Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet GenderHPT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The overall goal of this research is to offer a novel account of the origins of proto-feminist and antislavery ideas in British political thought based on hitherto overlooked writers and sources. Political philosophers have been long discussing the concepts of liberty, equality, and justice, and political theorists are now rethinking urgent questions of gender and race. Yet there is still little conversation between them or investigation of how these notions have always been structured in response to one another. The discipline of history of political thought is well placed to bridge this gap and to trace the intertwined development of these ideas, as this research aims to show. At the centre of this project stands Mary Hays (1759–1843), one of the first advocates of women’s rights in Britain. Hays, it will be argued, should be considered a major starting point of a tradition of European feminist freethought which championed radical pro-women, anti-racist, and antislavery arguments and integrated them with new and nuanced conceptions of equality, liberty, and emancipation. A second case study of this research is George Wallace (1727–1805) who published the first essay in Britain which explicitly advocated total and immediate abolition of both slavery and the slave trade (1760). Wallace, too, offered an innovative and utopian account of equality, and his categorical rejection of slavery entailed a historic shift in common interpretations of Roman law, natural law, and the law of nations. Among the outputs of this research will be a monograph, provisionally titled Politics of Freethinking: Religion, Gender, and Slavery in Eighteenth-Century Britain, as well as a series of individual chapters and articles aimed at leading peer-reviewed journals. Several academic and public activities will be held in collaboration with scholars of gender and critical race studies at Jyväskylä to disseminate and communicate these findings.

Mots clés : feminism anti slavery freethought eighteenth century britain enlightenment mary hays george wallace reception studies

Participants :
- Université de Jyväskylä (Finlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 215534.4 €
Projet PREMI (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Aposematism is a widespread antipredator defence where prey advertise their chemical defence with warning signals. Previous work has demonstrated high within-species variation in how quickly predators learn to avoid aposematic prey, and this heterogeneity among predators is suggested to play an important role in the evolution of prey defences. This project aims to investigate what maintains the observed variation in predator behaviour by focusing on an unexplored mechanism: a predator’s gut microbiome. Evidence from humans and laboratory animals shows that gut microbiome can influence learning, memory and foraging choices (the microbiome-gut-brain axis), and theoretical models predict feedback loops between gut microbiome, diet and host behaviour. Here, I will translate this to the ecologically relevant context by 1) quantifying how the consumption of prey toxins alters the predator gut microbiome, physiology and foraging behaviour, 2) testing the effect of the early-life gut microbiome on foraging behaviour, and 3) determining the causal effect of the gut microbiome on foraging behaviour. I will use wild great tits (Parus major) as predators and combine several methods that include manipulating birds’ gut microbiome with prey toxins and faecal microbiota transplantation, quantifying gut microbial compositions from faecal samples using 16s rRNA sequencing, and conducting behavioural experiments to test avoidance learning, memory and dietary wariness. The results will address the current knowledge gaps in the predator-prey field by providing insights into the mechanisms that underly variation in predator behaviour. Furthermore, the project will advance our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary consequences of microbiomes for species dynamics. This will complement and broaden the current research of the host and enhance future career prospects of the applicant by providing an opportunity to gain new research skills and expand the fields of expertise.

Mots clés : aposematism, chemical defence, gut microbiome, predator learning, predator prey interactions, warning signals

Participants :
- Université de Jyväskylä (Finlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 199694.4 €
Projet MHD PCF SPR Sensor (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

