Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet StreptoMANIAC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The widespread emergence of acquired resistance to antibiotics constitutes a serious threat to global public health. Among Gram-positive pathogens, Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is a normal resident of the oral and nasal cavities but is also cause of otitis media and sinusitis as well as pneumonia, bacteremia and meningitis, particularly in young children and the elderly. Despite the availability of effective vaccines, S. pneumoniae remains an important clinical problem, also because of the increase of multi-drug resistant clinical isolates. S. pneumoniae is, indeed, listed by the WHO as one of the priority pathogens to drive research, discovery and development of new antibiotics. In S. pneumoniae, resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics represents a highly complex scenario, involving both target enzymes, the penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs), and non-PBP components, as the two-component system CiaRH. In clinical isolates, beta-lactam resistance is primarily mediated by the acquisition of multiple mutations in the transpeptidase domain of three of its six PBPs: PBP2x, PBP2b and PBP1a. These modified PBPs have reduced affinity for beta-lactams while leaving the enzyme function unaffected, thus conferring an advantage for the mutated strains in the presence of the antibiotics. However, PBPs are not only the beta-lactam target but are also essential enzymes involved the last stages of peptidoglycan biosynthesis, where they play specific roles in peripheral (side-wall) growth and cell division. Whereas the majority of studies so far concentrated solely on the effect of altered PBPs on resistance, little is known about the impact of the altered PBPs on PG biosynthesis, cell growth and division. Using a combination of genetic, biochemical, cytological and comparative genomics techniques, this study aims to fill in the knowledge gaps in the cost and benefit of acquired beta-lactam resistance in S. pneumoniae and in the complex mechanisms that regulate it.

Mots clés : streptococcus pneumoniae, beta lactam resistance, penicillin binding proteins, mosaic genes, two component system ciarh, cell growth and division

Participants :
- University of Trento (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183473.28 €
Projet MATISSE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The widespread use of portable devices, as well as the electrification of transport, require a new generation of energy storage devices that deliver higher specific performance than Li-ion batteries. By designing multifunctional materials that combine structural and electrochemical energy storage, an improvement in gravimetric and volumetric efficiency can be achieved. The research aim of this project is to develop Energy Storage Devices based on multifunctional hierarchically-structured systems. The success of the project will be driven by the combination of two strong and complementary areas of expertise: At Imperial and IMDEA, the fellow will work for 24 months in groups with an extensive experience of carbon and inorganic nanomaterials synthesis, modification, characterisation, and application, particularly on hierarchical systems. On the other hand, she will bring her own experience in developing and characterising electrodes and electrolytes for a wide range of batteries as well as supercapacitors. The interdisciplinary intersection of new materials chemistry, with electrochemical device engineering, and structural composite mechanisms, will provide a unique opportunity for rapid progress in both science and technology. The structural energy storage devices will be developed from technology readiness level 1 and to 4, in order to accelerate direct impact on industrial applications, for example in the automotive and electronics sectors. During the two-year project, the fellow and supervisor will disseminate their results to Industry, Academia and General Public through patents and articles in podcasts, newspapers and scientific journals. From the start, an individual career development plan for the fellow will be developed with the supervisor and will be reviewed regularly during the fellowship. Prof. Shaffer’s talents for both research and teaching will inspire the fellow to launch ambitious research and educational projects early in her academic career.


Participants :
- Imperial College London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 212933.76 €
Projet POSITS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The world is moving toward a low-carbon future. The EU Commission’s 2015 Paris climate agreement vowed to keep global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and undertake rapid global emission reductions. Generation of clean energy such as photovoltaics is one of the most promising solutions. Novel organic-inorganic perovskite materials for solar cells have drawn vigorous scientific interest over the past few years due to their potential low cost, high charge carrier mobility, absorption coefficient and efficiency. The two top scientific journals, Nature and Science, selected perovskites as one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs in 2013. As perovskites are still in the early development stages, barriers need to be overcome before they can be commercialized. This interdisciplinary project draws from chemistry, physics and engineering with the aim of developing stable high bandgap mixed-cation/halide perovskite devices. Both photo- and moisture stability will be carefully studied and improved upon leading to the ultimate goal of fabricating a stable monolithic perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell with an efficiency >30%. Monolithic perovskite/silicon tandem technology has the potential to revolutionize the photovoltaics industry by greatly decreasing cost through improved efficiency making clean energy more competitive against fossil fuels. The project will be conducted at EPFL PV-Lab, a dedicated photovoltaic research centre with over 30 years of experience and close links with Swiss and European research institutes and industries. EPFL is a highly-ranked European engineering institution with world-class facilities, industrial connections and technological parks. The fellow Dr. Terry Chien-Jen Yang will be joining PV-Lab to bring unique nano-material and analytical expertise as well as collaborations from the prestigious School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, UNSW in Sydney, Australia.

