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

The Mediterranean region (MED) is a hotspot of anthropogenic climate change and impacts are probably already felt today; recent heatwaves and persistent droughts have led to crop failures, wild fires and water shortages, causing large economic losses. Climate models robustly project further warming and drying of the region, putting it at risk of desertification. The particular vulnerability of this water-limited region to climatic changes has created an urgent need for reliable forecasts of rainfall on subseasonal to seasonal (S2S) timescales, i.e. 2 weeks up to a season ahead. This S2S time-range is particularly crucial, as the prediction lead time is long enough to implement adaptation measures, and short enough to be of immediate relevance for decision makers. However, predictions on lead-times beyond approximately 10 days fall into the so-called “weather-climate prediction gap”, with operational forecast models only providing marginal skill. The reasons for this are a range of fundamental challenges, including a limited causal understanding of the underlying sources of predictability. The proposed research effort aims to improve S2S forecasts of MED rainfall by taking an innovative, interdisciplinary approach that combines novel causal discovery algorithms from complex system science with operational forecast models. This will overcome current limitations of conventional statistical methods to identify relevant sources of predictability and to evaluate modelled teleconnection processes. The outcomes of this project will (i) identify key S2S drivers of MED rainfall, (ii) systematically evaluate them in forecast models, (iii) derive process-based bias corrections to (iv) boost forecast skill. My strong background in both causal inference techniques and atmospheric dynamics puts me in a unique position to lead this innovative effort and to achieve real progress in reducing the “weather-climate prediction gap” for the MED region.

Mots clés : s2s forecasting, mediterranean climate, causal discovery techniques, teleconnections, climate model evaluation

Participants :
- University of Reading (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 212933.76 €
Projet ITHACA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The Mediterranean region is known for its high seasonal contrast in temperature and rainfall, subject to extreme hydroclimatic events (e.g., droughts and pluvials). In most Mediterranean regions, water resources are scarce and observational data and climate models suggest a transition to an even more arid climate is underway. Uncertainties in future climate change projections over the Mediterranean region still remain, however, thus demanding an understanding of the natural range of climate variability prior to the era of significant anthropogenic interference in the climate system. The ITHACA's goal is to advance the understanding of paleoclimate over the Mediterranean basin to the point where it can inform policy and decision-making about the risks of climate change from a paleo perspective and place future projections within a broad historical context. This project will investigate the characteristics (frequency, intensity, extent, seasonality) and causes of hydroclimate extremes (droughts and pluvials) during the Common Era (CE, the last two thousand years) over the Mediterranean region by developing a state-of-the-art paleo data assimilation product, which will effectively combine high-resolution paleo proxy-data time series with the physical constraints of an atmosphere-ocean climate model simulation. Finally, by using this new product the project will address the attribution of anthropogenic activities to current changes in hydroclimatic extremes and will provide guidance for process-based risk assessment tools.

Mots clés : paleo hydroclimate reconstruction, paleo data assimilation, common era, mediterranean region

Participants :
- Spanish National Research Council (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 160932.48 €
Projet STUDYES (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are binary-component mixtures which melt at a temperature that is several tens to a few hundreds of degrees lower than an ideal binary mixture of the same two compounds in the same ratio. DESs are usually environment-friendly solvents that hold great promise for replacing harmful ionic liquids and volatile organic compounds in chemical and industrial applications. Despite this significant potential, experimental investigations of the fundamental molecular-scale properties and dynamics of these solvents are strikingly lacking. This proposal (acronym STUDYES) aims to identify the underpinning molecular structures and ultrafast dynamics of DESs for the first time. Within STUDYES, I will use state-of-the-art ultrafast, non-linear spectroscopic techniques to unravel the real-time structural and dynamical behaviour of these solvents through their molecular vibrations. I will characterize the ultrafast structural dynamics at the eutectic point of DESs through both temperature- and composition-dependent nonlinear vibrational spectroscopic measurements. The stretching vibrations of the nascent functional groups will be probed in one- and two-dimensional experiments, which will allow a direct visualization of the structural heterogeneities, intermolecular interactions and inter-mode couplings in DESs. I will also investigate the effects of an external agent such as water on the structure and ultrafast dynamics of the DES and identify the critical concentration at which water disrupts the DES structural order. The results of these experiments will provide an important first step to a molecular-level understanding of the special macroscopic physicochemical properties of DESs.

