested by organisms in aquatic systems. This method seeks to surpass traditional techniques by reducing the risk of cross-contamination, lowering the size detection limits, preventing alterations and plastic loss while retaining the biological context of the particles. PlaSeatic will focus on copepods, which play a critical role in marine food webs and global geochemical cycles. However, with some adaptations, this methodology could be applied to other organisms or even human tissues. Additionally, this improved methodology could be implemented by other research groups, thereby, increasing homogeneity and accuracy in microplastic research— an urgent need recognized by the scientific community in this field. To achieve the objectives of the project, PlaSeatic rely on the synergy between my expertise in the assessment of ingestion and impact of microplastics in marine food webs and the extensive expertise on chemical engineering, microscopy and spectroscopy of the host (Prof. Roeffaers). This will be further supported by Dr. Pedrotti (supervisor in secondment), whose vast knowledge on plastic pollution and access to historical plankton samples will be invaluable to the project. PlaSeatic will raise public awareness about the impact of plastic pollution. Scientifically, it will enhance our understanding of MNP ingestion, bioaccumulation and impacts of MNPs in zooplankton. It thereby will contribute to the development of biomonitoring and mitigation strategies, and inform policy decisions aimed at ensuring the health of the oceans.

Mots clés : micro and nano plastic pollution, microscopy, spectroscopy, zooplankton, methods for microplastic ingestion

Participants :
- KU Leuven (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 200400.0 €
- Sorbonne Université (France) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet HEAT-UP (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Heatwaves have increased in frequency, duration, and intensity over the past decades, placing individuals with cardiovascular diseases at higher risk of hospitalisation and death. Hypertension affects a third of adults and is a key risk factor for these diseases. Blood pressure control through medication is essential to prevent adverse cardiovascular events during and between heatwaves. However, concerns arise that antihypertensive drugs may increase the risks of hospitalisation and mortality during heatwaves. Certain antihypertensive drugs or their combinations may worsen dehydration, inhibit thirst perception, and interfere with heat adaptation. There is a lack of clinical guidelines for hypertension management during heatwaves.  To address this, I propose the HEAT-UP project, which aims to use expertise from environmental epidemiology, clinical practice, urban planning, geography, and causal inference to i) measure how the causal effects of heatwaves on emergency hospital visits vary across individuals taking different antihypertensive drugs, ii) map how heatwaves contribute to orthostatic hypotension when standing blood pressure drops, potentially leading to dizziness and falls, injury, and death across people with different antihypertensive treatments, and iii) develop a heat vulnerability index to support counselling interventions for hypertensive patients in areas with overheating risk.  This project will integrate advanced causal inference methods (causal random forest, case time series) and complementary data sources (French, Dutch administrative databases, and hospital databases). The findings will inform stakeholders creating safe treatment guidelines for hypertensive patients during heatwaves, as well as improve monitoring in vulnerable areas with limited medical access. This project will broaden my scientific expertise (technical and transferable skills) and my international network for pursuing an academic career and becoming an independent researcher.

Mots clés : heatwaves, hypertensive disease complications, antihypertensive drugs, clinical guidelines, clinical practice, epidemiology, causal inference, advanced statistical methods

Participants :
- Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 242260.56 €
- Sorbonne Université (France) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet PRONOUNCE (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Project PRONOUNCE aims at solving the open question about the need of non-Gaussian quantum correlations (nGQCs) for quantum advantage in photonic quantum computing. Through a diversity of techniques, ranging from stellar rank theory to symplectic geometry and distribution theory, the fellow will first characterize nGQCs that are essential for specific tasks and study them in the specific framework of photon-subtracted multimode Gaussian states (PSMG states). The project is articulated in 3 objectives, OI-III, whose purpose is to characterize and understand the problem from all possible aspects: in OI, the fellow will directly address the issue of resourcefulness of nGQCs, with the main goal of finding instances of tasks that require these correlations for a quantum advantage. In OII he will delve deeper into the theoretical link between non-Gaussianity and quantum correlations, particularly to assess if nGQCs are helpful to remotely generate Wigner negativity and if there is a relationship with quantum steering, as there is for Gaussian states. Finally, in OIII, he will explore the applications of these notions to quantum networks. PRONOUNCE will be carried out at Sorbonne Université, specifically in the Multimode Quantum Optics group of Laboratoire Kastler Brossel and the supervision of Dr. Mattia Walschaers; this is a leading equip in the field of multimode quantum optics, with a remarkable number of theoretical and experimental results scored during the last 30 years, ranging from pioneering studies on squeezed light to more recent investigations and generation of entangled quantum networks with more than 20 light modes. The peculiar mathematical background of the fellow, combined with the expertise of the team on quantum non-Gaussianity, will provide an ideal fit to carry out this ambitious project, whose result will entail a significant step forward in the development of photonic quantum computers with current and near-future technologies.

Mots clés : photonic quantum computation, non gaussian quantum states, quantum advantage, quasi probability distributions

Participants :
- Sorbonne Université (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 226420.56 €
Projet SILICOR (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) is a promising approach to producing sustainable fuels or chemical products from anthropogenic CO2 emissions. It can use electrical power generated by renewable sources to deliver valuable multi-carbon molecules (e.g., ethanol, propanol) and store energy in chemical bonds. Electrocatalysts needed to accelerate and make industrially viable this reaction suffer from poor selectivity among multi-carbon products. Our aim with SILICOR is to design a new family of nanocrystals with tunable chemical bonding to adjust the selectivity of CO2RR electrocatalysis. The target multielement nanocrystals will associate four chemical elements, specifically copper, prone to deliver multi-carbon products, another transition metal (e.g., nickel), and two p-block elements, silicon and phosphorus. These Cu-based silicophosphides will exhibit adjustable chemical bonding, from metallicity through ionicity to covalence, to adjust the electronic and geometric environment of copper catalytic sites and then adsorption of reaction intermediates, hence the selectivity. These original nanocrystals will be designed by the diffusion of Si and P atoms inside bimetallic Cu-based alloy nanoparticles. This novel approach of converting alloy nanoparticles will be enabled by an innovative liquid-phase synthesis approach where the nanoparticles will be dispersed into molten salts that will activate the diffusion processes. This work at the edge of nanosciences, electrocatalysis, and energy conversion will deliver new materials for the valorization of carbon dioxide emissions and hence accelerate the practical application of CO2 conversion technologies.

Mots clés : nanocrystals, liquid phase synthesis, molten salts, electrocatalysis, co2 reduction, in situ

Participants :
- Sorbonne Université (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 242260.56 €