Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet EVOTOOLS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In almost 525 million years, the vertebrates have evolved a vast diversity of morphologies. Yet, understanding how these morphological changes accrue over large (macroevolutionary) time scales is still poorly known. Research into morphological evolution has so far either focused on a handful of today’s successful clades, therefore omitting a major part of the diversity represented in the fossil record, or substituted the complex multi-dimensions of organismal form for simple univariate measures such as body-size. Given that such traits may relate to various aspects of species ecology and life history, it is difficult to identify the environmental, functional, genetic or development factors that drive the evolution of this diversity. Hence, a comprehensive, multivariate characterization of morphology across both fossil and extant species is hugely needed for understanding the evolution of vertebrate diversity but is currently limited by data availability and methodological shortcomings. In this project I will use newly available multivariate, high-quality, datasets of shape (CT and surface scans, 3-D surface morphometrics) for an unprecedented sample of both fossil and extant terrestrial vertebrates and develop new multivariate phylogenetic comparative methods to study the evolution of morphological diversity. Through the EVOTOOLS project, I will provide to the other researchers the phylogenetic comparative toolkit for studying modern, high-dimensional 3-D data and address long-standing questions regarding species evolutionary responses to past environmental and climatic changes. In addition, the project will benefit from the expertise of the NHM staff and a highly respected expert in morphometric studies to characterize the evolution of morphology. The candidate will learn and develop cutting-edge methods, hone his skills for managing data, and strengthen experience with scientific presentations, writing, and publishing.

Mots clés : phylogenetic comparative analysis, evolution, geometric morphometrics, vertebrates, fossils, macroevolution, diversification, environment, climate change

Participants :
- Natural History Museum (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes publics (hors enseignement & recherche), subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet UTOPIAE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Doctoral Networks
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In an expanding world with limited resources and increasing uncertainty, optimisation and uncertainty quantification become a necessity. Optimisation can turn a problem into a solution, thus the main focus of this ETN is to explore and develop new approaches to treat uncertainty in complex engineering systems and use novel optimisation techniques to efficiently deal with large scale problems with many objectives and uncertain quantities. It is generally recognised, in fact, that neglecting the impact of uncertainty on the design of any system or process can lead to unreliable design solutions. Common approaches that make use of safety margins to account for uncertainty in design and manufacturing are not adequate to fully capture the growing complexity of engineering systems and provide reliable and optimal solutions. Aerospace engineering is here taken as a paradigmatic area of research and development that is concerned with complex systems, or system of systems, in which optimality and reliability are of paramount importance. UTOPIAE will train the future generation of engineers and mathematicians who will be able to tackle the complexity of aerospace systems and provide greener, more affordable and safer transportation solutions.

Mots clés : uncertainty quantification, optimisation, aerospace transports, space

Participants :
- Esteco spa (Italie) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 258061.32 €
- Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (Belgique) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 250560.0 €
- TH Köln - University of Applied Sciences (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 498432.96 €
- Politecnico di Milano (Italie) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 258061.32 €
- German Aerospace Center (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 249216.48 €
- Italian Aerospace Research Centre (Italie) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 258061.32 €
- Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique (France) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 525751.2 €
- Ghent University (Belgique) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 250560.0 €
- Jožef Stefan Institute (Slovénie) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 234997.56 €
- University of Strathclyde (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 546575.76 €
- Durham University (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 546575.76 €
Projet GaugedBH (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In attempting to extend Einstein’s theory of gravity, general relativity, to the quantum regime, scientists have encountered crucial technical and conceptual difficulties. On one side, the non-renormalizability of the graviton field coupled to the Standard Model of particle physics shows the inadequateness of quantum field theories to include gravity at arbitrary energies. On the other side, black holes, one of the most intriguing solutions of general relativity, have posed a puzzle shaking the axioms of the known theories: the information paradox about the dynamics of black hole formation and evaporation. Among the advances towards a consistent unification of general relativity and quantum field theory, String- and M-theory have offered one of the most consistent frameworks in which to address these difficulties. This proposal will focus on black hole solutions of gauged Supergravity, which describe the low energy limit of String/M- theory. The applicant has produced fundamental contributions to this subject that have driven the latest developments in the field. By exploiting the training at the host institution, this proposal aims at a deeper understanding of black holes in connection to String/M-theory and the holographic dual quantum field theories. The case of Anti de Sitter black holes will be the first objective, involving the construction of new solutions and their applications to holography studies. The dynamics of an in-falling observer in the black hole interior will be studied via holographic techniques. The second objective concerns flat space black holes obtained from “flat” gaugings, whose evolution is affected by charged particles. In both cases, multi-center black holes will be analyzed. Beyond the main goal of advancing the understanding of gravity and black holes, the impact of the results will be broad, from areas of applied holography in condensed matter systems to the mathematical fields of algebraic geometry and number theory.

