Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet CHROMPART (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Our main goal is to develop the theory of partition calculus on graphs, digraphs and hypergraphs with emphasis on interactions between one-and multi-dimensional relations. Such global characteristics crucially depend on local, often finitary structural properties. This places our project at the meeting point of finite and infinite combinatorics with logic and set theory. Some of the most important questions that motivate our investigations were first raised by P. Erdős and A. Hajnal in the 1960s. Their problems still guide research across finite and infinite combinatorics including the most recent works of R. Diestel, N. Hindman, P. Komjáth, C. Thomassen, S. Todorcevic, and S. Shelah. Our main objective is to investigate ramification arguments between Ramsey-results of varying dimensions. In fact, (1) we study if graphs with uncountable chromatic number necessarily satisfy the same higher-dimensional negative partition relations as uncountable complete graphs. We relate this theme to (2) the existence of orientations with large dichromatic number and partition relations on digraphs. Lastly, we explore a novel concept, (3) the existence of oscillation maps on the obligatory hypergraph associated to a graph with uncountable chromatic number. Our program will be carried out through solving specific, often well-known open problems that are central to these themes. We aim to study both the purely combinatorial and the deep foundational issues that underlie these questions. Hence, we will complement the use of advanced forcing techniques from set theory (such as mixed side-condition methods and new iteration preservation theorems) with novel combinatorial tools, such as minimal walks, oscillation maps and various ZFC construction scheme techniques. We expect our research to produce new methods of wide impact and a significantly deeper understanding of the interactions of finite and infinitary combinatorics.

Mots clés : graphs, digraphs, chromatic number, orientation, partition relation, forcing, minimal walks

Participants :
- University of East Anglia (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 224933.76 €
Projet Lightsheetelegans (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Our project aims to combine concepts and methodologies from biology, physics and engineering to address a fundamental question in neuroscience: how is the nervous system rewired during development transitions. The nematode C. elegans is one of the most important model organisms in neuroscience due to its relatively simple stereotypical anatomy, well-studied genetics and behavior, translucent body and nervous system, ideally suited for in-toto (in its entirety) imaging. Yet most of the knowledge available refers to adult animals, and little is known about neuronal plasticity and mechanisms of behavioral changes during development. One of the technical reasons for this gap is the lack of high-resolution fast-scanning optical microscopes compatible with microfluidic devices that are routinely used in nematode larva studies. To address this limitation, we propose to build a light-sheet microscope for imaging C. elegans larvae in conventional microfluidic chips with high spatio-temporal resolution, and minimize the optical aberrations caused by chamber material using adaptive optics. The microscope will allow parallel imaging of larvae while exiting dauer diapause (an alternative larval stage geared for survival). We will use the imaging data together with available (yet unpublished) electron microscopy reconstructions of C. elegans dauer larva to study nervous system rewiring during this critical period of animal development, and which neurons are active during developmental changes. This information will pave the way for optical manipulations of candidate neurons by laser ablations and optogenetic activation, to probe their causal roles in developmental transformations. Due to its versatile design, our microscopy technique may be further applied in other studies where high-resolution imaging through non-isotropic refractive media is required, such as imaging through thick brain tissue samples, or in larger model organisms (e.g. zebrafish larva, mouse embryo).

Mots clés : light sheet, spim, adaptive optics, c elegans, dauer

Participants :
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 171460.8 €
Projet CARTHER (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Staff Exchanges
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Our proposal aims to carry out a systematic interdisciplinary study of carbon-based nanomaterials, such as: carbon fluoroxide nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, graphene and nanodiamonds for advanced theranostic application. Their uptake efficiency and specific localization in biological cells depending on intentionally designed surface chemistry will be studied in details. Extremely rich physico-chemical properties of the carbon-based nanomaterials will allow their application as multi-modal bio-imaging agents. Indeed, in addition to their well-known remarkable luminescent properties, two original bio-imaging approaches based on photo-induced electrical and acoustic effects will be developed in frames of our project. Moreover, the photo-exciting sources used for the bio-imaging purpose will be simultaneously used for therapy of cancer cells and tissues containing the carbon nanomaterials. Strongly complementary research experiences of the international partners involved in this project as well as high degree of cooperative integration between them will allow a deep scientific study of the theranostic potential of the carbon nanomaterials. Finally, active participation of the Ray Technique Ltd industrial company in the project consortium will allow building of strategies for economic realizations of the innovative achievements succeeded by the partners.

