Employee in medical technology or pharmacy

In Germany, THE LÄND is at the forefront of research

The most ERC Advanced Grants in Germany go to Baden-Württemberg: the funding for experienced researchers is endowed with up to 2.5 million euros each.

Great success for Baden-Württemberg scientists: A total of 11 ERC Advanced Grants have been awarded to excellent researchers from the Universities of Heidelberg (5 grants), Stuttgart (2 grants) and Konstanz. Furthermore, Baden-Württemberg researchers from the Institute of Solar Physics (KIS), the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft and the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft have been selected for funding from the European Research Council (ERC). In a highly competitive process, scientists who are already established and leading in their field of research have prevailed. The grantees will receive funding of up to 2.5 million euros over five years for their ambitious research projects. This may be supplemented by funding for research infrastructure or other expenses.

The ERC Advanced Grant funding instrument is endowed with a total of 721 million euros. Internationally renowned reviewers have selected 281 applications for ERC Advanced Grants from over 2500 submissions. Experienced researchers working at a research institution in the European Union or in an associated country are eligible to apply. Selected researchers can apply for additional funding via the ERC's External Proof of Concept calls.

 

The ERC-funded projects from Baden-Württemberg at a glance

Projects in Physics & Astronomy

  • ‘Electron Capture in Ho-163 - Large Experiment’ (ECHo-LE): The aim of the research is to determine the mass scale of neutrinos. These are the lightest elementary particles in the standard model of particle physics (Prof Dr Loredana Gastaldo, University of Heidelberg).
  • ‘Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in the Era of Gravitational-Wave Astronomy’ (IMblack): With the help of ERC funding totalling almost 2.5 million euros, the formation of black holes 100 to 10,000 times the mass of the sun is being investigated (Prof Dr Michela Mapelli, University of Heidelberg).
  • ‘Probabilistic Photonic Computing’ (PICNIC): Hybrid photonic integrated circuits are being developed that utilise physical randomness for ultra-fast computing, thus enabling optical computers with unprecedented computing power (Prof Dr Wolfram Pernice, University of Heidelberg).
  • ‘Ultrafast All-Electron Microscopy’ (ULMI): In this research project, new types of electron microscopes are being developed to enable research into previously unobservable, ultra-fast processes at the atomic level (Prof Dr Peter Baum, University of Konstanz)
  • ‘New Paradigm of Stellar Convection’ (NEOCON): With the help of ERC funding, realistic models of stars are to be created - based on a model of subgrid scaling inspired by solar observations (Dr Petri Käpylä, Institute for Solar Physics (KIS)).
  •  ‘Galaxy Centres: Understanding Star Formation in Extreme Environments’ (eCMZs): Star formation in extreme environments is being researched (Dr Eva Schinnerer, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy).

Projects in Biosciences & Medicine

  • ‘Surveillance of Translation: From Molecular Mechanisms to Roles in Disease’ (SuTra): The molecular biologist has discovered ‘ribosome-associated quality control’ (RQC) and will now investigate the extent to which RQC defects cause neuronal dysfunction - with the aim of developing new therapies (Prof Dr Claudio Joazeiro, University of Heidelberg).

Projects in Chemistry & Materials Science

  • ‘Scalable and Sustainable Sorting and Processing of Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes as Functional Materials’ (SCALE-NT): The aim of the research is to make the purification and processing of semiconducting carbon nanotubes more environmentally friendly - using biocompatible and biodegradable materials such as cellulose (Prof. Dr Jana Zaumseil, University of Heidelberg).
  • ‘Engineered DNA Moiré Superlattices’ (DMoS): Developing novel moiré materials using DNA nanotechnology to achieve scientific advances in the fields of spintronics and nanophotonics (Prof. Dr Laura Na Liu, University of Stuttgart).
  • ‘Meta-Learned Machine-Learning Interatomic Potentials for Ab initio Engineering of Chemical and Microstructural Complexity’ (META-LEARN): The combination of quantum mechanics-based methods and concepts from machine learning should result in optimised simulation methods for material design (Prof. Dr Blazej Grabowski, University of Stuttgart).
  • ‘Constructing the continuum-physics core of a digital twin for tribological contacts under boundary and mixed lubrication conditions’ (LubeTwin): The research project is developing a digital twin for lubricated friction contacts. The aim is to make machines more energy-efficient (Prof. Dr Michael Moseler, Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials).

Source: Press release of the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts (only in German)

 

Back