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

The genus Enterovirus comprises many important human pathogens (e.g. polio-, coxsackie-, and rhinovirus) that cause a wide array of diseases ranging from mild to life-threatening. As there are hundreds of enteroviruses and vaccination to all of these is not feasible, there is an unmet need for pan-enterovirus antiviral drugs. Hence, we need to deepen our knowledge on the enterovirus life cycle and virus-host interactions. Mammalian cells express an arsenal of sensors that function to restrict virus replication and spreading. These include RIG-I and MDA5, which recognize viral RNA and trigger expression of type I interferon (IFN), and PKR, a kinase that upon recognition of viral RNA blocks translation and triggers the formation of membrane-less condensates, so-called stress granules (SGs), that serve as platform for RIG-I and MDA5 signaling. On the other hand, viruses have developed sophisticated mechanisms to suppress antiviral responses. The enterovirus 2A protease (2Apro) has been recognized by the host lab to antagonize SG formation and IFN-gene transcription. Emerging evidence points towards the existence of many more types of condensates with a role in antiviral signaling, such as PKR clusters, RNase L bodies, and cGAS foci. Unfortunately, comprehensive insight into the composition, formation, and dynamics of these condensates in infected cells are missing. In this project, I aim to comprehensively characterize antiviral condensates in cells infected with wild-type enterovirus or a 2Apro inactive mutant. I will use state-of-the-art microscopy approaches, including an assay that was recently developed by the host lab and that allows real-time visualization of the viral life cycle. Besides, I will assess the role of condensates as signaling platforms that connect stress sensors with effectors of the innate immune response in infected cells. This project will provide insights into enterovirus-host interactions and may uncover new targets for antiviral therapy.

Mots clés : human pathogen, enterovirus, viral replication cycle, biomolecular condensates, liquid liquid phase separation, antiviral response

Participants :
- Université d'Utrecht (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 187624.32 €
Projet MyBond (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The development of natural-based materials is crucial to reduce environmental impact and achieve a circular economy. Fungal mycelium has recently achieved significant attention as a new biobased sustainable material. In nature, filamentous fungi colonize lignocellulosic (i.e. plant) substrates such as wood and agriculture waste streams; their elongated mycelium works as a natural glue that binds the substrate together. Taking advantage of this unique binding property, people have developed innovative methods to grow fungal mycelium in different lignocellulosic waste streams resulting in composite products with various forms, densities, and target applications. However, little is known about the fundamentals, especially the essential factors that determine the material properties. This project aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the adhesion of mycelium to the substrate and to use this knowledge to enhance this adhesion to optimize fungal mycelium materials thereby contributing to the EU’s sustainable plan. The project will focus on three different levels: understand filamentous fungi adhesion to lignocellulosic surfaces at the molecular level; improve this adhesion based on the findings; apply this technology to novel fungal mycelium-lignocellulosic-based sustainable materials development. This project will carry out a multidisciplinary study linking molecular and chemical biology to materials science and technology. The transfer of knowledge will benefit both the researcher and the host and further promote mycelium material development. The result of this proposal will be shared with researchers in different disciplines, industrial partners, and the public. It will contribute to EU’s sustainable technology.

Mots clés : mycelium adhesion lignocellulosic biomass modification

Participants :
- Université d'Utrecht (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 187624.32 €
Projet QuantISLAMS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

This MSCA-PF-EF project proposal investigates the role of shari'a (Islamic law) in the contemporary national legal systems. Focusing on the case of Morocco from 1913-2012, I combine digital humanities methods with qualitative text analysis to trace the conceptual and functional development of shari'a. I hypothesize that shari'a's practical function is best understood through court cases rather than classical prescriptions or state legislation of it alone. Using approximately 1400 shari'a appeals court records collected during my doctoral fieldwork, I will construct a multi-variable shari'a court database. The database will be a first-of-its-kind data record of case variables including appellate decisions, evidence types, geography, and source material citation. With this database and the conclusions I derive from it, I will embark on a series of publication, scholarly collaboration, and public outreach efforts on shari'a's contemporary role in the world. The publications include three scholarly articles, a collected volume on Islam and colonialism based on a conference that I organize, and a book proposal based on this research. Public outreach efforts include a public lecture series on colonial Islamic legal practice, syllabi on "Understanding Colonialism" and "Understanding Contemporary Islam" for high school students, and an online presence sharing results and analysis. Finally, the database will be published open access online at the end of the fellowship both to aide researchers or stakeholders and to propose a model for assessing shari'a courts worldwide. As many state governments, NGOs, and legal scholars continue debating shari'a's role in the twenty-first century, my project will present a strong historically grounded paradigm of shari'a's contemporary function in state courts.

