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

Climate change is driving many species to migrate along the altitudinal gradient of mountainous landscapes. While the impacts of temperature shifts on range expansion are well established, the effects of altitude-related hypoxia on the ability of organisms to colonize and adapt to higher altitudes during warming have, to our knowledge, not received scientific interest. Specifically, the short, medium and long term effects of acute and chronic hypoxia on the growth, survival, reproductive biology and colonization dynamics of animals reaching higher altitude refuges remain unknown. PODARCIS will generate such knowledge, via a detailed study of physiological responses to hypoxia across an altitudinal gradient in a species that undergoes upward range expansion, the wall lizard Podarcis muralis. PODARCIS will (1) assess multivariate acclimation responses in embryos and adult lizards from low to high altitude using common garden and reciprocal transplant experiments (i.e. to assess the effectiveness for plastic responses to enable colonization and detect changes in the degree of plasticity across the altitudinal gradient) and (2) predict the dynamics of colonization by integrating data on physiological plasticity, reproductive output and dispersal. Taken together, this project will combine hard-to-obtain empirical data with theoretical modeling approaches to provide valuable insights into the ecological and evolutionary processes that determine a species' response to climate change. PODARCIS requires a multidisciplinary approach, drawing from the fields of physiology, quantitative genetics, evolutionary theory, and computer modeling. The synergistic skill sets brought to this project by the fellow and the mentor scientist will allow an important cross-continental exchange of ideas and approaches. Furthermore, this project will offer the fellow a unique opportunity to develop new talents that will significantly enhance his career trajectory as an independent researcher.

Mots clés : ecological physiology, hypoxia, species distribution, climate change

Participants :
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 185076.0 €
Projet ClimateWeb (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Climate change is one of the main drivers of the current biodiversity crisis and results in shifts in species distributions. As an outcome, interactions among species are also affected. Most predictions on species’ vulnerability to climate change, however, have overlooked species interactions (the ‘web of life’), despite the interdependence of species within ecosystems, and the fact that these interactions are the cornerstones of ecosystem services. In this action, I will use a novel and integrative approach to assess the effect of climate change on the web of life (ClimateWeb). Specifically, I will assess: (Q1) Will the effects of climate change be different across interaction types (mutualisms versus antagonisms) and environments (tropical versus temperate)? (Q2) Given climate projections, does current ecological context (i.e., properties of interaction networks) or geographic properties (latitude, and longitude) best predict the fate of a species and its interactions? (Q3) How will the functional and phylogenetic diversity of communities collapse in the face of climate change? This action will use several synergistic approaches to explicitly incorporate species distributions and ecological interactions. In doing so, ClimateWeb will provide a more complete picture of the effect of climate change on the web of life and the ecosystem services those interactions provide. In addition to increasing my international mobility and career development, expected ClimateWeb results include three scientific publications, outreach activities to amplify societal awareness of climate change, and management-focused products that can be used for setting conservation priorities. This high-impact research will provide a comprehensive theoretical and empirical framework, promoting holistic thinking around the ecological problems that climate change poses, and helping to ensure the long-term functioning of the web of life, as well as the ecological services it provides.

Mots clés : species interactions, ecossystem services, anthropocene, species distributions

Participants :
- University of Zurich (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 191149.44 €
Projet HiddenLife (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Climate warming and other anthropogenic perturbations are affecting ecosystems worldwide, contributing to the sixth mass extinction. Documenting and explaining a vanishing biodiversity are major challenges in evolutionary and ecological research, but understanding biodiversity is an essential step towards halting its loss and the degradation of ecosystem services, a headline target of EU 2020 biodiversity strategy. Caves are isolated and extreme habitats that, like oceanic islands, offer unparalleled opportunities for biodiversity research. Subterranean ecosystems are simpler than surface ones. Their stable climatic conditions, scarcity of food and absence of light drive the evolution of highly adapted fauna. Because of the difficulty to access and explore caves and the rarity of cave dwelling organisms, the study of the subterranean realm has lagged behind the research conducted in other experimental ecosystems. Despite of their reputedly stable climatic conditions, recent studies show that global warming may impact subterranean habitats by rising temperatures and, consequently, threatening troglobionts, which have low tolerance to temperature variations, causing the reduction of optimal habitat and driving narrowly distributed species to extinction. HIDDENLIFE project aims to improve our understanding of one of the top biodiversity hotspots in Europe–the Dinarides, and its unique cave fauna, to ensure its conservation and future well-being. Through a multidisciplinary approach that combines state of the art molecular and statistical tools, I will investigate the systematics, phylogeography, and environmental preferences of three independent lineages of cave spiders. This will contribute to untangling the mechanisms that shaped their origin and present day diversity and distribution. By projecting potential distributions under predicted scenarios of global warming, I will predict future habitat suitability and assess vulnerability of this unique and fragile fauna.

