Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet QuBICo (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : TERMINATED

Taking advantage of the underlying quantum features of the natural world to design new technologies is the principle at the root of the Second Quantum Revolution. Quantum control theory provides the mathematical substrate to this principle by establishing precise conditions under which a system can be manipulated to reach any desired state in a finite time, and developing systematic methods for accomplishing this goal in an optimal way. This is a formidable task especially for systems with infinitely many degrees of freedom, for which advanced mathematical techniques are needed.  The standard approach to quantum control relies on the use of external fields. A significant byproduct of such schemes is the possible loss of quantum correlations between the components of the system resulting from this interaction. An alternative route is achieving control by exploiting boundary effects, that is, manipulating the boundary conditions of the system. This is the idea at the core of Quantum Control at the Boundary (QCB), a promising yet underdeveloped paradigm.  The aim of the project is to investigate the feasibility and shortcomings of QCB, laying the foundations to a systematic theory of boundary control schemes. By adopting and improving known results from infinite-dimensional control theory, the project will elucidate the conditions under which specific QCB schemes, including thick quantum graphs and cavities with moving boundaries, are controllable. The problem of optimal control and the practical implementation of such schemes will also be studied. The project draws ideas and techniques from different areas of mathematics and physics, by also requiring familiarity with the laws of Quantum Mechanics. This reflects the scientific background of the applicant. It will involve a significant transfer of knowledge to the host institution, and the training of the researcher from a scientific and a managerial point of view.

Mots clés : quantum control, quantum boundary conditions, quantum graphs, approximate controllability, optimal control

Participants :
- Université Charles-III de Madrid (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 165312.96 €
Projet HYPERBOLE (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The Boltzmann equation is highly important in mathematical modeling of physical systems large and small, from galactic dynamics to electron transport. Its range of applicability exceeds that of well-known continuum models, such as the Navier-Stokes-Fourier equations. In particular, the Boltzmann equation can accurately predict rarefied gas phenomena, which occur in a wide variety of high-tech 21st century applications, such as microelectronics, plasma physics, and high altitude flight. While numerical methods for continuum models are well established, numerical methods that accurately and efficiently solve the Boltzmann equation are undeveloped. The main objective of this research proposal is to enable three-dimensional numerical simulation of rarefied flows by developing accurate and efficient numerical solution procedures for ``the method of moments'' to numerically solve the Boltzmann equation. The approach described herein is innovative and original as it is the first to exploit Kronecker structure and structural properties of the Boltzmann equation to improve efficiency. The developed techniques will be consolidated into a high performance computing framework and applied, for the first time, to an industrial photolithography application. The proposed research involves a private-public partnership between domain experts in ``the method of moments'' at the Technical University of Eindhoven (TU/e) and experts in ``photolithography'' at ASML. If awarded, this proposal will allow me to lay the groundwork necessary to achieve a paradigm-shift in numerical simulation of rarefied gas flows. It could emanate into a successful line of research for the coming decade, with academic as well as commercial interests aligned with my career goals. I am highly motivated and uniquely positioned to carry out this research due to my specialistic expertise in efficient solution methodologies and my interdisciplinary training in mathematics, computational science and engineering.

Mots clés : kinetic theory boltzmann equation numerical simulation computational fluid dynamics method of moments kronecker products high performance computing

Participants :
- Université de technologie d'Eindhoven (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 203464.32 €
- ASML (Netherlands) (Pays-Bas) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
Projet GUT INSTINCT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract has its own nervous system, known as the enteric nervous system (ENS), which contains a network of enteric neurons and glial cells and controls GI physiology and functions. Studies have shown inflammatory responses as a result of enteric infections can cause damage or injury to the ENS and an imbalance in the ENS can cause GI disorders. The fine modulation of the inflammatory responses induced by components of the innate immune system (e.g. macrophages) along with other key players of the immune system is essential to generate an adequate response to fight infections, while preventing overactivation which can cause irreparable GI pathology leading to enteric diseases. The ENS is capable of performing this immunomodulatory role and share a common language with the immune system to provide adequate protection from infections and maintain GI physiology. However, little is known about how the “crosstalk” between the two systems keep enteric infections at bay. In this study, I propose to investigate how the neuro-immune crosstalk regulate GI physiology during enteric infections of T. trichiura and T. cruzi from a human host perspective. To do this, I will use human intestinal organoids (HIOs). The use of HIOs in the field of infection biology holds great promise and offers tremendous potential to establish one unified system containing immune cells and the ENS. In this project, I will create an integrated HIO system containing the ENS and components of the innate immune system to investigate the neuro-immune crosstalk of enteric parasites using 3D cell culture, live imaging, immunofluorescence and advanced transcriptomic and protein profiling. This will in turn open up new avenues to study the infection biology of other pathogens, establish targeted therapies and develop personalised medicine.

