Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet Migration Ethics (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Over the last three years, millions have attempted to cross the EU frontier. Some are fleeing war and persecution; others poverty. The EU has struggled to find an acceptable response. It is aware that the denial of legal entry encourages risky crossings and that many of those migrating are refugees. Yet it is also keen to limit immigration. It has therefore responded by insisting on a sharp distinction between refugees and economic migrants, making some exceptions for the former, while seeking to exclude the latter. It has also obtained an agreement with Turkey that permits the EU to return migrants in exchange for various benefits. This response seems to have been effective in limiting migration along the Turkey-Greece route. Nevertheless, the large numbers migrating along other routes, the lack of sufficient protection for many refugees and the high death toll at sea, all cast doubt on the adequacy of the EU response. This research project will be the first within ethical theory to address the ethics of migration in the context of the Mediterranean crisis. It will assess how EU states should respond to such large waves of migration. It focusses on three questions. First, which migrants are entitled to protection? International law and EU policy single out refugees, but the research project will investigate whether states have duties towards other migrants as well. Second, of those who are entitled to protection, where should they be protected? The EU-Turkey agreement effectively involves the outsourcing of protection to Turkey. Such “safe third country” agreements are ethically controversial. Third, if it is permissible to exclude some migrants, how should they be excluded? Given the numbers that are currently dying while trying to evade migration restrictions, it is important to explore the various methods of restriction to see which, if any, are ethically defensible and, given the current regulatory framework, legally feasible.


Participants :
- Pompeu Fabra University (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 172932.48 €
Projet CHAOS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Over the past 25 years, optical fiber communications have heralded a revolution in the high-speed transmission information of information accros the globe, in perfect synergy with the advent of world-changing concepts such as the world-wide-web, big data transmission and processing, video communication or high-definition on-demand entertainment. The capacity of fiber optic communication systems has experienced a steady growth over the years, adapting to society's requirements. In recent years, worries have arisen regarding the theoretical capacity limits for fiber-optic technology, and several methods have been proposed to overcome the barrier posed by the nonlinear Shannon limit. The ambition of this proposal is to combine several of the most promising (both in terms of potential cost and performance) solutions to this problem, developing new methods for nonlinear effect compensation in systems with advanced optical amplification relying on the most efficient transmission formats. This fellowship is to provide the early career, but experienced researcher Pawel Rosa with an opportunity to expand his experimental knowledge in the field of optical communication and combine techniques from digital signal processing and numerical modelling into the development of novel solutions and patentable methods for nonlinearity compensation in optically amplified optical transmission systems with amplification based on either Erbium-doped fibers (EDFA), advanced distributed Raman schemes or a combination of both (hybrid amplification). The multidisciplinary aspects of the proposal will benefit the fellow in his way to reaching professional maturity in the field of optical communications and photonics. The project will blend the concepts of advanced optical amplification, coherent transmission, applied mathematics and novel computational methods, under the supervision of world-leading experts in the corresponding areas.

Mots clés : coherent detection, optical communication systems

Participants :
- Spanish National Research Council (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 158121.6 €
Projet MetalCell (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Over the past decade, metals which were previously restricted to conventional organic synthesis have begun to be used in an increasing number of biological settings. This has been dominated by copper mediated catalysis of the azide-alkyne Huisgen cycloaddition (1,3-dipolar addition) chemistry (the well know “click reaction”) but other, less toxic, metals such as palladium are now beginning to establish themselves in the chemical biology/ chemical medicine arenas. In this proposal, building on chemistry from the Bradley group (see Nature Chemistry, 2011 and Nature Communication, 2014) the potential of palladium mediated chemistry in living systems will be exploited. This will cover three main avenues of exploration: (i). The fabrication of active palladium catalysts conjugated to antibodies and small targeting peptides; (ii) Development of assays to allow the activity of the active catalysts to be determined both in vitro and inside cells and (iii). The application of these active palladium catalysts enable the conjugation of two drug “halves” to allow the in situ synthesis (inside cells) of active anticancer drugs. This fellowship will bring together chemistry, biology and medicine, with potential longer-term biomedical applications with the training of the applicant in learning new chemistry and biological technique. This will be tied into an improvement of my independent thinking and leadership skills, gain of experience in writing grants and research articles and peer-reviewing and working in a multidisciplinary manner, with major opportunities to broaden my “soft-skills” set.

