Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
MicroRNAs, genomic evolution and the emergence of anatomical complexity. (MIRNAEVOL)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Outgoing Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-IOF-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-10-01
End date: 2012-09-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 237311.96
EU funding (EUR): 237311.96
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The embryological and evolutionary origins of anatomical complexity have been the subject of debate and speculation since the time of the ancients. Large-scale comparative genomic analyses have begun to yield tantalising secrets concerning the mechanisms by which anatomical complexity has emerged. However, this field has recently undergone an epiphany with the realisation that much of the ‘tool-kit’ (i.e. the transcription factors and signalling systems) of more anatomically complex animals such as vertebrates is found in relatively more simple taxa like cnidarians and sponges. Leaving researchers to wonder what accounts for the dramatic increase in anatomical complexity of protostomes and deuterostomes in comparison to sponges. This proposal plans to investigate the evolution and functional constraints of microRNAs, a class of non-coding regulatory elements that lie within a section of the genome originally labelled ‘junk DNA’. However, rather than being ‘junk’ microRNAs have been shown to play important roles in animal development with their misexpression being associated with a variety of medical conditions including, cancer and heart disease. My proposal for an International Outgoing Marie Curie Fellowship aims to provide me with world class training to underpin a world class career researching the fundamental question of how anatomical complexity is coded in the genome, and how that coding has evolved through evolutionary history. This will be realised by gaining skills and techniques lacking in the EU. I outline a programme of research that will act as a vehicle for this training, on which I will be able to make the subsequent steps in realising my aim of establishing my own research laboratory. In the interim, this Fellowship will also foster an international collaboration between the US and the EU and between regional centres within the EU.

Keywords: evolutionary biology,micrornas,whole genome duplications,vertebrates,palaeobiology,animal embryology,developmental biology,actinopterygians.
Functional annotation of microbial communities in human health and in the environment (SIFTERMETAGENOMICS)

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-IOF-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2010-03-01
End date: 2013-02-28
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 233628.66
EU funding (EUR): 233628.66
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In metagenomics the microbial genomes are studied directly in their natural habitats, which obviates the need of isolation and cultivation of individual species. In this study, we will use metagenomics techniques in the analysis of microbiota from the human gut. Crohn&apos;s disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the digestive tract affecting about a million individuals worldwide. The incidence of Crohn&apos;s disease has increased during the past decades, however, the cause of the disease remains unknown. The amount of data created by this study is immense and effective computational approaches are needed for analysis. Especially the function prediction of novel proteins is of great importance, since sequences without molecular function annotation are of limited use to us. Automated phylogenomics is one of the most promising ways of having consistent reliable protein annotations that is applicable on a large scale and particularly for metagenomics information. SIFTER, a prototype tool for automated phylogenomic protein function prediction, has been shown to annotate ten times more proteins on tested protein families compared with the traditional method, BLAST. In this study, unique aspects of the metabolic and signaling capacities of microbiota from the inflamed gut of Crohn&apos;s patients versus undiseased tissue will be analyzed, with an ultimate long-term goal of understanding how microbial communities contribute to Crohn&apos;s disease and how treatment may be improved. To reach this goal, the SIFTER protein function prediction method will be refined to work on metagenomic data. SIFTER will then be applied to analyze sequences sampled from diseased and healthy intestinal tissue. The work of this proposal will be performed in two very high-quality host organizations in Berkeley, USA and in Cambridge, UK. Furthermore, the successful completion of the proposed project would significantly increase the European competitiveness in the fields of metagenomics and phylogenomics.

Keywords: bioinformatics,metagenomics,phylogenetic analysis,function annotation,crohn's disease
Early anthropogenic signatures on landscapes: geomorphic, paleo-botanical, and other paleo-environmental fingerprints (EASL)

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: Sweden
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-IIF-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2010-01-01
End date: 2010-12-31
Duration (months): 12.0
Total project cost (EUR): 123188.55
EU funding (EUR): 123188.55
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The last ~15,000 years record rapid and dramatic paleo-environmental change worldwide. This project will examine anthropogenic signatures on natural landscapes, in particular testing the hypothesis that geomorphic, paleo-botanical, and other paleo-environmental fingerprints of human activity are identifiable, even at the vanguard of early human migrations. In particular, anthropogenic ignition is hypothesized to be an effective mechanism by which small populations of humans may have large impacts on the broader landscape. The hypotheses above were developed in the New World, and this project would test them in the context of Old World human migrations and interactions with the prehistoric landscapes of Scandinavia.

Keywords: natural sciences,geology,geomorphology,paleobotany,palynology,archaeology
Self-Knowledge in Consumer Decision Making (SKCDM)

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-IEF-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2010-05-01
End date: 2012-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 183618.8
EU funding (EUR): 183618.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The purpose of the proposed project is to use a phenomenon called choice blindness to study self-knowledge and preference formation in the domain of consumer choice and economic decision making. Choice blindness refers to the experimental finding that people sometimes fail to notice mismatches between their intended choice and the outcome they are presented with, while nevertheless offering introspectively derived reasons for why they chose this alternative rather than the other. The effect has previously been used to study introspection and self-knowledge in pair-wise decision tasks for faces (Johansson et al., 2005, 2006). These studies showed both that there were very few differences between verbal reports given in manipulated and non-manipulated trials, and that people in the experiments often confabulate reasons for their choices by refereeing to unique properties of the originally non-preferred face as being the properties that made the prefer this alternative. The failure to detect mismatches also influence subsequent behaviour, as the participants came to prefer the manipulated alternative in subsequent choices. In the proposed project we want to extend our initial findings and apply this research method to the domain of consumer choice. This is an important and interesting domain to study using choice blindness, as there is a long standing debate in the literature regarding what consumers know and what they just think they know about their own shopping behaviour. As a sub-field of consumer choice, we will also apply this method to economic decision making in the form of monetary gambles. In addition to analysing verbal reports, we will also study the dynamic effect choice blindness might have on the participants preferences, both for consumer goods and for risk strategies and preferences in monetary gambles. An integral component of this research is also the development of novel research methods, as the use of techniques borrowed from close-up card magic.

Keywords: decision making,self-knowledge,choice blindness,consumer choice,preference change
Development of Novel Sensors for Contaminant Detection in Water using Near Infrared Light and Aquaphotomics (AQUASENSE)

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: Ireland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-IOF-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2010-05-01
End date: 2013-04-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 265736.18
EU funding (EUR): 265736.18
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Although water is the most widespread molecule in biological systems, it’s interaction with light remains poorly understood. Water is prone to contamination through biological processes, industrial practises and malicious tampering. Surface water reservoirs are exposed to contamination by thousands of micropollutants from pharmaceutical, agricultural and natural origins. Aquaphotomics is a new scientific discipline that concerns the rapid and comprehensive analysis of water-light interaction as a potential source of information for better understanding of the biological world. This proposal investigates the potential use of Aquaphotomics combined with Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) and Near Infrared Chemical Imaging (NIR-CI) for early detection of contamination in water. Knowledge gained on the theory and application of Aquaphotomics acquired during the outgoing stage will be transferred to the EU during the incoming stage. This knowledge will be used in the development of real-time, multi-contaminant detectors based on NIRS and NIR-CI. Such real-time monitoring would enable dynamic modelling of water systems, which is not currently available, for increased understanding of the behaviour of contaminated water systems. It is envisaged that this work will lead to the development of a centre of excellence in Aquaphotomics at UCD and provide a protocol for the development of sensors based on NIRS and NIR-CI for rapid detection of contamination in water.

Keywords: aquaphotomics,water quality,contamination,nir,chemical imaging
Active Galactic Nuclei as probes of galaxy evolution (AGNPROBES)

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-IEF-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2010-04-01
End date: 2012-11-30
Duration (months): 32.0
Total project cost (EUR): 275323.2
EU funding (EUR): 275323.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

An important question facing modern astrophysics concerns the formation and evolution of galaxies. Supermassive black holes reside at the centers of galaxies and are intimately linked to how galaxies form and evolve. Massive galaxies form by merging of smaller gas-rich galaxies, and the central supermassive black hole grows by accretion of gas and dust, material that also feeds a nuclear starburst. With sufficient fuel the black hole grows rapidly until it reaches an accretion luminosity powerful enough to expel gas and dust from the nuclear regions. Both the black hole and the galaxy bulge end up being starved of building material by the very same feedback process. Thus black holes and bulges evolve to similar mass ratios. As end products of galaxy evolution local massive galaxies show exactly this behaviour, known as the M-sigma relation; The mass of the black hole correlates with the velocity dispersion of stars in the bulge (the bulge potential). The origin of the black hole-bulge connection is still largely unknown and the physical details of the black hole feedback process is not known at all, it is included in models merely as a separate recipe. Models are in dire need of observational input. If models are correct, we expect to see some galaxies, perhaps at larger look-back times, that do not have a black hole-bulge mass ratio corresponding to that of local galaxies. This proposal will use galaxies with actively accreting supermassive black holes (AGN) to address the need for observational data at larger look-back times. AGN are not only the best probes for investigating the black hole-bulge connection in the more distant Universe, but also the only ones, because it is via black hole activity in AGN that we can estimate black hole masses. Central to the project is the use of the new state-of-the-art X-shooter instrument on the European Southern Observatory&apos;s Very Large Telescope, on which the NBI Dark Cosmology Group has guaranteed time in 2009.

Keywords: astronomy,astrophysics
BIoGeochemistry in a high CO2 World (BIGCOW): lessons from the Ocean Anoxic Events (BIGCOW)

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-IEF-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-11-01
End date: 2011-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 174702.68
EU funding (EUR): 174702.68
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Model predictions are regularly made about the state of marine ecosystems and carbon cycle in a future high CO2 world. But while increased ocean stratification means lower future biological export production in some models, in others, higher temperatures inducing faster rates of biological activity drive completely the opposite response. Rates of nitrogen fixation may increase in a warmer ocean and support higher production, but at the same time, loss rates of nitrate will increase as oxygen minimum zones expand and intensify. The cycling of iron also plays a critical role in controlling marine productivity and may limit nitrogen fixation. Yet, while iron bio-availability will be affected by changes in temperature, acidity, and oxygenation, no current model accounts for how iron solubility will respond to future ocean geochemical environmental changes. How can we increase confidence in predicting the intertwined response of nutrient and carbon cycles in a high CO2 world? The geological record contains case studies into the range of possible Earth system behaviours, states, and strengths of feedbacks. Of particularly interest here are the Ocean Anoxic Events of the Mesozoic, which were associated with profound global-scale perturbations of climate and marine biogeochemical cycles, high plankton turnover rates and biological extinction, and the burial of economically important quantities of organic carbon in black shales. They have relevance to future marine biological consequences of warming and acidification, and the spread oxygen minimum zones. Here we propose the first model of marine iron cycle applicable to a high CO2 world, the first analysis of the dynamical interaction of all three nutrient cycles (P, N, Fe), CO2, and climate associated with the onset of Ocean Anoxic Event like conditions, and the first explicit test of the role of iron in triggering an Ocean Anoxic Event.

Keywords: oceanography,climate change,biogeochemistry,climate modelling,paleoclimate,carbon cycle,ocean circulation
Cross-Diffusion and pattern formation in reaction diffusion systems (CROSSDIFFUSIONROSSI)

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: Italy
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-IOF-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-08-01
End date: 2011-07-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 154013.61
EU funding (EUR): 154013.61
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

We propose to study spatiotemporal patterns that occur in chemically reacting systems as a result of cross-diffusion, the phenomenon whereby gradients in the concentration of one species affect the diffusion of another species. Patterns that arise by this mechanism appear to constitute a new class of self-organized structures that lies between thermodynamically stable structures like micelles or membranes and patterns like Turing structures or standing waves that exist only far from equilibrium. Our initial theoretical studies indicate that patterns induced by cross-diffusion can arise in quite simple reactions without the need for an activator-inhibitor couple. The predicted characteristic sizes of these patterns - tens to hundreds of nanometers with diffusion-controlled reactions - suggest their potential application in nanotechnology. We shall first reexamine patterns in such systems as the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction in AOT microemulsions and lipid membranes, the chlorite-iodide-malonic acid reaction and the ferrocyanide-iodate-sulfite reaction. Next, we shall apply numerical and analytic techniques to simple model systems with appropriate cross-diffusion coefficients to establish both the concentration dependence of cross-diffusion coefficients and the range of pattern formation to be expected. We will also make needed modifications to the Taylor dispersion method for measuring cross-diffusion coefficients in multi-component systems and apply this approach to systems containing both unreactive and reactive species. Combining the results obtained from these three approaches, we will carry out experiments to find novel patterns induced by cross-diffusion, i.e., we will tune cross-diffusion fluxes to generate patterns.

Keywords: diffusion driven instabilities,pattern formation,cross-diffusion,belousov-zhabotinsky reaction,taylor dispersion techniques
UNIFICATION IN THE LHC ERA (UNILHC)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Initial Training Networks
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: France,France,Germany,Greece,Italy,France,Portugal,Spain,Spain,United Kingdom,Poland,Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-ITN-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-10-01
End date: 2013-09-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3673966.6
EU funding (EUR): 3673966.6
Participants: 12
Project status: CLOSED

The main research theme of the proposed network is the theoretical interpretation of results coming from the LHC and other experimental and observational sources. The aim is to identify the physics Beyond the Standard Model of strong, weak and electromagnetic forces and ultimately to provide a fully unified description of the fundamental states of matter and their interactions. We will investigate the nature of electroweak symmetry breaking, the origin of masses and their hierarchies and the quantization of the gravitational interaction. The methodology is based on three main ingredients: symmetry, including supersymmetry and symmetries related to flavor, string unification and new space dimensions. The research objectives are: (a) probing the origin of mass at the LHC; (b) search for supersymmetry; (c) the physics of flavor in the LHC era; (d) exploring extra dimensions; (e) cosmological and astrophysical challenges for physics beyond the Standard Model; (f) string theory, string phenomenology and Quantum Gravity. The network will enhance the current collaboration amongst the participating European institutions, which already plays a leading role across the whole spectrum of the physics involved, from theoretical aspects of string theory to the phenomenological analysis of experimental data, and it will stimulate interdisciplinary interactions. The main network goal is to offer excellent initial training to young researchers. We plan to appoint 456 person-months of early-stage and 108 months of experienced researchers, and develop a training program both at the individual and network-wide level. The network is structured to develop the research and complementary skills of the young researchers, to ensure their mobility and to widen their career prospects. In this way, we intend to increase the pool of European researchers at the highest level of scientific excellence, and to make a significant contribution to the development of European fundamental research.

Keywords: particle physics,quantum field theory,cosmology,unified theories of fundamental interactions,relativity
Curved Artificial Compound Eyes (CURVACE)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Destination: Future and emerging technologies
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Switzerland,France,Germany,Germany
Call:  (FP7-ICT-2009-C, 2009)
Start date: 2009-10-01
End date: 2013-06-30
Duration (months): 45.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2726578.0
EU funding (EUR): 2090085.0
Participants: 5
Project status: CLOSED

In this project we intend to design, develop, and assess artificial compound eyes, which will be composed of microlens arrays arranged on curved and flexible surfaces where each microlens will be integrated with one or more aVLSI adaptive photoreceptors. The output of these artificial compound eyes will be processed by adaptive vision filters implemented in programmable devices, such as microcontrollers or FPGAs, for fast extraction of motion-related information. We call these integrated systems CURVed Artificial Compound Eyes (CURVACE). Compared to conventional cameras, artificial compound eyes will offer a much larger field of view in a smaller size and weight, less distortion, less aberration, and less blur because the distance between the optical surface and the photoreceptors will be constant over the entire field of view. Furthermore, some versions of the artificial compound eyes will offer space within the convexity for embedding processing units, battery, or additional sensors that are useful for motion-related computation. In order to reach the desired goals, we will take leverage from the novel combination of optic fabrication, neuromorphic engineering, micro-electronics in bendable surfaces, and insect-inspired active vision and motion detection. We will adopt a progressive approach by developing three versions of artificial compound eyes – cylindrical, spherical and tape -- that will allow us to incrementally tackle the technical and scientific challenges and at the same time develop different prototypes that will suit the needs of different applications. In addition to a full characterization of the CURVACE prototypes for their visual processing abilities, we will also assess their added value in applications such as navigation of micro flying robots and wearable sensing.

Keywords: artificial vision systems,insect compound eyes,compound optics,neural motion processing,robot navigation,wearable sensors.