Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Improvement of MAterials with X-rays (IMAX)

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: Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-11-01
End date: 2015-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 175974.6
EU funding (EUR): 175974.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Local modifications of materials with X-ray beams have recently been shown feasible by the researcher of this application in exemplary high-Tc superconducting copper oxide materials. These modifications are not based on materials degradation by the creation of structural damage, but rely on ordering of defects such as oxygen vacancies and interstititals, which can even lead to materials improvements, in this case Tc enhancements. These modifications can be realized locally by micro X-ray beams and therefore shapes can be drawn at will in two dimensions when the X-ray beam is used like a pen. The structures could also be erased again by applying heat treatments. Here we propose with the Intra-European Marie Curie Fellowship to join this expertise of the researcher with the various advanced thin film materials science and nanotechnology techniques available at the University of Twente to further explore the potentialities of this X-ray manipulation for relevant nano-materials. Concomitantly, it will provide the researcher with very valuable training in such areas as materials fabrication, advanced microscopy and nanolithography. Selected thin film complex oxides and their heterostructures, e.g.. SrTiO3-LaAlO3 stacks, graphene and chemical derivatives of graphene will be used for the manipulation through the use of X-rays at synchrotron radiation facilities and in laboratory sources. As a special type of structure, we will look at fractal patterns, which were discovered earlier by the researcher to be a route towards a Tc enhancement in the cuprates, and for which also for the electronic transport properties in non-superconducting materials interesting theoretical predictions have been made.

Keywords: p204 transport properties of condensed matter,p208 superconductivity,x-rays,synchrotron radiation,materials modification,complex oxides,graphene,lithography
The implementation of international criminal justice: Deciphering a (more effective) way forward through the competing tensions (IMECAJ)

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-2012-IIF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-07-01
End date: 2015-06-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 308587.8
EU funding (EUR): 308587.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The past two decades have seen an unprecedented trend towards the ‘institutionalization’ and ‘judicialization’ of international criminal justice, principally through the operation of formalized international and hybrid courts and tribunals. Each of these judicial mechanisms requires the allocation of very significant resources from countries throughout Europe and beyond. Yet, experience has shown that the current structure of this system of international criminal justice contains inherent problems and gives rise to considerable tensions. These threaten the credibility of the system and increasingly restrict its capacity both to effectively implement international criminal justice, and to satisfy the expectations placed upon it by the broader international community. This Research Project will seek to examine the most significant tensions that have arisen during the evolution of this system, and has the following principal objectives: a) To identify and examine the main ‘goals’ of the mechanisms of contemporary international criminal justice; b) To assess the major tensions that have emerged through the ‘judicialization’ process associated with these mechanisms, and in the implementation of contemporary international criminal justice; c) To determine appropriate measures of, and benchmarks for the legal ‘effectiveness’ of these mechanisms; d) Taking into account the conclusions reached from the above three objectives, to articulate possible future initiatives with regard to more effectively implementing international criminal justice.

Keywords: criminal justice,post-conflict resolution,international crimes,international judicial mechanisms,international law,human rights,supra-national governance,effectiveness of governance systems
Establishing Silicon Isotopes as Weathering Tracers for Paleoenvironmental Studies (SI-PALEO)

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: Belgium
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2014-01-01
End date: 2015-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 235000.0
EU funding (EUR): 235000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Weathering of silicate rocks acts as a major sink for atmospheric CO2, and hence is thought to have played an important role in regulating the Earth’s climate over geological time. Despite the potential importance of this process, and its significance to the global carbon cycle, our ability to reconstruct past variations in silicate weathering remains limited. Another important issue is the degree to which human-induced environmental degradation has affected continental weathering on shorter time scales, from tens to thousands of years. A better understanding of how chemical weathering relates to climate change and human activities is necessary to address these issues. The SI-PALEO project proposes to explore the use of silicon isotopes in marine sediments as a new proxy for past continental weathering. Recent advances in the understanding of the biogeochemical cycling of silicon on continents have shown that Si isotopes could provide a unique tool for tracing the evolution of silicate weathering through time. In this study, the main objectives will be: 1) to determine the factors controlling the distribution of Si isotope ratios in terrigenous sediments, and 2) to assess the impact of climate change and human activities on past chemical weathering in Central Africa. These objectives will be addressed by analysing an extensive collection of river-borne sediments and exceptional marine sediment records from the Congo area. SI-PALEO is a multi-disciplinary project, proposed together by a French marine geoscientist and the Royal Museum of Central Africa (Belgium), a first-class centre for scientific research in Africa with expertise on Si isotope geochemistry, Earth Surface processes and archaeology. The data acquired during this project should improve our understanding of past interactions between climate, environment, and human activities. SI-PALEO will also contribute at strenghtening the applicant’s position in this novel frontier area of research.

