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

Self-oscillation is a periodic motion generated and maintained by a source of power that lacks the corresponding periodicity. In living systems several periodic motility processes or structural differentiation arise with no on-off stimuli, merely under the continual flow-in and flow-out of material and energy. The popular synthetic dynamic models use oscillatory chemical reactions to drive the system, though in most real cases no underlying biochemical oscillator is found. One clue is in the interdependence of chemistry and mechanics (stress, elasticity, or transport). Periodicity is counterintuitive because it cannot be attributed to any of the subsystems individually: this property emerges only through the collective behaviour of the components, as a systems-level property. To understand biological systems, we need to understand how these properties and functions are generated and controlled. Feedback-loops between chemical and mechanical processes are intrinsic in morphogenesis, though mechano-chemical feedback is generally still lacking in synthetic systems. I build coupled reaction-diffusion-mechanics systems, where a chemoresponsive hydrogel swells and shrinks (and, e.g., lifts and lowers a load) in a constant and uniform unreacted chemical environment, with no external stimuli. The chemistry is not oscillatory in itself, that is, if the gel is rigid or insufficiently responsive. Previous systems (mostly with inorganic reactions) operated under the continuous flow of fresh reactants. This inconvenience would be eliminated by making a big step forwards to biochemistry, where the reaction is linked to an enzyme immobilized in the gel. First we wish to demonstrate such a biocompatible system with the urease-urea reaction. After exploring the operating conditions, this autonomous system could fit to engineer regulatory functions by opening-closing a valve or to obtain biologically meaningful chemical responses by applying a force (pull, release) and vice versa.

Mots clés : autonomous actuator, ph responsive hydrogel, mechano chemical feedback, nonlinear dynamics, reaction diffusion, systems chemistry, synergetics, self organisation, cooperativity, biomimetic system

Participants :
- University of Sheffield (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet MicACol (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Self-propelling colloidal particles, originally designed to mimic living microorganims, offer exciting opportunities to engineer smart materials equipped with activity. To date, the behavior of synthetic microswimmers has been extensively studied in homogeneous environments, close to confinements and in semi-dilute suspensions. However, for materials’ design, the use of solid-like phases, such as crystals and glasses, is highly desirable. While recent numerical simulations have invested a lot of effort in understanding the structural and mechanical properties of dense colloidal materials with activity, experiments significantly lag behind. One difficulty stems, for instance, from the presence of short-range attractive forces that affect the active motion when two of more microswimmers come near contact. In this project, we will investigate the mechanical properties of dense monolayers made partly or entirely of self-propelling colloids using microrheology. We will assemble colloidal monolayers at a flat oil/water interface, where long-ranged repulsive forces will lead to the formation of crystals and glasses with loosely-packed configurations, i.e. with particles that are far from contact. We will mix passive Brownian particles with a controlled amount of active platinum coated particles that self-propel due to a catalytic reaction with hydrogen peroxide dispersed in water. We will elucidate the intimate relation between structure, activity and mechanical properties of dense active suspensions using microrheology experiments, in which we will analyse the fluctuations of a probe driven through the active material by means of an optical tweezing. Our results will shed new light on the unexplored physics of active crystals and glasses and provide a protocol to quantify their mechanical properties. While the proposal research is primarily fundamental in nature, our findings will serve as benchmarks for the design of novel active materials and devices.

Mots clés : colloids, active, microrheology, self propelled particles, microswimmers, colloidal crystals, colloidal glasses, optical tweezer

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

Sensory cilia are essential ‘antenna-like’ organelles that protrude out of many eukaryotic cells, acting as signal transducers, enabling cells to sense and respond to the external environment. The model system for this proposed study, chemosensory cilia of C. elegans are well characterised and enable the animal to sense water soluble effectors in the environment for chemotaxis. Cilia consist of an axoneme encapsulated with a signalling protein-rich ciliary membrane. The axoneme, which is a microtubule-based core structure, acts as a template for a specialised intra-cellular transport, intraflagellar transport (IFT). IFT trains are large protein complexes that mediate contacts between motor proteins (IFT kinesins and IFT dynein) and ciliary cargoes, crucial for the formation and maintenance of the cilia, with anterograde IFT trains moving outwards from the ciliary base to deliver ciliary building blocks to the ciliary tip and retrograde IFT trains moving from the ciliary tip to the ciliary base to recycle the waste products. The overarching objective of this project is to grasp the connection between chemosensory function of cilia (initiating chemotaxis), IFT and ciliary length-regulation using single-molecule imaging techniques. In order to achieve this, (i) I will develop a multi-color and single-molecule imaging toolbox to study IFT in the phasmid chemosensory cilia of C. elegans. (ii) Using the toolbox, I will obtain a mechanistic understanding of turnaround dynamics of the IFT machinery (IFT motors and components of the IFT trains), during normal IFT. (iii) A comprehensive understanding of normal IFT will enable discovery of the subtle adjustments made by the IFT machinery, and its effect on the cilia length, in response to chemical cues in the external environment. Ultimately, the goal is to understand how organism level tactic response is interlinked with intracellular transport in the ciliary antennas of individual cells, using C. elegans as a model system.

