Five UCPH scientists awarded €1.5m EU Starting Grants

Competition for funding is stiff. Researchers spend a lot of time and effort trying to land the grants they need for their projects. For five of the university’s rising academic stars those concerns have been put on hold for the time being after they secured €1.5 million (DKK 11 million) EU Starting Grants. The five-year grants are awarded by the European Research Council and are aimed at allowing the recipients to focus on promising research.

Five ERC Starting Grants is an incredible result

Thomas Bjørnholm, prorector for research and innovation

The highly competitive Starting Grants are awarded to early career researchers from around the world and can serve as stepping stones to successful academic careers. A total of eight Danes were awarded grants this year.

Meet the rearcherse

De fem forskere, der har fået anerkendelse af Det Europæiske Forskningsråd (ERC) er:

Postdoc Jonathan Z. Shik Postdoc Jonathan Z Shik, Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, for a study of ant fungus-farming.

Marie Pedersen, Department of Public Health, to study the potential health risks of acrylamide.

Jacob Bourjaily, Theoretical Particle Physics and Cosmology, Niels Bohr Institute, to develop methods for analysing the results of particle-physics research.

Hans Christian Steen Larsen, Centre for Ice and Climate, Niels Bohr Institute, for a study of the isotopic fingerprint of ice cores.

Sebastian Marquardt, adjunct professor, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, to study the properties of junk DNA.

“Five ERC Starting Grants is an incredible result. Not only does it reflect the depth of our talent pool, it also shows that it is appreciated in the rest of Europe. This speaks highly of our future,” Thomas Bjørnholm, the prorector for research and innovation, told nyheder.ku.dk.