Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Statistical Inference of the Cerebellar Network (SICNET)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Standard European Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: France
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2019, 2019)
Start date: 2020-04-01
End date: 2022-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 196707.84
EU funding (EUR): 196707.84
Participants: 1
Project status: 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.
Experimental constraints on indium transport in hydrothermal systems (HYDIN)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Standard European Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Finland
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2014, 2014)
Start date: 2016-02-01
End date: 2018-01-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 179325.6
EU funding (EUR): 179325.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Indium (In) is an element that has recently gained great economic importance due to its application in strategic energy and information technologies. Future In shortages projected by the EC Joint Research Council are due to insufficient exploration for In, reflecting the poor understanding of the hydrothermal ore-forming processes that result in economic enrichment of In. Key questions are the relative importance of different geologically relevant ligands for hydrothermal In complexation, the role of anomalously metal-rich fluids, and the efficiency of different ore-deposition mechanisms for formation of economic deposits. The proposed Marie Curie action will address the hydrothermal transport of In through an integrated approach that links high-temperature experimental studies of the solubility and complexation of In with reconnaissance fluid inclusion studies of In deposits and geochemical modeling of ore-forming processes. The experimental research will combine solubility studies at 100-250°C with hydrothermal diamond-anvil cell experiments up to 600° and synchrotron X-ray spectroscopy. Based on the experimental results, thermodynamic data for the most important In complexes will be derived. The thermodynamic dataset will be used for modeling the control of key fluid parameters such as temperature, pressure and pH on the transport behavior of In in hydrothermal systems. The modeled data will be compared with In concentrations in fluid inclusions from hydrothermal In ore deposits, which will be determined by LA-ICPMS microanalysis. The outcome will be a quantitative understanding of the ore-forming processes that control transport and deposition of In in hydrothermal systems. The researcher will be part of a research network that will bring together scientists from diverse fields of geosciences and physics. This will create an exceptional training environment and will result in optimum transfer of research expertise and knowledge.

Keywords: indium,rare metals,hydrothermal systems,experimental geochemistry,solubility measurements,hydrothermal diamond anvil cell,synchrotron x ray spectroscopy,fluid inclusions
Thermodynamic Stabilization by Interface Engineering (TheSBIE)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Global Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: Israel,United States
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2016, 2016)
Start date: 2017-03-01
End date: 2020-02-29
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 263385.0
EU funding (EUR): 263385.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

This GF proposal concerns nano-crystalline (NC) metallic alloys, unique materials having extremely small crystals (grains) which exhibit significantly improved mechanical properties over their conventional coarse-grained counterparts. Yet their inherently-large fraction of internal interfaces (grain boundaries, GBs), associated with excess energy, leads to coarsening of their structure at elevated temperatures during either fabrication, processing or service life. This results in a rapid deterioration of their properties, rendering them unsuitable for many applications. Compared with conventional, kinetic stabilization of NC alloys, which is limited and temporary in nature, the approach proposed here is of ‘Thermodynamic Stabilization by Interface Engineering’ employing solute segregation: alloying with elements which preferentially migrate to GBs to substantially reduce their excess energy, leading to a stable, tunable nano-scale grain size even at high temperatures. Employing a thermodynamic approach for engineering the structure and chemistry of interfaces in these materials stands a good chance of overcoming their fundamental stability hurdle with nature’s blessing. The main materials to be studied are iron-based alloys. In particular, NC iron-magnesium alloys have the potential for exceptional absolute and specific strength, exceeding that of the hardest steels. Experiments will be combined with mesoscale and atomistic simulations of thermodynamic, kinetic and mechanical properties. This international interdisciplinary research involves MIT (USA), Technion (Israel) and WWU (Germany), bridges physical metallurgy, nanotechnology and interface science. It will result in a deeper fundamental understanding of energetics and kinetics in NC alloys; tools for designing stable NC alloys with tailored mechanical properties; and commercialization of successful alloys. It shall thus strengthen the EU "metallurgical infrastructure" according to the EC’s Metallurgy Road Map.

