Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Deciphering the neurexin code in neuronal circuitry (NRX CODE)

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: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IIF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-03-01
End date: 2014-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 184709.4
EU funding (EUR): 184709.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Networks of neurons, joined together by synaptic connections, represent basic functional units of the brain. Neuronal cells are very heterogeneous. Even a small unit of the nervous system such as the retina contains more than 50 physiologically and morphologically distinct neuron types where each type is tied with stereotyped connectivity into the neuronal network and is dedicated to specific aspects of information processing. Moreover, within a morphologically recognizable class of neurons sub-specializations exist that can be appreciated through analysis of the molecular repertoire of the cells. Understanding the developmental and molecular mechanisms contributing to the unique morphological and functional properties, as well as the specific synaptic connectivity of neurons represents one of the key questions in current neurobiological research.One hypothesis is that neuronal cell populations carry molecular recognition tags that contribute to targeted growth, selective wiring, and specific synaptic properties. Such tags would have to be highly polymorphic with different isoforms mediating cellular recognition events through binding partners. At the same time, such recognition tags should couple such extracellular interactions to a common cellular response. The recent development of new technologies for genome-wide proteomic and transcriptional analysis in combination with transgenic technologies provide a unique opportunity for unraveling molecular codes of neuronal identity. The goal of this project is to further develop such approaches and to apply them to the dissection and interpretation of neuronal identity in the mammalian central nervous system. In particular in this project I will focus on one highly polymorphic class of neuronal cell surface receptors called neurexins (NRXN) which show a remarkable molecular diversity with over 3,000 variants generated through alternative splicing and which are prime candidates to encode some aspect of neuronal identity

Keywords: neurosciences,neurobiology,neuronal circuits,synapse specificity,cell adhesion,neuronal identity
Exploring bird distribution drivers across differentspatial scales and time to predict the potential impact of global change on bird distributions and diversity (BIRDCHANGE)

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: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IOF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-07-01
End date: 2015-06-30
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 268555.2
EU funding (EUR): 268555.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Global change impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem processes and human well-being are a pressing scientific and political concern. One of the major goals of global change research is to reliably predict the future distributions of species and to assess potential resulting consequences for the adaptive management of ecosystems and their services and for conservation strategies. Dramatically increased availability of biodiversity data at broad scales, recent advances in statistical approaches such as ‘species niche modelling’ and progress in high-performance computing now allow data handling and the simulation of future climatic and biodiversity scenarios. Despite the popularity of niche modelling for predicting the potential impacts of global change on species distributions, to date a validation of this approach at biogeographically relevant scales is lacking. Through the use of very extensive datasets of North American birds (starting in 1966), this project will assess the reliability of niche modelling predictions through cross-temporal validations. Such independent validation will also enable us to assess which predictors and what spatial scale provide most accurate predictions. Using this knowledge, I will then predict the potential impact of global change on North American bird distributions. Going beyond just species richness, I will also evaluate and predict changes to the functional and phylogenetic make-up of bird communities. Finally, where possible I will carefully extend several of these predictions of global change impacts to breeding and wintering communities of birds worldwide. This first global assessment will e.g. help identify, at biogeographic scales, migratory birds species potentially most affected by impending climatic changes or pinpoint areas where the bird diversity may be particularly exposed to future change. I expect the resulting findings to significantly advance broad-scale global change ecology and help inform conservation and policy.

Keywords: climate change impact (climate change),biogeography,conservation biology,population biology,birds,functional diversity,phylogenetic diversity,community ecology,land-use change
Quantum photonic chip (QUANPHOCHIP)

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: Austria
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IOF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-08-01
End date: 2015-07-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 261853.5
EU funding (EUR): 261853.5
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Quantum technologies based on photons provide a promising path for building and using complex quantum photonic systems for both exploring fundamental physics and delivering quantum-enhanced technologies. While there have been impressive proof-of-principle demonstrations based upon on bulk optical elements, future technologies will require integrated optics architecture for improved performance, miniaturization and scalability. This project proposes to build a new class of quantum optics systems on a silicon chip. This integrated platform consists of integrated entangled-photon sources, high efficiency on-chip single-photon detectors and align-free quantum circuits to perform complex computing functions. This project will allow us to explore the forefront nanoscale quantum physics meanwhile simultaneously bring it to a practical engineering framework.

