Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet EXTREME CROCS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Fully understanding the ecology and evolution of extinct species requires analysis of their locomotor abilities, which are interactions with their environment that correlate with the morphology of the postcranial skeleton in complex ways. Locomotor abilities provide valuable insights into potential behaviors and ecological roles, such as how species hunted, avoided predators, selected habitats, and found mates. Crocodylomorpha, which nowadays comprises only 28 species of semi-aquatic ambush predators – namely crocodylians – is an important group for studying ecology and the processes of evolution over Deep Time, since Crocodylomorpha colonized a variety of environments and displayed a wide range of sizes and shapes for over 200 My. The aquatic clades Dyrosauroidea and Thalattosuchia, two notable examples of this rich diversity, exhibit clearly dissimilar anatomy, especially compared to modern crocodylians, implying strongly divergent locomotor abilities and behaviors, notably an inferior range of terrestrial gait. This divergence allows for functional hypotheses to be tested; hereby I hypothesize that habitat has a strong impact on the morphology of the crocodylomorph skeleton, which can be used as a basis to infer habitat on the scale of Crocodylomorpha (through quantitative proxies). As such, the primary goals of EXTREME CROCS are to use computational biomechanics, joint mobility analyses, and geometric morphometrics on entire skeletons to assess biomechanical form and function in extinct Crocodylomorpha and explore how the morphology of the appendicular skeleton is linked to terrestrial and swimming locomotor abilities. I will produce 3D musculoskeletal whole-body models of six species and use these to compute predictive simulations of optimal locomotor performances. These simulations will unveil the ranges of possible terrestrial behaviours (e.g. sprawling, high-walk, galloping), while intervertebral and limb joint mobilities will attest swimming abilities.

Mots clés : palaeobiology, crocodile, biomechanics, locomotion, modeling, simulation, morphometrics

Participants :
- Royal Veterinary College (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 276187.92 €
Projet GliaNFish (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Accurate communication between the central nervous system and the periphery requires rapid and efficient transmission of action potentials along the axon. Glial cells and neurons cooperate to regulate axonal conduction, and normal physiology of the nervous system is strongly dependent on the crosstalk between the two systems. Neurofilaments (NFs), the most abundant components of the neuronal cytoskeleton are a key target of the crosstalk that regulates electrical conductance. Nevertheless, the mechanisms by which the glial-neuron crosstalk regulates NF dynamics are currently not well understood. Yet this knowledge is of great importance, as disturbances in this system underlie disease mechanisms in various neurodegenerative diseases. In the GliaNFish project, top-notch techniques will be combined to capture for the very first time real-time dynamics of NF transport and NF-protein interactions in a living organism (zebrafish larvae), to understand the role of glia-neuron crosstalk in nervous system physiology. The project encompasses three objectives which aim to investigate: 1) NF organization and dynamics in vivo; 2) the impact of (de)myelination on NF organization and dynamics; and 3) the molecular players involved in the outside-in signalling cascade that regulate NF dynamics. The outcomes of the project will advance our understanding of NF dynamics and signalling in vivo, and on how myelinating glia and neurons synergize to enable signal conduction in the nervous system. This knowledge may permit in the future to explore how disturbances in this system lead to disease and will pave the way for novel therapeutic strategies towards NF dynamics. Overall, this project is extremely timely and relevant, as the social and economic burden of neurodegenerative diseases is expected to rise significantly in the upcoming years.

