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

The standard cosmological model states that 95% of the total mass-energy content of the Universe is made of dark matter and dark energy. Ambitious theoretical, technical, and observational efforts, within Europe, currently aim at shedding light on the nature and properties of these, still highly mysterious, components. As state-of-the-art experiments become more precise, some tension between measurements has arisen pointing to underlying biases or a call for new physics. It is then crucial to further explore and develop other independent and complementary cosmological probes today. The aim of the project is to perform pRecision cOsmography with Strong lEnsing gAlaxy clUsters (ROSEAU) by carrying out a complementary analysis using state-of-the-art observations and simulations. The objectives of ROSEAU are to 1) assess the impact of modelling uncertainties for precision cosmography within parametric algorithms with simulations, 2) examine the recovery of cosmological parameters by combining galaxy clusters over a wide range of redshifts, and 3) combine, for the first time, constraints from individual observed clusters at different redshifts to improve the precision on the estimation of the cosmological parameters. ROSEAU is an innovative project built to impact several areas within the cosmology and strong lensing fields. The project will be completed at the University of Milan, in a leading multi-disciplinary and collaborative environment. I will bring extensive experience in the strong lensing modelling and some unique expertise on the cosmography technique. This will facilitate the research in the group and the transfer of knowledge, and expand my observational and modelling experience, transferable skills, and professional networks. Carrying out ROSEAU within a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship will enhance the development of my career as a complete and independent leading researcher, with a reinforced position within the strong lensing and cosmology fields.


Participants :
- University of Milan (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 171473.28 €
Projet EXOMETALS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The standard theory of electrons in metals, Landau’s Fermi liquid theory from 1956 has been very successful in predicting the low-temperature properties of many metals. Its greatest success was its ability to describe many heavy fermion metals, whose name comes from the huge apparent masses acquired by their conduction electrons. However increasingly many metals have been synthesized where Fermi-liquid predictions fail. They are called non-Fermi liquid (NFL) or exotic metals. Prominent examples are certain heavy fermion compounds and high-temperature superconductors. These materials are of interest because of the emergence of new properties that could be used in future technologies. In most cases NFL behaviors lack the understanding, as only a handful of solvable, microscopic models describe NFL phenomena. To make strides I will construct a novel class of NFL quantum impurity models. Quantum impurity models describe the interaction between local degrees of freedom, like a spin, and the surrounding conduction electrons. The simplest NFL quantum impurity model was considered to be the so-called two-channel Kondo model (2CKM). One of the new quantum impurity models—which I call the one-and-a-half-channel Kondo model and whose low-energy solution gives the topological Kondo effect—has less degrees of freedom and is, in this sense, simpler than the 2CKM, yet it also exhibits NFL behavior. Generally, this new family of NFL quantum impurity models includes all those overscreened Kondo-type models where the number of conduction electron species are not integer multiples of the number of impurity states. I will study the new quantum impurity models using Wilson’s numerical renormalization group method (recognized by the 1982 Nobel Prize). My further aims are to experimentally realize the corresponding NFL behavior, i.e. create new states of matter in bulk materials, and also to theoretically explore alternative realizations of the novel NFL physics in quantum dot devices.

Mots clés : non fermi liquid behavior, quantum impurity physics, numerical renormalization group, heavy fermion compounds, quantum criticality

Participants :
- University of Edinburgh (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 337400.64 €
Projet CombiCat (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The stereoselective synthesis of small organic molecules depends on robust catalytic methods. Despite many advances in enantioselective synthesis, an unsolved challenge in catalysis is the translation of enantioselective catalytic reactions to diastereoselective reactions – where a chiral catalyst controls the outcome of reaction of a chiral substrate. In this proposal, we seek to investigate this 'double stereodifferentiation' in various organocatalytic reactions, and in transition metal-catalyzed cycloisomerization, two fields which take advantage of the expertise of the host group and the experienced researcher. We further aim to explore the union of these two fields using 'Combined catalysis' – specifically, in dual catalytic processes through which we seek to improve stereoselective syntheses of small organic molecules attractive to the pharmaceutical industry. The culmination of the project will be cascade dual catalytic processes, where the organocatalyst serves to activate the substrate towards metal-catalyzed cycloisomerization, and also to mediate a further asymmetric synthetic transformation. The successful completion of these goals will require the combined expertise of the two project partners: in metal catalysis (the host group) and organocatalysis (the ER), with the proposal being based on preliminary results in both areas.