Mots clés : carbon nanomaterials, bio imaging, cancer diagnostics and therapy

Participants :
- Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Ukraine) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 288000.0 €
- Université Claude Bernard - Lyon 1 (France) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 63000.0 €
- Institut national des sciences appliquées de Lyon (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 99000.0 €
- Aston University (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 171000.0 €
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 90000.0 €
- Ray techniques ltd (Israël) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 180000.0 €
Projet DISCO (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Our sun is host to eight planets, and recent discoveries have revealed that there is at least one planet per star in the Galaxy. Moreover, small, rocky planets like the Earth outnumber the Jupiter-like gas giants. The bulk elemental composition of most planets is not yet known, but evidence from the solar system and some extrasolar (proto-)planetary systems suggests there are considerable variations in the abundance of elements such as carbon, chlorine, iron and others. Some of these variations are seen in the rocky planets, others apply to atmospheres of giant planets. Understanding this diversity is important, as the Earth's elemental budget is key to various aspects of its habitability. Therefore, we must understand the origin of planetary compositions if we are to scientifically estimate the number of habitable worlds. In the DISCO project, I will study the elemental abundances in the inner and outer regions of planet-forming disks around young stars and will build models to capture the main processes that affect the gas-ice-refractory balance of specific elements. These analytical models will be implemented in a chemically-based planet population synthesis calculation which can be compared with known planetary compositions and will allow to predict the distribution of elemental compositions of exoplanets.

Mots clés : sub millimetre astronomy, astrochemistry

Participants :
- University of Cambridge (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet ICaRO (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Our understanding of ion channel operation is limited to inferences based on functional data and to static snapshots of their structures where they are available. Cyclic nucleotide-modulated channels and calcium-activated K+ channels play crucial roles in a myriad of physiological processes ranging from signal transduction to neuronal excitability. The binding of ligands to specialized intracellular domains modulates the opening/closing (gating) equilibrium of these channels. Both the high resolution structures - in open and closed conformation - of these channels and the precise mechanism of ligand-mediated channel activation are unknown. The present proposal aims to understand the mechanism of ion channel modulation by ligands. To accomplish this goal we will utilize prokaryotic homologues of these channels reconstituted in artificial membranes. High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) will allow us to directly observe individual ion channel molecules in action at high spatiotemporal resolution and in physiological conditions. Through UV-laser pulses caged ligands (caged-Ca2+ or caged-cAMP) will be liberated during HS-AFM imaging and the conformational changes associated to ligand binding monitored in real time. Differences between liganded and unliganded channel structures will provide insight into the mechanism of ligand gating. The obtained data will be compared to single channel current recordings under comparable conditions.

Mots clés : ion channels, atomic force microscopy, gating

Participants :
- Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 173076.0 €
Projet MMAP-VEX (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Outdoor air pollution is accountable for at least 4.2 million deaths per year worldwide, whilst more than 80% of urban residents are exposed to outdoor air pollution levels greater than the legislative limits. As this outdoor polluted air undergoes exchange with the air inside vehicle cabins, vehicle occupants may suffer elevated exposure to ambient/outdoor air pollutants of varying extents during this time. Additionaly, personal air pollution exposure within vehicles varies not only under different ventilation settings, but also during time of the day and road type. MMAP-VEX project aims to investigate how the outdoor air quality is a determinable factor of health and personal air pollution exposure in passenger cars. MMAP-VEX will perform concurrent measurements of air pollutants within vehicles and directly outside/ambient of multiple air pollutants such as concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, PM1 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10, 2.5 and 1 µm, respectively), ultrafine particles (UFP, with aerodynamic diameter < 300 nm), lung surface deposited area (LSDA), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), carbon dioxide (CO2) and volatile organic compounds (VOC), which are critical species in terms of air pollution exposure comparisons. The concurent measurements will take place under different ventilation settings on urban, sub-urban and rural roads. The insights from these experiments, while significant themselves, will then be used to develop modelling techniques, which, with the use of the state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms, will be trained in order to estimate personal exposure inside vehicle cabins under different conditions such as cold/hot weather, air conditioning on/off or driving in urban/rural roads. MMAP-VEX research is critical for effective indoor air quality management policies, alternative, greener commuting strategies and control of daily exposure to air pollution.

Mots clés : air pollution exposure, within vehicle exposure, indoor, personal exposure, inhalation dose, modelling, machine learning, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter

Participants :
- Harvard University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Birmingham (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 271732.8 €
Projet EXACT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Over 20% of death by cancer in the world are due to Lung Cancer (LC). Tobacco, and recently, exposure to air pollution, are considered the main causes for LC, thus specific carcinogens have been only partially identified. The complex composition of tobacco smoke and air pollution makes it difficult to identify the specific compounds responsible for the carcinogenesis process. To understand the mechanisms of LC onset, methods are needed to characterize specific toxicants that people are exposed to. We propose to develop a new method to identify exposure-specific (tobacco or air pollution) markers of LC. This new method is based on the measure of the ensemble of electrophile-carcinogens and human serum albumin adducts in human serum: the Adductome. Electrophiles present in blood are highly reactive species that have been long suspected of causing cancer because of their ability to bind DNA and proteins. Protein adducts provide more suitable markers of exposure as they have a longer life span in the blood and are present in much higher concentrations, but have been poorly investigated. In EXACT we hypothesise that protein-carcinogen electrophiles adducts can be used as markers of LC carcinogenesis and that different markers can be identified for tobacco-induced or air pollution-induced disease. Our objective is to improve the current analytical methodology for adductomics analysis and develop a new methodology for adducts structural identification in order to characterize adduct profiles in 400 samples of human serum from the EPIC cohort. Statistical analyses will be carried out to link adducts profiles to smoking status, air pollution data and methylation profiles. The elucidation of the markers structure will allow us to establish a database of candidate compounds responsible for the carcinogenicity of tobacco and air pollution. EXACT will serve as a proof of concept to develop a novel technique based on the use of the Adductome to elucidate disease causality.