Mots clés : neurofilaments, axonal transport, myelinating glia, zebrafish

Participants :
- Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 195914.88 €
- Lyon-I université (France) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet LOGGIA (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The project ‘Linking community archaeology and wellbeing in the Mediterranean’ (LOGGIA), aims to understand to what extent archaeology can contribute to community wellbeing. LOGGIA will be led by the fellow, Dr Francesco Ripanti, under the supervision of Dr Giorgos Papantoniou in the Department of Classics, Trinity College Dublin (TCD), and encompasses three fields of study: archaeology, wellbeing and disability studies. Archaeology may positively impact individual and community wellbeing and especially benefit vulnerable groups. Since the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan includes the employment of strategies of inclusion and empowerment to ensure equal and wide access to cultural heritage assets, LOGGIA will adopt a unique approach to address how archaeology can promote community wellbeing in the Mediterranean context, by focusing on the inclusion of persons with disabilities through case study research. As first and second research objectives, LOGGIA will outline a novel theoretical and evaluation framework linking community archaeology and wellbeing, and assess the impact of archaeology programs on community wellbeing in two case studies of ‘People and Things in Vignale’ (Italy) and ‘Xeros River Valley’ (Cyprus). The fellow has a background in archaeology and thanks to the support of the three interdisciplinary TCD Centres – the Medical and Health Humanities Initiative, the Centre for Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies, the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts & Humanities Research Institute – and the secondment at Manchester Metropolitan University, will acquire the necessary knowledge in the areas of wellbeing and disability studies. An integral part of the research is the non-academic placement at Silversky3D. As third objective, through the popular videogame Minecraft, LOGGIA will assess the extent to which the interaction with a digital environment based on the case studies can contribute to the inclusion of persons with disabilities and their wellbeing.

Mots clés : community archaeology, community wellbeing, persons with disabilities, inclusive society

Participants :
- Silversky3d vr technologies ltd (Chypre) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Trinity College (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 267218.0 €
- Université métropolitaine de Manchester (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet CINCOS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The chiral self-assembly of nanoscale building blocks offers a scalable route to functional materials, but understanding and controlling this process is a persistent challenge. A notable example is cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), elongated nanoparticles extracted from natural cellulose that assemble into a cholesteric liquid crystal phase in aqueous suspension. This helicoidal self-organisation can be preserved into the solid state to create structurally coloured films, offering a sustainable way to produce next-generation pigments and colourants. However, the CNC cholesteric phase is always found to be left-handed due to the presence of "bundles", a sub-population of CNCs that act as colloidal chiral dopants and induce left-handed ordering. Inspired by the naturally-occuring CNC bundles, this project aims to produce cellulose polycrystals (CPCs), a new class of clustered nanoparticles produced by the aggregation of CNCs in the presence of a chiral "glue" provided by hemicelluloses. These CPCs will then be used as synthetic chiral dopants to induce a right-handed cholesteric phase in CNCs suspensions for the first time. This inversion of the handedness of CNC self-assembly will result in films that reflect RCP light in the visible range, enabling the creation of structurally-coloured materials with near-ideal optical performance. These findings will deepen our understanding of chiral colloidal self-assembly and open up new avenues of enquiry for research on bio-sourced nanomaterials.

Mots clés : colloidal self assembly, nanocellulose, structural colour

Participants :
- Université du Michigan (Etats-Unis) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 173847.36 €
Projet WOMEN JUSTICE (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The project will investigate the uses of justice by women in the colonial contexts of the Río de la Plata, between Spanish and Portuguese Americas through lawsuits of moral crimes. The ultimate aim is to untangle the trials by detecting features both in and beyond the descriptions registered in the lawsuits, seeking to discover which were the uses of justice by women, what were their agencies to the different types of crimes, which knowledge they had, shared and manipulated, which behaviors reveal ways of resistance, and which were the strategies they developed to achieve their interests through justice institutions. The focus is on women's agencies and the knowledge of normativity they carried and shared, addressing the norms that circulated across and were produced by interpersonal conflicts prosecuted by the secular and ecclesiastic courts. It will be possible to access the processes of retro-influences between different sorts of knowledge and how they were used by women in a colonial frontier space. The research will produce new empirical knowledge regarding women and justice by developing an interdisciplinary approach between History, Law and Criminology: it will further develop the cut-crossing bias from Women’s History, Feminist Jurisprudence and Feminist Criminology. The concept of knowledge of normativity will be used in accordance with Thomas Duve’s perspective, the analysis of the lawsuits will be guided by the method of the indiciary paradigm (Ginzburg) and the nuances of double fragmentation (Farge). The sources that will be analyzed are from both the secular and ecclesiastical courts from the platina region in the 17th and 18th centuries: from the village of Paranaguá (Brazil) and the city of Asunción (Paraguay) until the villages of Colony of Sacramento and Montevideo (Uruguay), encompassing Santa Fe, Chaco, Misiones, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, and part of the Buenos Aires region (Agentina).

