Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet Hybrid-CO2RR (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) represents a promising technique for sustainable utilization of renewable energy like wind and solar energy to produce value-added valuable chemical feedstocks or fuels, providing an alternative way to the climate and energy issues in European Union (EU). Unfortunately, the progress in this area has been slow as a result of the sluggish CO2 reaction kinetics and the lack of efficient electrocatalysts. This research proposal aims to go beyond the state-of-art in this area through rationally designing and engineering novel metal phosphonate organic-inorganic hybrid electrocatalysts to illustrate a new methodology for the electrocatalytic CO2 reduction. The intractable low selectivity/ efficiency of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction will be overcome through rationally adjusting the organic/inorganic compositions, porosity, and nano-/mesostructures of functional metal phosphonates to realize impressive performance. The nature and origin of the CO2 reduction process will be investigated in this project, aiming at illustrating the relationship of chemical compositions and structures towards electrochemical performance and thus providing new protocols to design CO2RR electrocatalysts. The successful completion of this project is suggested to advance CO2 conversion technologies, ensure the viability of EU's resources, and benefit its clean energy/manufacturing industry.

Mots clés : hybrid, metal phosphonates, compositions and structures, electrocatalysis, co2 reduction

Participants :
- Ruhr University Bochum (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 162806.4 €
Projet EM-Pillars (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) is rapidly emerging as a powerful technique for high-resolution structure determination of protein complexes. Despite recent advances, there is still ample room for improvement of this method, in particular regarding sample preparation. Outstanding challenges are reproducibility of freezing conditions to obtain an optimal ice thickness; to prevent unfolding or preferential orientation of proteins against the hydrophobic air-water interface; and a limited accuracy of beam-induced motion correction for relatively small particles. Here, we propose to study how DNA origami objects that are added in with the sample may affect cryo-EM grid preparation. In addition, by examining a variety of DNA origami structures in the electron microscope, we also aim to identify and improve on structural weaknesses in their design. We will test new design strategies, analyse those, and use them for application in cryo-EM. Thereby, this proposal will facilitate both cryo-EM structure determination and the design of nano-tools that are made from DNA.

Mots clés : cryo em, structural biology, method development, dna origami

Participants :
- UK Research and Innovation (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet SMERC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Electronic and nuclear spins in solids have remarkable coherence properties which makes them ideal qubit candidates for future quantum computers. However, microwave detection and coupling of individual spins remains an outstanding challenge, and this is the main obstacle to their use for quantum computing. The rare earth element erbium (Er) is a very promising candidate for single-spin detection due to its exceedingly large electronic ground-state moment (J=15/2). Furthermore, Er has recently demonstrated 1.3 second hyperfine spin coherence (https://arxiv.org/abs/1611.0431), thus joining a very short list of solid state defects with coherence times of over a second. The Strong Microwave Erbium Coupling (SMERC) proposal aims to use superconducting circuits consisting of resonators and Josephson qubits to detect and couple individual Er spins in crystalline matrices. The superconducting circuits will be designed so as to enhance their magnetic coupling to the individual Er spins. In particular, nanoscale constrictions will be used to concentrate the microwave magnetic field at the Er ion location. This will result in Er-microwave photon coupling constants sufficient to detect a single Er spin within less than a millisecond integration time with microwave signals.


Participants :
- Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 185076.0 €
Projet FITINV (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Elucidating the fitness consequences of genomic innovations and variation is fundamental in understanding the process of adaptation and biological diversity. Chromosome inversions are important evolutionary events often associated with adaptation and cladogenesis. Inversion polymorphism is hypothesized to capture gene combinations favoured under certain environmental conditions, and by suppressing recombination, are thought to facilitate the segregation of co-adapted allelic variations. Nonetheless, little is known about the fitness components associated with inversions, nor their combined effect, be they synergistic or antagonistic, which determine their fate. The proposed fellowship aims to investigate whether inversions capture distinct traits whose combination produce distinct, locally adapted phenotypes, and to determine to which extent recombination suppression carries a fitness cost. The Neotropical butterfly, Heliconius numata, is an excellent model to tackle those questions. This toxic butterfly always displays a high polymorphism of predator-warning colour patterns within populations, with up to seven distinct morphs coexisting within a given locality. This perplexing polymorphism is under the control of a single supergene locus, and alleles associated with distinct morphs are characterized by different combinations of chromosomal inversions. The originality and the evolutionary relevance of the polymorphic mimicry inversions, as well as the availability of both genetic and ecological knowledge in this system, will enable us to significantly improve our understanding of the fitness consequences of inversion polymorphism, and will elucidate how biodiversity can be affected by the interaction of both ecological and genomic factors.

