Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet SICNET (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The brain can coordinate complex sequences of actions with the accuracy of milliseconds. Where and how these neural computations occur is an open question in neuroscience. Despite recent technological developments allowing for large-scale high-resolution functional imaging of the brain and direct neuronal recordings in behaving animals, there has been little effort in applying rigorous statistical approaches to test circuit connectivity patterns and synaptic mechanisms driving neural activity. Experimental evidence from classical conditioning and neuronal recordings have revealed that the cerebellum plays a fundamental role in fine-tuning of temporally precise behaviors. This project aims to elucidate the neural computation arising from anatomical and physiological constraints of the comparatively simple organization of the cerebellar cortical circuit, which allows the cerebellum to represent time-dependent sensory information necessary to drive behavior. Experimental and theoretical findings in the host laboratory have led to the hypothesis that dynamic synapse are a substrate for temporal representations and temporal learning. I will use sequential Monte Carlo methods to extract activity from calcium imaging data. Then I will use a generative model of the cerebellar network to infer the connectivity among the known cell types of the cerebellum as well as their synaptic properties. Finally, I will use information theory to examine the processing capacity of the cerebellar network, thereby providing new insights on evolutionary optimization of brain computation. The combination of my experience in statistical methods and the host laboratory's experience in state-of-art neural recordings and theoretical models, is a perfect match to break down the barriers to understanding the cellular mechanisms of circuit computations. We believe that this analysis approach could also be applied to understand other neuronal circuits.


Participants :
- Institut Pasteur (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 196707.84 €
Projet UTPE PEB (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The build-up of plastic pollution is one of the most pressing environmental concerns. Polyethylene (PE), the most abundantly produced plastic polymer, can persist in nature for over a century. The microbial biodegradation of PE that has been observed is slow and inefficient. So far no effort has been undertaken to improve the efficiency of enzymes involved in the biodegradation of PE through directed protein evolution. Standard assays for measuring degradation rates are not sufficiently high-throughput to cover the sequence space required. I propose to use state-of-the-art protein evolution technology to overcome this problem in two ways. First, an ultrahigh-throughput microfluidics based approach, that can associate a given genotype with its phenotype in picoliter sized water-in-oil droplets, will be used to isolate the desired genotypes from a random mutagenesis library. Second, a novel assay for measuring polymer concentration within each droplet based on differential light scattering as the polymer is degraded will assay the PE degradation rate for a given enzyme. These techniques were developed in the research group of the proposed host, Dr. Hollfelder in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge. Using these techniques, I will functionally express and evolutionarily optimise a range of PE degrading enzymes in genetically tractable host strains, creating a chassis to investigate the potential of microbial biodegradation as a solution to plastic waste. Secondments at the EBI, UCL and the SME Drop-Tech will convey practical skills in bioinformatics screens and droplet formation. The host group’s experience in enzyme biotechnology and directed protein evolution as well as its extensive modern facilities for microfluidics, next generation sequencing and flow cytometry will synergize with my personal research experience in synthetic, molecular and microbiology to find a multidisciplinary solution to the growing problem of plastic degradation.

Mots clés : synthetic biology

Participants :
- University of Cambridge (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 224933.76 €
Projet EFIResources (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The built environment is responsible for a high global share of impacts and the standard way in which construction of buildings is currently performed is jeopardizing the chances for future generations to meet their own needs. The Roadmap to a resource efficient Europe set ambitious targets for 2020 with respect to the use of resources. The main goal of this project is the development of performance based approach for sustainable design, which enables to assess the efficient use of resources in buildings throughout their complete life cycle, and complies with the assessment of safety criteria of the Eurocodes (the new European standards for structural design). A database of case studies on resource efficient construction is currently being developed by JRC. In this project a detailed life cycle analysis (LCA) of the case studies will be performed, focusing on the strategies towards resource efficiency. The results of the LCA will enable to identify best practices and strategies and to set benchmarks for different building typologies and climatic zones. A model for sustainability design will be developed in which the performance of the building is benchmarked against common practices and/or best practices. This model will have two major innovations with respect to the standard LCA: (i) it enables to effectively assess resource efficiency, rather than to simply make a quantification of indicators related to the use of resources in the building; (ii) it complies with the design rules and safety provisions of the Eurocodes, thus enabling an easier integration of structural and sustainability criteria into the design process, following the basic requirements for construction works of the Construction Products Regulation. The results of this project will facilitate the incorporation of consistent sustainability and safety criteria into construction practice, thus providing building designers with a technology for safe and clean construction.

