Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ImpExpPrimates (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Psychology of human learning distinguishes implicit learning, i.e. the incidental acquisition of unconscious knowledge, from explicit learning, i.e. the deliberate acquisition of conscious knowledge. Despite that a comparative and developmental approach is indispensable to better understand their conditions of emergence, functions and underlying mechanisms, the hypothesis of a similar distinction between implicit and explicit forms of learning in other species has been largely overlooked so far, and their ontogeny in humans is not fully understood. The present proposal offers to tackle this issue by assessing the hypothesis of a dual-process account of sequence and artificial grammar learning in a range of non-human primate species, and to trace its development from early childhood. For this purpose, we will adopt a novel approach by using non-verbal computerized tasks equally usable in human adults, children, and non-human primates. The proposed experiments rely on a well-established paradigm from the human literature, where a dissociation between implicit and explicit learning is evidenced by successful control over the expression of the acquired knowledge under conditions promoting explicit learning, and failure to do so under conditions promoting implicit learning. These studies will provide key data to characterize the relationships between learning and consciousness beyond the adult human mind, through the support of a leading expert in the study of conscious and unconscious processes in humans, Prof Jérôme Sackur (Ecole Normale Supérieure, France) and in collaboration with a renowned comparative and developmental psychologist, Prof Daniel Haun (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany). This interdisciplinary approach will be strengthened by initiating a collaborative research program aimed at exploring dual-process theories of cognition in a comparative and developmental perspective.

Mots clés : learning, consciousness, dual process theories of cognition, artificial grammar learning, sequence learning, monkeys, apes, animal cognition, comparative psychology, children, ontogeny, development

Participants :
- École normale supérieure PSL (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 184707.84 €
Projet GENDOSIS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Psychotic disorders impose an increasing burden on the health of the European population, with an estimated five million affected individuals. As available drugs remain ineffective for 30% of the patients and come with many secondary effects, there is urgent need to develop effective and safe therapeutic agents. Due to the high heritability of psychotic disorders, genetics shows great potential to inform the molecular mechanisms behind their pathogenesis. However, the information we have gathered on psychosis genetics has not translated into improved therapeutics yet, due to, among other reasons, two big limitations: poor knowledge of the mechanisms behind the genetics – psychosis relation and high levels of heterogeneity at the molecular level in the patient population. The research program we present aims at relieving the burden of these limitations using a genotype – endophenotype mapping strategy to shed light on disease mechanisms and identify genetic variants to be used in a patient-stratification analysis. Using a large dataset of psychosis patients, unaffected relatives and unrelated controls with genotypic and endophenotypic data we will perform a comprehensive genotype – endophenotype mapping through genome-wide linkage and association analyses. The results of the mapping will be fed into a patient stratification strategy coupling unsupervised clustering with a machine-learning construction of a classifier. The final objective is to identify genetic subtypes of psychosis, provide a classifier for these subtypes and build subtype-specific genotype – endophenotype association maps. This potentially high-impact result-generating research program, along with a five-course training program, Dr. Bramon’s supervision and the excellent research environment provided by UCL, will allow me to acquire the scientific and transferable skills and build the collaboration network necessary to launch my career as an independent researcher.

Mots clés : psychosis, endophenotypes, linkage, gwas, quantitative trait loci, snps, cnvs, rare mutations, epistasis, unsupervised clustering, genetic subtypes, machine learning, classifier

