Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Scientix 2 (SCIENTIX 2)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Science in Society
Destination: Science in Society
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Belgium
Call:  (FP7-Adhoc-2007-13, 2007)
Start date: 2013-01-01
End date: 2016-03-31
Duration (months): 39.0
Total project cost (EUR): 6588324.68
EU funding (EUR): 6000000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The objective of this Scientix 2 proposal is twofold. On the one hand to ensure the continuation/adaptation of the successful current Scientix activities (already managed by EUN Partnership aisbl on behalf of DG Research & Innovation under the Science and Society programme); on the other, to enhance communication and community-building, and help support the development of national strategies for wide uptake and dissemination of inquiry-based science and maths education (IBSME), and other science education methods. The present proposal is based on the first and fifth recommendations of the report "'Science Education Now; A Renewed Pedagogy for the Future of Europe' (Rocard – 2007) which calls for more active involvement of Member States in the renewal of science education as well as better articulation between national activities and those occurring at European level. This proposal intends to help promote strategies for the uptake and dissemination of IBSME and other methodologies known to improve the quality of science education, and to continue to develop effective community-building among science education stakeholders, drawing on the results and lessons learnt during Scientix 1. More specifically, the continuation and adaptation of the current Scientix activities will include the technical maintenance and hosting of the Scientix Internet platform, as well as (1) new features such as content search, adaptation, translation (including at least two additional EU languages), and user uploading possibilities to all sections, (2) a revised dissemination strategy (comprising newsletters, presentations at events, workshops), (3) translation of teaching material for the widest dissemination of best practices, (4) the organization of one major European conference to be held in Brussels, and (5) the production of communication materials (flyers, brochures etc.).

Keywords: young people,science,education,classroom,innovation,inquired science based learning
Multi-level Selection in a Heterogeneous Environment (SHE)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Evolutionary, population and environmental biology
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-01-01
End date: 2019-06-30
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Our understanding of natural and sexual selection is too limited to allow predicting evolutionary responses in the wild. This knowledge gap is due in part to lack of temporal and spatial replication, of non-morphological studies, and of statistical power. This project offers to integrate measures of selection at multiple levels (selection acting on phenotypic, additive genetic and genomic variations) for multiple potentially correlated traits (morphology, life-history, sexual ornament and personality) and across space and time. We will use data from a long-term monitoring project of blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus in multiple Mediterranean study sites. First, a phenotypic approach will measure present selection on combinations of traits, and explore spatio-temporal fluctuations of selection. We will especially test the importance of selection during extreme climatic events. Second, a quantitative genetic approach will estimate how fluctuating selection can impact evolutionary potential, and will predict the future evolutionary response to selection, independently of possible confounding environmental covariances. Third, an ecological genomics approach will analyze the genomic regions found to be associated with phenotypic variation in terms of genetic structure and footprints of selection, thereby providing insights into past selection that has shaped phenotypic variation. We will explore the habitat-specific genetic architecture of two fundamental fitness-related traits: timing of breeding and personality. The originality and strength of this project lay in the unique opportunity to develop refined analyses of selection in the wild in a multi-site setting for a vertebrate living at the species’ range-edge. Its main assets are my expertise on the various analytical approaches and the availability of long term phenotypic and genetic data. Its ambition is to create a textbook example to improve our understanding of the dynamics of selection in space and time.
UNCONVENTIONAL SUPERCONDUCTIVITY FROM A MOTT INSULATING PARENT MATERIAL (SUPERCONDUCTINGMOTT)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Condensed matter physics
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2013-08-01
End date: 2019-03-31
Duration (months): 68.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1703253.0
EU funding (EUR): 1703253.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The mystery of unconventional superconductivity is one that is yet to be solved after decades of research. Better superconductors will have a crucial role in improved energy efficient applications such as power storage and transmission. While the highest temperature superconductors to date are the copper oxide family of antiferromagnetic Mott insulators, the origin of unconventional superconductivity in these materials remains mysterious. Furthermore, there are strikingly few other examples where unconventional superconductivity emerges from Mott insulating materials. In this project we adopt a two-pronged approach to find unconventional superconductivity and potentially novel quantum spin liquid phases in new classes of Mott insulating materials, and to understand the nature of the normal state out of which superconductivity develops in the family of copper oxide superconductors. In the first part of the project, multiple spin-orbit coupled Mott insulating materials will be tuned to induce superconductivity and / or an unconventional quantum spin liquid phase, and a roadmap relating materials properties to emergent unconventional superconductivity developed. In the second part of the project, we will aim to better understand the normal state out of which superconductivity emerges in cuprate superconductors by a study of the nature of Fermi surface evolution from a the small Fermi surface in the underdoped regime to a large Fermi surface in the overdoped regime, potentially via a quantum critical point underlying the superconducting dome. Our findings are anticipated to have important implications for the creation of newer and better superconductors.

