Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet TAMED (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The main objective of the TAMED project is to devise new methods and algorithms for realising aspects of general emotional intelligence, one of the core long-term goals of artificial intelligence and artificial psychology. To move towards such an ambitious goal TAMED methods would be required to: a) derive accurate models from small-sized affect data corpora, b) eliminate the subjective biases inherent in affective ground truth, and c) limit overfitting effects of affect models given their context-specific nature. TAMED views general affect modelling from an ordinal perspective and interweaves uniquely novel tensor-based learning models with preference learning approaches. TAMED is highly innovative since it utilises, for the first time, tensor-based and preference (deep) learning models to capture general aspects of affect. Tensor models are characterised by high learning and generalization capacity, and are suitable across different learning paradigms, while preference learning can uniquely eliminate annotation biases and approximate more reliably the underlying ground truth of affect. TAMED methods will be used to investigate the degree to which context-free affect models are possible and general affect patterns can be captured across dissimilar tasks and users. The applicability of the derived models will be tested on the domain of digital games since they offer complex yet well-defined problems for exploring the capacities of general artificial intelligence. The aforementioned innovative aspects make TAMED highly interdisciplinary, with research activities spanning from affective computing and machine learning to digital game design and development. The fellowship will contribute to the researcher’s career development through the acquisition of advanced scientific and technical skills, as well as developing skills within academia and industry. The project will also serve to consolidate and extend the researcher's professional network within Europe and beyond.

Mots clés : affective modelling, tensor based machine learning, affective computing, human computer interaction, preference learning

Participants :
- University of Malta (Malte) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 160049.28 €
Projet BiCyHePepDi (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The main objective of the proposed project is the establishment of a generically-applicable new therapeutic molecule format, which will be referred as “bicyclic hetero peptidimer”. We propose linking two bicyclic peptides that bind to the same target but in different locations to generate an antagonist with high affinity and activity. This idea borrows from antibody therapeutics that typically have two arms that can bind to the target, increasing local concentration and improving the overall affinity of the therapeutic. In a second step, we will tether our active bicyclic hetero peptidimer to a known albumin-binding peptide to improve plasma half-life. This has previously been shown to increase the half-life of bicyclic peptides by nearly 50-fold in mice. In the proposed project we will use the new peptide format for the development of picomolar FXII inhibitors. Uncontrolled FXII activity is the cause for the severe disease hereditary angioedema (HEA), where currently no satisfactory therapeutic options are available. This general concept is in no way limited to any particular target, and has the potential to be generally applicable to any peptide-based therapeutics to increase both affinity as well as half-life, two of the major drawbacks to current peptide-based treatment strategies.

Mots clés : novel molecule format, therapeutic peptides, fxiia, hereditary angioedema

Participants :
- Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 131564.7 €
Projet VECTORIGAMI (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The main objective of this project is to produce innovative DNA self-assembled nanostructures with the goal of evolving new approaches for drug delivery. The properties of the DNA nanostructures will be tuned by introducing new elements into the nanostructures improving their versatility and structural integrity. This project will aim to: • build and characterise DNA nanostructures using long oligonucleotides of biological production; • add different elements to the nanostructures, such as gold nanoparticles and proteins to the nanostructures to tune the respective intrinsic and structural properties; • develop new strategies to simplify the assessment of the integrity of nanostructures using fluorophores; • apply the newly developed nanostructures to assemble a delivery system for doxorubicin. This project will result in a synergy between the applicant’s particular profile and the high quality of the host institution. The applicant has experience in different sets of scientific areas such as fluorescence and nanotechnology as well as a background in molecular and cell biology. Complementarily, the host institution, the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet, and Björn Högberg’s laboratory in particular, will provide the necessary knowledge on DNA nanotechnology. Högberg’s group has recently established itself as one of the leading DNA-nanotechnology labs in Europe with high-impact publications in the field.

Mots clés : dna origami, gold nanoparticles, fluorescence, doxorubicin, drug delivery

Participants :
- Karolinska Institutet (Suède) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 173857.2 €
Projet BERCO2 (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The main objective of this proposal is to optimize the enzyme-electrode interface to achieve efficient bioelectrochemical carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction by formate dehydrogenase (FDH). To achieve the overall goal of the proposed project, the specific objectives are: 1) Incorporation of an unnatural amino acid (UAA) to Molybdenum-containing FDH (Mo-FDH) such that the enzyme can be specifically and covalently attached to electrode surfaces with controlled orientation for improved electron transfer (ET) 2) Tailoring the bio-interface between electrodes and FDH H for facile electrocatalysis by direct ET (DET) or mediated ET (MET). This includes the design electrode surface with pyrene moieties/mediator for directing orientation of biocatalysts on electrode surfaces. 3) Bioelectrosynthetic CO2 capture with electrochemical systems exploiting UAA-FDH H. For this, the prepared UAA containing Mo-FDH based biocathodes will be coupled with a hydrogenase bioanode to provide a complete enzymatic biofuel cell (EBFC) producing formate (HCOO− )and simultaneously producing electrical energy from molecular hydrogen (H2) and CO2. The project will be conducted in 3 work packages associated with research objectives. An UAA will be introduced to FDH H for the first time, yielding an approach for site-specific functionalization of complex metalloenzymes with this project. The proposed technology is highly attractive because it presents a promising solution to tackle global climate issues and energy concerns by providing improved green conversion of CO2 to chemical fuels. This project will be undertaken within the group of Professor Ross Milton (University of Geneva, Switzerland) and a secondment of two months is planned with Prof. Jason Chin (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK) in order to develop skills in UAA incorporation.

Mots clés : co2 reduction, formate dehydrogenase, unnatural amino acid, bioelectrocatalysis, enzymatic biofuel cell, enzyme immobilization

Participants :
- University of Geneva (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 191149.44 €
Projet FastMeasure (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The main objective of this proposal is to take advantage of the expertise of the host company and the experienced researcher in different fields of ultrashort laser pulses technology, in order to develop new techniques for the measurement of the time-dependent arbitrary polarization of the pulses, simultaneously with their spatiotemporal dependence. It is foreseen that the research will derive into patents, and industry transfer of the products. Within the project, the temporal measurement of pulses in other regions of the spectrum (as near UV, XUV) will also be investigated. The polarization measurement will be based in the measurement of the spectral interferometry between the two polarization components of the pulse, together with a complementary measurement of one component. The spatiotemporal measurement is performed scanning a fibre coupler while also acquiring spectral interferences. It will be investigated the way of combining both techniques to measure the full dependence of vector beams (pulses with arbitrary polarization). In both cases, the expertise of the host in the d-scan technique and industry transfer will be relevant for development of the project. The research will be carried out in excellent infrastructures owned by the host. The experienced researcher will be trained not only in new experimental skills, but also in the process of patenting, project managing, study of market, product development and financial issues. Altogether, it will allow him to boost his career in terms of future opportunities. The host will also benefit from the results of the action and the new products will put the European Photonics Industry in an advantageous position on a global scale in the area of ultrashort laser pulses metrology.

Mots clés : ultrashort laser pulses characterization, ultrafast measurements, time dependent polarization, vector beams, spatio temporal measurements, full beam characterization, patent, research transfer

Participants :
- Sphere ultrafast photonics sa (Portugal) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 160635.6 €
Projet ARDRE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Cofund Doctoral programme
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The main purpose of the Ageing, Regeneration, and Drug Research doctoral programme (ARDRE-DP) consortium is to set up a PhD training network of the highest level possible with regard to recruitment, training and mentoring of early career scientists as laid down in the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. The ARDRE-DP is dedicated to equip the PhD students with the scientific competence and soft skills, including ethical aspects, required to succeed in the contemporary competitive scientific community globally. The students will benefit from the highly productive ARDRE team of scientists, who have complementary expertise and novel research tools available to study cellular mechanisms of ageing and regeneration. ARDRE will explore evolutionarily conserved mechanisms of ageing and regeneration from various phyla across the kingdom of life. The aim is to discover new molecules, including natural compounds involved in, or potentially counteracting ageing or regeneration, and to unravel molecular mechanisms leading to disabilities associated with old age. This is important considering the urgent need to combat the pressing issues related to our ever-increasing segment of elderly people. Recruitment of 12 early stage researchers will be organised in two subsequent calls. Each of the four years' doctoral projects will include up to six months of international secondment activity. The beneficiary, the University of Innsbruck (UIBK), is committed to support research into ageing, stem cell and regeneration biology, and drug discovery, taking advantage of the powerful existing expertise in the Faculty of Biology and the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy. The ARDRE-DP will be complemented by an ancillary network of partner organisations from the academic and non-academic sector, providing further opportunities for international and inter-sectoral training of the PhD students.

