Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Characterisation of hybrid inorganic-organic solar cells by advanced spectroscopic methods (CHOIS)

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-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-06-06
End date: 2014-06-05
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200371.8
EU funding (EUR): 200371.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The displacement of CO2 emissions by renewable sources of energy critically depends upon the development of low-cost and widely accessible routes to clean energy generation. Of all the renewable energy sources, solar energy has the greatest potential as a world power source. However, the inorganic solar cells available on the market now are too expensive to compete with conventional power sources. Hybrid solar cells are an emerging solar cell technology with a great potential for cheap fabrication. They usually consist of a nanostructured junction of inorganic and organic semiconductors and therefore combine cheap and abundant organic materials with the advantages of inorganic materials in terms of stability and charge transport. Power conversion efficiencies exceeding 3 % have been obtained and there is a large potential for further efficiency improvements. In order to achieve these, a detailed understanding of the working mechanism of hybrid solar cells is of crucial importance. In this project, we therefore aim to carry out an in-depth characterization of hybrid solar cells using a variety of advanced spectroscopic and microscopic techniques and a multidisciplinary approach. The project will consist of three phases: In the first phase, a state-of-the-art hybrid CdS/polymer system will be characterised in order to gain a better understanding of the working mechanism of the solar cells. Following this, hybrid solar cells consisting of different materials and prepared by different methods will be compared and loss processes in the solar cells will be identified. In the final phase of the project, the gained knowledge will be used to propose new materials combinations, which will lead to the construction of more efficient hybrid solar cells. The proposed project will therefore aim to develop a scientific framework that will enable the custom design of hybrid inorganic – organic heterojunctions for high performance solar cells.

Keywords: physical chemistry,photochemistry,hybrid solar cells,inorganic nanoparticles,polymer semiconductors,electron transfer,femtosecond luminescence spectroscopy,transient absorption
Developing an evolutionary framework for understanding species co-existence: importance of intraspecific genetic variaiton for community ecology (COMGEN)

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-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-08-01
End date: 2014-01-31
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 201822.3
EU funding (EUR): 201822.3
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The main goal of this IEF proposal is to allow the fellow to develop an entirely new set of theoretical skills complementing her extensive experimental expertise in the area of plant ecology and evolution. Theoretical training will be achieved by developing evolutionary biology models for targeted questions in the area of community ecology. These models will be conceptually novel by incorporating rigorous population genetic theory into long-standing community ecology questions. Models will be developed under the close supervision of two researchers with world-class expertise in evolutionary genetics and community ecology. The training provided by this IEF would be instrumental in boosting the fellow’s career both by providing hands-on training with theoretical modeling and positioning her at the forefront in the nascent field of community genetics. A small portion of the fellowship will be devoted to field and experimental studies using the empirical model Thymus vulgaris and its associated biotic communities in the Mediterranean. This empirical work, by testing explicitly predictions generated by her theoretical models, will capitalize on the fellow’s widely recognized expertise with this empirical system. It will also allow establishing firmly Thyme as a competitive empirical model to make breakthroughs in the field of community genetics that is currently largely dominated by work on a few empirical models, mainly in North America. This IEF proposal would also boost significantly European competitiveness in a new scientific field that, so far, is primarily developed in North America. The work is expected to make lasting contributions to our understanding of how species interact, and evolve to either co-exist stably or drive each other to extinction with broader implication for both conservation of Biodiversity and Climate change Biology.

Keywords: natural sciences,community genetics,biodiversity,evolutionary biology,biotic interactions,co-existence,empirical model system,new theory
The model plant system Trithuria (Hydatellaceae), a new window into the origin of flowering plants and gene function (ORIGIN)

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: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IOF, 2011)
Start date: 2013-03-13
End date: 2016-07-02
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 231730.8
EU funding (EUR): 231730.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Flowering plants are important because they underpin much of planetary ecology, priming the food chains that power terrestrial ecosystems, and providing us with most of our material needs (oxygen, food, fuel, pharmaceuticals, etc). The study of a few highly specialized model plants (such as Arabidopsis) has been a particularly powerful paradigm for understanding the functional biology of plants. These studies are currently being integrated with large-scale DNA sequencing studies of diverse plant genomes, allowing plant biologists to unravel patterns of gene diversification (= phylogenetics), and facilitating predictive studies of gene function in a comparative biological framework (= phylogenomics). Functional plant biologists have focused the bulk of their attention on the monocots and eudicots, the two largest groups of flowering plants. Until now we have lacked an early evolving angiosperm to provide a meaningful point of comparison for phylogenomic studies of existing model plant systems, and of the crop plants that underpin much of the European agroeconomy. Trithuria submersa in the family Hydatellaceae is being developed as a new model system to fill this important gap. I propose to develop large-scale phylogenetic data sets from genomic data that have been generated for this family. I will use this to resolve the branching order of the first flowering plants, which include Hydatellaceae. This will address a major conundrum in plant biology that has been unresolved since the time of Charles Darwin. I will also explore how these data sets can be used as a tool to better predict gene function and orthology (relatedness) in other major groups of flowering plants. Finally, I will resolve a key problem in the species biology of Trithuria submersa concerning its genetic boundaries, as it is currently unclear if this plant is a single highly diverse species or up to three distinct but closely related species.

