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

The use of natural bioactive compounds (NBCs) in dermatological treatment is a promising healthcare frontier, however their effectiveness is hindered by limitations in skin penetration. Enhancing their delivery to target skin layers or specific disease sites remains a significant challenge. Encapsulation of NBCs within nanodispersions (NDs) and their embedding in a biopolymer hydrogel matrix has demonstrated promising outcomes in terms of improving the delivery of NBCs through the skin. However, there's still a need for more significant enhancement in penetration, while the reasons behind this effect remain uncertain. This project aims to overcome these challenges through the immobilization of enzymes, like hyaluronidase, that breaks down hyaluronic acid (major skin component) within the biopolymer hydrogel matrix. By prioritizing enzyme immobilization as a catalyst for enhanced penetration, this project pushes the boundaries beyond traditional encapsulation methods. This project plans to extract bioactive compounds from natural sources and investigate effective biocompatible encapsulation methods. Additionally, it will assess the biopolymer hydrogel matrix where the developed NDs and enzymes will be incorporated and immobilized. The equilibrium of the immobilized enzyme will be carefully studied to achieve optimal association and dissociation, aiming to enhance transdermal delivery while maintaining skin health. Moreover, comprehensive bioavailability and cytotoxicity studies, as well as in vitro and ex vivo analyses for in depth characterization of the transdermal delivery of NBCs are planned. By merging biocatalysis and nanomaterials, this project offers a more effective alternative to conventional treatments, including skin cancer, minimizing the ecological impact.

Mots clés : enzyme immobilization binding dynamics hydrogels fluorescence microscopy transdermal delivery

Participants :
- Fondation nationale de la recherche scientifique (Grèce) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 169326.72 €
Projet VegTrends (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Across most of the globe, ecosystems are being transformed, degraded and fragmented. In Europe, more than 30% of terrestrial habitats have been assessed as "threatened", and the extent to which existing protected areas effectively safeguard biodiversity is currently debated. Halting biodiversity loss, ensuring current and future provisioning of its associated benefits, and protecting natural habitats are core priorities of worldwide conservation agendas, e.g. the UN Sustainable Development Goals or the EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy. To achieve these goals, assessments of biodiversity changes through time are essential, especially if accounting for multiple diversity facets and for different levels of biological organization. Resurvey studies of vegetation, based on the re-sampling of historically surveyed vegetation plots, are increasingly used as a cost-effective means to detect temporal changes across many ecosystems. The recent availability of long-term vegetation datasets spanning across large geographical areas and multiple ecosystems offers an unprecedented opportunity to quantify biodiversity change efficiently and across previously intractable spatial extents. In light of these considerations, VegTrends aim to: i) provide a multi-habitat assessment of non-random temporal vegetation changes accounting for multiple diversity facets (taxonomic, functional, phylogenetic) and different biological levels (community and species); ii) evaluate the effectiveness of protected areas in conserving European habitats. To address these aspects, VegTrends will make use of ReSurveyEurope, a unique database of long-term vegetation time-series derived from resurvey studies. Together with a novel and comprehensive methodological approach, this will allow gaining unique insights into the temporal trends in European vegetation and assessing risks for individual habitats.

Mots clés : temporal changes resurvey long term data vegetation biodiversity natural habitat europe

Participants :
- Université Masaryk (Rép. Tchèque) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 150438.72 €
Projet FRANKIE (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

With aging, the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases is increasing. Clinical manifestations of neurodegenerative disease often result in dementia, a group of symptoms including loss of memory and impaired cognitive functions that have serious consequences for the wellbeing of aging individuals and society. Dementia is a syndrome of many diseases, including Lewy body dementia (LBD). Whilst the genetic factors contributing to the development of LBD have been investigated, links between exposure to chemicals and LBD have not been sufficiently studied. The FRANKIE project aims to comprehensively investigate the chemical exposome of patients with LBD and elucidate underlying mechanisms of exposure-related neurotoxicity. Blood-based chemical exposure agents and metabolites of LBD patients will be measured via a unique dual liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry platform. Advanced statistical and data mining methods will be employed to associate chemical exposures with dysregulated metabolic pathways to identify biomarkers of effect. Furthermore, by comparison of metabolic profiles of healthy people, people with early LBD and LBD patients, novel prodromal and clinical blood biomarkers will be identified. The proposed interdisciplinary, data-driven study is a big step towards understanding the influence of everyday chemical exposure on the onset and progression of neurodegenerative disease. The FRANKIE project will produce mechanistic insights of chemical exposure-related neurotoxicity, providing the opportunity to identify prevention measures and potentially reduce the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases to improve the quality of life of the elderly and aging populations and contribute towards a healthier society.

