Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet PLASTMIG (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Critical ambitions in evolutionary ecology are to understand how wild species will respond to climatic and environmental upheavals caused by anthropogenic impacts. Populations are postulated to respond to changing environments through phenotypic plasticity or micro-evolution in situ, or by moving elsewhere. Yet, the ways in which these responses could interact, potentially generating rapid micro-evolution of plasticity in movements, have scarcely been considered. Hence, full responses of mobile populations to rapid environmental changes cannot yet be predicted, impeding population management.  In PLASTMIG I will break new ground in the nascent field of Evolutionary Movement Ecology by providing first estimates of: 1) Environmentally-induced plasticity in seasonal migration, thereby bringing new insight on environmental sensitivity of movement underlying population dynamics and distributions. 2) Quantitative genetic variation underlying such plasticity, hence providing new understanding of the potential for rapid micro-evolution of environmentally-induced movements.  I will achieve these ambitious objectives by extending and applying advanced quantitative genetic statistical analyses to an exceptional multi-year dataset on free-living European shags. Available data comprise year-round field observations and pedigrees for numerous migrant and resident individuals experiencing varying environments, allowing quantification of all key effects. I will work in a leading international Centre of Excellence, ensuring outstanding scientific and career developments.  PLASTMIG will thereby achieve the threefold challenge to have important scientific impact by providing new conceptual and methodological advances linking evolutionary and movement ecology; crucial societal impacts by laying key foundations for innovative conservation strategies for migrant species; and personal impacts through exceptional career training making me a leading international researcher.

Mots clés : phenotypic plasticity, micro evolution, gene by environment interaction gxe

Participants :
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université norvégienne de sciences et de technologie (Norvège) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 210911.04 €
Projet CryoARC (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Positive-sense single-stranded RNA (+ssRNA) viruses replicate their genomes in membrane-bound, virus-induced replication complexes (RCs). A major genus of +ssRNA viruses are the Alphaviruses (family Togaviridae). Alphaviruses contain several mosquito-borne viruses that cause substantial human disease burden in tropical and subtropical regions, e.g., Semliki Forest Virus (SFV) and Chikungunya Virus (CHIKV). Alphavirus RCs (also referred to as “spherules”) are outward-facing, balloon-shaped plasma membrane buds of 50-80nm diameter. Our structural understanding of spherules is still fragmental and there is no complete 3D macromolecular architecture of these megadalton complexes. The proposed CryoARC project is based on extensive cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET), proteomics and structural bioinformatics approaches to explore and resolve the in situ 3D structure of SFV spherule's complete neck-complex and identifying the host co-factors interacting with viral proteins. To accomplish the main goal of the CryoARC project, I will address the following objectives (1) Fractionation and purification of active SFV spherules from the infected mammalian cells for proteomics and structural studies, (2): In situ cryo-ET structure determination of the SFV spherule’s complete neck complex, and (3) Macromolecular interaction between viral and host-factors in the RC, and design potential antiviral drugs using computational approaches. The result of the CryoARC project will provide a novel fundamental insight into alphavirus replication, thus aiding development of future therapies for emerging medically and economically important Alphaviruses. The CryoARC project is further designed to allow me to utilize and share my own expertise in virology and protein structural biology, and to benefit from the inspiring and well-equipped host research laboratory. Acquired scientific and management skills will help me on the path towards establishing an independent research lab in Europe.

Mots clés : alphavirus, rna viruses, 3d protein structures, rna replication, electron microscopy, cryo electron tomography, mass spectroscopy, proteomics, antivirals, inhibitors, viral host interactions, cryo em

