Humans modify ecosystems to maximise benefits from natural resources and as a result wildlife adapts ecological relationships. For instance, voles show multiannual population cycles and predators respond numerically, possibly limiting vole populations. Voles also damage crops and reduce food available for livestock. Subsequently, farmers respond using anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) to control voles. That means indirect control of predators by secondary exposure or by reduction of food sources. Therefore, ARs will be acting analogously as a superpredator, impeding the natural autoregulation of vole populations. Here the Experienced Researcher will become an ecologist and ecotoxicologist and learn to use cutting-edge Bayesian state space models to determine the superpredator role of ARs in both predator and prey dynamics. To do that, he will work in the Universities of Franche-Comté (UFC, France) and Aberdeen (UNIABDN, UK), the Doubs Hunting Federation (FDC25), but also work hand-in-hand with farmers, stakeholders, etc. about vole populations in western Europe. He will also collaborate with small mammal work groups involved in research about small mammal surges. By combining multidisciplinary and intersectoral knowledge, the project will address the deleterious effect of pest control by poisoning ecosystems. In addition, it will show predation as one underestimated tool for pest control. By direct contact with interested parties, the Experienced Researcher will become fully involved with groups related to the hunting industry, among others, which will enable him to develop consultancy services about small mammal pests and control methods. He will also boost his research carrier and become a senior post-doc dealing with strongly applied issues of ecology and ecotoxicology with strong links between international research institutions, maximising the chances to get a permanent position.

Squalene is a natural lipid precursor, which plays a crucial role in the biosynthesis of sterols in the cells . Squalene is 100% biocompatible, not toxic and is able to enter into the cells easily. This makes it very promising for creating highly efficient drugs and drug delivery systems. The so-called squalenoylation technology is based on fusing hydrophobic squalenic acid with the molecules of water-soluble drugs. Resulting conjugated molecules spontaneously self-assemble into nanoparticles, which deliver the drugs into the target cells efficiently. Currently anticancer (gemcitabine , doxorubicin ), antiviral (dideoxycytidine ) and neuroprotective (adenosine ) drugs were used in this technology with great success. This project is devoted to revealing mechanisms of interaction of novel and highly promising squalene-based anti-cancer and neuroprotective drugs with cell membranes by means of in silico ccomputer simulations. The main goals of the project are the following: 1. To reveal how squalene-based drugs incorporate into the cell membranes, interact with membrane components and are released from the membranes on atomistic level of details. 2. To propose the ways of improving translocation of squalene-based drugs through the membranes in order to increase their therapeutic efficacy. The practical impact of the project is improving translocation of squalene-based drugs through the membranes and making it selective, which is of great interest for therapeutic applications of existing drugs and for creation of new compounds with desirable properties.