Participants :
- University of London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet SchoolFlex (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Economic Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Public schools are the largest providers of education in many countries. In the vast majority of the OECD countries, more than two third of secondary students were educated in public schools in 2016. The "non-market" feature of admissions to this type of schools calls for a careful design of how to allocate seats to students. In recent decades, school choice has appeared as a promising alternative. Centralized public school choice is a system that allocates public school seats to students by taking into account their preferences over various schools. Each school has a fixed capacity and a priority order that is determined by law. Stability --- essentially about respecting priorities --- and efficiency --- maximizing students' welfare --- have been the guiding principles for public school choice design. Yet, it is impossible to satisfy both principles. However, the Gale-Shapley student proposing deferred acceptance is a second best solution, being the student-optimal stable (constraint) matching mechanism. Nevertheless, the welfare loss is considerable. I observed that this is in part due to the fact that capacities are assumed to be rigid. I interpret them as (class size) ideal capacities because, in practice, schools are flexible so that they can add a few seats to their reported capacities. In theory, this flexibility can be exploited to mitigate the welfare loss in deferred acceptance. The flexibility is subjected to not adding more seat to the whole system, so it is a transfer of capacities. This project aims at designing a student-optimal stable matching mechanism under transferable capacities. More specifically, I will study such a mechanism and empirically evaluate the welfare gains of transferable capacities. I will also study the feasibility of stability and full efficiency. Such a mechanism will help improve the assignment of public school seats to students in many cities around the world, including Boston, many cities in England and Hungary.

Mots clés : two sided matching, school choice, market design, mechanism design, game theory, microeconomics theory

Participants :
- University of Lausanne (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 191149.44 €
Projet PUNISH (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Punishment is ubiquitous. We discipline children when they misbehave, and we demand even harsher sanctions for criminal offences. Punishment is thought to serve a communicative purpose: Through punishment, victims and third parties seek to send various “messages” to transgressors (e.g., condemning the wrongness of the act and imploring them to reform). But are these messages effectively delivered and understood by transgressors? And does the interpretation of a punitive message have the desired effects on the transgressor? To answer these questions, this research examines (a) the types of messages transgressors receive through punishment (why they think they are being punished), and (b) transgressors’ reactions to them (e.g., perceived fairness, experienced remorse). Further, it explores (c) the features of a punitive message that influences how the message is interpreted by transgressors. The research will be built on a theoretical framework that integrates knowledge from three distinct fields: legal philosophy, social psychology, and behavioural economics. The specific hypotheses deducted from this framework will be tested in controlled experimental lab studies as well as in a court setting. The insights from this research will be informative to all disciplines interested in criminal justice and punishment. First, this research will develop our theoretical understanding of punitive procedures and their effects. Second, it has important implications for how we should deliver punishment to enhance justice outcomes, whether in the context of formal legal proceedings or informal sanctions. The quality of the research will be strengthened by access to exceptional research facilities and expertise at the host university, and interdisciplinary collaboration with scholars both within the university and beyond. Further, the expertise and methodological training acquired through the fellowship will significantly develop the researcher’s capacities and profile.

Mots clés : social psychology, justice, punishment

Participants :
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 87403.2 €
Projet ChirPyr (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Pyridine and its derivatives are abundant structural motives in nature and widely used in medicinal chemistry. In this research program we propose to develop catalytic enantioselective methods for the synthesis of chiral pyridines with tertiary and quaternary stereocenters through the catalytic addition of readily available and highly reactive organometallics to conjugated alkenyl pyridines. Furthermore, the proposed methodology will be used for the generation of contiguous stereocenters via sequential conjugate addition/Mg-aza-enolate trapping strategies. The synthesis of this kind of chiral compounds will permit further functionalization of pyridine products through the partial or total hydrogenation reactions of aromatic pyridine rings, or the introduction of different electrophiles in various positions of the aromatic ring.

Mots clés : heterocycles, copper catalyst, conjugate addition, grignard reagents, asymmetric synthesis

