Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet PEAC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Clustering data according to similarity is ubiquitous in computer and data sciences. Similarity between data is often modeled by a distance function: two data points are close if they are similar. This induces a metric space in which each data point is associated to a point of the space. Thus, a clustering according to similarity is a partition of the points such that the distance between two points in the same part is small. Therefore, clustering problems play a crucial role in extracting information from massive datasets in various research areas. However, this problem is hard to formalise: the soundness of a particular clustering often depends on the structure of the data. This induces a gap between theory and practice: on the one hand no guarantee on the practical algorithms can be proven, on the other hand the best theoretical algorithms turn out to be noncompetitive in practice. By focusing on both the algorithms and inputs that are relevant in practice, the PEAC project aims at rigorously analysing the cutting-edge heuristics and designing more efficient algorithms that are provably-correct for both clustering and hierarchical clustering (HC), bridging a gap between theory and practice. Very recently, it was shown that a widely-used local search (LS) algorithm achieves the best approximation guarantees for some specific inputs. We plan to design a faster LS-based algorithm for those types of inputs to achieve both better running time and approximation guarantees than the best heuristics. We will design a non-oblivious LS algorithm to obtain a better than the current 2.675 approximation for k-median. Dasgupta recently introduced a cost function for HC. Using this cost function, we plan to analyse the performances of widely-used heuristics for HC (e.g.: average-linkage, bisection k-means). We will characterize the real-world inputs and use the cost function to design more efficient provably-correct algorithms for HC.

Mots clés : approximation algorithms, clustering, hierarchical clustering, big data, data structures, theory of computing

Participants :
- University of Copenhagen (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 200194.8 €
Projet HABISS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Cold water coral (CWC) are fragile biodiversity hotspots in the deep-sea and are recognized as Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems, heavily endangered by human activities (e.g., industrial fisheries, marine littering). HABISS proposes a multidisciplinary approach to study the interactive processes between the seafloor complexity of specific geo-forms (canyons, reefs) and the surrounding ceanographic/hydrodynamic paterns, and quantify the consequent maintainence mechanisms on CWC, both in pristine and human-impacted settings. These innovative studies (geology vs hydrodynamics vs. ecology), still relying on poor information, will be implemented across interconnected spatial scales, using from regional oceanographic data to in situ observations with cutting-edge seafloor observatories. Final outcomes will be ultimately delivered to support decision makers in the management of marine natural resources. HABISS will be carried out at the Marine Science Institute of the Spanish National Research Council, which together with two secondments will ensure high level training on integrated studies of hydro- and sedimentary dynamics, environmental advocacy, project management and transversal aspects within the European network. I will also provide training based on my skills on developing cross-cutting research topics, previously gained at the National Oceanography Centre (UK), a top-ranked European research institute. Specific dissemination and communication actions are planned in line with the public engagement policies of the EU Responsible Research and Innovation. HABISS will ensure the restart of my career, resuming my activities within the wide scale European network on Marine Sciences. At the end of the project, the acquired knowledge would re-enforce my scientific profile, further widening its multidisciplinary aspect. This would finally increase my chances for applying for permanent research positions and for funding within highly competitive European calls (e.g., ERC grants).

Mots clés : deep sea, cold water corals, seafloor observatories, hydrodynamics, oceanography, geology, ecology, nested scales, vulnerable marine ecosystems, marine environmental advocacy

Participants :
- Spanish National Research Council (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 241398.72 €
Projet Collagen Origami (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Collagen is one of the most abundant proteins in mammals, which features a unique structural characteristic of three peptide strands assembling into a right-handed triple helix. Synthetic collagen model peptides which form triple helical assemblies have previously been used to mimic the fibrillar structures of natural collagen, as well as create non-canonical supramolecular assemblies for applications in biomedicine and functional materials. However, a general platform enabling rational design of supramolecular architectures based on synthetic collagen remains elusive. The ‘Collagen Origami’ project aims to fuse the unique self-assembling properties of collagen model peptides with divalent, trivalent and tetravalent organic building blocks to build 2D and 3D molecular architectures of defined shape and size. In this proof-of-concept project, we envision creating 2D graphene-type structures using tripodal peptide–building block conjugates and 3D diamond-type structures using tetrapodal conjugates. The ability to assemble complex designer architectures from short peptidic units would be an unprecedented demonstration of the power of rational design in supramolecular self-assembly and would open a broad new field of collagen nanomaterials with applications in cell biology and nanotechnology. The ultimate goal of the ‘Collagen Origami’ project is to use the designed supramolecular assemblies as synthetic extracellular matrix mimics to template formation of cell spheroids. Specifically, collagen origami particles functionalized with integrin binding sequences and encapsulating growth factors will be used to support formation of spheroids from primary rat hepatocytes. The size, morphology and gene expression of the spheroids will reveal whether functionalized collagen origami is able to enforce more organ-like behaviour of cultured cells. Reaching this goal would demonstrate the potential of custom designed collagenous particles as matrices in tissue engineering.