This research presents a novel photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor featuring a multi-helical dual-faced design, reported for the first time. The sensor enhances light-matter interaction (LMI) through its unique geometry, with different arrangements of air holes at both ends and a twisted intermediate section. This geometry optimizes sensitivity for detecting cancerous cells, with the refractive index (RI) of cancerous cells ranging from 1.36 to 1.42 RIU. The proposed sensor employs SPR technology, with plasmonic coatings such as gold (Au) and silver (Ag) to improve light confinement and signal strength. Additionally, reflectance spectroscopy is integrated to further enhance the diagnostic capabilities, enabling precise surface-level and sub-surface imaging of biological tissues, crucial for early cancer detection. The twisted design of the PCF alters electromagnetic field distribution, allowing for precise control of light propagation, polarization, and intensity, making it highly effective in distinguishing between healthy and cancerous tissues. The internal twisted region enhances LMI and reflectance characteristics, offering high-resolution imaging, ideal for detecting subtle changes in tissue structures. This sensor’s versatility extends beyond cancer detection, finding potential applications in environmental monitoring, chemical sensing, and communication systems. Theoretical modeling and computational simulations demonstrate the sensor's ability to detect minute variations in commercially available cancer cell fluids with high specificity and accuracy. Combining SPR and reflectance spectroscopy in this innovative design marks a significant advancement over traditional fiber-optic sensors. The results showcase its potential for use as a powerful diagnostic tool in oncology, particularly in early-stage cancer detection, while also offering broader applications in fields requiring high-precision detection, imaging and sensing

Mots clés : photonic crystal fiber surface plasmon resonance multi helical light matter interaction reflectance spectroscopy

Participants :
- Université de Vilnius (Lituanie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 196976.16 €
Projet PEARL (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

With the PEARL project, I will investigate the role of non-genetic inheritance in the response of birds to polluted environments. Hosted at the University of Jyväskylä and supervised by Dr. Suvi Ruuskanen, a prominent figure in the field of environmental physiology, this project will be the first to shed light on paternally transmitted effects of pollution in avian models. Its originality resides in an integrative approach to the effects of heavy metal pollution, combining life history studies, physiology and epigenetics applied to an experimental poultry model and to wild passerines. The combination of an experimental approach and a fieldwork study will allow to 1) gauge the extent to which heavy metals can affect morphological and molecular traits in paternal sperm and their transmission to offspring, and 2) validate sperm molecular traits as biomarkers of heavy metal exposure. Aligned with one of the key strategic orientations for greater impact of Horizon Europe to preserve European biodiversity, PEARL aims to identify novel biomarkers of pollution exposure, thus bringing crucial knowledge for future research and monitoring of the impacts of heavy metal pollution on ecosystem health and for bird conservation. The project will be key in advancing my career by enabling a two-way transfer of knowledge and skills with the Host institution through a carefully crafted training plan, and a strong emphasis on dissemination and communication with a broad panel of actors (academics, conservation managers, non-scientific public).

Mots clés : non genetic inheritance, sperm, bird, heavy metals

Participants :
- Université de Jyväskylä (Finlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 199694.4 €
Projet BSPC (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

This project is a philosophical attempt to address the question of political conflict. At this time what seems to matter most in the escalation of conflicts around issues like gender, minorities and the COVID-19 pandemic is the biological life of individuals and populations. This is problematic for the reason that politics is structurally ambivalent about natural life: it is productive and affirmative, on the one hand, and, on the other, it is lethal and negative. There is a wide agreement that this ambivalent relation of politics to life stems from how biopolitical power intersects with sovereign power, the power over life with the sovereign right of death. While studies in biopolitics often take this enigmatic nexus as the point of reference for further considerations and subsequently emphasise the imminence of the problems with violence and pacification, this project aims to go further than that by drawing upon Jean-Luc Nancy’s idea of technology as the condition of biopolitics to deconstruct and recast affirmatively the knot of biopolitical power and sovereign power. This re-articulation I argue provides a novel angle from which to review the conceptions of resistance and to consider the grounds of political conflict. To show the affirmative value of political conflicts, I apply my developed concepts to examine populist polarization and neoliberal pacification that beset biopolitical liberal democracies today. The 24 months or outgoing phase of this project will be carried out at Deakin University under the supervision of Prof. Vanessa Lemm. I will return to the University of Jyvaskyla for 12 months under the supervision of Prof. Mika Ojakangas.

