Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
A POLitical Ecology of Land-Use Change (POLELUC) (POLELUC)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG, 2011)
Start date: 2011-10-01
End date: 2015-10-28
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This ‘Political Ecology of Land-Use Change’ (POLELUC) focuses on the appropriation of large areas of land, the so-called ‘land grab’, for crops that are predominantly utilized for the production of agrofuels. These phenomena are related to increasing complexities in the governance of land and natural resources, and to discourses around food and energy security and climate change. ‘Land grabs’ and agrofuels production have become key analytical domains for agrarian political economists, political ecologists and ecological economists interested in examining if these processes translate into local and national economic benefits, reproduce inequalities in access to land and result in ecological impacts and trade-offs across ecosystem services, among others. The project proposed takes a cross-scale, multidisciplinary approach to ‘land grab’ and agrofuels production in three Latin American countries (Argentina, Paraguay and Guatemala), paying attention to governance processes and socio-ecological transformations in rural villages involved in oil palm, sugar cane and/or soy plantations. The project relies on traditional qualitative and quantitative methods from the social sciences, innovatively combined with a Multi-Scale Integrated Assessment of the Social Metabolism (MuSIASEM) in selected villages, to determine the biophysical and socio-economic impacts of plantantions and to draw effective comparisons across selected localities. POLELUC is a four-year extremely relevant project at a time that new research is highlighting an increasing number of ‘land grabs’ and the advancement of ‘agrofuels frontier’ in developing countries, and that perceptions of oil scarcity and energy and food security concerns shape investment flows and policy agendas. Project findings will inform academic debates on ‘land grabbing’ and agrofuels, develop further applications of MuSIASEM in this context and discuss the socio-ecological implications of the EU biofuels policy in Latin America.

Keywords: social sciences,political ecology,ecological economics,resilience,institutions,property rights,discourse,land-use,ecosystem services,africa,south america
Information Flow in Opportunistic Wireless Networks (INFLOW)

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: Greece
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG, 2011)
Start date: 2011-09-01
End date: 2016-05-10
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The objective of INFLOW is to develop the methodology and algorithms for the modeling and analysis of optimal information flow in future wireless networks, thus leading to the design of new network protocols and algorithms. Building on recent breakthroughs in network information theory and in distributed systems, the aim is to leverage the potential of networks consisting essentially of wireless and mobile nodes. Advances in this area will have a significant impact on the possibilities of the future Internet. Portable devices with ubiquitous wireless connectivity have the potential to revolutionize the personal computing landscape, creating opportunities for unprecedented applications and services. But, standing in the way of this vision are challenges spanning the entire system architecture, due to the distinct characteristics of the wireless medium. To overcome such challenges, further research investigations focused on the understanding of the fundamental properties of complex wireless systems are needed. The first goal consists in pushing the theoretical performance limits of mobile and wireless networks, taking into account the state of the art results in network information theory, and thus focusing on two emerging key principles: opportunistic networking and network coding. Thus, we propose to study dynamically changing networks, i.e., networks where the structure, topology, and demands may vary in a short time scale as compared to the information transfer. The proposed interdisciplinary approach draws on advanced mathematical models, founded on information theory, stochastic analysis, the techniques developed for the analysis of algorithms, and statistical physics inspired methods to study the emerging behavior of large-scale networks. But, the goal is to deliver practical network solutions, in the form of new protocols, architectures and algorithms, which are derived from the insights provided by the modeling analysis, and offer optimized performance.