Mots clés : chromosome inversions, adaptation, genetic load, biodiversity, polymorphism, butterflies, mimicry, aposematism

Participants :
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 185076.0 €
Projet OPTOLEADER (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Emergent collective behaviours such as flocks and waves are a hallmark of biological active matter, and occur prominently also in large groups of migrating epithelial cells, where they are involved in fundamental biological processes such as wound healing, morphogenesis and cancer cell invasion. Physical forces transduced between cells and arising between cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM) play an integral role in orchestrated multicellular phenomena. Another integral contribution is given by the actions of leader cells, that modulate and guide the migration of cohesive cell groups. How leader cells achieve this using intracellular and cell-ECM forces remains largely to be understood. Here we propose an experimental approach to generate leader cells using optogenetics and to study how leaders influence the collective behaviour of migratory cell groups. We will use epithelial cells expressing light-sensitive activators of RhoGTPases, which enable reversible and directional control of cell motility using blue light. Traction force microscopy and monolayer stress microscopy will be performed using these cells while we will create and control leaders. With functionalized substrates, we will study the mechanical role of leaders in different conditions, from confined two-cell systems to confluent monolayers exhibiting flocking. Finally, we will express the light-sensitive proteins in cancer cells, to study how their three-dimensional dissemination is affected by leaders. Our experimental approach combines physics-derived modelling and quantification of forces with advanced molecular biology tools. The latter will enable us to perform selected modifications on cells, targeting a wide array of proteins involved in cell-cell adhesion and force transduction. Our goal is to shed light on how leaders physically influence collective migration in physiologically relevant situations, paving the way for the in vivo applications of light-induced leader cells.


Participants :
- Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 158121.6 €
Projet REFLEX (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : TERMINATED

Emerging bioelectronic medical devices, such as brain-spine interfaces (BSI), are improving treatments of the pathophysiological processes at the root of sensorimotor and cognitive disorders. Despite the emerging success of BSIs, the biological and electrophysiological mechanisms underlying treatments remain poorly understood. A significant barrier to their description is the lack of minimally invasive BSIs for real-time, closed-loop monitoring of electrophysiological markers involved in the stabilization and regeneration of neural pathways. REFLEX seeks to overcome the power and packaging barriers that have held back real-time monitoring of neural pathways by leveraging two innovative technologies: (1) the picojoule/bit energy efficiency of wireless backscatter communication and (2) the conformable, compatible circuit boards. REFLEX will enable high spatial and temporal resolution monitoring of neural pathways by providing up to 16 channels for electrophysiological recording at up to 20 kSamples/sec with 16-bit resolution per channel (≥5Mbps total data rate) at <2 mW of total power consumption for recording. By incorporating a low power LED for optogenetic stimulation of neurons, REFLEX will test the effectiveness of targeted therapies to regenerate damaged neural pathways in the spinal cord. The proposed project aligns with the MSCA mission by facilitating the two-way transfer of knowledge in material science, electrical engineering, and neuroscience between the host and the applicant. It combines the applicant’s expertise in wireless backscatter communications and electronic instrumentation with the host laboratory’s expertise in conformable electrode design and interdisciplinary breakthroughs in implantable systems. Through hands-on research, formal training, and new collaborations, the applicant will enhance his research expertise, broaden his professional skill sets, and mature his competencies as a mobile researcher, engineer, and educator.

