Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Vision Restoration with optogenetic tools (BLINDOPTOGEN)

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: Germany
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-ERG-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-09-01
End date: 2012-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 45000.0
EU funding (EUR): 45000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Blindness is one of the most devastating conditions affecting the quality of life in developed countries, especially in Europe. No treatment is known today for retinal degenerative diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa or macular degeneration. They are hereditary diseases characterized by the progressive loss of photoreceptors, leading to complete blindness. Recent discoveries of optical neuromodulators, such as channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) or halorhodopsin (NpHR), have opened up new possibilities of treating these diseases by imparting light-sensitivity to the remaining retinal neurons after the photoreceptors have died. During my previous Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship, I have shown in a proof-of-concept study that this approach is feasible. We used a mouse model of retinal degeneration (rd1) and introduced ChR2 specifically in ON bipolar cells of the retina, upon which the animal regained retinal light responses, light-guided behavior, and form vision. Here, I propose to test several optogenetic strategies of treating blindness. This includes the use of several different mouse models for retinal degeneration, in appreciation of the fact that degenerative diseases are very diverse and a single approach might not work for different conditions. For each model organism, I will test the effectiveness of rendering different cell types light sensitive with optogenetic tools. Examples include bipolar cells and subsets thereof, and ganglion cells. The optogenetic tools I will use include ChR2 which activates neurons upon light stimulation, and NpHR, which hyperpolarizes neurons. The success of vision restoration will be tested and quantified at many levels, starting from the cellular level in the retina, to verify proper expression of the neuromodulator, to the circuitry level, to quantify the restoration of functional retinal properties, to the level of behavior, to establish if the animal regains visual guided behavior and form vision.

Keywords: retina,retinal degeneration,blindness,treatment,optogenetics
Identification and characterization of molecular markers of pancreatic Endocrine Progenitor Cells (PANCREATIC STEM CELL)

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-IRG-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-04-01
End date: 2013-03-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are derived from the inner cell mass (ICM) of blastocyst-embryo stage. The potential of ES cells to differentiate in all kind of tissues, opens the possibility for future promising approaches, as genetic therapy and/or cell replacement, to treat many diseases, including type1 diabetes. Although several scientific groups have reported the successful differentiation of mouse ES cells to insulin producing cells, the therapeutic benefits have yet to be achieved. Recently, in convincing experiments, it has been suggested for the first time that the adult pancreas contains “Endocrine Progenitor Cells (EPC)” that differentiate in beta cells. The lack of “signature genes” is a main limitations to isolate and to culture pure populations of EPCs. Our study aims to find new molecular markers specific of beta cells progenitor cells. To systematically identify gene candidates as markers expressed in EPC, we will screen the enormous source of expression data from cDNA library and microarray public databases (like MIAMI, NCBI) of mouse ES cells differentiation toward insulin producing cells and definitive endoderm derivatives. The evaluation of such genes will prominently performed in vivo using various techniques (like in situ hybridization, immunostaining). To study the specification of EPCs and characterize in vitro plasticity, we aim to generate stable modified (knocked-in) mES cell lines reporting expression of new identified EPCs specific marker through GFP (green fluorescent protein). We aim to isolate EPCs homogeneous population both in vivo and in vitro by Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) and Laser Capture microdissection (LCM). RNA obtained from such cells will be amplified and hybridized to Affymetrix mouse gene chip MOE430_2 to conduct a comprehensive portrait of the transcriptional profile of EPCs. Our research will provide valuable information on EPCs biology and on basic phenomena about definitive endoderm development.