Mots clés : islamic law, legal history, north africa, morocco, digital humanities

Participants :
- Université d'Utrecht (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 187624.32 €
Projet Remin-T (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

T lymphocytes are essential for immunity to pathogens and malignancies. Activated T cells can retain a ‘memory’ imprint of their adversary (e.g. a virus), enabling them to respond more rapidly and vigorously to any subsequent encounters. While memory T cell formation is critical for successful vaccination and anti-tumor immunity, dysfunctional memory T cells are a common feature of human disease, including allergy, autoimmunity and cancer. T cell activation emerges from changes in gene expression dictated by intricate chromatin dynamics. Recently, 3D chromatin folding emerged as a key regulator of transcriptional control by ensuring correct communication between regulatory elements and their target genes. How memory T cells leverage three-dimensionally organized chromatin configurations to achieve rapid re-activation of specific inflammatory genes is unclear. Hence, the molecular mechanisms that control and maintain immunological memory remain poorly understood. To address this issue, I propose an innovative molecular strategy to dissect immunological memory in primary human CD4+ T cells that combines cutting-edge genome-wide analyses of gene expression, chromatin state and three-dimensional (3D) genome folding with CRISPR/Cas9-based functional assays. This approach will generate the first integrated multidimensional epigenome atlas of a human T cell memory recall response, yielding molecular circuits of genes, regulatory elements and biological pathways underlying human immunological memory. Multimodal single cell genomics assays will reveal the nature of transcriptome-epigenome crosstalk in individual T cells and the heterogeneity of memory recall. These insights will force a breakthrough in our understanding of how human immune cells maintain specific transcriptional programs for launching rapid and tailored responses upon re-activation, and how this feeds into susceptibility to develop disease.


Participants :
- Université Érasme de Rotterdam (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 187624.32 €
Projet NEURO-SECRET (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : TERMINATED

Neurons transmit information by connecting with other neurons over long distances through their dendrites and axons. Repeated stimulation places a high metabolic demand on these cells, leading to the accumulation of defective organelles and protein aggregates. To maintain protein homeostasis, neurons rely on constitutive autophagy to remove these damaged proteins and organelles from their dendrites and axons, targeting them for degradation. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that neurons also secrete a part of this autophagic cargo into the extracellular space. The mechanisms governing neuronal secretory autophagy are still poorly understood. The factors that determine whether autophagic cargo is degraded or secreted, as well as the precise neuronal location from which secretory autophagy occurs, remain unknown. Understanding these mechanisms is highly relevant in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, where the balance between degradative and secretory autophagy is disrupted. In this interdisciplinary project, I will use human iPSC-derived neurons and develop novel molecular tools to elucidate the mechanisms underlying neuronal secretory autophagy. I will employ state-of-the-art bioluminescent and fluorescent reporters to characterize this process with high spatiotemporal resolution, leveraging my experience in studying exosome release during my PhD. Furthermore, I will apply the host lab’s expertise in proximity labeling and chemogenetic relocalization to identify key regulators of neuronal secretory autophagy and explore the potential of modulating secretory autophagy in a cell model for Alzheimer’s disease. Ultimately, this project aims to provide fundamental insights into the mechanisms driving neuronal secretory autophagy and the potential for modulating this process in neurodegenerative diseases.