Mots clés : black holes in string theory and supergravity, cft correspondence, supergravity models

Participants :
- European Organization for Nuclear Research (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 175419.6 €
Projet BACTOSHAPE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In bacteria, the rigid external cell wall (CW) and the intracellular actin-like (MreB) cytoskeleton are major determinants of cell shape. Synthesis and chemical composition of the CW, a three dimensional polymer network that is one of the most prominent targets for antibiotics, are well understood. However, despite decades of study, little is known about the complex CW ultrastructure and the molecular mechanisms that control cell shape in time and space. MreB homologues assemble into dynamic membrane-associated structures thought to control shape by serving as organizers for the movement and assembly of macromolecular machineries responsible for CW biogenesis. However, the mechanistic details used by the MreB cytoskeleton to fulfill this role remain to be elucidated. We will combine powerful genetic tools available in the model Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis with modern high-resolution fluorescence microscopy techniques and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study the role of the MreB cytoskeleton and CW synthesis proteins in cell shape determination and maintenance. Additionally, the role of mechanical forces in the control of CW organization will be evaluated.

Mots clés : bacillus subtilis, cell shape, cytoskeleton, cell wall, mechanical properties, atomic force microscopy

Participants :
- Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 185076.0 €
Projet EDDI (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In contrast to the clawed forelimbs of their dinosaurian ancestors, the highly specialized forelimbs of birds are exclusively adapted for flight which constrains their functional versatility. It is assumed that consequently the avian neck became the functional equivalent to an arm and great divergence is evident in number, form and function of the cervical vertebrae. Owing to methodological advances such as imaging techniques and computer technology, we only recently started deciphering the complex biomechanical adaptations of the neck in birds and the results serve as basis for bioinspired design including an arm for robots. The classic avian body plan was pieced together gradually over tens of millions of years of evolution rather than in one burst of innovation. Traits such as feathers, the furcula, and wings first evolved in the dinosaurian ancestors of birds, whereas other traits such as the pygostyle and a keeled sternum evolved in more derived birds during the Cretaceous. This raises the question of when and how has the highly versatile avian neck evolved? The EDDI team will address this issue by investigating the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for the diversification of the neck in archosaurs, the group of fossil and extinct vertebrates that includes dinosaurs, birds, and crocodilians. To do so, homologies of the skeletal and muscular system of the neck will be established using developmental and morphological data. This will serve as basis for the investigation of changes in the musculoskeletal system of the neck across phylogenetically diverse living and fossil taxa. Reconstructing these patterns among dinosaurs will provide new insights into how evolution drove major morphofunctional changes that underpinned their spectacular evolutionary success, in particular that of their avian descendants. This research will define a new paradigm for inferring patterns of the interconnected evolution of bone and muscle from the fossil record.

