Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Promoting gender equality in research institutions and the integration of the gender dimension in research contents (GENDER-NET)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Science in Society
Destination: Strengthening potential, broadening horizons
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Partnership: GENDER-NET (ERA-NET)
Countries involved: France,Spain,Norway,Switzerland,Canada,Ireland,Belgium,Cyprus,Slovenia,United States,United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-ERANET-2013-RTD, 2013)
Start date: 2013-10-15
End date: 2016-10-14
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1915285.24
EU funding (EUR): 1545219.42
Participants: 13
Project status: CLOSED

Despite more and more solid indicators, extensive research, policy initiatives at European and national levels, and wide awareness-raising on the issues linked to gender and science, the European Research Area is still confronted to structural obstacles within its research institutions which prevent the ERA from reaching its objectives on the full participation of women in research and innovation at all levels (while women comprise >50% of PhD graduates, they still occupy less than 20% of Grade A positions) as well as to a lack of integration of the gender dimension in research contents and programmes which hinders their quality and potential for innovation. With the aim of collectively addressing these issues, the GENDER-NET ERA-NET proposal brings together national ministries and research programme owners and managers from 11 countries with synergistic expertise in gender issues in research. Partners will join forces to: 1) map and analyse existing national/regional programmes and initiatives aimed at a) promoting gender equality in research and higher education institutions through structural change, b) gendering research contents; 2) identify priority activities for strategic transnational implementation; 3) design and optimise transnational transferability; 4) implement these joint activities. GENDER-NET thus consists of 4 work packages which build on one another to propose a pilot transnational research policy initiative which will allow for a global vision of the best practices and conditions for success, innovative assessment and knowledge-transfer methods, as well as concrete engagement of partners in the implementation of joint activities, thus breaking new ground at EU-level and contributing to the realisation of ERA. Expanding outcomes by relying on the shared expertise and insight gained by partners, widening the consortium to reach a critical mass of institutions and stakeholders, and disseminating results, will be ongoing concerns of this ERA-NET.

Keywords: gender,gender equality,gender dimension,gender equality plans,structural change,research and innovation,public programmes,joint activities,gender policies,networking,mutual learning
Canyon and landslide processes of non-tropical carbonate escarpments. (SCARP)

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: Malta
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2013-09-01
End date: 2017-08-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The majority of continental margins may be classified as either siliclastic or carbonate. Despite forming some of the largest cliffs on Earth, carbonate slopes are poorly understood features, and the few studies available have been carried out in tropical settings. An improved understanding of non-tropical carbonate slopes is necessary because: (i) they comprise more than half of carbonate slopes worldwide, (ii) they are characterised by very different geological and oceanographic conditions compared to tropical carbonate slopes, (iii) their occurrence in the stratigraphic record is relatively common, (iv) they offer a unique record of past environmental conditions, and (v) they host geohazards, hydrocarbon reservoirs and potentially specialised biological communities. The aim of SCARP is to characterise the morphology of non-tropical carbonate escarpments in unprecedented detail, investigate the nature and dynamics of canyon and landslide processes responsible for this morphology, understand their role in sediment export and non-tropical carbonate margin development, and determine whether they are significantly different from those of siliclastic and tropical carbonate margins elsewhere. SCARP will entail the integration of diverse geophysical and sedimentological data sets acquired from the Malta-Sicily Escarpment (Mediterranean Sea) and Campeche Escarpment (Gulf of Mexico) during four research cruises, and their analyses using innovative data processing, numerical and statistical techniques, and state-of-the-art sedimentological, geotechnical, and geochoronological methods. The fellow will lead the SCARP project as a lecturer at the University of Malta, where he will bring a portfolio of scientific and technical skills and a network of international collaborations. This fellowship will be essential for the fellow to access oceanographic research infrastructure, establish a marine geology research group and become a fully independent research leader.

