Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Nano-Voids in Strained Silicon for Plasmonics (NOVOSIP)

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: Denmark
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IIF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-07-01
End date: 2014-06-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 318514.6
EU funding (EUR): 318514.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The project aims at exploring the use of nanovoids and nanodots prepared as plasmonic structures to enhance the efficiency of Si single-crystalline photovoltaic (PV) devices. Fabrication and experimental investigation of plasmonic structures in strained Si/SiGe multilayered structures will be carried to enhance light harvesting in solar cells due to both near-field and far-field effects. The main idea behind the production of nanovoids and nanodots is based on the ability of compressively strained thin SiGe alloy layers, incorporated in a Si matrix during epitaxial growth, to collect small-sized molecules (H, He, C) or vacancies, induced by irradiation. Further, thermal treatment results in the formation of nano-voids which are strictly assembled within the strained SiGe layers. The following key processes will be used: Molecular beam epitaxy of strained Si/SiGe/Si structures followed by irradiation with light ions (hydrogen, carbon) and rapid thermal treatment. This structure will then be additionally used as a template for segregation and self-assembling of metallic or carbon nanodots. The fundamental investigations of the structural, optical and electronic properties of the strained Si/SiGe layers will be carried out with a range of available methods for structural, electronical and optical characterization. By placing the nanovoids and nanodots in a highly doped emitter layer close enough to the p-n-junction that the near-fields will extend into the depletion layer, the effects of near-fields will be obtained. This will give a contribution to the electron-hole pair generation, and this will be additional to the far field effects. Being formed periodically, strained layers with self-assembled nanovoids or nanodots will display fundamentally unusual electronic and optical properties. These effects have not previously been experimentally studied in a solar cell configuration. The present system offers a unique configuration for such investigation.

Keywords: silicon,nanovoids,nanodots,light absorption,plasmons
Global drivers of loss of biodiversity with eutrophication and their potential use for restoration ecology (GLOBEPURE)

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,Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IOF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-07-01
End date: 2015-06-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 264112.5
EU funding (EUR): 264112.5
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

One of the most serious environmental issues facing mankind this century is the loss of biodiversity and its effect on ecosystem processes and services. Last year, United Nations International Biodiversity Year, has seen the announcement that the nations of the world, including those in Europe, have failed to meet the conservation targets set by the Convention on Biological Diversity and have not slowed the rate of biodiversity loss. Classical field ecology alone will not unravel these problems nor find solutions. Instead highly coordinated cross-sites studies are needed for gaining a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism driving the loss of biodiversity and device general potential solutions to restore diversity. In this context the researcher proposes GLOBEPURE. Focusing on the conservation and restoration of an important biome – diverse, functional grassland ecosystems – GLOBEPURE will inquire these challenges with powerful statistical tools and dedicated experimental manipulations. The main goals of GLOBEPURE are: To identify the specific mechanisms of changes in grassland biodiversity and functioning (acidification, nitrogen vs. phosphorus vs. potassium enrichment, increased asymmetric competition for light, etc.); And to devise and test potential solutions (combating eutrophication, overcoming dispersal and recruitment limitation, reducing dominance through use of parasitic plant species etc.). The project will use a mixture of experimental and modeling approaches and will both exploit existing databases and collect important new information. The project will bring together ecologists and environmental scientists, both pure and applied, to examine the impacts of environmental change on grassland communities and ecosystems.

Keywords: plant ecology,biodiversity,conservation,eutrophication,grassland ecosystems,nitrogen pollution,plant diversity,restoration ecology,community ecology.
New Aspects of the European Influences on the Imagery on the Scandinavian Picture-Runestones Executed in Late Viking Age Art (PICTURE-RUNESTONES)

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: Sweden
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2014-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 233640.8
EU funding (EUR): 233640.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The more than 2000 Scandinavian picture-runestones form an important part of Late Viking Age art and European art and must be understood in this context. The Mammen, Ringerike and Urnes styles constitute Late Viking Age art throughout the world of the Vikings, i.e. from about 950s to the 1130s AD, with clear European influences on motifs and pictorial structure. This art is an important source to the Christianization of the Vikings. There is a lack of overview and understanding of the imagery of the Scandinavian picture-runestones concerning styles, motifs and pictorial structure as well as Christian European influences on the tradition of raising picture-runestones and their content and message. This projects creates such an overview and understanding of the imagery of the Scandinavian picture-runestones regarding styles, motifs and pictorial structure, which will be integrated into the online Scandinavian Runic-Text Database. This overview and understanding allows identifying Christian European influences on the imagery and tradition. The applicant possesses substantial knowledge and rich experience for the project. Her existing research shows that Late Viking Age art was Scandinavian design in continuous development, with Christian motifs arranged according to Christian pictorial structure. Together, these elements communicated highly abstract theological relations, such as between the Tree of Life and the Cross of Christ. The understanding of this content in the world of the Vikings was clear, because this relationship was conveyed throughout Late Viking Age art and into Romanesque art. Ideologically, Late Viking Age art and Romanesque art were congruent. Professor Frands Herschend and the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Uppsala University are the world leaders in research on Scandinavian picture-runestones, and it would, therefore, be the choice location for this research.

