Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet TCAMEASLM (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

High/medium entropy alloy (HEA/MEA) with multi-component elements is a novel alloy system developed beyond the traditional metallurgical design. The newly developed foreign-element-doped NiCoCr MEA has demonstrated greater potentials to achieve excellent mechanical performance at low temperatures due to the strengthening effect resulting from the foreign elements. As an important component of Industry 4.0, selective laser melting (SLM), as a branch of additive manufacturing, has become a major industry in EU and worldwide. However, to date, few to no efforts have been devoted into the investigation of NiCoCr MEA fabricated by SLM. Thus, the fundamental knowledge associated with the microstructures and properties of SLMed NiCoCr is still lacking. It is clear that such lack of critical knowledge is a hard barrier for the further development of NiCoCr parts used in cryogenic environment. Seeing this potential, this project proposes a novel alloy design strategy by incorporating nano-sized Al/Ti co-doped NiCoCr powder into the SLM process. This proposal will focus on: (1) Alloy composition design used for SLM; (2) Investigation of layer-by-layer twinning mechanism; (3) Temperature-induced mechanical response upon tension deformation; (4) Tailoring of cryogenic strength-ductility synergy. The combination of Al/Ti co-doping and SLM process create a possibility for SLMed NiCoCr to enable different microstructures and superior properties over its conventionally manufactured counterparts. It is expected that the new knowledge generated from this project will allow the 3D printing of complex MEA parts with excellent strength-ductility balance in cryogenic environment. This proposal includes both the transfer of knowledge to the host institution and the training of the candidate in new advanced techniques. Results have the potential capacity to increase the competitiveness and provide room for further studies at the fundamental and applied levels in additive manufacturing.

Mots clés : unlike conventional material removal processing method, selective laser melting enables realizing quick production of three dimensional parts with any complex configurations directly from powders

Participants :
- Trinity College (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 215534.4 €
Projet ImmunoGBMet (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the most aggressive and fatal types of tumours with one of the worse survival rates. Although immunotherapy is a remarkable and fast-growing field on cancer treatment it still faces the challenge that solid tumours are very suppressive for immune cells. This suppressive tumour microenvironment (TME) is known to affect immune cells in different ways, as through the expression of inhibitory ligands and cytokines. Recently, it has been shown that lipids and other metabolites are increased in the TME and affect metabolic pathways in immune cells leading to their dysfunction. NKT cells are a distinct subset of lymphocytes that react to lipids presented via the CD1d molecule and produce a range of cytokines upon activation. They play a role in tumoral immunity either through cytotoxicity or by activating other cytotoxic lymphocytes. However, little is known about their function in the GBM tumour and how the TME affects it. This project will leverage expertise in immunometabolism to describe the alterations in NKT cell metabolism that lead to their dysfunction in the GBM TME. We will take advantage of single-cell metabolic tools and proteomics analysis to unveil the most altered pathways, then, set up the best approaches to engineer NKT cells and make them resistant to the adverse TME. Our findings will potentially pave the way to new strategies on engineering immune cells for cancer immunotherapy and other serious conditions.

Mots clés : inkt cells, glioblastoma, immunometabolism, immunotherapy, tumor microenvironment

Participants :
- Trinity College (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 199694.4 €
Projet 2DSb-eneKIB (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The energy transition of Europe from fossil fuels to sustainable/clean energy greatly increases the demand for energy storage techniques. The lithium ion batteries (LIBs) dominate the energy storage market for over 30 years after their commercialization in 1991. Recently, the price jump of limited Li resource and other cathode materials (Co and Ni) shows an urgent need to explore new-generation energy storage systems. The potassium ion battery (KIBs) is proposed in this project as a promising LIBs alternative for large-scale energy storage systems. However, poor cycling performances hinder the development and application of KIBs. To resolve the lifetime issue of KIBs, this project focus on the investigation of novel two-dimensional (2D) metallenes materials since they have shown intriguing properties like higher conductivity and a larger exposure of metal active sites than other 2D material and bulk materials. The 2D metallenes with reduced width and thickness layers are beneficial to alleviate the stress from volume expansions of large K ion insertion and will achieve highly stable electrochemical performances for KIBs. The proposed 2D metallenes for KIBs in this project will be the first innovation in the area of energy storage and conversion and will bring new scientific knowledge to current studies. I with my host group will combine the expertise and techniques to make a difference.

