Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Exploitation of oily wastes for the simultaneous production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and rhamnolipids (RLs) (SIMPHASRLS)

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: Portugal
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-06-01
End date: 2016-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 147210.0
EU funding (EUR): 147210.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In order to reduce polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) production cost we propose the simultaneous production of PHAs and other high value-added products such as rhamnolipids (RLs). The aim of the certain project is to investigate the ability of non-pathogenic bacteria to produce PHAs and RLs simultaneously. Factors that affect both biosynthetic pathways will be detected (composition and concentration of carbon source, type of nitrogen source, C/N ratio) and the cultivation strategy will be selected (reactor operation in fed-batch or continuous mode). For the simultaneous production of PHAs and RLs renewable substrates of oily nature will be used such as wastes generated from oil-processing plants and industries (waste vegetable oils such as corn oil and olive oil) in order to design a low-cost production process. PHAs and RLs yields, composition, distribution and physicochemical properties will be determined for each set of experiments in order to link bioprocess optimization with the optimization of PHAs and RLs physicochemical properties and to evaluate the effect of environmental and culture conditions on them.

Keywords: biopolymers polyhydroxyalkanoates phas biosurfactants rhamnolipids rls simultaneous production non pathogenic bacteria
The role of the gut in experimental visceral leishmaniasis and Chagas disease (GUTTRYP)

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-2013-IOF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-10-01
End date: 2017-09-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 294219.6
EU funding (EUR): 294219.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Leishmania donovani and Trypanosoma cruzi cause the neglected infectious diseases visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and Chagas disease (CD) respectively. The host normally controls the initial wave of infection but rarely, if ever, fully clears the infection. Chronic, low-level infection then often progresses to serious clinical syndromes. Infection of a limited set of favoured tissues is a parasite strategy to evade host immunity and maintain chronicity. Recent work shows the gut is a site of chronic T. cruzi infection in CD mouse models. L. donovani persists in liver and spleen, but the gut may also be a target. In cutaneous leishmaniasis, chronic persistence occurs in the skin due to unique immune responses that evolved to tolerate constant exposure to the environment. A similar situation exists in the gut, where inflammatory responses against commensal microbe and food antigens are unwarranted and potentially dangerous. As in the skin, the hypo-responsive environment of the gut may underpin host failure to clear T. cruzi and L. donovani. Persistence in the gut may compromise microbiota containment leading to secondary syndromes (as in HIV and Toxoplasmosis) or exacerbate VL/CD pathology. Project objectives include (1) assessment of relevance of the gut as a site of L. donovani persistence (2) analysis of gut-specific responses to L. donovani (3) analysis of interactions between host, parasite and commensals and impact on gut immune homeostasis and disease (4) analysis of the gut-specific responses to T. cruzi that allow persistence. The training programme will develop a broad range of new technical and conceptual competencies to investigate general and gut-specific immunity and host-commensal interactions as well as enhanced transferable skills. This hypothesis-driven project has potential to reveal novel insights into the immunopathogenesis of VL and CD and should stimulate research on novel strategies to cure chronically infected patients.

Keywords: leishmania,visceral leishmaniasis,trypanosoma cruzi,chagas disease,chronic,gut,immune response,mouse models,mucosal immunity,commensals,microbiota
JUnction iMProved KESTerite based solar cells for cost efficient sustainable photovoltaic technologies (JUMPKEST)

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-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2015-01-15
End date: 2017-01-14
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 173370.6
EU funding (EUR): 173370.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Kesterite based solar cells are emerging devices with a strong interest for the development of high efficiency and low cost sustainable photovoltaic (PV) technologies. Kesterites are quaternary compounds with a crystalline structure very similar to that of chalcopyrites (CIGS: Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2). In contrast to CIGS - where the potential for high mass production is compromised by the scarcity of In and, to a lower extend, also Ga - they are only constituted by abundant elements. Although rapid progress has been achieved for this innovative technology in the recent years, record devices are still significantly below their chalcopyrite counterparts. Up to now, kesterite technologies have simply adapted cell designs from their chalcopyrite relatives, namely the chemical bath deposited CdS buffer and ZnO window layer. Recent findings reveal that one main limiting factor for kesterite solar cells is interface recombination at the still not optimized absorber / buffer junction. The aim of this project is to develop a deep study on the optimization of this junction, in order to achieve a significant increase in the efficiency of the devices by the use of buffer materials better adapted to the kesterite band structure. Within this scope, an in-depth analysis of state-of-the-art kesterite solar cells with respect to efficiency limiting dominant recombination paths and the buffer/absorber junction will be employed. Traditional and innovative opto-electronic techniques such as photoluminescence, Raman-based spectroscopy, temperature dependent IV- and surface photovoltage analysis will help to reveal and quantify performance limitations due to a non-optimum junction. With the aid of numerical simulation tools successfully implemented for chalcopyrite solar cells the whole solar cell design will be reconsidered with special focus on alternative buffer layers such as In2S3 or Zn(O,S).