Keywords: telecommunications,wireless netoworks,mobile networks,information theory,network coding
Fiscal Sustainability in Europe (FISCSUST)

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: Türkiye
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG, 2011)
Start date: 2011-12-01
End date: 2015-11-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The purpose of this research project is to develop a new theoretical framework in evaluating the sustainability of fiscal policy and evolution of debt with particular emphasis on recent European experience. Fiscal or debt sustainability in literature in its most stylized form is defined as satisfying an inter-temporal budget constraint. Although it serves as a useful benchmark lower bound based on 'ability' to pay, this is a very crude approach due to its disregard of many interesting dynamics economic and political sphere contains related to 'willingness' to pay as for political decision makers with limited life spans that depend on public approval, it is really hard to make the distinction between the notions ‘ability’ and ‘willingness’ to pay. In this project we aim to introduce measures and develop a framework that incorporates these neglected dimensions in existing literature. We will do so by building general equilibrium models that endogenize optimal fiscal policy making in environments that have richer preference and constraints structure that resemble what we observe as practical fiscal policy making sphere more. This framework will allow us to investigate the dynamic interaction of fiscal policy with political sphere in the form of preferences and institutional constraints. We will also specifically focus on the evaluation of ‘fiscal rules’ in a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium framework that allows for welfare analysis as well. To be more precise, we will be able to find endogenous sustainability thresholds under different preference and environment scenarios. This will provide us with valuable insights that can be translated into policy sphere and possibly tested against data.

Keywords: social sciences,macroeconomics,political economy
Nanoparticles as photocatalysts: understanding their interaction with light (NANOPHOCAT)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG, 2011)
Start date: 2011-09-01
End date: 2014-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 75000.0
EU funding (EUR): 75000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The industrial need for green, cost effective catalysts is crucial. Recently, attention has been placed on the generation of novel catalysts that can be developed at a minimal cost and efficiently yield the desired products. The general aim of the project is to use light-driven strategies to design nanosystems and develop novel photocatalysis, by using the interaction of these nanosystems with light. The topic of this project is integrated in an area of great actuality and potentiality, at the intersection between nanotechnology, organic chemistry, the design of functional molecules, supramolecular chemistry, and photochemistry/photophysics. Since light is being used for so many different applications in the area of nanotechnology, it is crucial to understand the effect of light excitation on the nanoparticles (NPs) and which processes can be derived from these light-nanosystem interactions. Thus, the specific objective of this project is to gain knowledge about how light-driven strategies can be applied to: 1) make colloidal nanodevices, as well as for controlling their size- and/or shape- modification, i.e., application of light as a tool for the preparation of functional nanodevices; and 2) use the photochemical and photophysical properties of new or known nanomaterials to develop new synthetic routes. Switchability of NP in the systems under study will also be explored. These objectives will be achieved by developing the proposed work plan at The Institute of Molecular Science at the University of Valencia under the supervision of Prof. Perez-Prieto. The candidate has signed already a contract for three years starting in September 2011 and is willing to transfer the knowledge she has acquired in Canada working in Prof. Scaiano's group, to the European Community. During these three years she will develop her strong carrier plan that would allow her to consolidate and establish her scientific career in Europe.

Keywords: nanotechnology,photocatalysis,light-driven processes,semiconductor nanoparticles,metallic nanoparticles,up-conversion nanoparticles
mechanisms of GABAergic interneurons axonal branching in developing cerebellum network (GABAXONETDEV)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG, 2011)
Start date: 2011-08-01
End date: 2015-07-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The appropriate wiring of neuronal circuits in mammalian brain forms the basis to generate, integrate, and process patterns of neuronal activity, which underlie perception and cognition. GABAergic inhibitory circuits consist of an array of interneuron cell types with distinct morphology, physiological properties, and synaptic connectivity patterns, and may constitute a scaffold to organize local cortical connectivity and activity. A definite feature of GABAergic innervation is their specific axonal morphology and specific target cell and domain recognition, which allow precise spatial and temporal control of neuronal signaling, dynamics, and plasticity. Dysfunctions of GABAergic system have been implicated in a variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, and depression. Although GABAergic connectivity is essential for the construction of functional cortical circuits, the formation and development of exquisite GABAergic axon branches in general are poorly characterized. The purpose of the current proposal is to follow the early events of interneuron neurites outgrowth and branching and to identify the molecules involved during this process using state of the art technical approches. The ultimate goal is to describe how environmental signals specifically shape and build functional neuronal circuit in relation to their genetic content. While physiologists are very well aware about the importance of GABAergic interneurons circuitry in regulating all the aspects of synaptic communication (i.e. input, integration and output as well as synchronization) of principal neurons, the cellular and molecular mechanism of GABAergic circuitry development remained unknown. This field is a new and almost untouched area that will brings new idea and will link together multiple research domains of neuroscience from Gene expression, cell biology and axon guidance to cell signaling and physiology