Mots clés : solar cells, photovoltaics, perovskites, silicon, tandem, stability

Participants :
- Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 175419.6 €
Projet ForSE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The worldwide decline of large herbivores threatens ecological and socioeconomic functions of ecosystems. With only ~100 000 remaining individuals, African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) are most at risk due to the surge in poaching for ivory. In line with the sustainable development goals defined by the United Nations in 2015 (Target 15.7), the ForSE project aims at improving our understanding of forest elephant space use patterns to better guide anti-poaching actions. We propose to carry out this project under a 24 months MSCA IF at the MNHN in Paris in close collaboration with the ANPN in Gabon. Unlike its well-studied relative, the savannah elephant, very little is known on how the African forest elephant deals with human presence. The ForSE project propose, based on fine scale analyses of space use of collared forest elephants and existing information on poaching pressure, to 1) identify correlated suites of space use traits – Spatial Behavioural Strategies (SBS) – and validate their use as poaching pressure proxies ; 2) identify space use traits associated with a heightened mortality risk and identify collared elephants at risk; 3) Develop an interactive tool for decision support based on the results of objectives 1 and 2; 4) Disseminate these results to improve anti-poaching actions. The ForSE project will contribute to the researcher career goal to conduct long-term research programs in a strong interplay with conservation organizations to better guide conservation actions and contribute to the fight against biodiversity collapse.

Mots clés : loxodonta cyclotis, poaching, gabon, movement ecology, habitat selection, behavioural strategy, evidence based conservation

Participants :
- Muséum national d'histoire naturelle (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 196707.84 €
Projet SCAN-Deep (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The worldwide demand for metals and rare-earth elements is increasing, fuelled by developing economies and the growth of high-technology green industries. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean contains vast reserves of polymetallic nodules on the abyssal seafloor, a future source of deep-sea minerals already targeted for exploitation. There is an almost complete absence of open biodiversity data on the large animals (megafauna) of this 6 million km2 area, and it is a pressing conservation priority to establish baseline data to enable future sustainable management of the region. In particular, a regional-level assessment that cuts across contracted areas is urgently needed to [1] establish the baseline quantitative ecology of the region, [2] assess species richness and ranges and thus, [3] enable the successful management of this globally important marine area in the context of a global ‘blue growth’ agenda. The objective of this fellowship is to develop the first regional-level approach to megafauna classification and identification in the CCZ. This will be done using a three-fold approach: (1) The development of a new open-access data-archiving bioinformatic pipeline for imagery and samples of megafauna from the entire CCZ, (2) the identification and characterization of megafaunal morphotypes observed across the CCZ regardless of exploration contract area and (3), development of biodiversity survey methods based on organismal DNA found in the environment (metabarcoding). This project will include knowledge transfers between the host and experienced researcher in the following areas: bioinformatics, digitisation, image analysis, megafauna taxonomy, DNA barcoding, metagenomics and transferable skills such as project management, scientific communication including science-policy interface work, laboratory health and safety, and career planning.