Keywords: carbonate,escarpment,non-tropical,submarine canyon,submarine landslide,geomorphology,sedimentology,continental margin,malta-sicily escarpment,campeche escarpment
Reactions of Cold Molecular Ions (ROCMI)

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: 2013-10-01
End date: 2015-10-31
Duration (months): 25.0
Total project cost (EUR): 52083.33
EU funding (EUR): 52083.33
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

I propose to examine how reactions occur at very low temperatures – providing accurate and precise experimental data on important ion-neutral molecule reactions for the first time. Novel experiments will be developed to achieve state selectivity of molecular ions (such as DCl^+ and C2H2^+) using a laser-driven, blackbody radiation-mediated rotational cooling scheme. The reactions of these molecular ions with cold, state selected neutral species (such as ammonia) will subsequently be investigated with unprecedented precision and control. A second objective will pioneer the study of cold, doubly-charged calcium ions (Ca^2+), investigating how they react with slow moving neutral molecules such as water. The examination of Ca^2+ under cold conditions would facilitate the first precise measurements of important reaction rates and energetics. Furthermore, such work would provide stringent benchmarks against which theoretical models could be tested. Conducting this pioneering research will ensure that the European scientific community remains at the forefront of cold chemistry research.

Keywords: cold chemistry,coulomb crystals,sympathetic cooling of molecular ions,bbr-mediated rotational cooling.
Understanding Klebsiella pneumoniae respiratory infections (U-KARE)

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: 2013-09-01
End date: 2017-08-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Pneumonia is leading cause of death from infection. During infection, microbial presence is monitored by receptors recognizing evolutionary conserved structures. Pathogen recognition is associated with the activation of few regulators and signaling pathways controlling host defence systems. A better understanding of the host-pathogen interaction offers the potential for pharmacological intervention by targeting the host side. U-KARE aims to gain a holistic understanding of the networks conveying the cross-talk beteen the human pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP) and the innate immune system. KP is one of the most frequent antibiotic-resistant bacteria isolated in hospitals and the community. KP represents a paradigm of an emerging pathogen, and therefore it is both urgent and necesary to better understand its pathophysiology. My laboratory has demosntrated that KP subverts the activation of host defence processes (receptor-mediated KP recognition, and NF-kB activation) to survive in the lung. These findings lead us to hypothesize that "the capacity of KP to survive in the lung correlates with the pathogen ability to modulate innate immune responses in its own benefit". Critical questions that will pursued are: (i) which are KP strategies to take control over host post-transcriptional modifications; (ii) how does KP manipulate IFN-dependent pathways; (iii) how does KP manipulate cell death pathways; (iv) how does KP avoid autophagy; and (v) how does the host affect KP transcriptome. By a multidisciplinary approach encompassing microbiology, cell biology, functional genomics and immunology, U-KARE will expand our current understanding of the strategies used by KP to survive in the lung. On top of this, U-KARE will explore some of the most novel and fundamental topics in the infection biology which could lead to the identification of novel therapies based on modulating the host-pathogen interaction.

Keywords: klebsiella pneumoniae,innate immunity,microbial pathogenesis
The role of NLRP6 sensing in regulation of intestinal host-microbiome interactions (6-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: Israel
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2013-10-01
End date: 2017-09-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich repeat-containing (NLR) proteins have emerged as central regulators of immunity and inflammation. Several NLRs form cytosolic multi-protein complexes termed inflammasomes in response to pathogen and damage- associated molecular patterns. We recently identified the NLRP6 inflammasome as a critical innate immune regulator of the intestinal microbiome, a diverse ecosystem whose poorly understood interactions with the host influence a multitude of physiological and pathological processes. We found that NLRP6 inflammasome disruption results in dramatic alterations in microbiome composition & function, in turn leading to auto-inflammation and a propensity to the development of metabolic syndrome. However, the basic mechanisms governing NLRP6 activation & regulation of host-microbiome interactions remain unknown. Using the NLRP6 system as a proof-of-principle model, and innovative robotic high-throughput modalities, gnotobiotics, metagenomics and multiple genetically altered mouse models we will decipher the codes comprising the host-microbiome communication network and factors initiating loss of homeostasis (dysbiosis). As part of our studies, we will (A) elucidate the host-derived microbiome recognition signaling pathway at its entirety, from its upstream activators to the downstream effector molecules controlling microbial ecology; (B) decipher the cell-specific mechanisms of NLRP6 regulation of the intestinal crypt niche; and (C) uncover mechanisms by which the innate immune arm regulates the composition and function of the gut commensal eco-system in health and disease. From a research perspective, deciphering the principles of NLRP6 signaling and its regulatory effects on host-microbiota interactions in health and disease will lead to a conceptual leap forward in our understanding of physiology and pathology. Concomitantly, it may generate a platform for microbiome-based personalized therapy against common idiopathic diseases.