Keywords: health sciences,gaba,interneurons,cerebellum,circuit,development,branching,bac,transgenic,mice,in vivo
The molecular and cellular basis of structural plasticity and reorganisation in chronic pain (PAIN PLASTICITY)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Neurosciences and neural disorders
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (ERC-2011-ADG_20110310, 2011)
Start date: 2012-07-01
End date: 2018-06-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1992000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1992000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Chronic pain is a serious medical problem and a socioeconomic burden that severely reduces quality of life worldwide. Neural plasticity constitutes a key element of pathological pain, which can come about over various anatomical and temporal scales. Apart from functional plasticity, tremendous potential exists for changes in the structure, connectivity and representation of pain, which can account for long-term persistence of pathological pain. This grant aims to study structural plasticity processes in the somatosensory nociceptive system, test their functional significance and address underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms, a topic not adequately studied so far owing to technical constraints. On the background of our established repertoire of mouse models for chronic pain and transgenic/viral gene delivery/RNA interference approaches for molecular manipulations, two key complementary methodologies will be employed to visualize and modify structural plasticity, namely non-invasive multiphoton in vivo imaging and optogenetic reversible modulation of neuronal activity in vivo, respectively. We will dynamically study sprouting, regeneration and rewiring of sensory nerves over the progression of neuropathic and tumor-evoked pain and image invasion of tumor cells into nerves. Moreover, we will directly image remodelling of synaptic contacts in brain regions processing pain. Importantly, the impact of structural changes on function will be studied by measuring pain behavior concurrently in the same animals and via targeted molecular interventions. Secondly, optogenetic activation and reversible silencing of nociceptors or specific areas in the brain in vivo will be used to directly measure peripheral and central contributions to plasticity and chronic pain behavior. These innovative, multidisciplinary approaches promise to deliver important novel insights into mechanisms driving chronic pain and provide a basis for new ways of reversing pathological processes.

Keywords: structural plasticity,peripheral nerves,neuropathic pain,cancer pain,sensory processing in the brain,optogenetics,multi-photon imaging,molecular mechanisms,transgenic mice
Distributed Computation in Synthetic Cellular Consortia (SYNCOM)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: ERC Advanced Grant Interdisciplinary Panel
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (ERC-2011-ADG_20110310, 2011)
Start date: 2012-07-01
End date: 2017-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2764000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2764000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Synthetic biology is still far from producing flexible, programmable, scalable and predictable engineered constructs able to perform complex computations. The main problem has arisen from the fact that, in contrast to electronic designs where wires have identical nature, in a cell-based system each wire would correspond to a different molecular entity. In a joint effort between theoretical and experimental studies, we have established biological circuits with Distributed Computation capacity (Regot et al., 2011), opening the possibility to develop a novel method of properly design general purpose, LEGO-like multicellular systems able to partially avoid wiring limitation. Here, we propose to explore the limits of Distributed Computation in synthetic cellular systems. To this goal, we will extend our previous circuits to circuits with a higher complexity, never achieved to date as well explore the use of different cellular systems as a biological case study. Our preliminary data indicate that there are two aspects, which were not considered previously, that when combined with Distributed Computation, could permit a strong reduction or even eliminate the wires in biological computation; the first aspect is the use of inverse logic circuits and the second is the development of spatially restricted devices. We will set up the theoretical framework of these novel aspects and establish in vivo circuits spatially restricted cellular systems. To this end we propose 1) to use microfluidic devices for physically restricted cellular networks and 2) to implement circuits with mixed but physiologically isolated cells (without wires) with different computation capabilities. In addition, we will extend these studies to obtain highly reprogrammable circuits. The combination of such approaches should demonstrate that biological computation is scalable, allows constructing arbitrary cell-based computing machines and breaks all current limitations concerning circuit complexity.

