Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
developing hybrid organic-inorganic rotaxanes for quantum information processing (HYBROQUBITS)

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-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-05-01
End date: 2014-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200371.8
EU funding (EUR): 200371.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The proposed project is based on recent results reported (Nature 2009, 458, 314; J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2010, 132, 15435) by the Winpenny group where they showed that heterometallic rings could be grown around organic threads, producing a new form of rotaxanes with both inorganic and organic components. [3]rotaxanes could be made as prototypes for two qubit gates for quantum computers. Quantum computers will use quantum binary digits, or qubits (the quantum analogue of the classical bit). Their complexity will enable to perform calculations with speeds of millions of times faster than the average PC. A key question is how to link qubits to entangle spins without causing decoherence; The Winpenny group et al. showed that using organic and inorganic components at the molecular level, they could link two molecular nanomagnet prototype qubits into a structure where, depending on the link, they can either communicate or not (Nat. Nanotech. 2009, 4,173). Here we suggest an innovative proposal to build two qubit rotaxanes that could become part of future devices. [3]rotaxane provides the ideal framework for making a scalable two qubit gate, because we can develop the two components of the rotaxane separately and then combine in the final structure. We use the thread to control the through space inter-ring interaction to study the control of coherence times and simultaneously, we will design a “communication strap” through performing chemistry on the rings. Substitution chemistry allows us to include within the rings and stoppers groups that can bind to other metal ions, or surfaces. Physical studies will be made with pulsed EPR spectroscopy both in ground and excited states to measure relaxation times, varying factors like solvent that can influence relaxation times. The advantages over other solid state systems: chemistry is cheap and reliable allows multiple chemical functions to be incorporated heterometallic rings can involve multiple qubits

Keywords: physical sciences,technological sciences,chemistry,nanodevices,nanotechnology
Understanding the organisation of the medial parietal cortex: Sensorimotor integration for goal-directed behaviour (MIPFORACTION)

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-2011-IOF, 2011)
Start date: 2013-12-02
End date: 2016-12-01
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 370486.8
EU funding (EUR): 370486.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Like other primates, we use our hands extensively to explore and interact with objects in the environment, guided by sensory information. One of the brain regions known to be involved in the direction of arm movements is the medial parietal cortex, which is the focus of the present study. Stroke affecting this part of the brain causes disability, as people become unable to reach accurately to objects of interest. Revealing the brain circuitry responsible for skilled arm movements can have profound implications for the creation of new technologies such as artificial limbs, and result in health benefits. However, the brain mechanisms underlying these capacities are poorly understood. For example, it is recognized that this region has multiple subdivisions, but how exactly these interact in allowing the sensory information to guide arm muscles is unclear. This project will be focused on understanding how reaching movements are encoded in the medial parietal cortex, and how information from the different senses influences these movements. Most of the progress to-date in understanding how such abilities are controlled has come from work using the monkey preparation, which forms one of the bases of the present application. The project will combine modern physiological and anatomical methods, with two principle aims: 1) to provide a detailed account of the anatomy of this region, utilizing tracer injections (guided by MRI) and mapping of sensory (visual, somatosensory) responses (outgoing phase), and 2) to provide a functional account of the region, by recording the electrical activity of the brain of monkeys trained to reach to visual and proprioceptive targets (return phase). Experiments will be conducted in Australia and Italy, in collaboration with scientists who have pioneered on non-human primate research. Through this interaction, the Fellow will aqcuire breadth of expertise and a range of academic contacts, significant for the advancement of her career.

Keywords: health sciences,neurosciences,neurophysiology
Ecological response to environmental change during Boreal mass extinctions: past, present, and future? (BOREX)