Mots clés : cave evolution, phylogenomics, phytogeography, niche modelling, biodiversity loss, climatic changes

Participants :
- University of Barcelona (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 158121.6 €
Projet GCP-GEOTARCTIC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Climate-driven alterations of the Arctic Ocean (sea ice cover, hydrography, circulation) strongly influence biological productivity and ecosystem structure. At present, our ability to evaluate the full impact of these changes and predict their future trajectory is limited by a poor understanding of the interacting chemical, physical and biological processes which shape the functional characteristics and resiliency of Arctic waters. To bridge this critical knowledge gap, a pan-Arctic field study (Arctic-GEOTRACES) is being coordinated between Canada (2015), US, Germany and France to generate a quasi-synoptic database of biogeochemical tracers in relation to circulation and ecosystem structure and productivity. The Canadian program involves 28 investigators including biological, chemical and physical oceanographers, experimentalists and modelers. Fully integrated in this program, the proposed research focuses on tracers of ocean circulation and land/ocean chemical exchanges (Rare Earth Elements, ENd, 230Th, 231Pa), both impacted by climate change in the Arctic. It will be conducted on the Canadian section, from the Canada Basin to the Labrador Sea, and consists of a three-step approach: 1) Modelling study of Arctic Ocean dynamics, including off-line Lagrangian analyses to refine the sampling strategy for the tracers above-mentioned; 2) Measurements of these tracers on the Canadian section to specifically investigate land-ocean exchanges and circulation; 3) Integration of these data into a fine resolution model coupling circulation, sea ice dynamics and biogeochemical processes to refine our understanding of circulation and to quantify land-ocean margin chemical exchanges of bioactive or water mass fingerprinting chemical elements. Besides enriching international databases, results from this program will provide foundational information critical for sustainable development in the Arctic. Secondment/return phases: UBC (Vancouver, CA)/LEGOS (Toulouse, FR).

Mots clés : multi tracer study, isotopic compositions, lagrangian analyses, circulation sea ice biogeochemical modelling, modern arctic ocean

Participants :
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 250160.4 €
- University of British Columbia (Canada) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet MarshFlux (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Coastal wetlands are globally important ecosystems providing valuable ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration over long timescales, affecting global carbon cycling and climate modulation. The amount of carbon sequestered, and therefore the net long-term global cooling potential of coastal marshes, however, is affected by complex biogeochemical reactions in marsh soils, which may produce and/or consume all three of the major greenhouse gases (GHGs) (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O)). The magnitude and direction of these fluxes, and whether marsh soils act as a source or sink of GHGs, is affected by a variety of environmental factors which are predicted to vary with projected global change. MarshFlux, therefore, aims to address fundamental gaps in understanding of how the global cooling potential of coastal marshes will be affected by responses of biogeochemical reaction rates and GHG fluxes to global change. The effect of multiple drivers of global change on the response of GHG fluxes and key microbial processes for the consumption and production of N2O and CH4, will be investigated using a novel combination of laboratory incubations and mesocosm experiments. Laboratory incubation experiments mimicking modelled global change scenarios will be conducted to constrain the effects of drivers on marsh soil biogeochemical reaction rates and subsequent GHG dynamics, focusing on temperature, nutrient-loading and salinity. The results of these experiments, while critical themselves, will then inform mesocosm experiments to allow for the assessment of the whole ecosystem (soil, water and vegetation) response to global change under current and predicted future conditions. This research is critical for effective management of coastal wetlands to maintain their blue carbon value under future global change.

