Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet NMR4Nanos (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

There is an urgent need for new vaccines, but avoiding side effects is crucial for patient compliance. To address this, new generation vaccines with safe, but weakly immunogenic antigens are formulated with carriers and adjuvants to induce the desired immunological response. Inorganic nanoparticles (NP) have shown potential as carriers while immune stimulators of microbial origin are proven to ensure long lasting immune response. Their successful integration into nanovaccines requires thorough analysis of the inorganic/organic interface. Solution state NMR spectroscopy has recently been established as a potent characterisation tool towards this end. My objective is twofold: I intend to elaborate new vaccine-carrier nanosystems and to develop NMR spectroscopic surface characterization methods for their analysis that may be generalized for application to other NPs. I will use my expertise in preparative colloid chemistry to tailor series of new ZrO2- and hydroxyapatite-based NPs of varied size. For their characterisation I will be trained to carry out solution NMR measurements from the toolbox developed by the Host. The outcome will be invaluable for guiding the surface modification of these NPs to obtain vaccine carriers. The project also aims at the further development of NMR methodology. The potential of solid state NMR measurements in this respect will be explored as a secondment. Another secondment is devoted to the early study of in vitro stability, fate and toxicity of the new carriers. The planned research will train me in a cutting-edge analysis technique, and by that means provide me more independence in my work. Furthermore, it will establish an interdisciplinary cooperation between Partner Institutes. The results and the planned outreach activities are also expected to have a positive impact on EU: these new characterization tools would be useful for food, cosmetic and nanomedicine industries and may contribute to improved customer and patient safety.

Mots clés : nanotechnology, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, vaccine nanocarrier, hydroxyapatite, zirconia, silica

Participants :
- Ghent University (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 172800.0 €
Projet SKELETON-ID (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

There is an urgent need of providing forensic practitioners with accurate, robust, unbiased and automate identification systems. This fact makes more sense in the field of forensic anthropology due to the poor technological development, the increasing number of mass disasters, and the unapproachable and shameful number of unidentified people in the EU. SKELETON-ID is intended to fill this technological gap by proposing a novel computer-aided automatic paradigm, which will be implemented and validated through the development of clavicle and frontal sinus identification systems. The challenging proposal is feasible thanks to the ER (Dr. Mesejo) and supervisor (Dr. Cordón) profiles, the facilities and excellence of the hosting institution (ranked 250th overall and 45th in Engineering in the Shangai Ranking 2016), and the strong background of the involved partners. The ER obtained his PhD within a Marie Curie ITN and he has developed his research career in four different Universities in EU, one Hospital (Spain), and two research centers (INRIA, CNRS). He has become an expert in computer vision and machine learning, with practical experience in biomedical imaging. In turn, Dr. Cordón got the Spanish National Computer Science Award (2014) and some other international awards, is included in the 1% of most cited researchers in the World, and leads a multidisciplinary group participating in four European research projects. The multi-disciplinary know-how of the well-known team experts in different fields (from forensic radiology and disaster victim identification to image registration and fuzzy systems), and the equipment and facilities of the beneficiary (UGR-SOCCER), forensic partner (UGR-PAL), and supporting institution (FASE) compose a unique environment to accomplish these ambitious and breakthrough objectives. Finally, the project clearly pursues the technological transfer, which will be carried on in collaboration with the young SME PANACEA.

Mots clés : physical anthropology, forensic anthropology, forensic radiology, forensic identification, skeleton based identification

Participants :
- University of Granada (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 170121.6 €
Projet HUMANITECH (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

There is growing global interest in the positive role of technology (such as mobile phones, sanitary toilets, or malaria nets) to alleviate problems associated with poverty and humanitarian crises. However, research on humanitarian technology interventions is overly technology-centric, focusing on issues of design, production, delivery, and efficiency. This research project will advance the study of humanitarian technology as an organisational phenomenon with the dual objective of advancing scholarship and informing intervention policy and practice. Specifically, the research project will explore three multi-level phenomena associated with humanitarian technology interventions: the role of rhetoric in establishing international technology standards, global organizing of interventions, and the experiences of user-beneficiaries. These will be explored through the following research methods and modes of analysis: case study design, dramatism, narrative interviews, and thematic analysis. Scholarly innovation and expertise will be realized by advancing and applying the research methodologies of dramatism and narrative interviews to study humanitarian technology interventions.

