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

Skin cancer (SC) is the most common human malignancy with rapidly increasing incidence due to numerous environmental, genetic, and metabolic reasons. Highly effective, convenient, inexpensive and widely deployable SC diagnostic and therapies are urgently needed to address this public health issue. Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) is one of the available non-invasive SC treatments that involves the combination of photosensitizer (PS), light and molecular oxygen to elicit cancer cell’s death by generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Despite its potential, PDT’s effectiveness is limited by issues such as photobleaching, self-aggregation of PSs, and inadequate visible light penetration into skin tissues due to absorption by photoreceptive chromophores, necessitating further research and development. Our proposed approach introduces a novel process using X-ray active nanotheranostic photosensitizers (NT@PS), which are developed by combining scintillators metal (e.g. Gd) with PSs (e.g. Rose Bengal) to enhance ROS production, photostability, and offer persistent luminescence properties. The outermost layer of skin limits the passive transport of PSs, therefore microneedle arrays (MNAs) technology will be used to achieve effective NT@PS delivery to deep SC sites. MNAs are an emerging drug delivery platform that addresses the limitations of conventional needle-based systems. Upon successful delivery and diffusion of NT@PS through the MNAs device, X-PDT will be assessed in-vivo using subcutaneously implanted SC cells, with real-time monitoring through Raman spectroscopy. Overall, this project aims to revolutionize skin cancer diagnosis and treatment through the development of an innovative combinatorial nanotheranostic system. Additionally, this fellowship and mentorship from leading researcher will lay a solid foundation for the fellow independent research career, providing access to a dynamic research environment, comprehensive training and a robust collaboration network

Mots clés : skin cancer, melanoma skin cancer, nonmelanoma skin cancer, nanotheranostic, microneedle arrays, reactive oxygen species, photodynamic therapy, radiotherapy

Participants :
- Université Queen's de Belfast (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 276187.92 €
Projet IntraMol (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Fluorescence microscopy has witnessed a true resolution revolution in the past decades. The invention of methods circumventing the classical diffraction limit of ≈200 nm has allowed researchers – for the first time – to reach sub-diffraction resolution with optical fluorescence microscopy. With these so-called super-resolution techniques, processes within cells can be observed at thus far unprecedented spatial resolutions. However, while incumbent super-resolution approaches enable researchers to resolve intermolecular distances between e.g. protein molecules in small protein clusters, the final frontier in optical bioimaging to resolve intramolecular distances in the sub-nm regime for single molecules is still elusive. With this research proposal, I want to develop and apply a paradigm-shifting imaging technology that allows intramolecular optical microscopy with sub-nm spatial resolution in single biomolecules. To achieve this goal, I will combine DNA-Point Accumulation Imaging Nanoscale Topography (DNA-PAINT) with DNA Exchange to overcome the current limit of optical nanoscopy in terms of spatial resolution. To do so, I will build a microscope with ultra-high stability and sensitivity. The project is conceived as an integral approach including the design of optics, instrumentation, labelling probes and data analysis. Such a capability provided by the project IntraMol would be a game changer in fluorescence microscopy, as it could – for the first time – allow scientists to resolve intramolecular distances e.g. within single proteins, thus enabling structural biology studies and provide insights into conformations of proteins even enable single-molecule protein sequencing using optical microscopy in situ.

Mots clés : super resolution microscopy, dna paint, single molecule protein sequencing, proteomics, fluorescence

Participants :
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 173847.36 €
Projet EluMecAOR (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Green hydrogen produced from renewable electricity through water electrolysis can be converted via the energy-efficient Haber-Bosch process into green ammonia (NH3). Currently, large industrial efforts are under way to scale up production globally. With an expected surge in green NH3 supply, the question arises whether the stored energy can be released electrochemically in NH3 fuel cells. However, so far, high ammonia oxidation reaction (AOR) overpotentials and particularly a NO-poisoning mechanism have prevented application of low-temperature NH3 fuel cells. Therefore, this project focuses on the elucidation of key reaction mechanisms and pathways offered by the AOR (EluMecAOR). In particular, I hypothesize that metal oxide modifications on the Pt surface offer a way to reduce the AOR overpotential independently from the deactivation mechanism. To test this hypothesis, the catalyst surface composition will be modified using atomic layer deposition (ALD) of metal oxide clusters and characterized in detail, including fundamental electrochemical and operando microscopy and spectroscopy methods. This Marie Curie Fellowship combines my own expertise on fundamental Pt electrochemistry and the effects of metal oxide modifications with the world-leading expertise of the Interface Science Department at the Fritz-Haber Institute of the Max-Planck-Society on controlled nanoparticle synthesis and operando electrocatalyst research.

