Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
European Network for Education and Training in Radiation Protection - II (ENETRAP-II)

Framework: FP7 — Euratom
Programme: Nuclear fission and radiation protection
Theme: Support the development of nuclear competences at Union level and socio-economic aspects
Destination: Human Resources and training
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Belgium,France,Germany,Germany,Italy,Netherlands,Spain,France,Portugal,Hungary,Romania,United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-Fission-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-03-01
End date: 2012-12-31
Duration (months): 46.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1499494.8
EU funding (EUR): 800000.0
Participants: 13
Project status: CLOSED

As is the case with all nuclear expertise, there is a trend of a decreasing number of experts in radiation protection due to various reasons. On the other hand, current activities in the nuclear domain are expanding: the nuclear industry faces a so-called &quot;renaissance&quot;, high-tech medical examinations based on ionising radiation are increasingly used, and research and non-nuclear industry also make use of a vast number of applications of radioactivity. Within this perspective, maintaining a high level of competency in radiation protection is crucial to ensure future safe use of ionising radiation and the development of new technologies in a safe way. Moreover, the perceived growth in the different application fields requires a high-level of understanding of radiation protection in order to protect workers, the public and the environment of the potential risks. A sustainable Education and Training (E&amp;T) infrastructure for radiation protection is an essential component to combat the decline in expertise and to ensure the availability of a high level of radiation protection knowledge which can meet the demands in the future. Today&apos;s challenge involves measures to make the work in radiation protection more attractive for young people and to provide attractive career opportunities, and the support of professionals in their need to gain and maintain high level radiation protection knowledge. This can be reached by the development and implementation of a high-quality European standard for initial education and continuous professional development for Radiation Protection Experts (RPEs) and Radiation Protection Officers (RPOs). This project aims at developing a methodology for mutual recognition and setting up &quot;reference&quot; training schemes as an instrument to facilitate this mutual recognition, within the relevant regulatory framework.

Keywords: education,training,radiation protection,radiation protection expert,radiation protection officer
ACTINET Integrated Infrastructure Initiative (ACTINET-I3)

Framework: FP7 — Euratom
Programme: Nuclear fission and radiation protection
Theme: Research infrastructure
Destination: Infrastructures
Action type: Combination of CP & CSA
Countries involved: France,European organisations area,Germany,Germany,Switzerland,Sweden,United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-Fission-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-10-01
End date: 2013-01-31
Duration (months): 40.0
Total project cost (EUR): 6641169.46
EU funding (EUR): 3000000.0
Participants: 9
Project status: CLOSED

Actinides play a central role in the nuclear energy generation systems. In order to keep a leading position in the field of nuclear energy – both in terms of safety and efficient use of natural resources – Europe needs to reinforce its expertise and to prepare the next generation of scientists and engineers who will be able to contribute to develop actinide management strategies based on sound scientific bases. However, because most actinides are radioactive, their study requires specific tools and facilities that are only available in a small number of laboratories in Europe. It is therefore strategic to coordinate the major facilities available in Europe, and to strengthen the community of European scientists working on actinides. The establishment of a network of actinide scientists – ACTINET – was a first step in this direction, achieved under the 6th Framework Programme. The objective of the Integrated Infrastructure Initiative ACTINET-I3 is to reinforce the networking of the European infrastructures necessary for actinide sciences, and to facilitate their efficient use by the European scientific community. The concept of the ACTINET-I3 initiative is - to combine a consistent pool of facilities from CEA, ITU, FZK, FZD and PSI, providing the necessary tools and environments to work on systems containing actinides; - to complement these experimental tools by a virtual infrastructure providing support in theory and modelling, with a focus on the complementarities between theory and experiments; - to support and manage jointly an access programme for joint research projects making use of the proposed facilities; - to run a set of joint research activities involving the member organisations, with the objective to produce new instruments or data of common interest. The governance of the ACTINET-I3 will involve representatives of the users and the stakeholders.

