Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Time-dependent density functional theory for strongly-interacting electrons (TD-SCDFT)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-04-01
End date: 2016-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 175974.6
EU funding (EUR): 175974.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This proposal aims at developing a new theoretical framework for the description of quantum transport and optical properties of strongly-correlated many-electron systems. The project is based on the exact infinite-coupling-strength limit of density functional theory (DFT), the so-called Strictly-Correlated-Electron (SCE) functional, which has been largely developed by the host scientist for ground-state DFT. Using my expertise in time-dependent (TD) DFT and Green's functions theory, I will extend the SCE functional to the realm of time dependent phenomena. The project is articulated in two main objectives. The first one is the derivation, study and implementation of the exact SCE exchange-correlation kernel, investigating formal connections with Green's functions theory. The second is the use of the SCE functional for modeling quantum transport through correlated nanodevices. This second part of the project will be carried out both using real time propagation and dynamical corrections to static DFT. The latest results of the host scientist's group showed the great potential of the SCE functional in capturing the physics of strong correlation in KS DFT without artificial spin or spatial symmetry breaking. The extension of this approach to the time domain is thus very timely, as the calculation of optical properties of strongly-correlated systems is an active research field, due to the intrinsic difficulties related to the description of the relevant many-body effects. The use of the SCE functional for modeling quantum transport is also timely and promising, as it has been recently shown that this functional displays key properties (the so-called derivative discontinuity) needed to capture the physics of the Coulomb blockade and of the Kondo effect in nanotransport. The project puts together in an ideal way the expertise of the host scientist and of the research fellow, and envisions new long-standing collaborations between different European research institutions.

Keywords: density functional theory,exchange-correlation functionals,quantum transport,time-dependent density functional theory
Soliton Kerr Physics in microresonator-bases frequency combs (SOLICOMB)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2016-02-29
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 199317.6
EU funding (EUR): 199317.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Optical frequency combs provide equidistant markers and enable connecting optical to radio frequencies (RF) and vice versa. Today, frequency combs are becoming enabling tools for several applications in metrology and spectroscopy. A new class of Kerr-frequency comb sources, based on parametric frequency conversion in optical silica micro-resonators, has been demonstrated in 2007 by the host group. Over the past years, with the development of new microresonator geometries many novel studies have emerged. This follow-up proposal builds on the recent advances in the field of microresonator-based frequency combs to address novel endeavors: First, the temporal characterization and pulse generation using microresonators. The recently discovered mode-locking mechanism warrants a detailed analysis and exploration; notably it has been observed that the generated frequency combs could be generated Kerr temporal solitons in the resonators. We plan to gain insights into the mechanism of mode-locking and pulse generation, which is presently not understood. In addition we will explore both the generation of ultra-short pulses and of complexe pulse dynamics from crystalline microresonators. Second, we seek to achieve an RF-to-Optical link using a microresonator: So far phase coherent links have been impeded by excess phase noise. Within the context of the discovered low phase noise operation, the latter becomes a realistic endeavor again. We will investigate that routes : using crystalline resonators with external broadening. Third, we plan to demonstrate mid IR frequency combs using crystalline resonator and quantum cascade lasers: Crystalline resonators can due to their anomalous dispersion and large transparency generate low phase noise combs in the mid IR. A natural next step in this context is the combination of a QCL with a crystalline resonator. This would enable a compact, electrically driven optical frequency comb generator in the 3-6 micron wavelength range.