Participants :
- Université d'Umeå (Suède) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 222727.68 €
Projet MACS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Crustacean sentience (the capacity of this group to experience emotions) has sparked a heated debate across multiple disciplines, particularly as it could impact several major sectors such as fisheries and aquaculture. The outdated argument that animals do not experience negative emotions (such as pain) because they lack conscience, has been proven wrong for vertebrates and some invertebrates (e.g. octopus), but remains controversial for crustaceans. There is evidence of criteria consistent with the idea of pain, as crustaceans have and activate nociceptive pathways, but there is no evidence of the neural pathways integrating the responses nor the demonstration of the awareness thereafter. This is partly due to the ‘dispersed’ central nervous system (CNS) these animals present, with multiple ganglia, but no ‘brain’ as a focal point. To overcome this, MACS aims to apply new technology to measure 9 simultaneous nerve signals (8 ganglia and the heart) to fully understand the nociceptive pathways and how are they integrated in crustaceans’ CNS. This approach will tackle the principle of triangulation by (1) The development of an electroencephalogram (EEG) to record the nervous system of commercially important crustacean species; (2) the characterization of pain and stress through physiological and molecular animal-based indicators; and (3) the evaluation of behaviour and its neurological integration pathway. As such, this multidisciplinary study will only be possible through a combination of my crustacean stress physiology background, my supervisor’s knowledge of the central nervous system anatomy, and my second supervisor's expertise in aquatic species' EEG. The outcome of this fellowship will range from CNS studies to validate current industrial practices (during a non-academic placement), to socio-economic impacts involving the society's concern for animal welfare. The knowledge and skills gained from this project will allow me to become an independent researcher.

Mots clés : crustacean sentience, animal welfare, nociception, animal based indicators, seafood industry

Participants :
- Wageningen University & Research (Pays-Bas) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Optimar as (Norvège) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Conseil supérieur de la recherche scientifique (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 206641.2 €
Projet HyBOT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Biological soft tissues, such as brain tissues, present a major challenge for wireless biomedical microdevices to penetrate, due to the complex anatomy and viscoelastic mechanical properties. Parasitic organisms can penetrate plant roots using a hardened stylet while navigating with the soft body undulation. The combination of the rigid and soft biological morphology allows these parasites to fracture, anchor to, and extract nutrients from the plant cells. Inspired by these parasites, I propose a novel microrobot with a stiff head and a flexible body designed to penetrate brain tissue, enabling the treatment of hard-to-treat brain cancers, such as glioblastoma. These cancer regions are often inaccessible to large surgical tools due to their critical functional importance. In this project, the microrobot will be fabricated using two-photon lithography to achieve precise micro-scale features. Theoretical modeling and finite element analysis will be employed to explore the robot-tissue interactions, optimizing the design and actuation parameters. The propulsion will be validated in hydrogel models and ex vivo animal experiments. This research aims to develop new microrobots for glioblastoma treatment, paving the way for innovative minimally-invasive medical procedures.

Mots clés : bioinspired microrobots, hybrid microrobots, brain tissue penetration, magnetic actuation, viscoelastic solid, tissue fracture, robot tissue interaction, finite element analysis

Participants :
- Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 217965.12 €
Projet ZebraHipNetwork (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

How animals respond to their environment largely depends on their past experiences. In fact, understanding how these subjective experiences are formed and how they influence behavior is one of the ultimate goals of neuroscience. However, how memories are established in the brain is still poorly understood in mammals and even less in primitive vertebrates. Although the formation of memory has been largely studied at the single-neuron level, more recent studies have shown that the establishment of memory traces necessitates the interactions between multiple brain regions including the cortex, amygdala and hippocampus. Yet, imaging across these vast brain areas is very challenging in mammals due the complexity and size of the mammalian brain. Since there are accumulating evidence illustrating that the hippocampus and amygdala are evolutionary conserved across vertebrates, here, I will use an optically transparent and genetically amenable vertebrate model that allows for brain-wide imaging of neural activity: the juvenile zebrafish. First, I will use electrophysiological and immunochemical methods to identify the major neuronal populations in the fish’s hippocampal homologue (WP1). Next, I will use a combination of electrophysiological recordings and whole-brain two-photon calcium imaging to investigate the connectivity architecture and synaptic organization of the neural ensembles of the hippocampal homologue in zebrafish brain explants (WP2). Finally, I will characterize what kind of information does the hippocampal homologue encode during learning and how does the brain-wide neural activity changes over the course of learning in behaving animals (WP3). Collectively, this project will identify, for the first time, key fundamental neural mechanisms that underlie memory formation across vertebrates and will provide a basis for future projects seeking to study complex neural computations in primitive species.

