Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Reinforcement of research potential of the Department of Materials Engineering in the field of processing and characterization of nanostructured materials (RP-DEMATEN)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Research Potential
Destination: Brokerage facility for partners search
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Germany,Czechia,Greece,Slovakia,Czechia,Serbia
Call:  (FP7-REGPOT-2007-3, 2007)
Start date: 2008-05-01
End date: 2011-04-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 584270.0
EU funding (EUR): 499983.0
Participants: 6
Project status: CLOSED

The Department of Materials Engineering (DEMATEN) at the Faculty of Technology, University of Novi Sad represents the strongest research and education centre in the province Vojvodina in the field of ceramics and polymer materials and one of the first research centres in Serbia in which investigation of nanostructured materials has begun in early 1990’s. Since then the research activities at DEMATEN have been focused on processing and characterization of nanostructured materials: nanopowders, nanotubes, nanofilms, nanocomposites. The objectives of the proposed project are reinforcement of research potential of DEMATEN and strengthening partnerships among centres of excellence established in the EU’s convergence region, the Member States and the Western Balkan Countries (WBC). This will be realized by: i) improving networking and exchanging of know-how and experience among the countries concerned through trans-national two-way secondments of research staff; ii) sending young scientists in the EU centres for training or to carry out specific research experiments; iii) reinforcing the human potential of DEMATEN (and three research centres from the EU’s convergence region) by hiring new young researchers; iv) upgrading and renewal of S&T research equipment and v) organising of workshops and conference. Achievement of these goals should enable the research group of DEMATEN to become expert and competent in the challenging field of nanomaterials and nanotechnology, to reinforce the WBC research potential and to contribute to sustainable research development by reinforcing S&T potential. The proposed project will explore the synthesis, characterization and processing of nanostructured materials as well as their integration into novel technologies. Realization of the project would facilitate integration of DEMATEN into the European research area as an appropriate partner in fundamental as well as applied research projects.

Keywords: reinforcement,department of materials engineering,nanostructured materials
Hamiltonian Partial Differential Equations: new connections between dynamical systems and PDEs with small divisors phenomena. (HAMILTONIANPDES)

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: Italy
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-07-01
End date: 2012-06-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 400000.0
EU funding (EUR): 400000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The aim of this project of 4 years is to create a research group on Hamiltonian Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) after my new arrival in the University Federico II of Naples as Associate Professor in november 2005. I plan to hire 2 post doc fellows and also to organize advanced research Schools and Workshops. I plan to develop a research group on Hamiltonian PDEs mainly studied by the point of view of "Dynamical Systems Philosophy" and of "Calculus of Variations". Indeed the analysis of the main structures of an infinite dimensional phase space such as periodic orbits, embedded invariant tori, center manifolds, etc., is an essential change of paradigm in the study of hyperbolic equations which has been recently very fruitful. In the last years the principal investigator has developed a net of high level international collaborations and, also with some of his PhD and Post doc students, has obtained many important results via a mixed combination of Critical Point Theory, Nash-Moser Implicit Function Theorems, Number Theory, Dynamical Systems techniques and Bifurcation Theory. This has allowed to solve open problems in the fields, opening new perspectives. With the ERC-Starting Grant we plan to hire first class experts in the above fields, and to collaborate for long periods of joint research with leading experts in the world. Keywords: Hamiltonian Partial Differential Equations, Small divisors problem, Nash-Moser Implicit function theory Variational methods.

