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

Great interest has recently been sparked in active soft matter and more specifically mixtures of active with passive systems. These works have shown how passive colloidal particles influenced by activity, give rise to interesting non-equilibrium interactions and microscopic transport effects. However, the effects of mixing diverse biological and synthetic active systems with passive particles are far from understood. Developing on the applicant’s experience, we propose a combined experimental and simulation physics-based study of the effects of doping active systems in concentrated suspensions of passive particles, while simultaneously looking at the dynamical properties of a single passive particle in a bath of activity. Initially we plan to experimentally examine a well-characterised model active system; platinum coated polystyrene Janus particles in a 2D geometry, mixed with passive particles. Using microscopy and particle tracking, we will study the effects and phase behaviour of active doping on dilute and dense suspensions of particles in a well-controlled setting. Simultaneously we will carry out overdamped dynamical simulations to guide and supplement experimental measurements. Subsequently, we plan to branch out and increase the complexity by expanding to 3D systems and other types of activity. Active doping of concentrated passive suspensions is expected to strongly influence phase and macroscopic behaviours, while doping of dilute suspensions will allow modification of the dynamics of single particles. Therefore, our work will provide fundamental understanding on the workings of activity on passive systems, leading to new insights for macroscopic applications, on processing and design of targeted materials, as well as and lab-on-a-chip applications dealing with microscopic transport and sorting. The candidate will work on cutting edge active systems within the group of Prof. W. Poon, the holder of an ERC Advanced Grant on the physics of active matter.

Mots clés : active matter, colloidal swimmers, bacterial motility, self propulsion, glass transition, rheology, confocal microscopy, imaging rheology, self assembly

Participants :
- University of Edinburgh (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet SubTideTools (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Groundwater resources underpin ecosystems and human activities, yet their continued global depletion causes problems including deterioration of water quality and ecology due to baseflow reduction, land subsidence and seawater intrusion. Accurate quantification of groundwater flow and storage changes is critical to enable adaptive resource management, for example through assessing potential impacts from over-extraction and determining sustainable yields. This requires detailed knowledge of groundwater systems, such as the spatial distribution and temporal variability of hydro-geomechanical (hydraulic and poroelastic) subsurface properties. Current groundwater investigation methods (such as aquifer testing) require high effort and are costly to conduct, restricting the rate and frequency of testing thus resulting in spatially limited and static outcomes. This project will develop SubTideTools (STT), a novel methodology to quantify hydro-geomechanical subsurface properties and to characterise groundwater systems using the ubiquitous Earth and atmospheric tides embedded in pore pressure measurements. STT will be developed, verified with traditional investigation techniques and released as an open source and access computational toolbox. STT will enable automated calculations of time-variable subsurface properties from existing records of groundwater and atmospheric pressure routinely acquired by global monitoring programs. The project will therefore shift the paradigm about how groundwater data are used and add significant value to existing monitoring programs, enhancing resource management decisions and improving implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. STT directly addresses the societal challenge ‘Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials’ in the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (HORIZON2020).

Mots clés : groundwater resources, subsurface investigation, groundwater system characterisation

Participants :
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 174806.4 €
Projet ZC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Group rings form one of the most significant classes of rings. They encode group and ring theoretical information. The study of the group of units of integral group rings was initiated in the 1940's by Higman in connection with the Isomorphism Problem. One of the main problems still unsolved is the description of its torsion units of the the torsion elements of the group V(ZG) formed by the units of augmentation 1. The Zassenhaus Conjecture, possed in the 1960's by Hans Zassenhaus, predicts that all the torsion units of V(ZG) are conjugate in the rational group algebra of the elements of G. This has been proved for some classes of groups, as for example, nilpotent or cyclic-by-abelian groups and for some special groups. A weaker conjecture stablishes that the orders of the torsion units of V(ZG) and G are the same, or the even weaker Prime Conjecture which states that V(ZG) and G have the same prime graph. The aim of this proposal is to make significant contributions on this questions. More precisely, we will concentrate in studying the above questions for G metabelian and for some series of simple groups as, for example, the projective linear groups. We intent to develope new techniques which surpasses some of the obstacles founded using the existing methods as for example the HeLP Method. Some recent progress obtained recently by the applying researcher, as the Lattice Method introduced in his Ph.D. Thesis and a software developed in cooperation with A. Bächle implementing the HeLP Method, would be very useful to obtain the goals of the project.

