Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet PRERES (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Drug resistant mutations can appear when the selective pressure given by a pharmacological treatment causes the evolution of pathogen proteins towards variants that become unaffected by the drug. Currently, to select therapies against pathogens, genotypic resistance analyses and tables of resistance mutations are employed to decide the best treatment for the patients. However, these screenings ignore evolutionary changes that can appear as pathogens adapt, potentially leading to drug resistance. To address this limitation, the prediction of which variants are more probable to occur in the pathogen population can be useful in selecting "a priori" therapies active against those variants before their potential expansion toward reservoirs more inaccessible to drugs. In this proposed work, I will apply molecular evolution and computational structural biology techniques to evaluate the evolutionary trajectories of HIV-1 drug targets proteins that lead to resistance against common antiretroviral treatments. I will calculate protein fitness landscapes based on protein folding stability and activity, also considering binding to inhibitors. Next, I will use evolutionary information from protein fitness landscapes to improve substitution models of evolution. The evolutionary trajectories predicted by combining substitution models and fitness landscapes will be validated through comparisons with real data from monitored HIV-1 populations evolved "in vitro" and "in vivo". Finally, I will focus on calculating the probability of evolutionary trajectories toward resistance variants. This research has the potential to improve the selection of therapies for pathogens by providing predictive tools that consider the evolutionary dynamics of these microorganisms. Furthermore, the results of the project have the potential to be a breakthrough in the field of molecular evolution as this methodology could also be applied to predict the evolution of other pathogens.

Mots clés : protein evolution, molecular evolution, protein modelling, fitness landscape, computational biochemistry

Participants :
- Université de Vigo (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 181152.96 €
Projet SCALEES (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Catastrophic sediment release in fluvial systems is largely driven by landsliding that occurs naturally during extreme events such as earthquakes or storms in mountain belts. Sediments cascade through the river system until they are stored either permanently in alluvial fans and lakes or temporarily in terraces. To mitigate future landslide hazards, it is urgent to better understand past extreme events such as their amplitude and frequencies, which calls for an improved identification of a landslide signal in the stratigraphy. The SCALEES (Signature of sediment CAscades following Landslides triggered by Extreme Events in the Stratigraphy) project aims to provide a calibrated and validated numerical model of multi-grain size sediment transport and storage that will be apply to unravel the signal of landslides preserved in lakes or alluvial fans and in terraces. To do so, this numerical model that is a recent development of the established RIVER.lab landscape evolution model will be parametrised using extensive and unique data collected in New Zealand where co-seismic landslides have heavily impacted landscapes. The combination of empirical data with numerical simulations will allow us to predict for the first time the full signal (all grain sizes) of sediment cascades preserved in the stratigraphy in response to an extreme event at the scale of a catchment. The project builds up upon the complementary expertise of the fellow in the field of numerical modelling of sediment transport and storage, of the outgoing supervisor in sedimentology related to natural hazards and of the return supervisor in fluvial geomorphology. Through the access to a unique dataset of post-earthquake records as well as scientific networks and the design of a detailed career development plan and a tailored training program, the fellow will be provided with a unique skill set to become an internationally recognised geomorphologist ready to tackle interdisciplinary research questions.

Mots clés : landslide, sediment transport, grain size

Participants :
- Université Victoria de Wellington (Nouvelle-Zélande) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 272536.32 €
Projet GoldHelix (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The scientific community has been highly interested in developing molecular and photonic devices in recent years due to their multiple promising applications with flexible and cost-effective organic materials. Generally, nanophotonic materials are nanocomposites (hybrid materials) having a structural organization with unique geometries of incorporated organic molecules and inorganic metal nanoparticles or metal complexes at nano-dimension. The top-down and bottom-up approaches are adapted to fabricate such materials. Taking inspiration from the inherent chiral aspect of nature, artificial chiral nanocomposites are designed by scientists to manipulate their optical properties. In the fabrication of chiral nanocomposites, the organization and use of chiral objects at nanoscale dimensions are of extreme interest because their resultant chiral structures will have excellent optical activity and chiroptical properties with promising applications such as chiro-optical sensors, circular polarizers and negative refractive index of materials. In our proposal, we aim to create chiral plasmonic (CP) materials (nanocomposites) by organizing on the surface and creating in-situ plasmonic metal nanoparticles (MNPs) on helical poly(phenylacetylene)s (PPAs) chiral template, respectively. The local surface plasmon resonance characteristics of achiral MNPs will be an advantage for chirality transfer from template to surface plasmons of achiral MNPs. The helical PPAs follow the dynamic helical sense under external stimuli influence, which is controllable. Thus, taking advantage of the tunability of the chiral template, the switchable CP materials will be created having chiroptical properties for an opposite handedness of (P)- and (M)-helix containing plasmonic nanoparticles, unlike most of the natural biomolecules supporting one-handedness of chirality. And the final hybrid PPAs-MNPs (CP materials) will be converted into thin films to study liquid crystalline properties.

