Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet MIGRACAST (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Understanding why birds migrate is a long-standing problem that still largely eludes scientists. Recent advance in technology is currently leading migration science into a golden age as patterns of bird migration are increasingly being documented. However, the question of what are the ecological and evolutionary causes underlying the observed widespread variation in avian migration, remains open. Answering this will provide a greater comprehension of the forces driving how species distribute in space and time, and improve predictions of the fate of migratory birds under global change. In MIGRACAST, I will investigate the extent to which energy efficiency and biogeographic history shape avian migration patterns. These two key processes have been proposed to explain bird migration: stating that species’ migratory movements and seasonal redistribution are, respectively, energetically optimal and/or retrace postglacial colonisation routes. However, these processes have never been tested together and across many species on a large scale. To fill this important gap in migration science, I will design a novel modelling framework based on first ecological principles that uses recently developed computational tools. This model will leverage the power of multiple large datasets on the distribution, movement and genetic diversity of birds as well as environmental conditions to explicitly test hypotheses about mechanisms driving bird migration. This approach will be applied to North American bird species that are particularly rich in data and exhibits a diversity of migration behaviours. It will be utilised to (i) examine the extent to which energy efficiency drives bird migration, (ii) refine weekly bird migration forecasts on a continental scale, and (iii) back-cast bird migration to the Last Glacial Maximum (~20,000 years ago) to determine if the history of shift and expansion of seasonal ranges complements energy optimisation to shape migratory movements.

Mots clés : computational ecology, big data, movement ecology, animal migration, ecological theory, energetics, migratory connectivity, ecological forecasting, global change

Participants :
- Cornell University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Cambridge (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 271732.8 €
Projet FORGENET (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Unravelling the mechanisms of selection that allow species to adapt to changing environments has been a perpetual goal of evolutionary genetics. A current paradigm shift seems to radically change our view regarding the major mechanisms of evolutionary change. Ample experimental data indicates that most traits that potentially play a role in adaptations are controlled by many genes that may not act independently, but as members of complex gene interaction networks. Thus, it is widely agreed that most adaptation events in natural populations are reached via so-called polygenic adaptation, involving small changes at multiple genes at a time. Nevertheless, methods are still lacking to detect such adaptive gene associations. The main objective of FORGENET is to propose NetAdapt, a network-based test of polygenic selection for candidate-gene data. NetAdapt exploits candidate-gene data both as genotype and functional genomic data. First, based on the functional genomic information inherent to candidate gene data, it proposes to construct a gene interaction network, whose topology can be used to define a null hypothesis of neutrality. Second, based on the genotype data, it proposes a test for detecting selection on gene interactions, i.e. epistatic selection, based on linkage disequilibrium statistics. NetAdapt is expected to enhance our understanding how selection acts on gene networks and to propose new candidate genes for future genotyping. NetAdapt will be applied to published data on coniferous forest trees that have been genotyped from haploid tissue, which offers a straightforward application. Many conifers are endangered by climate change and estimating their adaptability is an important European research priority. FORGENET will study the evolution of flowering time genes at spruces along latitudinal gradients, and drought tolerance in Mediterranean pine species.

Mots clés : adaptation, epistatic selection, linkage disequilibrium, gene interaction network, candidate gene, bayesian statistics, forest tree, conifer, haploid tissue, climate change

Participants :
- University of Zurich (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 175419.6 €
Projet AgPro4CSA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Unsustainable agricultural practices such as long-term monoculture of annual crops with the excessive use of mineral fertilisers lead to greenhouse gas emissions, and is threatening the sustainability of agricultural systems. The implication of poor soil quality on long-term agricultural production is of EU and global concern because of the increase in food and water demands. Diversification of agricultural systems and recycling of crop residues are important for the development of sustainable agroecosystems to cope with the challenges of food security, climate change mitigation and adaptation. The potential use of crop residues as an energy source is generating a debate in EU on sustainable utilisation of this resource in agriculture and bioenergy sectors, to gain the environmental suitability and for convenience of their large-scale exploitation. AgPro4CSA aims to develop improved agricultural management practices for increasing recycling of crop residues and reducing mineral fertilisers to reduce gaseous emissions and improve sustainability of crop production, which will promote environment friendly uses of crop residues in the agriculture and the energy sector, and will contribute in bio-based and circular economy. AgPro4CSA will cover fundamental understanding of mechanisms at the molecular, microbial and chemical levels, involved in nutrient cycling and GHG emissions in agricultural systems. Further, validation and assessment of biogeochemical models will provide valuable information for policy makers and environmental agencies. My enthusiasm for sustainable agroecosystems and my interdisciplinary research experience give me confidence to develop the AgPro4CSA project. The experience, facilities and support of the host and partner, ensure the successful completion of the project, at a time at which this research is highly relevant to current societal and environmental needs, as well as for strengthening my career development.