Mots clés : solvent, eutectic, structure, ultrafast dynamics, vibrational spectroscopy, intermolecular interactions

Participants :
- Dutch Research Council (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 187572.48 €
Projet MIDFun (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Deep-sea mining of earth minerals is expected to grow in the next decades. The increase in deep-sea mining activities may lead to the release of toxic concentrations of metals into the surrounding seabed. Increased concentrations of heavy metals can disturb important ecosystem services provided by microbial communities, such as growth, nutrient cycling activity, and microbial diversity. However, the consequences of metal exposure on microbial ecosystem functions in deep-sea conditions are currently unknown. The overarching goal of this project is to evaluate the impacts of heavy metal exposure on microbial growth, metabolism, and diversity in deep-sea conditions. We propose the following specific objectives: 1. Determine the effects of heavy metal exposure on growth and N2O reduction metabolism in a model bacterial culture, under deep-sea conditions. 2. Examine the effects of heavy metal exposure on the transcriptome of a model bacterial culture, under deep-sea conditions. 3. Determine the impacts of heavy metal exposure on overall N2O fluxes from deep-sea sediments. 4. Evaluate the impacts of heavy metal exposure on the biological and functional diversity of deep-sea complex microbial communities. This research will apply a mixed experimental approach in controlled conditions to address the stated objectives. We will combine the use of bacterial axenic cultures with the study of complex microbial communities under deep-sea conditions (low temperature and high hydrostatic pressure). We will use pressurized bioreactors and hyperbaric chambers to test the effects of two representative metals (copper and cadmium) on bacterial growth, metabolic reduction of N2O, expression of functional genes, and functional diversity. The mining of the deep seafloor is still at an early stage of implementation. This research presents a unique opportunity to assess the environmental risks of an anthropogenic activity before it begins to shape the ecosystem.

Mots clés : environmental microbiology, deep sea, metal pollution, nitrogen cycle, functional diversity

Participants :
- University of Porto (Portugal) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 147815.04 €
Projet NEUROGUIDE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Defects in neuronal migration have a severe impact on normal brain function. Here, neuronal contact sensing of the extracellular environment combines with complex signaling, determining the final wiring and plasticity. Although deficits in neuronal micro-connectivity are recently emerging as crucial in neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g. autism, schizophrenia), the role of neuronal sensing and fine-migration processes is still poorly understood in these pathological conditions. I propose to study neuronal sensing and guidance/migration in neurodevelopmental disorders, at both system and molecular level, with a multidisciplinary approach that combines nano-engineered devices (i.e. nano-structured substrates and microfluidic chips), molecular neuroscience and state-of-the-art fluorescence microscopy, with the aim to clarify the biochemical processes impaired in neuronal guidance. As a pathological model, the project will focus on the unbalanced levels of ubiquitin ligase E3a (UBE3A), which leads to several neurodevelopmental disorders. Reduced UBE3A levels result in Angelman Syndrome, whereas increased UBE3A levels results in autism. However, its specific role in brain development is still unclear. This project will investigate the topic of neuronal sensing/guidance bi-directionally: 1) in vivo, in Ube3a-mutant mouse models (using genetic engineered mouse models and/or in utero electroporation with specifically-tagged plasmids or silencing-RNA), to identify deficits; 2) in vitro, in Ube3a-mutant neuronal cells by nano-engineered platforms (by applying specific biomimetic physico-chemical stimuli to single cells), to study the biochemical mechanisms involved in the neuronal guidance deficits. The obtained results will help to clarify the role of UBE3A in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders but also to establish the value of nano-engineered platforms as innovative bio-mimicking platforms for investigating neuronal guidance dynamics in vitro, at molecular lev

Mots clés : neuronal migration, mechanotrasduction, nanostructured mayerials, microfluidics