Keywords: actinide,nuclear energy,chemistry
Metabolic control by the TGF-² superfamily receptor ALK7: A novel regulator of insulin secretion, fat accumulation and energy balance (ALK7)

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: Sweden
Call:  (ERC-2008-AdG, 2008)
Start date: 2009-04-01
End date: 2014-03-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2462154.0
EU funding (EUR): 2462154.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The aim of this proposal is to understand a novel regulatory signaling network controlling insulin secretion, fat accumulation and energy balance centered around selected components of the TGF-² signaling system, including Activins A and B, GDF-3 and their receptors ALK7 and ALK4. Recent results from my laboratory indicate that these molecules are part of paracrine signaling networks that control important functions in pancreatic islets and adipose tissue through feedback inhibition and feed-forward regulation. These discoveries have open up a new research area with important implications for the understanding of metabolic networks and the treatment of human metabolic syndromes, such as diabetes and obesity. To drive progress in this new research area beyond the state-of-the-art it is proposed to: i) Elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which Activins regulate Ca2+ influx and insulin secretion in pancreatic ²-cells; ii) Elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of GDF-3 on adipocyte metabolism, turnover and fat accumulation; iii) Investigate the interplay between insulin levels and fat deposition in the development of insulin resistance using mutant mice lacking Activin B and GDF-3; iv) Investigate tissue-specific contributions of ALK7 and ALK4 signaling to metabolic control by generating and characterizing conditional mutant mice; v) Investigate the effects of specific and reversible inactivation of ALK7 and ALK4 on metabolic regulation using a novel chemical-genetic approach based on analog-sensitive alleles. This is research of a high-gain/high-risk nature. It is posed to open unique opportunities for further exploration of complex metabolic networks. The development of drugs capable of enhancing insulin secretion, limiting fat accumulation and ameliorating diet-induced obesity by targeting components of the ALK7 signaling network will find a strong rationale in the results of the proposed work.

Keywords: tgfb,ca2+ signaling,activin,b-cell,insulin,adipose tissue
Can immune system rejuvenation restore age-related memory loss? (IMMUNE/MEMORY AGING)

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: Israel
Call:  (ERC-2008-AdG, 2008)
Start date: 2009-01-01
End date: 2012-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1650000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1650000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

With increased life expectancy, there has been a critical growth in the portion of the population that suffers from age-related cognitive decline and dementia. Attempts are therefore being made to find ways to slow brain-aging processes; successful therapies would have a significant impact on the quality of life of individuals, and decrease healthcare expenditures. Aging of the immune system has never been suggested as a factor in memory loss. My group formulated the concept of protective autoimmunity , suggesting a linkage between immunity and self-maintenance in the context of the brain in health and disease. Recently, we showed that T lymphocytes recognizing brain-self antigens have a pivotal role in maintaining hippocampal plasticity, as manifested by reduced neurogenesis and impaired cognitive abilities in T-cell deficient mice. Taken together, our novel observations that T cell immunity contributes to hippocampal plasticity, and the fact that T cell immunity decreases with progressive aging create the basis for the present proposal. We will focus on the following questions: (a) Which aspects of cognition are supported by the immune system- learning, memory or both; (b) whether aging of the immune system is sufficient to induce aging of the brain; (c) whether activation of the immune system is sufficient to reverse age-related cognitive decline; (d) the mechanism underlying the effect of peripheral immunity on brain cognition; and (e) potential therapeutic implications of our findings. Our preliminary results demonstrate that the immune system contributes to spatial memory, and that imposing an immune deficiency is sufficient to cause a reversible memory deficit. These findings give strong reason for optimism that memory loss in the elderly is preventable and perhaps reversible by immune-based therapies; we hope that, in the not too distant future, our studies will enable development of a vaccine to prevent CNS aging and cognitive loss in elderly.

