Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Functional Genomics and Ecological Impact of Viral Infection in the Toxic Haptophyte Prymnesium polylepis (VINTPRYM)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-06-01
End date: 2016-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 161968.8
EU funding (EUR): 161968.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Marine viruses are an active and important component of the microbial loop because they regulate microbial mortality, production, community structure, and biogeochemical cycling. They mediate genetic exchange between microbes, thus affecting the genetic diversity of microbial communities. Although marine viruses control blooms and shape the evolution of biodiversity in phytoplankton, little is known about the factors governing resistance and susceptibility of their hosts. Better understanding the host-virus interaction of marine phytoplankton is necessary to properly address its impact on phytoplankton dynamics, socio-economic activities, and medical applications. Over the past century, toxic blooms of Prymnesium have devastated increasingly aquaculture and native fish, shellfish, and mollusc populations worldwide. The toxic haptophyte Prymnesium polylepis produces toxins, which have haemolytic properties, that not only kill fish and other filter feeder but also co-existing plankton. Recently, the first virus of P. polylepis was found. The objectives of VINTPRYM are to investigate the interaction and co-evolution of Prymnesium polylepis and its virus and their diversity and population dynamics by field sampling. State-of-the-art RNA-Seq technology will be used to study the infection cycle of P. polylepis and its virus while classical bioassays will be used to measure the toxicity of the alga. Furthermore, environmental samples along the Norwegian coast will be taken to characterize the patterns of abundance and diversity of Prymnesium viruses by using metagenomic anlayses in comparison with PCR amplifications of the major capsid protein. Co-evolutionary aspects will be investigated by sequencing the viral genome and comparing it with the host genome, which is currently sequenced by the hosting group at AWI. VINTPRYM will provide insight into the response of P. polylepis to viral infection in terms of evolution, toxicity, and ecological impact.

Keywords: toxic algae,host-virus interaction,evolution,genomics
Phosphonic Acids: Surface Electrochemistry (PHASE)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Incoming Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IIF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-12-03
End date: 2016-12-02
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 221606.4
EU funding (EUR): 221606.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This project aims to evaluate the effect of phosphonic acid adsorption on metal surfaces. Much is known about the adsorption of these molecules on oxide surfaces but very little is known about their behaviour on metals. The first primary aim is to determine adsorption and phase behaviour quantitatively as a function of surface charge, which will be controlled by varying applied electrical potential. A strategic combination of classical electrochemical and modern surface analytical probes will be employed, including atomic force microscopy and the recently developed in situ infrared technique, PM-IRRAS (Polarisation Modulation Infrared Reflection Absorption Spectroscopy). These results will be combined together with computational simulations, a combination of density functional theory and molecular dynamics simulations, to form a complete picture of the surface aggregation phenomena of these molecules. The strategy will be to evaluate the phosphonic acid behaviour first on single crystal substrates and then on nanoparticle surfaces, which will be prepared on carbon substrate by electrodeposition. The second primary aim of the proposal project is to evaluate the effect of adsorption of these molecules on the electrochemical reduction of oxygen (ORR), a reaction of immense technological importance. Phosphonates have previously received very limited study for fuel cell and battery applications. We aim to determine whether phosphonic acid adsorption can be used as a tool to direct the selectivity of the ORR toward a specific product. If the reaction can be steered toward peroxide formation rather than water, this would open up possibilities for the commercial production of hydrogen peroxide (using existing fuel cell technology) and Li-air batteries, where the peroxo product is preferred to permit the re-charging of the battery.