Mots clés : neuroscience, immunology, ens, immune system, macrophages, enteric glial cells, enteric neurons, intestinal organoids, t cruzi, t trichiura

Participants :
- Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 195914.88 €
Projet MM_BH3_CutTag (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Multiple Myeloma (MM) is an incurable cancer caused by uncontrolled growth of the plasma cells. A major challenge is drug resistance, which is caused by increased reliance on the anti-apoptotic BCL-2 family proteins and altered epigenetic landscapes. Dependence is highly variable, with distinct dependencies on BCL-2 family members (MCL-1, BCL-2 & BCL-XL) across patient samples. It is currently not understood what causes heterogeneity of BCL2 dependence in MM, and thus exploiting this reliance for treatment has proved difficult. Epigenetic modifiers regulate apoptotic pathways and therefore represent a therapeutic avenue through which cells can be sensitized to BCL2-family inhibitor treatment. I will use the cutting-edge technology CUT&Tag to assess the epigenetic landscape of MM patient samples with diverse anti-apoptotic dependence. The key aim is to identify targetable epigenetic modifiers that can be combined with BCL2 inhibitors for more effective MM therapy. I have 3 main objectives for this proposal: 1) establish parallel CUT&Tag with BH3 profiling to understand the basal epigenetic profile of MCL-1/BCL-2/BCL-XL-dependent MM; 2) to identify inter- & intra-patient epigenetic profiles characteristic of sensitive/insensitive patient samples; 3) to assess MM sensitivity to epigenetic inhibitors, and I will apply this basic research to drug development during a 6-week secondment in Almac Discovery. This project will deliver vital information on mechanisms of drug insensitivity & therapeutic avenues to target epigenetic sensitivities in MM tumors. At this critical stage in my career, it is crucial that I further diversify my skillset and apply interdisciplinary tactics to my research questions. Winning the prestigious MSCA-PF will allow me to expand my skillset, gain inter-sectoral experience during secondment and foster key collaborations in clinical research. This is crucial to reach my ultimate career goal as an independent research expert in cancer epigenetics.

Mots clés : cutandtag bh3 profiling multiple myeloma

Participants :
- Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 215534.4 €
- Almac (United Kingdom) (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
Projet BSAI (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Novel and efficient anti-icing/de-icing methods should be continuously explored because ice accumulation has dramatic adverse effects on human activities. Traditional thermal de-icing, as an active technique extensively used in the industry, requires enormous energy input and may deteriorate the functionality of wall material such as epoxies or resins if the temperature is too high. Passive de-icing methods cannot work alone for safety concerns, although they do not require external energy inputs. Therefore, there is an urgent need to integrate the active de-icing method with the passive one, leading to a hybrid anti-icing/de-icing approach. Inspired by natural creatures who usually use their surface structures to realize directional liquid transport for survival, a spontaneous self-dislodging approach of ice is proposed by artificially varying the surface wettability without external energy input. The de-icing performance of this method can be further enhanced by imposing a temperature gradient. Compared with the traditional thermal de-icing method, the required de-icing time can be reduced by more than 90% based on the applicant’s test cases of this novel hybrid anti-icing/de-icing method that has not previously been proposed. A mathematical model that will be validated by performing Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations will be built to quantify the effects of wettability and temperature variations on the de-icing performance of this novel method. This work will shed light on the design of intrinsically icephobic materials.