Mots clés : dual catalysis, organocatalysis, cycloisomerization, stereoselective synthesis

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

The striking mismatch between evolution at short (microevolution) and long (macroevolution) time scales is a major remaining problem in evolutionary biology (the paradox of stasis). FLYWING will apply novel quantitative genetic theories and statistical methods to analyses of exceptionally high quality data to make a major step forward to solve the paradox of stasis. Working with Prof. Thomas Hansen at University of Oslo (UoO), I will test the idea that trait variance covariance structure (G-matrix) provides the conceptual bridge to link micro- and macroevolution (the multivariate genetic constraints hypothesis). The goals of FLYWING will be achieved through a novel multidisciplinary approach that combines quantitative genetic theory and state-of-the-art phylogenetic comparative methods (macroevolutionary quantitative genetics). I will apply this framework to analyze wing morphology data of the fly family Drosophilidae, collected by Prof. David Houle at Florida State University and available at UoO. The fly wing data consists of 37,668 exceptionally accurate individual observations across 111 Drosophila fly species. The data of such high quality has no close counterpart in any labs elsewhere in the world. The phenomenal dataset and my novel macroevolutionary quantitative genetic approach will make FLYWING the most rigorous test of the multivariate genetic constraints hypothesis to date. FLYWING will give me the opportunity to receive top quality research training from two world leading authorities of quantitative geneticists (Prof. Hansen and Prof. Houle) to establish myself as an independent researcher at the forefront of evolutionary biology. Results from FLYWING will produce cutting-edge insights for issues at the interface between micro- and macroevolution. The conceptual and methodological advancements of FLYWING will pave the roads for novel ways to use G-matrices in ecology and conservation biology.

Mots clés : macroevolution, phylogeneetic comparative method, evolutionary quantitative genetics, quantitative genetics, evolvability, constraints, adaptation, g matrix, p matrix

Participants :
- University of Oslo (Norvège) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 208400.4 €
Projet CCMuPWA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The structural anomalies of corpus callosum (CC) in patients are found highly-correlated with a wide range of disorders, e.g., epilepsy, autism, schizophrenia and mental retardation. However, it remains unclear about the causal contributions of CC-mediated functional changes to these disorders and exactly how the changes influence the local cortical circuitry. Lately, we have successfully combined fMRI with fiber optic mediated calcium recordings and optogenetics, i.e., multi-modal fMRI, to study the balance of excitation/inhibition in the barrel cortex in rats by pairing optogenetic corpus callosum activation with ascending thalamocortical activation. However, it remains challenging to maintain high sensitivity to the brain dynamic signal and better decipher CC-mediated unique cellular (neuron/astrocyte) or layer-specific contributions to the local cortical or global whole-brain fMRI signals. Therefore, the goal of this proposal is to optimize the multi-modal fMRI platform and to characterize the brain activity upon optogenetic callosal activation with higher spatial/temporal resolution using two cutting edge technologies, wireless amplified nuclear MR detector (WAND) and photonic crystal fiber (PCF). Previously, we have implanted a wireless RF coil into the rat body to achieve a high signal-to-noise ratio and spatial resolution for in vivo kidney imaging. The modified WAND will be incorporated into the multi-modal fMRI platform to achieve brain dynamic signal with enhanced sensitivity from the barrel cortex. Next, we will merge it with a novel PCF-based probe integrated calcium recording, optogenetic manipulation and fluid injection function. This proposal will merge the neuronal and astrocytic dynamic signals to the functional mapping, solve the challenges for CC study at multiple scales in the brain, enable novel applications of the multi-modal fMRI platform to better decipher the neuroglial interactions in normal and diseased animal models for future studies.