Keywords: isotope geochemistry,silicon,sediment,rivers,continental weathering,climate,land-use
Multiple stressor effects in the photobiology of Caribbean symbiotic octocorals and its repercussion in the population fitness and reproductive output (ANIMAL FOREST HEALTH)

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-2012-IOF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-07-15
End date: 2016-07-14
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 275135.7
EU funding (EUR): 275135.7
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The ocean transformation due to direct or indirect human interference is a fact. Among the most threatened ecosystems are the so called “animal forests”. Animal forests are considered alive three-dimensional structures mostly (or completely) composed by hexacorals, octocorals, sponges, etc. In tropical seas, symbiotic octocorals (soft corals) are important part of these complex structures. Several synergic effects, acting as stressors in these organisms, have been detected, changing the distribution of species, the partial or total mortality patterns of populations and the associated to this three-dimensional structures biomass and biodiversity. Climate change is the main driver of these stressors, with a clear repercussion in the octocoral population fitness (bleaching events, physiological and metabolic adaptations, decrease in the gonadal output). The photobiology of the species (i.e. symbiont type and concentration, photosynthesis and respiration rates, variation in the photochemical efficiency, etc.) and its effects in front of climate change effects has been studied in hexacorals (hard corals), being the symbiotic octocorals largely neglected. The aim of the project is to understand how futures scenarios of warming temperatures, ocean acidification and food changes will impact the photobiology and physiology of symbiotic octocoral population, reflected in the health status and reproductive capability of this group. Specific objectives of the project are: a) properly describe photo biological features in Caribbean selected symbiotic octocorals; b) Make exsitu experiments with different temperature, acidification and food availability testing metabolic and gonadal output response; c) Make in situ seasonal monitoring of the species biology and environmental factors at different depths to d) Make a model of potential changes in the population distribution and recovery capability after the stress effects.

Keywords: conservation biology - ecology,biogeochemical cycles,biological oceanography,coral reefs,climate change impacts,bleaching,photobiology,health status,octocorals,recovery and reproduction
Linking neuronal activity to ecology: How the sensory environment of a species shapes the neural representation of the external world in the insect brain. (BRAINVISUALECOLOGY)

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-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-06-01
End date: 2015-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 206350.8
EU funding (EUR): 206350.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Animals navigate their surroundings in a large variety of environments, ranging from dim forests at night to bright open fields during the day. How have their brains evolved to achieve precise visually guided behaviors in such different environments? Despite their small eyes and tiny brains, insects perform sophisticated orientation behaviors in almost all ecological niches on Earth. This, and their experimental accessibility, make them ideal models to pursue the aim of the proposed experiments: to reveal the neural principles that allow animal brains to produce precise navigational commands within specific environments, despite limited and often noisy sensory information. We will study the central complex (CX), a highly conserved brain region involved in sensory integration and motor planning across insects. In locusts and monarch butterflies the CX likely serves as an internal compass during migration, and CX-neurons are highly conserved between these two species, despite 360 million years of evolutionary distance. We now hypothesize that the CX underlies general orientation behavior in all insects. We will test this using electrophysiology and comparative neuroanatomy, first verifying the functional ground plan of the CX suggested by its conserved morphology. We will study two species of bees, which are non-migratory, share similar behavioral strategies, but inhabit vastly different environments (nocturnal vs diurnal). We will develop a novel virtual reality arena to present natural skylight cues combined with classic visual stimuli, all mimicking the natural habitats of both species. We will then characterize how each species’ lifestyle has shaped the neural circuitry of the CX for optimal performance in its particular ecological niche. By linking the ecology of a species to specific neural circuits, we hope to gain pioneering insights into higher visual processing in nocturnal animals and elucidate fundamental neural principles of sensory-motor transformation.