Mots clés : electrocatalysis, ammonia electro oxidation, metal oxides, nanoparticle atomic layer deposition, green hydrogen, operando spectroscopy and microscopy

Participants :
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 173847.36 €
Projet nanoHEAT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The miniaturization trend of electronic components down to atomic length scales generates new challenges in the management of heat at the nanoscale. Efficient heat dissipation in electronic devices leads to lower energy waste and improved operation efficiency, thus contributing in a decisive way to environmentally sustainable technological developments. The nanoHEAT project aims to leverage the unique properties of 2D materials for the design of thermally efficient and actively tunable nanodevices, due to their compactness, extraordinary electronic, optical, and thermal properties, and support of exotic polaritons—hybrid light/matter electromagnetic modes that propagate at the surface of materials and play a crucial role in heat transport. Using advanced nanophotonics theory, nanoHEAT will start by studying in detail the behavior of selected 2D materials under extreme conditions of confinement, temperature, and external stimuli (such as magnetic fields or drift currents). After carefully selecting which materials (and their combinations) display the most advantageous thermal capabilities, optimized heterostructures based on these materials and noble metals will be explored as versatile building blocks for realistic setups with enhanced radiative and conductive heat transport in the nanoscale. External stimuli, in combination with other active elements such as quantum scatterers, will be used as knobs to control heat flow in these systems. Carried out at the University of Southern Denmark together with a widely experienced research team, this project will allow the fellow to advance his scientific career by harnessing new skills in nanophotonics, expanding his collaboration network, and acquiring complementary competencies in teaching, communication, and outreach, and research leadership. It will also contribute to solidifying the EU’s strategic position in the photonics industry and paving the way towards new generations of energy-efficient electronic devices.

Mots clés : polaritonics, heat transport, thermo optics, thermal engineering, quantum surface effects

Participants :
- Université du Danemark du Sud (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 247553.28 €
Projet HRoN (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

This project ‘How Do Trees Stand? Legal Viability and Efficacy of Rights of Nature and Implications for the European Union’ (HRoN) asks: How does the conceptualisation of Rights of Nature (RoN) inform a more consistent EU policy and legal response to RoN? Despite the growing awareness of RoN, little research has examined the relationship between its legal viability and efficacy. The fact that two European Union (EU) bodies received contrasting advice from recently requested studies on whether and how the EU should respond to RoN underscores a need for conceptualising RoN. HRoN addresses this gap by investigating three aspects of RoN: conceptualisation, legal practice, and policy and legal implications for the EU. First, I will devise a conceptual framework that charts the legal composition of RoN, based on which its legal viability can be evaluated. Then, I will conduct seven case studies in three countries (i.e., Australia, New Zealand, and the US), using interdisciplinary methods combining legal interpretation, qualitative research, and law-in-context analysis to identify the relationship between the legal viability of RoN and its efficacy in legal practice, and to what extent contexts play a role. Finally, based on the theoretical and empirical research, I will analyse their policy and legal implications for the EU in responding to RoN. HRoN is an interdisciplinary project that combines the expertise at the University of Southern Denmark and the Centre for Law, Sustainability, and Justice on innovative legal approaches to sustainability, with my multidisciplinary research experience in law, philosophy, and social science over the past fifteen years. HRoN will be pioneering in conceptualising RoN that is supported by qualitative study with policy-relevant outputs. It will be particularly valuable for the EU’s decision making on RoN. This research directly contribute to achieving Horizon Europe, European Green Deal, and Sustainable Development Goals.