Mots clés : excitation, inhibition balance, barrel cortex, corpus callosum, neuron, astrocyte, fmri, optogenetics, calcium recording, wireless amplified nmr detector, photonic crystal fiber, mri compatible light path

Participants :
- Michigan State University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Max Planck Society (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 205352.64 €
Projet CondensDrought (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The structure and function of plant genomes have been marked by a history of repeated cycles of whole genome duplications followed by diploidization. Despite the number of duplications in their ancestry, most extant plants, particularly herbaceous groups, exhibit low chromosome numbers (e.g. five pairs in Arabidopsis), but the drivers of this descending dysploidy remain little understood. The project will test a classical hypothesis from early in the last century that chromosomal reorganization is driven by selection to create linkage groups favourable for a particular habitat. To address this, I will focus on Nicotiana sect. Suaveolentes, a group with variable ecologies, including adaptation to deserts, and series of chromosome reductions. I will focus of species pairs including a species with higher chromosome number that prefers mesic habitats, and a related species with lower chromosome number that is adapted to extreme arid conditions. I plan to investigate if genes responsible for adaptation to extreme habitats are associated with genomic rearrangements, and in particular test if these genes tend to cluster within fewer linkage blocks than expected by chance. This action will obtain a comprehensive understanding about the contributions of post-WGD processes to evolutionary success and phenotypic novelty, providing new information on how genomic reorganization contributes to adaptation, speciation and adaptive radiation. It will also provide details on genes associated with adaptation to hot, dry habitats, important for understanding plant responses to climate change.

Mots clés : plant genomes, polyploidy, chromosome number change, adaptation to drought, photosynthesis, demography

Participants :
- University of Vienna (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 174167.04 €
Projet BATH (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The structures nature has built to harvest and use the light from the sun are full of ingenuity. Indeed, they are the product of millions of years of trial and error. A lot can be learnt from the structure and function of photosynthetic organisms to help guide humanity's effort to develop solar energy technologies. One of the frontiers in understanding the early stages of photosynthesis is the interaction of the excited chromophores with the environment, and in particular how energy is dissipated as the light-induced excitation migrates to the reaction center where it will produce a charge separated state. It has become evident that the details of the dissipation are crucial for an efficient transfer. Dissipation is characterized by the spectral density of the bath, but this information is difficult to extract experimentally. Current approaches (e.g. three pulse photon echo spectroscopy, fluorescence line narrowing) have several limitations such as the inability to predict the motion for short times where the non-Markovianity of the bath is most evident. In this work, we will develop descriptions of multidimensional spectroscopy which will map the spectral density as an experimental observable. For this we will work in the Non-equilibrium Green functions formalism, and apply partition ansatz for the bath such as the surrogate Hamitlonian to facilitate obtaining analytical expressions. Our formalism will be benchmarked against exact numerical methods by the use of entanglement and non-Markovianity witnesses. The application of our theory to natural systems will yield a picture of the most salient bath features in natural systems. These will be then compared to selected artificial systems.

Mots clés : spectral densities, photosynthesis, multidimensional coherent nonlinear spectroscoy, non equilibrium green functions, 2d electronic spectroscopy, open quantum systems, non markovian

Participants :
- Lund University (Suède) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 173857.2 €
Projet MPSC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The studies proposed in the current application seek to answer a critical question hindering progress in the early detection and treatment of cancer: How is normal differentiation and lineage commitment disrupted in the earliest stages of cancer development? As a first step to answer this question we have generated a multi-organ mouse cancer and lineage tracing model by recombining conditional oncogene, tumour suppressor gene and lineage tracing alleles in cells expressing Cre-recombinase from the Promin1 locus: Promin1 marks stem and progenitor cells in several organs. Focusing on the gastric mucosa we showed that this tissue is regenerated by normal Promin1 stem cells and forms gastric cancer when Kras and Tp53 mutations are introduced into these cells. Remarkably, comparison of the transcriptomes of normal and malignant Promin1+ gastric stem cells revealed a selective silencing of ion channels and solute carriers in the malignant stem population. One of these genes, Nalcn, encodes the ion channel responsible for the resting membrane potential of cells. Here, I will test the hypothesis that ion-channel regulated membrane potential dictates normal and gastric cancer stem cell differentiation capacity. To do this I will employ our newly developed conditional allele of Nalcn to alter membrane potential of normal and malignant gastric stem cells in vitro and in vivo. The effects of Nalcn modulation in gastric stem cells will be evaluated with developmental, histological, transcriptomic, ex vivo stem cell and electrophysiological studies. Specific Aim 1 focuses on the expression and impact of membrane potential in normal stem cells while specific Aim 2 probes the role of Nalcn expression on tumour formation. The results of these studies will contribute fundamental knowledge on our understanding of the role of membrane potential on stem cell potency in normal and malignant tissues and may provide a new therapeutic target for cancer treatment.