Participants :
- Erasmus MC (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 96199.35 €
Projet ECOSOUND (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Defining a Good Environmental Status for ocean noise within the EU Marine Framework Strategy is challenged by our limited knowledge about noise effects on marine fauna.ECOSOUND proposes that there are two broad types of mechanisms of noise impact on individual animals, both with potential population-level effects: bottom-up, i.e. noise responses that operate at the genetic, cellular or physiological level, which are likely to be conserved across taxa; and top-down, i.e. behavioural reactions driven by the life style of each species, which may result in physiological damage and even death.ECOSOUND will study bottom-up effects exploring if noise may induce morphological changes in several invertebrate taxa, selecting study species known to show phenotypic plasticity when exposed to stressors. Identifying developmental mechanisms of noise-effects is critical to predict potential common physiological paths over a wide range of taxa.Top-down effects will be investigated by comparing the life style of four species of deep-diving whales, and developing models to identify the reasons and potential consequences at the individual and population level of the different vulnerability of these species to noise. ECOSOUND will use the largest existing dataset of multi-sensor acoustic tag recordings of these whales, and apply quantitative ecology methods to develop bioenergetics models linking foraging and diving behaviour, metabolic rate, life history and social structure of the species.The results will inform transfer functions for PCAD models of population consequences of acoustic disturbance.ECOSOUND will strengthen the multidisciplinary research profile of the fellow with the fields of developmental biology and quantitative ecology, while contributing expertise on cetacean biologging studies and a new research line on the impacts of noise on marine invertebrates to USTAN.Results are relevant for the EU Marine Framework Strategy in the emergent field of management of ocean noise

Mots clés : underwater acoustic pollution, noise effects, marine invertebrate larvae, developmental biology, deep diving whales, acoustic ecology, diving behaviour, passive acoustic monitoring

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

Delayed bone healing or failed non-unions account for 5 – 10% of all bone fractures and present a challenging problem in regenerative medicine. Bone healing is a mechano-sensitive process; thus, mechanical stimuli can either enhance or impair fracture healing. The molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are complex and poorly understood. Consequently, clinical applications which harness this mechano-sensitivity to enhance healing are limited. It has also contributed to a lack of consensus on whether bone exhibits age-associated declines in mechano-sensitivity. With this in mind, I present a multi-scale, multi-disciplinary approach to develop a molecular-based understanding of bone healing mechanobiology and to investigate how this mechano-sensitivity is compromised with age. Using an established femur defect model in young and aged mice, my proposed approach will apply state-of-the-art techniques to spatially map: (i) the local mechanical environment, (ii) the molecular profiles of single cells, and (iii) the local tissue nanostructure within the fracture callus. By combining single-cell “omics” technologies with established tissue-scale models of bone mechanobiology, MechanoHealing will quantify how mechanical stimuli are translated by individual cells and subcellular components to form bone. MechanoHealing will also permit investigations into potential pathways by which mechanical stimuli influence formation of the nanostructure of bone – a key determinant of the overall fracture resistance of bone. Identification of the molecular mechanisms of mechanically-driven bone formation will lead to new strategies and novel therapeutic targets to promote better and faster repair. Specifically, it will drive the development of safe, targeted and individualized mechanical intervention therapies. Furthermore, insights into age-associated declines in mechano-sensitivity will better equip surgeons to optimize outcomes in compromised healing environments.

Mots clés : bone healing, bone repair, aging, mechanobiology, mechanotransduction, mouse models