Mots clés : comparative neuroanatomy, comparative neurophysiology, recurrent neural networks, calcium imaging, electrophysiology, memory consolidation

Participants :
- Université norvégienne de sciences et de technologie (Norvège) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 226751.04 €
Projet HYPERNET (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) are one of the most severe and costly long-term diabetic complications, causing a considerable financial burden to patients and healthcare sectors globally. Most commercial wound dressing materials are based on linear natural or synthetic polymers, and they are not capable of treating DFU efficiently. Innovative material design and therapeutic methodologies are critical to provide improved treatments for DFU. Hyperbranched dendritic polymers show advantages of having multiple terminal groups for multivalent interactions, low viscosity, cost-effectiveness and large-scale production in high yield, which are important features in practical biomedical applications. The aim of this proposal is to develop advanced cationic dendritic networks (CDNs) which are designed to eliminate infections and stimulate favorable immune modulation during the DFU healing process. In this context, a library of cationic heterofunctional hyperbranched dendritic-linear-dendritic copolymers (HBDLDs) based on polyethylene glycol (PEG) and 2,2-bismethylol propionic acid (bis-MPA) will be synthesized and hybridized with collagen to fabricate well-defined CDNs to deliver insulin locally for improving DFU treatment. The cations will provide long-term antibacterial activity; collagen, insulin and the dendritic structures and cationic charges are envisioned to provide the immune modulation during DFU healing process. I will study the effects of the CDNs on skin cells at molecular level, and identify functional groups and structures of materials that can actively promote DFU healing. Proof-of concept wound dressings will be designed based on the material properties and gelation mechanism, and methods for large scale production of the optimized hydrogels will be explored. It is promising that this project will provide a better treatment for DFU and potentially other chronic wounds.

Mots clés : hyperbranched dendritic polymers antibacterial antibiotic resistance immune modulation anti inflammation hydrogels fibers electrospinning diabetic foot ulcers chronic wounds

Participants :
- École polytechnique fédérale de Zurich (Suisse) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 307958.88 €
- KTH Institut royal de technologie (Suède) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 434048.88 €
Projet WallABAutStiffness (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Recent severe heatwaves and prolonged drought negatively affect agricultural crop fitness and biomass, threatening global food security. Therefore, there is an urgent need to enhance crop resilience against environmental stress to reduce crop loss. The cell wall is of key interest here due to its role as the primary barrier against environmental stress. However, improving crop tolerance via cell wall manipulation remains challenging due to plasticity, which determines the wall's ability to alter its shape, composition, and viscoelasticity (stiffness and viscosity). Plasticity seems to be modulated by the cell wall integrity (CWI) maintenance mechanism. A mechanism that continuously monitors the functional integrity of cell walls by utilizing a wide range of CWI sensors to sense damages in the cell wall and initiate wall remodeling. Any impairment in the CWI triggers adaptive responses, including the production of phytohormones. Abscisic acid (ABA) is one of the key phytohormones that regulate plant adaptive responses against abiotic stresses. Although the potential of the CWI maintenance mechanism modulating cell wall plasticity via ABA signaling has been proposed, the underlying mechanism remains largely unexplored. Therefore, investigating interactions between these processes may lead to the development of novel strategies to improve plant tolerance against abiotic stress. In this project, I will investigate the relationship between changes in ABA and cell wall viscoelasticity controlled by the CWI maintenance mechanism. I will also identify and characterize novel components of the CWI maintenance mechanism responsible for the induction of ABA production. Furthermore, the knowledge produced here will facilitate the identification of corresponding orthologs in commercial crops that can be used to develop strategies to improve crop performance.

Mots clés : cell wall integrity, cell wall stiffness, viscoelasticity, abiotic stress, osmotic stress, brillouin microscope, flim fret, biosensors, abscisic acid, arabidopsis, adaptation

Participants :
- Université norvégienne de sciences et de technologie (Norvège) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 210911.04 €
Projet ENLIGHT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. It affects millions of people and is expected to increase in the coming decades due to aging of the population. Optogenetics combines optics and genetics to gain insight into brain function by genetically inserting light-sensitive transmembrane proteins into neurons. Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) is an ion channel protein that enables precise temporal control turning neurons on or off in response to light. In vivo optogenetic experiments have a number of complications. One such complication is related to the wavelength of the visible light needed to activate ChR2. This results in high scattering by biological tissue as well as competition with hemoglobin which absorbs at a similar wavelength. Activation by multi-photon absorption processes (i.e., simultaneous absorption of multiple photons of longer wavelength) has the potential to mitigate both effects. Another complication is that ChR2 becomes inactive after prolonged illumination. This is related to its intricate photocycle. Gaining a detailed understanding of the molecular mechanism of the complete photocycle is crucial for solving these complications. To this end, ENLIGHT will use a holistic approach that combines multiscale quantum-classical methods, molecular dynamics simulations, and statistical analysis to obtain atomistic insight into the photoactivation, kinetics, and thermodynamics of the ChR2 photocycle. The acquired fundamental understanding of ChR2 will thus enable the development of next-generation optogenetic tools that have the potential to help us better understand the brain and neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. David Carrasco de Busturia (DCB) will carry out this project supervised by Prof. Patrick Norman at KTH, and a secondment at EPFL with Prof. Ursula Röthlisberger. This project, and the training provided, will be pivotal in advancing DCB's career goal of becoming a leading, innovative, and independent researcher in theoretical chemistry.

