Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Tempo-spatial stochastic volatility: Modelling and statistical inference (TSSV)

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-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2012-10-01
End date: 2017-02-03
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Statistics for tempo-spatial data is one of the most important research frontiers in modern statistics. This project proposes to introduce and develop the concept of tempo-spatial stochastic volatility, which allows one to model volatility clusters both in time and in space. Empirical evidence for stochastic volatility is ubiquitous, and hence, it is vital and urgent that statistical models and estimation methods will be developed to account for this key quantity. Stochastic volatility is a latent variable, meaning that it is not directly observable but needs to be estimated from other (observable) variables. The main research objectives are to construct novel, non-parametric estimators for tempo-spatial stochastic volatility and to establish the corresponding asymptotic theory for constructing confidence regions. Moreover, fully parametric classes of stochastic volatility models will be developed, and the corresponding statistical inference techniques will be derived. The objectives will be achieved by developing the concept of realised quadratic variation for random fields, which results in a non-parametric proxy for tempo-spatial stochastic volatility. Also, novel, parametric estimation procedures will be designed to estimate the parameters of new tempo-spatial stochastic volatility models based on a quasi-maximum-likelihood framework. The completion of this project will be a major breakthrough in statistics and will solidify Europe’s leadership in this field. Moreover, it is of key relevance to the Work Programme since it strongly contributes to the initiative “sustainable growth”: The results of this research project are directly applicable to, e.g. measuring and modelling the risk associated with climate change and to finding an optimal design for wind farms, making renewable sources of energy more efficient and reliable.

Keywords: m114 probability and statistics: tempo-spatial statistics,random fields,stochastic volatility,quadratic variation,non-parametric volatility estimation,statistical inference,asymptotic theory
REGULATORY GENE NETWORKS IN SEED COAT DEVELOPMENT (SEEDNET)

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-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2013-01-01
End date: 2016-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Plant seeds are responsible for most of the world’s food supply and are important for the production of biofuels, fibers, and value-added chemicals. Seeds are also complex biological structures made of three genetically different tissues: the embryo, the endosperm that has nourishing functions and the seed coat that interfaces with the environment. The seed coat of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana can be divided into five structurally different layers. The innermost layer, the endothelium, accumulates proanthocyanidins, strong antioxidant compounds that create a protective chemical and physical barrier, and coordinates seed growth in concert with the endosperm, embryo and other seed coat layers. From an applied perspective, the endothelium is responsible for the important agronomic trait of seed quality and growing evidence suggests that seed proanthocyanidins are beneficial for human health. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying seed coat development might have profound scientific and practical implications. I propose a project aimed at elucidating the regulatory gene networks responsible for the development of the endothelium in A. thaliana. In order to achieve this goal, I propose to first dynamically profile the endothelium transcriptome through the INTACT method for individual cell types isolation. Second, I plan to start mapping regulatory gene networks by characterizing the downstream target genes of the TRANSPARENT TESTA 16 (TT16) transcription factor, known to play a key role in A. thaliana endothelium development. This study will be combined with a complementary analysis of TT16 protein complexes. Finally, the data obtained by each of the three project steps will be cross-analyzed in order to gain a broader understanding of the molecular processes underlying endothelium development and discover potentially novel genes involved in seed coat development to be further characterized.

Keywords: l101 molecular biology and interactions,l108 biochemistry of signal transduction,l310 developmental genetics - embryology in plants,l201 genomics - comparative genomics - functional genomics
Applications of Critical Casimir Forces (CRITICALFORCE)

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-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2012-08-01
End date: 2016-07-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Nanoscience and nanotechnology are in the process of revolutionising the way we live and do science. In the context of this drive towards the nanoscale, the specific aim of the present project to provide new tools to harness forces and interactions at mesoscopic and nanoscopic length-scales, e.g., the forces arising between several nanodevices, by gaining a better understanding and by exploring possible applications of critical Casimir forces. Critical Casimir forces are interesting from the fundamental point of view as a manifestation of critical phenomena, but also, and perhaps more importantly, from the technological point of view, e.g., as a tunable mechanism to prevent the sticking in MEMS and NEMS (micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems) due to QED (quantum-electrodynamical) Casimir forces. The experimental study of critical Casimir forces acting on microscopic object is a fairly new field of research, which can benefit from the novel techniques we are going to deploy within this proposal.