Keywords: innovative thin film technologies,photovoltaic,solar cells,kesterite,junction formation and improvement,alternative buffer layers,analysis,numerical modelling,surface photovoltage analysis
Niche Construction and Subsistence Shifts: Modelling coevolutionary dynamics between hunter-gatherers and vegetation communities (NICOSS)

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-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-12-15
End date: 2016-12-14
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 166336.2
EU funding (EUR): 166336.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This project seeks to explore, model, and understand the generative process behind radical cultural transitions in human societies. It will address the question of how mechanisms of cultural transmission are structured prior to major shifts in cultural systems and how this is driven by the feedback process of niche construction. Ultimately it will seek to identify conditions and variables that promote different type of equilibria, including episodes of cultural reversions, where a system returns to previously adopted set of behaviours, and instances where two or more systems coexists in the same geographic area. These questions are part of a transdisciplinary research agenda that aims to understand how culture, defined as transmittable information capable to modify the behaviour of individuals, relates to human biology and the environment. The project will have a broad spectrum of interest, but the focus will be on the ecological feedback between human and plant communities. The objectives of this project will be achieved by generating several computer simulation models that will formalise existing biological and anthropological theories. The output will serve as an heuristic device to explore the implications of the niche construction process, and to test specific hypothesis suggested by the archaeological data from prehistoric hunter-gatherers in Gujarat (India) and Tohoku (Japan). The research will be conducted within the framework of a transdisciplinary project (SimulPast), which is investigating some of the themes proposed here through an active collaboration between archaeologists, anthropologists, computer scientists, and physicists.

Keywords: niche construction theory,complex adaptive systems,agent-based simulation,hunter-gatherers,plant management,subsistence
Youth Entrepreneurship in Portugal and the UK (YOUTH ENTREPRENEURS)

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-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-11-01
End date: 2016-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 299558.4
EU funding (EUR): 299558.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Promoting youth entrepreneurship has become a crucial EU strategy in addressing high unemployment rates. Statistics have indicated that, although young people show interest in starting up ventures, there is a big gap between intentions and concretization. Additionally, entrepreneurial intentions/activities seem to vary largely across European countries. Research on determinants of entrepreneurship has focused mainly in macro-economic and individual level factors. The analysis of entrepreneurship in cultural terms has remained elusive. Thus, the main aim of the Youth Entrepreneurs proposal is to also explore cultural/contextual factors associated with fostering/challenging youth entrepreneurship. More precisely, it is intended to: 1) analyse and compare the experiences and characteristics of youth entrepreneurship in two economically and culturally distinct European countries (Portugal and UK); 2) to apply a distinctive participatory approach that will engage young people and stakeholders in the research process; 3) implement outreach activities designed to maximise impact of the findings. Using an interdisciplinary team, this project aims to bring together insights from psychology, geography/sociology and business studies. It will be applied an innovative mixed and comparative methodology, combining quantitative, qualitative (e.g. focus-groups, semi-structured interviews and biographical narrative interviews), and participatory (e.g. workshops) approaches. The results of the project will provide comprehensive knowledge about different types of factors (e.g. familiar, financial) influencing entrepreneurship, and outline support policies that better match the real needs of young people in each country. This project will be carried out in Keele University, which has strong expertise in comparative and mixed method approaches. Prof. Clare Holdsworth is the scientist-in-charge. She is an internationally recognized scholar with particular expertise in youth transitions

Keywords: entrepreneurship,youth transitions,youth employment,barriers,cultural factors,mixed-methods
The Ecology and Evolution of Mimicry in a Changing World (ECOEVOMIMIC)

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-2013-IIF, 2013)
Start date: 2015-01-01
End date: 2016-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 231283.2
EU funding (EUR): 231283.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Climate change has the potential to decouple interacting species. The EcoEvoMimic proposal will consider, for the first time, the effects of climate change on a mimicry system: hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) that mimic stinging bees and wasps (Hymenoptera). Both groups are economically-important pollinators, and both are currently in decline across much of their ranges. The applicant will establish the ecological responses to climate change in these taxa, and the evolutionary consequences of those responses. The project will provide novel experimental tests for hypotheses that explain the evolution of mimicry across a range of taxa. The project comprises a set of complementary comparative analyses and experimental approaches with innovative combinations of existing paradigms which together give a comprehensive overview of this charismatic and important model system. The Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship will provide support for Dr Christopher Hassall (the Fellow), a leading insect ecologist and evolutionary biologist, to join the research group of Professor Bill Kunin (the PI) for a period of two years at the University of Leeds. As outlined in the application Dr Hassall possesses the unique combination of skills and collaborations that will enable the transfer of valuable skills and knowledge to undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers and teachers at the host institution and across the ERA alongside the successful completion of the EcoEvoMimic project.

Keywords: ecology,evolution,mimicry,syrphidae,hymenoptera,climate change,range shift,phenology,psychology,bird,predator,temperature,environment,biodiversity,pollinator
Hyperscanning 2.0 Analyses of Multimodal Neuroimaging Data: Concept, Methods and Applications (HYPERSCANNING 2.0)

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-2013-IOF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-07-01
End date: 2016-12-31
Duration (months): 30.0
Total project cost (EUR): 209463.9
EU funding (EUR): 209463.9
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Classical "Hyperscanning" is concerned with determining brain interactions of two subjects by analyzing correlations of their brain signals. We here define "Hyperscanning 2.0" as a broader concept, which refers to the analysis of (arbitrarily) coupled brain activity in multiple datasets that are temporally synchronized. With this definition, applications of Hyperscanning 2.0 range from the analysis of brain responses to repeated complex stimulation to the determination of interactions between different types of brain signals of multiple subjects in multi-modal recordings. In this research proposal, we will use Hyperscanning 2.0 for detecting specific multi-modal brain signatures of visual attention and attentional shifts during movie viewing, as well as of emotional valence in clinical populations suffering from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). To this end, we will collect and analyze respective electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magentic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. Many of the computational tools needed for carrying out Hyperscanning 2.0 analyses are yet to be developed. With this project we will provide a blind source separation (BSS) framework for optimally extracting latent (not directly observable) brain processes with well-defined similarities/couplings from multiple neuroimaging datasets. Within this framework we will implement two algorithms, canonical and hyper source power correlation analysis (cSPoC and HyperSPoC), which will for the first time enable the optimal treatment of an important class of neurophysiological features - namely brain oscillations - in a Hyperscanning setting. Since our algorithms will be capable of isolating brain activity of interest in the absense of external trigger information, they will enable the study of attention and emotion in more realistic scenarios than previous approaches and thereby promise to contribute to a better understanding of these cognitive functions in healthy subjects and patients in the future.

Keywords: hyperscanning,neuroimaging,attention,major depressive disorder,fmri,eeg,blind source separation,canonical correlation analysis,source power correlation analysis,eeg inverse problem
Uncovering the components and interactors of a novel cAMP signalling pathway and characterisation of its role in cytokinesis in Trypanosoma brucei. (TRYPCARPINTERACTORS)

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-2013-IEF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2016-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 168794.4
EU funding (EUR): 168794.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This research project will focus on identifying the components of a remarkably divergent cyclic-AMP signalling cascade in the medically important, pathogenic protozoan Trypanosoma brucei. It will map an interaction network for this unique cAMP pathway and biochemically characterise the lethal effect on cytokinesis that disruption of the intracellular cAMP concentration has on the human-infective form of the parasite. Recently, cAMP metabolism was validated genetically and pharmacologically as an excellent drug target against Trypanosoma brucei: The cAMP-synthesizing adenylyl cyclases of the parasite were shown to be essential for cytokinesis of mother and daughter cells. Similarly, knockdown of phosphodiesterase enzymes (that degrade cAMP) kill the parasite, causing a severe cytokinesis defect. Finally, a newly identified trypanosomal-specific PDE inhibitor, Cpd A, is lethal to the parasite and also results in the same severe cytokinesis phenotype. How changes to cAMP concentrations translate to a cytokinesis defect and the identity of the downstream cAMP effector proteins in trypanosomes remain almost entirely unknown. To rectify this, a newly-developed forward genetics approach was used by the applicant to identify four cAMP response proteins (CARPs) which, when knocked down, give resistance to elevated cAMP and appear to represent part of a Kinetoplastid-specific cAMP pathway. The proposed research project will utilise advanced proteomic and interactomic techniques, combined with optogenetics, high-resolution live-cell confocal fluorescence microscopy and microscale thermophoresis to identify, map and characterize the proteins interacting with CARPs. These investigations will provide essential information on the evolution of the cAMP pathway in eukaryotic organisms and is likely to identify proteins unique to trypanosomes that will represent excellent future drug targets.

Keywords: trypanosoma brucei,signalling,cyclic adenosine monophoshate,camp,cnmp,cell division,cytokinesis,differentiation,parasite,cell cycle,drug target,carp,proteomics,interactomics
Evolution of eukaryotic intron splicing (INTRON42)

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: Hungary
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IIF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-07-01
End date: 2016-06-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 190113.6
EU funding (EUR): 190113.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Introns are non-coding intervals that interrupt the coding sequences of eukaryotic genes. Intron removal is performed by a complicated molecular machinery, called the spliceosome, concomitantly with gene transcription. Introns and the splicing machinery (or at least their traces) are found in every sequenced eukaryotic genome. Moreover, many introns are found at homologous positions across different kingdoms, suggesting that some originate in the earliest eukaryotes. Introns are largely devoid of function, yet in humans (and mammals in general), they make up more than~40% of the genome. The most obvious evolutionary advantage of the interrupted coding sequences is that they increase functional complexity by enabling alternate assemblies. Introns provide a powerful source of variations for natural selection in many other ways, since splicing is tightly coupled with transcription and export from the nucleus, and intronic sequences frequently harbor regulatory elements. The proposed project aims at developing bioinformatics tools and mathematical models that help understanding randomness and natural selection that shape exon-intron architecture in different eukaryotic lineages. In particular, we will investigate intron turnover in fast-evolving genes, selective constraints on intron length and mechanisms of intron gain on a large scale, using annotated whole genomes. In addition to providing new insights into the ways evolution affects gene structure, the developed methods will be useful to produce better annotations of coding regions and functional intronic elements.

Keywords: bioinformatics,computational biology,introns,birth-and-death model
Fluorescence Analysis and Monitoring of Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (FAMORAS)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Incoming Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Denmark
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IIF, 2013)
Start date: 2014-06-16
End date: 2016-06-15
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 230809.8
EU funding (EUR): 230809.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

FAMoRAS aims to provide a rapid, reliable, and novel tool for the optimisation of Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RASs) using fluorescence spectroscopy, to greatly improve the production abilities of EU fish farming industries. Aquaculture plays an important role in the production of sustainable international food sources. These marine farming systems provided 47% of the world’s fish stocks in 2006 and more than 50% in 2012. However due to the inherent density of fish within these systems, intensive aquaculture in coastal waters can generate large amounts of organic wastes from sources such as unconsumed feed and marine faecal matter which can cause significant changes to the local marine environment. Recirculating aquaculture systems (RASs) are closed-loop systems in which fish stocks can be grown and harvested separate from natural marine environments, and have significant benefits over harvesting of wild stocks such as increased food safety, source traceability and sustainability, along with decreased environmental impacts. Specifically, FAMoRAS aims to investigate and address the following areas of RAS operation and management: (a) optimising treatment performance; (b) optimising feed regulation; and (c) minimising environmental discharge. The unique skill set and expertise of the incoming researcher, along with the world-class aquaculture facilities which are provided by the host institution, will combine to bring the required knowledge to the EU and hence to provide tangible research outcomes, to result in a great benefits for aquaculture across the EU.

Keywords: aquaculture,ras,recirculating aquaculture systems,marine,fluorescence,spectroscopy,in-situ,online,monitoring,water treatment