Keywords: nanocrystalline metals,alloys,physical metallurgy,solid state thermodynamics,segregation,grain boundary engineering,mechanical properties,powder metallurgy,thin films,short circuit diffusion
Intergroup toleration: It’s Nature, Processes, and Consequences for Culturally Diverse Societies (InTo)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: The Social World and Its Diversity
Panel description: Sociology, social psychology, social anthropology, education sciences, communication studies
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2016-ADG, 2016)
Start date: 2017-10-01
End date: 2022-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2205493.75
EU funding (EUR): 2205493.75
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Increasingly our societies are becoming more diverse and how to live with this diversity is one of the most pressing questions of our time. In Europe, intergroup tolerance has been proposed as a key aspect of living harmoniously and productively with diversity; it is critical because objection and disagreement about what is good and right are inevitable. A diverse, egalitarian, and peaceful society does not require that we all like each other, but it does require that people at least tolerate one another. Yet, there has been very little by way of social psychological theorizing and systematic empirical research on intergroup toleration. This research will advance the state of the art in the social sciences by moving beyond intergroup stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination, and focusing on the social psychology of intergroup toleration in which differences are endured. This new line of research will unravel the interrelated aspects of toleration. We will elucidate: (1) the underlying psychological aspects of tolerance (the objection component), 2) the psychological processes underlying tolerance (the acceptance component), 3) the limits of tolerance (the rejection component), and 4) the social psychological consequences of being tolerated. This program has a coherent theoretical framework and empirically toleration will be examined by using a combination of survey data, framing experiments, and lab experiments involving EEG. The research will provide key insights into the social psychological dynamics of intergroup toleration. This can form the basis for developing and implementing initiatives and approaches that contribute to a more tolerant society. Given the contested nature of cultural diversity and the absence of systematic social psychological investigations, the proposed research is both ground-breaking and timely.

Keywords: social psychology
Social evolution in Ceratina bees: a comparative approach (Ceratina)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Global Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Germany,Canada
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2019, 2019)
Start date: 2020-11-01
End date: 2023-10-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 233434.56
EU funding (EUR): 233434.56
Participants: 2
Project status: SIGNED

The origin of cooperation between individuals remains one of the main puzzles of evolutionary biology. Eusocial insects are one of most striking examples of extensive cooperation in which some individuals forego reproduction to help others. Yet research on eusocial insects concentrates mainly on species with large societies whereas species which exhibit facultative eusociality (some individuals live socially, other solitarily) are well suited for studying the origin of eusociality. I plan to study small carpenter bees (genus Ceratina), This is a globally distributed genus with approximately 200 described species which is an excellent model system for studying social evolution in a comparative approach because of their large interspecific diversity in social and parental strategies. My research has three main goals. Firstly, I shall construct a high-resolution molecular phylogeny of Ceratina based on next generation sequencing as a necessary framework for my comparative approach, namely the remaining two goals. Secondly, I shall evaluate the importance of traits underpinning sociality, parental care, nesting biology and mating by mapping them on phylogenetic trees. Thirdly, I will study covariance between relatedness and sociality across Ceratina species; they exhibit extensive variability in relatedness between offspring because females of some species mate with one partner, some with several and others are parthenogentic, allowing me to test the role of relatedness in social evolution. Biologists commonly study one or a few species in detail. However, I plan use comparative approach to compare strategies of multiple species and map life history traits onto phylogeny. My unique integrative approach will advance understanding of social evolution, parental care, and cooperative behaviour in general.