Mots clés : chirality, chiroptical properties, circular dichroism cd , supramolecular self assembly, chiral plasmonic cp materials, nanocomposites, metal nanoparticles mnps , and local surface plasmon resonance

Participants :
- Université de Vigo (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 63140.37 €
Projet MIMETIC (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), exhibits an intracellular lifestyle, thriving within host macrophages. This remarkable ability to evade macrophage-mediated killing and withstand the challenges posed by the host environment hinges largely on its exceptional capacity to adapt its metabolism in response to the diverse conditions encountered during infection. Despite progress, our comprehension of Mtb metabolic adjustments in these circumstances remains limited.  Preliminary investigations conducted within the host laboratory have unveiled that Mtb releases a multitude of small, soluble molecules into its extracellular milieu when cultured in vitro. These metabolites potentially exert a substantial influence at the host-pathogen interface, subsequently shaping the delicate equilibrium established between the bacterium and its host throughout the course of infection. This proposal is centered on elucidating the role of Mtb exometabolome at host-pathogen interface, with the overarching objectives of (i) advancing our insight into Mtb metabolism and (ii) pinpointing potential novel virulence determinants that might be secreted by the microorganism.  The primary phase involves the comprehensive identification and quantification of metabolites present in the bacterial culture medium. This will be achieved through untargeted metabolomics methodologies, primarily utilizing NMR and mass spectrometry. Subsequently, the metabolic pathways governing the biosynthesis and secretion of these metabolites will be characterized. This investigation seeks to unravel the underlying metabolic drivers facilitating the release of these compounds. The culmination of this project involves exploring the impact of a subset of significant metabolites on the physiology of infected macrophages, as well as their role in modulating the immune response. These assessments will encompass a spectrum of in vitro and in vivo strategies.

Mots clés : tuberculosis, mycobacterium tuberculosis, microbial metabolism, nmr, ms, macrophage, virulence

Participants :
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 195914.88 €
Projet WINHDG (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Becoming energy independent is what nations rest on. When environmental concerns are considered, renewable energy harvest is the clear choice. Renewable wind energy can be obtained onshore or offshore. However, offshore harvest offers irresistible advantages, including higher output rate, less space constraints, no visual or noise pollution . Currently, EU’s largest offshore wind farms are located in the shallow North Sea , due to the fact that current fixed offshore wind turbine technology is suitable only for depths up to 60 meters. To take better advantage of EU’s maritime space (including the deeper waters) developing Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT) technology is utterly necessary. To develop FOWT technology, either astronomically pricey laboratory tests or high-fidelity numerical simulations are required. Numerical simulation of FOWTs is quite involved as turbines are subjected to turbulent flow conditions with rapid changes in wind speed and direction. When combined with the interaction of rotating blades, aerodynamic simulation (modelling) of FOWTs get computationally extremely demanding. The main objective of WINHDG project is to develop a high fidelity and cost-effective numerical flow solver for the aerodynamic simulation of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs). To achieve this overarching goal, the following specific objectives are stated: • Implement beyond-the-state-of-the-art advanced numerical techniques for the aerodynamic simulation of FOWTs, on a fully optimized GPU computing platform, TUCANGPU. • Validate this flow solver through the simulation of a 5MW NREL turbine (specifically designed for FOWTs) and analyse its performance via comparative benchmarking with OpenFAST, NREL’s open-source wind turbine simulation tool. • Use the WINHDG solver to improve the geometric design and the aerodynamic performance of the turbine blades via parametric study that count for platform motion and rotations and oscillations of turbine tower.

Mots clés : aerodynamic, turbine simulation, high fidelity, cost effective, numerical methods

Participants :
- Université Charles-III de Madrid (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 209914.56 €
- Université polytechnique de Catalogne (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet DeCaGloPreCEs (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Compound events (CEs) can pose significant threats to societies, economies and ecosystems around the world, especially when amplified by anthropogenic climate change (ACC). There is therefore a strong need for skillful, reliable and actionable predictions of how CEs are expected to change in the next decades, to support governments and stakeholders in implementing robust adaptation strategies. In this project, we will develop a method to improve near-term projections of CEs at the global scale, taking into account their response to both climate variability and long-term warming, and develop a sound physical mechanism understanding of their meteorological drivers. First, we will constrain climate projections with decadal climate predictions, from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6, with a novel method to reduce the uncertainty and increase accuracy of ACC predictions up to 30 years. Then, we will apply an innovative method grounded in dynamical systems theory for quantifying CEs and link them to physical extremes in the global regions where the prediction of events shows high skill. We will specifically focus on temperature-(low) precipitation as related to summer heatwaves and precipitation-wind as a proxy for storms. The analysis will elucidate what drives CEs in the context of global warming and climate variability, to what extent they can be predicted on decadal to multi-decadal time scales, and how their frequency, intensity and persistence is expected to change in the future. We will furthermore explore the atmospheric drivers of the CEs, to elucidate specific physical mechanisms at the origin of the events. The outcomes of the project will be significant for the scientific community, since they will improve the understanding of how CEs respond to ACC and climate variability, and relevant for governments and stakeholders aiming to reduce losses from high-impact weather events, benefiting societies and economies around the world.

