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

Several challenges undermine our ability to predict the course of evolution: the likelihood of evolutionary novelties, the impact of the adaptive landscape, and the influence of developmental biases. NOBLE (NOvelties, Biases, and Landscapes in Evolution) will make use of cutting-edge machine learning, fossil times series, and biomechanical modelling to generate a synthesis of the predictability of phenotypic evolution. First, NOBLE will use ancestral state reconstruction to determine if origination of and loss of novelties are predictable over macroevolutionary timescales (>113 million years). Trait origination may be predictable from ancestral morphology, while degree of trait specialization may predict loss. Next,NOBLE will investigate whether convergent evolution is a product of adaptation (as is so often assumed) or chance (rendering it less predictable). This phase will quantify the magnitude and frequency of morphological convergence between functionally and structurally homologous traits in different lineages. Then, observed convergence will be compared to converge achieved in simulations of Brownian motion (and biased random walks over biomechanically-derived adaptive landscapes. Finally, NOBLE will determine the impact of integration between traits on 1) the strength of within-trait developmental biases and 2) morphological diversity. This is possible because NOBLE’s model organism, cheilostome bryozoans, have a rich fossil record and a colonial growth form – allowing within-genotype, within-population phenotypic variation to be quantified. The influence of trait integration will be examined at five levels of comparison (from within a single species to across multiple clades). Not only will NOBLE begin untangling the Gordian Knot of evolutionary predictability, it will provide an emerging researcher with an advanced statistical skillset (incorporating phylogenetic and paleontological analyses).

Mots clés : macroevolution biomechanics disparity morphology

Participants :
- University of Oslo (Norvège) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 202158.72 €
Projet iRESET (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Several coastal communities across Europe and the entire globe are exposed to earthquake triggered tsunami hazards. Past EU projects on the tsunami risk assessment highlighted the significant gaps in existing knowledge in the relatively new tsunami engineering field regarding the fragility of buildings and critical infrastructures to such hazards. The iRESET project looks at filling the gaps in fundamental knowledge about the physical behaviour of buildings hit by tsunami flows and by sequential earthquakes and tsunami (E&T). iRESET is conceived in a multi-hazard vision, combining load-histories from hydraulic tests with an innovative quasi-static structural testing procedure (with novel test set-up and load protocols) able to simulate the tsunami-induced loads on large-scale sub-structures and to experimentally investigate the performance of structures under sequential earthquake and tsunami loads. The project covers aspects of multi-hazard risk assessment, fluid dynamics and civil/structural/coastal engineering. Furthermore, the proposed new testing methodology is highly transversal and could be adopted for other natural hazards such as floods, slow landslides and storm surges, representing a unique experimental resource for the EU. This proposal includes a strong two-way transfer of knowledge between the experienced researcher (ER) and the host institution, a wide dissemination plan and will have a strong impact on the ER future academic career, giving the chance to achieve a strategic position among the international scientific community, becoming a leading expert in the tsunami engineering field in Europe and worldwide. The results will contribute to an improved European capacity for the assessment and management of tsunami and E&T risk. This is in line with the EU policy priorities focusing on creating a resilient and stable society against disasters toward a successful implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.

Mots clés : tsunami engineering, structural capacity assessment, quasi static experimental testing, risk assessment, cascading events

Participants :
- University of London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 212933.76 €
Projet HPpQCD (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Several kinds of collision experiments such as the heavy ion programs conducted at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) give access to the study of QCD matter under extreme conditions. In particular, the creation of new states of matter as the deconfined quark-gluon plasma or the color glass condensate, where large densities of gluons can be found, present new opportunities to improve our overall understanding of strong interactions. It is proposed to use the several hard probes generated in these kind of setup (jets, heavy quarks, etc.) to study the properties of such states of matter through the implementation of perturbative techniques.