Mots clés : early modern history, women s legal history, uses of justice, women s agencies, secular and ecclesiastical institutions, crimes against the moral order, sexualities, r o de la plata

Participants :
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 173847.36 €
Projet UFRISED (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Early detection is one of the most effective ways to improve the survival rate for diseases like cancer. However, current diagnoses often rely on invasive procedures and specialized tests, posing challenges for regular monitoring. Field-resolved infrared spectroscopy, which probes the "molecular fingerprint" of human blood, has achieved remarkable detection sensitivity by combining ultrafast laser technology with electric-field infrared detection. Despite its potential, the technique has yet to meet the stringent requirements of early screening, including single nanogram per millilitre sensitivity, 10^12 dynamic range, and long-term stability. The proposed project — 'Ultra-sensitive field-resolved infrared spectroscopy for early disease detection' aims to overcome these challenges by developing a ground-breaking instrument for field-resolved infrared fingerprinting of human blood plasma samples and demonstrate its performance for health monitoring. In particular, the researcher intends to develop: (i) a multi-kHz delay scanning system based on two Cr:ZnS lasers, synchronized down to single-femtosecond timing precision which aims to record measurements faster than most laser noise contributions, (ii) super-octave-spanning field-resolved infrared detection with a dynamic range exceeding 10^12, and (iii) an ultra-rapid referencing scheme that simultaneously records reference infrared electric fields with the measurement to realize standardization of the infrared molecular fingerprints and the long-term reproducibility. By addressing these limitations, the project will achieve unprecedented levels of sensitivity, dynamic range and stability. It provides an avenue for analyzing serum and plasma samples across a wide range of individuals and time frames, potentially uncovering spectral markers for different diseases. The system will be a minimally invasive and cost-effective method of early disease detection to improve patient prognosis and overall healthcare outcomes.

Mots clés : field resolved infrared spectroscopy, early disease detection, ultrafast laser, electro optic sampling, molecular fingerprint

Participants :
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 189687.36 €
Projet AsterFields (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Every second, millions of cells go through mitosis in the human body, a process dividing the cells and their genetic content. In eukaryotic cells, a cytoskeletal structure named the spindle apparatus is responsible for physically separating the duplicated chromosomes. The self-organization of filaments (microtubules) and associated molecular motor proteins shape this structure. For decades, the dynamics of active cytoskeletal matter have been investigated both in vivo and in vitro. However, a comprehensive quantitative understanding of the dynamics of the constituents and their energy budget remains elusive. This action aims to investigate the non-equilibrium dynamics of contractile self-organizing active cytoskeletal material through energy and order quantification and to establish a field-based model to describe energetics and dynamics in three dimensions.

Mots clés : active matter, biophysics, self organization, biological dynamics

Participants :
- Institut de technologie de Californie (Etats-Unis) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 289407.84 €
Projet LightMode (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Currently, light induced states of matter focus the attention of many researchers in condensed matter physics. An important limitation at the moment is the lack of efficient technology that could be used to control material properties at THz frequencies. On the other hand, this regime is interesting, because many materials exhibit collective resonances in the THz regime. Some examples are the Higgs modes of superconducting and charge density wave phases, plasmons in two dimensional materials and magnons in antiferromagnets.  This project addresses the problem of exciting and manipulating THz collective modes in correlated electronic systems. The idea is to use complex drives with a nontrivial spectral composition, or polarization properties. One example that will be investigated in this project are amplitude modulated signals. Here, a high frequency signal is modulated on the THz scale. Under special conditions, the modulation can couple to THz collective modes such as magnons and plasmons. The collective modes are then parametrically excited. An intriguing aspect of this scheme is that the driving is off-resonant, i.e. the driving consists of frequencies which are much higher (e.g. by a factor of a hundred) then the collective resonances. This can be useful to reduce noise and heating.  During this project, we will study ways to off-resonantly excite low frequency collective modes through complex driving protocols. Our main focus will be on antiferromagnetic Mott insulators with a strong Hund coupling, and plasmons in two dimensional gapped Dirac materials. Upon establishing tailored driving protocols, we will study the non-equilibrium states to which the systems evolve under strong driving. Finally, applications, such as time varying spintronic and plasmonic media with unusual wave propagation properties, and means to create THz entangled magnons, which could be useful in quantum devices, will be considered.