Mots clés : exposome, exposure, dementia, biomarker, metabolite

Participants :
- Université Masaryk (Rép. Tchèque) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 150438.72 €
Projet TransborderTV (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

TransborderTV aims to deconstruct the history of the Cold War in Europe through an in-depth qualitative analysis of the activities of TV Koper-Capodistria (TVCK). This Italian-language Yugoslav TV station was created in 1971 to address the needs of the Italian ethnic minority in Yugoslavia, but it soon became a fundamental tool of transborder communication. This channel brought the first colour broadcast to Italian viewers, its programme schedule being regularly published in the Italian national press. However, TVCK was not only a platform for bilateral links. In a time of harsh ideological, political and military contrapositions between East and West, the case of TVCK represents a key example on a global level. While scholars have mainly analysed the impact of Western media on the other side of the Iron Curtain, the role of Eastern media remains largely neglected or marginalised as propaganda. Researching the successful transborder operations of TVCK will help to dismantle a rigid and unilateral perception of Cold War hierarchies and enable us to reshape the image of recent European history.  Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, which will consider the research at macro (political decisions and organisational aspects), as well as at the micro level (the experiences of viewers and key professionals), I will examine the consequences of the positioning of Yugoslavia as the only socialist country that adopted PAL, the Western broadcasting standard, as well as the roles of local society on both sides of the Italo-Yugoslav border given the fact that TVCK actively involved the Italian minority in Yugoslavia and the Yugoslav (Slovenian) minority in Italy. Moreover, I will explore the political and societal background which allowed TVCK to be tolerated by the Italian government and to be accepted by the Italian audience. Finally, given the groundbreaking nature of TVCK, TransborderTV will enrich the ongoing academic debate to de-westernize concepts of modernity.

Mots clés : cold war history socialist television upper adriatic region borderlands history yugoslavia italy

Participants :
- Znanstveno-raziskovalno sredisce koper (Slovénie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 155559.36 €
- Université de Ljubljana (Slovénie) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet HCMSpliceAOC (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common inherited heart disease and is predominately caused by mutations in genes that encode proteins associated with cardiac sarcomeres, the functional unit critical for basic contractile heart function. Nearly two-thirds of individuals with HCM experience mild to no symptoms, whereas the remaining one-third experience dyspnea, chest pain, or arrythmias that can progress into heart failure, causing sudden cardiac death, particularly in young competitive athletes. Current strategies to treat HCM include invasive procedures such as septal or left ventricular reduction therapies or cardiac implantation. Such methods are not curative, but rather aimed to treat symptoms and not the pathophysiological cause of the disease, thus highlighting the importance of new molecular therapies that can prevent HCM. One potential method to correct HCM mutations is through the use of antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), short polymeric nucleic acid biomolecules, that can correct aberrant RNA splicing, a fundamental biological process for gene expression, by binding to pre-mRNA splice sites and block recognition by the spliceosome. However, delivery of ASOs to cardiac cell models, including cardiomyocytes differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC-CMs), remains to be one of the biggest challenges in ASO efficacy. Herein, this project proposes to design and test the effects of chemically-modified, splice-switching antisense oligonucleotides conjugated to an antibody, an antibody-oligonucleotide conjugate (AOC), using a unique traceless linker strategy that has the potential to not only treat splicing defects in HCM, but also provide proof-of-concept of improved cell delivery of ASOs. AOCs will be tested in iPSC-CMs bearing cryptic splice mutations in MYBPC3 (myosin binding protein C), a gene whose mutations are commonly associated with HCM.

Mots clés : antisense oligonucleotides, antibody bioconjugation, rna splicing, cardiomyocytes, cardiomyopathy

Participants :
- Max Delbrück Center (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine (Portugal) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 156778.56 €
Projet POSIDON (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Potassium ion batteries (KIBs) offer unique opportunities for low-cost, sustainable, and high-performance electrochemical energy storage required for the electrification of transportation, and for storing energy from renewable but intermittent resources. However, concerted efforts are required to tackle the challenges of KIBs, such as the short life, low energy content, and long charging time. POSIDON will leverage the versatile material toolbox of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and graphene derivatives (core expertise of the applicant and host institution, respectively) to design and develop efficient electrode materials, and introduce a paradigm shift in KIBs performance. POSIDON will build advanced hybrid K-ion batteries (HyKIBs) by engineering and studying 1) strategically designed cathodes based on coaxial metallic/MOF nanowires doped with redox-active molecules to boost the conductivity and capacity, and 2) sophisticated two-dimensional anodes based on graphene derivatives with dense out-of-plane and in-plane functionalities as hosts for single metal atoms, acting as nucleation centers for the improvement of reversible deposition and stripping of potassium, of potassiophilicity and impeding dendrite formation, which is catastrophic for the life-cycle and safety. These electrodes will dramatically improve the capacity, the energy content of the HyKIBs, and prolong their life. Moreover, the high porosity of MOFs and the conductivity of the envisioned electrode architectures will promote potassium diffusivity for fast-charging operation. POSIDON will deliver practical cells of HyKIB devices with high performance to pave the way towards the commercialization of potassium-based energy storage, which is vital for a low carbon, sustainable, and fossil-fuel-independent civilization.

Mots clés : metal organic frameworks, graphene, potassium ion batteries, electrochemistry, electrochemical energy storage devices, 

Participants :
- Federal Institute For Materials Research and Testing (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université Palacký (Rép. Tchèque) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 166278.72 €
Projet REMCRUMR (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The proposed REMCRUMR research is a concerted effort designed to get as close as possible to being able to predict the time (to an accuracy of 1 week) and location (to a accuracy of 100 x 100 km) of occurrence of imminent devastating earthquakes (M>5) based on lithosphere strain and upper mantle dynamics. It makes use of a multidisciplinary approach involving applied gravimetry, satellite geodesy, digital signal processing and seismology. Applied Gravimetry is used as an alternative approach to the highly erratic “electromagnetic phenomena”, and forms the core of the integrated approaches. Geodetic data have been integrated to give information about plates’ motion, strain conditions and rupture-risk modelling. Seismic monitoring method is to be used for comparing and calibrating gravity responses against established seismological magnitude where seismic activities appear to accompany mass anomaly.  Results from plates’ velocity model, computed strain parameters and calibrated isolated gravity anomalies are integrated to predict the impact in the form of pressure necessary to cause rupture in the overlying lithospheric plate and the time required for the rupture to take place at the onset of the impact. This is used to develop a final model that notes the lithosphere’s yield point, compares it with instantaneous lithospheric pressure and uses these information to determine when the yield point may likely be exceeded on instantaneous basis, and subsequently predict the time when a lithospheric rupture will occur, and its expected magnitude. The research is in line with sustainable cities and settlement goal (Sustainable Development Goal 11).  REMCRUMR intuitively considers the concept of isolating the alterations to the ambient gravity field caused by subsurface mass-redistribution that is usually precursor to the emergence of earthquakes in near-real time with a view to establishing the character of the potential corresponding seismic activity before it emerges.

Mots clés : earthquake prediction, satellite geodesy, applied gravimetry, earthquake seismology

Participants :
- Université de Malte (Malte) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 221564.4 €
- GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Italie) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet Crystals4Skin (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Alternative drug delivery is one of the most promising solutions for an increasing number of geriatric and cancer patients heavily challenged by the oral route treatment. Crystals4Skin project targets skin as a pathway for local/systemic therapeutics, bringing ground-breaking approach at the cutting edge of biotechnologies. So far, only particle-size nanomaterials have been explored and used for the skin application. Extreme potential of the crystal form and surface diversity has not been considered as the source of a product innovation for healthier society yet. Crystals4Skin aims to fill the gap in current state of knowledge by the innovative research of nanocrystals-skin interaction through the integration of structure-to-property-to-function principles bridging chemical matter and biology. With cocrystals selected as the models allowing the study of different composition, bulk and surface characteristics, the research will employ the highest knowledge from the fields of crystal structure analysis, simulations, synthesis, physical-chemical characterisation, permeation, and toxicity studies. Targeting Beating Cancer Plan, one of the EU´s flagship initiatives, together with the United Nation´s Good Health and Well-Being sustainable development goal, Crystals4Skin brings together experts in crystal engineering, pharmaceutical technology, and nanomaterials for biomedical applications to answer the burning question: Is it only the size that makes the nanocrystals an extremely promising material of the future or are there other structural attributes driving their performance within the skin? Crystals4Skin aims to find the answer and meet the current discussions between regulators, academics and industrial parties on the control and use of safe and efficient nanomedicines.