Keywords: autoimmunity,aging/senescence,behavior,cognition neurodegeneration,neurogenesis
Mechanisms and consequences of synaptic SUMOylation in health and disease (SUMOBRAIN)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2008-AdG, 2008)
Start date: 2009-05-01
End date: 2015-04-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2148871.0
EU funding (EUR): 2148871.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Synaptic protein SUMOylation is a completely new and exciting field of investigation. This application will investigate the roles of SUMOylation in normal and pathological synaptic transmission. The functional and pathophysiological implications for synaptic protein SUMOylation are far-reaching. SUMOylation has already been implicated in a diverse array of synaptopathies. Therefore, better understanding of the regulation and consequences of synaptic SUMOylation is of fundamental importance. The starting hypothesis is that targeted SUMOylation of pre- and postsynaptic proteins regulates synaptic transmission and can be neuroprotective through the reduction of excitotoxicity. The main proposal objectives are to: 1) Identify and functionally characterise novel synaptic SUMOylated substrates. 2) Define how SUMOylation regulates presynaptic neurotransmitter release. 3) Determine the activity-dependence of SUMO and SUMO specific protease (SENP) trafficking to synapses. 4) Elucidate the role of SUMOylation in regulating protein protein interactions at synapses. 5) Define the roles of synaptic protein SUMOylation in ischaemia. These ambitious objectives directly address important challenges at the frontier of our current knowledge of the molecular mechanisms regulating synaptic function and will open up new avenues for future basic and translational research. Novel tools and techniques will be used to test my hypotheses by identifying which synaptic proteins are SUMOylated and investigating the underlying mechanisms and downstream effects of SUMOylation in both normal neurones and in in vitro neuropathological models. My group is uniquely qualified to undertake this work because of our extensive directly relevant expertise, proven track record, library of unique tools and wealth of preliminary evidence demonstrating the viability of the experiments proposed. If funded, I believe this work will represent a novel, innovative and highly productive ERC investment.

Keywords: sumo sumoylation synaptic transmission synaptic receptors neurodegeneration
Nano-Scale Organization Dynamics and Functions of Synapses: from single molecule tracking to the physiopathology of excitatory synaptic transmission (NANO-DYN-SYN)

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: France
Call:  (ERC-2008-AdG, 2008)
Start date: 2009-02-01
End date: 2014-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 3100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Synapses are arguably the most elaborate signaling machine of cells. This complex intercellular junction is specialized for rapid (millisecond) directional signaling. In addition, synapses change in response to patterns of neural activity and these changes can endure, modifying neuronal circuitry. These competing properties of persistence and plasticity must be encoded by the precise content and arrangement of molecules that comprise the presynaptic and postsynaptic specializations. The objective of this project is to uncover the internal organization and dynamics of the postsynaptic specialization at excitatory glutamatergic synapses of the mammalian brain at an unprecedented nano-scale resolution. For this aim, neurobiologists, physicists and chemists join forces in a team with proven track record of collaboration. We will combine cellular and molecular neurobiology approaches with development of novel optical technologies, biosensors and combined quantitative light and electron microscopic imaging techniques. This will provide a new level of analysis to the fundamental problem of molecular information storage. Photothermal imaging of nano-gold particles will allow unprecedented quantitative histochemistry and tracking of protein trafficking up to the level of intact tissue. Development of Cryo-Photoactivated Light Microscopy will allow the correlative localization of synaptic elements at the light and electron-microscopic level. Novel biosensors and chemical tools will be developed for the investigation of the dynamic macromolecular events underlying synaptic plasticity. We will identify new mechanisms that control fast synaptic transmission and its long term activity dependent modification. We will unravel how fast receptor diffusion controls frequency dependent synaptic transmission and how regulation of receptor trafficking participates in synaptic plasticity.

Keywords: glutamate receptor trafficking,snaptic plasticity,bio-imaging,single molecule imaging,photo-termal detection,metal nano-particles
Nanoparticle Vaccines: At the interface of bionanotechnology and adaptive immunity (NANOIMMUNE)

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: Switzerland
Call:  (ERC-2008-AdG, 2008)
Start date: 2009-05-01
End date: 2014-04-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2499424.8
EU funding (EUR): 2499424.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

We have recently developed a bionanotechnology approach to vaccination (Reddy et al., Nature Biotechnology, 25, 1159-1164, 2007): degradable polymeric nanoparticles are designed that: (i) are so small that they can enter the lymphatic circulation by biophysical means; (ii) are efficiently taken up by a large fraction of dendritic cells (DCs) that are resident in the lymph node that drains the injection site; (iii) activate the complement cascade and provide a potent, yet safe, activation signal to those DCs; and (iv) thereby induce a potent, Th1 adaptive immune response to antigen bound to the nanoparticles, with the generation of both antibodies and cytotoxic T lymphocytes. In the present project, we focus on next-generation bionanotechnology vaccine platforms for vaccination. We propose three technological advances, and we propose to demonstrate those three advances in definitive models in the mouse. Specifically, we propose to (Specific Aim 1) evaluate the current approach of complement-mediated DC activation in breaking tolerance to a chronic viral infection (hepatitis B virus, HBV, targeting hepatitis B virus surface antigen, HBsAg) and to combine complement as a danger signal with other nanoparticle-borne danger signals to develop an effective bionanotechnological platform for therapeutic antiviral vaccination; (Specific Aim 2) to develop a new, ultrasmall nanoparticle implementation suitable for delivery of DNA to lymph node-resident DCs, also activating them, to enable more efficient DNA vaccination; and (Specific Aim 3) to develop an ultrasmall nanoparticle implementation suitable for delivery of DNA to DCs resident within the sublingual mucosa, also activating them, to enable efficient DNA mucosal vaccination. The Specific Aim addressing the oral mucosa will begin with HBsAg, to allow comparison to other routes of administration, and will then proceed to antigens from influenza A.

