Two Oxford University academics have been awarded European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grants to lead research on major scientific challenges. Out of 712 proposals submitted this year, approximately 10% were successful. Each grant is valued at around €10.3 million and supports collaborative groups working on complex scientific questions.
Professor Ellie Tzima from the Radcliffe Department of Medicine will co-lead the MINerVA project, which focuses on the mechanobiology of intra-nervous vasculature. The project aims to better understand how nerves and blood vessels interact in the peripheral nervous system—a network whose dysfunction can cause pain, numbness, and disability for millions worldwide. By mapping cells and molecules within peripheral nerves, the team hopes to reveal how these structures communicate and respond to movement and blood flow, as well as develop targeted drug delivery methods.
Professor Tzima stated: “One of the biggest unknowns in human biology is how nerves and blood vessels work together. We’re only starting to understand how closely they communicate to keep our body tissues healthy. We want to crack the code of nerve-blood vessel communication, and this ERC Synergy Grant provides an exceptional opportunity to do so. Our project will bring together diverse expertise and resources from across Europe to understand how these two systems interact, and what goes wrong when their connection fails.”
The MINerVA initiative involves four principal investigators: Ellie Tzima (University of Oxford), Dario Bonanomi (Hospital San Raffaele, Italy), Isabelle Brunet (INSERM; National Institute of Health and Medical Research, France), and Tambet Teesalu (University of Tartu, Estonia).
In addition, Professor Vincent Cheval from Oxford’s Department of Computer Science will co-lead the VePaSS project—Verification of Probabilistic Security Systems—which addresses security protocols in digital infrastructure such as online banking, electronic voting, messaging platforms, and cloud storage. These systems face increasing threats like ransomware attacks and data breaches.
Current verification methods often simplify probabilistic behaviors used by security systems for unpredictability against attackers. This simplification can leave gaps or weaknesses in critical applications’ defenses. Over recent decades, fields like networking and economics have benefited from advanced probabilistic verification techniques.
The VePaSS project seeks new approaches that combine computer science with mathematics for verifying security systems reliant on randomness. By integrating advances in probabilistic game theory with computer modeling, it aims to improve digital safety for users while addressing fundamental theoretical questions.
Professor Cheval said: “It’s really exciting to work with experts in different areas of computer science and maths. We're using ideas from security, game theory, and symbolic computation to check that real-world security systems – like those used in industry – are actually secure. At the same time, it requires us to solve some fundamental, long-standing questions in theoretical computer science.”
VePaSS brings together four principal investigators: Vincent Cheval (University of Oxford); Mahsa Shirmohammadi from France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), who also serves as a visiting researcher at Oxford; Sébastien Tavenas; and Véronique Cortier.
More details about the 2025 ERC Synergy Grants are available on the ERC website.