Mots clés : secretory autophagy, amphisomes, exosomes, neurons, neurodegenerative disease

Participants :
- Université d'Utrecht (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 232916.16 €
Projet CicerBarrierBreak (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

As climate change intensifies, drought has emerged as one of the most severe abiotic stresses, significantly reducing crop yield. Reducing yield loss of crops is crucial by rethinking agriculture to ensure food security. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum), a major legume with high nutritional and several health benefits, is integral to the diets of millions and contributes to sustainable agriculture. However, chickpea faces significant annual yield losses (~50%) due to drought. The root exodermis, a specialized cell layer, plays a crucial role in water retention and protects against pathogens through cell wall barrier deposition. Despite its significance, the mechanisms governing exodermal barrier formation remain poorly understood, due to its absence in the model plant Arabidopsis. Recent findings from the host lab revealed that desi and kabuli chickpea varieties exhibit dynamic inducible and constitutive exodermal barriers differentiation, respectively. My objective is to investigate the underlying mechanism governing these exodermal responses and differentiation. First, I aim to elucidate the gene regulatory networks controlling this exodermal barrier formation through advanced transcriptomic approaches, involving single cell transcriptomic and time-course RNA-seq. These will reveal the developmental and stress-responsive pathways that orchestrate barrier formation. Second, I will test the role of key transcription factors (TFs)/genes through genetic modifications via hairy root transformation, molecular interaction and promoter activity assays. This will provide insights into how these regulators regulate this barrier differentiation, and stress response that impact barrier traits. The novel insights gained from this proposal will not only advance our understanding of cell-type-specific stress responses, but facilitate its translation for targeted breeding strategies aim at enhancing stress resilience and improving crop yield.

Mots clés : exodermis, root, barrier, gene regulatory networks, abiotic stress, drought tolerance, legumes, chickpea, suberin biosynthesis, differentiation, dynamic, scrna seq, rna seq, gene editing

Participants :
- Université d'Utrecht (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 217076.16 €
Projet Protein ER-ways (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The human proteome is primarily synthesized at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane through the ribosome-translocon complex. This assembly is crucial for protein synthesis, translocation, membrane insertion and post-translational modification. Depending on the type of protein being synthesized, the translocon adopts either a secretory (soluble proteins) or multipass (membrane proteins) form. Newly synthesized proteins often carry a signal peptide that is cleaved by the signal peptidase complex (SPC) co-translationally, indicating possible structural interactions between the ribosome-translocon complex and the SPC during this process. In the proposed project, I aim to elucidate these interactions and explore how different translocon variant recruitment affects polysome topology, as well as reveal the structural interactions between the ribosome-translocon complex and the SPC during signal-peptide cleavage in high-resolution. I will carry out the project in three phases. First, I will develop a multimodal mRNA probe to detect ribosome-translocon-SPC complexes, enabling their visualization during protein synthesis. In the second phase I will investigate how different translocon variants affect polysome topology using advanced imaging techniques such as cryo-correlative light electron microscopy (cryo-CLEM) and cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) ex vivo. These methods will help identify how polysome topology is affected by recruitment of specific translocon variants interact at the ER membrane. Finally, I will use single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (SPA cryo-EM) to achieve a high-resolution reconstruction of the ribosome-translocon-SPC complex, providing detailed insights into the molecular interactions during nascent polypeptide synthesis and signal peptide cleavage. This research outcomes of the proposed project will significantly advance our understanding of ER protein biogenesis and its regulatory mechanisms.

Mots clés : endoplasmic reticulum, ribosome translocon complex, signal peptidase complex, cryogenic electron microscopy

Participants :
- Université d'Utrecht (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 217076.16 €
Projet SKYJUST (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

To accelerate a just and inclusive transition towards a carbon neutral and green economy (European Green Deal) the EU is boosting its research area and heavily investing in the modernisation of its Research Infrastructures (RIs). To fill the gap on how scientific agencies are adopting transitions policies in their RIs, SKYJUST examines two intergovernmental astronomical agencies with strong European participation, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) with multiple large-scale RIs in the Global South. These are excellent cases to produce an overview of European sustainability policies for astronomical RIs, understand the agencies’ everyday narratives and practices of sustainability transitions, provide policy recommendations, and develop an original conceptual framework bridging coloniality studies and Multi-Level Perspective on transitions. Through a pool of interdisciplinary methods SKYJUST develops an empirical analysis of how the dimensions of environmental sustainability, coloniality and governance are embedded in ESO and SKAO RIs in Chile, South Africa and Australia. Training, mobility and collaboration with world-leading scholars in transitions, decoloniality, and sustainability governance will boost my career as a world-class researcher, through courses at UU, a secondment at UCL (UK) and short visits to research centres in the Global South. Through a sound dissemination and communication strategy, SKYJUST seeks to produce an impact in the research agenda on RI’s sustainability, and deliver evidence-based policy recommendations to include a non-colonial Just Transition approach into EU’s RIs roadmaps and astronomical agencies and industry, fostering long-term sustainability partnerships between the EU and its local counterparts. The researcher's experience in transition studies and niche experiments earned in Europe and the Global South will facilitate the success of the project.

