Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet SFM4VOT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The left ventral occipito-temporal cortex (lvOT) is an integral part of the ventral visual processing stream and is consistently activated in response to visual words. Recently, I developed a computational implementation of the lvOT functioning during visual word recognition, the sparse familiarity model (SFM). The single assumption of the SFM is that the statistical patterns of letter string familiarity are the fundament of lvOT functioning. The SFM is able to simulate prominent lvOT benchmark contrasts and its simulations predict brain activation of the lvOT in multiple fMRI studies. The main aim of the present proposal is to use the model to systematically investigate hotly debated topics in word recognition research concerning current theoretical approaches for the lvOT: (1) The influence of learning and (2) domain specificity (i.e. for words) vs. generalization (i.e., to face and object recognition) of lvOT function and neuronal populations. In the course of these investigations, the SFM will be developed into a learning model and a generalized model for word, face, and object recognition. Central to this will be high-density electrophysiological measurements (MEG) that sample brain activation with high temporal resolution and reasonable spatial resolution, to allow connectivity analysis at different time points. The MEG measurement, in addition to fMRI measures, will be essential to test theoretical assumptions concerning the proposed two stages of the SFM that differ fundamentally in terms of neuronal and cognitive mechanisms. Critical will be the association of these stages to different time windows and assumptions about the brain networks involved. The host, Prof. Fiebach at Frankfurt University, has a strong focus on the neurocognitive basis of language and access to an MEG, which is essential for realizing this project. To summarize, the goal of the project is to establish the sparse familiarity model and extend its functioning to resolve current debates.

Mots clés : visual word recognition, left ventral occipito temporal cortex, letter string familiarity, computational modeling, learning, face recognition, object recognition

Participants :
- Goethe University Frankfurt (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 171460.8 €
Projet MechDeath (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The local equilibrium between cell proliferation and cell disappearance in epithelia is at the origin of the healthy function of our tissues and of their remarkable plasticity as observed in organ morphogenesis and adult tissue size regulation. Cell competition is the process by which cells with small proliferating rate and survival properties are forced to die through apoptosis by the surrounding cells. For example, cell competition enables the elimination of suboptimal healthy cells to limit the appearance of errors in our organs. However, activation of some oncogenes related to cell growth and cell survival in clones can drive the elimination of wild type (WT) neighboring cells and promote the expansion of the pretumoral population. Because many pathways altering cell growth and survival can trigger cell competition, there is no unique model of how cells induce death in their WT neighbors. Using the Drosophila pupal notum, it has been recently proved that local crowding and compaction of WT cells by fast-growing and apoptosis resistant clones can induce cell delamination in vivo, and that caspase activation is necessary for those cell extrusions. A similar “mechanical competition” was also described in mammalian MDCK cells. However, the exact mechanical cues driving cell elimination and the signaling pathway involved in this mechanotransductive process are still not known. Moreover, their contribution to pretumoral cell expansion has never been addressed in vivo. In this project, the experienced researcher will use Drosophila to i) characterise the mechanical conditions triggering cell elimination at the single cell level in vivo, ii) quantify the contribution of mechanical competition in cell competition scenarios implying oncogene proteins, and iii) define extensively where and when mechanical competition can promote pretumoral cell expansion through in silico predictions and in vivo validations.

Mots clés : epithelium  apoptosis  mechanotransduction  cell competition  tumor expansion