Keywords: hamiltonian partial differential equations,small divisors problem,nash-moser implicit function theory,variational methods.
Thermal and compositional state of the Earth's inner core from seismic free oscillations (EARTH CORE STRUCTURE)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-10-01
End date: 2014-09-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1202744.0
EU funding (EUR): 1202744.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The core, comprising the innermost parts of the Earth, is one of the most dynamic regions of our planet. The inner core is solid, surrounded by a liquid iron alloy. Inner core solidification combined with motions in the fluid outer core drive the geodynamo which generates Earth's magnetic field. Solidification of the inner core also supplies some of the heat that drives mantle convection and subsequently plate tectonics at the surface of the Earth. The thermal and compositional structure of the inner core is thus key to understanding the inner workings of our planet. No direct samples can be taken of the core and our knowledge of the thermal and compositional state of the Earth's outer and inner core relies on seismology. Ray theoretical studies using short period body waves are the most commonly used seismological data; these have led to observations of a large range of anomalous structures in the Earth's inner core, including anistropy, layers and hemispherical variations. However, due to uneven station and earthquake distribution, the robustness and global distribution of these features is still controversial. Long period seismic free oscillations, on the other hand, are able to provide global constraints, but lack of appropriate theory has prevented more complicated structures from being studied using normal modes. Thus, many fundamental questions regarding the thermal history of the core and geodynamo remain unanswered. Here, I propose to develop a comprehensive seismic inner core model, employing fully-coupled normal mode theory for the first time and using data from large earthquakes such as the Sumatra-Andaman event of 26 December 2006. This will dramatically change our current ideas of structure in the inner core. Using a novel combination of fluid dynamics and mineral physics I will interpret the thermal and compositional structure found at the centre of our planet, which in turn are fundamental to understand its geodynamo and magnetic field.

Keywords: eartth's deep interior,seismic free oscillations,mineral physics,fluid dynamics,planetary cores
Magnetic Resonance of Heterogeneous Matter in Rotating Magnetic Fields: Applications to Living Systems (R-EVOLUTION-M-R)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Computer science and informatics
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-11-01
End date: 2014-10-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1828564.0
EU funding (EUR): 1827564.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

The goal of this project is to establish the foundations for the next generation diagnostic magnetic resonance for in-vivo studies of biochemical processes. Magnetic resonance, unlike other techniques, probes in a non-invasive manner the local structure and dynamics of chemical and biological function. Many systems (e.g. organisms) are however heterogeneous and, currently, studies by high-resolution NMR spectroscopy necessitate fast sample rotation (thousands of revolutions per second) at the so-called “magic angle” with the magnetic field. Practical, scientific and ethical issues are raised when we extrapolate this technique to small animals or even to living cell cultures.We aim to push the technology of magnetic resonance to the next level by introducing rotating magnetic fields around static samples. Rotating magnets capable of offering ultra high-resolution NMR and MRI will be built and used to acquire metabolic signatures from living organisms at cellular and macroscopic level of observation. This interdisciplinary project aims at developing frontier concepts in magnetic resonance and gathering state-of-the-art approaches in the areas of bioengineering, magnetism, magnetic resonance microscopy and spectroscopy to place them at the service of medicine and biochemistry.Our strategy consists of forming a new, independent and perennial research team, of 3 researchers, 1 technician, 2 post-docs and 2 PhDs. The concept, fabrication and evaluation of a prototype magnet will occur within the first three years, and applications to cell cultures and small animals are envisaged until the end of the 5 years. Spectroscopic MRI in rotating fields has never been investigated and will produce new methodological and instrumentation advances. The outcome will be groundbreaking since for the first time localized metabolism will be studied in living organisms. This research will therefore open new avenues to non-invasive monitoring biomedical tools for diagnosis and prevention.

Keywords: magnetic resonance,localised spectroscopy,metabolites,magic angle spinning
Nucleo-cytoplasmic shuttling proteins and mechano-signalling in cardiac myocytes (BOATENG-READING)

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: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-3-IRG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-01-01
End date: 2011-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In Europe about 4 million people die every year from cardiovascular diseases. The mechanisms underlying heart failure are still poorly understood. Experiments proposed here test the hypothesis that periods of rest following mechanical stress result in a more physiological adaptation in cardiac myocytes, compared with continuous stress, which leads to pathological adaptation. Adaptation is proposed to be mediated, at least in part, by nucleo-cytoplasmic shuttling proteins which translocate to the nucleus in response to various stimuli to alter gene expression. Aim 1: Cultured cardiac neonatal myocytes will be exposed to continuous cyclic stretch or given a period of 8 hours rest every 16 hours. The 8 hours of rest is to mimic sleep. Then to measure genes normally associated with pathological adaptation. The expression of atrial natriuretic peptide, CaATPase (SERCA2a) and alpha skeletal muscle actin will be measured. Aim 2: Determine the expression and subcellular distribution of the nucleo-cytoplamic shuttling proteins TRIP6, LPP, Clock and PER2 proteins from neonatal cardiac myocytes in continuously stretched and rested cells. Aim 3: Determine the function of Clock and Period 2 proteins in response to continuous and intermittent hypertrophic stimuli by blocking their nuclear cycling. Nuclear cycling is blocked by synthetic peptides containing a membrane translocating motif and the nuclear localization signal for Clock or PER2. In a second series of experiments, the genes will also be knocked down with SiRNA. We expect to find that rest periods will prevent the increase in atrial natriuretic peptide /alpha skeletal muscle genes and the decline in CaATPase proteins seen in maladaptive hypertrophy after continuous mechanical stress. Studying the recuperative processes of myocytes during rest will provide a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying improved function of failing hearts following mechanical unloading by left ventricular assist devices.