Keywords: insect,eusociality,social evolution,parental care,offspring protection,relatedness,paternity
Nanoplasmonic sensing of multi-molecular protein interactions at physiological conditions (MultiSense)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Panel description: Analytical chemistry, chemical theory, physical chemistry/chemical physics
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2019-COG, 2019)
Start date: 2020-09-01
End date: 2026-08-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999687.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999687.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

I will develop a single-molecule sensor that reveals multi-protein dynamics at micromolar concentrations to provide new understanding of how protein machinery functions in real-time. Proteins and their interactions are the cornerstone of biological processes. The dynamic cooperation between multiple species is key to most processes including chaperone-mediated protein folding, signal transduction, and metabolism. The dynamics of these processes is fast and adaptive due to a tailored combination of low affinity and high concentration. Current single-molecule sensors cannot capture these dynamics because (1) they only work in dilute solutions which perturbs the dynamics or (2) they only resolve a single species. Capturing dynamics of protein machinery at physiological conditions therefore remains one of the grand challenges in the field. MultiSense will develop a nanoplasmonic sensor to provide the opportunity to reveal multi-molecular protein dynamics at micromolar concentrations. This will be achieved by (a) developing technology to resolve and interpret multi-protein interactions and cooperation using Förster Resonance Energy Transfer in the confined near-field of a plasmonic particle, and (b) using this technology to provide the first real-time picture of chaperone-mediated protein folding at physiological conditions. This will contribute to unraveling why chaperones fail to induce proper folding or prevent protein aggregation in the context of diseases. The proposed method can be implemented on any research-grade microscope and can be generalized to any protein by applying the proper particle functionalization. This will inspire other researchers to study dynamic cooperation in protein machinery to unravel complex molecular mechanisms. In the long term the small size and biocompatibility of metal nanoparticles will enable studies of protein interactions at the single-molecule level in their natural environment, a living cell.

Keywords: nanoplasmonics,single molecule fluorescence,chaperones
Atlantic ECOsystems assessment, forecasting & sustainability (AtlantECO)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy
Theme: Cross-cutting marine and maritime research
Action type: Research and Innovation actions
Countries involved: Spain,Spain,Italy,South Africa,Spain,Germany,Germany,Spain,Italy,Italy,Italy,Switzerland,Switzerland,Belgium,Hungary,Norway,Greece,Belgium,France,France,Netherlands,United Kingdom,Brazil,United Kingdom,United Kingdom,Portugal
Call: All Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance Flagship (H2020-BG-2019-2, 2019)
Start date: 2020-09-01
End date: 2025-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 10925660.38
EU funding (EUR): 10925660.13
Participants: 41
Project status: SIGNED

The ambition of AtlantECO is to develop and apply a novel, unifying framework for providing knowledge-based resources to design policies, support decisions making and engage with citizens to encourage responsible behaviour to manage the Atlantic system and protect its Ecosystem Services (ES) provision. The aim of AtlantECO is to determine the structure and function of Atlantic microbiome in the context of ocean circulation and presence of pollutants, e.g., plastics, to assess its role in driving the dynamics of Atlantic ecosystems at basin and regional scales; its potential of being used as a sensor of ecosystem state and the mechanisms by which it drives the provision of 5ES. This is key to improve our predictions on future provision of ES in the basin and to favour the establishment of a sustainable Blue Growth strategy for an All-Atlantic community. To realise this vision, AtlantECO has four objectives which are to 1) Assess dynamics of Atlantic marine ecosystems, their ES provision and the interplay of both with socio-economic activities; 2 increase knowledge and data on microbiomes, plastics, the plastisphere and carbon fluxes that support ecosystems at basin scale using best practices and integrative sampling strategies, novel genomics, imaging and biogeochemical methods, bioinformatics and modelling approaches; 3) Assess and predict the cumulative impacts of multiple stressors on ecosystem status and dynamics and ES provision, identifying their drivers and role on tipping points, assessing their changes in recovery of ecosystem structures, functions and services, and developing eco-socio-economic models to predict future trajectories and 4) Deploy a systemic strategy to build capacity and transfer knowledge for a seamless engagement between science, industry, policy, and society. To achieve these objectives AtlantECO brings together experts and pioneers from Europe, South America and South Africa with the relevant resources, knowledge and experience.

