Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet RENA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : European Researchers' Night
Statut du projet : CLOSED

A diverse team of experts in scientific research and science communication from leading Research Institutes and Educational Organizations, located in the Athens Metropolitan area, is formed to organize the Researcher's Night activities for the years 2016 and 2017. By adopting the concept “Science invites People”, we propose a large scale REN, in 2016, at NCSR "Demokritos", the largest Science Research campus in Greece, and a similar event in 2017 at at the Foundation of the Hellenic World, a multiplex where science meets entertainment and exploration, organized by the National Observatory of Athens. Based on past experience, we plan activities for an expected attendance of several thousand visitors. Our proposal involves activities from several scientific domains exemplifying in many cases the benefits of Interdisciplinarity. The activities will include the organization of pre-events, as part of the awareness campaign, as well as parallel events at three regions across Greece including Rhodes, Corinth and Pylos, where participating Institutions have satellite installations, so as to maximize impact and reach. The purpose of the project is to convey to the general public the key ideas that Research is a necessary ingredient for progress, the Researchers are an integral part of the community and their profession is both fun, challenging, interesting and worth pursuing. The presentation of the work of the scientists to the Greek public will showcase the need of scientific and technological breakthroughs leading to inventions and opportunities that benefit society in many ways.

Mots clés : science, progress, society, career, scientist

Participants :
- Epistimi epikoinonia (Grèce) — Partner, beneficiary, Autres, subvention : 17120.0 €
- Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (Grèce) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 17920.0 €
- National Hellenic Research Foundation (Grèce) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 16000.0 €
- National Centre of Scientific Research "Demokritos" (Grèce) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 50400.0 €
- Athena Research and Innovation Center In Information Communication & Knowledge Technologies (Grèce) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 16000.0 €
- Idrima meizonos ellinismou (Grèce) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 8960.0 €
- National Observatory of Athens (Grèce) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 33600.0 €
Projet ZELDA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

A long-standing question in biology is how do transcription activators and repressors exert their function over large batteries of specific targets spread throughout the genome in a timely and coordinated way. An excellent model system to study this process is zygotic genome activation (ZGA) that happens during development of every animal and hallmarks initiation of transcription from the zygotic genome. During ZGA, developmental cues such as morphogen gradients are converted into coordinated and robust spatiotemporal patterns of gene expression. I will study the mechanisms that govern this process by focusing on transcriptional activator Zelda – a key protein that orchestrates ZGA in Drosophila melanogaster. Using in vitro assays on purified recombinant proteins, I will investigate Zelda’s interactions with DNA, chromatin, RNA and transcription factors and examine the capability of such reconstituted system to recapitulate key aspects of gene regulation such as local clustering of regulatory DNA regions and transcription factors. I will examine structural and biophysical properties of Zelda, test its propensity to undergo liquid-liquid phase separation and explore the consequences it has for its interactions with its binding partners and its function. The in vitro approach will be combined with in vivo experiments in Drosophila using tagged wild-type and mutant variants. This combined approach will give us novel insights into mechanisms governing zygotic genome activation as well as general rules of transcriptional regulation. Local clustering of enhancer and promoters emerges as a general principle of transcriptional regulation. Understanding the mechanisms that could drive formation of these micro-domains is therefore of paramount importance, not only to basic biology, but also for development of new strategies to treat diseases caused by transcriptional dysregulation.

Mots clés : organisation of transcription, zygotic genome activation, in vitro reconstitution, liquid liquid phase separation

Participants :
- Max Planck Society (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 159460.8 €
Projet PHOSPHOR (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

