Project description
Fostering healthy infant microbiome development
Although research emphasises the importance of fostering a diverse microbiome during infancy, limited attention has been paid to the everyday practical applications for families. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the WElCOME project aims to bridge this gap using a participatory approach that focuses on the real-life experiences of babies, families and caregivers. Its objectives include mapping the types of microbes and how babies encounter them in their environment, as well as examining how microbial health interlinks with social, political and material aspects of daily routines. The outcomes will be used to create a toolkit that fosters healthy infant microbiome development through arts-based activities and interactions with microbe-rich natural materials.
Objective
Supporting the development of a diverse microbiome from birth is vital for lifelong health, public health outcomes, and planetary wellbeing. Yet, microbial diversity is declining rapidly with each generation. A baby’s microbiome develops through practices in birth, feeding and medical interventions alongside close connection with their everyday environment. As research increasingly shows the importance of developing a healthy microbiome during babyhood, little attention has been given to the everyday implications of these findings for families. This creates a major gap in understanding microbial wellbeing during the critical first 1000 days of life.
This fellowship addresses that gap through an interdisciplinary, arts-based, and participatory approach that centres the voices and experiences of babies, families, and early childhood professionals. As babies engage with the world through embodied and material contact, they often interact with surfaces differently from adults. To acknowledge babies engagements researchers require different ways of working with babies. A growing body of research recognizes babies as participants (rather than objects of study) and attends closely to the non-verbal cues through which valuable insights can be gained. This project uniquely combines relational, sensory, and embodied methodologies that acknowledge babies’ capacities to engage meaningfully with their environments. The fellowship aims to:
1. Map a selection of microbes that babies encounter in their first year by tracing their material engagements in local everyday environments.
2. Analyse and produce theoretical understanding on how the microbial wellbeing of babies intersects with social, political and material threads on parenting and family life within daily rituals and local spaces.
3. Develop ways in which babies’ microbiomes ordinary can be enhanced through arts-based approaches and microbe rich material encounters through a Microbial Welcome Toolkit.
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.
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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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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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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) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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33100 Tampere
Finland
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.