Mots clés : backscatter communication, rfid, neural recording

Participants :
- Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 191149.44 €
Projet TransWNV (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Emerging infectious diseases that have a wildlife reservoir pose a major challenge to global health. This is the case for West Nile Virus (WNV), which is the number one causative agent of viral encephalitis worldwide. Although it infects humans, the main hosts of WNV are birds. Thus, to develop effective intervention strategies it is critical to understand the disease dynamics in birds. In WNV, disease dynamics are influenced by variation in disease susceptibility across individuals and species, but the factors underlying this variation are poorly understood. Here, I propose to focus on one of these factors: the genetic basis of the immune response. Specifically, I will characterize the transcriptional response to WNV infection and identify candidate genes and pathways that will allow us to gain insights into the avian immune response to the virus and uncover the genetic basis of susceptibility both at the species and individual level. To achieve this goal, I will first analyze the transcriptional response in individuals of house sparrow that die and individuals that survive a WNV infection and test for differential expression. Second, I will characterize the transcriptional profile of house sparrows inoculated with 4 different strains of WNV. Finally, I will examine transcriptional profiles and test for differential expression in 3 species (house sparrow, Eurasian collared dove and common quail) with different susceptibility to WNV. To complete this work I will use state-of –the-art genomics, bioinformatics and statistical analyses and will integrate knowledge from genomics, disease ecology and immunology. Obtaining a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowship to carry out this project under the supervision of Prof. J Figuerola (Doñana Biological Station) will be a unique opportunity to resume my scientific career. This project will also contribute to one of the key research areas in the European Union and will yield new insight into the mechanisms relevant to host health.

Mots clés : transcriptional response, immune response, host pathogen interactions, wildlife disease, emerging infectious diseases

Participants :
- Spanish National Research Council (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 170121.6 €
Projet AutoDropProd (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Emulsions are widely used in industries such as foods, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. However, most of the emulsions used in the industry consist of polydisperse droplets. Emulsions of monodisperse droplets have many advantages, such as higher stability, thus longer shelf life and easier to control physical properties (e.g. viscosity or visual appearance). Small scale production of monodisperse emulsions is easily achievable using microfluidics technology. To increase the production rate of the emulsions to industrial levels and maintain droplet monodispersity, we propose to use parallelization of liquid flows with coupled flow microchips together with a fully automated droplet production system which can monitor droplet sizes and adjust flow rates to compensate for any fluctuations in the system. The next step for the system is production of monodisperse double emulsions, applicable for double drug delivery and other applications. Commercialization of such a system would allow scientists in different laboratories (e.g. pharmacy, biology, genetics, chemistry) to simplify the monodisperse single and double droplet production procedures. At the same time, industry would benefit from the simplified monodisperse emulsion preparation, increase the efficiency and lower costs. To create such a high throughput automated system I will employ my previous experience from physics, material science and microfluidics. At the same time I will receive training inentrepreneurship from the perspective of a start-up company, increase my knowledge microfluidics system automation and learn effective business communication at the private sector. This experience and acquired knowledge will open new possibilities for me to establish myself in the industry, R&D companies or become more competitivein the scientific community.

Mots clés : droplets, automation, microfluidics, monodisperse droplets, coupled flow, double emulsions