Participants :
- University of Groningen (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 177598.8 €
Projet PYRAMID (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Pyrin and HIN domain (PYHIN) proteins play an integral role in the innate immune response to DNA and RNA viruses via direct detection of viral DNA and transcriptional regulation of pro-inflammatory and anti-viral cytokines respectively. Although expressed by various cells of the myeloid lineage, including some classical antigen presenting cells, the role of PYHINs in the context of T cell-mediated adaptive immunity has yet to be investigated. This project aims to elucidate how PYHIN proteins modulate acute and long-term CD8+ memory T cell responses to influenza A virus (IAV), a respiratory RNA virus which causes significant morbidity and mortality annually. Current seasonal IAV vaccines, exhibit variable efficacy and the neutralising antibodies they induce cannot protect against alternative IAV strains, particularly those with pandemic potential. In contrast, IAV-specific CD8+ memory T cells can elicit such cross-protective immunity by targeting conserved viral proteins, thus making the identification of mechanisms which give rise to these cells high priority in the search for a universal IAV vaccine. Herein, we will perform in-depth characterisation of PYHIN expression in human and murine dendritic cells. We will also perform genetic manipulation of PYHIN expression in primary immune cells to interrogate functionality and undertake infection studies in transgenic mice lacking certain PYHIN family members to determine their role in the formation of IAV-specific T cell memory in vivo. Overall, this project is extremely timely, providing crucial mechanistic insight which can inform rational vaccine design aimed at eliciting cross-protective T cell responses to respiratory RNA viruses.

Mots clés : viral sensing, pyhin, anti viral, innate, adaptive, t cell memory, influenza, dendritic, cd8  t cell

Participants :
- Trinity College Dublin (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 184590.72 €
Projet NETDEM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : TERMINATED

Quantifying the interplay of demography and social structure is a key challenge in diverse research fields from ecology to sociology. Social relationships, and the way they are interconnected to form the social network of a population, are closely linked to population dynamics. Changes in population size can change these networks, with implications for important ecological or evolutionary processes, such as cooperation, conflict and infectious disease spread. For example, links between social structure and demography can influence whether a population acts as a reservoir host of diseases with societal impacts, or shape how social animals respond to sudden human-induced environmental change. However, due to the complexity of quantifying the demography and social network structure of wild populations, we still understand little about how interplay between the two arises or when it is important. The objectives of the proposal are to develop a modelling framework that allows the integration of demography and social network structure, and apply it to gain insights into social and disease dynamics in European badgers. Through cross-disciplinary collaboration, I will integrate cutting-edge statistical approaches in the modelling of social networks and population dynamics, and produce software to make these new tools widely available to other researchers. The host lab, led by Dr Gimenez has world-leading expertise in mathematical ecology, animal demography and conservation. The candidate, Dr Silk, is an expert in applying social network analysis to study behavioural dynamics and infectious disease transmission. This combined skillset will enable the development of innovative statistical tools that can be applied across research disciplines (e.g. ecology, sociology, public health), as well as address timely questions at the interface of population biology and behavioural ecology that have wide-reaching implications for wildlife conservation and management.

Mots clés : demographic modelling, mark recapture model, social network analysis, infectious disease dynamics

Participants :
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 184707.84 €
Projet MCMQCT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Quantitative assessment of cellular phenotypes can result from various processes such as genetic manipulation, gene silencing, drug application or environmental changes. In many biological processes evident development of phenotypes often requires a long-term study of the sample, which can capture events at high-resolution and high frame rates. The essential working tool for this kind of studies is the optical microscope, which is essentially limited by a small field of view of the sample in two-dimensional (2D) environment, unsuitable for the quantitative assessment of cells in a more natural environment, in which they develop and evolve within complex communities. For this task, I purpose a novel platform based on a holographic on-chip microscopy which represents a new generation of computational microscopes, by integrating transformative technologies, which will ultimately enable five-dimensional, photodamage optimized at diffraction limited resolution, quantitative cell tracking. We believe that these functionalities and the platform's cost effectiveness will enable next generation high-throughput scientific research on the influence of drugs, genome modification and environmental changes, developing new models for cell locomotion, such as viral plague growth assays performed in hospitals and clinics, detection of parasites and bacteria in food/water and for education purposes, including in developing countries.