Keywords: quantum criticality,strongly correlated electrons,frustrated magnets,quantum magnetism
Exoplanets in Transit and their Atmosphere (EXTRA)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Universe sciences
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-07-01
End date: 2020-06-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2000000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2000000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Since the discoveries of giant planets outside our Solar System, over 800 extra-solar planets have been detected and several thousands candidates are awaiting confirmation. They have revolutionized planetary science, by placing our once unique solar system into context. The subset of extrasolar planets that transit their parent star have had most impact on our understanding of their planetary structure and atmospheric physics: they are the only ones for which one can simultaneously measure mass and radius, and therefore infer internal composition. The few that transit a host star bright enough for detailed spectroscopic follow-up provide, in addition, observational information on the composition and physics of extrasolar planetary atmospheres. Much interest is now focused on finding and characterizing terrestrial mass planets, ideally in the habitable zone of their host stars. The present ERC project offers a novel method to dramatically improve the precision of both the detection and the characterization of exoplanets. The method makes use of multi-object spectrographs to add spectroscopic resolution on traditional differential photometry. This enables the fine correction of the atmospheric variations that would otherwise hinder ground-based observations. We propose to setup small-size telescopes equipped with a multi-object near-IR spectrograph and observe 800 M dwarfs. This will be the most sensitive survey for Earth-size planets transiting bright nearby stars. It shall yield dozens exo-Earths amenable to atmospheric characterization, including several habitable exo-Earths. To perform their atmospheric characterization, we also propose to apply the technique of differential spectro-photometry with multi-object spectrographs available on large telescopes. Our observations will represent a step forward in transmission spectroscopy and prepare for the identification of bio-markers in exo-Earth atmospheres with the future ELTs.

Keywords: exoplanets,transits,late-type stars
Optical dissection of prefrontal neuromodulation: from synapses through networks to behavior (OPTONEUROMOD)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Neurosciences and neural disorders
Countries involved: Israel
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-02-01
End date: 2019-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1429460.0
EU funding (EUR): 1429460.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The neocortex is organized into neural circuits that perform distinct computations, from sensory processing and motor control to memory, learning and language. Neuromodulatory systems projecting to the neocortex exert a powerful influence on cortical computations through neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine, monoamines and neuropeptides. The prefrontal cortex (PFC), a cortical region required for working memory, attention and goal-directed behavior, receives dense projections from multiple neuromodulatory systems that dramatically impact its function. Pioneering work has shown that pharmacological manipulation of these systems can potently modulate attention and cognitive function and that impaired neuromodulation can lead to psychiatric disease. Yet, much of the view of high level cortical function is focused on models that either ignore neuromodulation altogether or treat it as a reward or arousal signal. We propose to elucidate the dynamics and mechanisms of prefrontal neuromodulatory tuning, from the level of synapses and cells to circuits and animal behavior. To achieve this goal, we will map the circuit-level impact of synaptic neuromodulatory inputs on the prefrontal cortex circuit dynamics, develop and apply two novel optogenetic approaches for light-based synaptic silencing and optical recording of cortical neuromodulatory activity in vivo, and establish the causal roles of PFC neuromodulation in attention and working memory. These experiments will enable us for the first time to delineate the specific contribution of distinct neuromodulatory systems to prefrontal function, integrating comprehensive cell- and circuit-level analysis with unique opto-physiological readouts in behaving animals. The project will yield an integrative view of prefrontal neuromodulation, revealing its impact on cortical function and dissecting its roles in cognitive function.