Mots clés : collagen model peptides, synthetic collagen, proline, extracellular matrix mimics

Participants :
- Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 203149.44 €
Projet Aqua-Synapse (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Staff Exchanges
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Core idea of this project is to establish the mechanistic basis for the positive health effects of deuterium depleted water and determine what regimens are most efficacious. Isotope content of drinking water has been shown affect the pathogenesis of cancers to ameliorate the stress response and reduce susceptibility to many diseases, but it remains unclear how the positive biological effects of heavy isotope reduction in drinking water are mediated. High concentrations of deuterium induce mitochondrial dysfunction, and very high concentrations can induce cell death, but the administration of deuterium at 91 ppm has antidepressant effects that were comparable to that of citalopram in a mouse model of depression. Use of deuterium depleted water appears to represent a safe intervention with few, if any, reported side effects, but it remains unclear at what concentrations the positive metabolic and behavioral effects become apparent. Companies in Europe now sell DDW at different concentrations to the public amidst a plethora of health claims that mostly lack in any sound scientific basis or safety data Thus, there is an urgent need to better understand the impact of DDW on brain and behavior at a molecular level. We will use state-of-the art imaging techniques to measure regional metabolic fluxes in the body of animals in healthy individuals throughout life and those subject to stress following the administration of DDW at different concentrations and for different periods. Also we examine how deuterium depletion affects the behaviors of neurons in vitro and electrophysiological levels and in terms of their metabolism. The project is made possible by bringing together a consortium of chemists, cell biologists, pharmacologists, imaging specialists, psychiatrists, and DDW producers for ‘medicinal needs’ in fully translational work packages to discover, in an empiric manner, how the manipulation of metabolic pathways with DDW can be employed for the benefit of human health

Mots clés : deuterium content in drinking water metabolic and associated affective disorders

Participants :
- Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine (Portugal) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 101200.0 €
- Université d'Oxford (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Universitätsklinikum Würzburg (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 128800.0 €
- Technosmart europe s.r.l. (Italie) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 138000.0 €
- Hyd rakkutato es gyogyszerfejleszto kft (Hongrie) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 110400.0 €
- Université Lusófona (Portugal) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 248400.0 €
Projet HiPArtDoc (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

"Between Evidence and Representation: History of Performance Art Documentation from 1970 to 1977” introduces a new historiographical approach that accounts for the dynamic development of performance art and its theories through the history of performance documentation. Focussing on the role of performance documentation in the conservation and presentation of performance-based art from 1970 to 1977, “Between Evidence and Representation” will examine the different strategies undertaken to provide duration and mediated access to definitionally ephemeral and immaterial events. The project’s aim is to demonstrate that, simultaneous to the formation, circulation, and acknowledgment of the category of performance art in the early 1970s, performance documentation itself was aestheticised. The goal of the research is to show that both these changes are part of an historical process of containment of performance within the traditional framework of visual arts. Thereby, “Between Evidence and Representation” will show how this process actively shaped the history of performance art, filling a gap in the historiography of performance art and performance documentation. The research programme, which will end in the publication of a monograph, will be carried out in three phases. In the first phase, programmatic writings by artists and art movements will be used to map theories of performance from the 1950s to the 1970s. Referencing art journals, indexes, and exhibitions catalogues and documents, the second phase will examine the function assigned to performance documentation from 1970 to 1977, as well as its correlation to parallel developments in the critical discourse concerning the medium of “performance”. The last phase of the research, relying on archival sources, will provide a final corroboration to the research hypothesis through its application to four paradigmatic case studies.