Mots clés : climate, meteorology, climate extremes, compound events, climate dynamics, climate predictions, climate models, heatwaves, storms, modes of climate variability, predictability

Participants :
- Université libre de Berlin (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université polytechnique de Catalogne (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 165312.96 €
Projet 3D-V2R (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) are the largest superfamily of cell surface signaling membrane proteins and the targets of 30% of marketed drugs for many human diseases. They respond to diverse extracellular stimuli by transmitting the signal across the membrane and activating a number of intracellular signaling pathways. To sense these stimuli and couple to signaling partners such as G proteins, these transmembrane domains have a high conformational flexibility, representing a challenge for structure determination. Both improvements of GPCR expression and purification, and the cryo-EM revolution have led to structurally characterized GPCR to better understand these signaling key players. However, defining active states of a given receptor is still a difficult challenge that led to success only for a dozen different GPCR. This project focus on the characterization of different states of the arginine vasopressin (AVP) V2 receptor (V2R). The V2R is considered as a receptor model for small peptides and hormones and is a crucial therapeutic target. The atomic resolution data will contribute to a better knowledge of the V2R transmembrane signaling. The comparison of the different active states of the V2R to the inactive state of V2R will provide key information for deciphering the molecular events leading to receptor activation. Then, blocking the V2R with antagonists is a validated therapeutic avenue for two unmet medical needs, hyponatremia and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. V2R interacts not only with Gs protein but also with arrestins, the development of biased agonists that selectively activate or inhibit one signaling cascade among all triggered by the natural hormone is also a very promising therapeutic line. Keeping in mind the interest of antagonists/inverse agonists and biased agonists of the V2R for human health, we expect our data will have a major impact on drug discovery, in addition to be of general interest in terms of scientific impact.

Mots clés : gpcrs, cryo em, antagonists, drug design, vasopressin, active or inactive state

Participants :
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 211754.88 €
Projet CD-ResVir (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The covid-19 pandemic has arisen awareness about the importance of developing tools to fight viral infection. However, there is still a lack of products to be used by the public as preventive systems against respiratory pathogens. Different systems have been developed to target SARS-CoV-2 using its affinity for different ligands. However, a multivalent presentation of these ligands is necessary to overcome their low affinity, which often implies complex structures difficult to synthesise and characterise. CD-ResVir aims to overcome those challenges. Our group has a wide experience in the exploitation of cyclodextrin (CD) conjugates to create self-assembling systems. These can be functionalised with a ligand to target a pathogen, leading to a multivalent supramolecular scaffold. The great advantage of supramolecular assemblies over covalent strategies is their structural adaptability to the target, i.e. the assembly will adopt the most stable state, the one with maximal interactions. It is also very simple to mix self-assembling components to optimise the effect. In preliminary experiments, we have obtained robust data proving that a sialic acid-functionalised CD scaffold could offer protection to cells exposed to SARS-CoV-2, which has never been proved before with a supramolecular assembly. Here, we propose to optimise the system and go beyond, expanding the scope of respiratory infections that could be addressed, targeting different respiratory viruses and bacteria. The Chemical Biology processes behind this application will be studied, from the atomic level (interactions between CD and SARS-CoV-2 receptors) to the microscopic level, (templating effect of a virus for the self-assembly of our CD system). Pursuing a groundbreaking preventive nasal spray against respiratory infections, we have established a strategic partnership with an industrial collaborator. This will facilitate the transition of our research findings from the laboratory to the industrial setting.

Mots clés : self assembly, anti adhesion

Participants :
- Carbohyde zartkoruen mukodo reszvenytarsasag (Hongrie) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Sorbonne Université (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 244893.6 €
- Université de Naples - Frédéric-II (Italie) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet EvOCRO (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Crocodiles, known to be dangerous predators with powerful jaws and agile inhabitants of aquatic environments, may hide surprisingly high cognitive abilities. Previous studies have revealed that crocodiles can learn quickly and have effective short-term memory, strong spatial memory and cognitive flexibility in communication. However, these insights remain sporadic, hampered by the logistical challenges of their remote habitats, financial constraints, and less public and scientific interest than more charismatic species. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, EvOCRO aims to change the game by proposing these reptiles as a non-traditional model species to explore their cognitive abilities in more detail. This project seeks to understand the evolution of cognitive plasticity by studying crocodile cognition at different life stages, considering individual differences and comparing it with other species. By integrating methodologies from behavioural ecology, comparative psychology, animal cognition and evolutionary biology, EvOCRO will provide a holistic understanding of crocodile cognition. The project involves a major collaboration with Mexican research institutions, leading to an interdisciplinary approach to advance scientific knowledge and real-world applications in conservation strategies and animal welfare. Among the key aspects of EvOCRO we find not only the communication of results through publications and conferences to involve the scientific community but also the participation in public awareness events and conferences to engage and educate the wider community. EvOCRO sheds light on the cognitive abilities of crocodiles, aiming to provide valuable insights into cognitive evolution and inform conservation efforts by highlighting the importance, impact and timeliness of this research.

Mots clés : animal cognition, reptiles, crocodiles behaviour, individual differences, personality, ontogeny, learning, cognition

Participants :
- Autonomous University of Campeche (Mexique) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Anglia Ruskin University (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 276187.92 €