Mots clés : deep sea mining, taxonomy, megafauna, archive, digitization, metagenomics, edna, image analysis, bioinformatics pipeline, clarion clipperton zone, pacific ocean

Participants :
- Natural History Museum (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes publics (hors enseignement & recherche), subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet ReMoVE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The “Rendezvous Modelling Visiting and Enhancing (ReMoVE)” Action is committed to design a brand new technological solution for the problem of the active removal of large faulty satellites polluting strategical terrestrial orbits. This Action will deliver the preliminary system design of a small-size, agile, versatile, and modular satellite platform capable to rendezvous, join, and de-orbit a non-cooperative Target. The game-changing approach of ReMoVE is embedded in the Enhancing concept: by exploiting recent knowledge and technology advances, such platform will act as a smart and independent additive sub-system, whose contribution will allow the Target to recover the capability to perform de-orbiting manoeuvres. The greatest challenge entailed in this concept is dealing with an unknown uncooperative Target, demanding the development of a robust and advanced autonomous spaceborne guidance navigation and control system. At the same time, the outcomes of this Action will pave the way to a future multi-player, distributed, and sustainable commitment to realize space debris removal. This Action benefits from a well-balanced multi-disciplinary inter-sectorial structure, bringing together renowned academic experts in guidance navigation and control systems from Politecnico di Milano, and specialized engineers from the successful D-Orbit company, with an Experienced Researcher who already gave key-contributions to two multi-satellite missions in low Earth orbits. The Action foresees a high-level comprehensive training plan, apt to broaden ER’s expertise and to support the fulfilment of the proposed objectives.

Mots clés : active debris removal, multi satellite mission, spacecraft guidance navigation and control, spacecraft system design, autonomy

Participants :
- Politecnico di Milano (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 168277.2 €
Projet USAL4EXCELLENCE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Cofund Postdoctoral programme
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The “University of Salamanca Programme to Foster Research Excellence” (USAL4EXCELLENCE) is an initiative of the University of Salamanca (USAL), which aims to attract 40 Experienced Researchers (ERs) positions for 30 months in two calls of 20 positions per each. The main goal of the programme is to build a critical mass of scientific leaders that will advance regional competitiveness and also European sustainable socio-economic development. USAL4EXCELLENCE aims to achieve this purpose by fostering research collaboration internationally and enhancing knowledge and technology transfer between academia and industry. At regional level, the project will be clearly connected with the Regional Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart specialization (RIS3) of Castilla y León (Spain’s largest region). In terms of the selection and recruitment process of ERs, this will be in several steps, all of which following the Horizon 2020 guidelines of open, transparent, merit-based recruitment. In terms of science, establishing that the main criterion for selection is scientific excellence, USAL4EXCELLENCE will recognize only the best ideas, welcoming brilliant minds in and setting them free to collaborate. Being “bottom-up”, USAL4EXCELLENCE will support research across all thematic areas through USAL’s current portfolio of interdisciplinary Research Centres, which includes 22 Research Centres including the fields of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, Medicine, Science and Engineering. Scheduling mandatory secondments in non-academic organizations, USAL4EXCELLENCE will contribute to open new opportunities in translational research and innovation in the non-academic sector. Therefore, USAL4EXCELLENCE will provide fellows with training and networking opportunities that will enhance their career development potential and will encourage them to go beyond the limits of their own discipline and thus to enhance their independent thinking and leadership capacities.

Mots clés : excellence, international, cross sectorial innovation, technology transfer, transversal skills, entrepreneurship, interdisciplinary, intersectoral, career development plan, fellowships, ris3

Participants :
- Universidad de Salamanca (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 3678000.0 €
Projet B-FUTURE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : European Researchers' Night
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The ”B-FUTURE _ Back to the Future” project is promoted by the Neuromed Foundation with the aim to push students getting closer to the fascinating world of research as "a gate from the past to the future", by offering the chance to meet young and communicative researchers, as well as experienced scientists and researchers involved in EU programs at international level. The main theme is “BACK TO THE FUTURE” to prove, through a significantly scientific path, how human life is always characterized by research and how the research is evolving. The objective is to drive visitors on an exciting journey in the world of science creating a path that starts from the origin of the species, through its development and observing the environmental changes and how they affect human life, up to the realization of Cyber Brain and man projected in the space. Why B-FUTURE? Because communicating science to younger people -particularly students of primary and secondary schools - it is important to demonstrate that being part of research is being the memory and the future at the same time. As in the famous film, participants will come back to the past to better know life origins and then projected to experience new technologies imagining what the 'next step' in that progression would be.Students will enter in the fantastic world of science where they will meet new characters "researchers", will make discoveries and will live exciting experiences in a stimulant and funny way. The researchers will be able to present themselves as people engaged and emotionally involved in the activities with a strong impact on society and everyday life, not as sad.Since the 2018 is designated as the “European Year of Cultural Heritage”, B-FUTURE will include cherishing few local venues of cultural heritage because, as research, cultural heritage shapes our identities and everyday lives. As for research, through heritage the past meets the future and celebrating the past can help us to build the future.

Mots clés : scientific research, research awareness raising, young students, european research space, scientific career opportunities, neuroscience, cyber brain, health, environment, cultural heritage, robotics

Participants :
- Fondazione neuromed (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Autres, subvention : 160000.0 €
Projet TeraClear (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

There are more than thirty thousand accelerators in the world starting from small-scale linear accelerators used for medical applications and in industry, large-scale third and fourth generation light sources used to probe the molecular and atomic properties of matter, and ending with giant “atom-smashers” such as Large Hadron Collider used to unlock the secrets of creation. Operation of these machines would simply be impossible without a comprehensive set of non-invasive diagnostics equipment revealing the properties of the beam and how it behaves in the machine. A vast majority of non-invasive diagnostics devices is based on electromagnetic (EM) radiation generated by charged particles passing by a condensed medium. On the other hand large-scale light sources utilising synchrotron radiation are very expensive and compete with compact accelerator based light generators affordable by a small industrial company or a university. Polarization Radiation appearing when a fast charged particle passes by a material is a recognized candidate for being used in compact light sources generating intense THz radiation with a very broad spectrum. Its characteristics are very sensitive to various beam parameters as well, which create an opportunity to develop non-invasive diagnostics. Dr. Konstantin Lekomtsev is a promising young researcher and an expert in EM radiation simulations. As a Marie Curie fellow within European ITN – DITANET he received a unique training and achieved a PhD degree. Using his mobility experience Konstantin moved to a National Accelerator Laboratory in Japan, where he has become one of the leading experts in radiation physics. By moving to the UK he will transfer his knowledge and expertise to the members of John Adams Institute, develop a new open simulation code based on GDfidl advanced EM simulation package, and setup a new experimental programme in Daresbury Lab to probe the simulations and apply them for developing diagnostics for LHC.

Mots clés : polarization radiation, cherenkov radiation, particle beam diagnostics, microwaves, advanced electromagnetic simulations, accelerator physics, radiation transportation and detection

Participants :
- University of London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet COEXIST (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

There has been a growing discourse revolving around how sustainability science can reach the goal of transformational change in response to complex global problems such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion. As one solution it has been suggested that sustainability science needs to bridge barriers to action by going beyond the co-production of knowledge to experimentation and testing of knowledge. At the same time, it has been argued that in order to achieve genuine transformational change it is necessary to shift values rather than simply generate ‘better’ actionable knowledge. COEXIST aims to join these two streams and to develop experimental settings that include values-based interventions to produce scientifically appropriate and socially relevant knowledge for sustainability transformations. Thus, COEXIST will be the first to integrate experimental interventions with the transformative power of values. I will identify theoretical frameworks that will inform a value-based experimental design and I will collect empirical evidence about key enabling factors and interventional practices that can operationalise such an experimental approach. By combining theory and practice, I will develop an integrated model of transformational experiments involving value-based interventions. I will implement the model within the real-world context of Transylvania, Romania, a region with a rich but threatened cultural and natural heritage. COEXIST combines my experience in transformational and transdisciplinary research modes and the host’s unique knowledge of place-based social-ecological systems research with the commitment of regional multi-sectoral stakeholders. This setup provides a strong theoretical and empirical foundation for the integrated model, which is expected to generate impact, and acts as a forum for communicating results to non-academic actors in Romania and Europe.

Mots clés : sustainability science, transdisciplinary methods, sustainability transformation, transformational experiment, social ecological system, transcedental values, transformational knowledge

Participants :
- Babeș-Bolyai University (Roumanie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 141778.56 €