Mots clés : exposure, epidemiology, lung cancer, exposome, adductomics, air pollution, tobacco, carcinogens, biomarkers, analytical chemistry, mass spectrometry, omics, identification, prevention, epigenetics

Participants :
- Imperial College London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet PROPHET (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Over recents years hybrid halide perovskites have attracted strong interest in the solar cell community as a result of their high-power conversion eciency and the opportunity to realise a low-cost as well as industry-scalable technology. Nevertheless, most of the progress has been through empirical device improvements, and a number of key questions still remain unanswered. Open issues include the optimal chemical composition of the materials, ion migration, scalable fabrication routes, device architecture and stability in operation. The goal of PROPHET is to directly relate the optoelectronic behaviour of metal halide perovskites to their chemical and morphological properties by investigating their photophysics on a range of different length and time scales. New approaches in the characterisation of the materials will be used in the action, leading to a deep understanding of the carrier transport and recombination processes. The host lab is at the forefront of the development of advanced characterisation methods for optoelectronic devices, particularly solar cells, with an outstanding expertise on hyperspectral luminescence and time resolved fluorescence imaging, which will be extensively used during the action. To further expand the capabilities of luminescence images datasets signal will be treated by multivariate statistical analysis, with the aim of identifying possible correlations between different features within the material. This innovative approach is expected to provide new insights and a more detailed and comprehensive knowledge about the local optoelectronics properties of halide perovskites. These techniques in combination with chemical and morphological characterisation methods will be used to investigate degradation processes under operational condition and the issues raised by the scaling-up of the cells. The results of the action are thus expected to gain insight and better guidelines for the right material choices as well as film processing.

Mots clés : hybrid perovskites, space and time resolved pl, ageing, up scaling

Participants :
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 184707.84 €
Projet SOCIALIFE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : TERMINATED

Over the course of an individual’s lifetime, the strength and type of social interactions change markedly with age. Because social interaction underpins many aspects of fitness, the contributions of age-related changes in social behaviour to fitness variation are a key process to understand. Yet, little work has been possible owing to the challenges of quantifying social behaviour in large numbers of individuals over their lifetimes. I thus aim at testing the hypothesis that age-related variation in social behaviour contributes to age-related changes in survival and reproduction. The project will make the most of the exceptional novel infrastructure and statistical approaches developed by my host group in Oxford to quantify and manipulate social interactions in free-living birds. Extensive longitudinal data on great tits Parus major from 2011 to 2016 will be used to quantify variation in social interactions with age from an individual perspective. A particular focus will be on the effect of dispersal and familiarity on social development. Social data will then be combined with breeding data from the long-term monitoring of the population to test correlationally whether social interactions relates to reproduction and survival. The role of interactions with adults in social development and early reproductive performance will be experimentally tested by segregating the access to different feeders according to age. A translocation experiment will also test the impact of dispersal on social development and performances. Overall, this research will break new ground in our understanding of the determinants and consequences of social behaviour.

Mots clés : social networks, social interactions, fitness, life history strategies

Participants :
- University of Oxford (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet FISHnCRISPS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Over the course of host-pathogen evolution, both the players in this game have set out strategies to overcome each other, by adapting to challenging environments and camouflaging on the one side, and by detecting and eradicating the enemy on the other. In this context, the identification of the pathogenic potential, that is, the genetic elements conferring virulence and how they subvert the host’s defences, is fundamental. With a multiplexed approach, I aim at developing a pooled genetic screen using CRISPR interference to produce pathogen knocked-down libraries impaired in a curated subset of virulence factors of Salmonella Typhi. This pathogen is of particular interest because of the severity of its systemic infection combined with its human host-restriction, which left research lagging behind. Several cellular systems (macrophages, PBMCs, organoids) will be probed upon infection of S. typhi mutants, and the host transcriptome retrieved by single-cell RNA-seq. This analysis will provide a systematic and thorough map of the cause and effect network of the pathogen virulence factors and host responses. Interestingly, in this pathogen-host “war”, each battle can end with a different winner, even when the teams are comprised of the same players, meaning that the heterogeneity in the cellular state of both the pathogen and the host previous to the infection, can lead to the occurrence of diverse outcomes within a single population. The pathogen can either replicate, persist or be cleared by the host. This intrinsic cell-to-cell variability posits the importance of profiling simultaneously the host and the pathogen at the level of single cells. To achieve this goal, I will profile the transcriptomes of the host and the pathogen at the same time, by using multiplexed smFISH. This analysis will quantitatively untangle the contribution of heterogeneity to disease outcomes.

Mots clés : host pathogen interactions, smfish, multiplexed imaging, pooled genetic screens, crispri, scrna seq, salmonella

Participants :
- Weizmann Institute of Science (Israël) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 173464.32 €