Mots clés : chemical biology, palladium catalysts, in vivo synthesis, targeting peptides, nanoparticles, targeted drug therapy, cancer

Participants :
- University of Edinburgh (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet HOUSREG (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Over the past decade, worsening affordability,homelessness, social and housing polarisation and new forms of housing deprivation have been an increasing concern for public policy in Europe. Symptom of this problem is a set of art projects focused on housing issues. These social art projects have also served to highlight and fill the gap left by inexistent social structures, which should ideally provide wellbeing for all. The art projects about housing paired with other initiatives coming from civil society (as non-governmental organizations with social and humanitarian foundation, social entrepreneurship, and volunteer based social initiatives) have a potential to engage citizens creatively and initiate positive social change by increasing wellbeing and community feeling. Addressing this need, the overarching objective of this project is to deliver a new methodology that will address Social Art and Housing. This methodology will allow the Fellow to outline the best practice for how art can be used in housing planning, for enhancing the quality of life in decaying neighborhoods, in urban regenerations, and homelessness problems. To achieve this objective the project will bring together a talented researcher with a background in art and urban theory to work with an internationally recognized research group with expertise in actor network theory, social art and field research design in order to deliver a novel interdisciplinary methodology developed through empirical research and validated through case studies in the UK and Serbia. The following research objectives will deliver the key components of the new social art and housing methodology: Objective 1: to map actors in the field of social art and housing networks Objective 2: to develop models of best practices of social art and housing networks Objective 3: to refine the models through comparison of best practices in Serbia and UK The research will be divided in six stages organized in six work packages.

Mots clés : housing, social art, urban regeneration, actor network theory

Participants :
- London South Bank University (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet ULTIMATE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Over the past decades, significant advances have been achieved in the performance of Li-ion batteries by the development of new active materials and better understanding of energy storage and degradation mechanisms. One aspect of batteries that has received little attention so far, is the form factor of the electrodes. However, simple changes in the battery architecture, such as increasing the coating thickness, allows to drastically decrease the relative fraction of dead volume in the battery (e.g. separators and current collectors). Theoretically, it is possible to replace a stack of ten standard 50 µm thick electrode coatings by one 500 µm thick coating. This would result in up to 30% savings in weight as well as volume of the battery, and would be transformative for both portable electronics and electrical vehicles. However, this is fundamentally challenging because of 1) slow ion diffusion through thick electrodes, 2) high electric resistance through the thickness of the electrode, and 3) cracking and flaking challenges during the fabrication of thick electrodes. This MSCA Fellowship is building on novel gel electrodes developed by the applicant, which can be moulded into 3D geometries that allow to move away from the current flat battery morphology and to address the above challenges with thick battery electrodes. During this Fellowship, the dynamics of ion and electron transport in thick 3D interdigitated electrodes will first be simulated. Then, the electrochemical performance of the gels will be optimised, in particular, a phase separation method to improve Li-diffusion will be optimised. Next, the thermal moulding process will be optimised to create interdigitated electrodes which will be tested in half and full cells. Finally, the proposed fabrication process will be demonstrated on a roll-to-roll coater, which is important to prove its scalability to industrial stakeholders.

