Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet CATHDFENS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Lithium-ion batteries have established themselves as the leading power source for mobile applications, however to meet ever increasing demands in energy density and durability, significant improvements must be realised. Whilst advances in each battery component (anode, electrolyte and cathode) are necessary, the cathode/electrolyte interface remains one of the least understood and least investigated aspects of battery design and thus provides one of the greatest opportunities to improve performance. This interface is the known location of battery degradation processes occurring at the nanometer level, however the use of appropriate investigative techniques to probe these length-scales is made difficult by complicated cathode chemistries and intricate surface geometries. Whilst there have been efforts to create ultra-low roughness (<1 nm) model experimental systems to investigate this scientifically important issue, there has been a lack in progress as to date; these samples have not been directly comparable with real battery systems with limited (or no) cyclability. The work performed in this proposal will overcome these limitations for the first time, utilising novel thin film fabrication techniques to create low surface roughness, thin film cathodes with defined crystal orientation. These films can be cycled in the same way as real electrodes meaning this important work will permit examination of cathode materials by novel scanning probe and synchrotron interfacial characterisation techniques developed at US National Laboratories for the first time. These methods are capable of probing interfacial processes occurring during battery operation with sub-nanometer resolution. The proposed undertaking represents an excellent training opportunity for the researcher; creating strong international academic collaborators and industrial partners which will aid in making him into a prominent European scientist, enabling him to secure a permanent academic position.


Participants :
- University of London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 269857.8 €
- University of California System (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet Re-MAPMATH (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Little is known on how the math system overcomes selective damage to parts of its brain bases. Indeed, brain adaptation has been observed in other domains, such as language: the loss of key language-related areas very often leads to brain reconfiguration for an ultimate successful behavior. Functional redundancies and remapping become visible in brain tumor patients for whom the slow growth of a tumor allows for functional reorganization. Re-MAPMATH aims the tracking of plastic brain changes behind math functions before and after surgery in brain tumor patients. For this, we will use neuroimaging techniques that allow for an optimal spatiotemporal resolution, entailing an advanced approach in the field of math cognition. The project main objectives are: (1) to precisely describe the brain bases for different math processes in the normal population, including functional activations and functional connectivity (2) to track how these default activations, functional and structural connectivity are modified by the growth of a tumor and (3) by the resection of the tumor, measuring three months after surgery. Finally (4), we aim the detection of commonalities across patients with the goal of describing redundancies and alternative pathways that allow a successful numerical behavior. In turn, uncovering these alternative neurofunctional systems can ultimately explain compensation in math disorders, as well as provide with useful information for the rehabilitation of essential math functions after surgery.

Mots clés : numerical cognition, brain reorganization

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

Lived experience of border guards receives surprisingly little attention given the current challenges of European border security and its humanitarian aspects. The proposal sets out a plan to redress this hiatus through conducting an important policy-relevant research project that encourages reflexivity as capacity in border guard training. As a follow-up from my previous research in European security and preliminary results from studying assistance to border reform, it aims to both aid the EU’s efforts to establish a more efficient European Border and Coast Guard and foster greater humanitarian and democratic sensibilities in European border policy. In contrast to existing approaches which neglect reflective practice of actors on the ground, the project explores new empirical evidence, hones new theoretical avenues and develops participative dissemination techniques to nurture reflexivity in cooperation between scholars and practitioners. In order to do so, it studies the lived experience of Polish Border Guard (PBG) officers involved in the transformation of their service in the aftermath of EU enlargement which occurred at the intersection of receiving training from Western European border guards and providing training assistance to the Ukrainian Border Guard service. This unique situation of dual interaction triggers reflection and creates conditions for knowledge production that the project taps into. The core of the project consists in fieldwork with participants to study, make use of for participative design and inspire interpretations of shifting training methods towards installing greater reflexivity. The latter is planned as an innovative dissemination technique developed through the researcher’s training in action research and reflective teaching practice at Aberystwyth University and tested in secondment with a local border guard facility to contribute to a more context-informed EU border security policy.