Mots clés : heavy ion collisions, quark gluon plasma, jet quenching, small x

Participants :
- University of Santiago de Compostela (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 158121.6 €
Projet DRYSOM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Severe drought periods are predicted to increase in Central Europe. The increasing frequency of drought will affect the growth and carbon (C) storage in forests. While drought effects have intensively been studied for plants, much less is known about their impact on soil processes. Soils store more C than atmosphere and vegetation together, and contribute to CO2 removal and thus to mitigate climate change. The proposed project aims to estimate how reoccurring summer drought affects long-term dynamics of soil organic matter (SOM) in forest soils. Our research will be carried out in a unique 15-year-long irrigation experiment in a dry oak and pine forest. The project will advance the knowledge and improve its transfer between disciplines by (1) tracing C inputs and fluxes from roots and mycorrhiza into soils and losses of ‘old’ SOM by applying novel isotopic approaches, and relating these changes to soil microbiota analyzed by DNA, (2) determining drought impacts on SOM stability and its sources by innovative marker molecules approaches in SOM pools, and (3) linking these results ecosystem properties measured by collaborating research groups. The use of a long-term experimental set up, together with novel techniques, will offer a unique opportunity to identify the unknown drought-induced effects on belowground C cycling at long time scales. These results will be important for facing current climate change impacts, and will be communicated not only to scientists but also to policy makers and to a wider public. The project will enhance the researcher’s skills in cutting-edge methodologies and techniques, boost teaching and writing skills and increase communication competences, through an ad-hoc spectrum of training activities. As such, future career opportunities will highly improve and the fellowship will be a key milestone for the researcher to become an independent and leading scientist in research on SOM dynamics in forests under long-term drought.

Mots clés : soil carbon, climate change, molecular markers, radiocarbon, stable isotopes, soil microbiota, rhizosphere

Participants :
- Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 237007.68 €
Projet symESTIM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Severe spinal cord injury (SCI) interrupts descending sympatho-excitatory axons responsible for cardiovascular control. Devoid of supraspinal input, sympathetic circuits within the spinal cord undergo significant plastic changes. These changes lead to a debilitating clinical scenario that includes frequent bouts of hypertension (autonomic dysreflexia) and orthostatic hypotension, conditions which have extremely limited treatment options and lead to increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Here, I propose to deconstruct the sympathetic circuitry within the spinal cord in order to develop a targeted electrical neuroprosthesis that prevents the development of these clinical conditions. To dissect the sympathetic circuitry that drives sympathetic dysfunction after SCI, I will deploy judicious associations of optogenetics, chemogenetics, calcium imaging, virus-mediated tract-tracing and whole brain-spinal cord imaging in transgenic rats. For example, the catecholaminergic specificity of TH:Cre rats will enable the visualization of the residual descending sympatho-excitatory axons following severe contusion SCI, and will provide specific access to splanchnic ganglia neurons. This understanding of the sympathetic circuitry will allow me to map the hemodynamic responses following electrical spinal cord stimulation to the modulation of specific circuits and connections. This knowledge will then guide the development of a tailored neuroprosthesis targeting these circuits in order to regulate sympathetic dysfunction after SCI. Finally, I will exploit this neuroprosthesis to rehabilitate the sympathetic system after SCI, which I will demonstrate with longitudinal functional assessments and detailed anatomical evaluations. My ultimate goal is to develop targeted autonomic neurorehabilitation—a novel method to treat autonomic dysfunction after SCI that will improve the quality of life of those suffering from this condition.

Mots clés : spinal cord injury, autonomic nervous system

Participants :
- Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 191149.44 €
Projet SEG (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Sexual behavior is fundamental for evolution and an important component of human well-being. Ejaculation is a critical mechanism in male sexual function, which is hypothesized to be controlled by a neural circuit known as the 'spinal ejaculation generator' (SEG), located in the lumbar spinal cord. The SEG has also been hypothesized to control the post-ejaculatory refractory period, a phase of sexual satiety, through ascending projections to the brain. However, the mechanisms by which the SEG controls ejaculation and the refractory remain elusive. We will tackle this problem first by using anatomical tracing to find the spinal neurons that provide input to the ejaculatory muscles and immunochemistry to characterize their molecular identity. We will use this information to provide specific genetic access to SEG neurons. By expressing fluorescent probes in these neurons, we will be able to obtain targeted electrophysiological recordings and use them to characterize the intrinsic and synaptic properties of the SEG circuitry in vivo. By expressing genetically encoded calcium indicators, which provide fluorescence probes of activity, we will monitor the activity of the SEG during sexual behaviour. Finally, by expressing and optically stimulating excitatory and inhibitory opsins in SEG neurons or their terminals, we will test their causal role in triggering both ejaculation and the post-ejaculatory refractory period. This project will provide the first mechanistic description of the key neural circuitry controlling male ejaculation and the refractory period, with potential implications for the treatment of sexual dysfunction.