Keywords: natural sciences,biological sciences,botany,systematic botany,biodiversity characterisation
The Alberese Archaeological Project (AAP): new research techniques for understanding the Roman period in southern Tuscany (2nd century BC – 6th century AD) (ALBTUSMED II)

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-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-09-17
End date: 2014-09-16
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200371.8
EU funding (EUR): 200371.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Drawing upon new archaeological data from excavations in the territory of Alberese (GR – Italy), the proposed project will enhance our understanding of the Roman period (2nd century BC – 6th century AD) in South Etruria by focussing on 4 key issues: • What was the impact of the Roman conquest of the region? • What kind of economic infrastructure came into being – in particular, the relationship between cities and the rural settlements in their territories, and the distributive systems including cabotage ports and harbours? • How did economic patterns change after the 2nd century AD economic crisis? • How did the economic and social system change at the fall of the Roman Empire, and what was the impact of these changes on the urban, rural and maritime settlements? Adopting a multi-scalar approach, and using the most modern scientific and analytical techniques, we will investigate and compare the data from the Alberese excavations (the ‘local’) with two other Italian sub-regions. The first is the ager Cosanus where data is available for the colony of Cosa, the Roman villa of Settefinestre, some maritime villas, cabotage ports and a mansio over the river Osa. The second sub-region is the Tiber valley, where the results of the outstanding Tiber Valley Project (which embraces research on both Roman urban and rural settlement) have been recently published. These three Tyrrhenian territories will then be compared with the trends revealed by recent archaeological research at the Adriatic seaport and city of Butrint (Albania) - in order to provide a Mediterranean perspective on socio-economic and settlement change.

Keywords: humanities archaeology technologies landscape ancient economies tuscany albania mediterranean
Multimodal Novel Technique for Breast Cancer Detection and Classification Combining PEM with UWB (BREASTCANCERDETECT)

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: Portugal
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2013-01-01
End date: 2015-11-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 151426.8
EU funding (EUR): 151426.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer and the 5th leading cause of death amongst women in developed countries as of 2004, according to the World Health Organisation. X-Ray mammography is the defacto imaging examination used for diagnosis; however there are well-known limitations in terms of sensitivity and specificity, especially in dense breasts common in younger women. This leads to worrying levels of false results, which may ultimately compromise the efficiency of treatment. This project will combine two novel breast cancer imaging techniques: Positron Emission Mammography (PEM) and Ultra Wideband Radar (UWB). It is sought to create equivalent computer breast and tumour models that will be used simultaneously in PEM and UWB simulations. This will be accomplished by adapting Magnetic Resonance breast data, in collaboration with the University of Calgary, Canada. Different types of tissue will be modelled in an FDTD simulation for UWB, while Monte Carlo simulations will be used for PEM. We will use simulated data to test the sensitivity and specificity of detection and classification of tumours, varying from very fatty to high dense breast models. Doubtful classification of tumours that may be obtained with PEM (in cases of small multifocal tumours or in cases with borderline Standardized Uptake Values) are expected to be resolved by applying combined automatic classification techniques to Radar Target Signatures of tumours obtained with UWB. The use of radar information will help differentiate tumours fine morphology (invisible to PEM) increasing the knowledge about its aggressiveness. The main objective of this work is to make a significant contribution to a more reliable multimodal breast examination which will have higher rates of sensitivity and specificity. In view of recent technical developments in UWB Radar and PEM systems, we aim to provide the basic scientific knowledge to justify the interest of building a hybrid PEM-UWB system.

Keywords: breast cancer,signal processing,multimodal detection and classification,positron emission mammography,ultra wideband radar
The role of nitric oxide in survival of low oxygen stress in plants (TRNOILOS)

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-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-09-12
End date: 2014-09-11
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 209033.4
EU funding (EUR): 209033.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Flooding is a severe environmental stress that occurs in many natural and man-made ecosystems worldwide. Flooding leads to oxygen deprivation in roots and the maintenance of basal metabolic activity during periods of hypoxia, or even anoxia, is essential for their survival during flooding stress. This is achieved with varying degrees of success among crop species by maintaining minimal levels of ATP production and regeneration of NAD+ through anaerobic respiration during flooding. Recent studies show that plants can fine tune their metabolism in response to a decline in oxygen concentration by switching to alternative pathways to avoid internal anoxia. One of the characteristic features of the response to oxygen deprivation in roots is the very substantial increase in the production of nitric oxide (NO). This small, lipophilic free radical is synthesized in virtually all organisms and is used as a signalling molecule that directly interacts with cell thiols or the catalytic metal centres of proteins. In plants, there are several oxidative and reductive pathways for the production of NO, and it is the nitrate reductase and plant mitochondrial pathways that are the most likely sources for NO during hypoxia. In addition class 1 haemoglobins play an important role in scavenging NO levels during hypoxia. Despite extensive research, the mechanisms that underlie the sensing and response to oxygen deprivation, including the reprogramming of gene expression and the metabolic processes that enhance survival during flooding, have not been fully elucidated in plants. The project aims at defining the functional role of hypoxically-produced NO as a low oxygen sensor for the regulation of primary metabolism during flooding stress in Arabidopsis plants. The investigation will provide new insights into low-oxygen-sensing mechanisms and the metabolic adjustments associated with the controlled use of carbohydrate and ATP during hypoxic survival.