Mots clés : international political sociology, border studies, transnational politics, reflexivity

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

Localizing stimuli in our environment is crucial for virtually all motor, perceptual and cognitive tasks. The brain is constantly confronted with sensory information that must be processed efficiently to facilitate appropriate reactions. One way of improving processing efficiency is to predict incoming sensory information based on previous experience. However, the way in which prior experience ("priors" within the Bayesian framework) and current sensory inputs are combined varies between individuals. This project is based on state-of-the-art eye-tracking experiments driven by recent theoretical developments in Autism Spectrum Disorder research. While abnormalities in saccade accuracy in ASD have often been reported, here we investigate the novel hypothesis that impairments in saccade efference-copy processing are responsible for the build-up of weak priors. The project focuses on the dynamic processes by which the brain samples visual scenes to update its model. Eye-movement and pupillometry indices will be used to track differences in visual behavior between ASD and matched controls. The project is intrinsically multidisciplinary, combining educational psychology, neuropsychology, psychophysics, eye-movement and pupillometyry measurement, and virtual reality. This proposal includes both the transfer of knowledge from the host institution and the training of the candidate in new advanced techniques. The results have the potential capacity to lead to a deeper understanding of the perceptual symptoms of ASD, and may also provide a biomarker of ASD. Finally, the project will provide a new theoretical framework within which to conceptualize the role of priors and predictions in visual behavior in normal and pathological eye-movement development which will lay the groundwork for new insights into the link between potential early visual behavior vulnerability in childhood and the subsequent onset of socio-communicative difficulties and behavioral stereotypes in adulthood.


Participants :
- Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 162806.4 €
Projet FAWORIT 2014-2015 (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : European Researchers' Night
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Looking over the Horizon - horizontal priorities in research and in everyday challenges of the researchers' career! The main objective of “FAWORIT 2014-2015” is to overcome the prevailing stereotypes about researchers and contribute to the enhancement of their public recognition through aspects of innovation, gender, mobility, international research and lifelong learning. We address the future generation and show the attractiveness of research career – with a special awareness campaign with developing „SciMotion” with our industrial and school partners. We focus on the target group from the age of 5 to 24, but we aim to address all age groups with attractive programmes. The series of events at 20 locations will focus on the Researcher through his/her career and the lively experiences of scientific life. The public will be “edutained” during the Nights: scientific presentations will be mixed with entertaining elements. There is going to be e.g. an „IQ obstacle race”, an exhibition of researchers’ hobbies, a laser show and HiTech Pubs. The target audience can thus discover that the life of the researcher is fascinating, cool and attractive. Our objective is to have around 20,000 visitors at the events, but a multiple of that number (around 500,000) will see, hear or read about the Nights. We are planning to raise awareness of the European engagement in R&D&I with the active participation of MC Fellows. In the European Corners and at each venue related programmes of the European Union and the Marie Curie Actions will be visible. The structure of the consortium (stakeholders from academia and industry, from non-profit and for-profit organizations, with the contributing participation of schools, a cluster, a multinational company and a media partner), the elaborated concept/workplan and the involvement of strategic media partners will guarantee the success of the project. We are also keen on to participate in the celebration of the10th anniversary of Researchers’ Night.

Mots clés : innovation, gender, mobility, international research, lifelong learning, attractiveness of researchers  career, edutainment for overcoming stereotypes, strong media connections