A longstanding problem in combustion research is that there is no means to simultaneously measure the temperature and velocity in high-temperature, chemically-reacting flows, which is essential to probe complex turbulence-chemistry interactions found in advanced combustion systems. The aim of this project is to solve this problem using a novel laser-based temperature-velocity imaging technique developed by the host organisation (Lehrstuhl für Technische Thermodynamik (LTT), Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Germany), which uses thermographic phosphor particles as a flow ‘tracer’. The primary objective of the action is to increase the measureable temperature range via synthesis of new phosphor particles optimised for flow temperature sensing. LTT will collaborate with the Advanced Combustion and Propulsion Lab (ACP), Princeton University, USA, who have developed innovative synthesis methods capable of producing phosphor particles with specific physical and optical properties. At ACP, the candidate fellow (LTT) will learn how to produce phosphors using these advanced methods, and then return to LTT where the new materials will be characterised and proven in flames. A laboratory for phosphor particle production and luminescence characterisation will be installed at LTT. The candidate fellow will develop unique, interdisciplinary expertise in thermographic phosphors, materials that will be at the forefront of future remote sensing technologies. The project will result in completely new measurement capabilities for fundamental and applied research, allowing the design of cleaner, fuel-efficient engines in key automotive, aerospace and power generation industries, thereby using fewer resources and reducing environmental impact. These novel materials will find use in lighting and display technologies and biological sensing, maximising both the impact of the action and opportunities for future collaboration with ACP and other EU research institutions and industry.

Mots clés : temperature imaging, thermometry, thermographic phosphors, laser diagnostics, flow diagnostics, combustion, turbulence, particle image velocimetry, spectroscopic techniques, luminescent materials

Participants :
- Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 199828.2 €
- Princeton University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet RESIST (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Staff Exchanges
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

A major challenge faced by modern agriculture is abiotic stress caused by unfavourable environmental conditions. Global warming is expected to further intensify these problems, including frequency and severity of drought stress, which seriously affect both crop quality and yield. Therefore, timely action is needed to find solutions to mitigate the consequences of water deprivation. A small number of species called resurrection plants, which can tolerate desiccation of their vegetative organs, are a natural resource that can be tapped to solve this problem. They can withstand transition to air-dried state and completely restore physiological activities upon rehydration. In this project, we will study the genomes of several resurrection species and compare them with the genomes of desiccation-sensitive plants to identify molecular mechanisms that are involved in drought tolerance. In addition to the publicly available data of resurrection plants with already sequenced genomes, we will sequence and analyze two more- Haberlea rhodopensis and Xerophyta humilis. Comparative transcriptomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics of resurrection, model, and crop plants subjected to drought will bring further insights about the nature of drought stress tolerance. The research team involves European specialists in resurrection species, drought signaling, plant systems biology and bioinformatics, a partner from Israel experienced in lipidomics, and the leading African university with expertise in resurrection plants and bioinformatics. Next to that, an industrial partner will ensure that the knowledge gained by studying the resurrection and model species is transferred to crops. Moreover, the company will contribute with novel biostimulant based treatment technologies to mitigate stress and achieve optimal yield and net profit. An extensive mobility program will provide staff exchange to maximize research outputs and increase the human capacity of the partners.

Mots clés : comparative  omics, desiccation tolerance, drought stress, resurrection species, xerophyta humilis, haberlea rhodopensis

Participants :
- University of Potsdam (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 332258.0 €
- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Israël) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 156400.0 €
- Max Planck Society (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 87400.0 €
- BioAtlantis (Ireland) (Irlande) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 119600.0 €
- University of Cape Town (Afrique du Sud) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Tsentar po rastitelna sistemna biologiya i biotehnogiya (Bulgarie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 366942.0 €
Projet WEAVERBIRD_DEFENCE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

A major challenge for evolutionary biologists is to explain how selection maintains biodiversity. Coevolution between closely associated species contributes substantially to the diversity of life. Yet little is known about how coevolutionary pressures between different species interact with selection from intraspecific social interactions. I will address this fundamental gap in our knowledge by analysing how sexual selection interacts with the evolution of host defences against a brood parasite. Cuckoos and their hosts provide a textbook example of coevolution, by reciprocally selecting for better parasitic tricks or better host defences. I will determine whether sexual selection influences the trajectory and pace of coevolutionary change and investigate whether this is why similar coevolutionary arms races have such diverse outcomes. The weaverbirds and their brood parasite the Diederik cuckoo provide an unrivalled opportunity to test this hypothesis given that weaverbirds exhibit a sexually-selected extended phenotypic trait: an elaborate nest that the females choose before mating with the male and laying in his nest. This trait also potentially doubles as a deterrent to brood parasites, by preventing them from gaining access to the nest. Second, this trait can be precisely quantified by applying state-of-the-art computational and analytical techniques to this novel context. Third, populations of weaverbirds have been introduced to islands where they have existed in the absence of selection from brood parasitism for over one hundred generations, providing the opportunity to partition out effects of different selection pressures. With this interdisciplinary approach I will investigate whether nest architectural defences have evolved to combat brood parasitism, how the evolution of these defences interacts with sexual selection, and how the evolution of nest architecture influences the evolution of other forms of defence against brood parasites.