Mots clés : efficient resources, sustainability, life cycle analysis, recycling, embodied energy

Participants :
- European Union (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 168277.2 €
Projet Lost-Biodiv (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The burgeoning energy demand worldwide has led to a proliferation of hydroelectric dams, firstly in the northern hemisphere and subsequently across tropical developing countries, which have become the new hydropower frontiers. Currently, hydropower development is already one of the primary means of habitat loss and fragmentation in tropical forests, hence a key threat to biodiversity and the ecosystem services provided to the entire humanity. After damming, all low elevation areas are inundated, while previous ridgetops in undulating terrain often become islands. The objective of this Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Action is to dissect the ecological impacts of habitat insularization induced by hydroelectric dams on ecosystem functioning, by comprehensively assessing species interactions across 35 forest islands and three mainland continuous forest sites across one of the largest hydroelectric reservoirs in South America. Firstly, specific prey-predator interactions – herbivory, insectivory and seed predation – will be quantified in situ and related to patch, landscape and habitat-quality metrics. Then, species interactions across terrestrial food webs will be evaluated using theoretical approaches based on species co-occurrence and codispersion analysis. To do so, the Experienced Researcher will use data previously collected by the host research group on vertebrate, invertebrate and plant species, and apply novel framework approaches based on mutualistic and antagonistic networks, some of them developed by the collaborator group. The innovative knowledge to be produced is expected to considerably improve strategic environmental impact assessments of planned hydroelectric dams and manage existing and future hydropower development. Moreover, while collaborating with very-high profile researchers, this Action will allow the Experienced Researcher to acquire new sophisticated analytical skills on species interactions and foodweb-related processes.

Mots clés : hydropower development, tropical forests, ecosystem services

Participants :
- University of East Anglia (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet HSPLS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Mathematics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The candidate proposes to investigate certain highly symmetric finite partial linear spaces using methods from combinatorics and group theory. A partial linear space consists of a set of points and a set of subsets of points called lines for which each pair of points lies on at most one line, and each line contains at least two points. Both linear spaces and simple undirected graphs are examples of partial linear spaces. For a class of graphs X, a graph G is X-homogeneous if any isomorphism between induced subgraphs of G that are isomorphic to a member of X can be lifted to an automorphism of the entire graph. This definition can naturally be extended to partial linear spaces for any class of partial linear spaces X. The candidate has two long-term research goals. The first is to understand X-homogeneous partial linear spaces S where X is the class of connected partial linear spaces (possibly with bounded size). This leads to two main research objectives. Objective 1 is to focus on the case when S is not a graph or a linear space, where nothing is yet known. Objective 2 is to continue her work on the case when S is a graph and the members of X have bounded size. The second long-term goal of the candidate is to understand partial linear spaces admitting automorphism groups of low rank, which again leads to two main research objectives. Objective 3 is to complete the classification of the primitive permutation groups of rank at most 5. Objective 4 is to use this classification to investigate certain partial linear spaces with rank 4 automorphism groups. These four objectives will enhance the expertise of the mathematical community. They will also lay the foundations for a future programme of research for the candidate and enable her to obtain a permanent academic position.

Mots clés : partial linear spaces, graphs, homogeneous, primitive permutation group, rank of permutation group

Participants :
- Imperial College London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet SELFCONTROLHEALTH (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The capacity to delay gratification and control impulses emerges in childhood and may profoundly shape the lifestyle behaviours and resulting health conditions that afflict many and burden health systems across Europe and rest of the world. Childhood self-control appears to be malleable and as such has been identified by policy-makers as a key prevention target with potential long-run benefits. Yet, empirical evidence demonstrating links from early self-control to adult outcomes remains scarce. This Fellowship will inform estimates of the benefits of fostering self-control by drawing on under-exploited childhood self-control measures from six pre-existing large scale (N>1,000) prospective studies of individuals whose health behaviour and health has been tracked for up to 55 years. Already, using these incredible resources the applicant has identified how childhood self-control predicts population patterns of smoking and weight gain across life. He now aims to advance this work and the scientific literature by identifying: (i) the specific life-span health consequences of early self-control (e.g. biomarkers, chronic conditions, mortality rates), (ii) the key behavioural and socioeconomic pathways that explain these linkages, and (iii) the social conditions where self-control may have the greatest health impact. The Fellowship will both enrich and benefit from the strengths of the host institution in Childhood and Human Development research. Strong input from a world-leading researcher in this area, Prof. Richard Tremblay, will help enable the applicant to make a disciplinary shift from behavioural medicine to an integrated life-course perspective where adult health is viewed through the lens of child development. This interdisciplinary mobility coupled with a strong programme of advanced training will ensure the Fellowship rapidly advances both the applicant’s career development and the exciting programme of work outlined in this proposal.

Mots clés : behavioural medicine, health psychology

Participants :
- National University of Ireland (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 187866.0 €
Projet SAS6-Cep135-CPAP (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The centriole is a conserved organelle essential for cell organisation, division and motility through its capacity to organise microtubules. A broad range of human diseases, such as microcephaly and cancer, have been associated with defects in centriole formation, making the full characterisation of its assembly process of great interest. Centrioles are miniature cylinders of characteristic symmetry, diameter and length, yet the molecular methods by which these parameters are defined are only partly understood. The objective of this proposal is to study the structure – function relationship of the centriolar proteins SAS-6, Cep135 and CPAP, which together form a protein interaction network that supports centriole elongation and connects the core centriole scaffold with its microtubule-based exterior. This project will be carried out through an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach combining structural biology, biophysics and functional assays in human cell lines. We will investigate the effect of disease-causing mutations in the structure and function of the SAS-6 – Cep135 – CPAP network. This work will boost our understanding of the centriole formation process and how it is perturbed in disease, and be a pioneering example of elucidating the molecular architecture of a cell organelle.

Mots clés : centriolar architecture, structure, x ray crystallography, electron microscopy, biophysics, structural cell biology, sas 6 cep135 cpap, centriole biogenesis, organelle biology

Participants :
- University of Oxford (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet CentrosoTME (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The centrosome, an organelle important for cell division, is frequently amplified in cancer, including breast cancer. In this fellowship I propose to investigate how cells with centrosome amplification change the tumour microenvironment (TME) to promote breast cancer development. Recent work has shown that having extra centrosomes drive tumour growth in vivo, indicating that centrosome amplification is not a bystander of cancer, but promotes tumorigenesis. Consistent with a direct role in cancer, we previously demonstrated that centrosome amplification leads to chromosome instability and cell invasion. In addition to the cell autonomous effects of centrosome amplification, our lab has recently found that cells containing extra centrosomes also have non-cell autonomous effects via secretion of proteins that induce a paracrine invasive phenotype in mammary organoids. We also found that cells with pancreatic cancer cells with extra centrosomes secrete small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) that induce activation of the fibroblast-like pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs). Moreover, using xenograft immunocompetent mouse models, we found that induction of centrosome amplification in SUM225 human breast cancer cells leads to a strong innate immune infiltration (e.g. macrophages and neutrophils) surrounding the tumours. Guided by our preliminary data we hypothesise that altered secretion in cells with centrosome amplification changes the TME. Currently there is no published link between centrosome amplification and TME. I aim to characterise TME changes induced by centrosome amplification in vivo and to identify factors secreted by cells with extra centrosomes responsible for such changes. This work will be the first in-depth characterisation of TME in tumours containing extra centrosomes. Importantly, this project will start an exciting and novel research avenue bridging the centrosome and the TME fields.

Mots clés : centrosome amplification, tumour microenvironment, breast cancer, mouse model

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

The changing demographic is one of the greatest challenges in Europe. With an expected 25% of the population over 65 by 2030, the incidence of neurodegenerative age-linked diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s is likely to increase. They severely impact quality of life and to date, therapies can only treat the symptoms. Oligomerization and aggregation of the protein α-synuclein is a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. Still, the underlying molecular mechanism of cellular dysfunction due to toxic forms of this protein remains unclear. Most studies aiming to uncover α-synuclein induced neurodegeneration in vivo are using indirect biochemical detection methods. Bridging neurobiology and life science with advanced microscopy and image analysis allows the direct monitoring of Parkinson compromised primary hippocampal neurons. I will combine multi-color 3D super-resolution optical fluctuation imaging with quantitative phase tomography in a multi-plane microscope, to allow structural and fast functional imaging. This innovative imaging concept is used (1) to elucidate α-synuclein aggregation at the cell membrane and in the cytosol and (2) to uncover the induced cytoskeleton alterations. Ultimately, molecule-specific readout will be complemented by (3) label-free, quantitative phase imaging of membrane dynamics and overall cell morphology at up to 100Hz. I am a biophysicist with a specialization in single molecule spectroscopy and my previous work on photon statistics has led to several high quality publications. This fellowship expands my quantitative microscopy expertise to 3D imaging while enlarging my biologocal scope to neurodegenerative diseases. I will extend my competences by managing the project, following complementary skills courses, and organizing public outreach activities. While performing interdisciplinary research on neurodegenerative disease, I will develop an independent research profile to further enhance the European research landscape.

Mots clés : super resolution microscopy

Participants :
- Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 175419.6 €
Projet JQ4LHC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The characterization of the quark gluon plasma (QGP) created in heavy-ion collisions (HICs) is the main goal of heavy-ion experimental programs at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at BNL (USA) and at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Jet quenching, the modification of jets in a colored medium, is one of the most successful tools to probe the QGP. This proposal aims to provide an interpretational framework for jet quenching that maximizes the discovery potential of the current (and future) precision era of HICs. Since the study of jets in the presence of a medium is challenging, we still lack a first-principles formalism for jets in HICs. In contrast, a wide variety of jet quenching Monte Carlos (MCs) are available, but they rely on phenomenological assumptions making difficult to interpret their outcomes. It is proposed here to develop the first jet quenching bottom-up formalism based on first principles. This will be done by generalizing from single hadrons to jets a previous implementation by the experienced researcher (ER), including different phenomena as coherence. This analytical approach will become a unique tool to describe the QGP and benchmark the mainstream MCs. The theory of jet quenching has been developed assuming a QGP in thermal equilibrium. Recently, the ER has shown for the first time that jets in HICs are sensitive to the pre-equilibrium dynamics of the evolution. This finding paves the way for a completely novel line of research in HICs, whose ambitious goal is to access these poorly understood initial stages with jet quenching observables. This proposal will provide the foundations for such an effort by phenomenologically analyzing the possible explanations to this finding and by computing color field configurations for the initial stages in the Glasma approach. This project will be developed at the leading institution École Polytechnique and will enhance the skills, career prospects and network of collaborators of the ER.

Mots clés : heavy ions, quark gluon plasma, jet quenching, phenomenology

Participants :
- École polytechnique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 196707.84 €
Projet PolDev (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The coherent coupling of photons and material resonances, known as strong light-matter coupling, has recently emerged as a concept to realise a variety of novel devices. By hybridising light in a micro- or nano-scale cavity with a material resonance, often an exciton to create exciton-polaritons, properties of both light and matter can be manipulated. While this has shown great promise in systems that exploit a change in energy levels of a material, such as in polariton chemistry, the resulting change of light dispersion has been largely neglected for applications. Within the project PolDev, I aim to realise organic polaritonic devices that make full use of the exciton-like dispersion in ultra-strongly coupled microcavities with suitable detuning. In doing so, I will realise interference-based transmission filters with ultra-low angular dispersion that will enable a new way of designing optical systems. I will further exploit this concept to design high-Q microcavity polariton light emitting diodes for display applications with unprecedented colour purity and to showcase new pathways for electrically pumped polariton lasing. The resulting devices will further be ported onto mechanically flexible platforms, paving the way for novel polaritonic applications.

Mots clés : strong light matter coupling, polaritons, dispersion, optical filters, organic light emitting diodes

Participants :
- University of Cologne (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 174806.4 €