Participants :
- Bay Zoltán Foundation for Applied Research (Hongrie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 85450.0 €
- HÉTFA Research Institute (Hongrie) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 45075.0 €
- Tudományos Ismeretterjesztő Társulat (Hongrie) — Partner, beneficiary, Autres, subvention : 17300.0 €
- Regional Center for Information and Scientific Development (Hongrie) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 59850.0 €
Projet NG2-cells (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Loss of myelin and oligodendrocyte dysfunction is being recognized in many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease or Epilepsy, although the mechanisms are not yet understood. Oligodendrocytes are generated from NG2 cells, a glial cell population that covers the entire parenchyma of the central nervous system. The multitude of disorders involving oligodendrocyte pathologies in grey and white matter underscores the importance to understand how oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination are regulated, and the role of NG2 cells therein. The highest density of NG2 cells can be found during the first postnatal weeks, when they differentiate into mature oligodendrocytes ensheathing axons with myelin. NG2 cells retain the capacity for self-renewal throughout life, rendering them a huge regenerative potential in the adult brain. It is still unknown whether all NG2 cells have the same potential to generate oligodendrocytes or whether a subpopulation of them becomes permanent NG2 cells. Neurons form synaptic contacts onto NG2 cells and depolarize them, in order to regulate myelination. Considering the finding, that processes of NG2 glia contact neurons at the node of Ranvier, it could be possible that NG2 cells in turn are able to modulate neuronal activity. To address these questions, this project is designed to investigate how altered neuronal excitability affects the structural and functional relationship between neurons and NG2 cells and how these changes impact the neural network. Using a combination of several cutting-edge techniques, the details of the morphological contact formation as well as the physiological function of these contacts in vivo in models of enhanced neuronal activity will be assessed. The results will be a major contribution to understanding the role of NG2 cells in the neural network in healthy organisms as well as in the numerous diseases where oligodendrocytes are affected.

Mots clés : oligodendrocytes, myelin, neuronal activity, voltage gated ion channels, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, electron microscopy, 3 dimensional reconstruction, in vivo imaging

Participants :
- University of Tübingen (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 264669.12 €
- University of Connecticut (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet MICROBE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Low rates of embryo survival can be attributed to endometritis, an inflammatory disease of the endometrium lining the uterus. The disease affects ~30% of cows, increases embryo mortality by 25%4, and costs the EU and USA dairy industries €2 billion annually. The endometrium and microbiome are usually in a state of symbiosis when the cow is either receptive to pregnancy or pregnant. This symbiosis is disrupted (dysbiosis) at calving when pathogens populate the uterus. Endometritis has long term negative effects on embryo survival, but the mechanisms of how endometrium-microbe interactions affect embryo survival are unknown. The goals of MICROBE: Metagenomic Investigation of Cow Reproductive Biology and Ecology (Figure) are to (1) establish myself as an independent, internationally respected scientist in reproductive biology; (2) reintegrate into a long-term research position in Ireland after completing postdoctoral research at the University of Missouri; and (3) acquire new technical skills to broaden the scope of my research, and to expand my leadership and project management capabilities. I will be hosted by Teagasc with supervision from Dr. Stephen Butler and Dr. Paul Cotter with a secondment at University College Dublin with Prof. Patrick Lonergan. I will explore whether the endometrium and microbiome interact to affect embryo survival by testing novel hypotheses. The research objectives are to (1) examine endometrium-microbe interactions at the level of the transcriptome and metagenome of dairy cows, and test the hypothesis that such interactions are responsive to genomic selection for fertility; (2) isolate and culture specific uterine microbes from two genotypes of dairy cows divergent in fertility; and (3) use ex-vivo tissue culture systems to validate novel functional mechanisms by which uterine bacteria isolated from cows divergent in genetic merit for fertility interact with the oviduct and endometrium during sperm transport and embryo development

Mots clés : dairy cow, fertility, uterus, microbiome, in vitro fertilisation, ex vivo tissue culture, embryo, reproduction