Participants :
- Institut Pasteur (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 185076.0 €
Projet REDESIGN (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The long-term vision of this project is to kick-start wireless communications paradigm toward developing distributed, self-adaptable, and scalable fog networks and guaranteeing requirements of multitude of the Internet of Things applications including: high energy-efficiency, high data-rate, and high reliability. The goal is to develop wireless fog networks (WFNs) by using network slicing technology and deep learning techniques to integrate ground and drone fog nodes into cellular networks. The project will design WFNs integrated into cellular networks composed by smart cells which are able to continuously sense the network topology and to autonomously learn how to configure network parameters and to slice their own network resources to guarantee the required quality of services by fog nodes. Each cell could also add configuration parameters to enable device-to-device and multicast communications among wireless fog nodes themselves. This project enables a shift from centralised core-centric cellular networks toward distributed, software-based, and self-adaptable cell-centric ones to support new fog computing applications. These advancements will make the vision of smarter cities by applying ground and drone fog nodes, almost zeroing the operational expenses related to network configuration and hence revolutionizing the existing business models for fog computing by radically reducing energy and operational costs. This will also facilitate the rise of new fog networks markets and applications including healthcare, security, smarter power grids, and disaster management.

Mots clés : wireless communications, wireless networks, system level modeling, stochastic geometry, optimization, energy efficiency, performance evaluation, fog computing and networking

Participants :
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 173076.0 €
Projet EUsoil-C-FLUX (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The majority of the Earth’s terrestrial carbon (C) is stored in the soil as organic carbon, at quantities more than three times the size of the atmospheric carbon pool. Response of this vast reservoir of C to climate change is highly uncertain and changes may alter multiple soil ecosystem services such as climate regulation, food production and water purification. Soil microorganisms drive the decomposition of soil organic C and determine C losses from soils to the atmosphere through soil respiration (Rsoil). To date, no consensus has been reached on the direction or magnitude of Rsoil responses to climate change with contrasting results and conflicting theory making future predictions unreliable. Up to now, research into rising temperature respiratory responses has focussed on substrate depletion mechanisms and metabolic adjustments, with little attention being paid to the importance of change in exoenzyme kinetic properties. Bringing together state of the art measurements from different rarely combined disciplines, this EUsoil-C-FLUX project will focus on soil exoenzyme thermal adaptation to unravel new mechanisms of Rsoil response to climate warming at the European scale. To this end, this project proposes to (i) determine the local adaptation of soil exoenzyme kinetic properties across Europe, from Greece to Iceland in three major habitats (grassland, forest and peatland); (ii) impose a controlled warming experient on these soils in a unique world leading research facility (the European Ecotron of Montpellier); (iii) use cutting edge and interdisciplineray technology (isotope labelling, high throughput DNA sequencing, radio carbon dating) to provide a detailed mechanistic understanding of Rsoil responses to warming; and finally (iv) incorporate the new findings into the latest mechanistic C models to better predict Rsoil response to climate change, a prerequisite to fulfill a key priority of the European Union in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Mots clés : soil carbon, climate change, enzymes, microbial community, isotope labeling, soil respiration

Participants :
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 196707.84 €
Projet NeuroFreezing (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The material properties of the cytosol control the biochemistry of the cell and influence all molecular interactions by regulating rates of intracellular diffusive transport. Despite this critical role, these properties remain poorly understood, and it is unclear to what extent the cytosol is homogeneous, whether there are differences between cell types, and if these properties are stable or dynamic. It has recently been discovered that yeast cells regulate their cytosolic properties in response to stress, namely glucose-starvation and aging. These stresses result in a decrease in cell volume and an increase in cytosolic crowding, inducing widespread phase separations and aggregation of polyglutamine (polyQ)-proteins. This type of polyQ-protein aggregation is the molecular hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington's Disease (HD), and is very poorly understood. In this project, I will produce the first description of the biophysical properties of the neuronal cytosol, and I will directly test whether aged or nutrient-deprived neurons, or neurons from an HD mouse model exhibit changes in these properties. I propose that viscosity and density of mammalian cells, and in particular neuronal cells, are dynamic properties that can be actively regulated in response to environmental changes. In particular, I will test two hypotheses: - H1: Nutrient starvation and aging induce changes to the material properties of the neuronal cytosol. - H2: A neuronal stress-response upon starvation or aging is sufficient to trigger aggregation of polyQ-proteins. Combining state-of-the-art techniques and expertise in the fields of neurobiology, metabolism, and biophysics, my investigation of these novel and potentially paradigm shifting hypotheses could fundamentally alter our understanding of the material properties of the neuronal cytosol, and ultimately reveal new therapeutic strategies for the most common inherited neurodegenerative disorders.