Keywords: nanoparticle vaccines,adjuvants
Cellular biology of virus infection (VIRNA)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Immunity and infection
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (ERC-2008-AdG, 2008)
Start date: 2009-02-01
End date: 2014-01-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2498400.0
EU funding (EUR): 2498400.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Viruses are simple, obligatory, intracellular parasites that depend on the host cell for most of the steps in the replication cycle. Not only do they rely on the cells biosynthetic machinery, they exploit cellular processes for signaling, membrane trafficking, intra-cellular transport, nuclear import and export, molecular sorting, transcriptional regulation, etc. To access the full spectrum of host cell functions in the infection of three different viruses in an unbiased and systematic fashion, we will identify the critical host cell proteins needed by monitoring infection in human tissue culture cells after silencing individual genes using genome-wide siRNA libraries and large sub-libraries based on the human genome. The three viruses are vaccinia virus (a poxvirus), human papilloma virus 16, and Uukuniemi virus (a bunyavirus). They are members of important but poorly analyzed pathogen families representing enveloped and nonenveloped viruses, RNA and DNA viruses, viruses that replicate in the nucleus and in the cytosol. The infection assays to be used are fully automated, and make use of high-content microscopic read-outs for infection and virus production. Identification of the viral infectomes , in this way, offers a valuable, new perspective into the complexities of the infection process, and opens wide new areas of basic and applied research. After validation of hits , extensive biochemical and cell biological analysis will be performed on a selected set of host proteins and pathways identified through the infectome analysis. We will determine which steps in the replication cycle are affected, which mechanisms are involved, and which cellular pathways play a role. For detailed analysis, we will focus on mechanisms in entry, uncoating, and early intracellular events. A large spectrum of techniques including live cell imaging and single particle tracking will be used to follow up the screening results with functional and mechanistic studies.

Keywords: sirna,virus,antiviral agents
Variability and Robustness in Bio-molecular systems (VARB)

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: Israel
Call:  (ERC-2008-AdG, 2008)
Start date: 2009-01-01
End date: 2013-10-31
Duration (months): 58.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2200000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2200000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Cells process information using biochemical networks of interacting proteins and genes. We wish to understand the principles that guide the design of such networks. In particular, we are interested in the interplay between variability, inherent to biological systems, and the precision of cellular computing. To better understand this interplay, we will: (1) Characterize the extent of gene expression variability and define its genetic determinants, (2) Reveal how variability is buffered and (3) Describe instances where variability (or 'noise') is an integral part of cellular computation. The study will be conducted in the multidisciplinary atmosphere of our lab, by students trained in physics, computer science, chemistry and biology. Specific issues include: 1. Gene expression variability: we will focus on the influence of chromatin structure on gene expression variability, as suggested by our bioinformatics analysis. 2. Robustness and scaling in embryonic patterning: We will study the means by which fluctuations are buffered during the development of multicellular organisms. We will focus on the robustness of morphogen gradients to protein levels, and on the ability to maintain proportionate pattern in tissues of different size. 3. Noise-driven transitions in a fluctuating environment: Our preliminary results suggest that noise plays an integral part in phosphate homeostasis in S. cerevisiae. We will characterize the role of noise in this system and study its evolutionary implications. Together, our study will shed light on one we believe to be the fundamental challenge of biological information processing: ensuring a reliable and reproducible function in the highly variable biological environment. Our study will furthermore define novel multidisciplinary, system-level paradigms and approaches that will guide further studies of bio-molecular systems

Keywords: system biology,functional genomics,bioinformatics mathematical modeling,noise,development