Mots clés : salt marsh, greenhouse gas flux, climate change, land use change, global cooling potential

Participants :
- McGill University (Canada) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Birmingham (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 276498.24 €
Projet RESWITCH (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Cognitive computing has brought about the possibility of computer programs with ability to learn by recognizing patterns in data and to make predictions on the learned dependencies by mimicking the operation of the human brain. However, their energy efficiency is still orders of magnitude below the biological counterpart as the current linear Boolean logic is ill-suited for the simulation of the huge arrays of interconnected neurons. Neuromorphic computing aims to greatly improve the efficiency by emulating the synaptic functionality and interconnectivity on the hardware level. In biological neural networks, communication between neurons is facilitated by synapses that modulate the signal through changes in the synaptic weight. The time-variability of these operations is thought to allow the single node to both process and store information RESWITCH seeks to emulate this synaptic plasticity by exploiting the coupled ionic/electronic transport in redox-active hybrid metal-organic coordination polymer thin films. As in fully organic conjugated polymers, the electronic conductivity can be modulated electrochemically with dynamic operation arising from the concurrent counter-ion motion. The interplay of the metal and organic constituents allows for precise control of the electric/electrochemical properties, but poor processability limits their applicability for nanotechnology applications. In RESWITCH, a new thin film -based approach is implemented with Molecular Layer Deposition (MLD). A library of MLD processes for high-quality, ultra-thin films of redox-active and electrically conductive materials will be established. The thin film approach allows for detailed exploration on the contribution of the metal and organic components to the redox-properties and conductivity. The ultimate target is to implement the thin films in a novel bilayer thin film device in which the conductance can be controlled dynamically with electrochemical doping of the adjacent layers.

Mots clés : atomic layer deposition, molecular layer deposition, coordination polymers, molecular electronics, resistive switching, neuromorphic computing

Participants :
- Ghent University (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 166320.0 €
Projet QUCLN (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Coherent control of a macroscopic quantum system is one of the main objectives of the field of optomechanics with potentially game changing implications for fundamental physics as well as technology. On one side it could allow the exploration of the classical-to-quantum boundary, on the other it could allow the development of quantum limited sensors and provide a fundamental building block for quantum information. Among the rich variety of systems in the optomechanics field of research, levitated nanoparticles offer the unique and appealing feature of being highly decupled from the environment allowing the observation of extremely high quality factors. Cavity cooling in high vacuum of a trapped nanoparticle down to its motional quantum ground state is potentially achievable at room temperatures. By combining an optical and electrodynamic trapping potential, the Host Group has already demonstrated cooling to a phonon number of the order of ~300 so that ground state cooling is within reach. The QUCLN project aims to bring the levitated nanoparticle platform in the quantum regime by generating non-classical states for the mechanical degrees of freedom such as squeezed and Fock states. Such results would represent a major breakthrough in the field of optomechanics and quantum technologies in general, which have been included as a Future and Emerging technology in the Horizon 2020 work programme. More importantly, it would represent a significant step toward tests of collapse models and the experimental exploration of the role of gravity in quantum mechanics. Indeed, this is the underlying long term motivation of the project. The combination of the host group leading position in the field and the proven track record of high level scientific research of the experienced researcher in the fields of quantum optics and optomechanics make achieving the QUCLN scientific goals realistic.

