Declining malaria incidence offers the opportunity to accelerate toward its elimination, which requires accurate information to target control where it is most needed and will deliver the greatest impact. The impact of environmental adaptation on vector populations, their vectorial capacity and susceptibility to control remain poorly understood. Anopheles arabiensis is common in arid areas, increasing in relative prevalence throughout sub-Saharan Africa, and is the dominant malaria-vector in Senegal. We aim to investigate how natural and anthropogenically-influenced landscape variation influences its genetic diversity, population structure and gene-flow, and how this may impact disease incidence, and aid targeting of vector control. We aim to test the hypothesis that its population structure in Senegal is impacted by both its prevailing environment and recent range expansions toward the more humid parts of the country. Furthermore, local adaptation, especially during this expansion, may have reduced genetic population sizes and genetic diversity, and gene flow between locally-adapted populations. Expected outcomes are: 1. Characterisation of An. arabiensis population structure and connectivity to provide predictions for targeted control 2. Understanding how genetic diversity, and potential adaptability/vulnerability of its populations depends on environment and range expansion 3. Investigation of how the above impact parasite diversity and vector blood feeding, and vectorial capacity. The sub-Saharan Africa region has been and still the area that carries the heaviest malaria burden. However, the incidence of malaria has been reduced significantly by the successful scaling-up of insecticide-based vector control interventions (indoor residual spraying (IRS) and long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLIN). The decline of malaria makes elimination a possible, especially in areas where vector populations may be particularly vulnerable such as arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Elimination, however, requires increasingly detailed information about the characteristics of both the vector and the parasite populations to target control optimally and to design new interventions. How the environment affects the interconnection of vector populations and their vulnerability to control is poorly understood. In this project, we propose to address this question using a combination of country-wide sampling of the major malaria vector Anopheles arabiensis in Senegal, whole genome sequencing to identify markers of local adaptation, and investigation of how environment acts as a template for population size and connectivity. The results will provide general information on vector-environment inter-relationships, and specific information on how to predict vulnerability and optimally target populations for control.

The Master in European Literary Cultures (CLE) program aims to strengthen students’ expertise in literature, improve their personal development and their employability, establish a close relationship with members of the business community (both companies and institutions) and contribute to the implementation of the European Higher Education Area. The program seeks to train high quality students in the context of a master's degree organized in two academic years among five universities: Bologna (Italy), Strasbourg and Haute-Alsace (France), Thessaloniki (Greece) and Dakar (Senegal). The program is designed for both European and non-European students who have a) already completed a high school degree (180 ECTS) that gives access to college and who b) have taken courses from among the following disciplines: literature, languages (expression techniques, linguistics and language sciences, philology), history, or art history. The knowledge of English (at a minimum B1 level) is mandatory, as is the knowledge of the language of the first consortium university in which the student plans to study during the first year of the program (at a minimum B1 level). The CLE program is characterized by a) a joint program with learning validation (120 ECTS); b) mandatory trans-national mobility, with validation of all activities and a multiple diploma, presented by the universities of the consortium; c) top quality formation in literature, art history, philosophy, history, informatics, and specific seminars related to the business world and d) the knowledge of at least three European languages (among French, English, Italian and Greek). The programme is divided in four main training units, namely European literatures (Unit 1); Languages, Methodology and Language Sciences (Unit 2); European History and Civilisation (Unit 3) and a last unit (Unit 4) devoted to the elaboration of the master's thesis and the contact with institutions and enterprises. The University of Sciences and Humanities of Moscow (Russia) and the University of Lisboa (Portugal) are associated partners at this point. Constant collaboration with the business world guarantees a focused training process: publishing houses, national institutions; commercial enterprises, associations, libraries, writing schools and cultural institutes collaborate with the universities to propose theoretic training and its practical implementation. Thus, the main career perspectives for CLE graduates are related to the academia and the doctoral research, the European cultural institutions or local authorities involving cultural programmes and the private sector in tasks related to multicultural and book-related skills, journalism, media, etc. CLE students are required to proof their knowledge of English and the language of the first consortium university to access the programme. They study in an international environment with students and high profile scholars and guest lecturers from all over the world. Also, the students are prepared through seminars on multicultural issues, while living and working together as a group through theatrical performances, writing exercises and carrying out cultural field trips. They are furthermore led to respect others through group meals in which the traditions of the varying countries represented by the students themselves are brought to the fore. Thus they are better prepared for international competition with their knowledge and capability of interacting across nationalities. CLE students receive a double or multiple degree awarded by the relevant universities to each student.

Access to "essential goods and services" (g&s-ess) has become a core component of the new international agenda, enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This framework of universal access marks a turning point in development policy, characterized by the growing significance of financialization and climate challenge. It encourages the institutionalisation of g&s-ess markets, aiming to broaden access by attracting investment, fostering innovation in green technologies, and promoting a variety of market configurations on the supply side. The g&s-ess market now encompasses a wide array of actors—including financiers, multinationals, start-ups, and impact businesses—along with public-private partnerships, socio-technical systems (networks, decentralized mini-grids, autonomous systems), variety of regulation and governance regimes (public, private, cooperative, hybrid) and modes of supply and payment. Drawing on a multidisciplinary approach, the MARSE project investigates the social, political, and economic dimensions of markets for g&s-ess. By integrating international, national, and local perspectives, it critically examines the concept of universal access, especially with respect to supply inequalities at the heart of sustainability issues. The analysis zeroes in on the water and electricity sectors as representative of "essential goods", aiming to examine the particular market dynamics and the intrinsic tensions they confront (market and solvency, globalisation from above and below, responsibility and profitability, universality and inequality, centralisation and decentralisation). Based on the case of Senegal, which presents interesting characteristics regarding such changes, the research addresses four critical levels of inquiry: the evolution of international policies for universal access to g&s-ess and the escalating participation of the private sector in development initiatives; the role of public action in enacting new market regulations at the national level; the emergence of market configurations that lead to a diversity of offerings with disparities in price and service; and, finally, the public debates and local conflicts that surface due to issues of service inequality. The methodology is founded on an interdisciplinary approach that combines the sociology of markets, institutional economics, and planning sciences. It employs a multi-scalar perspective, tracking the social construction of g&s-ess markets from international levels to local implementations, alongside a multi-sectoral analysis to discern patterns of convergence within the institutional mechanisms of market organisation. The knowledge produced by the MARSE project will contribute to significant scientific debates surrounding the financialisation of public policies, sovereignty of African states, the dynamics of contemporary capitalism in the interplay between the global North and South, and global energy/water justice. The collaboration between PACTE, CLERSE, and LEREPS, coupled with the association with two Senegalese universities, reinforces the synergies between areas of expertise such as development policy, the marketization of public services, and the governance of water and energy in Africa.

The CLE program aims to strengthen students’ expertise in literature, improve their personal development and their employability; establish a close relationship with members of the business community (both companies and institutions) and contribute to the implementation of the European Higher Education Area . The program seeks to create high quality students in the context of a Master Degree/Laurea Magistrale Erasmus Mundus in European Literary Cultures - CLE, organized in two academic years among eight universities: Bologna (Italy, coordinating institution), Strasbourg and Haute-Alsace (France), Thessaloniki (Greece), Lisbon (Portugal), Dakar (Senegal), Moscow (Russia) and Mumbai (India). The Pontificia Facoltà Teologica dell'Italia Meridionale is an associated partners at this point. A constant collaboration with the business world guarantees a focused training process: Publishing Houses (Odoya; Orizon Publishing), National Institutions (Archives and Literary Museums, Royal Palace of Caserta, Théodore Monod Museum); Enterprises (Moreno Holding Group, MCs), Cultural Associations (Gide Foundation, Hamelin Association, Xanadu Association), Libraries (Municipal Library of Mulhouse), Writing Schools (Bottega Finzioni), Cultural Institutes (Dante Alighieri, Higher Institute of Arts and Cultures, Thessaloniki History Centre) collaborate with the universities to offer theoretic training and its practical implementation. The CLE program is characterized by a) a joint program with learning validation (120 ECTS); b) mandatory trans-national mobility, with validation of all activities and a multiple diploma, offered by the consortium universities; c) top quality education in Literature, Art history, Philosophy, hHistory and specific seminars related to the business world; d) the knowledge of at least three European languages (among French, English, Italian and Greek). The students are prepared through seminars on multicultural, while living and working together as a group through theatrical performances, writing exercises and cultural field trips. They are furthermore led to respect others through group meals in which the traditions of the varying countries represented by the students themselves are brought to the fore. Thus they are better prepared for international competition with their knowledge and capability of interacting across nationalities. The program is designed for both European and non-European students who have a) already completed a first cycle degree program (180 ECTS) that gives access to a second cycle degree program; b) have taken courses from among the following disciplines: Literature, Languages (expression techniques, Linguistics and Language sciences, Philology), History or Art history. The knowledge of English (at a minimum B1 level) is mandatory, as well as the knowledge of the language of the first consortium university in which the student plans to study during the first year of the program (at a minimum B1 level).