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: Norway
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-05-01
End date: 2014-04-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 290244.8
EU funding (EUR): 290244.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The UN is discussing a system of governance of the world’s oceans, amid fears of marine extinction. The greatest threats are warming, oxygen depletion, acidification, and eutrophication. But what does Earth’s past reveal about its future? Parallels can be drawn with the Middle and end-Permian, and Triassic-Jurassic extinctions, in which all aforementioned stresses are implicated. Intense research has revealed much about biotic response to stress but most knowledge derives from the tropics, where the most diverse communities lived. Far less is known about Boreal latitudes. The future of such settings is uncertain, as models struggle to predict what the rate and consequence of change will be near the poles. Are Boreal communities among the most, or least threatened? Earth is usually capable of regulating its climate, but did positive feedback between climate change and biogeochemical cycles reach “tipping points” such that past extinctions were inevitable? Could this happen again? Have Boreal faunas and floras suffered more, or less than tropical counterparts in the past? Are they more, or less at risk now? This project tests the Boreal response to environmental change in three mass extinctions between 260-200 million years ago. Were these communities adapted to stressful conditions and fare better than their tropical counterparts? Or did their niche adaptation leave them susceptible? Extinction patterns and concurrent environmental conditions will be ascertained through fieldwork, fossil and geochemical studies of sections in Spitsbergen. Comparison with tropical communities will reveal similarities and differences in response to change. The necessary long-term study of diverse groups and settings is made possible by extensive low-latitude field collections of the applicant, and comparable data available in the Paleobiology Database. This rigorous test of past environmental stress-extinction links will inform current approaches to the protection of Boreal ecosystems.

Keywords: paleontology,paleoclimate (climate change),biogeochemistry,marine ecosystems and processes,sedimentology,ecosystems (climate change),mass extinctions,high latitude,boreal oceans
Silicon Films on Metals for Energy Applications (ENERGOSIL)

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-2011-IOF, 2011)
Start date: 2013-01-07
End date: 2015-09-07
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 258306.4
EU funding (EUR): 258306.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The main objective of this project is creation of porous silicon films with effective light absorbance on technically important metallic substrates such as steels, aluminium alloys and copper as well as metal-coated glass. This will give the possibility of combining structural materials with silicon for facing panels for buildings, which could be used to harness solar energy. The project aims to create highly efficient silicon films with nano-micro porous architectures, which will improve the efficiency of solar energy harvesting due to light trapping by internal reflection. The proposed concepts and methods are relevant to a wide range of applications where specifically high silicon surface to volume rates are of importance: solar cells, solar-driven generation of hydrogen, electrodes for lithium-ion batteries, precursors for production of silicon nano-particles and platforms for chemical and biological sensors.

Keywords: silicon,porous materials,photovoltaics,deoxidation,ionic liquids,electrochemistry,molten salts
Investigating Intermediate Structures in the Economy of Mycenaean Greece (c. 1400 - 1200 BC) Through Archaeological and Textual Data (IISEMG)

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-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-10-01
End date: 2014-12-08
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200371.8
EU funding (EUR): 200371.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In the framework of the long-lasting debate on the structure of the Mycenaean economy (e.g. Voutsaki and Killen 2001), the program aims at investigating the function of some recently individuated units, the so-called “édifices intermediaries” (i.e. Darcque 2005). This aspect of the problem has not been systematically investigated up to now. An integrated approach will be used, combining the evidence from both archaeological documentation and Linear B texts. The definition of such buildings will be discussed. Large part of the work will be dedicated to the integrated contextual analysis of the evidence from the “édifices intermédiaries” (archaeological and textual evidence) in some of the major Mycenaean sites, with preference for centres where the settlement around the palace is at least partly understood (especially Mycenae, Thebes and Tiryns). The aim is to build a typology for these structures, first for each site and then on a general level. A wider concluding analysis will assess the role of “intermediate units” within the general economic structure(s) of Mycenaean polities. This will contribute significantly to the ongoing debate on Mycenaean political economies and help to put it in a new light. The work on published evidence will be paralleled by the study and publication of an excavated plot from Mycenaean Thebes, with the permission of the 9th E.P.C.A. – Museum of Thebes. The project involves many different skills and scientific competences, from the knowledge of major Bronze Age Aegean sites and sequences, the interpretation of archaeological contexts, the detailed knowledge of archaeological materials and strong competence in Linear B texts and problem. Training is therefore a fundamental part of the project. The host institution, the Department of Archaeology of Sheffield University, with the Sheffield Centre for Aegean Archaeology, is extremely well-suited to support the candidate in this direction.