Mots clés : humanitarian technology, humanitarian intervention, gender, multi level analysis, dramatism, narrative interviews, case study, fuel efficient stoves, sexual violence, sudan, darfur

Participants :
- Erasmus University Rotterdam (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 165598.8 €
Projet COEXIST (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

There is increasing awareness that diversity in microbial communities likely plays a critical role in multiple biological processes, from regulating human health to sustaining ecosystem services. Along with advances in molecular technologies, this realisation has seen a rapid growth in efforts to catalogue microbial life, and yet we still have a surprisingly poor understanding of the mechanisms maintaining microbial diversity. With up to 1,000 different species in the human gut alone, classical ecological explanations for diversity maintenance appear unlikely to hold. A resolution to this coexistence paradox may lie in the dynamic nature of microbial environments. The goal of this project is to investigate whether recent theoretical advances in understanding coexistence in non-equilibrium systems can provide insights into microbial diversity in the presence of viral parasites and antimicrobial agents that naturally vary in concentration in space and time. To this end, I will conduct a series of innovative experiments on multi-strain communities of pathogenic and non-pathogenic Escherichia coli under spatial and temporal variability in nutrient resources, phages and antibiotics. The project is unique in community ecology in leveraging high-throughput methods in a model microbial system of significant human interest; and in its focus on the interaction between non-linear growth functions and environmental variability as a critical determinant of community dynamics. The results will i) enhance our understanding of the role of viral parasitism in regulating diversity; ii) provide insight into emerging theory on the operation of coexistence mechanisms at different spatial and temporal scales; and iii) inform evolutionary and epidemiological research into the combined effect of antibiotics and phages on bacterial performance.

Mots clés : microbial ecology, bacteria, phage, antimicrobial resistance

Participants :
- Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 187419.6 €
Projet PlastiSol (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : TERMINATED

There is little doubt that micro and nanoplastics (MnP) are in our soils across the globe. Numerous studies including my own have found that atmospheric deposition alone is enough to pollute even our most pristine remote areas. What is unknown is what happens to it once it is there. Is it transported by runoff or pushed deeper into the soil? What is the effect of the chemicals leached from MnP on soil microbiome, air and receiving river ecosystems? Many of these (e.g. flame retardants) are ‘forever chemicals’, never break down but continue to cycle in the food chain. What is the threshold before irreversible damage occurs, and have we pass it? These knowledge gaps have far reaching implications for food and water security and survival of the fragile ecosystems that make our planet habitable. PlastiSol seeks to address these urgent questions in an attempt to push the boundaries of our knowledge on this emerging threat. Through studying a cross section of land use soils MnP and associated leachates and the processes that contain or transport these pollutants, this project will advance MnP pollution science beyond considering soil as a sink, evidencing atmospheric and receiving waterway impacts of soil pollution. Furthermore, examining the internal mechanisms of soil MnP movement and leachate release will define the potential groundwater influence, land management activities and storage capacities of different land use soils’ MnP. With this evidenced process knowledge, the impact of soil MnP on the global MnP cycle will be established, enabling soil to be included as a source, transport pathway and sink of plastic pollution, advancing the accuracy of global MnP quantification and the impact of soil MnP on ecosystems and all environmental compartments. Only in understanding the extent and impact of soil plastic pollution can it be effectively managed through change in land use practices and policy advancements.