Mots clés : ageing, regeneration, stem cells, drug discovery, neurodegeneration

Participants :
- Universität Innsbruck (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 1301760.0 €
Projet PfPHIST (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The malaria parasite is the ultimate home renovator, inducing drastic changes to the host red blood cell (RBC) important for virulence and sexual maturation. Members of the PHIST protein family are involved RBC modification and while some are expressed in the sexual stages, their function is unknown. To understand the significance of the extensive RBC alterations, the functional characterisation of the PHIST family is required. To begin this task, we have carefully selected 10 PHIST proteins to be analysed. First, we will set up novel techniques based on a microfluidics device that will greatly enhance our ability to study the rheological properties of the infected RBC. These new methods will improve our analysis of the infected RBC and also give unprecedented insights into the RBC modifications during the sexual stages, that to date have not been possible. We will also use cutting-edge molecular and biochemical analyses to ensure we get the highest level of data from such a broad and ambitious project. This embodies the first study to thoroughly investigate the role of RBC modifications in parasite virulence, and transmission of the sexual stages to mosquitoes. Dissecting the underlying mechanisms required to alter RBC will not only help to better understand how the disease develops but also how it’s transmitted, information vital to preventing this debilitating disease. This project will lay the foundation to characterise the entire PHIST family, and while this remains the long-term goal, having 75 family members puts this beyond the scope of this fellowship. In order to be able to characterise such a large protein family, a project such as this is required to carefully and precisely establish a pipeline for generating genetic mutants followed by accurate phenotypic analysis. The results obtained in this project will help to reveal the importance of parasite induced RBC structural and functional changes across multiple life cycle stages.

Mots clés : malaria, membrane mechanics, protein export, virulence

Participants :
- Radboud University Nijmegen (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 177598.8 €
Projet MadbaM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The measured Baryon Asymmetry of the Universe (BAU) is a firm evidence for the existence of new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics (BSM). Despite of that, the offer of scientific software for the high-energy physics community currently misses dedicated tools devoted to precise baryogenesis computations in BSM models. The aim of the present proposal is to fill this gap, providing the necessary tools in order to bring the theoretical computation of the BAU into a precision era, and employing them to use the BAU as a powerful observable for the characterisation and test of physics BSM. The main deliverable will be a scientific software, MadbaM, able to precisely compute the BAU in as many BSM scenarios as possible. MadbaM will fit in a propitious and timely framework, since preliminary results from precision neutrino oscillation experiments point towards the existence of a large violation of the matter-antimatter symmetry in the lepton sector, and the available array of high-energy and high-intensity experimental facilities offers an ideal ground to test the BSM hypothesis. The implementation of the proposal will be based on a mutual exchange of expertise between the Researcher and the Host Institution, with the Researcher profiting from the world recognised leadership of the local research group in designing and delivering software for precision computations in high-energy physics, while he will complement the local research skills bringing his own expertise on the theory and phenomenology of BSM models motivated by observations on the BAU and in neutrino physics.

Mots clés : baryon asymmetry of the universe, new physics, cp violation, beyond the standard model of particle physics, computational physics, leptogenesis

Participants :
- Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 172800.0 €
Projet YAP MECHANO (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The mechanical properties of the cellular environment deeply influence cell fate and behavior. Cells respond to outer forces not only through the rapid remodeling of their cytoskeleton, but also by implementing gene expression changes. The Piccolo laboratory pioneered the notion that the transcriptional coactivators YAP and TAZ act independently of the Hippo pathway to activate gene expression in response to cytoskeletal tension. Crucially, YAP/TAZ are the main effectors of the cellular response to mechanical cues instructing proliferation, cell death or cell fate choice. Despite the importance of mechanosensing in development, tissue homeostasis and cancer, the mechanistic link between the actin network and YAP/ TAZ regulation has remained elusive. This project aims to close this gap in our knowledge by uncovering the molecular events that lead to the activation and nuclear translocation of YAP/TAZ in cells experiencing mechanical strain. Using live imaging, I plan to derive a model of the nuclear YAP shuttling dynamics. Optogenetic tools and targeted genetic approaches will be used to delineate which components of the actomyosin network are sufficient to regulate YAP/TAZ and to probe a potential link to nuclear mechanics. Mass spectrometry will provide a comprehensive view of YAP/TAZ interaction partners in cells subjected to different mechanical inputs and biochemical validation experiments will systematically delineate the molecular pathway of mechanotransduction from cytoskeletal tension to YAP/TAZ activation. Finally, loss- and gain-of-function experiments in a range of model systems will establish the functional importance and generality of these newly identified mechanotransduction pathway players. Uncovering the mechanotransduction pathway will not only greatly advance our understanding of cell biology, but also aid to identify potential targets for cancer therapy, as indeed the stiffening of the tumour environment is a driving factor in cancer progression.