Keywords: mouse embryonic stem cells,adult stem cells,pancreas,endoderm,gene signature
Neural mechanisms of action learning in mouse models (NEUROACTION)

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: Portugal
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-IRG-2008, 2008)
Start date: 2009-08-01
End date: 2013-07-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The learning of novel skills is characterized by an initial stage of rapid improvement in performance, followed by a phase of more gradual improvements as the skills are automatized and performance asymptotes. Although the striatum has been implicated in skill learning, the detailed mechanisms and circuits underlying its role in the acquisition and consolidation of skills are not understood. Using in vivo striatal recordings in mice we observed region-specific changes in neural activity during the different phases of skill learning. We verified using ex vivo recordings from medium spiny striatal neurons in brain slices of trained mice that the changes observed in vivo corresponded to long-lasting and training-specific changes in excitatory synaptic transmission in the striatum. Our preliminary data indicates that these changes may be differentially expressed in different output pathways of the striatum, i.e. in D2 receptor-expressing striatopalidal neurons (indirect pathway) versus D1-expressing striatonigral neurons (direct pathway). We propose to: 1) use BAC transgenic mice that express GFP in the direct or indirect pathway to discriminate if the long-lasting plasticity observed during acquisition and consolidation of a skill occurs preferentially in one of the pathways, 2) generate and use cell-type specific channelrodhopsin and halorodhopsin transgenic mice to investigate the involvement of the direct and indirect pathway in the acquisition and automatization of skills, and 3) record in vivo from identified striatopallidal and striatonigral neurons, by means of either optogenetic stimulation, and determine if the direct and indirect pathway are differentially active during the acquisition and automatization of a skill. These experiments will help us understand the role of the direct and indirect pathway in voluntary and automatic movement, with important implications for understanding the origin of movement dysfunction in Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease.

Keywords: neurosciences,neurobiology,neurophysiology,striatum,learning,plasticity,neuronal ensembles,in vivo recordings,motor,parkinson,channelrodhopsin,mice
Control of the Electronic Properties in Hybrid- Quantum Dot/Polymer-Materials for Energy Production (POLYDOT)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Physical and Analytical Chemical sciences
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (ERC-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2009-11-01
End date: 2014-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1299960.0
EU funding (EUR): 1299960.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The PolyDot project aims to foster necessary progress on frontier research that integrates a number of leading concepts in the field of photoelectrochemistry in association with new concepts from areas such as nanoscience and materials chemistry. As an example, key scientific elements of the PolyDot project are the synthesis of new molecular electronic components, such as semiconducting quantum dots, the design of self-organising functional interfaces through supramolecular interactions and the evaluation of these systems for its potential technological application as light driven energy supplier devices. Thus, the proposal is at the meeting point between supramolecular chemistry, nanostructured inorganic materials science and optoelectronic device physics. It is therefore highly multidisciplinary and involves my research group, which is working in the device physics characterisation and materials science fields. We believe that this project will develop a critical mass of expertise targeting this innovative approach towards solar powered devices allowing Europe to establish a scientific world lead and will also form a secure basis for renewable energy technological exploitation.

Keywords: molecular photovoltaics
Novel paradigms for massively parallel nanophotonic information processing (NARESCO)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Systems and communication engineering
Countries involved: Belgium
Call:  (ERC-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2010-01-01
End date: 2015-12-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1260000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1260000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In this project we will develop nanophotonic reservoir computing as a novel paradigm for massively parallel information processing. Reservoir computing is a recently proposed methodology from the field of machine learning and neural networks which has been used successfully in several pattern classification problems, like speech and image recognition. However, it has so far mainly been used in a software implementation which limits its speed and power efficiency. Photonics could provide an excellent platform for such a hardware implementation, because of the presence of unique non-linear dynamics in photonics components due to the interplay of photons and electrons, and because light also has a phase in addition to an amplitude, which provides for an important additional degree of freedom as opposed to a purely electronic hardware implementation. Our aim is to bring together a multidisciplinary team of specialists in photonics and machine learning to make this vision of massively parallel information processing using nanophotonics a reality. We will achieve these aims by constructing a set of prototypes of ever increasing complexity which will be able to tackle ever more complex tasks. There is clear potential for these techniques to perform information processing that is beyond the limit of today&apos;s conventional computing processing power: high-throughput massively parallel classification problems, like e.g. processing radar data for road safety, or real time analysis of the data streams generated by the Large Hadron Collider.