Mots clés : potassium ion battery 2d metallenes

Participants :
- Trinity College (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 215534.4 €
Projet SAT-Q (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Understanding thermodynamics in the quantum regime involves the understanding of how energy and information are exchanged between a quantum system and its surroundings. Although the laws of thermodynamics are well understood for macroscopic classical environments, advancements in quantum technology press the need for a microscopic approach which treats the surroundings as a quantum system in its own right. This project, which I call scattering approach to thermodynamics of quantum systems (SAT-Q), aims at providing such an approach. It relies on a quantum treatment of the surroundings as particles which travel in space and scatter with a quantum system. The starting point of SAT-Q are state-of-the-art results showing how the scattering approach with massive particles goes beyond existing collision-based approaches to thermodynamics of quantum systems by explaining the notions of heat and work in a fully-quantum fashion. The plan of the SAT-Q is then to extend the scattering approach to situations of greater theoretical and experimental relevance, where particle statistics are important and when incoming particles are photons. This is essential in quantum transport and optics setups, where the scattering approach can be applied. In parallel, the plan of SAT-Q is to establish a connection between the scattering approach and more abstract approaches to thermodynamics based on resource theories, bringing the latter closer to reality. Since scattering is ubiquitous in nature and physics experiments, I expect SAT-Q to produce new, foundational results in the field of quantum thermodynamics which can be directly tested in modern experiments.

Mots clés : quantum, thermodynamics, scattering

Participants :
- Trinity College (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 199694.4 €
Projet N2PCON (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Since Richard Feynman's famous talk There is Plenty of Room at the Bottom in 1959, the following decades saw the booming of nanotechnology. One of the fields in which nanotechnology can never be ignored is the development of scientific instruments. Scientific instruments based on nanotechnology have revolutionized many research fields. However, using current instruments to study superfluid He is still challenging, especially for the topological defects (TDs) and topological matter (TM) because the scale of the coherence length of the interesting objects in 3He is just tens of nanometers. The N2PCON (Nanostructures and Nanoelectromechanical devices for Precise CONtrol of topological defects/matter in superfluid He) project will offer a nanotechnology solution to precisely control and study TDs and TM. In this action, I will work in the OtaNano (Finnish national infrastructure for nanoscience and nanotechnology) at Aalto University, with the supervision of Dr. Sami Franssila (Department of Chemistry and Materials Science) and Dr. Vladimir Eltsov (Department of Applied Physics). At the same time, I will also work with my secondment institutes, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK and Lancaster University, UK, to boost this action. The action will produce nanoscale instruments (NEMS, nanostructures) that surpass the current state-of-the-art devices, in both performance and dimension, to reach the quantum world of TDs and TM. N2PCON is expected to provide new tools for superfluid research and also add general knowledge to MEMS/NEMS and cosmology. In the long term, it will boost the MEMS/NEMS research and industry in the EU.

Mots clés : nems, nanostructures, nanofabrication, high sensitivity force sensors, quantum vortices

Participants :
- Université Aalto (Finlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 199694.4 €
- Royal Holloway (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Lancaster (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet ENGCoN (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The communication networks of the future are expected to manage an explosive demand for connectivity and be sufficiently robust to deliver on all the promised benefits of 5G and 6G. A significant challenge to achieving such ambitions is the “energy crunch”: the use of increased power will inevitably create problems for enhancing bandwidth. However, the ICT sector itself has the potential not only to solve the energy crunch in networks but also to deliver significant savings on energy costs. My Fellowship addresses this energy crunch and energy efficiency in future networks. This project will develop a comprehensive design of an energy-efficient communication network that can manage the colossal demands for data. It will combine top-down and bottom-up energy analyses to obtain a comprehensive view of energy use and trends. It shall survey equipment over time and renormalize them based on the latest developments in the field of semiconductor electronics. My work will facilitate building new models for emerging technologies such as 5G/6G core and federated artificial intelligence. By establishing an accurate picture of energy trends, it will establish key benchmarks and challenges for products and emerging technologies related to their energy use and sustainability. It will present strategies for sustainable deployment and operation of technologies and ways to maximize their impact on sustainability across society. Its outcomes will lead to the enhancement of energy efficiency of communication networks and support European Commission’s digital strategies, e.g., to sustain a green, secure and resilient IT infrastructure.