Keywords: crystalline resonator,kerr soliton physics,large ensembles of solitons in a microresonator,qcl pumped microresonator,rf-to-optical link,high peak power pulses,dissipative solitons
Countering Confounding Heterogeneity in Phylogenetics through Non-Parametric Analyses of Quartet Split Patterns (COUNTERING LBA)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-12-02
End date: 2016-12-01
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 231283.2
EU funding (EUR): 231283.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Reconstructing the historical (phylogenetic) interrelationships of biological entities (e.g., taxa, species, genes) is a substantial goal of evolutionary biology not least because knowledge of these relationships facilitates the interpretation of all comparative biological data. Due to continuing improvement of sequencing techniques and computational power within the last 20 years, molecular phylogenetic analyses have expanded steadily from single gene analyses of small taxon sets up to phylogenomic analyses of many hundreds of genes and taxa. However, this is not always a simple task – particularly when the data are subject to systematic biases that can mislead the most commonly relied upon methods. In such cases, increasing the amount of data can make recovering the correct relationships harder rather than easier. The main aim of this project is to develop and evaluate new intelligent tree reconstruction algorithms based on specific split pattern analyses among multiple sequence alignments and/or morphological character patterns that will enable a significantly more reliable and accurate reconstruction of phylogenetic trees, and ultimately the Tree of Life. The main focus is on overcoming the analytical difficulties or systematic biases resulting from branch specific heterogeneities of evolutionary substitution rates leading to the widespread analytical artefact known as Long Branch Attraction (LBA). It is anticipated that the strategies developed will have broad applicability, that they will complement existing methods and will help to resolve longstanding phylogenetic problems that appear to have been confounded by LBA. By facilitating the production of more accurate phylogenetic trees, it is expected that the new algorithms will help deliver better foundations for all branches of comparative biology. The new developed reconstruction algorithms will be implemented into an existing pipeline and thoroughly tested with both simulated and empirical data.

Keywords: phylogenetics,methods,non-parametric,site patterns,quartets,long branch attraction,systematic bias,evaluation,simulation,empirical,molecular,morphological,data,evolution
Caveolin-1 integrates stromal mechanical forces chemo-resitance to foster tumor progression (CAVCER)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-05-01
End date: 2016-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 230036.6
EU funding (EUR): 230036.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Breast cancer affects 1 in 8 women and is the chief cause of female cancer deaths in the EU. Early detection continues to improve survival, but prognosis worsens significantly after metastasis. Metastasis and chemoresistance are linked phenomena, but the molecular basis is unknown. The evidence suggests a role for Caveolin1 (Cav1): i) Cav1 mediates biomechanical remodelling of the extracellular matrix by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), promoting invasion (host lab publications); ii) Cav1 is involved in drug/radiation resistance, and the Cav1β isoform might regulate resistance of breast tumour cells (TCs) to paclitaxel (literature); iii) The Cav1 content of breast-TC exosomes correlates with metastatic potential (our preliminary data). We propose that acquisition of invasiveness by TCs is related to their release of Cav1-containing exosomes. Cav1-activated CAFs then increase matrix stiffness, providing the appropriate milieu for TC metastasis. The N-terminally curtailed Cav1β precludes chemotherapy-induced tyr14 phosphorylation, preventing Bcl2 binding and conferring resistance. Cav1 α and β might thus balance the interplay between TCs and CAFs during tumour progression. To integrate these data and verify our hypothesis, we propose state-of-the-art approaches and multidisciplinary strategies, ranging from cell biology to animal models and clinical screening studies. As side products, tools of interest will be produced such as a new antibody to Cav1β, useful for stratifying patients according to their likely benefit from paclitaxel therapy, and a new Cav-/- mouse generated by ZFN targeting in the NSG strain, which promises a method for conducting human transplants in genetically modified animal models. The complementary expertise of fellow and host lab, coupled with the excellent scientific environment at the host institute, provide a firm basis for success of this ambitious but sound proposal, thus fostering the fellow’s progress to independence.

