Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet CompositeSPTphases (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The sum being greater than its parts is a common theme in condensed matter physics. Materials made of large numbers of simple constituents often exhibit intriguing and markedly distinct phases of matter with properties very different from any of the individual constituents. Understanding the possible phases of matter and identifying them in real materials is the central focus of this branch of physics. Roughly speaking, two categories of phases of matter exist--- conventional phases which show a geometrical pattern of order, and topological phases, where the order is more elusive and related to topological concepts. In the past three decades, topological phases have attracted a large amount of interest due to their tendency to exhibit highly robust quantum phenomena which has various applications in quantum engineering and metrology. The current frontier in the field aims at understanding the variety of novel topological phases which arise when some extra symmetries, such as time reversal, are not allowed to be broken. In this project we explore this new type of phase using the concept of composite particles --- an idea which has been extremely useful in previous studies of topological matter, but has not been applied in the symmetry-protected context previously. The fundamental idea behind our approach is to view symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases of spin/electron systems as conventional ferromagnets/superconductors/metals of composite objects. Besides its conceptual importance, such an approach will allow us to utilize our knowledge of conventional phases in the context of SPT phases and also derive microscopic models which realize these states of matter. It will thus increase the chance of discovering new SPT phases in nature.

Mots clés : topological phases, spts, field theory, quantum computation

Participants :
- University of Oxford (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet ATEM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The technological blossom in artificial intelligence (AI) makes possible numerous advancements in various engineering disciplines. The applicant has been in the forefront of this AI innovation, and received seven world prizes in AI competitions. For this fellowship, he intends to use his AI expertise to examine the role that AI technologies can play in accelerating transport electrification, and subsequently contributing to climate action. In view of the strong vehicle industry in Gothenburg, Sweden, Chalmers and Scania AB collectively provide an outstanding research environment for this important topic. More specifically, this project will consolidate data-driven electrochemical battery model, deep reinforcement learning based automated electric vehicle (AEV) speed control and AEV personalized routing recommendation model, which are three biggest challenges in the transition process towards electrified transport systems. The fellowship will be co-supported by AI Innovation of Sweden, and Drive Sweden, with a hope to implement the expected findings in not only the vehicle industry but also transport management sectors. This research is interdisciplinary in nature, and requires expertise from computer science, artificial intelligence, electrochemical engineering, electrical engineering, and transport engineering. In this regard, the host institute, Chalmers University of Technology, has developed a well-designed career training and development plan for the applicant to work with renowned research leaders in relevant disciplines (e.g. Prof. Xiaobo Qu, Member of Academia Europaea; Prof. Karl Johansson, Fellow of Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences) to enhance his readiness to become an assistant professor after this fellowship. The applicant will also take advantage of the fertile research environment in Chalmers, and synchronize the workshops and reference groups with the host’s other EU and Swedish projects to disseminate the new findings.


Participants :
- Chalmers University of Technology (Suède) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 191852.16 €
Projet ARETHA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The terahertz frequency band attracted strong research interest over the last few years and it is proclaimed as an ideal solution for accommodating the escalating needs of the envisioned applications in the fourth industrial revolution era. The implementation of efficient and affordable integrated hardware components and systems able to provide solid performance in this frequency range requires the solution of many technical and scientific challenges. On account of this, the main target of this proposal is to provide a holistic approach that will enhance and optimize the foundations of the development of these building blocks, starting from the underlying advanced semiconductor and IC packaging technology platforms that offer the basis for the implementation of THz IC designs. The project approach is multidisciplinary applying novel ideas and the latest achievements in material science to the engineering of custom silicon-based IC designs in the THz regime. In some cases, the researcher Dr. Mitronika intends to design new components and include them in a dedicated library to assess the IC design and in others, to evaluate, improve and propose new thin film technologies that improve the total chip performance. Accordingly, our work will deal with two major objectives based on which a complete THz hardware design platform will be proposed as a practically feasible solution. The first objective is to enhance the required process design kit with a set of scalable microwave elements, adequate for THz IC design. The second objective is to explore the implementation of microwave passive components in the IC packaging technology and propose modifications to the thin film technologies. A successful elaboration of our holistic approach will enable the THz infrastructure evolution that will affect the advancements in the next generation of communication systems (6G) but also in biomedical and sensing applications.