Mots clés : theatre studies, performance studies, performance art, performance documentation

Participants :
- Freie Universität Berlin (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 159460.8 €
Projet IE CLIMATE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

"Climate and Weather in Indo-European" (IE CLIMATE) is a research project which investigates the weather- and climate-related vocabulary of the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) language from a linguistic and cultural standpoint, with the goal of identifying the weather phenomena and climate conditions the speakers of PIE were exposed to and were familiar with, and of better understanding these early speakers' attitudes towards and interactions with the weather and climate of the areas in which they lived. I will attain these goals by: 1) collecting and analysing the Indo-European stock of climate and weather vocabulary in order to reconstruct the PIE words for these terms, ascertain the dates and locations of first attestation, and extrapolate from these the weather conditions of the Indo-European homeland; 2) collecting and analysing Indo-European religious formulae related to the weather, names and epithets for gods associated with weather and climate phenomena, and other relevant cultural material, in order to gain familiarity with and draw conclusions about the way the ancient Indo-Europeans lived with and understood their environment; 3) creating an interactive atlas of Indo-European climate and weather terminology. This aspect of the project involves correlating climate-related terms to the location and time at which they are first attested, in order to assess the origins and spread of climate terminology. IE CLIMATE will substantially increase our understanding of the physical world inhabited by the Indo-Europeans and the vocabulary they used to describe it. This project will also significantly add to the body of knowledge in the developing subdiscipline of Indo-European archaeo-linguistics (the integration of historical linguistics and archaeological methodologies in order to understand the material and social culture of the ancient unwritten past).

Mots clés : indo european, historical linguistics, homeland, etymology, prehistory

Participants :
- University of Copenhagen (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 207312.0 €
Projet FatherMotherland (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

'Fatherland as Motherland. Unstable Gender and Nation in Italian Great War Literature' is an interdisciplinary project exploring the interplay between nationalism and gender in Italian Great War literature. By tackling a diverse range of texts (pamphlets, prose fiction, memoirs, diaries, propagandistic publications), it will analyse gender patterns at work in Italian Great War literature and disclose their unstable relationship with nationalist ideology. WWI literature provides an extraordinary testing ground for exploring nationalist discourse in its ambivalences in that it absorbs its tenet, while reshaping it and releasing its instabilities. Such an approach proves highly needed: Italian WWI literature has been usually employed to describe the passage to the fascist period as if it were a homogeneous ideological set that could explain the rise of fascism. FatherMotherland will argue against both these premises (ideological stability of Italian WWI literature; its consistency with fascist culture) by means of an inquiry focusing on gender issues. The project will develop along three main lines: 1. The representation of manliness and virility; 2. The rhetorical features of the icon of the motherland; 3. The re-fashioning of the war literature canon in the fascist period. FatherMotherland has the ambition to foster a better understanding of the cultural roots of nationalism, which today threatens the process of European integration.

Mots clés : great war, italian literature, gender, national identity, nationalism

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

'Re-Exploring the Logic of Gandhian Violence: Gandhi and his Followers in the Quit India Movement, Bengal 1942-45 There is a need to bring back richly textured political histories which has now been largely abandoned by historians. This promises to be an exciting field because of new archival sources that have been released in recent years, especially in the context of Bengal. My post doctoral research proposes to study the Quit India Movement in Bengal, with special reference to the Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar in Midnapore. I propose to study the movement with a threefold focus: 1) Gandhi and the Quit India Movement: I wish to analyse Gandhi’s rationale behind the tacit incitement to violence just before the movement. It is not enough to say that Gandhi was in a militant mood during this time. What needs to be understood is how and why there was a change in his attitude towards the nature of a mass movement initiated by him. What implications did the call of ‘Karenge ya Marenge’ (‘Do or Die’) have for his already deeply entrenched philosophy of non-violent ‘action’? By acquiescing a different concept of ‘doing’ or ‘action’ wherein the ‘masses’ could be in control of their own actions and take to violence, was Gandhi forwarding a more diluted version of non-violence, which accommodated a degree of violence? 2) The Movement and Gandhi: How did a mass movement of such a scale, with definite violent overtones, conceptualise and internalise Gandhi as their undisputed leader, and carry out various acts of violence in his name? What needs to be analysed is whether the movement was truly autonomous, organised by ground level Congress leaders, or was Gandhi, even as a distant figure in prison, in total control of the movement. Positive and assertive action, in this case necessitated by violence, could have been the biggest cementing factor between Gandhi and the masses at this stage. 3) How do we then link up this triad: Elite leadership-Mass action-Violence