Mots clés : rights of nature legal philosophy argumentation theory sdgs sustainability indigenous perspectives rights european union law and policy

Participants :
- Université du Danemark du Sud (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 214934.4 €
Projet InfraExpulsion (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The unfolding migrant crisis in Afghanistan has once again turned the focus on ‘neighbouring’ countries as key locations where EU policies seek to enhance migrant hosting capacity. Yet, research on South-South migration and regional modes of prevention, detention, and deportation of ‘illegal’ migrants remains limited. Taking the case of India, my project aims to contribute such knowledge by addressing a central paradox in migration regulation i.e., why, despite the proliferation of increasingly stringent forms and modes of migrant policing, do state anxieties regarding the detection and deportation of ‘illegal’ migrants continue to thrive? My project’s original hypothesis is that this paradox stems from the contingent stitching together of social, material, and biometric forms of policing that involve a range of formal and informal actors, spaces, and processes in unpredictable ways. In conceptualising the uneven intermeshing of social, material, and biometric policing as infrastructures of expulsion, I will analyse how the variation in forms of deportation policing produces precarity for migrants whilst engendering governance challenges. Empirically located in Delhi, my project will achieve its goal through anthropological methods of ethnography, participant observation, and interviews that will document practices of deportation policing in a residential neighbourhood, police station, and detention centre, and its impact on African and South Asian migrants. Hosted in the leading Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, the project will aid my scientific and professional training, specialisation in migration and governance, and career growth as an independent researcher. Insights on the paradoxical complexity of contemporary security frameworks, and their substantial human and institutional implications, will be disseminated through conferences, journals, media, and a policy brief that will inform accountable regional and international migration policy.

Mots clés : deportation police bureaucracy state and governance infrastructure surveillance security india migrant illegality

Participants :
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 189687.36 €
Projet WESUE (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

We have no been this close to nuclear conflict since the Cuban missile crisis. U.N Secretary-General António Guterres, as reported by the BBC, acknowledged this fact recently at the 2022 Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT): “Today, humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation.” Examples are many at present where the specter of nuclear escalation is real. In the context of the Ukrainian War, Foreign Minister Lavrov and President Putin have both made clear the help of NATO to Kiev increased made nuclear war a possibility. As reported by Bloomberg he stated “The danger is serious, real. It can’t be underestimated.” This followed the order by President Putin in February 2022 to put the nation’s nuclear forces on high alert. As such, it is now more than ever crucial to understand the causes of the nuclear restraint we have experienced until now so that we can understand what makes escalation more likely, and inform strategic nuclear decisions with this scholarship. This is the aim of Wargames as Experiments: Strategy and Unintended Escalation (WESUE): to understand how nuclear restraint could fail and lead to nuclear escalation. WESUE uses a geopolitical software as an experimental method to conduct causal research in the field of nuclear strategy, a novelty. This is an emerging field, which would place WESUE right at the cutting edge of research, with a strong emphasis on NATO and Asia, hence the choice of basing the operation of this research project in Denmark at the Centre for War Studies (CWS) at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU). WESUE will offer a simplified version of a war game that can be played repeatedly, easily, and can isolate mechanisms through randomized treatment. According to the Doomsday clock, we are less than two minutes to midnight.

Mots clés : nuclear strategy, international security, nato, european union security, russia, north korea, experimental methods, escalation and war

Participants :
- Université du Danemark du Sud (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 230774.4 €
Projet SOCGDGT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Marine sediments serve as Earth's primary repository for organic matter, playing a pivotal role in the global carbon and oxygen cycles. Sediment oxygen consumption (SOC) is a key metric for assessing the degradation and preservation of sedimentary organic matter and for gauging the activity levels of benthic communities. However, current methods for measuring SOC face limitations, notably their reliance on specialized, costly instrumentation and their lack of applicability in geological contexts. Here, we propose a novel, lipid-based approach for quantifying SOC using branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs). These bacterial membrane lipids have been extensively used in paleoclimate reconstructions. Recent advances highlight the widespread production of brGDGTs by benthic marine bacteria and the significant role of oxygen in brGDGT production and distribution. Our preliminary data indicate strong correlations between brGDGTs and SOC, hinting at a potential tool for assessing SOC in both modern and paleo marine sediments. To thoroughly address the scientific question, "How can brGDGTs be used to assess modern and paleo SOC?" this proposal sets forth to: 1) establish a robust, quantitative proxy for SOC by rigorously investigating the linkage between brGDGTs and SOC, utilizing multidisciplinary methodologies encompassing biomarker lipids, oxygen microprofiles, microbial communities, and geochemical analyses in geographically diverse sediments; 2) evaluate the proxy’s effectiveness and limitations through laboratory incubations; and 3) assess the proxy’s applicability for paleo SOC reconstructions. This research will broaden our knowledge of the ecophysiological behaviours of marine brGDGT-producing bacteria, enhance the precision of brGDGT applications in paleoclimate reconstructions, and pioneer an innovative molecular proxy for SOC quantification across diverse spatiotemporal scales.