Mots clés : evodevo, fossils, archosauria, homologies, axial skeleton, muscles, dinosauria, mesozoic, morphometrics, modularity, evolution, phylogeny

Participants :
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 162806.4 €
Projet Narratives4Change (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In contrast to what social imaginary portrays, Roma women are not passive in regard to the racial and gender-based discrimination they face across Europe. They participate in various forms of political and social activism through Roma women-led civic associations, slightly achieving more representation in higher structures of power. Despite on-going mobilisations, the Roma women’s movement has faced obstacles that prevented it from being better organised. Scant scientific literature has yet analysed how existing networks of solidarity, support, or respectful listening between Roma women and other non-Roma allies, can be turned into a better-organised movement and contribute to a better strategic process as a way to enforce Roma and Roma women’s fundamental rights. Conceived as a qualitative research, Narratives4Change project will study what has been theorised as “Public Narratives”, an effective leadership practice for community organising that is used worldwide. The project’s main goal will be to examine Public Narrative as a promising theoretical and practical model of the leadership practice and organising, inquiring on how when applied by civic associations it contributes to activate members’ agency and their strategic capacity to achieve social and political impact. Special attention will be granted to those civic associations working in the field of education, health and gender equality, mainly with at-risk social groups. Drawing on this analysis, Narratives4Change will contribute novel knowledge about the conditions that need to exist in order for the Public Narrative model be capitalised by Roma women associations in Spain, informing how to advance in better organising the Roma women movement in Europe. Its theoretical contributions are of major relevance for Europe in current times. It will unveil actions and strategies for the social inclusion of Roma and the empowerment of Roma women, thus suggesting ways of making EU funds more effective and impactful.

Mots clés : roma women, public narratives, social change

Participants :
- Autonomous University of Barcelona (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 245732.16 €
- Harvard University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet ProLung (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In early life, interactions between our microbiota and our bodies are key elements to health and disease prevention. While it is known that microbiota drives development of the gut mucosa, it is unknown which influence microbiota has on the development of the lung in early life. I have recently discovered large biologically and statistically significant effects between maternal probiotic treatment during pregnancy, maternal gut microbiota changes and alveolar development in mouse offspring. This type of effect has never been shown before and modulation of microbiota with probiotic bacteria thus appears to support lung development and could possibly intercept lung diseases. With “ProLung”, I want to reveal the mechanisms behind this effect on lung development. I will do that by determining; the timing of the effect, which microbiota is more important and what genes are differently regulated in dams and their pups. I will show causation by transferring microbiota and phenotype to germ-free mice. Finally, as a “proof of concept”, I will develop and employ an oxygen driven disease model of infant lung dysplasia and show if modulation of microbiota can enhance breathing and could be used to intercept this early life lung disease. The proposed “ProLung” action will be conducted under world-class supervision at University of Copenhagen, Denmark with strong partners, in a highly cross disciplinary international collaboration with University of Oxford (UK), University of Michigan (US) and co-funded by the world second largest chemical company Dupont. I have a unique background and track record suited to perform the proposed research. Furthermore the action will allow me to pursue several training objectives that will be instrumental for my future career in the cross-section between academia and industry.

Mots clés : mouse models of lung disease, lung, probiotics, microbiome transplants

Participants :
- University of Copenhagen (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 212194.8 €
Projet DoMWoB (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

In engineered wood products (EWPs), adhesives play an essential role particularly by helping save wood, making the structure light and robust, and moderating the expansion and contraction due to the inherent moisture. Although there are many advantages associated with EWPs, the use of adhesives causes some concerns about their sustainability, recyclability, and broader environmental impact. In addition to these detrimental substances, metal connectors used in EWPs have a negative impact on their end-of-life disposal, reusability, and recyclability. Thus, there is still room for a solution that is solid and completely pure wood enabling as healthy indoor air as possible (adhesive-&metal-connectors-free) dovetailed massive wood board elements (DMWBE) based on one of the oldest joining methods used traditionally. In the literature, numerous studies have been conducted on the technological, ecological, social, and economic aspects of EWPs in the construction with different building solutions, however, no studies have made an attempt to evaluate the technical performance of DMWBE in multi-story or tall construction. Overall, the aim of this research is to promote the competitiveness of Finnish large-scale industrial wooden construction at the local level and to create higher value-added circular economy opportunities in support of European climate policy as part of the bio-economy and sustainable development. To achieve this goal, DMWBE for multi-story buildings to the global market as a replacement of conventional EWPs e.g. cross-laminated timber, glue-laminated timber will be developed by enabling the confidence of its technical performance and suitability within the interdisciplinary collaborations among architecture, structure, and building physics. The following main objectives have been identified: Designing, building, and testing, and finally conducting market research of DMWBE in multi-story, maybe even tall, construction.