Keywords: holistic approach,augmented observations,next generation ecosystem models,all atlantic cooperation,improved autonomous bio optical profilers,ecosystem status assessment,essential ocean variable
Improving Thermal Efficiency of horizontal ground heat exchangers (ITER)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Standard European Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Environment and Geosciences
Countries involved: Germany
Call: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) (H2020-MSCA-IF-2014, 2014)
Start date: 2015-11-01
End date: 2017-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 159460.8
EU funding (EUR): 159460.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Since heating and cooling demands constitute almost 50% of the final energy demand in Europe, the development of geothermal energy systems and especially shallow geothermal solutions, reveals a huge potential in providing thermal energy for residential and tertiary buildings, thanks also to its local availability, manageability and flexibility. Then, research and innovation actions in this topic are focused on finding new technical solution, developing emerging technologies and improving heat transfer efficiency of existing systems. There is required, on the one hand, a better knowledge of the thermal properties of the ground and, on the other, the efficient implementation of thermal energy transfer technologies. ITER Project (Improving Thermal Efficiency of horizontal ground heat exchangers) totally agree with these purposes. In fact, the overall aim of ITER is to ensure the sustainability of ground coupled heating-cooling systems and especially the horizontal ground heat exchangers systems. Key challenges are (i) to enhance the heat transfer of the ground surrounding the pipes creating thermally enhanced backfilling material (TEBM) suitable for horizontal systems; (ii) to assess the performance and the environmental impacts of new promising technological solutions as helix systems with and without TEBM; (iii) to monitor the results over time through direct measurements and numerical simulation. Thermal laboratory measurements and in situ monitoring of existing and duly installed horizontal systems will be provided by close cooperation between host institutions and non-academic partners. Projects and ideas challenging a better performance of shallow geothermal plants as those promoted by ITER are expected to support the European economic growth and technological excellence, boosting competitiveness and job creation, taking into account also the individual and collective well-being of citizens, protecting the environment and, accordingly, the human health.

Keywords: shallow geothermal energy,thermal conductivity,backfilling material,helical heat exchangers,enhancement
THE NEW ENVIRONMENTAL ENERGY STORAGE (ECO STOCK)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Climate action, environment,  resource efficiency and raw materials
Action type: SME instrument
Countries involved: France
Call: Boosting the potential of small businesses for eco-innovation and a sustainable supply of raw materials (H2020-SMEINST-1-2015, 2015)
Start date: 2016-02-01
End date: 2016-07-31
Duration (months): 6.0
Total project cost (EUR): 71429.0
EU funding (EUR): 50000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Eco-Tech Ceram (ETC), a young company founded in 2014, is specialized in thermal storage, energetic efficiency, industrial wastes recovery high valuation and advanced materials characterization. With their new technology, ECO STOCK, ETC aims to develop new eco-efficient, transportable and modular thermal storage solutions. The first step is to collect industrial wastes, such as coal fly ashes, and transform them into refractory ceramic. This exploitation of industrial waste induces a reduction in the exploitation of raw materials, while producing an eco-efficient material providing effective heat storage. Subsequently, the second challenge of the ECO STOCK project is to use those ceramics, composed of industrial wastes, in order to develop a thermal energy storage unit (TESU) solution. This solution proposes a modular, plug&play and transportable unit capable of valuing industries’ loss heat and power, creating in the same time a reduction in energy costs. Indeed, using those inorganic secondary raw materials, transformed into refractory ceramic, it has the advantage to propose a low cost storage material and exploit the “below 1000°C temperatures” recycling market. To summarize, the company proposes the whole value chain, from the material recovery to the commercialization of the storage installations, through unit storage manufacturing. Therefore, the company has the objective to create a green circular economy, using this whole value chain, in order to counteract the worldwide energy crisis and ecological threat.

Keywords: refractory ceramic,ashes recovery,thermal storage unit