The existence of an atmosphere enriched in H and He around the Earth as it formed has often been proposed. One hypothesis suggests that it could have been captured from the gas present in the proto-planetary disk, before its evaporation. Subsequently, a secondary atmosphere would have been degassed or brought in by a late veneer of chondritic/cometary material. Although this model is regularly evoked using giant planets for comparison, there is no geological proof for its existence, except possibly for the neon in the Earth's mantle. While the model has a flaw (mainly relating to chronology, as the gas from the disk is lost in <6 My while the Earth formed over a period of more than 30My), the solar-type neon in the Earth's mantle is an argument for the existence of such a captured atmosphere, which partially dissolved into a magma ocean. A second scenario for a primordial H2/He-rich atmosphere is the degassing of a mantle that contained implanted solar wind. The APATE project aims to study the isotopic composition of neon in the Earth's mantle in order to determine if this composition is the same as that of the nebula or the solar wind material. I will investigate the degassing processes of magmas experimentally and numerically in order to study the isotopic fractionation that occurs during bubble formation and to determine whether the measured neon isotopic composition can provide an accurate composition for the original mantle. The project aims to calculate the amount of neon that can be incorporated into a magma ocean by establishing the atmospheric pressure of the captured atmosphere and by studying the dynamics of the magma ocean. I will also explore the hypothesis involving solar wind irradiation. Using simulations of irradiation, I will identify those conditions under which this model is realistic and its implications for the Earth’s (isotopic/chemical) composition. The origin of light solar volatiles will then be explored by the APATE project.

By making globalization of the campus a priority for its development, the University of Orléansconsiders developing student, teaching and administrative mobilities is an imperative action.212 students (115 of them are women, 97 of them are men) travelled in the frame of theErasmus mobility in 2015/16 thanks to the Erasmus + programme. In total, 169 of them travelledin the frame of their studies while 43 of them travelled in the frame of an internship. Regarding Mobilities for Placements, thesefigures are higher than those which were expected when the convention was signed. Only 17% of them came from a disadvantaged area. These mobilities, compulsory or not, are particularly organized in the linguistic, technical or professional sectors. On average, they last for 6,5 months in the frame of studies, and for 3 months in the frame of an internship. Most of theUniversity of Orléans’ students apply for Spain, Poland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Finland and Sweden.As for the staff mobility, 54 teachers and 7 administrative agents (27 of them are women, 34 of them are men) benefited from the programme. Comparing to the 2014 project and even if we did not reach our estimates, the staff mobility experienced a slight increase in 2015/2016.Teachers who travelled in the frame of the staff mobility went to Romania and Poland, as theyenable to experience the double-degree programmes, which keep on growing every year thanksto the Erasmus + programme.The main goal for the staff is the self-development thanks to the exchange of skills, teachingmethods. These mobilities certainly have an impact on UO' staff members methods.In the long term, we hope we will enable more students to benefit from a study or internshipmobility, reaching 250 student mobilities for Studies (SMS) and 80 Student Mobilities forPlacement (SMP) by 2020. We hope we will reach about 100 Staff Teaching Assignments (STA)missions and around 20 Staff Training Mobilities (STT) by 2020, improving promotion on thesemissions for example.By joining the Erasmus + programme, the University of Orléans also develops a qualitativeapproach, making sure outgoing students as well as incoming students are assisted in theirmobility project. 97% of the students who are concerned are generally happy with their mobilityexperience which represents a 2% increase compared to 2014/2015.These mobilities, which are an added-value for our students, enable them to acquire linguisticand technical techniques by offering them a better employability on the European labor market.In the end, these Erasmus + student, internship, teaching and training mobilities contribute tothe attractiveness and the standing of our institution, at both European and International levels. They also contribute to the dynamism of our campus. This programme provokes a bigger interest of students and teachers for Europe and mobility.Moreover it enables them to be open-minded and help make them feel European citizens. TheErasmus + programme is not only a lever which stimulates the student mobility, but also givesthe opportunity to every student to experience mobility. The University of Orléans makes sure toconvey this view and has strengthened its communication strategy according to it, by organizingthe International Mobility Week.

By making globalization of the campus a priority for its development, the University of Orléans considers developing student, teaching and administrative mobilities is an imperative action.240 students (114 of them are women, 126 of them are men) travelled in the frame of the Erasmus mobility in 2014/15 thanks to the Erasmus + programme. In total, 206 of them travelled in the frame of their studies while 34 of them travelled in the frame of an internship. These figures are higher than those which were expected when the convention was signed. Fewer than 50% of them came from a disadvantaged area. These mobilities, compulsory or not, are particularly organized in the linguistic, technical or professional sectors. On average, they last for 6 months in the frame of studies, and for 3 months in the frame of an internship. Most of the University of Orléans’ students apply for the United Kingdom, Poland, Finland, Spain, Ireland, Romania and Germany.As for the staff mobility, 44 teachers and 3 administrative agents (19 of them are women, 28 of them are men) benefited from the programme. Contrary to the student mobility, the staff mobility experienced a decrease in 2014/2015. This can be explained by the implementation of the new programmeme.Teachers who travelled in the frame of the staff mobility went to Romania and Poland, as they enable to experience the double-degree programmes, which keep on growing every year thanks to the Erasmus + programme.The main goal for the staff is the self-development thanks to the exchange of skills, teaching methods. These mobilities certainly have an impact on UO' staff members methods. In the long term, we hope we will enable more students to benefit from a study or internship mobility, reaching 250 student mobilities for Studies (SMS) and 80 Student Mobilities for Placement (SMP) by 2020. We hope we will reach about 100 Staff Teaching Assignments (STA) missions and around 20 Staff Training Mobilities (STT) by 2020, improving promotion on these missions for example. By joining the Erasmus + programme, the University of Orléans also develops a qualitative approach, making sure outgoing students as well as incoming students are assisted in their mobility project. 95% of the students who are concerned are generally happy with their mobility experience.These mobilities, which are an added-value for our students, enable them to acquire linguistic and technical techniques by offering them a better employability on the European labor market. In the end, these Erasmus + student, internship, teaching and training mobilities contribute to the attractiveness and the standing of our institution, at both European and International levels. This programme provokes a bigger interest of students and teachers for Europe and mobility. Moreover it enables them to be open-minded and help make them feel European citizens. The Erasmus + programme is not only a lever which stimulates the student mobility, but also gives the opportunity to every student to experience mobility. The University of Orléans makes sure to convey this view and has strengthened its communication strategy according to it, by organizing the International Mobility Week.

Chemical characterization is essential to the study of bioactive compounds in natural and biological samples but conventional preparative and analytical techniques are usually time, energy and solvent-intensive, posing environmental and health risks. Supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) present an eco-friendly alternative due to its interesting physio-chemical properties. Prof. West’s research group has been developing approaches involving supercritical CO2 for two decades, and recently developed an integrated system combining supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) for the on-line extraction and analysis of polar and non-polar bioactive compounds from plants. Although feasible, such coupling is very challenging, especially when targeting compounds with a wide range of polarities. The next step is thus to further improve the developed system and explore its applicability to other samples with different matrices and classes of compounds. Specifically, the use of unified chromatography (UC), an advanced version of SFC, will be investigated to further expand the efficiency and potential scope of the system. Since the interfacing of the two techniques is a major bottleneck preventing the system from reaching its full potential, finding innovative solutions to facilitate the extract transfer from the first to the second dimension is necessary. An important part of this project will thus be devoted to investigating new interface modalities to address the compatibility problems and instrumental issues pertaining to this hyphenation. To boost chromatographic separation power and facilitate structural elucidation, the potential of incorporating multidimensional (mD) separation steps while coupling the system with mass spectrometry (MS) will also be explored, to develop a novel on-line (mD-SFE)-(mD-SFC/UC)-MS system. Finally, the system’s utility will be demonstrated through qualitative and quantitative analyses of real-life samples.

This is a project for higher education student and staff mobility between Programme Countries and Partner Countries. Please consult the website of the organisation to obtain additional details.