Keywords: nanophotonics,reservoir computing
Building the next generation of planet formation models: protoplanetary disks, internal structure, and formation of planetary systems (PLANETOGENESIS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Universe sciences
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (ERC-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2010-02-01
End date: 2015-11-30
Duration (months): 70.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1395323.0
EU funding (EUR): 1395323.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The discovery of extra-solar planetary systems with properties so different from those of our own Solar System has overturned our theoretical understanding of how planets and planetary systems form. Indeed, planet formation models have to link observations of two classes of objects: Protoplanetary disk, whose structure and early evolution provide the initial conditions of planets formation, and actual detected planets. The observational knowledge of these two classes of objects will see in the near future dramatic improvements, with three major breakthroughs: 1) high angular resolution observations will tightly constrain the structure and early evolution of protoplanetary disks, 2) direct observation of extrasolar planets will allow to understand their internal structure as well as their formation process, and 3) detection of very low mass extrasolar planets will constrain the mass function of planets and planetary systems, down to the terrestrial planet regime The goal of this project is to develop a theoretical understanding of planet formation that quantitatively stands up to these observational confrontations. For this, we will build on the basis of first generation planet formation models developed at the time the PI was assistant at the Physikalisches Institute of the University of Berne. The PI, a PhD student, and a Postdoc will conduct three inter-related sub-projects linked to the three breakthroughs mentioned above: A) improving the disk part of planet formation models, B) determining the internal structure of forming planets, including the effects of accretion shocks and envelope pollution by infalling planetesimals, and calculating their early evolution, and C) building planetary system formation models, including both gas giant and low mass rocky planets.

Keywords: formation of solar system
Collagen scaffolds for bone regeneration: applied biomaterials, bioreactor and stem cell technology (COLLREGEN)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Products and process engineering
Countries involved: Ireland
Call:  (ERC-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2009-11-01
End date: 2015-09-30
Duration (months): 71.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999530.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999530.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Regenerative medicine aims to regenerate damaged tissues by developing functional cell, tissue, and organ substitutes to repair, replace or enhance biological function in damaged tissues. The focus of this research programme is to develop bone graft substitute biomaterials and laboratory-engineered bone tissue for implantation in damaged sites. At a simplistic level, biological tissues consist of cells, signalling mechanisms and extracellular matrix. Regenerative medicine/tissue engineering technologies are based on this biological triad and involve the successful interaction between three components: the scaffold that holds the cells together to create the tissues physical form, the cells that create the tissue, and the biological signalling mechanisms (such as growth factors or bioreactors) that direct the cells to express the desired tissue phenotype. The research proposed in this project includes specific projects in all three areas. The programme will be centred on the collagen-based biomaterials developed in the applicant s laboratory and will incorporate cutting edge stem cell technologies, growth factor delivery, gene therapy and bioreactor technology which will translate to in vivo tissue repair. This translational research programme will be divided into four specific themes: (i) development of novel osteoinductive and angiogenic smart scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration, (ii) scaffold and stem cell therapies for bone tissue regeneration, (iii) bone tissue engineering using a flow perfusion bioreactor and (iv) in vivo bone repair using engineered bone and smart scaffolds.

Keywords: collagen,scaffolds,bone,regenerative medicine,tissue engineering,bioreactor,gene therapy,stem cells,osteogenesis,angiogenesis
Extremal Combinatorics (EC)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Mathematical foundations
Countries involved: United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2010-01-01
End date: 2015-12-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 780000.0
EU funding (EUR): 780000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Combinatorics forms a challenging and fundamental part of pure mathematics, but is in the happy position of being relatively accessible to a wider audience. One of its most exciting and rapidly developing branches is Extremal Combinatorics, which has a wide range of direct applications both to other areas of mathematics and other academic disciplines. Thus it makes its influence felt indirectly when the theoretical power it brings to these disciplines is in turn used for more practical applications. The proposed project addresses a range of important problems at the frontier of Extremal Combinatorics, principally those motivated by a question of Turan, an open problem that mathematicians have battled with for over sixty years, which has led to many developments in the theory of graphs and hypergraphs. Recently there has been a lot of progress in this area, so it is an exciting topic for future research. The PI has identified some key intermediate goals to pursue for this first objective, and also for a second objective involving various ways to extend the scope of this area, including a rainbow variant that has impressive potential applications in additive number theory. A third area being studied is the theory of set systems with restricted intersections, which has a rich history in combinatorics, and has also found applications to computer science, particular in the theories of complexity and communication. It is also closely connected to the concepts of trace and VC-dimension, which play a central role in many areas of statistics, discrete and computational geometry and learning theory. The PI will co-ordinate a research team of two postdocs and one doctoral student with clearly defined goals that will bring this project to fruition over a five-year period.