Keywords: synthetic biology,biological computation,distributed computation,boolean functions,reprogrammable circuits.
Controlling stochastic gene expression during development and stem cell differentiation (GENENOISECONTROL)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call:  (ERC-2011-ADG_20110310, 2011)
Start date: 2012-04-01
End date: 2017-03-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The phenotypic differences between individual organisms can often be ascribed to underlying genetic and environmental variation. However, even genetically identical organisms in homogenous environments vary, suggesting that randomness in developmental processes such as gene expression may also generate diversity. My laboratory has intensively studied stochastic gene expression in microbial systems and more recently started to apply these concepts to multicellular organisms and stem cells. One of the major lessons learned from our work and others is that microbial systems tend to exploit stochastic gene expression by introducing phenotypic diversity into the population. However it is an open question whether stochastic gene expression benefits or hinders decision-making by cells in a developing embryo. On the one hand, the gene expression patterns of different cells during metazoan development must be aligned either to ensure proper tissue formation or maintain a coordinated timing of developmental events. This suggests that stochastic fluctuations in gene expression may be controlled or their effects may be buffered under normal conditions. On the other hand, stem cells might use fluctuations to prime differentiation. A stem cell might continuously fluctuate between different primed states each biased towards a different germ layer fate. As soon as an external differentiation signal appears the cell would rapidly differentiate towards the fate that was stochastically selected. The overarching goal of this proposal is to the understand how stochastic gene expression is controlled, or utilized, during development and stem cell differentiation using the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans and murine embryonic stem cells as experimental model systems. To obtain this goal we will use a combination of quantitative experiments, theoretical and computational approaches, and the development of novel technology.

Keywords: stochastic gene expression
Integrating the activities of SUMO in gene expression, inflammation and cancer (SUMOSTRESS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Physiology, Pathophysiology and Endocrinology
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2011-ADG_20110310, 2011)
Start date: 2013-04-01
End date: 2019-03-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2499996.0
EU funding (EUR): 2499996.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Sumoylation of proteins has emerged as a central regulatory mechanism influencing a wide range of cellular processes and is notably a key pathway facilitating cellular response to stress. Gene expression appears to be particularly regulated by sumoylation as many known SUMO substrates are transcription factors and cofactors. Moreover, key chromatin proteins, including the core histones, figure among the SUMO targets. The emerging paradigm for the proposed work is that sumoylation controls multiple aspects of chromatin structure and that sumoylated proteins are principal and instructive components of a dynamic chromatin scaffold that can respond to external cues. According to this view, sumoylation is expected to impact both global and specific transcriptional programs thereby affecting constitutive and inducible gene expression. The goal of this project is to define the role of sumoylation-mediated gene control in stress response and to analyze the impact of dysregulation of this pathway in inflammation and cancer with a primary focus on the intestinal tract. Our specific aims are to 1) Identify stress-regulated molecular players of the SUMO pathway, 2) Define the genome-wide organization of the SUMO chromatin landscape and its plasticity upon stress, 3) Probe the role of sumoylation in normal and pathological inflammatory response with an emphasis on acute and chronic colitis, 4) Explore the possible implication of the SUMO pathway in colon cancer. This project is supported by a wealth of preliminary data based on genomic approaches and mouse models for partial or complete loss of sumoylation. We expect our study to bring innovative concepts on sumoylation’s role in normal and disease states. Novel regulators of sumoylation will be identified, unsuspected transcriptional networks will be uncovered, determinants of human malignancies and inflammatory diseases will potentially be identified, with a view toward therapeutic strategies seeking to manipulate sumoylation.

Keywords: sumoylation,intestine,stress response,inflammation,oncogenesis,senescence,chromatin,mouse models,inflammatory bowel disease,colon cancer