Keywords: cortex,optogenetics,locus ceruleus,acetylcholine,nucleus basalis,noradrenaline,attention,synaptic transmission,snare proteins,microbial rhodopsins
Parsimony and operator methods for treatment of endogeneity and multiple sources of unobserved heterogeneity (POEMH)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Individuals, institutions and markets
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-09-01
End date: 2020-08-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 911388.0
EU funding (EUR): 911388.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity are prevalent notions throughout econometrics. Most of the literature focuses on scalar unobserved heterogeneity. It implies strong restrictions on the heterogeneity of the behaviour of economic agents. This is the case in a binary treatment effect model where scalar unobserved heterogeneity and additive separability of the index in the selection equation are equivalent to the restrictive monotonicity assumption. Nonparametric random coefficients models allow for multiple sources of unobserved heterogeneity and are in line with structural economics. They are also benchmark nonseparable models and can be generalized in various ways. Due to unobserved heterogeneity, but also simultaneity or error in variables, structural models usually involve as well endogenous regressors. Nonparametric models of unobserved heterogeneity and estimation by instrumental variables usually give rise to ill-posed inverse problems. High-dimensional methods are a new set of tools that are increasingly popular in econometrics and allow handling new data configurations with many more potential regressors than observations. They are based on convex relaxation, linear or conic programming ideas, or MCMC algorithms. When the model is well approximated by a parsimonious model where many coefficients are zero they can usually estimate the parameter as well as an oracle who would know the best sparse approximation. They also offer new tools for adaptive nonparametric estimation. Some recent developments are concerned with hidden structured sparsity (structural breakpoints or other patterns other than zeros). This research proposal is on the development of a general framework and new inference tools for flexible models – nonparametric or high-dimensional – with multiple sources of unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity in various models from economics, in particular: programme evaluation, consumer demand, demand for differentiated products, games, etc.
Inflammasome-induced IL-1 Secretion: Route, Mechanism, and Cell Fate (FLAMMASEC)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Immunity and infection
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2019-12-31
Duration (months): 70.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1495533.01
EU funding (EUR): 1495533.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Inflammasomes are intracellular danger-sensing protein complexes that are important for host protection. They initiate inflammation by controlling the activity of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β). Unlike most other cytokines, IL-1β is produced and retained in the cytoplasm in an inactive pro-form. Inflammasome-dependent maturation of proIL-1β is mediated by the common component of all inflammasomes, the protease caspase-1. Caspase-1 also controls the secretion of IL-1β, but the mechanism and route of secretion are unknown. We have recently demonstrated that the ability of caspase-1 to control IL-1β secretion is not dependent on its protease activity, but rather on a scaffold or adapter function of caspase-1. Furthermore, we and others could show that caspase-1 can control the secretion of non-substrates like IL-1α. These insights provide us with new and potentially revealing means to investigate the downstream effector functions of caspase-1, including the route and mechanism of IL-1 secretion. We will develop new tools to study the process of IL-1 secretion by microscopy and the novel mode-of-action of caspase-1 through the generation of transgenic models. Despite the important role of IL-1 in host defence against infection, dysregulated inflammasome activation and IL-1 production has a causal role in a number of acquired and hereditary auto-inflammatory conditions. These include particle-induced sterile inflammation (as is seen in gout and asbestosis), hereditary periodic fever syndromes, and metabolic diseases like diabetes and atherosclerosis. Currently, recombinant proteins that block the IL-1 receptor or deplete secreted IL-1 are used to treat IL-1-dependent diseases. These are costly treatments, and are also therapeutically cumbersome since they are not orally available. We hope that a better understanding of caspase-1-mediated secretion of IL-1 will unveil mechanisms that may serve as targets for future therapies for these diseases.

Keywords: inflammasome,interleukin-1,secretion,caspase-1,pyroptosis
Circuits of con-specific observation (C.O.C.O.)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Neurosciences and neural disorders
Countries involved: Portugal
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2013-12-01
End date: 2018-11-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1412376.0
EU funding (EUR): 1412376.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