Mots clés : light matter interactions, floquet engineering, non equilibrium states of matter, quantum matter, hund insulators, strongly correlated materials, magnetism, plasmons, magnons, epr states, thz sources

Participants :
- Institut de technologie de Californie (Etats-Unis) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 173847.36 €
Projet NatColor-MD (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Structural coloration in plants, achieved through the arrangement of cellulose microfibrils into helicoidal architectures within the cell wall, is a widespread strategy observed in various plant species, including ferns, monocots, and eudicots. Despite its prevalence, the underlying mechanisms responsible for these hierarchical structures in plant cell walls remain poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, this proposal focuses on unraveling the intricate interactions between cellulose and hemicellulStructural coloration in plants, achieved through the arrangement of cellulose microfibrils into helicoidal architectures within the cell wall, is a widespread strategy observed in various plant species, including ferns, monocots, and eudicots. Despite its prevalence, the underlying mechanisms responsible for these hierarchical structures in plant cell walls remain poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, this proposal focuses on unraveling the intricate interactions between cellulose and hemicelluloses, the key constituents of plant cell walls, using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The primary objective of this research is to investigate how the chemical composition of hemicelluloses influences the formation of helicoidal structures in cellulose nanofibrils within plant cell walls and, subsequently, the resulting structural coloration. Combining MD simulation results with experimental data will provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of hemicelluloses on the helicoidal architecture of cellulose nanofibrils. Beyond its immediate scope, this study offers insights into the biosynthesis of cellulose and hemicelluloses in plant cell walls, shedding light on fundamental processes in plant biology. By elucidating the molecular dynamics underlying these interactions, this research contributes to our broader understanding of structural coloration strategies in the plant kingdom and offers potential applications in bio-inspired materials science.

Mots clés : interfacial interactions, cellulose, hemicelluloses, md simulation, structural colors, self assembly, margaritaria nobilis

Participants :
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 173847.36 €
Projet RIDETHERISK (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Climate trends indicate that rockfall events due to global warming effects are expected to increase, underlining the urgency for accurate rockfall risk assessment. Public Administrations and private owners often face difficulties in defining risk management plans, priority of interventions and allocating resources for mitigation works. RIDETHERISK project aims at improving the knowledge and predictability of rockfall hazard and its consequences in mountain environment and open pit mines. It will develop a new physically-based method to simulate rockfall propagation accounting for rock block fragmentation and to quantify the damages in different contexts, civil and mining, to fill a knowledge gap in understanding and modelling fragmentation and its effects, increasing awareness of its destructive potential. The 3 project's objectives are: 1)enhancing rockfall hazard prediction defining analytical solutions to predict fragmentation and implementing a physical-based trajectory model for fragmental rockfall; 2)developing a fully time-integrated quantitative risk assessment method (QRA) for fragmental rockfall able to quantify social and economic damages on both viable infrastructures and open pit mine activities; 3)promoting the use of the developed QRA method, turning theory into practice, applying it in two real contexts, and realizing technical guidelines for experts, proposing their adoption to policy-makers and activity owners to properly manage the risk. The proposed method, at present missing, that quantifies the risk in terms of annual probability of death and delay/interruption time for traffic and working activities, i.e. accounting for social and economic aspects respectively, will undoubtedly help to face effectively and efficiently rockfall risk. Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication are thus fundamental. These objectives address the challenges of both the European Climate Pact and the European Action Plan on Critical Raw Materials.

Mots clés : rockfall, risk assessment, fragmentation

Participants :
- Université de Newcastle (Australie) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- École polytechnique de Turin (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 219138.0 €