Mots clés : deconstruction, continental philosophy, jean luc nancy, biopolitics, foucault, political conflict, sovereignty

Participants :
- Université Deakin (Australie) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Jyväskylä (Finlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 276864.48 €
Projet IAEA2KOREAS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

International verification through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards forms the cornerstone of global nuclear nonproliferation efforts to prevent the misuse of nuclear material and technology for military purposes. This research examines several critical junctures in the historical development of the relationship between the IAEA and the two Koreas – South Korea (ROK) and North Korea (DPRK) – to address how this international organization has evolved in its handling of nuclear proliferators. Historical paths of the IAEA with the two Koreas – the North which succeeded in developing its own bombs vs. the South which abandoned its weapons program – have been more complicated and less one-sided than what is commonly believed. South Korea became an IAEA member state in 1957 and ratified the NPT in 1975, but it maintained a clandestine nuclear weapons program throughout the 1970s. Furthermore, although South Korea’s military nuclear pursuits were halted when its president was assassinated in 1979, suspicions about its nuclear ambitions were revived when the ROK government disclosed its past nuclear activities as it signed the Additional Protocol with the IAEA in 2004. It revealed that ROK scientists separated a small amount of plutonium from irradiated uranium in 1982 and conducted some “laboratory-scale experiments” in 2000 to enrich uranium up to a higher level than what was allowed by the IAEA. The case of the DPRK with the IAEA was more dramatic, as widely known, with its withdrawal from IAEA membership in 1994 and its expulsion of IAEA inspectors. Thus, based on extensive research in the ROK, US, and IAEA archives, analysis of open-source data, and interviews with key stakeholders, this project intends to shed new light on the understudied history of the two Koreas’ challenges and contribution to the IAEA and further examine any lessons that the IAEA learned through its turbulent relationship with one successful and one failed proliferator.

Mots clés : international nuclear history, diplomatic history, korea, nuclear weapons

Participants :
- Université de Vienne (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 249301.2 €
- Dem wiener zentrum fur abrustung und non proliferation vcdnp (Autriche) — Partner, associated partner, Autres, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet COFPOR-4-fuels (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Global energy demands and increase in the utilization of fossil fuels have contributed towards rising CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, giving rise to grave environmental concerns such as the green house effect. In order to achieve decarbonization of the energy system, the European Green Deal considers the development of innovative technologies, as the one contemplated in this project, as a key point. Generation of chemical fuels by mimicking photosynthesis is a promising technique. The significance of plant photosynthesis to convert CO2 with H2O into carbohydrates and O2 by sunlight in a green manner is widely known. Artificial photosynthesis is expected to efficiently mimic this process for reducing CO2 with H2O as electron donor, that is, integrating CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) and H2O oxidation half reactions in one catalytic system. Electroreduction of CO2 into value-added fuels is of significant importance but remains a big challenge because of poor selectivity, low current density, and large overpotential. Crystalline porous covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are promising alternative electrode materials for CO2RR owing to their tunable and accessible single active sites. This proposal aims at introducing a new class of COFs based electrocatalysts to rationally explore the use of heterogeneous electrocatalysts offering both chemical tunability and stability in harsh reaction conditions. The development of an electrocatalytic model system is proposed herein, which will be meticulously executed via strategic synthetic protocols and optimized by solid-state chemical procedures and crystal engineering so as to provide insights into the architecture of the COFs, reactive intermediates and mechanistic steps involved in the electrocatalytic process.

Mots clés : covalent organic frameworks artificial photosynthesis water oxidation vinylenic linkage carbon dioxide reduction

Participants :
- Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 181152.96 €
Projet hNanoBio (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The key research goal of the project hNanoBio is to enhance the leadership and research capability of the Marie Curie Fellow, via implementing a highly challenging and innovative research project focused on the development of ultrasensitive heterojunction transistors by exploring heterostructure 2D materials and novel photoelectronic transistors for single molecule detection and clinical applications with whole blood in hospital settings. Pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest aggressive solid tumours, is the third-leading cause of cancer-related mortality around the world. Earlier diagnosis can enable more effective surgery and subsequently improved survival. However, current diagnostic approaches are laborious, costly, time-consuming and difficult to identify small lesions. There is an urgent need for rapid, highly sensitive, and reliable approaches to overcome those drawbacks. Nanomaterials have attracted enormous attention due to their unique mechanical, optoelectronic and chemical properties. In particular, 2D materials have been recently explored as a new platform for building the next-generation biosensors. This project will exploit new emerging opportunities with the integration of photoelectronic technologies and heterostructure 2D materials to develop highly sensitive, rapid and promising performance biosensors for early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. The Fellow will be trained in the fast growing nano-photonics science, technology and bio-application area at the host - Nottingham Trent University, UK, with further three well-designed interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral secondments in academic/industry/hospital scenarios.