Mots clés : energy efficiency, communication networks

Participants :
- Université Columbia (Etats-Unis) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université Duke (Etats-Unis) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Trinity College (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 215534.4 €
Projet MALAMER (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Metalloenzymes play a crucial role in various biological functions, going from small molecule transportation to catalyzing essential metabolic ingredients. Understanding their reactivity is essential for advancing a broad range of fields and related industries, such as medicine, biotechnology, environmental science, and catalysis. The computational modelling of biomolecules is a pillar of new drug and catalyst design, but the common methods used for purely organic-based compounds, such as empirical force fields, cannot simply be applied in the presence of a metal centre due to their complex electronic structure. On the other hand, hybrid Quantum Mechanical/Molecular Mechanics (QM/MM) methods provide a way to study metalloenzymes, but their computational overheads prevent their large-scale use for molecular dynamics simulations and reactivity studies. The project MAchine Learning-Assisted simulation of MEtalloenzyme’s Reactivity (MALAMER), aims to revolutionize the simulation of metalloenzymes' reactivity by integrating machine-learning force fields with QM/MM methods, and advanced sampling techniques, allowing for an unprecedentedly accurate description of their activity. This innovative approach will lead to significant insights and applications in catalyst development and drug discovery, with a potential impact on several EU priority areas. The project will commence in September 2024 under the supervision of Prof. Lunghi at Trinity College Dublin, with a planned 3-month secondment at University College London to gain additional expertise in advanced sampling simulations from Prof. Salvalaglio. A comprehensive set of training, dissemination, exploitation, and communication activities are planned and they will be implemented with the help of the supervisors and Trinity College Dublin's human resources, training office, and innovation and technology transfer office.

Mots clés : computational chemistry bioinorganic chemistry enzyme catalysis, machine learning force fields, molecular dynamics

Participants :
- University College de Londres (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Trinity College (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 199694.4 €
Projet CIRQuIT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The role of quantum computing in simulating quantum and complex systems (e.g., molecular and biological systems) is central to the "second quantum revolution", generating enormous investments of industrial companies (e.g., IBM, Google, etc.) and EU members. Current technologies are mainly based on solid-state fundamental units, i.e., the qubits, whose working principles rely on superconductivity or electron/nuclear spin physics. Beyond them, molecular systems based on magnetic compounds are attracting specific interest in the community. By exploiting the versatility of molecular systems and the infinite possibilities enabled by synthetic chemistry, it is possible to engineer the systems' physical and chemical properties. For instance, several qubits can be interconnected within a single structure through organic and coordination chemistry approaches, thus improving more complex structures for implementing advanced quantum logical operations (i.e., quantum logic gates). The CIRQUiT project aims to go beyond the current state-of-the-art molecular quantum logical units by introducing molecular machines for quantum information processing. The three main ingredients of this project are: i) organic and coordination chemistry, ii) light, and iii) magnetism. Two molecular qubits will be anchored to a central diamagnetic photochromic unit acting as a switch of magnetic interactions. The differences in magnetic anisotropy properties of the two qubits will keep them distinguishable and manipulable through microwave pulses. By exploiting cyclization and cycloversion reactions of the photochromic core (enabled by continuous or pulsed irradiation with UV and Vis light sources, respectively), it will be possible to switch exchange coupling interactions between side units. In this way, the two qubits can act as individual units when uncoupled and as quantum logic gates "on demand", mimicking the workflow of a quantum circuit.