Mots clés : greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient cycling, crop rotations, soil changes, soil microbial processes, bioenergy, biobassed economy, climate change mitigation, sustainability

Participants :
- University of Guelph (Canada) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Copenhagen (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 273687.36 €
Projet DistriBrainRep (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

We know coffee not only by its taste, but also by its name and association with caffeine. How our brains enable this association between stimulus-aspects and guides our behavior accordingly (e.g. determining whether we should drink coffee or discuss it) is one of the core questions of cognitive neuroscience. Neuroimaging research of brain activity indeed confirm that the brain simultaneously processes stimuli across distributed areas, each selective for a specific stimulus aspect. However, the computational research of stimulus representations (how fine-grained activity patterns relate to specific stimuli), is currently constrained to the detailed inspection of isolated brain areas. The proposed project offers a new formalism and method that may link these two research streams, initiating the study of representations as a distributed neural process. By combining the computational and experimental knowledge of the host with the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) expertise of the researcher, the proposed project aims to reveal: 1) what computational principle underlies representations of different stimulus-aspects across brain areas, 2) whether distributed representations can co-express to form an overall knowledge of a stimulus, and 3) what mechanism regulates the expression of representations to allow flexible behavior. These questions will be addressed by studying brain activity evoked by stimuli composed of multiple aspects (visual, phonetic, associative) and by drawing from fMRI, brain stimulation and computational methods. Hence, the proposed work will provide the researcher with diverse training-through-research and a platform for establishing interdisciplinary collaborations. Expected results may bridge between the two major streams of cognitive neuroimaging to form a new understanding of how neural computations underlie distributed cognitive processes, which in turn gives rise to complex human behavior.

Mots clés : fmri, tdcs, brain representations, resting state, efficient coding

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

We propose a fellowship that will propel an outstanding young researcher and provide him with the skills, experiences and contacts that will enable him to develop into a key contributor to international and interdisciplinary research in an important emerging field that has wide application in commerce, government and industry. Computational Geometry is largely theoretical whilst Information Visualization is broadly applied. The proposal focuses on a talented computational geometer, who has already begun working with colleagues and commercial organizations across the world to develop his research in an applied context with some success. It embeds him in a renowned Information Visualization group at CITY University London—an institution that is uniquely positioned both academically and geographically, with its portfolio of professional education and proximity to one of the world’s leading centres of technology-fuelled creative industry. The fellowship will provide access to academic expertise in a complimentary discipline, experience and training in research and entrepreneurship, and close collaboration with partners in industry and government. This interdisciplinary research and training will equip an experienced researcher with the skills, experience and contacts to move an important applied discipline forward in the future. With a programme that draws upon formal provisions within CITY and takes advantage of existing contacts with partners in London from the commercial sector, the fellowship will: (1) add algorithmic rigour to Information Visualization design; (2) inform algorithmic design through access to other disciplines and practitioners; (3) provide the researcher with experience of new fields and practices; (4) bring two complimentary fields together and change disciplinary mindsets; (5) develop the researcher through experience and training in research, teaching and entrepreneurship and by developing his international network across disciplines and sectors.