Keywords: critical fluctuations,critical casimir forces,quantum-electro-dynamical casimir forces,force measurement,photonic force microscopy,digital video microscopy
From Gene Regulatory Networks to Specification, Differentiation and Morphogenesis in the sea urchin embryo (ECT-SPEC-DIFF-MORPH)

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-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2016-12-07
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

A fundamental challenge in developmental biology is to understand how regulatory networks transform regulatory information into cell fate specification and differentiation. Addressing this challenge requires a comprehensive analysis of the regulatory connections between the transcription factors present in a cell and their regulatory and structural targets through developmental time. The sea urchin aboral ectoderm provides an excellent system to dissect these connections due to its accessibility to quantitative expression studies and the multiple developmental programs executed in this territory. One of these programs drives the differentiation of the entire aboral ectoderm into squamous epithelium and represses neural fate, while other programs define regulatory sub-domains within the aboral ectoderm important to normal morphogenesis of other embryonic territories. These programs depend strongly on the BMP pathway, a highly conserved regulator of ecotdermal patterning. Here we propose to identify the downstream targets of the aboral ectoderm regulatory network and to construct a mechanistic model of the aboral ectoderm specification and differentiation. We will conduct a genome-wide identification of (1) cis-regulatory elements that the aboral ectoderm transcription factors bind to (2) genes that respond to perturbation of the aboral ectoderm transcription factors. The function of identified cis-regulatory elements will be tested using a new high-throughput technology. The expression of key target genes will be perturbed and their effect on the aboral ectoderm morphology and embryogenesis will be studied. Based on this analysis we will construct a mathematical model that simulates the dynamic function of the aboral ectoderm regulatory network. Thus, this project will provide unprecedented understanding of the dynamic regulation of an entire developmental process, from regulatory state establishment to the acquisition of cellular and morphological properties.

Keywords: l309 developmental genetics - embryology in animals,l305 cell differentiation - physiology and dynamics,l208 epigenetics and gene regulation,l213 systems biology
Diagnostics of linguistic change: Mapping language change in real and apparent time (DIALING)

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: Germany
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2013-02-01
End date: 2017-01-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The project aims to investigate the mechanisms of language change across the life-span and across the community. It provides the applicant with a platform to advance her research on linguistic change at Leipzig University by exploiting a corpus she has assembled in the last 5 years in collaboration with colleagues at Newcastle University. The research is based on 2 innovative data-sets: (i) A longitudinal corpus which contains spoken data recorded in the 1960s, the 1990s and the 2000s. The project takes advantage of the full range of diachronic evidence by analysing a socially balanced data-set of informants born almost one hundred years apart. (ii) Re-recordings of a panel sample of 10 speakers from the original 1960s data. The project considers four linguistic features at two levels of linguistic structure (phonology and morphosyntax) that are currently undergoing change in order to investigate the role of modularity in language variation across the life-span and in longitudinal historical change. As such, the project aims to test and refine models that have been proposed as regards the possible range and generalisability of linguistic variability during the speakers’ life and across linguistic variables. The integration of longitudinal trend and panel sampling is very rare in research on language variation and change and allows tracing the trajectory of on-going language change from the second half of the 19th into the second decade of the 21st century. The proposed research fits well within the ecology of linguistic research at Leipzig and promises to deepen collaborations between the University and other research institutes within Germany and across the EU. The project allows the applicant to make significant contributions in a field in which she has already established a considerable reputation and, by retaining a widely esteemed scientist in the EU, it contributes to its scientific excellence.

Keywords: s208 use of language
Closing the seed-dispersal loop: How does seed-dispersal affect plant population structure at the global, regional and local scales? (SEEDS)

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: Portugal
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2013-01-01
End date: 2016-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Seed-dispersal is an important ecosystem function with important consequences for the dynamics of plant and animal populations. This project will cover four related objectives which will evaluate different aspects of seed dispersal at the global (biogeographic), regional (national) and local (community) scales deepening the current knowledge on seed dispersal and its consequences. Early botanists identified sets of fruit-traits – i.e. dispersal syndromes – which improve the likelihood of propagules attaining seed-dispersal by specific dispersal mechanisms. Such syndromes have been at the centre of several important inferences regarding the long-distance dispersal of seed (LDD) and the colonization of new habitats by plants, although such inferences have been often speculative. By comparing the characteristics of the Azorean and the European floras, I will evaluate which, if any, syndrome has been favoured for the colonization of the Azores islands by plants. Simultaneously I will evaluate for the first time whether dispersal syndromes are a solid base to infer actual seed-dispersal mechanisms and thus colonization vectors for seeds. At a regional scale I will use historical data on plant and bird distributions in the UK and the Netherlands to determine the possible consequences of historical bird declines – and hence seed-dispersal – on plants bearing different dispersal syndromes. Finally I will be applying a complex-network approach at a local scale to evaluate the inter-year variability and estimating the effect of sampling effort on the main descriptors of seed-dispersal networks in a scenario of plant invasions in central Portugal.

Keywords: v305 ecology,v107 population dynamics,v303 biogeography,v304 conservation biology - ecology - genetics
Global Lithospheric Imaging using Earthquake Recordings (GLIMER)

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: Norway
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2012-08-01
End date: 2016-07-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The objective of the proposed project is to conduct a global survey of lithospheric interfaces using converted teleseismic body waves. Data from permanent and temporary seismic networks worldwide will be processed automatically to produce global maps of key interfaces (Moho, intra-lithospheric interfaces, lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary). The seismic results will be interpreted in conjunction with constraints from complementary fields of the earth sciences such as tectonics, geodynamics, petrology, and geochemistry. This will provide a unique view of how the properties of these interfaces vary between different tectonic environments and thus how the interfaces relate to geological processes at work in these various environments. The results will be distributed to the scientific community in the form of data products through an original web-based application. They will also be included in a public outreach program aimed at increasing public awareness about solid earth sciences.