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

Dentin hypersensitivity (DH) is a prevalent health condition occurring in more than 50% of the population. Despite the upward trend of risk, there has not been a permanent solution to DH. An ideal treatment should reproduce a well-integrated mineral layer, mimicking the protective cementum tissue that covers exposed tubules and seals tightly by penetrating into them. Such restoration can be accomplished using peptides that epitomize mineralization properties of dental proteins. Proposed herein is the development of a novel approach called Deep Mineralization, that will enable biomimetic restoration of exposed dentin by forming a well-integrated acellular cementum-like protective mineral layer. This will be accomplished via four specific objectives that include: (i) Experimental selection of peptides via directed evolution paired with next-generation sequencing called Deep Directed Evolution to generate peptide datasets (big data); (ii) Development of protein-derived peptides via machine learning (ML) based predictive design platform (Biomineralization Intelligence) that is trained with big data and refined through (iii) High-throughput (HTP) validation assays, and eventually (iv) Establishing a peptide-guided remineralization methodology (Deep Mineralization) by mimicking the remineralization action of saliva in which remineralizing peptides bind to exposed dentin, recruit calcium and phosphate ions and synthesize an integrated acellular cementum-like mineral layer, thereby, restoring tooth’s natural protection. Aligned with the current vision of the EU that aims to adapt methodologies to generate big data and tools to enable fast-track discoveries with healthcare delivery, this study marks the onset of implementing ML and HTP screening methods into dental research. Successful completion of this project will result in a line of preventive oral care products with the long-term vision of establishing a molecular toolkit for complete tissue regeneration.

Mots clés : demineralization, remineralization, dentin hypersensitivity, peptide guided tissue repair

Participants :
- Izmir Institute of Technology (Turquie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 157355.52 €
Projet ASTRO_ECM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Depression is a debilitating psychiatric disorder that affects 1 in 7 people worldwide. Despite coordinated efforts from researchers and clinicians alike, the neurobiological substrates of depression remain largely unknown. As a result, therapeutic options against depression are inadequate. Using a valid preclinical model, I recently demonstrated that depression alters the molecular composition of astrocytes and the organization of extracellular matrix (ECM), an assembly of molecules that are primarily synthesized and released by astrocytes. This results in disrupted information relay in the hippocampus and in cognitive impairment, both commonly seen in depressed patients. Thus, my work suggests a role of astrocytic (dys)function in the depressive state. In the proposed project, I aim to unravel the contribution of astrocytes in the pathophysiology of depression. First, I will address how the depressive state affects astrocyte proteome, morphology and function. Second, I will address the role of astrocytes and astrocyte-derived ECM in the manifestation of depression at the molecular, cellular and the behavioural level. To reach my goals, I will make use of genetically engineered mice that allow for visualization, metabolic labeling and targeting of astrocytes. These mice will be subjected to social defeat to induce a chronic depressive state. I will study astrocyte morphology, physiology and proteome alterations in depressed mice vs. controls. After establishing astrocyte-specific changes, I will employ i) viral vector-assisted silencing of the expression of astrocytic genes contributing to the ECM and ii) designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs)-assisted modulation of astrocyte activity. I will then assess whether these interventions can ameliorate the depressive state. With this integrative approach I aim to uncover novel molecular pathways mediating the depressive state and to identify new targets for the treatment of depression.

Mots clés : depression, hippocampus, astrocyte, extracellular matrix

Participants :
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 159460.8 €
Projet FUNMAT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Designing at the nanoscale is a promising and challenging strategy to innovate new building-block materials with improved properties and functionalities. This is a critical point to answer the increased demand of multifunctional materials. Nanocellulose is a functional structured nanomaterial engineered by nature long time before us. It maintains the optimal structural integrity in plant cell wall allowing plants to play their vital role in the ecosystem. Thanks to their high aspect ratio, high surface area and their 150 GPa, nanocellulose could be considered as a revolutionary renewable nano-building block material. Nanocellulose was principally investigated and used as bio-based filler in polymer nanocomposites. One of challenges in the developments of nanocellulose will be to make these naturally nano-structured objects functional with new properties allowing the design and engineering of smarter materials. Our proposal aims to bring nanocellulose to novel frontiers by functionalization of their large surface area and designing new innovative hybrids at the nanoscale. Main objectives of our project are: 1) setting up conditions for nanocellulose surface metallization. 2) Characterizing properties of these innovative nanohybrides and 3) Designing new functional materials based on metalized nanocellulose. The project is an opportunity to the fellow to restart his career in the exciting field of nanocellulose.

Mots clés : nanocellulose, biocomposites, nano hybrid

Participants :
- Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies (Espagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 57179.41 €
- Institut polytechnique de Grenoble (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 202219.31 €