Mots clés : just transitions, research infrastructures, decolonial theory, earth space sustainability

Participants :
- University College de Londres (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université d'Utrecht (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 232916.16 €
Projet WARDEM (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

WARDEM explores the interconnected, yet complex and contradictory, relationships between war, nationalism, and population politics in Putin’s Russia. The project provides an innovative analysis of the processes and practices that (re)shape the population in times of war, and through the war. Challenging ‘geriatric peace’ theory, WARDEM examines the ways in which (interstate) war entails new demographic strategies. More precisely, it examines how, in the context of a declining and ageing population, an aggressor state may use war to expand the population by force through territorial annexation and the intake of displaced persons – a strategy that is particularly relevant when these people are seen as ethnic kin. WARDEM undertakes an interdisciplinary, systematic case study of a critical case, analysing Russian population politics in the context of the war on Ukraine, from its outset in 2014 to the end of 2023. Developing a transdisciplinary methodology that synthesises recent insights from nationalism studies, political demography, peace and conflict studies, and illiberalism studies, the project combines a focus on political discourse with an analysis of population policies – that is, citizenship, immigration, demography, and ethnic policies – as reflected in legal acts and policy documents. These policies are part of a wartime ‘demographic engineering’, which allows Russia to integrate new populations forcibly while seeking to divide the Ukrainian nation and weaken the Ukrainian state. Thus, the project develops a model linking the analysis of an authoritarian state’s aggressive foreign policy with the reshaping of its population and changes in its nationalist discourse. WARDEM is a timely project responding to the current challenges facing EU foreign and security policy. A rapidly evolving geopolitical environment, the influx of refugees from Ukraine, and economic impact of war all calls for investigating the dynamics of Russian expansionism and revisionism.

Mots clés : warfare, nationalism, national identity, political demography, population politics, illiberalism, area studies, russia, political discourse analysis, critical policy studies

Participants :
- Université d'Oslo (Norvège) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 226751.04 €
- Université George-Washington (Etats-Unis) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet WEB3 (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The connection between braid group theory and topological dynamics arises from the remarkable applications of braid group theory to the study of the periodic orbit structure of iterated surface homeomorphisms. It began the early 1980s and has since grown into a significant area within the theory of low-dimensional dynamical systems. Braid theory, a very powerful and important tool, has been used extensively, among others, by Boyland, Ghrist, Guaschi, Hall, Matsuoka and Vandervorst for proving that the existence of certain orbits forces the existence of several other orbits and for showing how the orbits are interacting among them. A central objective of topological dynamics on 3-dimensional manifolds is to comprehend the structure of the orbits of a self-map. While there has been done a lot of research on the complexity of orbit structures in 3-dimensional dynamics, there are not known results that are analogous to the impressive known results about the orbit structure on surfaces that use braid theory. One of the main reasons is that the classical braid group theory is trivial on 3-dimensional manifolds.  To counter this obstacle, WEB3 proposes to use the theory of welded braid groups, which is the three-dimensional analogue of classical braids. The aim of WEB3 is to extend the existing literature concerning the orbit structure of 3-dimensional dynamics and in particular to establish a new machinery for exploring the behavior of periodic points of homeomorphisms of 3-dimensional manifolds. This proposal will have significant and wide impact in the field of low-dimensional topology and topological dynamics by fostering innovation and creating new knowledge. WEB3 is the most fitting project for enriching the current literature both on braid group theory and on topological dynamics, since it combines knowledge from both of these two fields of mathematics and features the necessary tools for emerging them successfully together.

Mots clés : low dimensional topology braid group theory welded braid groups topological dynamical systems

Participants :
- Université libre d'Amsterdam (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 217076.16 €