Keywords: humanities,archaeology,mycenaean society,ancient economy,contextual analysis
A novel bioinformatics’ platform to identify key proteasic pathways involved in kidney diseases (PROTEASIX)

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-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-05-01
End date: 2013-04-30
Duration (months): 12.0
Total project cost (EUR): 104516.7
EU funding (EUR): 104516.7
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The aim of this project is to develop a new bioinformatics’ platform that will for the first time allow the identification of the key proteasic pathways involved in the development of kidney disease in an automatic and systematic way. Proteases generate peptides through cleavage of specific sites, present on given protein substrates. Interestingly, recent clinical studies have led to the identification of diagnostic and prognostic peptide biomarkers of a variety of nephropathies. The platform will thus contain a database grouping all these clinically relevant peptides and will automatically retrieve the enzymes involved in their generation by analyzing the sites that have been processed. To achieve this, the proposed work will use specific knowledge of the kidney pathophysiology in combination with state-of-the-art technologies in the bioinformatics’ field. The novelty of this project relies on: 1) automation of the process on large amount of data (gain of time); and 2) focus on enzymatic activity that will complement more classically used analyses of gene or protein expression (gain of knowledge). The disease-associated proteasic pathways identified in-silico will later be validated in a life-science lab and should lead at the long term to an improved understanding of the development of kidney diseases

Keywords: nephrology,computational biology,proteases,peptides,biomarkers
Dopaminergic modulation of neuronal circuit function in the zebrafish olfactory system (ZF OPTOMODULOMICS)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2013-08-01
End date: 2015-07-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 184709.4
EU funding (EUR): 184709.4
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Neuromodulatory neurons project to a wide range of target areas and adjust neuronal circuit function by modifying neuronal properties, synaptic transmission, and neuronal plasticity. Neuromodulators such as dopamine are implicated in various neurological disorders such as Schizophrenia and addiction. Despite detailed insights into the molecular and cellular actions of neuromodulators, their concerted effects on circuit function are poorly understood, mainly because they have complex combinations of effects on individual circuit components, and because computational functions of cortical circuits are largely unresolved. An important neuromodulator involved in many neural disorders is dopamine (DA). To uncover fundamental principles and mechanisms by which DA modulates cortical computations, we will first analyze effects of DA on odor processing and memory storage in the zebrafish homolog of olfactory cortex (telencephalic area Dp). Using optogenetic manipulations in combination with patch clamp recordings and 2-photon calcium imaging we will determine the functional connectivity and plasticity effects of DA input from specific clusters of DA neurons on circuit function in Dp. These experiments will reveal the influence of DA input on the processing and storage of odor information. Moreover, they are likely to provide insights into the cellular and synaptic mechanisms underlying memory storage by auto-associative neuronal networks. To causally link the modulatory effects of DA with behavioral effects, we will manipulate DA input during olfactory learning and memory recall by opto- and pharmacogenetic approaches. The results are expected to be of fundamental relevance for understanding neuromodulatory systems and to have direct implications for treatments of neurological diseases such as schizophrenia and drug addiction.

Keywords: neurobiology,optogenetics,doapmine,olfaction,behavior,zebrafish,circuit neuroscience,learning,memory
Transcontinental research on a highly invasive plant species Solidago gigantea - Ecology and evolution in the native and introduced ranges (TRANSRESSOLID)

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: Hungary
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IOF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-10-01
End date: 2015-09-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 335667.6
EU funding (EUR): 335667.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Exotic invasions provide an unparalleled opportunity for a deeper understanding of the most fundamental question in ecology – what controls the distribution and abundance of organisms? Understanding the mechanisms that enable successful exotics to change from minor components of their native communities to dominants in recipient communities is only possible through biogeographical approaches. The fundamental objective of this proposal is to use a transcontinental approach to study one of Europe’s most noxious plant invaders which originated from North America. By placing a primary emphasis on this novel approach the project encompasses a wide range of cutting-edge research directions that exploit the invasive success of Solidago gigantea. Phenotypic plasticity, genetic background, effects of soil biota and natural enemies, allelopathy, and impact on vegetation will be investigated in the native and in the invaded range. As a result of a multidisciplinary approach important genetic and environmental factors which permit rapid evolution in the case of invasive weeds will be disentangled. This will be one of the first comprehensive field examinations of the behaviour of invasive populations in the native range and non invasive populations in the invaded range. Solidago gigantea and other invasive species are a serious threat for agricultural production, biodiversity and at the same time for human health. The results of the proposed project could provide recommendations for control methods and the applied transcontinental approach of the study can change the viewpoint of future studies with invasive species.

Keywords: invasion,noxious plants,transcontinental approach,plant ecology,biogeography,vegetation,soil biology,secondary metabolites (allelopathy),plant and population genetics,nature conservation,weeds
A study of the mechanistic basis for catalytic promiscuity in the alkaline phosphatase superfamily (APCATPROM)

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-2011-IIF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2014-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 200371.8
EU funding (EUR): 200371.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Enzymes are the catalysts which allow important chemical reactions to occur on biologically relevant time-scales, and the current understanding of enzymes assumes that each enzyme is specifically tailored for a single reaction. Enzyme promiscuity refers to an enzyme’s ability to catalyze chemical transformations other than its native reactions. The identification of an increasing number of promiscuous enzymes challenges the classical “one enzyme, one activity” dogma.The notion that a single enzyme is capable of efficiently catalyzing a number of different reactions, which proceed through different transition states, is challenging to our current comprehension of enzymes. Although enzyme promiscuity is now a well documented phenomenon, the mechanistic principles underlying this behaviour are not well understood. This proposal aims to study catalytic promiscuity in the alkaline phosphatase superfamily, a class of phosphate and sulphate ester cleaving enzymes which are known to be prone to promiscuous behaviour. Specifically, linear free energy relationships will be used to characterize the bond-making and bond-breaking processes in phosphate/sulfate ester cleavage, and how the enzyme is able to stabilize these events. We will also use site directed mutagenesis and a high throughput selection system based on microdroplets to probe the contributions of individual amino acid residues to the catalytic mechanism and study enzyme evolution. Of particular interest is the question of how one enzyme active site is able to efficiently catalyze several thermodynamically demanding reactions which pass through transition states with vastly different properties under non-enzymatic conditions. In addition to enhancing our basic understanding of enzyme function and evolution, the mechanistic insight gleaned from this study will be instrumental in the directed evolution of enzymes with enhanced activity for specific uses in the biotech industry.

Keywords: physical organic chemistry,enzyme mechanisms,catalytic promiscuity,phosphoryl transfer,kinetics,linear free energy relationships,alkaline phosphatase,directed evolution,bioremediation
Sermons and Drama in Medieval England: Evaluating the relationship between allied genres of performance (SERMONS AND DRAMA)

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-2011-IOF, 2011)
Start date: 2013-01-07
End date: 2016-07-28
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 248220.9
EU funding (EUR): 248220.9
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Sermons and drama were the two major performative genres in medieval England, and they both constituted authoritative, didactic modes of discourse. The questions concerning the relationship between the two genres are very urgent and the proposed research can offer an accurate insight into the problem of possible cross-fertilisation, into plays' and sermons' literary and performative qualities, and into their role and status in late medieval devotional culture. The research will focus on four main areas of investigation: historical connections between the two genres, the performative qualities of sermons and plays, the presentation of preacher-like characters on the stage, and the orthodoxy or heterodoxy of drama. It will be published as a monograph, entitled 'Sermons and Drama in Medieval England: Evaluating the relationship between allied genres of performance'. I also intend to publish the findings in peer-reviewed journals and at international conferences, and to organise a conference on sermons and other genres of literature in medieval Europe, further raising the awareness of EU-funded research. Because of its multidisciplinary nature, the research will be of interest to scholars across disciplinary and national boundaries. There will also be many opportunities for outreach throughout the Fellowship. Both host institutions, the University of Bristol and the University of Toronto, can boast of an excellent profile in the study of medieval literature and culture and in the study of drama. My mentors are internationally recognised as first-rate medieval drama scholars and have extensive experience in participating in large-scale, international projects. At Toronto, I shall moreover complete an apprenticeship in staging early drama with the renowned Poculi Ludique Societas. This will significantly increase my status as a specialist of medieval drama, enable me to acquire valuable new skills, and have an enormous impact on my future research and teaching career.

Keywords: humanities,medieval,literature,devotion,drama,sermon