Participants :
- Elvesys (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 185076.0 €
Projet emiT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Energy is crucial for the developing World and must be provided when needed to avoid serious impact on society. Among all energy forms, electricity has an increasingly central role. Electricity security is the power system's capability to withstand disturbances or contingencies with an acceptable service disruption and represents a crucial concern for policy decision making at all levels. Usually, service disruption is due to cables insulation damage, often caused by or accompanied by partial discharge (PD) event that is a localized electrical discharge that partially bridges the insulation between conductors. Since PD is one of the best early-warning indicators of insulation damage, the on-line PD location is the most suitable method to monitor network integrity and a desirable network protection method to guarantee electricity security. The project’s main objective is to develop a new method for on-line PD location based on the innovative electromagnetic time reversal (EMTR) theory. It focuses on three specific objectives:To develop a numerical test bench to study PD on networks, through a training on computational electromagnetics (CEM).To design the new method, studying EMTR theory through a secondment under the supervision of the theoretician of EMTR theory for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) field application. To experimentally validate the method, through a secondment at the industrial partner, expert in on-line PD condition monitoring. The project, characterized by strong interdisciplinarity and mobility in a European context, will widen the fellow skills with new experience giving her the possibility to reach an independent position of research leadership. She has significant experience in the EMC field that will be enhanced studying CEM techniques and EMTR theory, both at theoretical level, working with the high-level researchers’ staff of Host Institution and Academic partner, and at experimental level through the secondment at the industrial partner


Participants :
- De Montfort University (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 212933.76 €
Projet TRANSFAIR (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Energy transitions towards sustainability are driven by the need to reduce the environmental impacts of energy consumption, namely those related to carbon emissions. However, it is feared that a large scale deployment of low-carbon solutions that disregards pre-existing socio-economic and material inequalities may result in transitions deepening disparities or creating new energy-related vulnerabilities. Such prospect is particularly worrying as tens of millions of EU households are currently experiencing energy poverty, i.e., they are unable to access socially- and materially-necessitated levels of domestic energy services. Against this background TRANSFAIR aims to identify, conceptualise and empirically substantiate the ways in which the EU’s “transition to a low-carbon, secure and competitive economy” may (or not) be reproducing and reinforcing current energy vulnerability trends in Member States. To this end the research will combine the political ecology and environmental justice frameworks with transitions theory and multi-level governance perspective, conduct a critical, integrative review of scientific and policy literature and carry out an empirically-based examination of two complementary case studies: renewable electricity cooperatives in Spain and advanced thermal retrofits of multi-family buildings in Hungary. The experienced researcher Dr Sergio Tirado Herrero will carry out the research in an internationally renowned political ecology and environmental justice research centre – the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technologies (ICTA) of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) – under the supervision of Prof Giorgos Kallis, TRANSFAIR will equip the experienced researcher with advanced qualitative data collection and analysis skills and further his understanding of new theoretical frameworks. It will also help him develop other transferable skills through a secondment in the Spanish renewable electricity cooperative ‘Som Energia’.

Mots clés : energy poverty, vulnerability, transitions, political ecology, environmental justice, renewable energy, energy efficiency, spain, hungary

Participants :
- Autonomous University of Barcelona (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 158121.6 €
Projet THERMIC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Energy transport phenomena such as thermoelectricity and heat flow are fundamental issues of basic research as well as a key scientific problem of many technological applications. The need for the development of high efficient two-dimensional (2D) materials arises from new challenges brought by the quest of continuous improvement and miniaturisation of micro- and nano-devices. Therefore, high quality functional 2D based structures are highly attractive for numerous applications in nanotechnology and energy harvesting. THERMIC is an ambitious project which aims to investigate nanoscale energy dissipation and transport in novel 2D transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) material nanostructures, i.e., van der Waals heterostructures, and sub-micrometre lateral graphene-TMD heterojunctions. The project is built on two main pillars: (a) the development of novel TMD based nanostructures and devices using epitaxial growth techniques and lithographic patterning methods and (b) the investigation of local thermal and thermoelectric transport in the fabricated 2D nanostructures by means of scanning probe microscopy. Understanding of local energy transport phenomena in the proposed nanostructures will be crucial for the design of next-generation optoelectronic and thermal devices based on TMD materials. The cutting-edge research proposed here can offer innovative solutions to open issues in different research areas ranging from nanoelectronics, optoelectronic devices, thermal barriers, telecommunication and signal processing, and further boost the integration of TMD materials in the main semiconductor industry.

Mots clés : 2d materials, phonon transport, thermoelectricity, thermal management, local seebeck coefficient

Participants :
- National Centre of Scientific Research "Demokritos" (Grèce) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 165085.44 €