Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Multifunctional Metallomesogenic Polymers (MULTIPOL)

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-2012-IIF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-09-16
End date: 2015-09-15
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 309235.2
EU funding (EUR): 309235.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This proposal seeks to bring into the EU a most talented Indian researcher with a strong background in synthetic and polymer chemistry, and liquid crystal photochemistry and to use his expertise in a project concerned with the synthesis and properties of a brand new multifunctional metallomesogenic polymers. The chemistry proposed will lead to the preparation of new side-chain polymers bearing ligands with an N3 donor set, which can be used to complex a range of metal ions. Of particular interest will be lanthanides with useful optical and magnetic response. In addition, an exciting investigation is planned that using photo- or magneto-responsive metal ions to crosslink liquid-crystalline terpyridine polymers to give elastomers, so that mechanical disturbance of the elastomer will result in an optical or magnetic effect. It is planned that the work carried out under this programme will help develop an ongoing collaboration between York and the group of Professor Das, the Fellow's mentor. The work will be carried out in a well-equipped and well-managed group with a strong international profile, proven ability to act as an international-level training centre in its subject and one that has played host to several Marie Curie Fellows in the past and participates actively in EU RTNs. There is a well-defined work programme and this will ensure that realistic targets are set and achieved. The research area is highly topical as liquid crystals represent an area of real strength within the EU, and new generation displays are emerging based on EU-derived materials and technology. The host group is well connected both within academic and industrially focused research in liquid crystals and the environment provided is first class.

Keywords: c130 intelligent materials - self assembled materials,c126 new materials,c132 coordination chemistry,c139 polymer chemistry
Tandem Catalysis: New Processes for Meta-Selective Functionalization of Arenes (METACHARYL)

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: 2013-03-18
End date: 2015-03-17
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 221606.4
EU funding (EUR): 221606.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Catalytic C-H functionalization holds great promise as a tool to simplify the synthesis and modification of organic compounds. A complete set of C-H functionalization methodologies would allow the synthesis of most molecules of interest. Despite important advances in the last decades, major challenges remain, in particular, on how to control the regioselectivity of C-H activation amongst the many C-H bonds present in the molecule. The aim of the research activities detailed in this proposal is to develop a cascade process that will use CO2 as an invisible Directing Group leading to an array of novel direct meta-functionalization methodologies. Our new methodology will proceed through a multi-catalytic system where (a) CO2 is captured ortho to a group R, (b) a CO2H directed ortho-fuctionalization occurs, and (c) CO2 is removed leading to the product of meta-functionalization. Thus, this ground-breaking methodology will present enormous advantages respect to ‘traditional’ cross-couplings in terms of cost (cheaper starting materials), and waste generation (only water and carbon dioxide generated), becoming a remarkably greener approach to the synthesis of the important biaryl unit. Clearly, the development of a meta-selective C-H functionalization methodology with increased substrate scope would be highly desirable, improving the access to biaryl motifs, which are ubiquitous in natural products, pharmaceuticals and organic materials, offering a more direct, economic and significantly greener approach.

Keywords: organic synthesis,organometallic catalysis,silver,palladium,c-c activation,homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis,decarboxylation,c-h activation,biaryl synthesis,green chemistry
Development of electrodes based on copper chalcogenide nanocrystals for photoelectrochemical energy conversion (COCHALPEC)

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: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-06-01
End date: 2015-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 184709.4
EU funding (EUR): 184709.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Solar energy is renewable and abundant enough to meet the growing energy demand, but its variability limits the application. Direct storage in the form of a clean fuel, like hydrogen, would solve this problem. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells employ solar energy to split water molecules producing H2 and O2. Thin films of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) and ZnCuInS2 (ZCIS) have shown remarkable efficiencies in photovoltaics (PV) and preliminary promising results in PEC cells, but costly fabrication. Currently, much attention is being paid to the synthesis of nanocrystals (NCs) of these materials because of their low cost preparation and tunable optical and electrical properties just by controlling the nanometer dimensions of NCs and the composition of the particles, giving more versatility to meet the energetic requirements for water splitting. These new materials in the forefront of PV remain unexplored in water splitting PEC cells to date. In this project, we propose the fabrication of photoelectrodes based on CZTS and ZCIS NCs to perform the water splitting. First, the control over the size, shape and composition of these NCs will be demonstrated using inexpensive solution-based techniques. Next, two photoelectrode configurations (viz. sensitized metal oxide and 3D-arrays of NCs) will be pursued applying state of the art overlayers to improve the charge separation and the catalytic activity at the interface with water. Finally a PEC device will be assembled that demonstrates a 5% overall solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency. In this research we propose a bottom-up approach whereby the comprehensive analysis of the interfacial charge transfer will both contribute to the basic science of solar energy conversion systems and optimize the performance of very promising materials for direct solar to fuel energy conversion. Our approach will finally create a significant impact on the scientific and general European communities through the dissemination of the field and the results.