Mots clés : atmospheric modelling, river and catchment modelling, sediment  plastic  transport, catchment pollution, soil transport modelling, land use impact assessment

Participants :
- University of Canterbury (Nouvelle-Zélande) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Birmingham (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 290084.16 €
Projet ICED (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

There is now a substantial population of exoplanets with well-determined masses, radii, and orbital parameters in a range of host stellar systems. JWST will bring an increase in exoplanets with atmospheric spectroscopy measurements, moving the field from pure discovery to population synthesis and characterization. Many of the best-studied planetary systems are massive and located within 1AU of their central stars; it is not clear whether all of these planets migrated from farther out in their natal disks to this location or if they could have formed in situ. Both scenarios should produce distinct compositions resulting from multiple strong, time-dependent chemical gradients in their disks due to thermal sublimation and grain processing effects. These effects likely set the bulk chemical composition of the planet’s core and atmosphere, which are accreted from different material in the disk. By determining the physical conditions within 1AU, I will confirm whether they are sufficient to support in situ planet formation. I will also map the distribution of key planetary building blocks in both the solid phase (dust grains) and gas phase. This will be accomplished by interpreting disks’ flux as a function of wavelength with radiative transfer models including detailed sublimation and condensation physics, and comparing observed spectral features in both the solid and gaseous phases in molecular and atomic form to those predicted by models. This project will provide training through research in numerical methods and exoplanet characterization techniques, which are important in the long term for my career goals to lead a research group in planetary formation. Through development courses, I will improve my marketability for senior research positions and in turn transfer my infrared observing skills and US and European network connections to the host. This project increases the visibility of the host and European exoplanetary astronomy on an international scale.

Mots clés : hot jupiter formation, migration, protoplanetary disks, atomic abundances

Participants :
- University of Amsterdam (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 177598.8 €
Projet TEOsINTE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Thermoelectric (TE) materials can convert temperature differences directly into electricity and are nowadays considered as one of the most promising means to produce “green” electricity from the huge amount of various available waste heat sources. TE conversion is intrinsically simple, scalable and reliable, employs no moving parts and provides silent operation and self-sufficiency. Particular attention is given to transition metal oxides (TMOs), due to their low toxicity, natural abundance, thermal stability and well-established preparation routs, in contrast with traditional Pb-, Sb-, Bi- and Te-containing TE materials. Still, one of the TMOs major drawbacks are their low TE performances. This project intends to design, synthesize and test novel ceramic composite materials with improved TE performances, based on some of the best-performing TMOs to date, Ca3Co4O9, ZnO and CaMnO3 (matrices) and a set of transition metal and Ce oxides (dispersers), suited for practical high-temperature power generation applications. The originality of this project is simple and straightforward: Controlling the atomic interactions between the various oxide components will improve the charge carrier mobility and create additional interfaces at the grain boundaries, capable of scattering phonons more efficiently. The R&D work is based on the combined analysis of TE, morphological and structural properties of the matrix materials and prepared composites, with the final purpose of developing completely new materials having better TE properties than those of the inicial components, and testing them in and designing them for practical high-temperature power generation applications, in real working conditions. This project also focuses to establish the experienced researcher as a successful independent scientist, having more, diversified competences in and deeper understanding of functional electroceramics, capable also to establish fruitful collaborations and to attract funding.

Mots clés : thermoelectricity, waste heat recovery, green energy, novel oxide composites, solid state materials, controlled interactions, power generation applications