Mots clés : fluorescence, intracellular transport, intraflagellar transport, cilia, kinesin, dynein, single molecule imaging, multi color imaging, chemotaxis, signal transduction, signal response, c  elagans

Participants :
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 175572.48 €
Projet MuMiPOC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused by a dysregulated response of the host’s immune system to infection. If not treated immediately, it can result in multiple organ failure and death. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), sepsis affects approximately 30 million people worldwide every year, leading to potentially 6 million deaths. The main challenges associated with this condition are that it is, on the one hand, challenging to diagnose in its early stages when it is still potentially reversible, and, on the other hand, it is often confused with non-life-threatening diseases such as flu or gastroenteritis. Current clinical approaches to diagnose sepsis in low-complexity healthcare settings (where most patients are admitted at first) fail to provide the required sensitivity and specificity to overcome these challenges. Portable, fast and economical technologies that help to infer sepsis accurately are therefore vital to tackle these challenges. This project aims to develop a portable, low-cost microfluidic platform which has the capability to detect sepsis under 1 hour and has sensitivity and specificity levels above 90%. This platform is based on the quantification of several blood rheological parameters that are affected by this pathology. Previous research has shown that these parameters have clinical relevance for the early diagnosis of sepsis. The project will be executed in the company Micronit Microtechnologies BV (host institution) located in the Netherlands under the supervision of Dr. Maciej Skolimowski. This project also includes a secondment in the Department of Intensive Care at the Erasme Hospital – Université Libre de Bruxelles (secondment institution) located in Belgium under the supervision of Prof. Jean-Louis Vincent. The duration of the project is 24 months.

Mots clés : microfluidics, lab on a chip, sepsis, blood rheology

Participants :
- Micronit Microfluidics (Netherlands) (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 175572.48 €
Projet NESTOR (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Sequential data are everywhere, from DNA sequences to astronomical light curves, and from aircraft engine monitoring data to the prices of stock options. Recent advances in various fields such as those of data storage, networking and sensing technologies, have allowed organizations to gather overwhelming amounts of sequential data at unprecedented speeds. This wealth of information enables analysts to identify patterns, find abnormalities, and extract knowledge. It is noteworthy that common practice in various domains is to use custom data analysis solutions, usually built using higher level programming languages, such as R/Python. Such techniques, however, while commonly acceptable in small data processing scenarios, are unfit for larger scale data management and exploration. This is because they come in contrast to all previous database research, not taking advantage of indexes, physical data independence, query optimization, and data processing methods, designed for scalability. In these domains, database systems are used merely for storing and retrieving data and not as the sophisticated query processing systems they are. Current relational storage layers cannot handle the access patterns that analysts of sequential data are interested in, without scanning large amounts of unnecessary data or without large processing overhead. Thus, making complex analytics inefficient. In order to exploit this new opportunity, we plan to develop specialized data series storage and retrieval systems, which will allow analysts – across different fields – to efficiently manipulate the sequences of interest. The proposed research project, named NESTOR (Next gEneration Sequence sTORage), has the potential of great economic and social impact in Europe as multiple scientific and industrial fields are currently in need of the right tools, in order to handle their massive collections of data series.

Mots clés : time series, data series, sequences, big data, database systems, storage engines, indexing

Participants :
- Université Paris Cité (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 246668.4 €
- Harvard University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet Knocky (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Staff Exchanges
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Several R&D centres herein undertake the investigation of the reduction of the abnormal combustion phenomena of knock in internal combustion engines. Combustion knock limits the efficiency of the engine and deteriorates engine performance while simultaneously contributing to engine destruction, hence reduces engine reliability. Reducing or eliminating combustion knock increases durability and also engine efficiency, hence reducing CO2 emissions. The inter-sectoral research encompassed in this proposal concerns high-power stationary engines fuelled with gaseous fuels working in combined heat and power (CHP) systems. The proposal intends to apply a multidisciplinary approach to knock investigation encompassing fuel chemistry, combustible mixture preparation, ignition phenomena, flame propagation, knock detection and its prediction. Both modelling studies and experimentation in these fields will be performed. As result of the synergies and breadth of expertise, a resultant acceleration in research finding is expected with complementary investigation conducted within both the companies (Wartsila, AVL, Motortech) and universities involved that finally should result in solving the related challenges. Knowledge exchange will be done by research staff secondments, where experienced scientists will work both as advisors and active researchers in the ongoing projects. Engineers coming to universities will be familiar with original techniques for data acquisition as well as methods for signal processing and theoretical analysis of combustion process in the engine. Young research staff from companies will have opportunities to work with academic mentors. Further academic staff will become familiar with industrial approaches to research extending the knowledge. Knowledge transfer will be also done through regularly scheduled seminars and webinars. This collaboration and staff exchanges between the participants build lasting ties and continued after project termination.