Mots clés : terahertz  thz, beyond 5g, sige technology, process design kit, process integration, semiconductor device modeling, rf passive devices, wafer level packaging technology, thin films, packaging

Participants :
- Infineon Technologies (Austria) (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 174167.04 €
Projet Thalamic Circuits (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The thalamus, whose anatomical history goes back two millenia, has long been recognized as the master relay for sensory information propagating to cortex and consciousness. Yet, it is indisputable that thalamic nuclei are much more than simple relays but integrate different sensory modalities, bottom-up as well as top-down information. One elementary form of top-down modulation is attention, which selectively enhances behaviorally relevant information. Attentional modulation occurs already at the thalamus by, yet, unresolved circuit mechanisms. My research specifically aims at (1) exploring circuits for long-range, top-down modulation of thalamic visual processing, (2) dissecting the circuitry underlying attentional modulation, and (3) understanding basic rules of thalamic information processing. I will pursuit these three aims using an innovative combination of monosynaptic retrograde rabies tracing, optogenetics and deep 2-photon calcium imaging. My experiments will focus on the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), which is the main connection between the optic nerve and the visual cortex, as well as on the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), which provides major inhibitory input to LGN and has previously been implicated in attentional regulation. Notably, TRN deficits have been suggested to contribute to the clinical symptoms of schizophrenia. By rabies tracing, I will target channelrhodopsin to monosynaptic long-range inputs to the visual thalamus. By GRIN-lens assisted 2-photon imaging I will quantify visual responses and search for signatures of attentional modulation that can be induced by optogenetic stimulation of specific inputs. This approach will allow me to quantify attentional modulation of thalamic information-processing by specific long-range inputs, to dissect the underlying circuitry mechanisms and to contribute to a better understanding of thalamic computational power as well as its vulnerabilities.

Mots clés : neural circuits, vision, thalamus, attention, in vivo imaging

Participants :
- Friedrich Miescher Institute (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 175419.6 €
Projet EmbryoPAINT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The three-dimensional architecture of the genome regulates its fundamental functions such as the transcription or replication of DNA. Thus, chromatin organisation is crucially important for key aspects of cell biology, such as the differentiation of stem cells in the early embryo. While recent studies have shown that the mammalian genome rearranges extensively towards a more ordered state after the first few embryonal divisions, many fundamental questions remain unanswered. For example, it is not known whether totipotent cells have a well-defined genomic architecture or whether this architecture is highly heterogeneous between different cells and embryos. Further, it is unclear if early cell fate decisions are driven by a reproducible coordinated rearrangement of pluripotency-related genes, or if this is stochastic process. These questions could best be tackled by directly assessing the physical genome structure and architecture of pluripotency genes in single stem cells inside the whole embryo. In my project, I will pursue this ambitious aim by exploiting recent breakthroughs in 3D super-resolution microscopy, namely the development of an inverted lattice light-sheet microscope, highly multiplexed oligo-DNA-PAINT, and advanced computational algorithms, to study the physical 3D architecture of the genomic network of totipotency and pluripotency genes. Thus, I will for the first time be able to unravel the structural determinants of the transition from totipotency to the pluripotent and differentiated state during early mammalian development.

Mots clés : 3d super resolution microscopy, preimplantation embryo, totipotency, pluripotency, light sheet microscopy

Participants :
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 162806.4 €
Projet FLAME (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The time that precipitated water resides in soil (residence time) varies from a few days to several months or even years, and increases with soil depth. How much of the water used by plants originates from the growing season precipitation and how much of it comes from previous events or seasons largely depends on storage capacity, permeability, and residence time of precipitation in soil. It is unclear how the dynamics of subsurface water storage and release, the seasonal origins and turnover time of water used by plants, and plant water uptake depths will change when environmental conditions change (e.g. receding groundwater, more frequent droughts). Yet, they are the most crucial in predicting vegetation resilience in response to drought. Studying the resilience of different plant species to climate change will facilitate promotion of climate-smart forest as conservation, afforestation, and restoration practices at several scales. Previous studies have attempted to improve the mechanistic understanding of ecosystem response to dry conditions or climate change by focusing either on vegetation water availability1 or plant physiological adaptation strategies2-4, but the combined effects of shifting terrestrial water availability and atmospheric demand have not been mechanistically investigated. In order to understand terrestrial ecosystems’ response to a changing climate, it is crucial to characterize precipitation partitioning in terrestrial systems, species-specific water uptake strategies, and plants' adaptive water use efficiency, all in a coupled framework. FLAME will use a newly developed high-frequency in-situ measurements of stable water isotopes (18O and 2H) in soil and xylem as a unique natural signature to trace the origin of vegetation water uptake and its residence time in subsurface. It will combine these observations with a high resolution physically-based water and vegetation uptake model to track water.

Mots clés : stable isotopes of water, soil water availability, ecosystem response to extreme climate

Participants :
- University of Zurich (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 203149.44 €
Projet MAtISSE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The topic of the MAtISSE project is the Multichannel Investigation of Solar Modulation Effects in Galactic Cosmic Rays (CRs). When entering the heliosphere, CRs encounter a turbulent flowing plasma, the solar wind, which modulates their energy spectra. The solar modulation is expected to be different for positive and negative particles (due to charge-sign dependent effects) or for leptons and nuclei (due to different charge/mass ratios), making their individual studies essential. The study of these effects has been limited for long time by two factors: the scarcity of long-term CR data, and the poor knowledge of the interstellar spectra. With the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) in continuous operation on the International Space Station (ISS), we have now an excellent multichannel CR monitor of solar activity. With the spectacular Voyager-1’s entry in the interstellar space, we have the very first data of CR fluxes unaffected by solar modulation. The aim of this project is two-fold: (i) to extend solar modulation measurements of CR leptons and nuclei using the AMS data from the ISS, and (ii) to develop a numerical model of CR modulation to be characterised by new data from AMS, spacecrafts and ground detectors. With the unprecedent quality of new data, this project is aimed to achieve strong theoretical and observational milestones. By advancing observations of particles and antiparticles, we will explore the origin of CRs and their propagation in the Galaxy. By numerically modelling the solar modulation, we will study their fundamental transport processes in the heliosphere. The goal of this project is to provide a detailed measurement-validated model of modulated CR fluxes at all locations on Earth for varying solar activity conditions. This goal addresses a prerequisite for modelling the effects of cosmic radiation and space weather hazards, which is an increasing concern for space missions and air travellers.

Mots clés : cosmic rays, solar modulation, heliophysics, heliosphere, data analysis, particle astrophysics

Participants :
- University of Perugia (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 168277.2 €
Projet DyeMetalloCage (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The training program DyeMetalloCage(DMC) is an ambitious and well-designed project that has been conceived to make a ground-breaking impact within the interdisciplinary field of self-assembly, material science, nanochemistry, catalysis and biomedicine. This project is aimed at bringing metallo-supramolecular chemistry to unprecedented levels of applicability, developing novel assemblies constructed through supramolecular tools as new material for technology and biologically relevant functions. The proposal is focused on the preparation of cutting-edge metello-supramolecular assemblies based on subphthalocyanines, BODIPYs, and azaBODIPYs, and the study of their abilities to: (1) Behave as molecular receptors for the complexation of different fullerene derivatives in aqueous medium; (2) modify the reactivity and the kinetics of addition reactions over fullerenes in the interior of the cage; and (3) behave as supramolecular amphiphilic photosensitizers for biomedical applications. The applicant will gain new knowledge during the fellowship at the host organization. The training provided by the program will contribute to improve the development of his career in a number of ways. The highly multidisciplinary aspect of this project proposal will allow interaction with various experienced and young researcher different fields, including chemistry, physical chemistry and biochemistry. This will make a two-year long MSCA fellowship in the host group into an invaluable preparation for an independent professional career in academia or industry in near future. The training offered by the host group is of the highest quality, which is translated into the achievements and track record of former Ph.D. and postdoctoral students.