Mots clés : transistors, biosensors, heterostructure 2d materials

Participants :
- Université Aalto (Finlande) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- CERCA Institution (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Nottingham Trent (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 276187.92 €
- Centre de recherche technique de Finlande (Finlande) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet ATRACTIVE (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Structural dynamics define the transition from one protein state to another and are modulated by interactions with partners-ligands and/or chemical modifications. They are important to control protein biological activity, govern protein evolution and their alteration can lead to diseases or death. The long-term objective of ATRACTIVE is to understand protein structural dynamics, their regulation and how such dynamics diversify a conserved structural core to evolve in computing distinct functions. For this, we will focus on human serum transferrin (hTF), which shares an ancient and conserved bilobed structural core composed of two domains from the type-II periplasmic binding protein domain family. This core is fundamental for maintaining iron-homeostasis in human cells conferring nutritional immunity. The same core is harbored by proteins ubiquitous throughout the tree of life that diversified yielding transcription factors, enzymes or transport related/signaling proteins. Bacterial pathogens to acquire iron from available sources, have evolved membrane receptors for capturing iron-loaded-hTF, transferrin binding proteins A and B (TbpA/TbpB). This interaction is essential for the pathogenicity of many critical human pathogens, such as Neisseria sp (gonorrhoeae, meningitidis). Our aim is to investigate the structural dynamics modulated by iron binding and release and how such are affected by the receptors in the presence or absence of drugs, following a three-pronged approach: a) Determine the structural dynamics of hTF upon iron binding in the two bilobed structures and uncover the allostery between them, b) Map the structural changes triggered by hTF-TbpA-TbpB interactions that underlie the iron release mechanism, c) Identify drugs that compromise the hTF-TbpA interaction. To do so, cutting-edge multi-disciplinary tools will be adopted: a. smFRET, b. HDX-MS, c. Molecular-dynamic simulations, d. In vitro binding assays and ITC.

Mots clés : structural dynamics, smfret, hdx ms, protein evolution and function, bilobed structural core, human serum transferrin, iron homeostasis

Participants :
- Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (Grèce) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 169326.72 €
Projet SPACE (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Advanced metallic alloys produced from recycled scrap can significantly reduce emissions, waste, and energy consumption. However, technological alloys with extreme chemical complexities impede the development of high-performance sustainable alloys. Microstructure-oriented alloy design opens promising avenues to guide the development of sustainable (i.e. leaner and less complex) alloys via tailoring the desired microstructure during solidification. Yet, while the development of dendritic and eutectic microstructures is relatively well understood, the comprehension of growth mechanisms of peritectic solidification (common to a broad range of alloy families) remains incomplete. The SPACE project will develop a quantitative phase-field model to investigate the emergence of complex growth patterns during peritectic solidification. To do so, we will (i) develop a quantitative multi-phase and multi-component nondiagonal phase field (MP-MC-NPF) model based on Onsager's relation, (ii) validate the model against sharp interface calculations and experimental observations, (iii) explore three-dimensional peritectic growth mechanisms at experimentally- relevant length and time scales (via GPU code acceleration), and (iv) study the effect of minor element addition (e.g. impurities from recycling) on microstructure growth and selection. We will focus, primarily, on binary Fe-Ni and ternary Fe-Ni-X alloys with high impact potential. The resulting MP-MC-NPF framework will shed light on the fundamental mechanisms of complex growth patterns and morphology transitions during peritectic solidification (for the first time in three dimensions and transient conditions) and thus contribute to the transition toward microstructure-oriented design of impurity-tolerant sustainable alloys.

Mots clés : sustainable steels solidification processing phase field modeling computational thermodynamics and kinetics peritectic transformation

Participants :
- Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 194074.56 €
- École polytechnique (France) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €