Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Visual crowding: The paradox of position (VISUALCROWDING)

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: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF, 2010)
Start date: 2011-05-01
End date: 2013-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 185248.0
EU funding (EUR): 185248.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Visual crowding is the disruptive effect of “clutter” on our ability to recognise objects, despite their being identifiable in isolation. This effect is particularly strong in our peripheral vision, making crowding the fundamental limit on over 95% of the visual field. Understanding crowding will thus reveal much about how we recognise objects, as well as how to present information to those who rely on peripheral vision (e.g. macular degeneration) and those with elevated crowding (e.g. amblyopia). The dominant view of crowding is as an excessive integration of object features that simplifies the crowded region into efficiently processed texture. A key assumption here is that the position of objects is lost – otherwise, the true features would be seen in their true locations. This is, however, inconsistent with the high positional specificity of crowding: its magnitude relies strongly on the position of objects, both in relation to one another (more crowding for adjacent objects) and across the visual field (more crowding peripherally). In addition, while crowding affects object identities, it rarely fills the spaces in between. Simple feature integration would not retain this specificity. We call this discrepancy between gross object position and the position of their features “the paradox of position” in crowding. Our psychophysical experiments and computational modeling will examine this hitherto unexplored aspect of crowding in two key ways. The first will delineate the circumstances where position encoding is reliable and where it breaks down. The second will examine the rules that govern “what goes where” by manipulating aspects of the stimuli likely to influence this process (e.g. spatial frequency and border ownership). The outcome will be an insight into both the mechanisms of crowding, a key process in vision, and the way that object identities are tied to positions, a key issue of the ‘binding problem’ in object recognition more generally.

Keywords: cognitive science,experimental psychology,vision,object recognition,reading,crowding,peripheral vision,neuropsychology,ophthalmology
The Seductive Power of the Neurosciences: An Intellectual Genealogy (NEUROSEDUCTION2010)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: European Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG, 2010)
Start date: 2011-06-01
End date: 2014-05-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 45000.0
EU funding (EUR): 45000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The current explosion of neuroscientific references in a plethora of disciplinary fields, with plenty of psychological and cultural phenomena that have been ‘turned neurobiological’, represents one of the most remarkable characteristics in our epoch. What once was described with recourse to a humanistic vocabulary is today increasingly represented by the language of neurobiology: a certain “way of thinking has taken shape” today (Rose, 2007), one for which everything that is relevant for human beings has to leave a trace in the brain. The aim of this multidisciplinary research project is to investigate such a ‘neuromania’ scenario of our days, trying to shed light on some background reasons for the current seductive power of the neurosciences. Building on the previous two-year IEF MC at the same host institution, this project explores the way neuroscientific references have penetrated countless disciplinary fields, created their own plethora of neurodisciplines and affirmed themselves as a foundational narrative endowed with epistemic but also normative force. The research follows a three-stage approach: A) A Cartography of the emergence of a new constellation of “neurodisciplines” and the way neuroscientific suggestions have made their way through plenty of disciplinary fields, included areas traditionally resistant to neurobiological discourses (e.g. philosophy, sociology and political theory) B) An Assessment of the specific cognitive dimension of the problem, with particular focus on “the illusion of explanatory depth” (Keil, 2003) which seems part of the “seductive allure” (Skolnick Weisberg et al., 2008) and “particular persuasive” force (McCabe and Castel, 2008) of neuro-explanations and brain images C) An Analysis of the moral and normative dimension that contributes to the intellectual authority of the neurosciences, interpreted here as a new source for moral and political discourses after the intellectual failures and traumas of the twentieth century

Keywords: social and cultural effects of science and technology,neurosciences,brain imaging,neurocultures,european philosophy,conceptual metaphor analysis,naturalism,new subjectivities,power,modernity
High Resolution Segmentation of Brain MR Images at 7 Teslas (HIRESBRAIN7T)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG, 2010)
Start date: 2011-03-01
End date: 2015-08-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The advent of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology has brought us closer to understanding brain function in health and disease. With 7 Teslas high field MRI machines, pioneers of imaging physics have made possible in-vivo examination of the human brain at sub-millimetre scale. New imaging contrasts additionally offer rich information regarding tissue organization and composition. While many tools have been developed over the years to process automatically more conventional MRI, currently these new images are largely inspected and annotated by hand. The purpose of this proposal is to develop at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, a center with leading expertise in 7 Teslas MRI and fMRI, a series of innovative tools for automated brain image analysis. The incoming researcher, Dr. Pierre-Louis Bazin, has extensive experience in developing innovative, state-of-the-art image segmentation and analysis tools for brain MR images at 3 Teslas, including fundamental and specialized methods for brain extraction, tissue and structure segmentation, cortical reconstruction, white matter labelling and thalamic parcellation in diffusion-weighted imaging. Many of these tools have been successfully employed in large scale studies of normal aging, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and small vessel cardiovascular disease at the Johns Hopkins University and have the potential to translate well to meet the new challenges of ultra-high resolution MRI at 7 Teslas.

Keywords: brain research,neuroimaging,medical image analysis,ultra-high resolution mri
Chilean Lake sediments as archives for climate variability during the past 1000 years (CHILE1000)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: European Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG, 2010)
Start date: 2011-05-01
End date: 2015-03-01
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 45000.0
EU funding (EUR): 45000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Currently much effort is put into answering the question: ‘Does the magnitude and rate of 20th Century climate change exceed natural variability over the last millennium? This is important since it provides information on the influence of e.g. anthropogenic forcing of climate, which is highly relevant for the general public and policy makers. However, climatic reconstructions of a sufficient quality and resolution are very scarce in the Southern Hemisphere. In addition, most climatic proxies are biased towards the warm growing season; reconstructions for the winter season are typically scarce. Recent studies have highlighted though that the amplitude and direction of climate change differs for each season. In addition, it is mostly the seasonal (or shorter) climatic events which have greater environmental and socio-economic impacts. Therefore there is a particularly strong need for data representing seasonally resolved temperature variability for the Southern Hemisphere. This project aims to develop high-resolution, quantitative reconstructions of summer and winter temperature variability in the Chilean Andes during the past 1000 years based on novel methods; chrysophyte stomatocyst analysis and scanning in-situ reflectance spectrometry. These records will be used to put recent climatic changes in a long-term context, study changes in seasonal contrasts/extremes and to study forcing factors in the greater study area by comparison to GCM ensemble runs. The basic costs of the CHILE1000 project are covered by a prestigious grant obtained by the applicant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (covering the applicant’s salary and a contribution to other project costs). The ERG grant will form an essential contribution to the applicant’s career since it allows carrying out all required fieldwork and analysis and will greatly enhance the applicant’s visibility and independence in a novel, promising field of research.

Keywords: climate change,physical geography,paleoclimate (climate change),climate variability (climate change)
Sperm chromatin and the evolution of chromatin architecture at regulatory regions in animal genomes. (EVO-CHROMO)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: European Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG, 2010)
Start date: 2012-01-01
End date: 2015-04-22
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 45000.0
EU funding (EUR): 45000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The genome of eukaryotic cells is packaged into chromatin. Recent technological advances have allowed the profiling of chromatin on a genome-wide scale in a diversity of living species. We are now faced with an excellent opportunity to study chromatin function and evolution in a way that was not possible before. Here, I propose to study the mechanisms of nucleosome retention in human sperm and the role and evolution of chromatin architecture at regulatory elements of animal genomes. In human sperm, most of the genome is packaged by protamines and not by histones. The 4% of the human genome that remains packaged in nucleosomes tends to contain gene promoters and developmental regulatory genes. However, there is no mechanism to explain why nucleosomes are retained at these locations. To this end, I will test three possible mechanisms of nucleosome retention in human sperm. This information will help us understand the mechanisms that may affect epigenetic inheritance. As a second aspect of this project, I propose to study the interplay between chromatin structure and regulatory evolution in animal genomes. Nucleosome positions have been mapped throughout five entire animal genomes; human, mouse, Japanese killifish (Oryzias latipes), Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. I propose to use this data and the intrinsic affinity for nucleosomes predicted from in vitro nucleosome reconstitution experiments to study the role of nucleosome positioning in the evolution of promoters and distal enhancers in metazoans. The grant will be used for the transition from a post-doctoral to an independent research position and will contribute to my integration in a major scientific hub in Europe.