Mots clés : political movements, mass participation, elite leadership, violence, non violence

Participants :
- University of London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet PARPin (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

(ADP-ribosyl)ation is a dynamic post-translational modification synthesised by PARPs/ARTDs and regulates a diverse array of cellular processes, including the DNA damage response (DDR). The last decade has significantly improved our understanding of the key enzymes involved in (ADP-ribosyl)ation and the cellular pathways they function within. However, our understanding of how these enzymes are regulated is lacking and demands further investigation. In this proposal I seek to redress this. I have provided promising preliminary data identifying a novel uncharacterised interactor of PARP1 involved in the DDR. I expect that this novel protein will have a fundamental role in PARP1 biology in cells given that the two have co-evolved and form a protein complex in cells. I will implement newly available cutting-edge technologies, such as CRISPR-Cas9 and quantitative cell biology approaches, into an interdisciplinary strategy involving genetics, cell biology, structural biology and biochemistry. This strategy will allow me to address the following research objectives: (1) elucidate the function of this protein complex in genome maintenance (2) determine the atomic structure of the complex (3) define the physiological function of the protein complex using genetic mouse models. This timely and holistic approach will allow me to answer crucial outstanding questions related to the regulation of (ADP-ribosyl)ation signalling for the first time. Consequently, this will be the first mechanistic study of its function and therefore my research objectives are likely to yield original insights into novel aspects of (ADP-ribosyl)ation signalling. The objectives described in this proposal will enhance my potential to become an independent investigator by promoting the diversification of my technical competences through training at a world-leading institute and host laboratory. Therefore, the proposal is well aligned with the over-arching aims of the Work Programme.

Mots clés : adp ribosyl ation, dna damage response, parp1, dna repair, genome stability, adp ribose, poly adp ribose, parp

Participants :
- University of Oxford (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet SupraRNA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

*The development of vaccines is key for disease prevention, and is a major focus globally in the healthcare sector. Seasonal influenza is an acute respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses which circulate in all parts of the world. Seasonally, it remains a persistent health threat and has been declared an epidemic in some states. Typical vaccines have been less effective against rapidly evolving pathogens such as influenza. A new class of vaccines based on nucleic acids, namely RNA, have recently been developed and show immense promise due to their robust nature, short manufacturing times and enhanced efficacy. Here we propose an RNA delivery system based on a supramolecular assembly approach for the vaccination of influenza A H1N1 strain. Specifically, a π-amphiphile will be used as the platform molecule for covalent RNA conjugation and delivery. A messenger RNA (mRNA) targeting the hemagglutinin (HA) gene from a model influenza virus strain will be employed as the therapeutic (H1N1/PR8-HA). The central π-amphiphile moiety will be functionalized with the mRNA strand via a redox responsive disulfide bond, and hydrophilic oligo-oxy aryl groups connected via a hydrogen bonding unit to promote self-assembly. Steric stabilization will be afforded to the surface decorated mRNA to protect from enzymatic hydrolysis in the complex biological environments, through co-assembly with an analogue π-amphiphile which has been alternatively decorated with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) chains. Efficient intracellular transport of the delivery vehicle to achieve optimum mRNA transfection will be achieved through the incorporation of a TAT-peptide on the PEG chain end. The therapeutic efficacy of the nanoassembly will be evaluated through transfection efficacy in macrophage cell lines. Overall, this proposal aims to lay the groundwork for extending the scope of RNA vaccines by exploring the potential of supramolecular assemblies as a delivery vector.

Mots clés : rna supramolecular conjugate, tat peptide supramolecular conjugate, peg supramolecular conjugate, supramolecular co assembly, photophysical and thermodynamic property, stimuli responsive rna delivery

Participants :
- University of Birmingham (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 212933.76 €