Mots clés : group rings, units

Participants :
- University of Murcia (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 118591.2 €
Projet Perceptual Dominancy (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Grouping principles are utilized for the construction of visual information into coherent percepts. Several grouping principles are usually present in the same scene and often lead to several possible organizations. However, our conscious percept is usually of one stable organization at a time. Very little is known about the mechanism by which the competition between alternative organizations is resolved. The proposed study is designed to fill this gap, and to reveal the mechanism using behavioral measures (i.e., accuracy and reaction times) as well as neuroimaging tools (i.e., EEG). The specific research objectives are: (1) Identifying the factors that affect the competition and their relations; (2) Evaluating the roles of visual encoding and mental representations in the competition; and (3) Identifying the neural correlates of the competition. Training objectives: (1) Gain knowledge in new research methods (i.e., EEG); (2) Enhance experience in mentoring and supervision to improve transfer of knowledge; (3) Refine skills in funding applications and project management; (4) Extend track record of conference presentations and publications; and (5) Expand involvement in gender issues. During the fellowship I will acquire new knowledge and skills in neuroscience to complement my expertise in cognitive psychology research. Intensive hands-on training using state-of-the-art equipment and facilities will be provided under the close supervision of world-class expert. Since there is a growing demand in universities in Europe and worldwide for vision researchers showing inter-disciplinary approaches and skills, the fellowship will have a tremendous impact on my career and open more job opportunities for me. The host lab offers a multidisciplinary approach, including computational modeling, psychophysical and clinical research, and neuroimaging. Thus, this fellowship holds endless possibilities for prosperous and innovative collaborations.

Mots clés : perceptual organization, grouping, time course, mental representations, competition, priming

Participants :
- Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 175419.6 €
Projet miR-IBD (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Growing evidences indicate that microRNAs (miRNAs) are present in various body fluids and contribute to cell-cell communication. My previous studies identified circulating miRNAs as efficient tool for the diagnosis and surveillance of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Interestingly, miRNAs are secreted into the intestinal lumen where thousands of different bacterial species are present and confer important benefits to the host. This proximity prompted us to speculate that miRNAs and bacteria interact, playing a role in the host/microbiota relationship. My preliminary data generated to date demonstrate that fecal miRNAs are altered during intestinal inflammation in association with an alteration of microbiota composition, and we recently reported that exogenously administered miRNAs have the potential to alter microbiota composition and function. Here, our central hypothesis is that fecal miRNAs are mediators of host-microbiota interactions and therefore modulate intestinal inflammation. On the basis of this overarching hypothesis, I now propose to determine the role played by the intestinal microbiota in miRNA-mediated modulation of intestinal inflammation (objective 1: mechanism); Investigate the ability of specific miRNAs / anti-miRNAs to modulate intestinal inflammation. (objective 2: therapeutic) and to identify whether fecal miRNAs are indicators of microbiota and intestinal healthiness in IBD patients (objective 3: translational). We envision that the proposed experiments could identify a new role for miRNAs in manipulating the intestinal microbiota hence leading to the development of new therapeutic strategies.

Mots clés : intestine, microbiota, mirna, inflammation, therapeutics

Participants :
- Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 196707.84 €
Projet HotPaNTS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Growing food demand exacerbates negative impacts of agriculture on the environment including diffuse nutrient losses from agricultural land to surface and groundwaters causing their eutrophication. The research will evaluate a robust monitoring method of detecting diffuse pollution in space and time in agricultural catchments based on in situ fluorescence sensors. Tangible advantages of the fluorescence sensors: in situ deployment, low cost, real-time measurements, mobility within the catchment, sensitivity and reliability, will be evaluated against potential limitations from quenching effects. This comprehensive evaluation is possible thanks to the host’s unique expertise and role as a coordinator of the Swedish monitoring programme with access to the monitoring catchments, covering a range of agronomic and environmental conditions. Once tested over hot-spots and hot-moments of nutrient delivery, the method could offer an alternative and/or complementary monitoring approach to the existing methodologies of low-frequency and fixed-location nutrient sampling. The tool will improve targeting nutrient sources and mitigation measures to the locations in which they will bring the largest economical, societal and environmental benefits and in turn will help to achieve the aims of the EU Water Framework Directive.

Mots clés : fluorescence spectroscopy, sensors, agricultural catchments, diffuse pollution, high frequency in situ nutrient monitoring, nutrients, phosphorus, nitrogen, carbon

Participants :
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Suède) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 173857.2 €
Projet Grolaries (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Growth plate injuries result in growth arrest, formation of a “bony bar” and angular limb deformities in children. Novel therapeutic approaches directed towards prevention of bone formation and growth arrest have to integrate cellular grafts, biomaterials and growth factors with the ultimate goal of recapitulating the complex zonal organization of the growth plate. One endogenous source of cartilage progenitor cells is thought to be the resting zone of the growth plate. Until now, the lack of specific marker(s) for the resting zone restricted the examination of this population. In the proposed research, I aim to label and trace these cells during postnatal growth and in reaction to trauma, and I aim to understand: whether resting zone cells express skeletal stem cells characteristics (Aim 1), whether they are expandable and multi-potent (Aim 2) and whether they contribute to regeneration of the growth plate in a physeal fracture model (Aim 3). Clinical translation of chondrocyte stem cell regeneration necessitates basic validation in human tissue of the cell surface markers found in mouse stem cells. This last step in the project will be performed in collaboration with Dr. Fernando Santos Laboratory at University of Oviedo, Spain. Altogether, these results will provide a strong basis for development of bioengineering strategies for growth plate cartilage restoration. Finally, this collaboration between Dr Andreia Ionescu Lab and Dr Laboratory would provide not only an interchange between American and European laboratories, basic and clinical science, but also a robust criterion for identification of a stem cell population instrumental for the development of future therapeutics.