Mots clés : information visualization, set visualization, spatial nonspatial trade off, stability

Participants :
- University of London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 107015.3 €
Projet IRIOA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

We propose a systematic study of interactions between self-adjoint (reversible) and non-self-adjoint (irreversible) operator algebras. We shall import Arveson's C*-envelope and Hamana's non-commutative Furstenberg boundary to the group-graded contexts, and use them to obtain new structural, dilation and classification results for various operator algebras. The goals of this proposal are as follows: Goal A is to advance the structure theory of semigroup Nica C*-algebras and Crisp-Laca boundary quotient C*-algebras, with applications in semigroup theory. This will be achieved by adapting Hamana boundary techniques used in a recent breakthrough characterization of simplicity of reduced group C*-algebras due to Kennedy and Kalantar. Goal B is to extend work of the ER with Katsoulis to the non-abelian group-graded context and determine if the C*-envelope of the irreversible tensor algebras in Fowler's context is the Cuntz-Nica-Pimsner algebra. Applications include new Laca-type dilation results, Hao-Ng isomorphisms and non-commutative Takai-type duality. Goal C is to obtain new classification results for reversible and irreversible operator algebras by a two-way flow between the theories. This will be done by uncovering the hierarchy between invariants of C*-algebras with additional structure and of non-self-adjoint operator algebras, leading to insight on an open problem of Davidson and Katsoulis in dynamics. The anticipated results in the proposal are original and innovative, and will have an impact on the field well after the end of the fellowship. Each project is chosen to optimize the transfer of knowledge between the ER and the supervisor as well as the group in operator algebras at Copenhagen University. Considering the ambitious research program, supervision, outreach, as well as other activities suggested, the MSC IF will have a lasting influence on the ER's career and will allow him to obtain a permanent academic position after the completion of the fellowship.

Mots clés : non self adjoint, c  envelope, dilation, boundary quotients, c  algebras, tensor algebras, semigroups algebras, toeplitz nica, cuntz nica, hao ng isomorphism, c  simplicity, classification

Participants :
- University of Copenhagen (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 207312.0 €
Projet BCFS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

We propose precision lattice QCD computations aiding the search for new physics beyond the Standard Model. In particular, we will address currently observed anomalies such as those displayed in the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon and lepton flavour universality tests in semi-leptonic B meson decays. We will further supplement searches for new physics through the computation of hadronic inputs, which combined with experimental results allow the determination of elements of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix, thereby providing precision tests of the standard model. We will compute a large set of hadronic form factors of semi-leptonic B(s) and D(s) meson decays including pseudo-scalar and vector final states. State-of-the-art computations of these have two major shortcomings: the use of effective theories for the b-quark, and the treatment of vector final states as QCD-stable particles. We will eliminate the former of these by utilising very fine lattices which allow for the direct simulation of the b-quark near its physical mass. The latter will be addressed by merging specialist expertise in the computation of such form factors with that of hadronic scattering processes. This will result in the first calculation that takes the unstable nature of the vector final states in QCD into account. This is of paramount importance in order to address the observed anomalies in the B to D* and B to K* decays. We will compute the full basis of possible currents thereby providing standard model predictions as well as inputs for tests of beyond the standard model theories. Further, we will use the approach of massive QED in lattice QCD computations to provide an independent cross check of the electromagnetic corrections to the hadronic vacuum polarisation. This work will provide vital inputs in searches for physics beyond the standard model which are needed to fully exploit large ongoing experiments at the Large Hadron Collider and at facilities in Japan and the US.

Mots clés : quark flavour physics, anomalous magnetic moment, lattice quantum field theory, supercomputing

Participants :
- University of Southern Denmark (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 207312.0 €
Projet PHOTOLITH (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

We propose to develop new photochemical reactions of conjugated anions with lithium counterions (organolithiums and enolates) to construct functionalized, fused heterocyclic frameworks of use in medicinal chemistry development. N-Allyl/N-benzyllithiums tethered to aromatic and heteroaromatic carboxamides will be employed in dearomatizing cyclizations for the construction of partially saturated fused ring systems, generating extended lithium enolates. Irradiation with visible light at low temperature will induce a series of photochemical rearrangements, delivering – in an operationally simple way - structurally demanding unusual products containing various heterocycles and hetero-fused skeletons based on norcaradienes, cycloheptatrienes, and cyclic ketones. Trapping the reactive cyclopropane units of the products with dipolarophiles such alkynes and olefins will extend the method to dearomatized polycycles via a [3+2] cycloaddition strategy. The method will then be extended from enolates to coloured, conjugated organolithiums more generally, promoting an electron from the HOMO (the C–Li bond of metalated carboxamides) to a new higher energy SOMO. This excited state takes the form of an anion-diradical which may be expected to undergo further interesting inter- or intramolecular reactions to furnish biologically relevant structures.