Participants :
- Teagasc - The Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 175866.0 €
Projet UPtoPARIS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Cofund Doctoral programme
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Loyal to its tradition in education and training on an interdisciplinary level between physics, chemistry and biology, ESPCI proposes a brand new international doctoral programme – UPtoPARIS. PhD fellows will have the opportunity to explore a unique environment comprising an elite engineer school, 9 joint research units and a new incubator on campus hosting 12 technology-driven start-ups – a recipe for a cutting-edge doctoral training in the heart of Paris. UPtoPARIS is designed to propose a combination of research activities and innovative and competitive supervising, mentoring and career planning. With PhD projects strongly connected to the transferability of basic science, the programme aims to shape new profiles of forward-looking young researchers by giving them knowledge and skills directly linked to the needs of the European and international industry and market. The intersectoral exposure, provided by secondments, workshops and specific guidance, will help young researchers to gain a precious experience in terms of technological development and application through consciously selected topics of European interest, inspired by the KETs, identified by the EU. The 5 Education and Research Chairs of ESPCI (Total, Michelin, Saint-Gobain, Axa and Safran) are also a guarantee for the privileged long-term partnerships with the industry. The 30 incoming excellent doctoral candidates will also reinforce the internationally renowned profile of ESPCI and the region, by increasing the number of foreign PhD students and, consequently, the quality and the diversity of the scientific exchange. The UPtoParis programme will be a pilot project in terms of better recruitment and career guidance procedures with an important impact on the development of high-quality human resources not only on a local level, but also in the European Research Area.

Mots clés : condensed matter, material sciences, hydrodynamics, physical mechanics, nanosciences, soft matter physics, physical chemistry, biology, biotechnology, neuroscience, waves physics, acoutics, photonics

Participants :
- École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 2354400.0 €
- Mairie de Paris (France) — Partner, organization partner, Organismes publics (hors enseignement & recherche), subvention : 0.0 €
Projet FreezeAlz (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Luminescent conjugated oligothiophenes are highly promising candidates for biomarkers for amyloid misfolds and thereby for early-stage detection of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's disease. The elucidation of the microscopic mechanism and design principles behind these biomarkers requires theoretical assistance. Finding suitable theoretical models that allow sufficiently accurate spectra calculations for such large, dynamic, and complex biomolecular systems is a highly challenging task: In practice, it is currently neither possible to include all possible factors, nor to rigorously test their importance for the actual simulation. There is, hence, a great need for efficient and adaptive theoretical models capable of incorporating the essential factors in spectra calculation of biomolecular systems sufficiently accurately. In order to devise an efficient and adaptable methodology for assisting the interpretation of existing spectra and predicting the performance of new candidates for biomarkers, we will combine the advantages of several state-of-the-art computational methods. More precisely, we will combine the so-called frozen density embedding scheme with linear scaling density functional theory techniques and incorporate additional polarization effects in a manner inspired by the polarizable embedding method. We will moreover devise efficient and pragmatically adaptable schemes to accurately capture vibrational coupling in these spectra. All these method developments will be done in close collaboration with groups conducting the actual experiments. In this way, a strong interdisciplinary research project will be established. Still, the formulation and implementation of the new methods will be as general as possible in order to devise flexible methods that can easily be adapted to assist the investigation of also other future scientific questions.

Mots clés : multi level approaches, theoretical spectropscopy

Participants :
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Suède) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 173857.2 €
Projet PLECTRA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) have the potential to facilitate widespread deployment of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) into our cities. However, prototype devices still fail to achieve the theoretical efficiencies due to contributions from optical loss mechanisms, including light scattering. The aim of PLECTRA is to understand, control and harness the contribution of light scattering mechanisms to design efficient LSCs that can be used in BIPV. The phenomenon of plasmon-enhanced photoluminescence, in which elastic scattering from plasmonic nanoparticles boosts the photoluminescence efficiency of a luminescent species (e.g. quantum dots), will be exploited to harness scattering and improve the LSC performance. To achieve this we will use a layer-by-layer deposition approach to prepare resonator-emitter core-satellite structures, in which the two species are separated by a quantifiable distance. Single particle scattering and photoluminescence studies, will be used to determine the required separation to obtain plasmon-coupled photoluminescence (rather than quenching). Optimised species will be incorporated into LSCs and sophisticated angle-resolved scattering measurements, in conjugation with numerical simulations, will be used to evaluate the scattering pathways in the device. Finally proof-of-concept integration of the LSCs with PV cells, and subsequently electrochromic glass will be demonstrated as evidence for potential application in BIPV.

Mots clés : plasmonic nanoparticles, luminescent solar concentrators, nanocomposite materials, angle resolved scattering, single particle scattering, electrochromic devices

Participants :
- University of Cambridge (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 212933.76 €