Keywords: inflammasomes,nod-like receptors,innate,immunology,microbiome,infection,intestinal crypts,goblet cells
Molecular Analysis of Gene Regulatory Networks Underlying the Persistence of Drug Addiction (COCAINE GENE NETWORK)

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: 2014-02-01
End date: 2018-01-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Drug addiction is a maladaptive form of experience-dependent plasticity that develops following chronic exposure to drugs of abuse. Drug experience induces plasticity of synaptic transmission within the neural circuitry of reward, which is thought to depend upon modulation of gene expression. Preliminary data I acquired demonstrates that chronic exposure to cocaine results in dramatic rewiring of gene regulatory networks within the nucleus accumbens, a key component of the brains’ reward circuitry and a central integrator of synaptic inputs implicated in the formation of addiction. Understanding the basis for this rewiring of gene regulatory networks, as well as identification and analysis of the neuronal population in which it is expressed, will be a major focus of work in my independent lab. These questions, and their implications for synaptic function and behavior, will be pursued in parallel at multiple levels, addressing the regulation of gene transcription both globally and in a cell-type specific fashion. The identity of transcriptional programs is defined by the repertoire of transcription regulators expressed in a cell. Preliminary data demonstrates elevated expression of Fos, FosB, CEBPB, KLF2 and ZFP36 in the nucleus accumbens of mice abstinent following chronic cocaine exposure, suggesting that these genes could underlie the rewiring of transcriptional complexes observed in abstinent mice. We will address the function of these genes by virus-mediated shRNA knockdown in the nucleus accumbens, as well as dissociated neuronal cultures. Comprehensive analysis of gene targets of CEBPB and KLF2 will be further pursued by chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by deep sequencing. This study is expected to result in identification of molecular mechanisms and specific genes responsible for the rewiring of gene regulatory networks observed following repetitive exposure to cocaine, potentially underlying the persistent memory of drug experience driving addiction.

Keywords: neuroscience,memory,behavior,experience-dependent plasticity,addiction,molecular mechanisms,gene regulatory networks,chromatin,transcriptional rewiring,shrna,rnaseq,chipseq
Structural studies of Nucleotide Excision Repair for drug development targeting protein-DNA interactions (NER)

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: Czechia
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2013-09-01
End date: 2017-08-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Numerous DNA repair pathways are required for genomic stability and chromosome maintenance. XPF/ERCC1 protein complex is an evolutionally conserved structure-specific endonuclease involved in nucleotide excision repair (NER) and other DNA repair pathways, making it essential for viability. The pleiotropic phenotypes of XPF/ERCC1 deficiency in humans range from cancer-predisposition to accelerated aging and severe developmental abnormalities. The research outlined here combines biochemical and structural approaches to study XPF/ERCC1 incision 5′ to the lesion during NER. The proposal is guided by the premise that XPA and RPA proteins, two other NER core factors, stimulate XPF/ERCC1 activity. The primary aim is to structurally characterize the multiprotein-DNA assembly in order to elucidate the DNA binding and catalytic activity of XPF/ERCC1. To achieve this we will address how individual DNA binding domains of XPF/ERCC1 contribute to DNA cleavage, how XPA recruits XPF/ERCC1 to sites of NER, and how RPA in conjunction with XPA pre- organize the DNA structure at ds/ss junctions. The public health importance of this research comes from the increasing interest in the regulation of XPF/ERCC1 activity, due to its involvement in DNA repair pathways implicated in the resistance of tumors to chemotherapy. Cancer associated deaths are the number one cause of mortality worldwide and resistance to current chemotherapeutics remains a major clinical hurdle. Sensitizing cancer cells to treatment with DNA damaging chemotherapeutics holds great value. One way to achieve this result is the development of small drug-like molecules targeting DNA binding sites of NER proteins to disrupt the formation of a functional NER complex and decrease its capacity.