Mots clés : biogeochemistry, marine sediment, sediment oxygen consumption, brgdgts, quantitative proxy

Participants :
- Université du Danemark du Sud (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 230774.4 €
Projet TRUSol (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The reduction of atmospheric CO2 to useful chemicals and fuels has been established as one of the most promising, clean and renewable alternatives to fossil fuels. Although the field has grown enormously during last years, information regarding mechanism and transient intermediates formed during the catalysis is still limited.  TRUSol aims to explore the mechanism and the factors that control catalytic performance through the rational design of ligands and spectroscopic studies. With this goal in mind, we develop a strategy to synthesize a novel family of Fe-based quarterpyrine-based CO2 reduction catalysts. The new complexes will be tested photocatalytically, combining the molecular catalysts with mesoporous carbon nitride (mpg-C3N4) as semiconductor. The comparison of the complexes with fine-tuned ligands in regard to redox properties and photocatalytic activities will help to elucidate key aspects that govern kinetics and thermodynamics under turnover conditions. Complexes will first be explored under steady state and operando conditions by using a spectroscopic tool-kit including EPR, Mössbauer, X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy to shed light on the electronic structures. Then, taking advantage of the ability of synchrotron techniques to selectively irradiate the metal center, laser/X-ray pump/probe time-resolved X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy will investigate the highly reactive and/or short-lived transient intermediates in ps-ns time scales. TRUSol will put the fellow in a perfect position to achieve his career goal, a tenure track position in academia, through transferable skills such as project management, and scientific and personal training actions of the project. This interdisciplinary project promises a valuable mechanistic understanding to set the foundation of the rational design of future powerful CO2 reduction catalysts.

Mots clés : co2 reduction, solar fuels, redox catalysis, molecular photocatalysis, electrochemistry, mechanistic studies, homogeneous catalysis

Participants :
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 173847.36 €
Projet REVITAL-IT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Economic Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The MSCA project "Revitalizing Regions: Assessing Agricultural and Industrial Strategies in Southern Italy" (REVITAL-IT) investigates the long-term impact of place-based measures on economic growth and structural transformation, focusing on Southern Italy's post-WWII Extraordinary Intervention for the Mezzogiorno (EIM). Managed by the state agency "Cassa per il Mezzogiorno," the EIM was a significant development strategy involving substantial investments in agricultural and industrial policies over four decades. REVITAL-IT aims to assess which public sector measures - agricultural productivity enhancements or industrial policies - more effectively foster economic advancement in disadvantaged regions. The project will use advanced econometric methods to analyze the impacts of these interventions, examining both direct effects and spillover impacts on neighboring areas. The project has two main objectives: (O1) to evaluate the impact of agricultural aid on long-term growth and structural transformation, and (O2) to determine the effectiveness of specific industrial policies, distinguishing among different types of interventions. REVITAL-IT will provide novel insights by analyzing the historical context of the EIM, contributing to the design of future policies aimed at reducing regional disparities and promoting economic convergence. This research is highly relevant to the EU's Cohesion Policy, which seeks to promote social cohesion and reduce inequalities through targeted interventions in disadvantaged areas. By examining historical interventions in Southern Italy, REVITAL-IT will inform contemporary policy-making, offering invaluable lessons for addressing growth and structural change in similar contexts.

Mots clés : place based policies, long run economic growth, agricultural productivity, industrial policy

Participants :
- Université du Danemark du Sud (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 247553.28 €