Mots clés : lithium ion batteries, energy storage

Participants :
- University of Cambridge (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 224933.76 €
Projet HOMER (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Oxidation reactions of hydrocarbons are of central importance to both atmospheric and combustion chemistry, where they play a pivotal role in determining the capacity of a hydrocarbon to persist in the air or burn as a fuel. However, quantitative and complete measurements of the mechanisms by which oxidation occurs are very uncommon. Yet it is these mechanisms that ultimately determine the chemistry, influencing such diverse processes as tropospheric ozone production, secondary organic aerosol formation, soot formation and autoignition of fuels. Conventional approaches typically involve mimicking atmospheric or combustion conditions within a chemical reactor. Common to both of these chemical regimes are the phenomena of radical chain propagation, radical–radical reactions and multiple reaction pathways, leading to complex reaction mixtures that evolve rapidly with time. Subsequent gas samples are subjected to detailed and often ambiguous interpretation, placing high demands on detailed chemical models in which only a small proportion of the reactions described within underwent direct experimental measurement. This fellowship seeks to challenge these existing approaches with an alternative methodology in which the short-lived initial products of oxidation, the alkyl radicals, are rapidly converted into stable halogenated species before reaction mixtures become complex, providing crucial information on the fundamental reaction steps at work in these systems. These mixtures will be analyzed by conventional, low cost gas-chromatography methodologies, where the inherent sensitivity and discriminating power of the electron-capture detector towards halocarbons will be exploited. By combining this technique with recent insights into radical scavenging using molecular halogens, a unique and diverse apparatus emerges, which will be used to interrogate several classes of reaction.

Mots clés : tropospheric chemistry, air quality

Participants :
- University of Bristol (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet hyP5 (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

P5-ATPases are conserved in all eukaryotes and malfunctions in human are associated with severe neurological diseases, such as familial early-onset parkinsonism and autism/language disorders, and with phenotypical traits in yeasts. They belong to the P-type ATPase superfamily, which encompass a range of essential membrane transporters for ions and lipids. Ion pumps such as Na,K-ATPase and Ca2+-ATPase have been studied in great detail during the last decades. However, astonishingly little is known about the P5-ATPases and their actual function, despite their physiological importance in all eukaryotes. The current proposal focuses on substrate identification and structural characterization of P5-ATPases, as well as investigations of their cellular interaction network. Human P5-ATPases (ATP13A1 through 5, ATP13A2 also known as PARK9) and the yeast orthologues Spf1p and Ypk9p will be subjects of this study. Target proteins will be expressed in their native host (yeast or HEK cells) and subsequently purified and used for activity assays, structural studies, and identification of interaction partners. Native mass spectrometry will identify bound substrates and cofactors, and activity studies will elucidate structure-function relationships. 3D-structures obtained by single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and/or X-ray crystallography will reveal catalytic mechanisms and mutational effects. Structural and functional characterization of P5-ATPases can therefore serve as a basis for understanding molecular mechanisms of e.g. neurodegenerative and cognitive disorders and guide novel strategies in disease treatments and drug discovery. Using my profound experience from my PhD with crystallography of biotechnologically relevant proteins, I wish to pursue a postdoc focused on membrane proteins with a strong potential in molecular medicine and to expand my knowledge of methods in structural biology and molecular cell biology, in particular cryo-EM.

Mots clés : membrane protein, p type atpase, cryo em, parkinson s disease, lysosome

Participants :
- Aarhus University (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 219312.0 €
Projet PANACEA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : TERMINATED

PANACEA project dealt with the design of bioinspired-polyamidoamine/nanoparticle coatings as high-performing flame retardants (FRs) for cellulosic fabrics. The main purpose is to synthesize environment-friendly, non-toxic FRs with performances comparable to those of the best traditional FRs currently used for cellulosic textiles. The overall objective is to study novel coatings based on polyamidoamines (PAAs), a family of synthetic water-soluble biocompatible and biodegradable polymers, bearing in their repeating units the same organic functions present in proteins, that were proven efficient FRs for cotton by the PANACEA supervisor. PAA preparation can be considered green and scalable as obtained by stepwise polyaddition of prim- or sec-amines to bisacrylamides in water, at room temperature and with no added catalysts. Furthermore, the synergism between PAAs and some nanoparticles (NPs) will be studied and exploited for i) improving the FR properties of selected PAAs and ii) reducing the final add-on of the most performing PAAs. PAAs with carboxylic or guanidine groups will be combined with layered double hydroxides and zinc borate nanorods in order to suppress cotton combustion in the most drastic fire scenarios, guaranteeing a low emission of combustion products. In parallel, sulphur-based-PAAs will be combined with graphene and graphene oxide with different sizes and oxidation grades. These coatings will be obtained by a water-based finishing treatment of impregnation/exhaustion and/or Layer-by-Layer assembly of biocompatible PAAs and NPs. Both these approaches are easily scalable, hence adaptable to the needs of pre-industrial production, conclusive objective of PANACEA. To this aim, the durability of such treatments will be objective of the project and achieved by initially grafting of FR PAA bearing reactive vinyl terminals through radical reactions in the presence of thermal or redox initiators, and then interacting with specific synergist NPs.