Keywords: computational biology,genomics,gene regulation,chromatin,genome evolution,germline chromatin
Metabolic sensor proteins that couple essential cellular processes and primary metabolism (METASENSORS)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG, 2010)
Start date: 2011-03-01
End date: 2015-02-28
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

How are we what we eat? How are essential cellular processes coordinated at the level of protein activity in response to nutritional changes? This is the broad question my research seeks to understand. Metabolic pathways building the cell bricks are extensively described. By contrast, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms driving cell-wide processes is recent and incomplete. This explains why the regulatory links between these cellular processes and primary metabolism are largely unexplored. State of the art methods, in particular in cell biology, now provide the means to address this fundamental question. Investigating these connections are best carried out in simple well defined systems. My research uses the model bacterium Bacillus subtilis. It is a Gram positive rod-shaped bacterium that is genetically amenable. In this project, we propose candidate and innovative large-scale approaches to identify and characterize metabolic sensors at the heart of these regulations. First, we will characterize a candidate protein that is expressed in the same operon as a metabolic enzyme and which absence affects cell division. We will also take advantage of this time to setup a high-throughput fluorescence microscopy workflow and transfer tools from my post-doctoral laboratory, hire students and formalize collaborations in Europe and the United States. Second, the main part of this project will concentrate on the identification and the characterization of new proteins coupling morphogenesis, division and chromosome dynamics to carbon and nitrogen metabolism. An interdisciplinary approach combining modern techniques in fluorescence microscopy, genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, biochemistry and automation will be used to study these metabolic sensors. Understanding the connections between metabolism and cell-wide processes will yield fundamental knowledge on the global functioning of the bacterial cell but also provide basis for new antibacterial drugs development.

Keywords: cell biology,bacteria,cellular processes,metabolism,sensor,regulation,protein activity,network,cell division,morphogenesis,replication,segregation,chromosome,microscopy,high-throughput
Quantum control: manipulating and interfacing selected atoms in optical lattices with light (QNDLATTICE)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: European Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Denmark
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG, 2010)
Start date: 2011-03-01
End date: 2014-02-28
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 45000.0
EU funding (EUR): 45000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The interdisciplinary boundary between the fields of quantum information science, condensed matter, and ultra-cold atomic physics is at the heart of the new field of quantum engineering and will play an important role for the enhancement of our understanding of strongly correlated materials. One of the most important tools in this domain is optical lattices, which are periodic optical potentials – artificial "crystals" - created by counter-propagating laser beams. The dynamics of ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices is very similar to that found in solid state systems. In contrast to these, however, optical lattices have a high degree of purity, regularity, and tunability. They are therefore an ideal test bed for many condensed matter models such as those relevant for high-Tc-superconductivity and are a strong candidate for scalable quantum computation. The proposal will address two fundamental issues. Challenge 1: interface ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices with light. Although a non-destructive probe of the states in optical lattices would have great implications for the investigation of the rich many-body dynamics as well as for the field of quantum information processing it has never been implemented. In this project the experience of the applicant in non-destructive probing of room-temperature atomic gasses will be extended to optical lattices. Challenge 2: the manipulation and detection of single sites in an optical lattice represents a formidable technical challenge since the lattice spacing is of the order of 0.5um. In two hallmark experiments this resolution was achieved optically recently but the approach is very expensive and technically involved. Within this proposal a new way of achieving this resolution is introduced based on the interference of multiple coherent beams. Apart from technical simplicity it also offers enhanced sensitivity since the manipulation is controlled via the frequency – one of the most well-controlled properties in physics.

Keywords: ultracold atomic physics,quantum information,condensed matter,quantum simulation,optical lattices,quantum non-demolition probing,faraday rotation,light-atom interface,single-atom manipulation
The Role of the Vertical Dimension in Memory and Navigation (VERTICAL DIMENSION)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Italy
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG, 2010)
Start date: 2011-09-01
End date: 2014-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 75000.0
EU funding (EUR): 75000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

For any animal, including humans, the ability to remember where an important place is and to navigate to it efficiently are vital, as taking a wrong direction can mean finding death instead of finding home. Studies have investigated the cognitive and neurological mechanism governing these abilities, but they have focused mainly on one specific type of environment – flat surfaces extended only in the horizontal dimensions. However, the world is not flat. Every day we navigate in vertical environments, both natural (hills, mountains) and man-made (stairs, stories of a building). Therefore, it is important to understand how humans perceive, memorize and process spatial information in order to find a goal in a three-dimensional world. The vertical dimension adds a unique quality to the environment because it is parallel to the force of gravity. In fact, navigating on a tilted surface requires more effort compared to a flat plane, and this increased energy demand renders the vertical dimension perceptually and cognitively salient. Furthermore, navigation on a vertically extended surface provides a suite of multimodal sensory activations, which differ from locomotion on a horizontal surface, as a consequence of kinesthetic, proprioceptive, vestibular and visual stimuli. Therefore, vertical environments involve a different sensory experience compared to horizontal environments. Volunteer students will be recruited for a series of behavioral studies. The general procedure will consist of a goal-finding paradigm: an object will be hidden in an environment with a vertical component, and participants will have to navigate and find it. Manipulations on the environment (e.g., degree of inclination, availability of landmarks or other cues) will reveal what is the role of the vertical dimension for memory and navigation.

Keywords: human sciences,cognitive psychology,spatial memory and learning,navigation,goal finding,vertical dimension,visual and kinesthetic cues.
Probing the Fate of Stem Cells through the Development of a Multiplex Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Imaging Technique (CARSFORSTEM)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: European Re-integration Grants
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG, 2010)
Start date: 2011-03-01
End date: 2014-02-28
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 45000.0
EU funding (EUR): 45000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Stem cell science and technology hold a great deal of promise within the context of tissue repair and regeneration. Whilst we know a lot about the function and response of stem cells in the laboratory, we know very little about their behaviour in tissues within individuals, delaying their applicability to the clinics. A major barrier has been the inability to accurately track cell lineages and to distinguish them from other cell types within the tissue. Fundamental questions, i.e. when one cell divides to become two cells are they the same or different? is this effect the same or different each time the cell divides?, have not been answered yet. The proposed project will address these issues by developing microscopic techniques that allow us to image these cells in a non-invasive, non-harmful way (unlike current approaches) and we will utilise technologies that will eventually enable us to track these cells deep within patient tissues. Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) has recently emerged as a new multiphoton microscopy technique which directly addresses endogenous biomolecules with high chemical specificity without the need for exogenous labelling. This imaging technology would be ideal to follow non-invasively, living stem cells during differentiation in real time at physiological conditions without any of the artefacts/problems associated with labelling. We will use different modalities to identify endogenous markers of stem cell differentiation for tracking purposes. First, CARS and Differential CARS will be used to examine the lipid distributions within stem cells undergoing differentiation. Furthermore, to improve the chemical specificity we will develop a novel Coherent Multiplex CARS method to address a large number of vibrational frequencies simultaneously. In this way tracking of stem/progenitor cells and their progeny in vivo without the need for fluorescent, harmful labels or labels that are lost as the cell divides will be possible.

Keywords: biophysics,nonlinear microscopy,cars,cell imaging,stem cells