Mots clés : internal combustion engine, gaseous fuels, abnormal combustion, knock, spark ignition, engine control system, chp set

Participants :
- Wärtsilä (Finland) (Finlande) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 27000.0 €
- Warsaw University of Technology (Pologne) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 247500.0 €
- Michigan Technological University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Birmingham (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 175500.0 €
- Motortech gmbh (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 22500.0 €
- Częstochowa University of Technology (Pologne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 441000.0 €
- Anstalt für Verbrennungskraftmaschinen List (Autriche) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 13500.0 €
Projet PleasDef (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Sexual pleasure is seen as the most important goal of nonreproductive sexual activity and has been recognized as integral to sexual health. When it comes to sexual pleasure, however, women seem to be less likely to have sexual pleasurable experiences than men. Given that women’s sexuality has been largely neglected in research, the present project aims to understand how to reduce the pleasure gap through an investigation into the concept of entitlement to pleasure. In line with the fact that men possess more power in society, research shows that men also feel more entitled to privileges than women. The project aims to examine those gendered patterns in the domain of sexual pleasure. The first work package will address the lack of current definitions regarding entitlement to sexual pleasure. In a further work package we will determine experimentally what contributes to the maintenance of women’s sexual pleasure deficit (e.g., fear of social stigma). A further research goal of the project is to challenge the pleasure deficit for the first time through an intervention that aims to enhance women’s sexual health. The proposed project continues the development of my expertise in the areas of gender, sexuality, and power. During my outgoing phase the University of Michigan and its Psychological Department will provide me with a wide range of training opportunities. I will especially expand my expertise in social-psychological methods. Moreover, my expertise on women and gender issues will be broadened through the close institutional relations with the Women’s studies department at Michigan. Given that the newly acquired skills will be transferred back to my European host institution, the internationally renowned Institute for Sex Research in Hamburg/Germany, the fellowship will essentially contribute to my career development and enable me to become one of the leading researchers on women’s sexuality in Europe.

Mots clés : sexuality, gender differences, entitlement to sexual pleasure

Participants :
- University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Universität Hamburg (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 246669.12 €
Projet CAGECONTROL (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Shigella is a Gram-negative bacterial pathogen and causative agent of bacillary dysentery (also called shigellosis). Shigella kills ∼164 thousand people per year and is recognised by the WHO as a priority pathogen due to the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains. In the laboratory, Shigella is an important model organism used to study cellular microbiology and host response to infection. This proposal will innovate approaches to discover factors underlying the entrapment of Shigella in “septin cages”, a host defence mechanism discovered by Prof. Mostowy. Septins are highly conserved GTP-binding proteins that polymerize into cage-like structures to entrap actively dividing intracellular Shigella, preventing their division and actin-based motility. Here, I will identify and study new host and bacterial factors underlying the formation of septin cages in HeLa cells. For this, I will use a proximity biotinylation assay (split APEX2) specifically localized at sites of Shigella-septin association, followed by mass spectrometry. I will then investigate the identified candidates by siRNA and CRISPR/Cas9 depletion in the case of the host, and by homologous recombination in the case of the bacteria, to monitor the number, morphology and dynamics of septin cages using high-content microscopy. In addition, I will do GFP-fusions to analyse the subcellular localisation of the candidates by high-resolution microscopy. Finally, to control the fate of intracellular Shigella, I will manipulate septin cage formation using nanobodies to artificially deliver septins (and other septin caging factors identified by mass spectrometry) to the surface of Shigella during infection. It is expected that my research will discover fundamental mechanisms underlying the entrapment of Shigella in septin cages, and illuminate issues central to both cell and infection biology. Moreover, my project may translate to human health impact, inspiring new treatments against shigellosis.

Mots clés : apex2, autophagy, high content imaging, host pathogen interactions, infection, nanobodies, shigella, septin cage, septins

Participants :
- University of London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 224933.76 €
Projet MOVIS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Signal processing by neurons involves arithmetic operations, many of which are nonlinear. These nonlinearities are thought to account for much of the brain’s computational power, yet, little is known about the molecular mechanics that underlie even simple operations like multiplication and division in individual neurons. I will address this problem in the visual system of Drosophila, where the detection of motion represents a canonical example of nonlinear information processing: To perceive visual motion, the signals of adjacent photoreceptors are differentially delayed to coincide at the dendrites of the bushy T-cells, T4 and T5, where multiplication and/or division of these inputs are thought to give rise to direction selectivity. The proposed work will address the following questions: Are the dendritic transformations multiplicative, divisive, or both? Which synaptic inputs constitute the numerator and which the denominator? What receptors and ion channels account for the dendritic nonlinearities and how do they influence the visual perception of motion? The fruit fly enables me to bridge molecular biophysics and optomotor behaviour by granting genetic, electrical, optical, and molecular access to virtually all relevant neurons in a circuit of well-documented synaptic connectivity and transcriptional activity. I will use whole-cell patch clamp recordings in vivo, patch-seq, optogenetics, optomotor behaviour, RNA interference, and computational modelling to identify the biophysical basis of multiplicative and divisive operations in the dendrites of bushy T-cells. The answers will likely hold information that extends beyond the fly’s sense of sight and might uncover previously unknown ways of signal processing by single neurons at the molecular scale.

Mots clés : drosophila melanogaster, vision, direction selectivity, synaptic interactions, membrane biophysics

Participants :
- Max Planck Society (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 174806.4 €