Mots clés : polymer combustion, flame retardancy, polyamidoamines, cotton

Participants :
- University of Milan (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 171473.28 €
Projet PATH (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

PATH aims at understanding human-plant interactions at the dawn of one of the most significant changes in human evolution, agriculture. Plant domestication led to considerable changes in behavioural, technological and social terms ending millions of years of hunting-gathering. Analysing indirect and direct evidence of plant food processing and consumption, namely ground stone tools (GSTs) and ancient dental calculus from key sites in Israel, the Jordan Highlands and South-East Turkey, PATH will unravel how the introduction of domestic crops affected established patterns of wild plant exploitation and the dietary habits of the first Levantine farmers. The function of GSTs will be investigated through use wear and residue analysis following a novel methodological approach combining qualitative and quantitative microscopy techniques. The study of plant micro remains, such as starch granules, entrapped in dental calculus will provide information on the consumed plant foods at a species level. PATH represents one of the first studies where the analysis of GST use and ancient tartar is combined, providing a novel multidisciplinary dataset and new interpretative means that will integrate current hypotheses on plant domestication. The project will be developed at the Milá y Fontanals Institute on Humanities Research (IMF-CSIC) in Barcelona (Spain) with a Secondment at the Diet and Ancient Technology – DANTE laboratory at Sapienza University of Rome (Italy). The Fellowship will allow the Applicant to develop new theoretical knowledge and practical skills for what concerns the Neolithic of the Levant and the application of confocal microscopy in use-wear analysis. Overall, PATH will enhance our understanding of human-plant interactions by exploring how this relationship changed with the advent of domestic crops, providing new clues on the degree of interdependence between humans and wild plant foods at the brink of hunter-gathering to farming transition in the Near East.

Mots clés : neolithic, plant domestication, near east, palaeodiet, ground stone tools, use wear analysis, residue analysis, dental calculus

Participants :
- Spanish National Research Council (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 172932.48 €
Projet COFsensor (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Rapid detection of organic biological agents in water is crucial in disease prevention, yet it currently relies on costly and time-consuming biochemical, bacteriological and viral identification techniques. In this proposal, we aim to develop a novel chemical sensor to detect organic biological agents, such as phospholipids and proteins, in an efficient manner. Taking into account the applicant’s experience in the synthesis and characterization of covalent organic frameworks (COFs), we envision using this relatively new class of materials. Luminescent COFs will be constructed so that the target analytes will form either (i) coordination bonds with metallated centers of organic building blocks, which has been previously demonstrated by the host lab in related monomeric systems, (ii) Meisenheimer complexes with free amines in proteins, or (iii) both of these two types of interactions. The interactions developed between the COFs and the analytes are expected to induce changes in the luminescence properties of the COFs, specifically cause fluorescence quenching due to the disturbance of continuous conjugation in the COFs. Once promising COF candidates have been identified and characterized, the materials will be coated on substrates and tested as sensors for phospholipids and proteins by dipping them in solutions of micelles, commercial proteins, or non-pathogenic bacteria. Sensor reversibility will be investigated by establishing suitable pH conditions, or introducing competitive binders. Full realization of this proposal relies on the applicant’s experience in COF synthesis and characterization, the host institution’s expertise in sensorics, surface science and electronic structure, and involvement of two secondment supervisors with detailed knowledge on surface photoemission and structural modeling of COFs. The fellowship will provide the candidate with new research competences, networking opportunities, teaching and outreach programming experience.

Mots clés : covalent organic frameworks, thin film sensors, organic agent detection

Participants :
- University of Nova Gorica (Slovénie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 150040.32 €