Mots clés : quantum optomechanics, levitated nanoparticles

Participants :
- University of London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet CAP-CANCER (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) has shown promise in minimally invasive surgery by selectively treating cancerous cells with little or no damage to healthy cells. The selective destruction of cancerous cells can be used to aid and enhance current cancer treatments and can also be the cure for forms of inoperable cancer. The selective treatment can be obtained by using the plasma to induce cell apoptosis, in which the cell self-destructs in a tightly controlled way without causing inflammation in the surrounding tissue. One of the major challenges of this research is that the exact mechanism of plasma induced apoptosis is not well understood. The fellow proposes to test the hypothesis CAP builds up electric fields across the cell membrane that cause electroporation for the cancerous but not the healthy cell because they have different electrical and physical properties. Electroporation allows for the penetration of reactive oxygen species (ROS) into the cancerous cell causing apoptosis while leaving the healthy cells intact. The fellow will develop numerical simulations to allow the study of cell surface electric fields and generation of ROS will explore the parameter space in which the electroporation and therefore apoptosis will be induced only for the cancerous cells. During his secondment the Fellow will perform experiments by applying CAP onto two Breast cell lines: MDA-MB-231 (cancerous) MCF-12F (healthy) and will use flow cytometry to measure electroporation and apoptosis. The results of this research will elucidate how CAP interacts with tissue and under what conditions it causes apoptosis. This will allow us to get closer to an actual medical device utilizing CAP to treat cancer on patients. The fellow will gain scientific skills in cell culture handling, storing, preparation, plasma sources and characterization and complementary skills and will reach a position of professional maturity and leadership in research and development in Europe.

Mots clés : cancer, tumour, cell necrosis, plasma treatment, numerical simulation

Participants :
- University of Cyprus (Chypre) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 163648.8 €
Projet Anticancer-PAM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is gaining increasing interest for cancer treatment, although the application is still in its early stages. Besides direct CAP treatment of cancer cells, plasma can also be used to activate a liquid medium, which seems to have similar anti-cancer effects as the plasma itself. This so-called plasma activated medium (PAM) is very promising for cancer treatment, as it can be more generally used, e.g., it might be directly injected into tissue of patients. However, the anticancer potential of PAM is not yet fully understood. This is exactly the focus of this project. We will measure the reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) concentrations in PAM, and also calculate them with a model for plasma-liquid interaction. In addition, we will study the effect of PAM on a catalase model protein by experiments, and perform atomic scale simulations for the interaction of RONS with this protein, to better understand the effect of PAM on cancer cells, because catalase aids cancer cells in overcoming oxidative stress created by PAM.

Mots clés : plasma chemistry, plasma medicine, cold atmospheric plasma, plasma liquid interaction, molecular dynamics simulations, plasma for cancer treatment

Participants :
- University of Antwerp (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 160800.0 €
Projet COLOVOC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common neoplastic pathology in the developed world. It is the second in frequency in men after prostate cancer and the second in women after breast cancer. Survival at five years, if all stages are taken into account, is approximately 50%. That represents a mortality of 20 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year. The five-year survival of early stages, a situation almost equivalent to cure, is approximately 90%, whereas in advanced or metastatic stages it is less than 10%. Therefore, early diagnosis plays a central role in the improvement of survival rates. The main goal of this project is to find new ways to detect the cancer in the very early stages. To do so, the sample collection must be as simple, economic and convenient as possible. Only in this manner, regular screening approaching 100% of adult population will take place. The approach we propose is the identification and validation of new biomarkers in urine that can be used to diagnose colorectal cancer (CRC) at a very early stage. The central hypothesis is that CRC associated metabolites in the urine of patients can be segregated from patients with polyps (some of them precursors of CRC) and control subjects, and that their levels are correlated with clinical diagnostics of a CRC stage. Urine is an easy collectible biofluid for its non-invasiveness, and it can provide early detection of cancers. New sample measurement protocols and techniques are enhancing both selectivity and sensitivity by orders of magnitude, such as SPME and Twisters or GC/LC-MS systems (GCxGX/LC-QTOF-MS). The more sensitivity and selectivity, the more confindent diagnosis could be made at earlier stages of the cancerous process leading to a better survivability rate. Moreover, our proposal includes a multi-cohort, multi-laboratory validation of the findings, therefore ensuring that any discovery can readily be applied to any population and instrumentation around de world.

Mots clés : colorectal cancer, metabolomics, biomarkers, urine volatiles, gcxgc ms, lc ms, cohort validation, instrumental bias, multivariate analysis, pattern recognition, open source software, diagnostics test

Participants :
- University of California System (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- CERCA Institution (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 257191.2 €