Mots clés : anti icing de icing, molecular dynamics simulation, hydrodynamics, thermaldynamics

Participants :
- Université complutense de Madrid (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 97037.28 €
Projet OMNIA (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

OMNIA proposes a unique combination of mathematical physics and numerical analysis to achieve new, provably structure-preserving discretizations of novel unified and extended mixture theories. This project is based on the firm belief that to obtain reliable numerical results, especially in a complex field such as mixture theories, where exact solutions are lacking, a deep understanding of the basic mathematical modelling framework is required. So far, there is no mixture theory capable of describing the processes occurring in a multiphase flow in a closed and comprehensive manner, respecting the laws of thermodynamics and the principle of causality. For this reason, OMNIA, after adequately addressing numerically what is most exhaustive in the literature, aims to establish a theoretical framework to extend the existing model to derive a non-equilibrium mixture theory which simultaneously includes fundamental processes such as convective and dissipative effects but also dispersive processes. Finally, to address the resulting complex monolithic model, finite volume methods with novel structure preserving properties will be developed, that not only accurately solve the obtained system respecting its thermodynamic properties at a discrete level, but also preserve additional mathematical characteristics. Namely, new semi-implicit, asymptotic-preserving numerical methods will be devised which are capable of preserving the curl free constraints endowed by the model.

Mots clés : compressible multiphase flows, symmetric hyperbolic and thermodynamically compatible shtc theory, hyperbolic thermodynamically compatible htc schemes, structure preserving, asymptotic preserving

Participants :
- Université de Trente (Italie) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Aix-Marseille Université (France) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 226420.56 €
Projet SAFE-VR (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Social virtual reality (VR) is rapidly transforming how people interact. It creates immersive virtual spaces for social engagement, such as leisure activities, remote work, training and other social events. However, the rise of these platforms has brought significant challenges to user safety. The SAFE-VR (Safety and Awareness For Everyone in Virtual Reality) project aims to develop a comprehensive system to mitigate harassment in social VR by automatically detecting it and providing immediate user support. The first objective will be achieved by analyzing group movement patterns with machine learning methods to detect harassment in social VR. The second objective consists of two parts: 1) dynamic, context-aware personal boundaries that adjust based on the nature of interactions and user preferences, and 2) an intuitive reporting system that automatically captures relevant data when harassment is detected or a report is initiated, easing the process for users. These solutions will be integrated and delivered through the open-source SAFE-VR platform. Perceptual studies will be conducted to evaluate the platform’s efficiency, effectiveness, and its impact on user behavior and sense of safety. An industrial secondment with Virtual Bodyworks, a company specializing in VR for behavioral change in corporate and rehabilitation settings, will provide opportunities to explore real customer needs and tailor the SAFE-VR platform for their commercial VR applications. By delivering adaptable safety mechanisms, this project has the potential to influence future social VR safety standards and benefit developers, users, and policymakers alike.

Mots clés : virtual humans, computer animation, perception

Participants :
- Virtual bodyworks sl (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 242260.56 €
Projet OMNIBUS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Neurodegeneration is a major health concern affecting millions of individuals in Europe, with this number constantly increasing as population ages. A cure for this spectrum of conditions is still missing, in part due to differences between available experimental models and human pathophysiology.  My aim is to develop an in vitro 3D brain tissue model that combine the major brain cell types (obtained from human induced pluripotent stem cells - iPSCs) also including vascular cells, for better resembling the human brain. Currently, the available in vitro 3D brain tissue models lack a functional vasculature with brain-specific features, thus limiting the possibility to study (vascular-related) pathophysiology. Transplantation is still the only strategy leading to an extensive and functional vascularization of 3D brain models.  I will combine -omics technologies for optimizing the vascularization of 3D brain tissue models. First, I will investigate whether factors released by iPSC-derived neurons and their precursor cells can promote vessel formation by the endothelium. Second, I will determine which changes occur in 3D brain tissue models upon transplantation compared with in vitro culture. I will then reproduce the identified drivers of this process for obtaining a fully in vitro vascularized 3D brain tissue model, without the need for transplantation. Finally, I will show that the manipulation of this vascularized 3D models allows for studying the vascular contribution to mechanisms of neurodegeneration and for evaluating possible intervention strategies.  The optimization of in vitro vascularized 3D brain tissue models will facilitate reducing costs and number of experimental animals. Also, their ease of manipulation and high-throughput will facilitate mechanism investigation and drug screening.  Altogether, the MSCA fellowship will allow me to work on a relevant project while building critical skills for continuing my career as an independent researcher.