Mots clés : wood construction, timber construction, dovetailed massive wood board elements, multi story buildings

Participants :
- Tampere University (Finlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 202680.96 €
Projet InSIght (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In everyday life individuals are bombarded with symbols and illustrations: ‘poisonous’, ‘flammable’, ‘fire evacuation route’ etc.; however this life-saving information is not accessible to all of us. One in 30 Europeans experiences sight loss, including one in three individuals over 65 years of age. These individuals cannot recognise a face, or read a symbol or an illustration: they rely on their sense of touch. Those who use touch mix up angles and curves over 50% of the time which makes interpreting tactile symbols and illustrations problematic: the Euro symbol (€) may be mistaken for the capital E; the Pythagorean triangle may have no right angle. This mix-up has serious consequences: – Lack of awareness of important, sometimes life-saving information. This is a particular problem for individuals with low tactile sensibility (often caused by age, diabetes or stroke). Marie Sklodowska-Curie herself experienced this double disability (blindness and low tactile sensibility); – Shortcomings in school, e.g. in science, where teaching relies on symbols and illustrations The objective of the InSIght project is to investigate in what configuration(s) of shape features angles are perceived as angles, curves as curves and straight lines as straight lines – and if misperceived, why. These results will be the basis for a visionary project to develop a checklist and teaching guide on tactile symbols and illustrations. Through this strategy InSIght will improve awareness of important, potentially life-saving, information and reduce shortcomings in school, e.g., in science; thus the environment’s costs for special needs education. Finally, InSIght will reduce the environment’s costs by leading to development of universal design standards for tactile symbols and illustrations. InSIght will produce four academic and non-academic articles, and develop a non-academic booklet with the checklist and teaching guide. It will set up a European conference and an interactive webpage.

Mots clés : access to information, independent living, optimal learning conditions, shape features, universal design

Participants :
- University of Oxford (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet ALT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Staff Exchanges
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In everyday situations, humans are exposed to multiple concurrent stimuli in complex, continuously changing environments. To correctly extract relevant information, they adapt their processing to reflect the specifics of the current scene, and they learn from previous experience to improve the perceptual strategies used. The current project proposes to perform a series of behavioral experiments, brain imaging studies, and computational modeling 1) to study the auditory mechanisms of adaptation to new reverberant environments for speech processing, sound localization, and learning of new phonetic categories, and 2) to study how attention and mechanisms of implicit and explicit learning are used to cope with complex listening environments. The results will be important, e.g., for development of new prosthetic devices and new virtual reality technologies. Here, they will be used to develop a brain training game that can improve impaired listeners’ performance in complex environments. An additional goal of the proposal is to obtain new knowledge and skills related to studying human perceptual processes and the corresponding neural mechanisms. Skills to perform sensory learning research, psychophysics, non-invasive brain imaging (EEG and fMRI), and computational modeling will be exchanged during the secondments. Also, a series of workshops will be organized to train new researchers to perform research in computational and cognitive neuroscience, with additional goal of enhancing the exchange of information among participants and sharing new results obtained in this project. The project consortium consists of academic, research, medical, and small enterprise organizations based in the EU and USA. The participants have complementary skills necessary to achieve all the defined goals. Their collaboration on this project will result in strengthening of the European Research Area and in establishing new long-term collaborations between EU and US researchers.

Mots clés : auditory perception, speech perception, sound localization, adaptation, reverberation, brain training computer game, workshop

Participants :
- Oregon Health & Science University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of California System (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- The general hospital corporation (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Autres, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik (Slovaquie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 270000.0 €
- Boston University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Austrian Academy of Sciences (Autriche) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 81000.0 €