No researchers based in Ireland will receive any ERC funding this year. However, three Irish researchers were awarded funding last year.
The European Research Council (ERC) has today (11 April) named the 255 researchers who will benefit from funding via the prestigious ERC Advanced Grants programme.
This year’s grants are worth a total of almost €652m, and they fall under the EU’s Horizon Europe research funding programme. The awardees will endeavour to answer a variety of different questions through their work, which spans multiple scientific disciplines.
The projects that have been awarded funding will be based in institutions all over Europe. Awardees are mostly citizens of Germany, France, the UK and Italy, but there are scientists from 28 other countries benefitting also.
A project from Denmark will explore how people can get rid of harmful chemicals in their bodies, while a project based in Germany will ask whether the protective layer around our hearts can fix heart problems. Continuing with the medical theme, researchers in Cyprus received funding to explore the problem of drug resistance in pancreatic cancer patients.
A study from France will look at the reasons why young children learn languages so quickly. There are also several tech and electronics projects, such as a Polish study exploring new ways of developing electricity.
There were no awardees based in the Republic of Ireland, and just one based in a Northern Ireland university. A project from Queen’s University Belfast was awarded funding for a study of modern Europe’s relationship with coal.
Last year, Ireland fared much better in the awards, with three researchers based here netting funding for projects that looked at nanoscale therapeutics, the voices of women in early modern Ireland and the role of law for integration within and beyond a fractured EU. Last year’s call funded 218 researchers compared to this year’s 255.
Overall, the funding call attracted 1,829 proposals, which were reviewed by panels of international researchers. Nearly 14pc of the proposals that were tendered were selected for funding. Estimates show that the grants will create more than 2,000 jobs.
“Congratulations to the 255 researchers who will receive grants to follow their scientific instinct in this new funding round,” said Prof Maria Leptin, the president of the ERC.
“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.”
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