Keywords: phosphonic acids,nanoparticles,single crystals,electrocatalysis,electrochemistry,hopg,gold,platinum,dft,molecular dynamics,adsorption,surfactant,electrodeposition,oxigen reduction
'Science and World Order': Uses of science in plans for international government, 1899-1950. (SCIENCEWORLDORDER)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Outgoing Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IOF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-08-01
End date: 2017-07-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 359081.9
EU funding (EUR): 359081.9
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Objectives: In this project I seek to understand the role of science in plans for international government in the first half of the twentieth century. In an era of two world wars, international crisis and rampant nationalism, the rationality, neutrality and efficiency of science seemed to offer the most promising guide to better international relations to several political thinkers. Belief in a scientific world order informed an array of initiatives, including the influential British writer H.G. Wells’ campaign for a World State, the creation of UNESCO and the ‘Universal Science’ manifestation at the World Exhibition in Mussolini’s Rome. How the objectives will be achieved: Using case-studies as the empirical basis of my research, this project seeks to uncover and historicise a number of these initiatives across the political spectrum and in different national contexts. For this purpose I will combine my own background in the history of science with training in international history at the Center for International History of Columbia University, New York. Relevance to the Work Programme: The project will bring the fields of history of science and international history together in novel ways, which will open up new lines of research in the ideological uses of science. This will enhance my international research profile and put me in a leading position at the return host, Maastricht University, where I will connect the research programmes ‘Science and Technology Studies’ and ‘Politics and Culture of Europe’. It will benefit the ERA by reflecting on the very meaning of the idea of a ‘knowledge-society’. And it will enrich public debate on the role of technocracy in the EU, via media contributions and discussion for a with policy makers.

Keywords: science,international institutions,twentieth century,internationalism,unesco,league of nations,science and ideology,scientific values,scientific methods
The molecular mechanism behind the axonal initial segment diffusion barrier (NEUROSMLM)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-04-01
End date: 2016-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 221606.4
EU funding (EUR): 221606.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Polarization is a decisive step in neuronal development and once axonal and somatodendritic domains are generated, they generally persist over the lifetime of an organism. The axonal initial segment (AIS), a stretch of 50 – 100 µm length close to the cell body, bears a specialized cytoskeleton and maintains the polarized distribution of neuronal molecules by blocking the exchange of molecules between axon and soma. The adaptor protein ankyrinG is essential for the assembly of this diffusion barrier and crosslinks ion channels and adhesion molecules to the cytoskeleton. However, the molecular mechanism for the obstruction of molecular diffusion across the AIS remains unclear. Recent insights revealed an ordered arrangement of the cytoskeleton not only in the AIS but also further down the axon, raising the question, how the nanoscopic organization of cytoskeletal molecules in the AIS may directly influence the lateral motion of membrane molecules. Here we aim to use novel single-molecule localization-based superresolution microscopy in primary hippocampal neurons to investigate the molecular architecture of the AIS and to understand the mechanism by which membrane protein diffusion is locally restricted. To do so, we will correlate membrane protein diffusion during neuronal polarization in single cells over time with the nanoscopic organization of the AIS. We hypothesize that a regularly spaced structure based on AnkyrinG specifically reduces membrane mobility in the AIS. Our results will clarify the molecular mechanism that controls the diffusion barrier at the AIS and contribute to our understanding of how neuronal polarity is achieved and more generally, how the membrane cytoskeleton organizes the plasma membrane.

Keywords: axon initial segment diffusion barrier single-molecule localization microscopy single-particle tracking neurons fluorescence live-cell imaging ankyring cytoskeleton
Differential role of atypical Rho GTPases Miro-1 and Miro-2 for controlling mitochondrial dynamics and transport (MITOTRAFFICBYMIRO)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Incoming Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IIF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-10-28
End date: 2016-11-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 231283.2
EU funding (EUR): 231283.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Regulated transport of mitochondria is essential for providing ATP spatio-temporaly to power nerve cell function and calcium buffering during release of neurotransmitters or post-synaptic receptor activation. The major player of this transport machinery is Mitochondrial Rho GTPases Miro-1 and Miro-2 present at the mitochondrial outer membrane which controls binding to the Kinesin for transport along microtubules. Miro-1 and 2 are paralogs shares ~60% homology in mammals (while nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and plants have 3 paralogs) while others have only one copy of Miro proteins. Using high resolution 3D live cell imaging, co-immunoprecipitation followed by mass spectrometric identification, expression of genetically encoded sensors in combination with pharmacological, electrical and optogenetic stimulation of neuronal activity in vivo, the molecular mechanism that allow two Miro proteins to tailor the spatial distribution and morphology of mitochondria will be explored. A key goal will be to explore the differential role of the Miro-1 and Miro-2 which can regulate diverse cellular processes such as constitutive and activity-dependent mitochondrial transport, ER-Mitochondria contact and calcium signalling in cultured cells and dendritic shafts and synapses in vivo. I will also try to identify novel proteins that interact with Miro-1 and Miro-2 proteins and their role in maintaining mitochondrial morphology and transport. To extend this knowledge further the role of Miro proteins in axonal transport and calcium signalling in vivo will be investigated with a deletion model in C. elegans. These studies will significantly advance our current understanding of the role played by mitochondrial trafficking for controlling diverse cellular function and may also help understand of how disrupted mitochondrial trafficking and function contribute to diseases.