Keywords: solid earth,seismic structure,lithospheric interfaces,converted waves,process automation,global mapping,data integration,continental formation and evolution
Sexual Selection and the Evolution of Sperm Competitiveness: The Cost and the Avoidance of Oxidative Stress in Sperm Cells (OXIDASPERM)

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,Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2013-02-01
End date: 2017-01-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Sexual selection drives the rapid evolution of reproductive traits and genes. Specifically, high levels of sperm competition (the process in which female promiscuity forces the ejaculates from rival males to compete to fertilize the same ova) results in an improvement in sperm competitiveness. One of the main determinants of sperm competitiveness is swimming velocity, which enables sperm to outcompete rival sperm in the race to fertilize the ova. The increase in sperm metabolism associated with enhanced swimming speed is expected to increase levels of oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is known to affect sperm membranes as well as DNA integrity, leading to decreased sperm function and the transmission of genetic disease to offspring. We will investigate, in a group of closely related species of rodents that differ dramatically in their levels of sperm competition, if sperm competition results in higher levels of oxidative stress, and if such oxidative stress is prevented by the evolution of protective counter-measures such as changes in the composition of the plasma membrane, increased antioxidant defenses, or a greater degree of condensation of the DNA within the sperm head.

Keywords: l801 ecology,l804 biodiversity - comparative biology,l402 comparative physiology
Molecular and pharmacology study of the transient receptor potential channel TRPV1 (POLYMODALITY)

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-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2016-08-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The somatosensory system detects and integrates a large array of noxious stimuli of highly divergent nature. Members of the transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channel family play a pivotal role in the detection of innocuous and noxious stimuli, of both physical and chemical nature. Thus, elucidating the gating mechanisms of these channels is essential for our understanding of somatosensation and nociception. Taken the polymodal nature of those somatosensory TRP channels, our overall goal is to provide a comprehensive understanding of their activation mechanisms as evoked by various stimuli. TRPV1, a member of this family, detects a variety of pain-evoking molecules such as vanilloids (capsaicin), protons and animal peptide toxins. This activity is mediated by at least two distinct channel regions; each binds different set of activators. Despite its central role in pain perception, our knowledge of TRPV1 molecular mechanism of action is limited. Here, we propose to examine the stoichiometry and allosteric regulation of TRPV1 activation through its two distinct binding regions. Our working hypothesis is that because TRPV1 is required to detect and react to a large range of noxious stimuli, each of its ligand-binding regions evolved to induce a defined activation mechanism. We will use concatemeric rat TRPV1 harboring subunit-specific mutants, which will be expressed in heterologous systems. We will analyze for changes in TRPV1 activation by various ligands using specific electrophysiological assays designed to measure channel gating, combined with calcium imaging and biochemical assays. Overall, the proposed study will identify the allosteric regulatory mechanisms by which TRPV1 is activated through its distinct ligand-binding regions, mechanisms that ultimately underlie the detection of noxious stimuli and pain perception. In whole, this study will facilitate the rational design of analgesics drugs, specifically targeting ligand-binding sites on pain receptors.

Keywords: trpv1,trp channels,ion channel gating,allosteric regulation,ion channel structure-function,patch clamp,electrophysiology,heterologous expression
SMBH evolution across cosmic time: from current surveys to eROSITA and Euclid AGN synergies (EEASY)

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: Italy
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2013-01-01
End date: 2016-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Understanding how the first active galaxies (AGN) and quasars formed in the early Universe and how they evolved along Cosmic Time is a major observational and theoretical effort. Despite the progress made in recent years, often sparse and not always conclusive, we do not yet have a clear consistent picture of when did SuperMassive Black Holes start to accrete, which growth modes occur, and under what conditions. What is required is a systematic analysis and interpretation of high-quality multi-wavelength data on a sample as large as possible of representative AGNs. I will exploit X-ray, optical, infrared and millimeter data from different multi-wavelength survey I am already involved in and foresee an efficient and timely use of newly inaugurated facilities such, as ALMA, X-Shooter, WFC3, LUCIFER among others. With these data I will construct the largest, homogeneous and complete sample of AGN to date, needed to address the main objectives of this proposal: 1) determine the AGN bolometric luminosity function, and study its evolution with the cosmic time; 2) measure the incidence of mergers and smooth processes for the triggering AGNs; 3) study the effect of AGN feedback on galaxy growth; 4) provide the first significant samples of high-z AGN to be used as constraints on BH formation models; 5) define optimal strategies to exploit synergies between two upcoming all-sky surveys, eROSITA and Euclid. My previous, recognized experience in the field assures a timely accomplishment of the project. I will be enrolled as a permanent researcher at the Astronomy Department of the University of Bologna - the Host Institute selected for this project. With the additional funding provided by the CIG I will be able to promote my own research activities in addition to my teaching duties. By enhancing my skills in project managements and securing fundings the CIG grant will enhance the possibilities of a quick access to the Associate Professor level.

Keywords: p301 astronomy - astrophysics and cosmology