Keywords: l501 neuroanatomy and neurophysiology,l504 sensory systems,central complex,navigation,vision,sensory-motor transformation,bee,low-light vision
INtegrating Social Evolution and Metabolic Ecology (INSEAME)

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-2012-IIF, 2012)
Start date: 2014-04-15
End date: 2016-04-14
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 221154.6
EU funding (EUR): 221154.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Over 3.5 billion years, life has evolved towards ever-greater size and complexity. At critical transitions, this occurred when entities formed collectives (e.g. cells into multicellular bodies, individuals into eusocial societies, species into obligate mutualisms). Towards explaining this trend, I will integrate two emerging perspectives—social evolution and metabolic ecology—using scaling laws to explore energy efficiencies gained as organisms crossed these major transitions. Extending my research on the physiology of fungus-growing ant societies, I will use a metabolic currency to study the evolutionary trend towards ever-larger agricultural systems. Ants (tribe Attini) began cultivating fungi 50 million ago and have since evolved into over 230 species common across the new world tropics. My research has suggested that these farming ant societies, like those of humans, face efficiency constraints related to metabolism. I found that species with larger colony-farms tend to become increasingly efficient, producing larger fungus crops while losing relatively less energy to metabolic respiration. I will extend advanced techniques I pioneered, using a cutting edge respirometry system to link performance and operational size at each level of organization, from newly-mated queens that found colonies, to societies of sterile workers cultivating fungus, and then whole colony-farms that use public health strategies to protect fungal symbionts. Decades of research by my host, Prof. Boomsma, have made fungus-growing ants a model system in biology, rivaling the honeybee, and I will use this system to ask fundamental integrative questions in biology. I will also transfer knowledge by organizing and teaching three courses—a respirometry course (2014) and a tropical field course in Panama (2013 & 2015). A return phase with Prof. Rob Dunn (USA) will cement international collaboration and enable high impact outreach in Europe, building on his massive citizen-science infrastructure.

Keywords: l801 ecology,l402 comparative physiology,l806 animal behaviour,l804 biodiversity - comparative biology
Genetic and epigenetic signature of transcription termination (TRXTERMSIGN)

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-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2014-01-02
End date: 2016-07-24
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 231283.2
EU funding (EUR): 231283.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Most eukaryotic genes are transcribed by RNA polymerase II (Pol II) in a cycle of initiation, elongation and termination. Transcription termination, defined as the cessation of RNA synthesis and release of Pol II from its DNA template, depends on a functional poly(A) sequence as well as downstream terminator sequences. Correct termination is important for the prevention of transcriptional interference, efficient protein production and Pol II recycling. Further on, aberrant poly(A) usage and alterations of 3' UTR length have been functionally linked to cancer. Despite its vital importance, transcription termination mechanisms have only been studied on a handful of genes, and the general principles ruling this process are unknown. In particular, the influence of the chromatin context on Pol II termination is an enigma. The objective of this proposal is to elucidate the genetic and epigenetic signature of transcription termination genome-wide using a combination of computational, genetic and biochemical approaches. First, a systematic in silico screening will be performed for chromatin modifications and transcription factors' occupancy, as well as DNA sequence elements in putative terminator regions. It will be based on the model genes and their termination pathways dissected in the host lab, as well as a wide range of publicly available and self-generated genome-wide data sets of chromatin-associated features. This unbiased screening will yield the first insight into the genome-wide characteristics (signature) of terminator elements, allowing for subsequent functional studies using hypothesis-driven experimental approaches. The implementation of this proposal will strongly enhance the researcher's competence by training in the field of RNA processing, complementary to her background in chromatin biology and bioinformatics, foster the development of her interdisciplinary skills and ultimately support her in attaining a future group leader position.