Mots clés : multiscale molecular dynamics, qm mm, polarizable embedding, response theory methods, fragment based methods, multiphoton absorption spectra

Participants :
- École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (Suisse) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- KTH Institut royal de technologie (Suède) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 236340.0 €
Projet UNPRECEDENTED (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Staff Exchanges
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

40% reduction on emissions should be achieved by 2030 within EU with the outstanding goal for Europe to become the first climate neutral continent by 2050. These goals need to be reached without jeopardizing economic development and growth, and simultaneously fulfilling the UN goals for sustainability.  One of the main contributors to climate change and global warming is emissions from our vehicles as these mainly use petroleum-based fuels. To address this, new approaches, methodologies, and technologies must be developed.  Biodiesel is one option to substitute diesel; however, its production has been controversial since it requires the use of edible oils and thus creates conflicts with the production of food crops, making it less attractive. Because of this problem, newer technologies are being developed to treat lower quality nonedible oils. However, as yet, these are not economically viable.  To address these problems, UNPRECEDENTED will focus on the use of waste oil. This new raw material has been tested experimentally with promising results. However, how the reaction is taking place and the steps involved is far from being understood. This lack of knowledge has a negative effect when selecting new technologies or testing new feedstocks. UNPRECEDENTED will use a combine methodology of experimental data and theoretical modelling (DFT based calculations) to study and fully comprehend the biodiesel production reaction. This methodology will permit a full understanding of the reactive steps involved, the reaction pathway that is followed as well as the energies involved in each reactive step. This methodology will assess for the conversion of waste oil in the presence of renewable alcohols to produce biodiesel when using new catalytic materials that are biobased, produce from renewable sources, and enriched with glycerol.

Mots clés : dft modeling, reaction pathways, catalysts selection, biofuel production

Participants :
- Institut polytechnique de Lisbonne (Portugal) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 59800.0 €
- Université norvégienne pour les sciences de la vie (Norvège) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 115000.0 €
- Universidad Nacional del Sur (Argentine) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet POMASAC (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Natural gas (primarily methane, CH4) is still a major energy source that is often simply flared into the atmosphere without being harnessed. As a cumulative result, unprecedented CH4 spikes have been reported lately in Earth’s atmosphere. Combined with the already existing Global warming concerns posed by other greenhouse gases such as CO2, CO, NOx, etc., CH4 abundance will lead to a worldwide catastrophe. Various attempts to convert and utilize CH4 into useful chemicals in mild reaction conditions have only seen limited success. In this proposal, we aim to target the CH4 molecule by fixing the CO2 molecule to produce acetic acid [CH3COOH, a high-value industrial chemical - the global acetic acid market attained a value of over 8.7 billion EUR in 2020 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5% from 2022 to 2027] via Photoelectrochemistry (PEC, using light and electricity) employing a new generation of heterogeneous catalysts called Single Atom Catalysts (SACs, containing abundantly available single transition metal atom embedded on transition metal oxide semiconductors that can rival catalytic efficacy of a well-defined homogeneous catalyst). To achieve this goal, we will mainly study (1) different band-energies of SACs using optical and electrochemical methods; (2) select and examine appropriate SACs with band energies that can enable CH4 oxidation and CO2 reduction; (3) examine their selectivity, efficiency, and recyclability through catalyst and reaction optimizations; (4) characterize the best performing SACs and (5) decipher the reaction mechanism with the aid of computational methods. We will disseminate the results through papers, conference presentations, public outreach events, social media, etc., while gaining several scientific and transferable skills required for career progress. A new pathway towards methane valorization is foreseen through this project, which can be highly attractive in an academic and industrial setting.

Mots clés : single atom catalyst, methane, acetic acid, co2, artificial photosynthesis, oxidation, reduction

Participants :
- Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 181152.96 €