Mots clés : optogenetics, imaging, electrophysiology

Participants :
- Champalimaud Foundation (Portugal) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 160635.6 €
Projet MPOA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Sexual behavior patterns are unique among the behavioral repertoire of animals. Sex serves no survival advantage for the individual per se, but is vital for species preservation. To this end, evolution has hedonically biased animals to engage in behaviors that culminate in the conspecific transfer of genetic material. Male sexual behavior is characterized by distinct phases in this behavioral action sequence leading up to ejaculation. Lesions of the medial preoptic area (MPOA), an anterior extension of the hypothalamus, in rodents have been shown to eliminate both reward-seeking, or appetitive (female pursuit and anogenital investigation), and reward-consuming, or consummatory (mounting, intromissions, and ejaculation), male sexual behaviors. Furthermore, focal lesion studies and physiological evidence suggests the presence of separate populations within the MPOA mediating the control of these two phases, and behavioral evidence points to the idea that the performance of appetitive and consummatory behaviors are reciprocally related. However, the mechanistic role of the MPOA in controlling downstream circuitry facilitating male sexual arousal, copulation, and the interaction of these dimensions of behavior has not been explored. This proposal aims to understand how male sexual arousal and copulatory performance are encoded in the brain, utilizing activity-dependent genetic labeling approaches, in vivo calcium imaging, causal optogenetic manipulation of neuronal subpopulations, and genetic-based tracing methods. The project will be the first to mechanistically address how the brain provides descending control over male arousal and ejaculation, exposing potential central mechanisms that could be acted on for the treatment of sexual dysfunction.

Mots clés : neuroethology, hypothalamus, sexual arousal, ejaculation, appetitive sexual behavior, consummatory sexual behavior

Participants :
- Champalimaud Foundation (Portugal) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 159815.04 €
Projet CRISIS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Sexual selection (SS) is a strong evolutionary force that can promote or inhibit adaptation to environmental challenges. When populations face novel pathogens, SS can influence their persistence by impacting the spread of resistance alleles. The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) encodes proteins that recognize pathogens. Many vertebrates preferentially mate with partners carrying beneficial MHC alleles, conferring higher resistance to the offspring. Here, I propose to study the role of SS in the evolutionary dynamics of amphibian resistance to chytridiomycosis (pathogen Bd), an emerging infectious disease that is causing population declines and extinctions worldwide; with poison frogs, a species-rich group in which the strength of SS differs between species. i) I will test whether mate choice is influenced by MHC and infection status of both partners. ii) I will use theoretical models to predict under which circumstances SS can accelerate the evolution of disease resistance. iii) I will use population ecology to evaluate the association between the strength of SS and species’ susceptibility to Bd in natural populations. This project will provide fundamental scientific knowledge on the relationship between SS and the evolution of immunity by exploring the interaction between Bd and amphibian MHC. It builds on the recent insight that natural selection drives MHC evolution in amphibians, and originally explores the role of SS in this process in a uniquely integrated experimental, theoretical and field ecological fashion. I have worked with Bd throughout my academic career; this project allows me to focus on the hosts, which has been the target of fewer studies and is in dire need of conservation. The project will be conducted at the University of Groningen under the supervision of Dr. Maan, an expert on sexual selection and poison frogs; and Dr. Pen, a an expert in bioinformatics and modelling. Field work will be carried out in Brazilian Amazonian basin.

Mots clés : evolution, chytridiomycosis, amphibians, batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, dendroibatidae, poison frogs