Keywords: extremal combinatorics,additive number theory,intersecting set systems,influences of boolean functions
Geometric control methods for heat and Schroedinger equations (GECOMETHODS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Mathematical foundations
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2010-05-01
End date: 2016-04-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 785000.0
EU funding (EUR): 785000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The aim of this project of 5 years is to create a research group on geometric control methods in PDEs with the arrival of the PI at the CNRS Laboratoire CMAP (Centre de Mathematiques Appliquees) of the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris (in January 09). With the ERC-Starting Grant, the PI plans to hire 4 post-doc fellows, 2 PhD students and also to organize advanced research schools and workshops. One of the main purpose of this project is to facilitate the collaboration with my research group which is quite spread across France and Italy. The PI plans to develop a research group studying certain PDEs for which geometric control techniques open new horizons. More precisely the PI plans to exploit the relation between the sub-Riemannian distance and the properties of the kernel of the corresponding hypoelliptic heat equation and to study controllability properties of the Schroedinger equation. In the last years the PI has developed a net of high level international collaborations and, together with his collaborators and PhD students, has obtained many important results via a mixed combination of geometric methods in control (Hamiltonian methods, Lie group techniques, conjugate point theory, singularity theory etc.) and noncommutative Fourier analysis. This has allowed to solve open problems in the field, e.g., the definition of an intrinsic hypoelliptic Laplacian, the explicit construction of the hypoelliptic heat kernel for the most important 3D Lie groups, and the proof of the controllability of the bilinear Schroedinger equation with discrete spectrum, under some "generic" assumptions. Many more related questions are still open and the scope of this project is to tackle them. All subjects studied in this project have real applications: the problem of controllability of the Schroedinger equation has direct applications in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance; the problem of nonisotropic diffusion has applications in models of human vision.

Keywords: geometric control theory,sub-riemannian geometry,conjugate points,cut locus,controllability of the bilinear schroedinger equation,hypoelliptic heat equation,quantum control
"Chips on the go": towards truly wearable EEG systems (WEEG)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Systems and communication engineering
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2009-StG, 2009)
Start date: 2010-01-01
End date: 2015-12-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1775713.0
EU funding (EUR): 1775713.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Epilepsy affects about 50 million people. Routine electroencephalography (EEG) tests are not long enough to properly diagnose these patients. Long time in-patient monitoring is possible but costly for health organizations and removes the patient from his natural environment. Ambulatory EEG is an alternative but existing ambulatory systems are still too bulky and unaesthetic to wear while carrying out normal life. A truly wearable EEG system (WEEG) would: a) have the capability of monitoring for long periods of time; b) not present redundant data sections to the doctor hence reducing the interpretation time; c) be aesthetically discreet for the user; d) be comfortable to wear. Sleep disorders affect approximately 6% of the population. WEEG is still a necessary technology for the diagnosis and continuous monitoring of sleep disorders without the sufferer having to stay in hospital overnight. WEEG systems could also be used for early detection of drowsiness and prevention of road accidents. This project aims to tackle some of the most important technological challenges standing in the way of future electroencephalography (EEG) systems. Specifically, this research will focus on the microelectronic related issues of: a) reducing power to enable long term monitoring; b) reducing the size of EEG systems; c) reducing the amount of specialist time required to interpret the signals. These are key stepping stones for achievement of a truly wearable ambulatory EEG system (WEEG). Simultaneously this will advance knowledge of the practical limitations of different circuit design techniques which will now be used with specifications that largely differ from any other application for which they were used before.

Keywords: fgmos,epilepsy,electroencephalography,analogue electronics,micropower