A great deal is known about the neural basis of associative fear learning. However, many animal species are able to use social cues to recognize threats, a defence mechanism that may be less costly than learning from self-experience. We have previously shown that rats perceive the cessation of movement-evoked sound as a signal of danger and its resumption as a signal of safety. To study transmission of fear between rats we assessed the behavior of an observer while witnessing a demonstrator rat display fear responses. With this paradigm we will take advantage of the accumulated knowledge on learned fear to investigate the neural mechanisms by which the social environment regulates defense behaviors. We will unravel the neural circuits involved in detecting the transition from movement-evoked sound to silence. Moreover, since observer rats previously exposed to shock display observational freezing, but naive observer rats do not, we will determine the mechanism by which prior experience contribute to observational freezing. To this end, we will focus on the amygdala, crucial for fear learning and expression, and its auditory inputs, combining immunohistochemistry, pharmacology and optogenetics. Finally, as the detection of and responses to threat are often inherently social, we will study these behaviors in the context of large groups of individuals. To circumvent the serious limitations in using large populations of rats, we will resort to a different model system. The fruit fly is the ideal model system, as it is both amenable to the search for the neural mechanism of behavior, while at the same time allowing the study of the behavior of large groups of individuals. We will develop behavioral tasks, where conditioned demonstrator flies signal danger to other naïve ones. These experiments unravel how the brain uses defense behaviors as signals of danger and how it contributes to defense mechanisms at the population level.

Keywords: social transmission of fear,amygdala,rat,optogenetics,drosophila,behavioral paradigms
Optical imaging of nanoscopic dynamics and potentials (NANOSCOPE)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Molecular and Structural Biology and Biochemistry
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-01-01
End date: 2018-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1498352.0
EU funding (EUR): 1498352.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

I propose to develop and apply a novel approach to optical microscopy to enable the direct visualization and study of dynamics on the nanoscale in biological and condensed matter physics. Given the speed with which nanoscopic objects move at ambient condition, this requires simultaneously very fast (ms) and precise (nm) imaging. The challenge is to avoid excessive perturbation of the system and enable imaging in biologically compatible environments without compromising imaging performance by pushing interferometric scattering to its theoretical limits. Using these advanced capabilities, I will study the dynamics and thereby the structure-function relationships in three fundamental systems that are currently not captured by even the most advanced biophysical approaches. These include: (1) the flexibility of DNA on short length scales, (2) diffusion in artificial and cellular membranes and (3) the three-dimensional power stroke of molecular motors such as myosin and kinesin. Fundamentally, this work aims to develop and establish a high-speed, non-invasive camera on the nanoscale that will enable us to study and eventually understand nanoscopic motion, dynamics and potentials on the relevant, rather than currently achievable, size and time scales.
Engineering DNA transfer into Cells by Precision in Electroporation (E-DNA-T-PEP)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Products and process engineering
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call:  (ERC-2013-StG, 2013)
Start date: 2013-10-01
End date: 2018-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1481409.6
EU funding (EUR): 1481409.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The proposal aims to understand and control the transport of DNA in electroporation process at the molecular/subcellular level such that more efficient and safer non-viral gene delivery can be achieved. The introduction of naked DNA into living cell via non-viral routes is the safest approach in gene therapy. Electroporation is the electrical disruption of biological membranes to introduce naked DNA into the cell. Due to our lack of information about fundamentals of electropores formation and DNA electrotransfer, electroporation methods still suffer from low transfection efficiency, random uptake and excessive cell damage. The main barriers to achieving this goal are: i) understanding the creation of electropores at molecular level; ii) understanding the underlying mechanism of DNA transport across the membrane of a cell during and after electric pulses and iii) controlling the electrotransfer of DNA through these pores into a cell at molecular level. It is almost impossible to overcome these barriers based on our current rudimentary understanding of cell electroporation. The successful outcome of this project will significantly aid the development of gene delivery into living cells, which will lead to electroporation-based therapies in the near future.To this end, I will apply a multidisciplinary approach, combining disciplines as physical chemistry, transport phenomena, DNA dynamics, biophysics and cell biology. To unveil the entire electroporation process, innovatively I will employ the integrated atomic force microscopy with micro/nanofluidics to visualize the evolution of pore size/density at the membrane level. Furthermore, to understand the DNA electrotransfer, I will study how DNA interacts with electropores and moves through them using optical tweezers and single-molecule FRET. Finally, I will dissect the role of cytoskeleton on the transport of DNA, by mapping out the relationship between the viscoelasticity of cell and location of DNA inside the cell.

Keywords: electroporation,micro/nanofluidics,dna dynamics,dna electrotransfer,single cells,non-viral gene delivery,electropermeabilization,single-molecule visualization