Mots clés : subphthalocyanines, bodipys, molecular flasks, host guest, photodynamics therapy

Participants :
- Autonomous University of Madrid (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 172932.48 €
Projet SOFIA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Economic Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The training-through-research project SOFIA - Situated Learning Opportunities fostered by ICT applications in Alternative Agro-Food Networks- aims at enhancing the researcher potential to make broad his horizons and support his career development. In the light of his research objectives he will acquire new knowledge and transfer that one previously developed to the host organization The SOFIA project will allow the ER to became a key facilitator of multidisciplinary research and innovation teams, applying his interdisciplinary competences in service design for innovation, thus ensuring an independent position to the researcher and his future employability in the academic and/or non-academic context. The research SOFIA aims to analyze innovative organizational models and explore the value of the use of ICT tools (e.g. ubiquitous mobile services) to increase Situated Learning Opportunities (SLOs) in an Alternative Agro-Food Networks (AAFNs), through two methodologies i.e multi-case study analysis of local food systems and rural areas and a web-survey of ICT tools for AAFN. The expected impact of the research is to define a set of reproducible methodologies, models, tools and technologies that can improve the competitiveness of a selected area, leveraging its potential in terms of materials and intangible resources. In addition, the study will aim to analyze ICT tools supporting the information flows management both for decision making and for operational processes in the identified collaborative networks. The researcher will carry out specific actions to disseminate project results and increase their fruitful exploitation, e.g.SOFIA’s results will be exploited to draw up guidelines based on innovative organizational models, tools and ICTs to support the dynamics of sustainable development in local food systems and to design and develop Mobile services to support SLOs in AAFNs in order to improve mutual understanding and collaboration between value chain stakeholders.

Mots clés : short food supply chain, rural ares development, sustainability, collaborative networks, social learning, mobile learning

Participants :
- University of Gloucestershire (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 162879.0 €
Projet DiPipe (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The transition metal-catalyzed direct functionalization of C-H bonds is a major research topic across the world. However selective (regio-, enantio-, diastereoselective) and efficient functionalization of C(sp3)-H bonds, remains a significant challenge: C(sp3)-H bonds are omnipresent in organic molecules and their dissociation energies are large. The use of directing groups (DGs) “guiding” the metal to specific C-H bonds and allowing intramolecular C-H bond activation, is a recognized general approach to address the selectivity challenge. However, their installation and removal add steps to the overall reaction sequence. This proposal aims to develop unprecedented regio- and diastereoselective transition metal-catalyzed functionalization of piperidine derivatives with haloalkenes making use of transient DGs, installed and removed in situ during catalysis. Access to a large number of substituted piperidines as well as known and new bicyclic scaffolds can be achieved via post-functionalization of the vinylpiperidine reaction products, making the aimed synthetic methodology potentially suitable for molecular library synthesis in drug discovery. A particularly challenging objective of the proposal is the remote (meta) functionalization with respect to the DG at C3 of the piperidine ring. Piperidine is chosen as a central heterocycle core in this application based on its importance in drug design and wide occurrence in commercial drugs (privileged scaffold).

Mots clés : c h activation, c h functionalization, directing group, heterocycles, piperidines

Participants :
- University of Antwerp (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 178320.0 €