ERC awards 8.3 million euros to scientists in Portugal

The European Research Council (ERC) announced today that it has awarded 397 Studentships worth 619 million euros to early-stage scientists (ERC Starting Grants). In this Call the applications of five scientists who will develop their ambitious projects in Portugal, in various areas of knowledge, were selected for funding, with a total volume of funding of around 8.3 million euros.

The results announced are provisional, with several candidates still on the reserve list and a final decision expected soon. So far, 22 Member States of the European Union and Associated Countries have seen national applications approved under this Call funding from the Horizon Europe program.

The projects of the five scientists who will be carrying out their research in Portuguese R&D institutions cover very different themes/areas: Manuel Souto, University of Aveiro, chemistry and materials; Sérgio Rosa Domingos, University of Coimbra, chemistry-physics and molecular machines; Susana Soares, LAQV/REQUIMTE, University of Porto, food biotechnology; Yonatan Gez, ISCTE - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, socio-anthropology of development with a focus on East Africa: and Vera Aldeias, University of Algarve, study of the human past and archaeology. The ERC Starting Grant Calls began in 2007 and Portugal has already been awarded more than half a hundred Studentships .

This was the first ERC Starting Grants Call launched under Horizon Europe for the 2021-2027 period. This Studentship for early-career scientists funds 5-year research projects with an average funding value of 1.5 million euros, so that these young scientists can set up their research teams and develop their best ideas in all areas of knowledge. In this Call, which opened in 2021, more than 4,000 proposals were submitted, representing an increase of 24% compared to the 2020 Call . In this area, Portugal reached a new high in terms of proposals submitted (2.8% of the total vs. 2.5% in 2014), an increase of around 56% compared to the number of proposals submitted in the 2020 Call . It should be noted that 51% of Portugal's proposals are led by women (versus 40% of all submitted applications).

According to ERC data, on average, each ERC project generates employment for more than 5 people, from researchers to science managers, PhD students or technicians, and represents international recognition of the research carried out and an important milestone in the scientific independence of these early career scientists.

The Foundation for Science and Technology, which is part of the PERIN network (Portugal in Europe Research and Innovation Network) and coordinates the promotion of ERC activities, will continue to be committed to raising the levels of national participation in ERC Calls , in all its different types, in order to increase the national success rate in this important Horizon Europe instrument.

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