Keywords: nucleotide excision repair,xpf/ercc1,xpa,rpa,protein-dna and protein-protein interactions,nmr,saxs/sans,fret,hybrid methods in structural biology,small molecule inhibitors
Differentially Accessible Chromatin Domains and Their Transcriptional Regulatory Role in Health and Disease (CHROMATIN DOMAINS)

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: 2013-09-01
End date: 2017-08-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The human genome encodes for hundreds of transcriptional programs, which facilitates the unique functions and morphologies presented by different cell types. Only recently, the role of DNA packaging into chromatin emerged as one of the major contributors to the modularity and dynamics of the genome. Here, I propose to harness my computational expertise with vast amounts of publicly available data in mice and humans, and study the internal modularity and dynamics of genome packaging, and its relation to the expression levels of underlying genes in various conditions. Specifically, the objectives of this proposal are fourfold: (1) Identify chromatin domains at a genome-wide scale. I will analyze data from hundreds of genome-wide chromatin tracks, and develop computational algorithms to segment the genome into atomic units of chromatin packaging, that open and close as homogenous blocks under various conditions and transcriptional programs. (2) Annotate and understand the functional roles of each domain. I will utilize public gene expression data and genomic maps of chromatin modifiers to annotate the role of each chromatin block, and construct an unbiased comprehensive map of the genome packaging. (3) Study the mechanisms that define, maintain and modify chromatin domains. Using sequence motifs and published binding data, I will identify chromatin regulators involved in differential domains. (4) The role of aberrant chromatin packaging in cancerous tissues. I will contrast the above domains with chromatin in cancerous tissues, and link differences to transcriptional abnormalities, thus producing a detailed set of testable hypotheses regarding the mechanisms and progression of tumors. With proven experience and proven background in genomics and computation and algorithms, I am poised to significantly contribute to our understanding of genome packaging and transcriptional regulation.

Keywords: chromatin,dna packaging,genomics,computational biology,histone modifications,systems biology,transcriptional regulation,dnase i,chromosomal domains
Comminution dating of glacio-marine sediments in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean (COMANT)

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: 2013-09-01
End date: 2017-08-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The geological and climatic history of Antarctica during the Late Quaternary is to a large extent unknown due to the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) cover that limits observations on land, yet this information can be retrieved from the study of the provenance and transport times of terrigenous material in marine sediment cores surrounding the continent, which can be used to reconstruct the history of continental weathering and sediment transport mechanisms and timescales. Here, I propose to implement a novel approach termed “comminution dating”, to determine spatial and temporal changes in the transport time of fine clastic sediments produced by Antarctic subglacial erosion during the Late Quaternary, which is connected to the flux of ice and sediment discharge into the Southern Ocean. I will focus on U-series disequilibrium in detrital material, which is a measure of weathering and transport time. The time elapsed since the initial grinding of the bedrock by glacial abrasion that produces rock flour, including the transport process and age of deposition, is defined as the “comminution age” of the sediment, and is determined by the relative degree of 234U-depletion in the samples. The proposed study builds on exciting new results from the Weddell Sea, where comminution ages and provenance of different grain size fractions of terrigenous material indicate that sediment transport times ranged between tens to hundreds of kyrs and varied on glacial-interglacial timescales. I will study the comminution ages of a large number of glacio-marine deposits at sites throughout the Southern Ocean, and further conduct a comprehensive study of natural and analytical biases on the comminution dating approach. The results will yield a transformative data set that will provide new insights into the history of glacial weathering in Antarctica during the Late Quaternary, ocean current histories in the Southern Ocean and their combined role in modulating global climate change patterns.

Keywords: u-series disequilibrium,comminution dating,antarctica,southern ocean,gechronology,geochemistry,paleoclimate,paleoceanography