Keywords: c109 electrochemistry,c128 nanomaterials,c118 photochemistry,water splitting,charge transfer,catalysis,photoelectrochemistry,c121 surface modification
Shedding microvesicles as drug loaded Trojan horses (SMART) – an exploration of unique drug carriers using a versatile enzyme nano assay (SMART)

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: 2014-01-01
End date: 2015-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 231283.2
EU funding (EUR): 231283.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The development of efficient drug carriers is a major challenge in the field of drug delivery. Most existing delivery systems do not deliver their cargo efficiently or are rapidly inactivated by the immune system leading to unwanted side effects or no effect at all. Shedding microvesicles are cell-derived membrane vesicles constituting the body's own intercellular “shuttle service”. Due to their physiological constitution and stability in biological liquids these carriers hold great promise in fundamentally improving efficient drug delivery. The goal of this project is to assess the potential of shedding microvesicles as drug delivery vehicles by means of an innovative and broadly applicable assay for the detection of enzymes in living cells. Measurement of intracellular enzyme activity is crucial for the elucidation of molecular disease mechanisms and the development of efficient treatment strategies. The versatile enzyme assay is based on a novel nanoneedle system which allows parallel detection of intracellular enzyme activity. Nanoneedles are functionalized with different enzyme-specific, short fluorophore-labelled peptides. Once introduced into living cells, peptides will be cleaved intracellular releasing the fluorophore leading to a specific emission pattern depending on which intracellular enzymes are active. The assay constitutes a simple but broadly applicable technique for the measurement of any intracellular enzyme activity and can be adapted to monitor other cellular processes. In this regard, I propose to study shedding microvesicles and to develop them as unique drug loaded “Trojan horses” using the versatile enzyme nano assay. These microvesicles have not been explored in-depth for drug delivery purposes. Thus, this project will pave the way towards a better understanding of successful drug delivery. It will enable a plethora of new treatment strategies which will be highly beneficial for patients and will strengthen scientific excellence in Europe.

Keywords: drug delivery,enzyme sensing,l701 medical engineering and technology,l703 pharmacology - toxicology - pharmacogenomics - drug therapy
Study of the involvement of secretory pathway in skeletal muscle differentiation (TRAFFIC IN SKM)

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-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-05-01
End date: 2015-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 216952.8
EU funding (EUR): 216952.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Skeletal muscle (SKM) cell differentiation and remodeling require synthesis and transport of an enormous amount of proteins to build up its’ highly specialized structures, likely entailing an important involvement of the secretory pathway. The sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) of SKM cells is a specialized form of endoplasmic reticulum (ER), formed by a complex network of tubules and cisternae sharing a common lumen, that can be subdivided in the junctional SR, responsible for calcium release, and the longitudinal SR, involved in calcium uptake. In SKM cells, the canonical ER distribution is not clear: cells may contain two major rough ER subcompartments, one without exit sites, localized in correspondence to the I-band, and a second responsible for export activity toward the Golgi Complex (GC), near the Z-disc. The GC in terminally differentiated SKM cells is organized in a fiber-type dependent fashion and, formed by very small GC elements consisting in a small stack of cisternae localized around the nuclei and in all the fiber. Interestingly, changes in GC organization in differentiating SKM cells follow pathways common to all mammalian cells. In order to find new insights on secretory pathway mechanisms in SKM differentiation, this project is aimed at answering two questions: 1- How do specialized domains, as SR, ER, GC and vesicles, reciprocally organize during SKM differentiation?; 2- What is the impact of the down regulation of proteins of the secretory pathway on differentiation and on specialized domains assembly in SKM cells? This project will be developed by exploiting the Researcher experience in the field of SKM differentiation and, the host group high-standard knowledge of the state of the art microscopy approaches and of vesicle trafficking field. Potentially the programme will improve the approaches available to study SKM differentiation and, will provide opportunities to reveal biological processes that will be very important for the scientific community