Mots clés : membrane potential, mouse models

Participants :
- University of Cambridge (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet LowDegModCurve (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The study of Galois representations of elliptic curves is at the heart of modern arithmetic geometry, and intimately related to modularity theorems and the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Galois representations of elliptic curves are classified by their images. Associated to a possible image is a modular curve which is a moduli space of elliptic curves with representation having that image. The study of rational and low degree points on modular curves underlies the celebrated theorems of Mazur, Kamienny, Merel, Bilu, Parent and Rebolledo. A common theme in all these works is the existence of a rank zero quotient of the modular Jacobian, and the validity of a formal immersion criterion. In this project, motivated by Serre's uniformity conjecture, we study rational and low degree points on interesting modular curves where these conditions fail, developing and extending powerful methods including an overdetermined version of Chabauty in the symmetric power setting, and quadratic Chabauty for the non-split Cartan modular curves.The University of Warwick has a strong and active number theory group, making it a natural host for the project. The Supervisor, Professor Siksek, is a leading expert on curves, Galois representations and modularity, with considerable experience in supervising research including 11 postdocs and 12 completed PhD students. The Researcher, Dr Le Fourn, did his PhD at Bordeaux (completed November 2015) with Professor Pierre Parent, including a 3 months internship at McGill with Professor Henri Darmon. Since September 2014 he has held the position of Agrégé préparateur at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon. He has made excellent breakthroughs both in the theory of Q-curves, and in the arithmetic of Siegel modular varieties. The envisioned research will make the Researcher influential in modular curves and adjacent subjects, and allow him to realize his ambition of becoming an independent researcher at a leading European institution.

Mots clés : modular curves, galois representations, chabauty, quadratic chabauty, rational points, serre s uniformity

Participants :
- University of Warwick (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet INVLOCCY (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The study of Gromov-Witten (GW), Donaldson-Thomas, and stable pair invariants of Calabi-Yau 3-folds X forms an active area of research for geometers and physicists. These invariants play a central role in string theory and have relations with many branches of mathematics including number theory and representation theory. I am interested in questions of enumerative geometry on algebraic surfaces S. Invariants of the total space X of the canonical bundle over S can be used to answer classical enumerative questions on S. Two recent developments in stable pair theory are: (1) A better understanding of stable pairs on X not contained in the zero-section S. (2) Refinements of stable pair invariants. The first theme of my project is the study of stable pairs on X not contained in S in relation to enumerative questions. For Fano surfaces, GW invariants with sufficiently many point insertions are enumerative. By the GW/stable pairs correspondence these are equal to certain stable pair invariants of X. When the curve class is not sufficiently ample, the stable pair count may include stable pairs on X not contained in S. I propose to compute such contributions in order to obtain curve counts on S outside the ample regime. The second theme of my project is the study of refined stable pair invariants. I intend to relate the refined topological vertex appearing in the physics literature to refined invariants in the mathematics literature. Since stable pair invariants are often easiest to calculate of all the invariants of Calabi-Yau 3-folds, I expect this leads to new curve counting formulae and new calculations of refined invariants. Utrecht University, housing one of the leading schools in geometry in Europe, and Prof. Faber, one of the world's leading experts on moduli of curves, provide the perfect location and supervisor for this project. The diverse expertise of the members of the Mathematics (and Physics) Department at UU allow me to explore links with other areas.

Mots clés : gromov witten and stable pair invariants, local calabi yau 3 folds, classical curve counting, refined invariants, topological vertex

Participants :
- Utrecht University (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 165598.8 €