Keywords: natural sciences,cardiovascular,heart failure,myocytes,hypertrophy,cell biology,physiology,molecular biology,gene expression,mechano-signalling
Bioceramics: Multiscale Engineering of Advanced Ceramics at the Biology Interface (BIOCERENG)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Computer science and informatics
Countries involved: Germany
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2009-01-01
End date: 2013-12-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1536120.0
EU funding (EUR): 1536120.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In the last decades, Materials Sciences and Life Sciences, two highly dynamically evolving and interdisciplinary research areas, have been influencing natural and engineering sciences significantly, creating new challenges and opportunities. A prime example for an increasing synergetic overlap of Materials and Life Sciences is provided by biomedical and bioengineering applications, which are of great academic, but also of steadily increasing societal and commercial interest. Bridging the traditional borders of disciplinary thinking in these areas has become one of today’s most challenging tasks for scientists. One group of key materials that are of great importance to biomedical engineering and bioengineering are advanced oxide and non-oxide ceramics with specific functionalities towards biological environments, so-called Bioceramics. The interplay at the interface of ceramics-protein-cells/bacteria is very complex and requires multiscale and interdisciplinary approaches. This expertise, that is under continuous development in my Bioceramics group, encompasses materials processing, shaping, surface functionalisation and cells/bacteria evaluation at the same time. The comprehensive research environment and expertise provides a unique opportunity to engineer materials/surfaces with immediate subsequent biological evaluation in order to achieve an extremely short development time. A centre of focus is the contribution of electrostatic and hydrophilic/hydrophobic interactions to the overall biocompatibility and -activity. The proposed research project includes four closely interrelated subprojects, addressing the following topics: “Interaction of surface functionalised ceramic particles with proteins”, “Cytotoxicity of functionalised oxide particles”, “Fabrication and testing of functionalised porous Al2O3 as filters for water cleaning and bioengineering applications” and “Novel functional scaffold composites for bone tissue engineering”.

Keywords: bioceramics,colloid chemistry,sol-gel technology,ceramic-protein-cell/bacteria interface
Spatial ecology: bringing mathematical theory and data together (SPAECO)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Starting grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Neurosciences and neural disorders
Countries involved: Finland
Call:  (ERC-2007-StG, 2007)
Start date: 2008-07-01
End date: 2013-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1501421.0
EU funding (EUR): 1501421.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The goal of my research plan is to make fundamental progress in the understanding of the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of populations inhabiting the heterogeneous and changing landscapes of the real world. To reach this goal, I will construct general and mathematically rigorous theories and develop novel statistical approaches linking the theories to data. In the mathematical part of the project, I will construct and analyze spatial and stochastic individual-based models formulated as spatiotemporal point processes. I have already made a methodological breakthrough by showing how such models can be analyzed in a mathematically rigorous manner. I plan to use and further develop the mathematical theory to study the interplay among endogenous and exogenous factors in spatial ecology, genetics, and evolution. To link the theory with data, I will develop novel combinations of forward (from process to pattern) and inverse (from pattern to process) approaches in the context of five empirical problems. First, I will build on the strong interaction between empirical studies and modelling in the Glanville fritillary butterfly to develop approaches that integrate genetics with ecology and evolutionary biology in highly fragmented landscapes. Second, I will investigate dead-wood dependent species as a model system of population dynamics in dynamic landscapes, bridging the current gap between data and theory in this system. Third, I will use existing data on butterflies, wolves and bears to study how animal movement depends on the interplay between landscape structure and movement behaviour and on intra- and interspecific interactions. Fourth, I will address fundamental questions in evolutionary quantitative genetics, e.g. the evolution of the matrix of additive genetic variances and covariances. Finally, I will develop Bayesian state-space approaches to root species distribution modelling more deeply in ecological theory.

Keywords: theoretical ecology,mathematical biology,spatial ecology,evolutionary quantitative genetics
Reinforcing scientific and technological potential of the Natural Products Laboratory - University of Athens (NAT FORCE)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Research Potential
Destination: Unlocking and developing the Research Potential of research entities established in the EU�s Convergence regions and Outermost Regions
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Greece
Call:  (FP7-REGPOT-2007-1, 2007)
Start date: 2008-05-01
End date: 2011-04-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1172265.0
EU funding (EUR): 1050000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The basic concept of NatForce project is the scientific and technological reinforcement of the Laboratory of Pharmacognosy and Natural Products Chemistry of the University of Athens (LNPC). The main objective is to facilitate the expansion and transformation of an existing high-quality Research and Education entity to a Natural Product Research Center comparable to other European centers distinguished for scientific excellence. Main activities for the implementation of the project are: Upgrading of research equipment aiming to acquire new state of the art spectroscopic powerful instruments. Transfer of the necessary know-how of new technologies and development of strategic partnerships and network activities with well established European research centers such as the CNRS in France, the Technical University of Dresden in Germany and the University of Basel in Switzerland. Organization of two way secondments, seminars and short term visits for researchers. Recruitment of experienced researchers. Expansion of the laboratory activities using new instrumentation and techniques. Finally, the dissemination and the promotion of the research activities of the Laboratory to the scientific community and stakeholders in Greece and Europe, would reinforce the reputation of LNPC and improve its capacity to be involved in European and International research projects. The reinforcement of scientific and technological potential, would lead to the establishment of a state of the art research center in the field of natural products in Europe and would lead to the production of significant knowledge and new high added value applications of natural compounds in pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and agricultural sectors, resulting in a positive impact on the socio-economic status of the country and the procedure of European integration.

Keywords: chemistry of natural products,technological reinforcement,nmr,mass spectrometer,high throughput methods,pharmaceutical,nutraceutical,agricultural,biodiversity
Live imaging of nuclear dynamics in embryonic stem cell differentiation (LIVENUCESC)

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: Israel
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-3-IRG, 2007)
Start date: 2007-12-01
End date: 2011-11-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Owing to their unique ability to self-renew indefinitely, as well as their capacity to differentiate into multiple cell types of all three germ layers, embryonic stem (ES) cells hold great promise both as therapeutic agents in the clinic and as research tools in the lab. One of the main challenges in the field is understanding how stem cells achieve their remarkable potential. Recent efforts by us and others have shown that chromatin itself serves as a major contributor to ES cell identity and plasticity. While most of the supporting data emerges from biochemical and molecular studies, I propose here to use live cell imaging techniques and advanced microscopy to probe the transcriptional machinery and chromatin dynamics in living differentiating ES cells. I aim to elucidate the dynamic changes that occur in chromatin structure and function during early ES cell differentiation events. Using photobleaching methods (i.e. FRAP) complemented by biochemical approaches, I will study the dynamic interplay of both transcriptional activators (e.g. Oct-4, Nanog) and transcriptional repressors (e.g. Polycomb Group proteins) with chromatin. Also, using the spinning disk confocal technology I will monitor in real time, changes in chromatin structure, as well as the dynamics of chromatin-protein interactions in living cells. Finally, using ES cell lines carrying a labeled genomic locus at random sites I will be able to directly visualize chromatin motion in living cells. These experiments will provide new insights into the mechanisms that govern chromatin-regulated differentiation events and chromatin dynamics in living cells as well as stem cell identity and pluripotency.

Keywords: embryonic stem cells,chromatin,chromatin dynamics,chromatin plasticity,nuclear dynamics,genome organization,neuronal differetiation,spinning-disc microscopy,photobleaching,frap,live imaging