Keywords: lifskeletal muscle cells,differentiation,secretory pathway,rna interference,live imaging,high-throughput analysis,multiphoton microscopy
Sulfur Cycle on Mercury: An experimental and theoretical study (SULFURONMERCURY)

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-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2014-06-15
End date: 2016-06-14
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 161968.8
EU funding (EUR): 161968.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Ongoing measurements of the surface of Mercury by the MESSENGER spacecraft (NASA) indicate that it is covered with basaltic lavas unusually rich in sulfur (up to 4 wt.% S). Such values are significantly higher than those reported for any basaltic composition on Earth. Understanding the geochemical cycle of sulfur on Mercury is essential to constrain large-scale processes of planetary differentiation due to volcanic activity, crust-mantle formation, and segregation of a Fe-S-Si core. In this project, the solubility, crystallization and speciation of sulfur in silicate liquids from Mercury will be investigated experimentally and theoretically. Experiments using furnaces and presses will be performed at high temperature (> 1000°C) and for pressure conditions relevant to the Mercury’s crust and mantle (1 bar to 40 kbar). A special design of experimental capsules will be developed to control equilibration under highly reduced conditions similar to those prevailing on Mercury. The key objectives of the project are (1) to precisely estimate the sulfur solubility in Mercury’s silicate liquids as a function of pressure, temperature and oxygen fugacity and (2) to determine phase equilibria and the behavior of sulfur during the crystallization of the Mercury’s basalts. Experimental data and theoretical models produced during this project will allow understanding the processes of Mercury’s differentiation on a global scale as well as determining the likely mantle source of the basalts observed at the surface of the planet. This will be of crucial interest to fully interpret the geochemical and spectral data currently measured by MESSENGER, and those that will be acquired in the near future by the BepiColombo spacecraft of the European Space Agency.

Keywords: earth sciences,geology,planetology,experimental petrology,mercury,messenger,bepicolombo,fractional crystallization,silicate liquid,sulfide liquid,immiscibility,oxygen fugacity,planet
Catalysis in Dynamic Molecular Networks (DYNACAT)

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: 2013-03-01
End date: 2015-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 175974.6
EU funding (EUR): 175974.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Most catalytic reactions in Nature are mediated by enzymes. The concentrations of these enzymes are controlled in space and time through elaborate regulatory mechanisms, giving rise to complex functional behaviour that is essential to biology. Synthetic catalysts have been developed, many of which complement enzymatic catalysis with respect to types of reactions and substrate scope. Yet, in synthetic systems temporal control over catalyst concentrations remains underdeveloped, imposing limits on the functional potential. We reasoned that more elaborate control over synthetic catalysts may be achieved using a dynamic molecular network. Such networks have been mostly used for creating dynamic combinatorial libraries (DCLs). In dynamic combinatorial chemistry, a small set of building blocks react to form a combinatorial library of molecules that continuously exchange their building blocks, producing an equilibrium mixture. With the exception of applications in sensing, the objective of most DCL experiments is reductionistic: the identification of a single molecule with special properties. However, their network character makes DCLs potentially powerful tools for systems chemistry, where function derives from the entire network as opposed to an individual molecule. We now propose to apply the inherent dynamic nature of DCLs to several catalytic scenarios. The overall aim is to develop novel catalytic systems that exhibit some of the control mechanisms that have until now been exclusive to biology (i.e. responsiveness; feedback behaviour; regulation by signal molecules). Concretely, we aim to develop systems where the substrate induces the transient formation of its own catalyst, to develop systems in which catalysis is controlled by added effector molecules and to develop systems where catalysis shows feedback behaviour by the product of the reaction.