Participants :
- University of Aveiro (Portugal) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 147815.04 €
Projet HYTEC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) which directly convert heat to electricity could be a valuable contributor to the world’s increasing demand for renewable energy. Organic semiconductors offer several unique advantages over inorganic materials, such as solution processable, flexibility and biocompatibility, thus development of organic thermoelectrics (OTEs) will enable applications not currently feasible with traditional inorganic thermoelectrics (ITEs). Preliminary results showed that the thermoelectric performance of two organic semiconductors can be significantly improved through an evaporation doping methodology as well as incorporation of nanomaterials such as black Phosphorus (BP). Although the breakthroughs are promising, the charge transport mechanism is still unclear. Without such an understanding, the OTE systems can never be optimised. It is the objective of the proposed project (i) to understand charge transport in the semiconductors and their nanocomposites by integrating experimental output into charge transport model, (ii) to optimise their thermoelectric performance based on understanding of the charge transport mechanism, (iii) to fabricate the a hybrid OTE system with optimised thermoelectric performance (i.e. P > 1250 μWm-1K-2, κ<0.5 Wm-1K-1, and ZT≥1), and (iv) to fabricate a prototype hybrid OTE generator and demonstrate its application as a flexible solar thermoelectric generator and/or wearable thermoelectric generator for electronic-skin.

Mots clés : charge transport physics, organic thermoelectrics, semiconducting carbon nanotubes, semiconducting polymers, nanocomposites, heat recovery, energy harvesting

Participants :
- Northeastern University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Cambridge (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 171792.6 €
Projet HyTeChaN (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Thermoelectric modules enable the direct conversion of waste heat into electrical power and could therefore represent a powerful in the energy transition and the move towards a more sustainable society, if we can find efficient and non-toxic materials scalable at the industrial level. The host team has recently developed two promising families of materials, namely p-type BiCuSeO-based and n-type AgBiCh2-based materials, which are among the best lead-free materials in their temperature range. Further improvements of their performances would pave the way towards applications. In the past few years, nanostructuration has revealed itself a powerful tool for the enhancement of the thermoelectric materials performances. In that framework, the use of this technique to improve the performances of BiCuSeO-based and AgBiCh2-based materials appears appealing. Therefore, the main goal of this project is to use hydrothermal chemistry, an easily scalable synthesis process, in order to synthesize bulk pellets of BiCuSeO/graphene and AgBiCh2/graphene nanocomposites, with improved thermoelectric performances. Besides its scalable character, the use of hydrothermal synthesis has many advantages, including a very fine control of the materials size, morphology and composition. Besides synthesis, the project will include a precise characterization of the chemical composition, crystal structure and microstructure of the materials, as well as an optimization of their thermoelectric performances. Besides scientific research, several outreach activities will be implemented in order to make thermoelectricity better known by the public, including the design of demonstration kits that will be made freely available.

Mots clés : thermoelectric materials, hydrothermal synthesis

Participants :
- Université Paris-Saclay (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 185076.0 €
Projet DV SUPPORT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

This 21 month MSCA Fellowship will develop a vital evidence base for domestic violence services in the UK and Europe to improve reporting and access to support by Polish migrant women in violent relationships. This will be achieved by conducting the first study of domestic violence amongst Polish migrant women living in the UK or indeed in any EU country. The research will capture the various factors shaping the domestic violence experiences of Polish women and work of practitioners (specialist domestic violence workers, social workers, police officers). The findings will also enhance conceptual understanding of how migration and transnational factors shape domestic violence. The Fellowship will draw on an inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration between Dr Iwona Zielińska (Researcher), Supervisor Celia Madden – the manager of EDAN Lincs (Host organisation) and an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Lincoln (secondment). This will ensure applied, practice-focused research and training with a 6-month inter-sectoral secondment to the UoL for academic input. The Society & Enterprise route of the MSCA scheme serves best to realise the practice-related aim of the research and to advance Dr Zielińska’s career goal of becoming an expert in translating research evidence to practice settings. A combination of qualitative methods from media studies, sociology and organizational studies, and the use of online tool NodeXL,will be used to obtain a holistic picture and in-depth knowledge on the problem from various perspectives. The Fellowship will thus generate the first research findings on this important dimension of vulnerability and harm. The findings and recommendations will be widely disseminated and communicated in UK, Poland and other EU countries to improve help services and to raise awareness of the issue.

Mots clés : domestic violence, polish women victims, united kingdom

Participants :
- Edan lincs (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Autres, subvention : 186317.04 €