Mots clés : growth plate, stem cell, regeneration, mouse

Participants :
- Harvard University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Oviedo (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 204415.68 €
Projet BRAIN (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Gut microbes are known to affect the neurophysiology of their hosts and genome sequencing now easily allows metabolic characterization of elusive microbial diversity that cannot be cultured. While investigations on the neurological and behavioural consequences of mammalian gut symbionts have grown exponentially in recent years, little is known about the ‘gut microbiota–brain axis’ in insects of major economic interest. The applicant is a molecular evolutionary ecologist who previously used gene expression data to predict physiological modifications in the honeybee after insemination and published a comparative analysis of bacterial symbionts across ants. He now aims to realize an inter-disciplinary program to map the neurological and behavioural extended phenotypes of gut symbionts in bees. Through experimental approaches of microbiome manipulation, neurotranscriptomics, behavioural-tracking, FISH, and isotope-labelling of bacterial metabolites, the project seeks to understand: (i) the extent to which Apis mellifera gut symbionts affect host brain function by identifying the specific bacteria, their metabolic products, and the brain regions involved in host-symbiont interactions, and (ii) assess whether these processes affect behavioural traits relevant for the social organization of bees. None of these objectives have been addressed before and achieving them has high potential to change the way in which biologists think about bacterial symbioses and animal behaviour. The project includes training-through-research for the applicant in microbiology, behavioural ecology, microscopy and bioinformatics, and considerable knowledge transfer in transcriptomics and conceptual symbiosis theory from the applicant to the host groups. Although challenging in its ambitions, the project is synergistic and feasible, and will allow the European Research Area to harvest tangible benefits to improve the health of a domesticated species of primary importance to secure food production.

Mots clés : microbiota, apis mellifera, rna sequencing, neurobiology, pollinator health

Participants :
- University of Lausanne (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 175419.6 €
Projet H-E Interactions (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

H-E Interactions will investigate how increasingly anthropogenic wetland landscapes and the reliable resources therein influenced the evolution of plant-food production and the origins of agriculture through the Final Pleistocene into the Early Holocene (ca.23-8 ka cal. BP). It will consider how earlier human-environment interactions shaped this key transition, integrating the latest theoretical Human Niche Construction (HNC) perspectives with environmental archaeology to investigate 5 well-excavated wetland oriented archaeological sites in the S. Levant. It will employ an interdisciplinary, combination of microbotanical approaches, (phytolith, starch and microcharcoal analyses) and geoarchaeology, in particular micromorphology, to investigate the on- and off-site contexts of a temporally broad set of sites to provide long-term, direct evidence of ancient plant-use. To achieve this, training in geoarchaeology, GIS and multivariate statistical skills will facilitate the production, management and interpretation of the large environmental dataset. As well as providing direct evidence of plant-use and environment from a critical H-E threshold, H-E Interactions is the first study in the region to directly examine how HNC practices impacted the origins of agriculture. So far, the origin of agriculture has been largely understood as a consequence of human reactions to environmental push & pull factors. This project presents an alternative approach and takes the view that increased use of ‘low-ranked’ resources may reflect deliberate human modification, management and/or food processing innovation, increasing the relative abundance and ease of acquisition of ‘low-ranked’ resources, resulting in ‘upward mobility’ of that resource. HNC provides a new way to consider changing plant resource selection in the Levant and the wider cultural and environmental implications, which may have impacted the rise of increasingly sedentary lifestyles and the origins of agriculture.

Mots clés : archaeobotany, environmental archaeology, levant, phytoliths, starch, geoarchaeology

Participants :
- University of Cambridge (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet HARBOR (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

HARBOR—Humanitarianism and Refugees at the Border—departs from the idea that humanitarianism is a neutral and timeless ideology, and instead turns a critical eye towards this sector to understand the ways in which nonprofit organizations become complicit with the neoliberal order—through reinforcing certain ideals of citizenship and sovereignty, occupying spaces that are destined for public institutions, and influencing refugees’ decision-making processes—and their possibilities for resistance. This feminist transnational comparison project expands my previous research in the refugee nonprofit sector at the US-Mexico border by including the two other most sought-after destinations in the world for refugees: Australia and Europe. Its aim is to make connections between nonprofit local practices and global dynamics to draw broader conclusions about the role nonprofit organizations play within refugee management. Through a combination of a transnational feminist lens and a Foucauldian framework, as well as ethnographic, participant observation and interview methods, HARBOR will reconstruct the role that humanitarian organizations play in the current refugee regime. In so doing, this project works at the connections between the academic, humanitarian, and policy-making sectors. In order to achieve my research objectives, I will be based at the University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane Australia where I will be trained in Global Governance and feminist political theory under the supervision of Dr. Hoffstaedter. Upon my return to my European host institution, CSIC, I will bring my new skills and engage in theory-building that challenges the idea of borders as protection with my mentor Professor Velasco at the Humanities Research Center.

Mots clés : refugees, transnational feminism, humanitarianism, neoliberalism, gender, migration management, global governance

Participants :
- University of Queensland (Australie) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Spanish National Research Council (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 251939.52 €