Keywords: caveolin-1,tumor-associated fibroblast,breast carcinoma,xenograft,drug resistance,paclitaxel,antibody,nsg mouse,zinc-finger nuclease,exosomes,mechanotransduction,stroma,metastasis,stiffness
Linking landscape genetic structure with local adaptation to changing environments (MOVE2ADAPT)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Incoming Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Sweden
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IIF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-04-01
End date: 2016-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 197811.6
EU funding (EUR): 197811.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Climate change and habitat fragmentation are considered key pressures on biodiversity. Two spatial population processes are important determinants of a species’ vulnerability to habitat fragmentation and climate change: 1) the species’ ability to disperse and colonise new areas, and 2) the species’ ability to adapt to these new areas. This study will evaluate the sensitivity of the damselfly, Ishnura elegans, to habitat fragmentation versus land-use and climate change effects and assess the species’ expansion and adaptive potential using cutting edge genomics technologies. This project will utilise next-generation DNA sequencing data which allows for whole-genome analysis of evolutionary processes within naturally occurring populations under variable, and changing environments. Our sampling design will cover the species’ northern range limit located in south and central Sweden, which provides a dynamic environmental gradient that is at the forefront of range expansion under projected climate change. The overarching aim of the proposal is to identify topographic, land-use and climatic factors that determine dispersal patterns that are involved in local adaptation to environmental conditions in I. elegans. In doing so, this project will use real and simulated genetic and landscape data to test current theoretical and methodological advances concerning how organisms will adapt to widespread environmental changes via contemporary evolution, with practical implications for predicting climate change impacts on organisms.

Keywords: landscape genetics,population genomics,climate change,adaptation,evolution,conservation,landscape change,range expansion,land use,habitat connectivity,ecology,insect,dispersal,morphology
Energy Harvesting Networks - Resource Allocation and Performance Evaluation (EHNS-RAP)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Incoming Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Israel
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IIF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-09-01
End date: 2017-01-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 256148.4
EU funding (EUR): 256148.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The project will focus on the design and performance evaluation of algorithms for networks of energy harvesting wireless nodes. Recent advances in the areas of energy harvesting and ultra-low-power wireless communications will soon enable the realization of such networks. They will find applications in healthcare, manufacturing, public safety, and will serve as building blocks for the Internet of Things and Cyber Physical Systems. In a recent interdisciplinary project, the PI (with other co-PIs) developed prototypes of Energy Harvesting Active Networked Tags (EnHANTs – http://enhants.ee.columbia.edu ). Building on the success of EnHANTs, we will consider the theoretical design challenges related to wireless networking. We will focus on the design and performance evaluation of resource allocation and Medium Access Control (MAC) algorithms for wireless networks composed of energy harvesting nodes. The algorithms will take into account cross-layer considerations and will deal with various functionalities, including flow control, topology control, and routing and with various environment and technological constraints. The PI will visit Tel Aviv University (Israel), and hence, an important component of the project is transfer of knowledge to the European research community from Columbia University and the EnHANTs project. The project will expose European researchers and students to new problems, provide them access to the U.S. research infrastructure, and allow them to establish long-term collaborations with researchers in Columbia. We believe that the research and knowledge transfer activities will make an impact on the areas of Cyber-physical systems and Internet of Things, and will contribute to the European competitiveness in these emerging areas. Finally, an important component is outreach to school children and undergraduate students. We will expose them to science, engineering, and research concepts in order to motivate them to embrace research careers.

Keywords: energy harvesting,energy efficient networking,resource allocation,cross layer design,medium access control (mac),routing,flow control,scheduling,measurements
Is there a limit to biotic diversification? Insights from stochastic models of speciation and extinction (MEDIATEMP)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-07-01
End date: 2016-06-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 202405.8
EU funding (EUR): 202405.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The relative importance of ecological and stochastic processes in the diversification of life on earth is largely unresolved. I propose to conduct an exhaustive spatially-explicit individual-based simulation study of biodiversity patterns (both phylogenetic and macroecological) generated over time by stochastic models of speciation and extinction. This project will depart from the prevailing paradigm of studying biotas at equilibrium and will, for the first time, focus on understanding how biodiversity patterns (not just species richness) evolve as biotas diversify and reach their equilibrium. Exploring different scenarios of stochastic diversification will enable me to assess how long different models take to reach their equilibrium and how biodiversity patterns are affected by different stochastic processes (demographic stochasticity, dispersal and speciation). New analytical tools will also be developed in this fellowship to model biodiversity dynamics at realistic spatial scales and made available to other researchers in a user-friendly R package. Taken together, these developments will determine if the prevailing paradigm of predicting regional and global biota at equilibrium is appropriate to understand biodiversity, and to what extent stochastic diversification models are sufficient to explain simultaneously the full range of biodiversity patterns seen in nature. The total evidence methodology developed in this project will prove useful to other researchers wishing to disentangle the role that ecological and stochastic processes have played in the diversification of their taxon of interest. For animal and plant taxa with poor biodiversity data, stochastic models of diversification may provide a good first approximation of how their biodiversity may respond to global environmental change.