Keywords: low oxygen,nitric oxide,flooding stress,metabolic flux analysis
Multiwavelength spectral timing of black holes and neutron stars: a new step in our understanding of accretion processes (ACCRETION STATES)

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,United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-06-01
End date: 2014-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200371.8
EU funding (EUR): 200371.8
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Accretion is a common physical process in the Universe, playing a crucial role in galactic and extra-galactic astronomy. Accretion can be studied in detail by looking at black holes and neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), where changes occur on timescales favorable for human studies. X-ray observations of these systems during the last decade have revealed that accretion proceeds via various accretion states. Optical and near-infrared (OIR) emission was thought to originate from thermal reprocessing of the X-ray emission by the accretion disc. Recent spectral and timing multiwavelength studies are, however, challenging this classical scenario. The new studies show that a relativistic outflow in the form of a jet plays an important role in the accretion process. Key to these new works are fast, high signal-to-noise OIR observations. However, these new studies are not systematic in the sense that only a few accretion states and sources have been covered. The proposed project would provide the systematic study by determining the origin of the multiwavelength emission via a spectral and fast variability study covering all the accretion states observed in both neutron stars and black holes. To this end I have gathered an extensive database of simultaneous, high time-resolution X-ray, optical and near-infrared observations, and the host is a leading institute in new radio facilities like LOFAR and MeerKAT, which will provide guaranteed data to the project. Both spectral and timing analysis tools will be applied to the data set. For the interpretation I will use two numerical codes that will allow me to interpret the simultaneous high time resolution X-ray and OIR data.

Keywords: physical sciences,astrophysics,accretion,black holes,neutron stars,x-ray binaries
Molecular mechanisms in the establishment of disease transmission by invertebrate vectors (BACTINSECT)

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: Portugal
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2013-06-01
End date: 2015-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 151426.8
EU funding (EUR): 151426.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Symbiosis is a major adaptive process allowing bacteria to interact with other organisms to colonise diverse and adverse environments. The genetic mechanisms behind these symbioses are poorly understood despite the fact that some have a major weight on human health and/or welfare. The goal of this project is to investigate the molecular mechanisms involved in monospecific bacterial-host interactions, in particular those occurring between invertebrates and bacteria leading to disease transmission. As a tool, I will use a simple symbiosis model involving Drosophila melanogaster and Pectobacterium carotovorum (formerly Erwinia carotovora), two genetically tractable organisms which will enable the contributions from both the host vector and the bacterial infective agent to be studied. We predict that the genetic determinants of bacterial-host interactions do not differ much and in several cases may rely on a simple genetic basis: the acquisition of a single gene allowing bacteria to colonize the gut of the host. To confirm this hypothesis, we will study the role of EVF (Erwinia virulence factor) in the symbiotic relationship between P. carotovorum and D. melanogaster as well as that of EVF homologues in Photorhabdus luminescens and Xenorhabdus nematophila, both specific nematode symbionts and insect pathogens. In addition, we will dissect the cell-signalling systems, including bacterial quorum sensing, in the insect-borne transmission of P. carotovorum and study the impact of quorum-sensing interference (quorum quenching) in its prevention.

Keywords: insect,pathogen,infection,quorum sensing,symbiosis,pectobacterium carotovorum,xenorhabdus,photorhabdus,evf
Embodiment of social communication: The affective and sensory bases of second language in early and late bilinguals (EMBODIEDSOCIALCOM)

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-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-03-01
End date: 2014-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 183805.8
EU funding (EUR): 183805.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The proposed research program consists of a series of integrated experiments designed to make a contribution to an improved understanding of communication dynamics in the current reality of multicultural societies that requires participation in two (or more) linguistic communities. Specifically the research investigates the implications of emotion language in primary (L1) and secondary language (L2) in early and late bilinguals. The general argument is that the modalities that ground concepts in L1 and L2 are unlikely to be equivalent on behavioral and physiological indicators, particularly with late bilinguals. The main theoretical contribution of this proposal is to be found in the implications that this research is likely to have to the current debate on the embodiment perspective on language. As far as we know, these are the first studies on embodiment using bilingual samples, which may lend new and additional support to the assumptions that cognition and language are grounded on affective bodily states and identify the constrains of such assumptions when L2 is at stake. The applied implications of investigating differences in the modality driven grounding of concepts between L1 and L2 are far reaching for intercultural communication. The proposed research elucidates the factors and conditions that constrain the use of L2 in everyday discourse across a variety of contexts where the daily use of a second language for professional, recreational and interpersonal purposes is increasingly required and has implications for the educational policies regarding second language acquisition.

Keywords: embodiment,social communication,bilingualism,social sciences,psychological sciences,social psychology,experimental psychology