Mots clés : molecular spin qubits, photochemistry, photochromism, epr spectroscopy

Participants :
- Université libre de Berlin (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Trinity College (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 199694.4 €
Projet SiC (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

This project explores the impact of the plague on attitudes towards sexuality in late medieval England. The fourteenth-century plague, commonly known as the 'Black Death', killed up to half of the population of England in this period and had far-reaching social, cultural, economic and political consequences for English society. However, to date its impact on the exercise of institutional power and control over sexual behaviour has not been addressed. This is a significant omission given the substantial body of historical and sociological research on the role of sexual moralisation in societal responses to pandemics in the modern era, as well as historical scholarship assessing the broader societal impacts of the fourteenth-century plague. This project addresses this knowledge gap through a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the records of the Church courts, which exercised jurisdiction over sexual offences in this period. This involves creating a database of cases heard in the courts of four English dioceses with extant fourteenth-century judicial records (York, Canterbury, Rochester and Salisbury), subjecting the dataset to statistical analysis and close reading techniques, and contextualising these records with relevant narrative sources (chronicles, letters, sermon collections). It seeks to test the hypothesis that litigation of sexual offences will intensify in the immediate aftermath of major plague outbreaks. This is important and timely research given the well-documented links between social unrest and worsening economic conditions caused by the COVID19 pandemic and the growth of political and popular attacks on LGBTQ rights in the 2020s. The project will provide an impactful case study concerning changing patterns in cultural attitudes towards sexuality, which can aid policymakers and advocacy groups to make protections for sexual and gender minorities today more resilient in the face of future pandemic threats.


Participants :
- Trinity College (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 199694.4 €
Projet TROPIC (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

This research proposal presents an innovative approach to assessing the impacts of land use and climate change on biodiversity in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, one of the world's most critical biodiversity hotspots. The project integrates ecological modeling, spatial analysis, and advanced statistical techniques to understand biodiversity shifts across amphibians, birds, and mammals, focusing on taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic dimensions. By identifying critical ecological thresholds—points where small environmental changes trigger significant community shifts—the research fills a key gap in current studies, which often focus on isolated taxa or regions. The research has three main goals: (1) Identify significant shifts in species assemblages along gradients of natural habitat and anthropogenic land use, pinpointing ecological thresholds and community shifts. (2) Analyze how interactions between climate change and land-use change will impact the distribution of biodiversity, using species distribution models to forecast future scenarios. (3) Identify and project future biodiversity shifts and overlay these onto existing conservation areas, providing actionable maps to guide conservation efforts. The use of GradientForest for threshold analysis across the entire biome is particularly innovative, offering a comprehensive understanding of biodiversity dynamics. The project emphasizes open science practices, ensuring transparency and reproducibility by using publicly available data and sharing analytical code. This interdisciplinary approach not only advances ecological theory but also provides practical tools for conservation planning, with potential applications beyond the Atlantic Forest. Overall, the project represents a significant advancement in biodiversity conservation, offering new insights into the challenges posed by land use and climate change and contributing to the development of effective conservation strategies.

Mots clés : community turn over land use change climate change trait ecology functional ecology phylogenetic ecology disturbance ecology brazilian atlantic forest anurans forest birds mammals

Participants :
- Université de Lancaster (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 260347.92 €
Projet RightFutures (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

RightFutures inquires into the ways future-oriented activities shape the political experiences of youths (18-35 yo) who identify with the self-defined ‘Real Right’ in Italy and Chile. RightFutures research question (RQ) asks: “how and why do Youths who identify with the self-defined ‘Real Right’ in Italy and Chile engage with multiple futural orientations through political performances, events, activities, and materialities?”. RightFutures investigates the RQ through three specific objectives, focusing on security and defence, the (dictatorial) past, and the nation. It uses the method of comparative ethnography (data will be collected through participant observation, extended interviews, participatory mapping, and secondary sources). RightFutures will focus on Youths who identify with groups that have inherited the countries’ dictatorial legacies, acknowledging that the existence and practices of these groups become pivotal points used to renew the dictatorial past’s rightfulness. These groups thus preserve, perpetuate, and renew the dictatorial past’s contemporary relevance and permanency within democratic structures. Its innovative contributions are: i) investigating the ‘Real Right’ using a novel analytical focus through a futural temporal perspective; ii) proposing a novel ethnographic comparison between Italy and Chile to explore the global relevance of this topic; and iii) producing novel understandings of the ‘Real Right’ in Italy and Chile.

Mots clés : fascism, far right, youths political experiences, chile italy

Participants :
- Université de Roskilde (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 230774.4 €