Keywords: l101 molecular biology and interactions,l104 rna synthesis - processing - modification and degradation,l201 genomics - functional genomics,l202 transcriptomics,l210 bioinformatics,chromatin
Probing the cosmic dawn and the epoch of reionization with the history and fluctuations of the hydrogen 21-cm line (COSMICDAWN21CM)

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-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2016-02-29
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 299558.4
EU funding (EUR): 299558.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

One of the frontiers being explored by astronomy today is the period between approximately 400000 years after the Big Bang, from which time we can detect the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, and around one billion years after the Big Bang, when early galaxies and quasars start to become visible to current instruments, such as ALMA and the Wide Field Camera 3 on HST. The most promising observational probe of this period is the redshifted 21-cm hyperfine line of atomic hydrogen. The LOFAR telescope is now operational, and from its site in the Netherlands will be able to detect 21-cm radiation from the latter part of this period, the 'epoch of reionization' (EoR). Foreground radiation at the same frequency is several orders of magnitude more intense than the cosmological signal, however. Moreover, the data will have low signal-to-noise and be filtered through a complex instrument. As one of the core members of the LOFAR EoR key project, I have developed techniques to extract information about cosmology and reionization from the data, and applied them to synthetic EoR observations. During the fellowship, I will continue to develop and extend these methods with the help of the expertise in data analysis and novel statistical methods at UCL, begin to apply them to the real data which will start to arrive during the period of the fellowship, and use them to learn about the EoR. Other experiments are being proposed which would be able to probe earlier parts of this period, the 'dark ages' and the 'cosmic dawn'. I am a co-investigator on a satellite mission, the Dark Ages Radio Explorer (DARE), which will be proposed to NASA's 2013 Explorer program. It would take a complementary approach to LOFAR's, observing the sky-averaged 21-cm signal (rather than its fluctuations) at even lower radio frequencies, with the aim of learning about the very first stars and black holes. Analysing its data presents a different challenge, and will also require novel techniques.

Keywords: p301 astronomy - astrophysics and cosmology
The long-term evolution of E. coli: promoting archeogenetics as a complement to experimental evolution approaches. (GECOLINOMICS)

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: Denmark
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2014-04-01
End date: 2016-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 221154.6
EU funding (EUR): 221154.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The retrieval of ancient DNA sequences from long-dead organisms offers a unique perspective on evolutionary biology. In this proposal, we aim to take advantage of cutting-edge approaches in next-generation sequencing, together with the contributions of other fields, including medicine, experimental biology and microbiology, in order to access the complete genome sequences of ancient E. coli organisms that lived several hundreds to thousands of years ago. DNA enrichment coupled with high-throughput DNA sequencing will be implemented and several lines of evidence will be used to demonstrate the authenticity of the ancient E. coli sequences recovered. The wide knowledge of modern E. coli genomes will be compared to ancient strains for the first time and the plasticity of E. coli genomes will be analyzed over millions of generations, at evolutionary scales that encompass by several orders of magnitude the scope of what is accessible with standard approaches in experimental evolution, promising to reveal important features about the evolutionary mechanisms of adaptation and selection as well as the origin of the variety of modern E. coli populations. In parallel, we aim at characterizing the prevalence of virulence factors (i.e. Shiga toxin) that still cause the onset of serious outbreak of foodborne illness in Europe and in the United States. This information will reveal the importance of E. coli digestive outbreaks in past human populations and could contribute in monitoring outbreaks in current populations. We are confident that the present project, which represents a perfect synthesis of the applicant education and will be carried out under the supervision of an internationally recognised researcher within the fields of paleogenomics and hosted in one of the world’s leading centres for ancient DNA research, will push the limits of archaeogenetics and receive a wide international and general public attention.

Keywords: escherichia coli,paleogenomics,coprolithes,whole genome sequencing,homo sapiens,evolution,epidemiology,comparative genomics,human health,virulence factors,shiga genes