Mots clés : quantitative cell tracking

Participants :
- University of California System (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Bar-Ilan University (Israël) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 263385.0 €
Projet SatCV (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) allows two parties to exchange a cryptographic key in an unconditionally secure way. Thus, this system will be secure even after the development of a quantum computer, which is thought to efficiently break current key exchange mechanisms based on public-key cryptography. While most current QKD implementations are fiber-based, its intrinsic limitation to some hundred kilometers, due to fiber losses, makes satellite QKD a crucial technology for the establishment of a secure link at a world-wide scale. The research on satellite QKD has mainly focused on discrete variable (DV) protocols, which are less sensitive to channel transmission but require single photon detection technology. Continuous variable (CV) protocols, on the other hand, are based on standard telecom detection technology, which is much faster and more efficient. Recently, CV protocols have shown to work well in high losses fiber-based environments. This action aims to extend the CV scheme to the free-space domain, implementing a full, self-referenced CV-QKD scheme on a free-space channel, as a first step for a future satellite implementation of such technology.

Mots clés : quantum key distribution, continuous variables, free space, satellite

Participants :
- Sorbonne Université (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 184707.84 €
Projet QSENS-NMR (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : TERMINATED

Quantum enhanced magnetometers (QEM) based on nitrogen vacancy centres in diamond provide nanoscale spatial resolution and single atom sensitivity that can achieve magneto-optical imaging, thermometry and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of individual molecules. These have implications in various areas of fundamental science, biomedicine and information storage. One goal of QSENS-NMR is to solve the main challenges which prevent diamond to integrate and scale up thousands of QEM's on a single chip. These consider: challenging diamond waveguide fabrication, incompatibility with the Complementary-Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) industry, scalability and commercialisation limitation given by the expensive, time consuming material growth and wafer size of diamond. QSENS-NMR aims to solve these issues by utilising Silicon Vacancy (SiV) defects in 4H-Silicon carbide (4H-SiC) material. Thanks to wafer bonding pieces from 6 inch 4H-SiC and Silicon Dioxide on Silicon wafers, QSENS-NMR will demonstrate waveguide fabrication in a CMOS compatible manner where shallow SiV defects will be implanted using scalable Focus Ion Beam. In such configuration, light can be easily coupled to simultaneously excite multiple defects. Additional fabrication of gold contacts will demonstrate the first on chip spin control and photoelectrical spin readout (PDMR) of single colour centers in SiC. The second goal of QSENS-NMR is to utilise the opportunity to manipulate and measure spin states in order to demonstrate the first submiliHertz NMR spectroscopy with SiC colour centres. By integrating simple, microfluidic channels, multiple samples of water can be delivered to various spatial locations of the chip where high resolution NMR measurements will be achieved using the Quantum Homodyne technique. QSENS-NMR thus paves the way to one day possibly scale up to thousands of NMR sensors on a single chip which can be used as a scalable diagnostic tool for cancer or viral research.

Mots clés : silicon carbide solid state quantum sensors, solid state quantum enhanced magnetometers, integrated quantum nanophotonics

Participants :
- University of Ulm (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 262948.8 €
- Nanyang Technological University (Singapour) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet QSPACE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Quantum experiments in space open up numerous interesting technological and scientific possibilities in the last years. Long-distance quantum communication (QC) is one of the first applications that would benefit from these advances as quantum information can be transferred over very long distances by satellites. However, this range is limited by the line-of sight distance which limits the direct transmission of quantum information to around few thousand kilometres. One solution to reach true global distances while relaxing the security assumptions used in satellite QC is to equip satellites with quantum memories (QMs). This would allow the implementation of satellite-based quantum repeater networks that could potentially cover global distances and increase the secret key rates by synchronising otherwise probabilistic detection events. On the other hand, scientifically, the possibility of observing gravitational effects on quantum systems has the promise of bringing new perspectives into the search of a quantum theory of gravitation. In this regard, research into long-lived entanglement of quantum matter systems in curved space time could yield new physical insights. Along these lines we propose to develop a space-compatible, small-footprint laser-cooled quantum memory with storage times in the order of seconds. Our preliminary work suggests that such a system could beat the memory-less quantum communication schemes with realistic memory performances.

Mots clés : quantum memories, quantum communication, quantum key distribution, satellite based communication, quantum repeaters

Participants :
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 162806.4 €