Mots clés : modern led, 3 2  cycloaddition, anion diradicals, norcaradiene, organolithium, rearrangement, dearomatizing cyclization

Participants :
- University of Bristol (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 212933.76 €
Projet HBVssNMR (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

We will seek in this project to reveal structural and dynamic features of the C-terminal domain (CTD) of the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) core protein which encapsidates the viral genome. Each year, over 750,000 deaths are due to serious liver diseases caused by chronic HBV infection. Hepatitis B is, despite the availability of a vaccine, still a major health problem. The HBV virus particle is composed of an outer lipid-protein envelope and a core protein of 20 kDa that self-assembles into icosahedral nucleocapsids. The nucleocapsid encloses the pregenomic RNA (pgRNA) that is then reverse-transcribed into DNA by the viral polymerase (Pol). During pgRNA encapsidation, the CTD is thought to interact with the RNA. Despite the essential role played by the CTD in the regulation of the viral life cycle through various conformational states and phosphorylation patterns, it escapes today to classical structural biology approaches due to its dynamic nature. We will use solid-state NMR to bring new insights into the precise conformation and localization of the CTD along various steps of the viral life cycle. Sample preparation protocols of the core protein have recently been established by the applicant in the host laboratory using bacterial expression systems. The first NMR spectra of the nucleocapsid look highly promising. Further experiments will be recorded to assign the resonances and identify the CTD signals. Different phosphorylation states and binding partners, as the pgRNA, will be explored. Finally, paramagnetic tags will be used to obtain information about the positioning of the CTD. Our work shall contribute to expand the present molecular description of the HBV life cycle to include the role of the CTD. Our results will help to understand, and ultimately to target, its central role in HBV infection.

Mots clés : solid state nmr, structure, nucleocapsid, hepatitis b virus

Participants :
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 143603.35 €
Projet APESA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Doctoral Networks - Industrial Doctorates
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Weir Minerals Netherlands (WMNL), a subsidiary of The Weir Group PLC, is a manufacturer of industrial pumps for the mining, energy and minerals and waste processing sectors. WMNL, in collaboration with the University of Strathclyde (UStrath), is proposing an Advanced Pump Engineering for Severe Applications (APESA) EID to improve the total cost ownership of the GEHO slurry pump range. The GEHO range of positive displacement (PD) pumps for transportation of mineral concentrates and feeding of minerals slurries include the largest of this pump type in the world and represents a 65% share of the market. Amidst increased competition from low cost replicators, WMNL has recognised the requirement to extend its technological advantage to maintain its market lead. WMNL does not have the resource to undertake the research required and is proposing the APESA EID to address these challenges through recruitment, training and development of 5 ESRs. The APESA programme will consist of 5 ESR projects in the fields of damage mechanisms, predictive models and damage mitigation, which are largely unexplored areas of fundamental research for PD pumps. The ESR projects will address the challenges faced by WMNL at a level which will represent a sufficient programme to meet the requirements of an individual PhD thesis. The choice of UStrath as the EID Academic Beneficiary stems from an existing partnership between The Weir Group and UStrath. The Weir Advanced Research Centre was established at the UStrath in 2011 and works with Weir Group companies in fundamental research for pumping and flow technology. The centre has 9 ESRs, 2 Experienced Researchers and 10 supervisory UStrath Academic Staff. The aim of the APESA EID is to train ESRs in an industry-centred research environment that will equip them with a range of scientific, business and transferable skills while enhancing the research capability and competitiveness of WMNL to provide a clear, distinct advantage over competitors.

Mots clés : pumps, positive displacement pumps, damage mechanisms, predictive models, damage mitigation, corrosion erosion

Participants :
- University of Strathclyde (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 1366439.4 €
- Weir minerals netherlands bv (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €