Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Transport Properties of Emergent Edge States in Interacting Topological Superconductors (INTTOPSUP)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Israel
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-09-01
End date: 2019-03-02
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Topological superconductors are known to harbor Majorana bound states at their boundaries and inside vortex cores. Their non local properties and non-Abelian exchange statistics make Majorana bound states potential candidates in fault tolerant quantum computational schemes. Recently it has been pointed out that interacting topological superconductors support even more exotic non-Abelian excitations, that may allow to perform universal quantum computation in a manner that is inherently protected against common sources of decoherence. However, the setups that have been proposed to reveal these interacting topological phases are hard to realize experimentally. The theoretical research outlined in this proposal is expected to identify new experimental realizations of interacting topological superconductors, to establish the unique properties of their emergent end states and the way in which they manifest in experiments, in order to facilitate their detection. The novel approach that lies at the foundation of this proposal is the study of an open interacting system by coupling it to external leads, and the use of scattering theory of the open system to establish its topological classification. If successful, this research may single out the most promising experimental setup that supports fractional non-Abelian end states, thus constituting an important leap forward in the strive to implement topologically protected quantum computation.

Keywords: topological insulators,topological superconductors,majorana fermions in condensed matter systems
Improving Judgments Project (KJ-IJP)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2018-02-28
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Decision-makers are often required to make subjective judgments about situations under uncertainty. For example, organizations operating across several countries need to predict currency exchange rates, and need experts to make these predictions using a combination of objective data and subjective judgments. This research program that we call as ‘Improving Judgments Project’ will focus on understanding the underpinnings of individual and group subjective judgments. We plan to work on three interrelated streams. First, we will look at how individuals’ judgments are influenced by different decision-making frames. Second, we will study the individual-level variation in decision-making that arises from differences in personality traits and emotions. Finally, we will investigate how the judgment quality is influenced in an interpersonal context (both dyadic and group level decision-making). A theme which will run concurrently with others is the role of cultural differences. Understanding how different cultures shape individuals’ perceptions and judgments is becoming increasingly relevant as businesses move to newer territories. We plan to study the differences that arise between inter-dependent societies (e.g., China, Korea), independent ones (e.g., US), and other emerging markets (e.g., Brazil and India). With this, we hope to develop a better understanding of how individuals and groups make decisions which will lead us to finding ways towards better managerial decision-making. We have already conducted a successful first phase on several aspects related to this project through which several high-quality publications have been made. One of the highlights of that phase has been the innovative dataset that was collected during the Soccer World Cup 2010. The sports domain provides a perfect setting where rich data can be obtained on how decisions are made under uncertainty and with emotions involved. With World Cup 2014 approaching, a second phase is perfectly timed.

Keywords: judgment,prediction,biases,personality,emotion,decision-making,forecasting,cultural differences,groups,teams,overconfidence,miscalibration,behavior
Practical Organic Synthesis Inspired by Nature (POSIN)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-10-01
End date: 2018-09-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The aim of this research is to use nature as a source of inspiration and direction to improve and develop synthetic organic chemistry. Through targeted total syntheses I will investigate and learn about the highly sophisticated way nature utilizes dimerizations to rapidly generate molecular complexity. I will demonstrate the power of this biomimetic strategy by synthesizing a wide variety of complex dimeric natural products including phenylethanoids, alkaloids, lignans, and coumarins. The expected outcome will be uniquely efficient synthetic strategies that significantly surpass all previous approaches and new synthetic methodology that will be of broad use in organic synthesis. More generally I will learn how nature uses relatively simple processes to rapidly generate molecular complexity in a highly selective manner.

Keywords: organic synthesis,total synthesis,biomimetic synthesis,natural products
Application of Model Selection Principles to Distinguish Network and Latent Variable Models of Psychological Constructs (MODEL SELECTION)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2018-02-28
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Psychological research aims to understand constructs that exist in the minds of individuals and that affect individuals and their societies, such as anxiety, racism, intelligence, and happiness. Researchers use statistical models to study these constructs, and the models they choose affect the conclusions that are made and future research questions. The current standard in psychology is to construe and model psychological constructs as latent causal variables that give rise to measurable variables. This standard is being challenged by a new movement to construe psychological phenomena as networks of interrelated variables in a causal system. The two approaches are radically different in what they imply about the nature and structure of psychological constructs and their causes and effects. Until now, the network and latent variable methods for representing and modeling psychological constructs have been developed and studied independently. The proposed research aims to integrate these fields of methodological research. The main research objectives are, first, to distinguish the network and latent variable modeling frameworks by explicating their divergent theoretical implications; second, to develop and test ways of comparing the statistical models implied by each framework in terms of parsimony and fit; and third, to develop and test statistical methods for comparing the validity of the two frameworks in terms of their ability to situate the construct within the larger theoretical space. The overarching project goal is to provide guidance to applied researchers in the social sciences as to how to choose a statistical model for their data based on both theoretical and empirical considerations.

Keywords: networks,latent variable models,structural equation modeling,model selection,psychological constructs,measurement,parsimony,prediction
Systematic and thermodynamically consistent coarse graining the flow of complex fluids (CGCOMPLEXFLUIDFLOW)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2018-02-28
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The overall aim of this project is to develop a systematic and thermodynamically consistent method to derive macroscopic constitutive equations from molecular models of polymeric and anisotropic fluids. Since the constitutive equations describe the transport and flow behavior of the material on a coarse-grained level, many phenomenological approaches have been proposed in the past. The method we will develop here combines projection operator techniques and simulations within a nonequilibrium thermodynamics framework. Novel, thermodynamically guided simulations will allow us to identify building blocks of the macroscopic model and thereby establish the macroscopic constitutive equations in a thermodynamically consistent form. The systematic coarse-graining approach is therefore well-founded and applicable to a wide variety of systems. The systematic nature of the proposed method allows us to investigate different levels of coarse graining where different amounts of information are kept in the coarser model. For each of the coarse-grained models we will determine their range of validity and thereby identify the appropriateness of the chosen level of description. The result of these works is a hierarchy of models - a truly multi-scale modelling of the system - which includes only the relevant set of variables needed on the chosen level of description. We will develop and illustrate the method for the important case of polymeric and anisotropic fluids like liquid-crystals and ferrofluids. Many concepts of soft matter physics have been established for these systems. Moreover, transport and flow properties of polymeric and anisotropic fluids are also very interesting for industrial and food processing, as well as in biological environments. In view of these applications, we also plan to develop multi-scale simulations where we combine a finer and coarser model that we have already consistently related before, e.g. to study interface effects on bulk transport behavior.

Keywords: nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and thermodynamics,complex fluids,rheology,computer simulations,polymers,liquid-crystals,ferrofluids
Visualizing cell maintenance: Chemical tools to investigate the microenvironments of misfolded proteins (VISQC)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-07-01
End date: 2018-06-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The capacity of the cell to maintain protein quality and function diminishes upon aging and disease. Genetic mutations may result in protein malfunction or structural defects due to an alternation of an essential amino acid. The cell has evolved many mechanisms to handle misfolded proteins; some proteins are refolded by molecular chaperones while others are targeted for degradation by the ubiquitin proteasome system and yet others are sequestered in deposits at a specific cellular location. How cells make decisions on a specific protein destination is only hardly understood and progress in this field is slow due to the lack of useful chemical and biological tools. In this proposal I will address this question by using a methodology that allows visualization of the cellular response towards an unfolded protein of which the physical properties are well known. The protein is genetically incorporated and correct folding is initially maintained by a small molecule ligand. The proteins are designed to vary in hydrophobicity and stability of the core structure. Unfolding of the protein is induced by depletion of the ligand after which the cellular response can be monitored. With the help of molecular tools it is possible to label interacting proteins that recognize the pool of unfolded proteins at specific stages of the quality control pathway. In addition, current mass spectrometry technologies allow identification of posttranslational modifications which are important for defining the final destination of the unfolded protein. The technology is further elaborated on protein aggregates that play a role in many neurodegenerative diseases. Information that arises from this study gives novel insights in the cellular dynamics and recognition of misfolded proteins. Understanding these processes will help in the development of novel diagnostics and therapeutics for diseases that are related to misfolded proteins or a defect in the cellular protein quality control machinery.

Keywords: chemical biology,protein quality control,protein labeling,photocrosslinker,protein identification,posttranslational modification,protein folding,protein stability,protein aggregates
Distributed Cognition Engineering (DICE)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Italy
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-04-01
End date: 2018-03-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The DICE project aims at the study of cognition in collective, swarm-like systems (swarm cognition), with two main goals: on the one hand, the theoretical understanding of the mechanisms that support cognitive processing and behavioural optimality in collective systems; on the other hand, the definition of an engineering methodology that provides formal methods and tools for the design of cognitive capabilities in large-scale distributed systems (e.g., distributed multi-robot systems). These two objectives are deeply intertwined. The theoretical understanding will support the definition of a suitable engineering methodology for cognitive systems through the identification of the basic mechanisms used in distributed cognitive processing, which must be translated into formal methods and guidelines for engineering artificial systems (e.g., the interactions observed between bees during nest site selection can be distilled into design patterns leading to an optimal decision making process). Similarly, the requirements for a suitable engineering methodology can support the identification of general mechanisms used in cognitive processes (e.g., the need to provide robustness to an engineered system could point to more detailed models of distributed cognitive processing). This challenging endeavour is instantiated in a coherent yet varied research program that starts from the study of multi-agent models of distributed cognitive processing, distills the fundamental mechanisms and proceeds to the definition of an engineering methodology for concrete applications, which will be tested on real-life swarm robotics demonstrators.

Keywords: distributed cognition,social dynamics,swarm intelligence,collective adaptive systems,swarm robotics
NON-EQuilibrium Self-Assembly (NON-EQ-SA)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2018-02-28
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Living systems operate in a far-from-equilibrium state: they need to eat, drink, and breathe to power the continuous chemical processes occurring in each of their cells, in order to stay alive. When the supply of food or nutrients is stopped the living systems relax to their thermodynamic equilibrium state, that is, death. So far, scientists (and chemists in particular) have managed to make synthetic analogs of many of the intricate structures found in nature, using the tools of organic and supramolecular chemistry. These synthetic structures, impressive as they are, mostly reside either in their thermodynamic equilibrium, or in kinetically trapped states. In sharp contrast with nature, however, we are not yet able to keep chemical structure in a far-from-equilibrium state reliably and controllably. In this proposal we attempt to overcome the latter inability by pushing biological and synthetic supramolecular assemblies out of their thermodynamic equilibrium using a chemical fuel or using thermal/magnetic field gradients, respectively. We believe that the resulting dissipative nonequilibrium self-assemblies (NON-EQ-SA) envisioned by Prigogine (Nobel laureate 1977) can be controlled to a higher extent than currently possible in equilibrium. Our method to control the structure of supramolecular assemblies would be of great importance to materials science and medicine, where well-defined entities lead to improved materials performance and pharmacological efficacy, respectively.

Keywords: self-assembly,supramolecular chemistry,nonequilibrium,dissipative systems,dynamic self-assembly,self-organization,emergence,complex systems
Explore novel connections between oncogenic pathways in lung cancer (NOTCHLUNG)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2018-02-28
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Lung cancer causes about a million deaths per year and the estimation is that 250 million people will die during the 21st century for this reason. A major challenge in treating this and other cancers is the intrinsic resistance to conventional therapies demonstrated by the cancerous cells that are responsible for the sustained growth, survival, and invasion of the tumour. Identifying new pathways involved in the biological processes necessary for the survival of lung cancerous cells is paramount in developing new clinical approaches with the goal of preventing disease recurrence. Using mouse models, I have recently published as first and corresponding author in the journal Cancer Cell, that non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) are "addicted" to the Notch pathway. Importantly, inhibition of the Notch pathway arrests NSCLC growth in vivo, opening up a new therapeutic approach to the treatment of this disease. My first aim is to develop, in the next few years, a patient-derived tumour xenograft (PDTX) model to extend beyond the realms of rodents the proof of principle of using Notch inhibitors for the treatment of human NSCLC. My second aim will be to identify the different partners and components of the Notch pathway, required for this "addiction" and for the maintenance of NSCLC. Finally, using both NSCLC-prone mouse models and the PDTX model I will try to combine therapies currently in use to treat NSCLC with Notch pathway inhibition hoping to identify synergies between these treatments. Of note, the availability and use of a PDTX model will pave the way to personalised treatment of NSCLC patients. My ultimate goal is to find new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of the leading cause of death by Cancer in the world today.

Keywords: lung cancer,notch pathway,kras,egfr,alk1,genetic mouse models,patient-derived tumour xenografts,therapeutics
Structure and Ecological Niche in the Soil Environment (SENSE)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-11-01
End date: 2018-10-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

SENSE (Structure and Ecological Niche in the Soil Environment) is a groundbreaking project to discover the processes affecting soil animal diversity and how soil biodiversity affects ecosystem stability and function. SENSE tackles the challenging enigma of soil animal diversity (exceptionally high diversity in an apparently much less diverse environment), studying the effect of soil structural complexity on community assembly processes. The resulting knowledge will allow the development of a new generation of food web models that takes into account the complex nature of aboveground–belowground linkages, and astonishing levels of belowground diversity. These models are fundamental to the study of ecosystem stability and function. This is a key topic in the framework of EU bioeconomy research and innovation: soil is under threat (e.g. compaction) and provides humans with key services that currently are at risk. This multidisciplinary project involves approaches that range from chemistry and physics to molecular and theoretical ecology. The knowledge it provides promotes an interdisciplinary approach to management and conservation strategy (e.g. protection of soil biodiversity through the preservation of soil structure). In fact, the project creates the conditions to bridge basic, foundational ecology and classical soil ecology, which traditionally has a more applied focus. SENSE will promote the formation of an international network of scientists that will contribute to the project through workshops, research visits, and direct involvement in the measurement of key variables and outreach programs. Thanks to this networking and its outputs, I will establish high profile research themed around the study of biodiversity. Thus, in the long term I will be able to create a leading, internationally recognised research group in the framework of on-going, worldwide research collaborations that are taking place among leading soil ecologists and biodiversity scientists.

Keywords: soil biodiversity,soil complexity,structure,ecological niche,animals,food web,aboveground-belowground linkages,networks,disturbance,stability