Keywords: macroevolution,phylogenetic tree imbalance,macroecology,biodiversity,species abundance,species area relationship,phylogenetic diversity,spatial turnover,neutral theory,beta-diversity
The role of Sox2 in epithelial homeostasis and cancer (SOX)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Outgoing Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IOF, 2013)
Start date: 2015-04-01
End date: 2018-03-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 270964.8
EU funding (EUR): 270964.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The Sox family of transcription factors are versatile regulators of stem and progenitor cell fate. Sox2 is a well-characterized member of this family and plays essential roles during animal development and in adult stem cells. Accumulating evidence suggests that dysregulation of Sox2 expression is involved in key steps during tumorigenesis. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of Sox2 in tumor formation and the Sox2 target genes mediating these phenotypes remain elusive. Here, using mouse skin as a model tissue, I propose to systematically profile the Sox2 regulatory network by RNA seq and ribosomal profiling. To determine the physiological relevance of Sox2 target gene changes, I plan to carry out an shRNA screen to uncover novel mediator of Sox2-dependent tissue growth. I will take advantage of the ultrasound-guided in utero microinjections of lentivirus into the amniotic cavity, which has been recently developed in our lab and allows to test the function of thousands of genes simultaneously. I will confirm and document the role of novel targets in mouse and human squamous cell carcinomas. Understanding how this stem cell regulator controls these key steps during tumor progression could be exploited not only for cancer diagnostics, but also in designing novel cancer therapies.

Keywords: stem cell regulator,cancer,cell signalling,mouse genetics,c. elegans,apoptosis
PRESCHOOL EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS ACROSS CULTURAL CONTEXTS (PREF)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-08-01
End date: 2016-07-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 299558.4
EU funding (EUR): 299558.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Executive functioning (EF) refers to a set of cognitive skills (working memory, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility) that control self-regulatory functions which organize and direct all cognitive activities, emotional responses and overt behavior. EF regulatory control plays a fundamental role in the intellectual and socio-emotional functioning of children. The current study aims at evaluating the cultural invariance of EF structure in three cultural settings and investigating the relative contribution of socio-cultural factors (home environment, parenting styles and SES) and biomedical factors (i.e. birth weights, stress levels and nutritional status) in shaping these abilities. This project has two studies. Study one aims at validating both the EF construct and measures of EF in three cultural contexts (UK, Indonesia and Kenya). A systematic culturally decentered approach is taken during tool development to ensure cross-cultural validity. Tool development follows a three staged approach which combines extensive ethnographic work with standard psychometric procedures. Study two examines the factors that are associated with EF abilities in the three countries. In each of the countries, 100 children aged 48-60 months will be tested, using the instruments developed/adapted in the first study. Advanced statistical analysis including multigroup path analytic procedures will be used to describe factors that influence executive functioning at preschool. The cross-cultural variation is vital for estimating the environmental influence of EF development. The project has both theoretical and practical implications. Describing the structure of EF and factors that influence their development should contribute to refinement of theories, diagnosis of executive deficits and identifying salient points of intervention.

Keywords: executive functions,children,cross-cultural study