Mots clés : mechanobiology

Participants :
- University of Padua (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 168277.2 €
Projet COTCA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The mechanism of protein translation by ribosomes has been the focus of recent single molecule investigations. Understanding translation at a single-molecule level is of particular interest to the life sciences and relevant for various degenerative diseases. Although protein translation and folding are well studied subjects, cotranslational folding has been proven difficult to observe. How proteins adopt their native structure with efficient fidelity while being synthesized by the ribosome remains largely unexplored. Using optical tweezers we recently measured the mechanics of synthesis and simultaneous folding in real-time, in the absence of chaperones. We found that cotranslational folding occurs at predictable sequence locations, exerting forces on the nascent polypeptide chain. We showed that transient pauses of translation occur in particular locations along the protein sequence, facilitating native secondary structure formation. Several crucial mechanistic questions concerning the effects of chaperones on co-translational folding remain unanswered: How do the chaperones trigger factor (TF), the major bacterial heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70/DnaK) and the GroEL/ES chaperonin system affect cotranslational protein folding? Do they affect the translation rate? What effect do the chaperones have on initial hydrophobic collapse? When and how often do they (un)bind? How do these chaperones assure reliable and fast native folding during protein synthesis? Here, I propose a combined optical tweezers and laser scanning confocal microscopy study to investigate the effects of chaperones on cotranslational folding in real-time, using the host's instruments, chaperones and collaboration network, as well as my previously developed cotranslational assay and collaboration network. The group of Prof. S. J. Tans at AMOLF with its expertise and experience in single-molecule chaperone investigations is ideally suited for me to pursue this study of cotranslational chaperone activity.

Mots clés : cotranslational protein folding chaperones ribosome translation trigger factor tf hsp70 dnak groel, es optical tweezers force spectroscopy instrumentation fluorescence gfp gfpem dhfr htau40 mbp

Participants :
- Dutch Research Council (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 165598.8 €
Projet UBIMAPS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The microtubule cytoskeleton is a dynamic array of cylindrical polymers that play important roles in various cellular processes including chromosome segregation and ciliogenesis. Hundreds of accessory factors – grouped under the term microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) – orchestrate this network by governing the interaction profile and growth behaviour of microtubules. Due to this critical function, the precise abundance and distribution of MAPs within cells is of high importance and their deregulation is associated with various human diseases, such as ciliopathies and cancer. Surprisingly little is known about mechanisms involved in the regulation of MAPs and so far only a few of them have been identified as targets of the major proteolytic control machinery in cells, i.e. ubiquitin-proteasome system. In this work, I will further explore how MAPs are regulated by ubiquitin-dependent degradation by focussing on a multi-subunit ubiquitin E3 ligase called SCFFbxw5 that seems to play an important role in microtubule control according to preceding experiments of the host lab. Hence, I will investigate in detail two MAPs that were identified as substrates of SCFFbxw5 by the host lab in order to unravel the functional, temporal, and spatial characteristics of their ubiquitylation by SCFFbxw5. Since these MAPs are known to fulfil crucial functions in ciliogenesis and chromosome segregation, this work will promote our knowledge about how ubiquitin-dependent degradation contributes to these processes and may open up novel therapeutic strategies with the associated diseases.

Mots clés : microtubules, spindle, microtubule associated proteins, ubiquitin, f box protein, fbxw5, centrosome, cilium, mitosis, chromosome segregation

Participants :
- Heidelberg University (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 159460.8 €