Keywords: physical sciences
Strain engineering of atomically-thin nanomembrane-based electromechanical devices (STRENGTHNANO)

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: Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2013-04-01
End date: 2015-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 183805.8
EU funding (EUR): 183805.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In the proposed project, I will engineer the electronic and mechanical properties of freely suspended 2D crystals such as graphene by strain engineering. Although strain engineering has been aready proposed as a powerful way of fine-tuning the electrical and mechanical properties of 2D crystals to create artiﬁcial 2D materials with novel functionalities, experimental studies of the role of strain in the electromechanical properties of 2D crystals are still very scarce. In the first part of the project, I will study the changes in the electronic and mechanical properties of freely suspended ultra-clean graphene flakes while their strain is externally tuned. We will measure changes in the piezoresponse, resonance frequency and quality factor of graphene devices for a broad regime of strains, ranging from compressive to tensile stresses. Special attention will be paid to the case where extreme tensions, close to breaking point, are applied to the graphene crystals. The general character of the experimental setups and techniques that will be developed will also make possible to work with other 2D crystals with properties very different than graphene. Indeed, during the second part of the project, I will modify the electronic properties topological insulators based on Bi2Se3 or Bi2Te3, by means of strain-engineering. Applying such strains will allow us to control the bulk energy band-gap and thus optimize/fine-tune the conduction through the topological surface states. The project is therefore at the forefront of science on graphene-based NEMS and on other interesting 2D nanocrystals, the bismuth-based topological insulators, and will strengthen the visibility of European research in these areas.

Keywords: nanodevices,graphene,topological insulators,nano electromechanical systems,nanomechanics,electron-based nano-devices,nanosystems,solid state physics,experimental physics
Memory-enabled Optical Quantum Simulators (MOQUASIMS)

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): 209033.4
EU funding (EUR): 209033.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Scientists have recently begun to explore the quantum nature of some marvelous phenomena such as superconductivity and photosynthesis. A clearer understanding could inspire a technological revolution, with the potential for a huge positive impact on the lives of human beings. Unfortunately, complex quantum systems with many-body interactions are hard to investigate theoretically due to their computational complexity. A promising way forward is to assemble and control real quantum systems to predict the behaviour of other quantum systems i.e. quantum simulation. In this document, I present a research proposal in the field of experimental quantum simulation, to be carried out in room-temperature atomic vapour at the University of Oxford. The central objective is to construct and implement the first memory-enabled optical quantum simulator, building on the world-leading broadband memory expertise in Oxford. In this scheme, stationary atomic excitations act as physical sites and flying photons mediate site-to-site interactions. This will be divided into three sub objectives: (1) building a broadband quantum memory and observing interference between flying photons and stationary atomic excitations; (2) simulating photosynthetic complex in a simplified model by means of an all-optical quantum network; (3) realizing a dynamically programmable memory-enabled optical quantum simulator. These all represent important advances in the nascent, multi-disciplinary field of quantum simulation. Through the two main experiments I performed at Jian-Wei Pan's group in China– long-distance free-space teleportation and quantum memory for down-converted entanglement – I have garnered expertise in large-scale quantum networks and quantum light-matter interfaces. I am therefore in a unique position to develop the technology at Oxford in order to achieve the aforementioned goals and turn quantum simulation into a mature and scalable technology for tackling intractable computational problems.

Keywords: quantum mechanics,biophysics,atomic physics,optics,quantum technology,quantum simulator,quantum memory,optical quantum network,photosynthesis
Can altitudinal data predict latitudinal responses of plants to climate change? (ALT-LAT-RANGE)

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: 2012-04-01
End date: 2014-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 209033.4
EU funding (EUR): 209033.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Rapid changes in climate are predicted to disrupt the conditions which determine the distribution of species, with the most dramatic effects predicted to occur at species range edges. At the population level, such changes induce range shifts, both at altitudinal and latitudinal level. With this study, we will try: i) to determine the capacity for population expansion in altitude and latitude as a consequence of climatic change, ii) to evaluate the likely range contraction at species lowermost/southernmost distribution limits due to changes in growth and reproduction, and iii) to analyse discrepancies and similarities between altitudinal and latitudinal range shifts.

Keywords: distribution limits,ecosystem impact (climate change),plant ecology,range shifts,species migration
Causes and consequences of mechanisms underlying genome size obesity (GENOME OBESITY)

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: 2012-10-29
End date: 2014-10-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 209033.4
EU funding (EUR): 209033.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

There are compelling reasons to believe that many underlying genomic, cellular, developmental and ecological processes are genome-size dependent. Plants with large genomes are at greater risk of extinction, less adaptable to living in polluted soils, and less able to tolerate extreme environmental conditions, clearly demonstrating that genome size has ecological consequences which shape the distribution and persistence of biodiversity. This proposal addresses the mechanisms behind the dynamics of genome expansion, which in the plant genus Fritillaria includes species with giant (obese) genomes, at least 150-fold larger than model species such as Arabidopsis thaliana. We are profoundly ignorant of how their genomes expand. Until recently, the sheer scale of the task of understanding genome obesity was too daunting to address. But now that impediment is largely overcome thanks to the astonishing advances in next generation sequencing methods (NGS). This proposal exploits NGS along with complementary methodologies that survey entire genomes to provide insights into the evolutionary dynamics of genome obesity. We will test hypotheses that examine whether there are unusual or novel epigenetic events (i.e. siRNA, cytosine methylation, histone modifications) that contribute to the evolution of genome obesity. Lu Ma brings expertise in cytogenetics and immunocytochemistry, a skill set he will enhance during the Fellowship through the training received in the Leitch Laboratory. This will considerably enhance Lu Ma’s career prospects since he will emerge highly proficient in skills needed to analyse NGS data, an area where there is currently an acute shortage of trained scientists, despite the importance of NGS approaches in the future of modern biosciences. Overall, the Fellowship will enhance collaboration between European laboratories and lead to an increased understanding of how genome obesity impacts on the biodiversity we see around us.

Keywords: fritillaria,genome size obesity,next generation sequencing,cytogenetics,genomics
The Role of Granzymes A, B and M in Sepsis (GRANZYMES IN SEPSIS)

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: Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-05-15
End date: 2014-05-14
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 247199.8
EU funding (EUR): 247199.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Sepsis, the systemic inflammatory host response to infection, is a major health problem. Inflammation is considered the first line of defence in host-pathogen interactions. Granzymes (grzs) are a family of proteases released from secretory granules that have been suggested to have relevant effects in inflammation. Outstanding findings are the rationale to hypothesize that granzymes play an essential role in the host response to bacterial sepsis: various bacteria can induce release of GrzA and B by leukocytes; elevated plasma levels of GrzA and B have been found in patients with sepsis; intravenous injection of LPS into healthy humans is a potent inducer of GrzA and B; deficient mice in GrzA and M are resistant to LPS-induced systemic inflammation and lethality; and GrzA-deficient mice show an improved host defence during pneumonia caused by S. pneumoniae. The aim of the proposed project is to determine the role of GrzA, B and M in host response to bacterial sepsis, studying which cells produce them and via which receptors this production is induced, and what their function is during sepsis. For this purpose, we will use mouse models of sepsis, pneumonia and peritonitis (the most common causes of sepsis) and human subjects from the Intensive Care Unit with and without sepsis and healthy controls. We will determine grzs producing cell types and grzs plasma levels both in humans and mice. We will examine the role of Toll-like receptors (TLR) in the bacterial induction of grzs in splenocytes from TLR-deficient mice incubated with relevant bacteria, and then compare grzs expression of wild-type and TLR-deficient mice with sepsis. Finally, grz-deficient mice will be compared with normal wild-type mice with regard to key host responses during pneumonia, peritonitis or primary sepsis. This project will provide in depth information on the regulation of grzs production during sepsis and their contribution to the host response during severe bacterial infection.

Keywords: biomedicine,intensive care,immunology,infection,host response,inflammation,sepsis,pneumonia,peritonitis,innate immunity
Systematic Isolation of Glycosyltransferases in Drosophila melanogaster Using The Toxicity of Fungal Lectins (FLYGLYGAN)

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: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IIF, 2011)
Start date: 2012-03-01
End date: 2014-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 256364.2
EU funding (EUR): 256364.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Glycosyltransferases catalyze the transfer of a sugar from a glycosyl donor to an acceptor substrate and though this action are responsible for the synthesis of the vast array of glycan modifications found in nature. Identifying genes that encode proteins with glycosyltransferase activity and determining the glycan structures generated by a specific glycosyltransferase is challenging. This project exploits the toxicity associated with the glycan-binding function of fungal lectins to systematically isolate genes that encode glycosyltransferases and link enzymes with the glycan structures they generate. This study will be carried out using the genetic model insect Drosophila melanogaster where abundant genetic resources make the systematic screening of genes possible and existing knowledge of the glycome indicates the existence of uncharacterized, novel glycosyltransferases. The findings produced from this study will broaden our understanding of glycosyltransferases and glycan structures. This has applications for chemical and medical technologies based on bioactive glycans and glycoconjugant biosynthesis. It is also an essential step towards the delineation of glycan biosynthetic pathways in a whole animal system and will pave the way for further studies that link specific glycan structures to biological functions. The study also lays vital groundwork for the biotechnological application of lectins as effective insecticides.

Keywords: health sciences,natural sciences,lectin,glycosyltransferase,drosophila,genetics,glycans,biochemistry
Aromatic oligoamide foldamers as mimics of double helical DNA (DNAMI)

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: France
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF, 2011)
Start date: 2013-05-02
End date: 2015-05-01
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 201932.4
EU funding (EUR): 201932.4
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The aim of this project is to design and synthesize helically folded aromatic oligoamides that chemically and structurally mimic the surface of double stranded DNA. The potency of these foldamers to interact with DNA processing enzymes relevant in cancer therapy will be assessed in order to establish structure-activity relationships. The research program primarily involves the chemical synthesis of novel anion bearing foldamers as well as structural investigations; modelling studies in search of the best DNA mimic in terms of effective length, diameter, groove width and depth; the identification of potential protein targets; and the functional assessment of the foldamers' ability to bind to and inhibit at least one important DNA processing enzyme. The training program, and in particular the ambitious and potentially very high impact multidisciplinary research project, has been designed so as to serve the applicant's ambition to embrace an academic research career at the highest level. Training at helical foldamer chemistry will be provided by the host group of Dr. Ivan Huc at the European Institute of Chemistry and Biology in Bordeaux, France. Biochemical assays will be carried out during secondments at the Comprehensive Cancer Centre of Bordeaux.

Keywords: organic chemistry,structural chemistry,foldamers,protein surface recognition