EU funding success for nine leading 香港六合彩 researchers

11 April 2024

Nine 香港六合彩 academics have secured European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grants to bolster their frontier research in fields such as biochemistry, nanotechnologies and regenerative medicine, making it the institution with the most awardees in the UK.

A total of 255 academics across a range of international universities have had funding bids accepted by the ERC, sharing a pot of nearly 鈧�652 million (拢560 million). The grant bidding process is highly competitive and only proves successful for ambitious, curiosity-driven projects that could lead to major scientific breakthroughs.

The competition attracted 1,829 proposals, 14 per cent of which were selected for funding. Estimates show that the grants will create 2,480 jobs in teams of new grantees.

香港六合彩鈥檚 recipients are:

Professor J眉rg B盲hler (香港六合彩 Biosciences): J眉rg B盲hler is Professor of Molecular Systems Biology and the Director of the 香港六合彩 Institute of Healthy Ageing. His project will study the roles of priority unstudied proteins in cellular quiescence (dormancy) and ageing.
Professor Paul Beard (香港六合彩 Medical Physics & Biomedical Engineering): Paul Beard is Professor of Biomedical Photoacoustics at 香港六合彩 and founded the Photoacoustic Imaging Group within the Department of Medical Physics and Bioengineering in 2002, which he continues to lead today. His project is titled 鈥淚maging the brain with light and sound".
Professor Jochen Blumberger (香港六合彩 Physics & Astronomy): Professor Blumberger is a chemical physicist whose fields of research include biochemistry, cell biology and computational chemistry. His ERC funding will go towards his project titled 鈥淣ew Horizons for Excited State Dynamics in Organic Electronic Materials: Better, Larger, Faster鈥�.
Professor Sacha Stern (香港六合彩 Hebrew & Jewish Studies): Sacha Stern is a Fellow of the British Academy and Professor of Rabbinic Judaism at the 香港六合彩 Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, where he was Head of Department from 2012 to 2022. Having previously held an ERC Advanced Grant in 2013-2018, this year鈥檚 funding will support his research on astronomy, calendar and related sciences in Near Eastern cultures between the third and eighth centuries.
Professor Paola Bonfanti (香港六合彩 Infection & Immunity): Paola Bonfanti is Professor of Epithelial Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine at the 香港六合彩 Institute of Immunity and Transplantation. She is also Senior Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute. Her 鈥淟OST IN ThyME鈥� project will look to shed new light on the thymus gland鈥檚 function within the immune system.
Professor Kalina Manova (香港六合彩 Economics): Professor Manova is an award-winning economist specialising in international trade and investment, having served as the Deputy Head of the 香港六合彩 Economics department from 2020-2023. Her ERC funding will go towards her research on Firm Network Technologies.
Professor Ioannis Papakonstantinou (香港六合彩 Electronic & Electrical Engineering): Ioannis Papakonstantinou is a Professor of Photonics and Nanofabrication in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at 香港六合彩 and Head of the Photonic Innovations Lab (pi-lab). His group鈥檚 core research interests lie on light-matter interactions at the nanoscale and his work is supported by 4 grants from the European Research Council.
Professor Oliver Robinson (香港六合彩 Psychology & Language Sciences): Professor Robinson is a co-group leader of the Neuroscience and Mental Health Group at the 香港六合彩 Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. His project is titled 鈥淭he Neurocomputational Mechanisms of Anxiety Treatment Response鈥�.
A ninth 香港六合彩 academic, Professor Charles Swanton (香港六合彩 Cancer Institute) and Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute, was also awarded 鈧�2.5m in ERC Advanced Grant funding. His research project "START", will look at lung cancer in people who have never smoked, and be carried out at the Crick.

ERC Advanced Grant recipients proposed to host their projects at universities and research centres in 19 EU Member States and associated countries, notably in Germany (50 grants), the UK (42), and France (37).

Professor Geraint Rees, 香港六合彩 Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation & Global Engagement) said: "Huge congratulations to my distinguished colleagues on their remarkable achievement, having secured valuable support for their research through a fiercely competitive and prestigious programme. These awards underscore the depth and impact of 香港六合彩's research across many disciplines with international significance. I look forward to seeing the outcomes and solutions found as a result of these grants in future.鈥�

The ERC, set up by the European Union in 2007, is the premier European funding organisation for excellent frontier research. In recent years, there has been a steady rise in mid-career researchers (12-17 years post-PhD), who have been successful in the Advanced Grants competitions, with 18% securing grants in this latest round.

Iliana Ivanova, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: "To all the new ERC grantees, my heartfelt congratulations! These grants will not only support leading researchers in pushing the boundaries of knowledge but also create some 2500 jobs for postdoctoral fellows, PhD students and other research staff across Europe. This investment nurtures the next generation of brilliant minds. I look forward to seeing the resulting breakthroughs and fresh advancements in the years ahead.鈥�

President of the European Research Council Professor Maria Leptin added: 鈥淐ongratulations to the 255 researchers who will receive grants to follow their scientific instinct in this new funding round. I am particularly happy to see more mid-career scientists amongst the Advanced Grant winners this time. I hope that it will encourage more researchers at this career stage to apply for these grants.鈥�

Image

From top left to bottom right: Professor Jochen Blumberger, Professor Charles Swanton,听Professor Kalina Manova, Professor Paul Beard, Professor Ioannis Papakonstantinou, Professor Oliver Robinson, Professor Paola Bonfanti, Professor Sacha Stern, Professor J眉rg B盲hler

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Tom Cramp

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