Keywords: mitochondrial morphology,miro-1,calcium imaging,neurons,c. elegans,optogenetics,axonal transport,mass spectrometry,gfp trap,mitochondrial trafficking,miro-2,gcamp6,er-mitochondria contact
Improving physical dosimetry and developing biologically-relevant metrology for spot-scanned proton therapy beams (PROTONSPOTSCANMET)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Outgoing Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IOF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-09-04
End date: 2018-09-09
Duration (months): 30.0
Total project cost (EUR): 249575.1
EU funding (EUR): 249575.1
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Proton therapy is an advanced form of radiotherapy which has the potential to deliver a dose map that closely matches the tumour volume. The current state of the art in proton therapy utilises a technique called spot-scanning which uses a narrow beam of protons guided by a pair of magnetic fields to paint a dose "picture" over the tumour. The goal of this project is to resolve some of the as yet unanswered questions surrounding quality assurance in spot-scanned proton therapy. This project will employ Monte Carlo simulation and experimental methods to determine correction factors for dosimetry in spot scanning proton therapy beams. The project will further explore the dosimetric issues associated with the edge effects of a small proton beam and also perform a preliminary investigation of the relation with biological dosimetry of protons. The outcome will be a set of factors that enable greater dose accuracy and a detailed understanding of the dosimetry of small field proton beams, which can inform an international code of practice. The outgoing host for the project will be the Massachusetts General Hospital Proton Therapy Centre, and the return host will be University College London, who are currently building a spot scanning proton therapy clinic. Collaborators from IBA Particle Therapy, the UK Institute of Cancer Research and the UK National Physical Laboratory will also be involved. The applicant will be trained in proton therapy dosimetry research techniques, as well as receive clinical training in proton therapy treatment QA and delivery.

Keywords: medical physics,radiation therapy,proton/ion therapy,spot scanning,small field,dosimetry,metrology,radiation transport,monte carlo simulation,detectors,quality assurance,biological effect
SINGLE NANOPARTICLE IMPACT STUDIES: THE DIRECT OBSERVATION OF ELECTROCHEMICAL BEHAVIOUR AT THE NANOSCALE (SNISEB)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Incoming Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IIF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-07-07
End date: 2016-07-06
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 221606.4
EU funding (EUR): 221606.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The objective of this proposed work is to identify the electrochemical behaviour of nanostructured materials at the single nanoparticle level through the use of nanoparticle impact studies. The motivation for this work is the uncertainty in the literature over the origin of the altered electrochemical behaviour at the nanoscale, particularly in regards to electron transfer reactions such as electrocatalytic processes. One of the major sources of this uncertainty stems from the notoriously difficult task of preparing well-defined, homogeneously dispersed nanostructured electrodes. These difficulties hinder the identification of the altered electron transfer mechanisms, as the data is sensitive to the size, shape and structure of the nanoparticles, while their surface coverage can also provide further complications by altering the mass transport properties to the surfaces. In order to resolve these issues nano-impact studies are proposed, allowing electrochemical characterisation of individual well-defined nanoparticles and avoiding the technical limitations associated with the fabrication of large area homogeneous electrode surfaces. These results can then be rigorously analysed to identify the true nature of a wide variety of electrochemical reactions at the nanoscale. To achieve this a range of nanoparticles will be synthesised with tailored morphologies, sizes and compositions which will then be probed with a variety of surface-limited reactions, interaction with dissolved electroactive species and also the quantitative stripping of the nanoparticles. Such innovative experiments will provide key insights into the theoretical models for electron transfer at the nanoscale, aid in the future design of nanomaterials for electrocatalytic and electroanalytical applications, and lead to the use of electrochemical methods as a powerful surface probe for nanostructured materials, resulting in significant advancements in the creation of next-generation smart nanomaterials.