Participants :
- University of Groningen (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 175572.48 €
Projet OSTRAP (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Shallow lakes provide extensive ecosystem services and are ecologically important non-marine resources, supporting a diverse flora and fauna. However, worldwide lakes are threatened by environmental degradation (e.g. nutrient pollution from agricultural fertilizers). The restoration of these environments is critical for future biodiversity, resilience to climate change, the provision of ecosystem services, and is legally binding under the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD).To meet the requirements of ‘good ecological status’, lakes must not be significantly altered from pre-defined ‘reference conditions’, which are the conditions expected in the absence of anthropogenic impacts. Due to limited long-term ecological monitoring data that covers centennial time-scales, palaeolimnology has been suggested as an alternative to define reference conditions for effective restoration. Existing approaches (e.g. diatom transfer functions) for reconstructing nutrient enrichment are, however, problematic due to their indirect approach that involves major assumptions. Multi-proxy studies attempt to disentangle drivers, but fail due to the lack of an independent measure of phosphate (P). Here, I propose a method to reconstruct eutrophication with a direct, quantifiable and independent measure of P via analysis of ostracod (small bivalved crustaceans) shell chemistry. To produce robust, quantitative palaeo-P reconstructions based on fossil ostracod shells, the research will combine laboratory, mesocosm and field experiments to establish calibrations in controlled and natural settings. I will demonstrate the quantitative reconstruction of P concentrations over the past ~200 years using well-dated lake sediment cores from sites across Europe. This project will be a significant advancement in the ability to 1) set reference condition P concentrations for shallow lake restoration targets under the WFD and 2) to predict the effects of future climate change on freshwater biodiversity.


Participants :
- Aarhus University (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 207312.0 €
Projet AmmoniaVir (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Signaling functions of metabolites have been gathering interest in the context of infection, cancer, and metabolic disorders. However, how metabolic communication networks shape the pathology of infection remains poorly understood. Our group has recently reported that chronic infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCMV) in mice leads to reprogramming of the hepatic urea cycle with a concomitant increase with blood ammonia levels. Despite being typically considered as a waste product with neurotoxic effect, ammonia is involved in relevant pathways for energy production, cell proliferation, and survival. Additionally, ammonia is a small, gaseous molecule that might modulate cellular functions in distant tissues, as described for other gasotransmitters. Therefore, I hypothesize that infection-induced hyperammonemia has poorly recognized signaling functions that might influence immune responses, tissue damage, or sickness behavior. To test this hypothesis, I will combine state-of-the-art metabolic analyses, pharmacological and genetic tools. I expect to establish whether hyperammonemia is broadly associated with viral infections in mice, and/or whether it is a direct consequence of virus-induced liver damage. Additionally, I will analyze tissue-specific and organismal effects of hyperammonemia and determine whether this impacts on sickness behavior or infection outcomes. This interdisciplinary approach combining immunology, metabolism and neuroscience will allow me to characterize mechanisms of host response to viral infections, which pose outstanding challenges to current biology and medicine. Additionally, I expect to unveil inter-organ communication networks that link metabolically active tissues and the brain. These may have strong implications not only for infection but also for a wide range of metabolic disorders.

Mots clés : ammonia, viral infection, immunometabolism, immunopathology, sickness behavior, metabolite signaling

Participants :
- Austrian Academy of Sciences (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 174167.04 €
Projet NHM NIGHT5 (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : European Researchers' Night
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Since 2010 NHM has successfully delivered four consecutive European Researchers’ Nights with increasing public participation and engagement year after year. NHM NIGHT5 aims to build on this experience to aid the delivery of at least five captivating events across the UK. NHM NIGHT5 aims to: • actively breakdown existing public stereotypes of researchers • drive home to the public an awareness of the role and value of science • inspire the next generation of young researchers and demonstrate the varied roles and careers open within science NHM has an outstanding record in public outreach programmes and this will be the largest effort of this kind that NHM has undertaken to-date. More than 18,500 participants will be greeted by over 500 researchers and PhD students delivering 250 different engaging activities and formats alongside 50 professional educators in a fun and stimulating atmosphere. With an estimated 150,000 researcher/public interactions taking place over two years, the impact on participants is expected to be profound, and at a reduced spend (compared to ERN2013) per head of €15.29 in 2014 dropping to €14 for an expanded programme in 2015 represents excellent value in fostering a long-term public engagement with science. Reinvigorated with a wider national element extended to include Manchester in 2015 the awareness campaign will ensure mass participation and a broader awareness of the NHM NIGHT5 project as well as the ERN across Europe with an audience reach of 34 million.

Mots clés : nhm night5 aims to, actively breakdown existing public stereotypes of researchers

Participants :
- Natural History Museum (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes publics (hors enseignement & recherche), subvention : 270000.0 €