Mots clés : evolution, brood parasitism, coevolution, biotic conflict, sexual selection, female choice, social evolution

Participants :
- University of Cambridge (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 289732.8 €
- Princeton University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet DIMENSIVE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

A major challenge in cognitive neuroscience is to understand how behaviour arises from the dynamical interaction of an organism’s nervous system, its body, and its environment. Understanding embodied neural activity involves the resolution of various conceptual, technical and methodological issues in explaining how living organisms self-organize at many levels (from neural bio-chemistry to behaviour and learning). Currently, two important obstacles hinder this endeavour: the difficulties in recording neural activity in behaving animals, and the lack of mathematical tools to characterize the complex brain-body-environment interactions in living organisms. In this project we will address current limits by implementing an interdisciplinary combination of novel animal behaviour neuroimaging setups and large-scale statistical methods, with the goal of recording and modelling whole-brain activity of locomoting vertebrates. We will study fictively swimming larval zebrafish during active behaviour in a pioneering experimental setup, recording neural activity utilizing light-sheet microscopy for calcium imaging in different virtual reality scenarios involving sensorimotor manipulations. In this setup, we will collect data from the distributed neural circuits that integrate sensory signals from the environment (exafferent input) and their own movements (reafferent input), as well as plastic processes of habituation to new sensorimotor contingencies. From this data, we will infer large-scale generative models (i.e. models capable of yielding synthetic data resembling the studied phenomena) of embodied neural circuits by complementing dynamical models and techniques from statistical mechanics with innovative information theoretic and Bayesian inference methods and approximations for very large systems in non-equilibrium and non-stationary conditions.

Mots clés : computational neuroscience, animal behaviour, zebrafish, calcium imaging, virtual reality, statistical models, neural networks, information theory, bayesian inference

Participants :
- University of Sussex (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 212933.76 €
Projet SuperMag (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

A major challenge in contemporary physics is to understand and control unconventional states of matter, such as topological superconductors and Majorana fermions (MFs). Once harnessed, this physics offers bright prospects for low-power superconducting digital electronics and fault-tolerant quantum computation. Recent proposals showed that ordered chains of magnetic impurities, in proximity of a superconductor, can hold a MFs. This state come from a precise cooperation between superconductivity and magnetism. I propose to study this cooperation in a unique system consisting of a nanoscopic metallic island where these two mechanism can be, for the first time, independently controlled. Specifically I will combine two novel technologies for my studies: (i) the superconducting quantum interference proximity transistor (SQUIPT) and (ii) the molecular spin doping. The SQUIPT is a novel device composed by a nanoscopic metallic island in proximity of a superconducting loop able to induce and control superconductivity in the normal metal, whereas molecular spin doping allows for controlled chemical deposition of magnetic impurities in the same normal metal. My first objective is to study the competition/cooperation between the magnetic and the superconducting correlations induced in the electrons of the nanoscopic metallic island by measuring the amplitude and phase of the superconducting Josephson current. Secondly, I will investigate the effect of the magnetic impurities on the quasi-electrons density of states in such junction. Successful combination of my bottom-up and top-down approaches will contribute at first instance to the understating of this fundamental competition/cooperation and later to the highly sought-after and ambitious target of the demonstrating MFs in the solid-state. Tunnel spectroscopy measurements of the SQUIPT will reveal the MFs that, at cryogenic temperatures, can emerge in the metallic island properly doped by the magnetic impurities.