Keywords: c140 supramolecular chemistry,c112 catalysis,dynamic combinatorial chemistry,systems chemistry,responsiveness,feedback behaviour,regulation by signal molecules
The action mechanism of human antimicrobial peptide dermcidin (AMDERM)

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: 2014-01-01
End date: 2015-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 309235.2
EU funding (EUR): 309235.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have great potential as a new generation of antibiotics, but their function mechanisms are very elusive which hinders the design and application of this kind of new antibiotics in medicine or therapy. Different function models have been proposed, one of which is the oligomerization of AMPs and pore formation on the bacterial membranes. However, there are no atomic structures of AMP oligomers published and therefore no atomic details exist about how they act on membranes. Very recently, the first crystal structure of one AMP oligomer, the dermcidin oligomer, has been obtained by X-ray crystallography by one of our collaborators. We have performed preliminary molecular dynamics (MD) simulations on this structure and found some very interesting properties of the oligomer and some implications of their action mechanism. Briefly, it acts as a water and ion channel on the membrane with unique transport properties. Following the discovery of this new structure and the preliminary simulation results, in this proposal, we plan to perform further MD simulations to study its detailed action mechanism on membranes. We will perform potential of mean force calculations and the new computational electrophysiology simulations to quantify the ion selectivity, the permeation pathway selectivity and the preference orientation of the dermcidin channel on membranes. The relation between the channel orientation and its conductance will be studied. We will investigate the effect of membrane composition on the insertion and conduction properties of the dermcidin oligomer. All of these studies would be highly related to its function in vivo. The proposed project here can assist people to understand the action mechanisms of dermcidin and the AMP family, which will be of great help for the future AMP-derived antibiotics design.

Keywords: l106 biophysics,l211 computational biology,molecular dynamics,antimicrobial peptide,ion channel
Safeguarding Academic Freedom in Europe (SAFE)

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: 2013-09-02
End date: 2015-09-01
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 299558.4
EU funding (EUR): 299558.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This research addresses a fundamental human right and a key element of the creation of a European knowledge economy: academic freedom. Universities are vital elements in the construction of a European knowledge economy, while academic freedom is considered essential to the proper functioning of a University and is recognised by international bodies such as UNESCO as a barometer of other more fundamental human rights, like freedom of speech. This research is a synthesis of the constitutional and statutory protection for academic freedom with measures of academic norms and departmental cultures, to produce a comparative assessment of the protection for, and health of, academic freedom in the EU (currently a much under-researched field); and an analysis of best practice for the legal/normative protection of academic freedom in the EU, which can then aid the construction of interactive interrogatory tools and institutional and national policy instruments, to be disseminated across European universities, and beyond. The project unites the Fellow, who has a wide knowledge of constitutional law and human rights with respect to education, with the Researcher in Charge, who has experience and expertise in assessing the protection of academic freedom in different states, to produce new knowledge on the extent of the legal and normative protection for academic freedom in the EU. In the medium-term effect this research will increase the protection for academic freedom in Europe at national and institutional levels. The long term effects are: first, enhanced understanding of the strength of the human rights associated with academic freedom, more particularly, freedoms of thought, speech, and the right to education in international law; second, the facilitation and encouragement of the creation of new knowledge, more especially at the interstices of different disciplines that have traditionally experienced subject and departmental based barriers to collaboration.

Keywords: human rights academic freedom,universities,knowledge economy
Magnetic-PCR: An ultrasensitive methodology for Breast cancer detection and characterization. (MAGNETIC_PCR)

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: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-03-01
End date: 2015-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 230036.6
EU funding (EUR): 230036.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The Magnetic-PCR project propose a brand-new and ultrasensitive methodology for detection and classification of breast cancer subtypes based on detection of specific genes expression. For this, the project develops a new “magnetic relaxation switch” (MRSw) biosensor based on superparamagnetic nanoparticles to improve the sensitivity of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for detecting nucleic acids. Relaxometry and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) will be used to sensing DNA or RNA biomolecules. The ultimate goal is to achive direct application of a MRSw sensor for detection and classification of breast cancer malignancy by magnetic resonance (MR).

Keywords: chemistry,cancer,nanotechnology,polymerase chain reaction (pcr),magnetic nanoparticles,dna,rna,magnetic resonance imaging,magnetic relaxation switch,relaxometry,molecular imaging