These newly awarded grants will enable researchers at CRG, ICFO, ICIQ and IBEC to pursue transformative, high-risk/high-reward projects with the potential for significant societal impact.
Together, the six grants underscore the ability of BIST Community centres to attract outstanding young international talent and to provide them with the support and environment needed to carry out cutting-edge research.
Today, the European Research Council (ERC) announced the recipients of its latest Starting Grants call. Out of nearly 4,000 submitted proposals, just over 12% were selected, among them six projects led by researchers from the BIST Community.
Being one of Europe’s most competitive and respected funding opportunities for exceptional early-career researchers, the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant means a major turning point in the careers of early-stage researchers. With a substantial budget over 5 years, it gives the awardees the freedom to secure scientific stability for a long period of time and pursue high-risk, high-reward research of their choice. The work of these six BIST Community researchers covers a wide range of fields, from the quantum behaviour of two-dimensional materials to cellular biology and innovative approaches to solar energy conversion.
The six new ERC Starting Grant awardees from the BIST Community: Dr Carla Casadevall (ICIQ), Dr Markus Höpfler (CRG), Dr Nicoletta Liguori (ICFO), Dr Hsiu-Chuan Lin (CRG), Dr Carlos Moreno Yruela (IBEC), and Dr Carmen Rubio-Verdú (ICFO) (from left to right, top to bottom).
Dr. Carla Casadevall (ICIQ, URV) – Innovative solar energy conversion strategies
Dr. Carla Casadevall is a Ramón y Cajal Assistant Professor at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and a Junior Group Leader at ICIQ. Through the BIOPOLE project, she aims to develop a new technology to enhance the efficiency of artificial photosynthesis — a promising strategy which, by mimicking plant photosynthesis, captures CO₂ from the atmosphere and transforms it into chemical compounds that can be used as fuels.
“Cells have different reactors separated by membranes that define spaces with specific conditions to perform a particular function; we want to mimic this in a completely artificial way using polymeric membranes,” explains Dr. Casadevall.
Dr Markus Höpfler (CRG) – Understanding how cells “delete” mRNA messages
Dr Markus Höpfler launched his own research group at the CRG earlier this year. With his DECODE-PMD project, he will investigate a built-in safety mechanism in cells whereby incomplete proteins can trigger the destruction of their own mRNA — a process known as peptide-mediated mRNA decay (PMD).
“Our cells can press ‘delete’ on a message mid-sentence if the product looks incorrect or if there is simply too much of it. We want to understand precisely how this safety check operates and how it may influence disease,” says Dr Markus Höpfler.
Dr. Nicoletta Liguori (ICFO) – Understanding how plants thrive under natural sunlight
Dr. Nicoletta Liguori joined ICFO at the end of 2022 as a promising early-careerr researcher to start her own research group. Now, the ERC awarded MARIONETTE project (funded with almost 2.2M€ between the project core funding and top-up funding to purchase equipment, and highlighted in the ERC’s newspiece) she and her team will aim to understand how plants regulate light harvesting at the nanoscale, to perform photosynthesis safely under the sun, and protect themselves from photodamage by tuning the molecular environment and structure of single photosynthetic proteins.
As part of the Clean Planet Program at ICFO, the project’s direct impact will be mainly in fundamental science, and potentially, in a very long run, the knowledge generated may be used to increase the efficiency in the plants’ utilization of solar energy.
Dr. Hsiu-Chuan Lin (CRG) – Programming stem cells into exact, mature neuron and glial types
Dr. Hsiu-Chuan Lin is a La Caixa Junior Leader Fellow who joined the CRG earlier this year. With the DECIPHER project, Dr. Lin will decode gene regulatory networks that define cell identity, then use that knowledge to convert induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) directly into precise neuron and glial subtypes.
“The idea is to build a map of gene networks which can be used as a practical instruction manual. If we can reliably make the right mature brain cells on demand, we can transform disease research and accelerate cell-based therapies,” says Dr. Hsiu-Chuan Lin.
Dr. Carlos Moreno Yruela (IBEC) – Studying enzimes that “erase” chemical modifications in proteins
Dr. Carlos Moreno Yruela is currently a researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, and will join IBEC in the near future. His project CHEMTUBIO will study the chemistry of enzymes that erase microtubule modifications. These enzymes are essential for the functioning of our cells and have shown great promise as potential therapeutic targets for treating cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders. The team will develop in situ sensors and chemical probes to elucidate how these enzymes generate chemical patterns and open up new avenues for therapy.
Dr. Carmen Rubio-Verdú (ICFO) – Uncovering the fundamental physics of 2D materials
Dr. Carmen Rubio-Verdú joined ICFO at the end of 2023 as a junior group leader. With the STMoiré project (funded with ~2.5M€ between the project’s core funding and top-up funding to purchase equipment) she and her team will try to uncover the mechanisms behind the unusual behavior of twisted 2D materials such as twisted bilayer graphene, which exhibit exotic properties like unconventional superconductivity. Their ultimate goal is to discover, if possible, a new, never-before-seen form of superconductivity. The findings are expected to provide useful insights for further exploration in the field of material science, quantum technologies, photonics and optoelectronics, among others.
“This grant is a great opportunity for my group to really carry out cutting-edge research and work to discover new phases that emerge in 2D materials, either in individual layers or twisted layers,” explains Rubio-Verdú.
Source news:
CRG receives two new ERC Starting Grants
CHEMTUBIO, a new ERC project at IBEC to study enzymes with therapeutic potential
Dr Carla Casadevall awarded ERC Starting Grant for BIOPOLE project