Mots clés : vascularization, 3d in vitro models, human induced pluripotent stem cells

Participants :
- Université Louis-et-Maximilien de Munich (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 202125.12 €
Projet IMMSYM (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Algae live inside corals and transfer valuable nutrients to them. This essential endosymbiotic relationship is the foundation of reef ecosystems. Elevated temperature, as a consequence of climate change, disrupts this symbiosis, resulting in the expulsion of algae, coral bleaching, and eventual reef destruction. Symbiosis establishment and bleaching significantly alters the expression of numerous host immune genes. This suggests that coral immunity regulates symbiosis, but the mechanisms remain elusive. I aim to understand the role of host immunity in coral-algal symbiosis using anemones as a model. In my host laboratory, we were able to generate immune mutants and transgenic lines to monitor distinct stages of symbiosis. Taking advantage of these lines, and the molecular tools established in the host laboratory such as quantitative phagocytosis assays, fluorescence microscopy, and transcriptomics, I will functionally determine how immunity regulates symbiosis. I will assay how immune activation and genetic mutation impacts symbiont uptake by anemone larvae, as this is the first step in symbiosis establishment. Subsequently, I will perform RNA sequencing to determine genes downstream of immunity that control symbiont uptake. Second, I will compare bleaching rates in anemones upon immune activation in both wild-type and immune mutants, perform RNA sequencing and identify genes altered in mutants to elucidate mechanisms of immune control of bleaching. Third, I will do comparative coral fieldwork to determine whether immune stimulation and mutation alters symbiosis establishment and bleaching in corals from their natural environment. Using novel functional tools this project will provide new insight into how evolutionarily ancient innate immune pathways have been co-opted to regulate coral symbiosis in health and what goes awry under environmental stress, providing valuable information to guide restoration efforts.

Mots clés : coral bleaching, symbiosis, innate immunity, algae, anemones, aiptasia, imaging, genetics, bioinformatics, cell biology

Participants :
- Université Louis-et-Maximilien de Munich (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 173847.36 €
Projet TLRT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Immunotherapy, particularly adoptive T cell therapies (ACT), has revolutionized cancer treatment, providing significant benefits to patients with haematological malignancies. Despite these successes, their effectiveness against solid tumors remains limited. A major unaddressed obstacle in treating solid malignancies with ACT is the suppression of T cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME), which hampers their sustained activity against tumor cells. Thus, there is a critical need to optimize these therapies to be effective against a wider range of cancer types. One promising approach involves engineering adoptive T cells with switch receptors (SRs) that convert the detection of extracellular suppressive signals into intracellular T cell activation. Damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) are endogenous ‘danger’ ligands and powerful innate immune agonists that signal through Toll-like receptors (TLRs) to various cell types, playing an essential role in mounting protective immunity. However, the potential to utilize these innate immune signals to empower therapeutic T cells remains unexplored. This research proposal aims to enhance ACT against solid tumors by leveraging innate immune signals to improve T cell function within the suppressive TME. Specifically, the goals are (1) to design innovative SRs that amplify TLR costimulatory signalling upon detecting TME immunosuppressive factors, and (2) to incorporate these SRs into T cells, evaluating their therapeutic potential in both TCR-T and CAR-T therapies using complementary murine and human tumor models. By harnessing innate inflammatory signals, the proposed strategy seeks to boost fitness, cytotoxicity, and resilience of infused T cells, enabling them to navigate and function more effectively within the immunosuppressive TME of solid tumors. The advancements from this research could be transformative for cancer treatment paradigms, offering new hope for a broader spectrum of cancer patients.

Mots clés : adoptive cell therapy act , tlr, switch receptor sr

Participants :
- Université Louis-et-Maximilien de Munich (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 202125.12 €