Mots clés : skin drug delivery, nanomaterials, nanocrystals, crystal engineering, nanomedicine, permeation, cytotoxicity

Participants :
- Université fédérale de Santa Catarina (Brésil) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université Palacký (Rép. Tchèque) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 150438.72 €
Projet DE CADMEA (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Brass, a copper-ziBrass, a copper-zinc alloy, is a major alloy from Roman period and throughout the Middle Ages and early modern period. Despite its importance, relatively little systematic research has been done on its production, and archaeological evidence is less well documented than that for copper and iron smelting. One reason for this is the unassuming nature of most zinc ores and zinc-rich furnace remains, compared to the more easily identified copper or iron slags. DE CADMEA aims first to develop a systematic overview of zinc-rich materials, and related furnace remains from one of Europe's best-studied medieval mining and metallurgical regions, the Harz Mountains, before applying the experience gained onto another important mining region, Cyprus. Little is known about the exploitation of zinc in Cyprus, despite detailed and consistent references in key classical texts to the exploitation of 'earthy substances', described in a way that makes their identification as zinc/brass raw material highly likely, and several indications for zinc-rich smelting remains in the analytical literature. In collaboration with local archaeologists and geologists, the PF will systematically search for evidence for zinc-related metallurgy, broadening the current near-exclusive focus on copper metallurgy in Cyprus. DE CADMEA is an ambitious project producing an up-to-date review paper on historic brass raw materials and production technology, and potentially unravelling a totally new chapter in the metallurgy of Cyprus. The proposal also offers insight into the exploitation of non-standard earthy compounds that may be connected with other types of early metallurgy, such as the silver one. The fellowship is sided with two secondments: the Department of Mining Archaeology in Goslar, for the study of the mining district of Rammelsberg in Germany, and the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum (DBM) which will support the research with the archaeometric characterizations and interpretation.

Mots clés : early metallurgy cyprus zinc, cementation metallurgy, raw materials

Participants :
- Dmt-gesellschaft fur lehre und bildung mbh (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Bureau de contrôle et de gestion de la recherche et de l'innovation ( Cyprus Institute) (Chypre) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 164328.0 €
- Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes publics (hors enseignement & recherche), subvention : 0.0 €
Projet LANAFUSEHA (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The project will make an impact in important societal needs in the fields of energy harvesting and sensing for environmental, safety, and medical applications, which are relevant to the entire global population. The development of any of these high-tech areas is associated with the use of new materials. The scope of this proposal is to advance 2D materials by adding to them novel functionalities for improved energy-harvesting and sensing applications. Such 2D materials as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides were selected for functionalization. The creation of nanopores or the attachment of chemically active compounds will significantly expand the capabilities of such materials, for example, it will enable the development of universal chemical sensors for the detection of volatile organic compounds. The project proposes to solve an important problem of functionalization, localized on nanoscale, which will allow minimizing the proposed devices. The disruptive technique to be used in this proposal for nanometer-precision patterning of 2D materials is based on one of the latest nanophotonics advancements, the photonic nanojets. It is possible to functionalize 2D materials by laser with spatial resolutions significantly lower than the diffraction limit, as light in a photonic nanojet can be concentrated into a volume that is one order of magnitude smaller. The project provides for a fairly simple and scalable technology. The low technological hazard of the method and invariance for materials are the basis for economic feasibility. New materials and devices arising from this project will be exploited by the industry, strengthening the EU economy and technological excellence in the fields of energy, electronic technology, health industry, security, environmental and industrial monitoring

Mots clés : laser functionalization, optical tweezers, nanojet, graphene, dichalcogenides of transition metals

Participants :
- Nanotypos ee (Grèce) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Fondation nationale de la recherche scientifique (Grèce) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 169326.72 €