Mots clés : majorana states, topological superconductivity, squipt

Participants :
- National Research Council (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 180277.2 €
Projet NEARCONTROL (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

A major shortcoming of contemporary coastal research is the poor quantification of geological control in nearshore hydrodynamic and morphosedimentary processes along natural and developed coastal areas. This is particularly relevant given the global dominance of geologically-constrained coastlines, which face increasing risks driven by extreme storm events and growing societal pressures on the coast. This project aims to advance the knowledge of beach and nearshore morphodynamics within complex geomorphological settings, dominated by multi-dimensional geological control. The fundamental objective is to quantify the role and impact of nearshore geological control under energetic conditions. This will be accomplished by developing a ground-breaking approach, based on state-of-the-art surveying and monitoring methods to acquire unprecedented geophysical, morphological and hydrodynamic information of the beach and nearshore zones in geomorphological complex settings. New-generation process-based modelling will be implemented to explore wave-driven currents and patterns of sediment transport under realistic settings and conditions. Linking the sedimentary and geological framework of the beach and nearshore with field measurements and numerical modelling constitute a novel approach that will lead to fundamental advances in coastal geomorphology, further improving the ability to predict storm-induced erosion in geologically-controlled settings. To bring together these embedded scales of analysis and innovative approaches, this project is based on collaboration with international-leading experts in coastal geomorphology, marine geology and geophysics and coastal modelling. Expertise and skills developed by the fellow will contribute to an internationally-leading academic and research profile, promoting European research with global collaborations.

Mots clés : geomorphology, marine geology, nearshore, beach, morphodynamics, marine geophysics, hydrodynamics, numerical modelling

Participants :
- University of Ulster (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 203200.2 €
- University of KwaZulu-Natal (Afrique du Sud) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet BIC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

A multitude of models have proposed different mechanisms underlying bilingual language control, a process that restricts bilingual language processing to the target language. Many, but not all, of these models assume that inhibition plays an integral role during bilingual language control. However, there is little empirical evidence for such a claim. In the current proposal, a list of 8 experiments are put forward that investigate, in both production and comprehension, whether there is inhibition and whether this inhibition persists and is reactive, as proposed by several models. Moreover, the current proposal also allows for an investigation into the locus of inhibitory control, which is a largely neglected subject. To investigate inhibition, n-2 language repetition costs would be examined, which entail worse performance on language A in ABA than in CBA sequences (with A, B, and C being trials in different languages). Finally, based on a previous comprehension-based computational model of language control (BIA-model) and the data obtained in the current proposal, a computational model of inhibitory control during bilingual language production would be constructed, which is novel in the field.

Mots clés : psycholinguistics, language production, language comprehension, bilingualism, inhibition

Participants :
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 173076.0 €
Projet CATRATS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

A new catalytic enantioselective cycloisomerisation reaction for the direct creation of the azabicyclic core of strychnos alkaloids is proposed. Strychnos alkaloids have been the subject of intensive investigation over the last decades. Recently, leuconicines A and B, which are new members of the Strychnos alkaloid family, have been isolated from extracts of the Malaysian plant Leuconotis maingayi. Leuconicines possess significant bioactivity and they potently reverse multidrug resistance in vincristine-resistant leukemia cells. However, further studies into the biological profile of these natural products are hindered due to insufficient quantities being available from the natural source. In order to secure sufficient quantities and fully determine the therapeutic potential of the leuconicines, a new source of these target molecules is required. A new synthetic route which develops and incorporates ‘state-of-the-art’ methodologies to rapidly forge the extremely complex 6,5,5,6,6,6 hexacyclic ring system and 4 stereocenters, will provide the material. Nevertheless, the synthetic routes toward complex natural products are usually long, contain many individual steps and involve manipulations after each step. For these reasons, new, simple and synthetically efficient organic transformations which reduce the drain of resources are desired. This Fellowship project combines total synthesis, new catalytic enantioselective methodology development, computational calculations and biological evaluation. It has been designed to augment and complement the research and transferable skills sets of the Marie Curie fellow and will greatly enhance his career prospects accordingly. Through the training and the research results arising, the Fellowship will be beneficial to the fellow, the host institution and European science.

Mots clés : enantioselective catalysis, organic chemistry, new methods development, total synthesis, desymmetization

Participants :
- University of Oxford (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €