Eleven senior researchers from the University of Cambridge have been awarded Advanced Grants by the European Research Council (ERC), marking the highest number of grants given to any institution in this funding round. The research areas covered by these successful grantees include next-generation semiconductors, methods for identifying dyslexia in young children, disease transmission between humans and animals, and early cellular changes preceding breast cancer.
The ERC's total funding of €721 million will be distributed among 281 leading researchers across Europe. This competition is one of the most prestigious and competitive funding schemes within the EU and associated countries, including the UK. It provides an opportunity for senior researchers to pursue ambitious projects that could lead to significant scientific breakthroughs. Each Advanced Grant can amount up to €2.5 million over five years as part of the EU’s Horizon Europe programme, which the UK joined in September 2023.
Out of 2,534 proposals submitted, more than 11% were selected for funding after being reviewed by panels of internationally renowned researchers. The grants are expected to create approximately 2,700 jobs within new grantee teams based at universities and research centers across 23 EU Member States and associated countries such as the UK (56 grants), Germany (35), Italy (25), Netherlands (24), and France (23).
Professor Sir John Aston, Cambridge’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, expressed his congratulations: “Many congratulations to our Cambridge colleagues on these prestigious ERC funding awards... We are so fortunate at Cambridge to have so many world-leading researchers across a range of disciplines.”
Among those receiving Advanced Grants from Cambridge are Professor Clare Bryant for her work on zoonotic infections; Professor Sir Richard Friend focusing on molecular semiconductors; Professor Usha Goswami working on dyslexia identification; Professor Regina Grafe researching colonial credit in Spanish America; Professor Judy Hirst studying respiratory complex I; Professor Matthew Juniper developing optimization methods; Professor Walid Khaled investigating precancerous changes in breast cancer; Professor Adrian Liston examining regulatory T cell differentiation; Professor Róisín Owens creating electronic brain-gut devices; Professor Emma Rawlins reprogramming lung epithelial cells for regeneration; Dr. Marta Zlatic exploring differences in learning mechanisms.
Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, Research, and Innovation stated: “These ERC grants are our commitment to making Europe the world’s hub for excellent research... In future competition rounds scientists moving to Europe will receive even greater support.”
Professor Maria Leptin, President of the European Research Council added: “Much of this pioneering research will contribute to solving some pressing challenges we face - social economic environmental... Yet again many scientists with ground-breaking ideas were rated excellent but remained unfunded due lack funds at ERC.”