Participants :
- Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 203149.44 €
Projet TEROPPLATE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The mechanics of plate tectonics (the movement of the Earth's surface) is a fundamental scientific question in understanding the recycling of mantle volatiles in processes that affect habitability. The emergence of plate tectonics on Earth set the planet apart from others in our solar system allowing for the propagation of life, yet the fundamentals of how it all began remain unresolved. Present-day geophysical imaging of the deep mantle show anomalous chemical piles thought to originate from the beginnings of Earth. Recently, consensus has been reached that the chemical piles can impact, and be impacted by, plate tectonic processes. However, their interaction with mantle convection in a pre-plate tectonic early Earth is not well known. In this study, state of the art numerical experiments will be designed and implemented to offer the first investigation into what role deep chemical heterogeneities play in the initial breaking of the lithosphere (to initiate a form of plate tectonics). Furthermore, a numerical analysis into the evolution of temperature and mantle dynamics in the early Earth will be conducted to assess a range of geodynamic scenarios previously hypothesized. This fellowship is timely as it complements a number of recent developments in early Earth tectonics, numerical modelling, and in knowledge of thermo-chemical pile behaviour. Returning to the EU, the applicant will expand his ability to design, program, and develop large-scale numerical models using high performance computing gained from doctoral and post-doctoral experiences in Canada. This project allows for the applicant to reintegrate into EU academia, and contribute his acquired research skills. The expertise of the contributors and the design of the research will provide the applicant with new knowledge and experience in early Earth geophysics and geochemistry. As a result, the fellowship will augment the applicant's skill set ready for the next step of an independent research career.

Mots clés : plate tectonics, early earth dynamics, geodynamics, mantle geochemistry, numerical modelling

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

The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a highly conserved serine/threonine kinase in eukaryotic organisms. mTOR is the catalytic subunit of two different complexes (mTORC1 and mTORC2), which differ by their subcellular localization and function. The mTORCs integrate the environmental and cellular signal and regulate a broad range of downstream growth events. Impaired regulation of mTOR was often observed in tumors, Alzheimer’s disease, several metabolic disorders, and is known to accelerate aging. Thus, the study of the mTOR pathway is of paramount importance for both fundamental biology and medicine. A tremendous amount of studies have been carried out to elucidate the regulatory role of mTOR in metabolism and diseases. Yet the detailed mechanism of the mTOR regulatory pathway remains to be completed. Recently, using the novel method “mRNA interactome capture”, the host laboratory identified proteins involved in the mTOR-signalling pathway that acts as RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) in yeast, mouse embryonic stem cells (mESC) and HeLa cells. This finding revealed a conserved and previously unrecognized function of the mTOR pathway with RNA being an important component of it. Here I propose a project aiming to unravel the biological function of RNAs and RBPs in the mTOR pathway. In this project, I will use the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system, and will identify the novel RNA binding domains (RBDs) of the RBPs. I will further investigate the network of the interacting RBPs and RNAs. This will elucidate the biological impact of the RNA-protein interactions in the mTOR pathway. I will carry out this interdisciplinary study using biochemical and genetic methods, as well as large-scale analysis. The datasets created in this study will open new perspectives on the mTOR regulatory pathway.

Mots clés : rna protein interaction, mtor, yeast

Participants :
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 171460.8 €
Projet FlowAct (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The metal-catalysed group-directed functionalisation of C-H bonds is emerging as an important synthetic methodology in organic chemistry. Despite the advances in the field, however, C-H functionalisation processes are still plagued by several disadvantages, such as selectivity and reproducibility issues, the necessity of directing-group (DG) introduction, and the often difficult DG cleavage. This proposal combines the development of novel chemical transformations with the use of flow microreactors to: 1)make the DG introduction and cleavage more efficient and synthetically useful, and 2) make the C-H functionalisation processes more selective and atom economic, thus addressing several important weaknesses of this type of chemistry. After the development of the individual transformations in continuous-flow, the three crucial steps (DG introduction, group-directed C-H functionalisation and DG cleavage) will be integrated in a combined, multistep protocol, with the aim of minimising purification steps, and ultimately provide a cleaner and faster synthesis of functionalised molecules in a single continuous process.

Mots clés : flow chemistry, c h functionalisation, microreactors

Participants :
- Eindhoven University of Technology (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 165598.8 €
Projet ACFD (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The motion of strongly gravitating fluid bodies is described by the Euler-Einstein system of partial differential equations, combining fluid dynamics with general relativity. Centuries after their advent, the solution to these equations remains mathematically and computationally difficult, and the break-down of well-posedness on the boundary interface between fluid and vacuum remains a challenging open problem. The problem manifests itself in numerical simulations of binary neutron-star inspiral. The program will focus on formulating and implementing novel, well-posed Hamiltonian hydrodynamic schemes, suitable for inspiral simulations and gravitational-wave detector applications, with promising mathematical and computational applications in academia and industry. The scheme will use a variational principle by Carter-Lichnerowicz stating that barotropic fluid motions are conformally geodesic, a corollary of Kelvin's circulation theorem stating that initially irrotational flows remain irrotational, and Christodoulou's acoustic metric approach adopted to 3+1 numerical general relativity, in order to evolve the canonical momentum of a fluid element via Hamilton's equations. The recent observation of the inspiral and merger of binary black holes by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration, which marked the beginning of the era of gravitational wave astronomy, makes this work very timely: additional observations from binary neutron star or black hole–neutron star binary mergers are anticipated over the next years. The proposed research represents a coherent program aimed at mathematically and computationally exploring the theory of neutron stars, in order to improve our understanding of fundamental physical laws and reveal how nature operates on scales where our current understanding breaks down. Improvements in calibrated semi-analytical neutron-star gravitational waveforms can be directly deployed in the LIGO-Virgo search and parameter estimation pipelines.

Mots clés : general relativity, gravitational waves, relativistic fluid dynamics, numerical relativity, neutron stars, black holes, computational fluid dynamics, hyperbolic pdes, mathematical fluid dynamics

Participants :
- University of Illinois System (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Cambridge (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 198481.0 €
Projet MuMoSiSt (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The multiplicity of different historical phases can be considered one of the most singular characteristics of cultural heritage. Until today it has been clear that the scientific approach to this issue should use the developmental process as the main tool for both defining the historical phases and understanding the current state of historical heritage. Generally, it is necessary to distinguish between the diachronic and the synchronic studies, but at the same time it is mandatory to evaluate the connection between different historical layers. These opposing needs still represent a big problem that historical sciences are not always able to manage. The desirable multidisciplinary approach often produces mediocre results, while individual research generally lacks the complexity that always characterizes conservation and valorisation issues. Thus, the research project aims to discover a methodological approach that can bridge the gaps that are now often apparent between different studies. The main research goal is to define a specific digital platform for the management and consulting of the outcomes provided from the different scientific fields involved. This structure will allow to share the data collected easily, giving information about the different historical phases of a site as well as a global assessment based on its most significant transformations. The area of the ancient Temple of Serapis on the Quirinal Hill in Rome should be a good case study, that's mainly because of its complex stratigraphy. The research aims at covering the whole development period of the area by means of systematic data collection. The analysis of all different temporal phases will be fundamental for the implementation of a methodological strategy, able to involve different experts. The benefit of a web accessible digital platform able to collect all the diverse data, would be evident in the final step, when digital drawings based on new multimedia technologies will be produced.

Mots clés : computer humanist, digital heritage

Participants :
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 159460.8 €