Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet SUS-BATT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The project aims to advance sodium-ion battery (SIB) technology through the development of innovative, sustainable electrode materials. Its primary focus is on creating binary carbon-confined metal phosphide (MPs@C) nanoparticles to be used as efficient anode materials for SIBs. This initiative addresses 2 critical challenges, the sustainable fabrication of electrode materials and the enhancement of their electrochemical performance. The innovative fabrication technique involves the pyrolysis of heterometallic organophosphine frameworks (Organic P-ligands linking two types of metal ions within a framework structure) as templates to produce binary MPs@C, avoiding the environmentally hazardous phosphorization step associated with the traditional methods. The project leverages an interdisciplinary approach, combining the expertise of the postdoctoral fellow in synthetic inorganic chemistry, the knowledge of the host supervisor in electrochemistry and nanostructured materials, and the experience of Glantreo, an industrial partner specializing in custom nanomaterials development. The research plan includes close collaboration between academic and industrial partners, Glantreo Ltd. (6 months of non-academic placement), to ensure practical application and industry relevance. The expected impact on the fellow includes the acquisition of advanced research skills, enhanced interdisciplinary collaboration experience, improved transferable skills, and the development of a strong understanding of industry-driven research, preparing the fellow for a leading role in the field of sustainable energy technologies. SUS-BATT's impact is multifaceted, contributing to scientific knowledge, economic growth, and societal benefits by advancing sustainable energy storage solutions. The project aims to reduce the cost and environmental impact of battery production, supporting the transition to cleaner energy technologies.

Mots clés : phosphine ligands metal organic frameworks sodium ion batteries porous carbon materials mxenes

Participants :
- Université de Limerick (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 335710.8 €
- Glantreo limited (Irlande) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
Projet PHYSPROSOC (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Social life is a mix of cooperation and competition. A critical component of cooperation is proactive prosociality, arguably contributing to the emergence of complex cognition. Recent findings in corvids reported similarities in the behavioral and cognitive levels between birds and mammals, suggesting convergent evolution of socio-cognitive skills. This project aims to understand the development of prosocial behaviors and their underlying physiological mechanisms in two avian species – Carrion Crows and Ring Doves. The main premise of this project is that the brain governs both behavior and autonomic body responses, thus, autonomic biomarkers can be used to gauge brain activity during complex behaviors such as social interactions. A newly established methodology will be deployed to continuously monitor autonomic biomarkers such as heart rate and body temperature in two or more interacting partners during forming alliances and cooperative, affiliative, and sexual behaviors. The biomarkers will be used for longitudinal measurements of proactive-reactive social behaviors during the socio-cognitive development of crows to predict prosocial behaviors and individual differences in social integration. Altogether, this research will contribute to the understanding of physiological mechanisms driving social behavior and bridge the gap between studies in animal cognition using a purely behavioral approach and invasive neuroscience methods to study brain circuits underlying behavior.

Mots clés : animal physiology, neuroethology, socio cognitive development, cognitive biology

Participants :
- Université de Vienne (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 199440.96 €
Projet CompAS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Neural networks have firmly established themselves as powerful tools in many scientific domains, e.g. for protein folding, recovering images of black holes, or solving Schrödinger equations. Although empirically highly successful, neural network based methods very often lack the mathematical foundation to be able to guarantee the accuracy of the solution they produce. While this lack of reliability constitutes a major issue for many applications, I believe that, for scientific machine learning in particular, there is a promising path towards overcoming these issues, as there usually exists knowledge of the ground truth one would like to learn, e.g. that it must satisfy some partial differential equation. The goal of this project is understanding, from an approximation theory perspective, when and why such knowledge may be exploited. A defining property of neural networks is that they consist of a composition of simple building blocks. From the view of approximation theory this is a major paradigm shift, as it classically focuses on superpositional approximation, i.e. based on taking linear combinations of simple building blocks. This project aims to understand, on a fundamental structural level, how compositional approximation differs from classical superpositional approximation. Specifically it will first prove the existence of cases, in which compositional approximation provides a fundamental advantage over superpositional approximation, and subsequently develop ways to characterize these cases. On one hand this will significantly deepen the comprehension of this paradigm-shift in approximation theory, on the other hand it will establish a foundation for the development of provably accurate neural networks based machine learning algorithms.

Mots clés : approximation theory, asymptotic geometric analysis

Participants :
- Université de Vienne (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183600.96 €
Projet SEEDTRAITS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

To improve predictions of how plants may persist or disappear from ecosystems, we urgently need improved understanding of how climate change affects a critical and vulnerable plant life-history stage and transition–seeds and seed recruitment. Seed ecology is a growing discipline, yet it lacks some of the recent standardised methods and centralised resources of other plant sciences, such as the core databases and methodological handbooks that have spurred plant functional trait innovation since the early 2000s. Alpine areas can provide a glimpse of our future under climate change because they are warming faster than global averages and because alpine ecosystems are temperature-limited and hence more vulnerable to warming. Long-term warming experiments demonstrate that this vulnerability can alter vegetation structure, which in turn may change vegetation function, particularly carbon cycling. To predict which plants will persist, we need better data and frameworks for understanding how seeds and seed recruitment in the alpine respond to warmer climates. I will (1) publish a standardised handbook of core seed trait measurements, (2) collect new trait data from seed collections and harmonise existing datasets to form a publicly accessible alpine seed trait database, (3) establish a functional trait-based framework of seed ecology, and (4) experimentally test how seeds respond to warming as a demonstration of how these new resources can rapidly expand our understanding of climate change effects on seed ecology.

Mots clés : functional traits, seeds, open science, database, methodology, climate change, alpine ecology, plant life history

Participants :
- Université de Bergen (Norvège) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 251578.56 €
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet MadLit (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

This MSCA Fellowship is a deeply personal project tied to my firsthand experience. This project delves into my previous lines of research, focused on subaltern experience and contemporary autobiographical modes, the construction of subjectivities through narrativity, and the use of archives in shaping personal narratives. MadLit is designed to transform the paradigm in which madness and literature authored by psychiatrized subjects are examined, thereby contributing to the field of Mad Studies from an embodied knowledge. Mad Studies is a relatively unexplored field in Europe, though it has gained some traction in other countries such as Canada, where it focuses on studying the experiences, history, and culture of individuals identifying as psychiatric survivors. However, this methodology has not yet been applied to literary production. This will be the first project entirely centered on creating an epistemology to psychiatrized subjects through their autobiographical texts. Additionally, I will delve into the theoretical analysis of the autobiographical, examining it from two perspectives: the historical, as a key genre for bourgeois subjects in the 19th century, and also as a contemporary vehicle for the subaltern voices.  To achieve this, I will divide the project into three parts. Firstly, I will analyze first-person literary texts, with special attention to German-language literature from the 19th to the 21st century, in order to trace the current state of the emancipatory struggle of psychiatrized subjects in Europe. Secondly, I will study the use of narrativity in the mad activism to demonstrate its potential as a productive element of subjectivity. Lastly, my third objective will be to engage with my own experience of psychiatrization, allowing me to narrate it using the acquired tools. In embarking on this journey, my aspiration is to challenge a historical debt to those whose voices have long awaited to be heard.

Mots clés : autobiographical writing, narratology, cultural studies, situated knowledge, subalternity

Participants :
- Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Vienne (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183600.96 €
Projet INTERACT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Microbial interactions shape the structure, function, and resilience of microbiomes in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), directly impacting performance. Nitrifiers, as chemolithoautotrophs and primary producers, are particularly suitable for studying these interactions by assessing carbon flow through metabolite tracing with stable isotopes. This project aims to uncover the principles governing microbial interactions between nitrifiers and their partners through three work packages: identifying interaction partners, inferring their interactions by genome analysis, and verifying these interactions in situ. Potential partners will be identified combining co-occurrence network analyses, fluorescence-activated cell sorting of activated sludge microflocs containing nitrifiers, and amplicon sequencing to identify co-sorted microbes. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) will be used to confirm their spatial co-localization with nitrifiers. Next, deep long-read metagenomics will generate metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) of nitrifiers and their potential partners for genome analysis and metabolic modeling, identifying possible types of interactions. The hypothesized interactions will be verified using FISH and stable isotope probing (SIP) combined with chemical imaging such as mid-infrared photothermal (MIP) imaging and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) to identify exchanged metabolites in situ. This project is among the first to integrate SIP, FISH, and chemical imaging (MIP and MALDI-MSI) to study microbe-microbe interactions directly in complex microbiomes at the single-cell or cell cluster level. The findings will provide new insights into interaction mechanisms within complex microbiome and help design strategies to promote stable nitrifying communities in WWTPs. The developed workflow will also be highly valuable for studying microbial interactions in other environmental and medical microbiomes.

Mots clés : nitrification microbial interactions microbial ecology chemical imaging wastewater treatment

Participants :
- Université de Vienne (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 214344.72 €
Projet hEag1DrugDis (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The human ether à go-go 1 (hEag1) ion channel, also known as Kv10.1, is a voltage-gated potassium channel that is highly expressed in the brain but remains largely absent in other tissues under healthy conditions. However, during cancer development, hEag1 is significantly upregulated in various tumours, making it a potential biomarker and therapeutic target. Its role in cancer, particularly in breast cancer, is still not well understood, which makes exploring hEag1 a critical focus of my research.  In this project, I aim to discover and develop the first series of selective hEag1 ligands that can be used as pharmacological probes and therapeutic leads to investigate the channel's function in breast cancer. Building on preliminary data, I will utilize the rich pharmacological diversity found in animal venoms to identify novel peptide ligands that target hEag1. Through structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies and advanced medicinal chemistry, I plan to enhance the potency and selectivity of both newly discovered and existing ligands. These optimized compounds will enable me to explore the functional role of hEag1 in breast cancer progression and assess its therapeutic potential.  By integrating peptide chemistry, pharmacology, and preclinical methodologies, this research will pave the way for the creation of highly specific hEag1-targeting probes and drugs. The ultimate goal is to deepen our understanding of hEag1's role in breast cancer and unlock new avenues for targeted cancer therapy, especially for aggressive forms like triple-negative breast cancer.

Mots clés : toxinology venom derived peptide voltage gated ion channel electrophysiology

Participants :
- Université de Vienne (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 230184.72 €
Projet MENTE (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Neurological disorders such as epilepsy (affecting about 5 MILL people worldwide) are associated with deviations from the optimal network structure and dynamics. Epilepsy surgery (costing 1000-3000 EUR per surgery in EU countries) consists in the removal of the minimum amount of tissue needed to stop seizure propagation, but it is only successful in aprox. 2/3 of the cases. Analyses of brain network structure, and computational studies simulating seizure dynamics over it, have related aspects of the patients' brain network (e.g. hub distribution, excitability) with surgery outcome. However, results are not always replicable, and have not been able to surpass the current clinical standard. In the MENTE (which stands for "mind" in Spanish) project, I will explicitly consider the previously neglected effect of high-order (HO) brain structure on seizure dynamics and epilepsy surgery. I will characterize the HO brain structure of epilepsy patients (via Topological Data Analysis), in relation to surgery outcome. I will then create a HO computational model of seizure dynamics, by extending pairwise multiscale (MS) neuronal models of ictal activity. I will study the emergent behavior of the system via theoretico-computational analysis to characterize the healthy-to-ictal transition. Finally, I will fit the model to intracranial EEG data of ictal activity, and use it to model epilepsy surgery, with the goal of predicting surgery outcome and finding alternative resection strategies (smaller of with better outcome), to reduce the societal and economical burden of epilepsy. MENTE will validate the role of HO coupling on brain activity and promote the theoretico-computational modeling, analysis and application to neuroscience of network dynamics including HO and MS coupling. The fellowship will strengthen mine and the host's expertise these topics, and allow me develop my academic career to the point of scientific maturity.

Mots clés : complex networks, brain networks, high order coupling, multiscale dynamics, seizure dynamics, epilepsy surgery, topological data analysis, neural excitability, neural network dynamics

Participants :
- Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 195914.88 €
- Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet BipoCOFs (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The development of sustainable rechargeable batteries with high energy density is one of the main current challenges to efficiently store energy from renewable sources. Among them, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are the most promising due to their superior performance. While conventional inorganic LIBs present limited energy density and problems associated with the availability of critical raw materials, electroactive organic materials are an attractive alternative due to their tunable electrochemical properties and resource availability. In particular, Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) have emerged as promising electrode materials, but in order to extend their applicability, their energy density requires to be increased. In general, n-type based COFs can lead to high specific capacities while p-type based COFs exhibit higher working potentials (>3 V vs Li/Li+). Thus, new design strategies to increase simultaneously the capacity and voltage are required. This project (BipoCOFs) aims to develop high energy density cathodes based on the construction of two-dimensional (2D) redox-bipolar COFs by combining n-type and p-type moieties within the same COF. In addition, the bipolar COFs will be exfoliated to improve ion diffusion and conductivity of the electrodes will be optimized in order to maximize the electrochemical performance. This project will implement a complex training in synthesis and exfoliation of redox-bipolar COFs in the host group combined with fabrication of COF-based buckypaper electrodes during the secondment to address the ambitious scientific objectives. BipoCOFs will merge the fields of organic batteries and COFs, encompassing synthetic organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, and materials science. The achieved results will lay the foundations for further development and provide the necessary tools to guide the molecular design of new advanced organic electrodes and generate transferable knowledge in the field of energy storage.

Mots clés : redox active covalent organic frameworks organic batteries electroactive organic electrodes

Participants :
- Université de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 181152.96 €
- Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet PERFORM (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The meaning of (urban) space is undergoing constant renegotiation, it is reproduced in everyday actions and in political discourse. Urban activists advocate for a more just distribution of physical urban space away from motorised traffic towards sustainable, human-scale cities. Most activists act on their own behalf, as concerned or affected residents; others choose to perform specific roles, for instance, as topic experts. In this research, I investigate which roles urban activists perform, how they choose a role, and which motives influence the choice. I ask whether activists’ performativity can shift the political landscape in their favour, and how performed roles are perceived by politicians, lobby groups, and the public. I am interested in the influence of situational, cultural, and political settings; specifically, whether urban activists perform different roles online and offline, in societies trusting in experts and in more populist societies, and in the Global North and in the majority world. I employ a mixed-method approach that combines innovative quantitative methods from computational linguistics and social network analysis, and state-of-the-art qualitative methods from visual anthropology, digital ethnography, and digital anthropology. Beyond academic output, this research project will engage the public, among other channels, using videos posted to social media, and provide a ‘handbook’ to urban activists to support their work transforming our cities into more just and sustainable places. In this MSCA, I will receive the necessary training to establish myself as a multidisciplinary scholar who is firm in qualitative and quantitative methods, and is confident with theories from different fields. As such, this action has the potential of setting my career path towards becoming a leading researcher investigating timely issues of societal relevance from a multi-paradigmatic and holistic perspective.

Mots clés : urban activism, sustainable urban transformation, mixed methods, scholar activism

Participants :
- Université de Vienne (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183600.96 €