Keywords: electrochemistry,nanochemistry,analytical chemistry,redox reactions,theoretical modelling
Improving Predictions of Vegetation Condition by Optimally Merging Satellite Remote Sensing-based Soil Moisture Products (SOILMOISTURE)

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-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-09-14
End date: 2018-09-13
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Agricultural drought impacts global food security as well as financial flexibility of countries. Considering the natural variability of climate, agricultural drought is common phenomenon within appropriate time-frame, while the expected change in climate and the expected decrease in available water resources will further increase the stress exerted on vegetation. Precipitation-based indices are commonly used to trace the current status of the potential drought, while such indicators may miss the onset and only give reliable information about long-term events. On the other hand agricultural drought and its onset can be accurately traced via monitoring of soil moisture, which has been recently shown to be a skillful predictor of vegetation conditions. In this study, soil moisture datasets from multiple platforms will be merged in least squares framework to obtain an optimal soil moisture estimate, while the optimality will be assured through the use of product specific error estimates obtained separately using triple collocation error estimation methodology. Validation will be performed via investigation of lagged-correlation between soil moisture and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) which is very sensitive to the conditions of vegetation and can be accurately obtained from space through remote sensing. In particular, this study will consider merging The Atmosphere-Land Exchange Inverse (ALEXI)-, Noah-, Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS)-, and Advanced Scatterometer on METOP (ASCAT)-based soil moisture information. Resulting optimally merged soil moisture product is expected to have higher skill in predicting NDVI than individual products alone.

Keywords: soil moisture,optimal merging,triple collocation,drought,ndvi,vegetation condition,remote sensing
The early Mesozoic rise of archosaurs: New insights into an exemplar evolutionary radiation (ARCHOSAUR RISE)

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-2013-CIG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2018-02-28
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

A central goal of palaeontology and evolutionary biology is to understand the drivers and dynamics of the major evolutionary radiations that have shaped the history of life on Earth and governed the origins of the modern biota. On land, one of the most important evolutionary diversifications was the radiation of archosaurs, which began around 250 million years ago following the greatest mass extinction in the history of life at the end of the Permian. This radiation gave rise to the most diverse living group of terrestrial vertebrates, the birds, as well as the most intensely studied of extinct groups, the dinosaurs. This project will focus on the early archosaur radiation during the early Mesozoic (Triassic and Jurassic), between 250 and 150 million years ago, and will constrain the diversity and biogeography of species involved in this radiation, and elucidate the radiation’s tempo and evolutionary patterns and mechanisms. Dramatic advances in recent years in data for early Mesozoic ecosystems on land, combined with rapidly advancing methodologies in virtual imaging of fossils and quantitative analysis of deep time evolutionary patterns, provide a unique window of opportunity to break through previous impasses in understanding of this event. This project will provide new insights into how and why archosaurs became arguably the most successful group of vertebrates on land, and more broadly into the nature of major evolutionary radiations, the recovery from mass extinction events, and the long-term interactions between biotic diversity and Earth system evolution. The results of this research will have important implications for understanding the origin and rise to ecological dominance of dinosaurs.

Keywords: archosaurs,dinosaurs,evolutionary radiations,mass extinctions,systematics,anatomy,triassic,jurassic,fieldwork,quantitative analysis,biogeography,diversity,fossils,evolution