Objective
There is increasing awareness that diversity in microbial communities likely plays a critical role in multiple biological processes, from regulating human health to sustaining ecosystem services. Along with advances in molecular technologies, this realisation has seen a rapid growth in efforts to catalogue microbial life, and yet we still have a surprisingly poor understanding of the mechanisms maintaining microbial diversity. With up to 1,000 different species in the human gut alone, classical ecological explanations for diversity maintenance appear unlikely to hold. A resolution to this coexistence paradox may lie in the dynamic nature of microbial environments. The goal of this project is to investigate whether recent theoretical advances in understanding coexistence in non-equilibrium systems can provide insights into microbial diversity in the presence of viral parasites and antimicrobial agents that naturally vary in concentration in space and time. To this end, I will conduct a series of innovative experiments on multi-strain communities of pathogenic and non-pathogenic Escherichia coli under spatial and temporal variability in nutrient resources, phages and antibiotics. The project is unique in community ecology in leveraging high-throughput methods in a model microbial system of significant human interest; and in its focus on the interaction between non-linear growth functions and environmental variability as a critical determinant of community dynamics. The results will i) enhance our understanding of the role of viral parasitism in regulating diversity; ii) provide insight into emerging theory on the operation of coexistence mechanisms at different spatial and temporal scales; and iii) inform evolutionary and epidemiological research into the combined effect of antibiotics and phages on bacterial performance.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs antibiotics
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
- natural sciences biological sciences biological behavioural sciences ethology biological interactions
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2016
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
8092 Zuerich
Switzerland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.