Portuguese science adds up: ERC Advanced Grants guarantee another 4.35 M€

Scientists Rui Reis and Adélio Mendes have been awarded the prestigious Studentships Advanced Grants by the European Research Council(ERC), winning global funding of 4.35 million euros for their projects.

President of the Associate Laboratory ICVS/3B's at the University of Minho, Rui Reis, 45, will use the 2.35 million euros he has been awarded to create methods to evaluate the complex interaction between stem cells and materials. This is a project in the field of tissue engineering (regenerative medicine).

Adélio Mendes, 48, from the Laboratory of Process, Environmental and Energy Engineering (LEPAE) at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, is studying ways to make so-called dye-sensitized solar cells, an alternative form of photovoltaic cells, more competitive. The funding of two million euros now obtained could lead to the widespread use, within 10 years, of an affordable and aesthetic photovoltaic technology, which transforms sunlight into electricity by halving the energy bill.

The two researchers now awarded ERC Studentships bring to 11 the number of Portuguese scientists whose projects have received this important funding in 2012 (four Advanced Grants, seven Starting Grants). This figure makes the current year the most significant ever in terms of ERC funding secured by Portuguese science.