Keywords: humanities,archaeology,art history,iconography,runology,humanities information technology,science-based dating
The consequences of placentation on the swimming performance of pregnant livebearing fish (SWIM)

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: Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IIF, 2011)
Start date: 2013-01-01
End date: 2014-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 191675.4
EU funding (EUR): 191675.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Livebearing is a reproductive strategy that confers both costs and benefits to females. One important cost is a reduction in locomotory performance of the mother during her pregnancy. This can detrimentally influence her feeding efficacy and her ability to avoid predation. Some livebearing organisms have evolved reproductive life-history adaptations that help minimize these locomotory costs. For example, in livebearing snakes the transition to an arboreal life style is accompanied by a repositioning of the paired ovaries along the length of the body, to reduce overlap; this reduces bodily distension and enhances climbing ability of the females during gestation. I recently proposed that the placenta is a life-history adaptation that evolved in livebearing fishes to minimize adverse effects on locomotory performance during gestation (Pollux et al. 2009). I propose to test this novel hypothesis in a biomechanical study by comparing the consequences of pregnancy for locomotory performance between closely related livebearing species with and without placentation. The fish family Poeciliidae offers a unique opportunity to test this hypothesis because the placenta evolved several times in this family (Pollux et al. 2009). In this project we take advantage of this unique feature by selecting two species-pairs that each represent an independent evolutionary origin of placentation within the family. Specifically, I will test (1) whether placental species have a lower reproductive burden and a smaller abdominal distension during pregnancy than non-placental species; (2) whether these differences decline over the course of gestation; (3) whether pregnancy influences the composition and volume of the trunk muscles, and how this differs between placental and non-placental species; and (4) whether placental species have an improved swimming performance compared to closely-related, non-placental livebearing species.

Keywords: adaptation,critical swimming speed,evolution,fast start,fish,life-history evolution,muscle physiology,placenta,poeciliidae,reproductive strategy,swimming performance,trade-off
Intracellular protein aggregation: fitness and evolution (FITNESS & EVOLUTION)

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-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2014-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200371.8
EU funding (EUR): 200371.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Protein misfolding and aggregation are associated with an increasing number of human disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Additionally, the formation of insoluble deposits during recombinant protein production impedes the commercialization of several peptide drugs. Recent computational studies highlight the existence of a selective pressure to escape from protein aggregation; exerted both on protein sequence and gene expression levels. However, direct experimental evidence demonstrating how natural selection shapes protein sequence and concentration in living cells is still missing. The objective of the here presented project is to exploit a simple cellular model to test how protein aggregation is selected in a biological context. For this, we would study the cell fitness of different yeast cell strains expressing proteins with different aggregation propensity and in growth competition. We have generated a system where each strain is marked with a fluorescent reporter that informs about protein expression, localisation and formation of intracellular deposits. Simultaneously, a specific DNA tag informs about the proportion of each strain in the culture at each time point. By this we will evaluate how protein aggregation influences cell fitness, thus deriving evolutionary principles underlying intracellular regulation of protein deposition.

Keywords: molecular evolution,molecular biology
The role of Toll-Like Receptors Signaling in Angiogenesis and its Potential Applications in Promoting Vascularization in Regenerative Medicine (RTSAPA)

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: Germany
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IIF, 2011)
Start date: 2013-01-15
End date: 2015-01-14
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 174475.2
EU funding (EUR): 174475.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The creation of adequate tissue constructs and other therapeutic products in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine is a highly challenging task. Adequate vascularization of tissue engineering constructs is an important prerequisite, which could be promoted by allowing stem cells or progenitor cells to reach the site of injury/replacement for tissue repair. The development of new approaches leading to a fast and successful vascularization is therefore one of the most intensively studied subjects in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Our previous work has demonstrated that endothelial progenitor cells from peripheral blood or cord blood are a potential autologous cell source for cellular therapies aiming to enhance the neovascularization of tissue engineering constructs. However, in these in vitro angiogenesis studies, the effect of one important system present in vivo, the immune system, has not been taken account. Innate immunity plays a very important role in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Following biomaterial implantation the host reactions may include tissue injury, blood-material interactions, provisional matrix formation, acute inflammation, chronic inflammation, granulation tissue development, foreign body reaction, and fibrosis/fibrous capsule development. Innate immune recognition relies on a diverse set of germ line–encoded receptors, termed pattern recognition receptors (PRR), which recognize broad classes of molecular structures common to groups of microorganisms. Toll-like receptors (TLR) are one of the largest and best studied families of PRR. Several studies have linked the TLRs with angiogenesis in a variety of conditions. The final goal of this project is to understand the way that TLR signaling pathways affect angiogenesis and tissue regeneration, as well as to develop potential approaches to promote vascularization of tissue constructs in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Keywords: health sciencesregenerative medicine,innate immunity,toll-like receptors,angiogenesis,vascularization,biomaterial
New Algorithmic and Mathematical Tools to Construct a Net of Life (LIFENET)

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: Germany
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IOF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-05-01
End date: 2015-04-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 192461.62
EU funding (EUR): 192461.62
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Phylogenetics, the study of evolutionary relationships among groups of species, is a well-established interdisciplinary scientific field. Until today, phylogeneticists put a lot of effort into the precise reconstruction of evolutionary trees. However, in recent years, the research focus on reconstructing phylogenetic trees is turning towards the reconstruction of phylogenetic networks because evolution cannot be properly represented as a tree. For example, a comparison of several trees that all represent a given set of present-day species and have been reconstructed for different genetic loci often reveals conflicting tree topologies. These discrepancies are not always due to missampling or uncertainty in the tree reconstruction method, but rather due to reticulation (e.g. horizontal gene transfer, hybridization, or recombination). Since phylogenetic networks are far more complex than phylogenetic trees, new mathematical and computational tools are needed. This proposal suggests new directions of research within the broad area of phylogenetic networks. First, we will develop new (fixed-parameter) algorithms to analyze intrahost recombination in viruses and apply them to biological data sets. This will provide new insight into the evolution of RNA viruses (e.g. HIV), which is essential in the development of any medication. Second, noting that many questions that are polynomial-time solvable for phylogenetic trees are NP-hard for when stated in terms of networks, we will tackle these harder questions by using novel methodology. Instead of directly solving a problem for a network, we will transform a given network into a tree by using the concept of tree-decompositions, and then solve an `easier' problem for the obtained tree. In particular, we will investigate problems related to the parsimony score of a phylogenetic network and supernetworks.

Keywords: complexity,fixed-parameter algorithm,graph theory,hiv,intrahost recombination,parsimony score,phylogenetic networks,reticulate evolution,supernetworks,tree-decomposition
Integration of Machine Translation Paradigms (IMTRAP)

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: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IOF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-12-07
End date: 2016-10-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 173212.8
EU funding (EUR): 173212.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Machine Translation (MT) is a highly interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary field since it is approached from the point of view of engineering, computer science, informatics, statistics and linguists. Unfortunately, the cooperation and interaction among these fields in relation to MT technologies is still very low. The goal of this research project is to approach the different profiles in the MT community by providing a new integrated MT paradigm which mainly includes linguistic technologies and statistical algorithms. Basically, our research will be focused on the problem of dynamically integrating the two most popular MT paradigms: the rule-based and the statistical-based. We will use linguistic technologies developed either for the rule-based MT systems or other natural language processing tasks into statistical MT systems. Linguistic technologies include: bilingual dictionaries, transfer rules, statistical parsing, word sense disambiguation, morphological and syntactic analysis. The new paradigm will provide solutions to current MT challenges such as unknown words, reordering and semantic ambiguities. The project will focus on the three most spoken languages in the world: Chinese, Spanish and English; and all translation combinations among them. These language pairs do not only involve many economical and cultural interests, but they also include some of the most relevant MT challenges such as morphological, syntactic and semantic variations.

Keywords: machine translation,statistical-based,rule-based,linguistic technologies,semantics,morphology,syntactics
Harmonic Mode-locked Fibre Lasers (HARMOFIRE)

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-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-11-15
End date: 2014-11-14
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 209033.4
EU funding (EUR): 209033.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Stabilized mode-locked fibre lasers (MLFLs) are important for a range of applications such as optical communications, frequency metrology, medical imaging, micro machining and femtochemistry. MLFLs are cost-efficient, easy to fabricate, have all-fibre design and high output powers. The key aims of the project are: (a) training of Mrs. Habruseva in the fast growing field of fibre lasers; and, (b) development of cost-efficient stable ultra-fast harmonic mode-locked fibre lasers (HMLFLs) for a range of applications. The interdisciplinary training includes fibre components design, fabrication, advanced modelling and implementation, polarization characterization and communication tests, where the host has a crucial expertise. Tatiana will gain additional expertise and knowledge in applications of fibre lasers, laser technologies and modelling through one-month placements at academic and industrial co-hosts. The multidisciplinary activities include supervision and teaching experience, complimentary courses on the project and knowledge management, research funding, proposal writing, and others. In the first year the Fellow will perform modelling and experimental study of HMLFLs, design and fabrication of fibre optics components, assembling of novel device for polarization control and study of HMLFLs with carbon nanotubes and nonlinear polarization evolution. During the second year the Fellow will study stabilization of HMLFLs. These studies will include research on coupled fibre lasers and development of novel methods for noise suppression. Training outcomes will broaden the Fellow’s areas of expertise, enhance her leadership and organisation qualities, and hence will have a great impact on her future career as an independent researcher. Stabilized MLFLs will enable increased performance and reduced complexity of optical networks; they will benefit European community in social, research and economical aspects through contribution to communication technologies.

Keywords: applied optics,mode-locked lasers,fibre lasers,nonlinear optics