ERC awards a further €15 million to Portuguese research

The European Research Council (ERC) announced today (March 17) the projects selected for Consolidator Grants, Studentships researchers with 7 to 12 years of experience, including 5 projects by researchers working in Portugal. Each will be funded with around €2 million, totaling €10 million. The ERC also announced the award of funding to three other Portuguese projects, which were on the reserve list for Starting Grants, which will receive €4.9 million in total.

Of the Portuguese projects selected for Consolidator Grants, four are in the field of social sciences and humanities and one is in the field of exact sciences and engineering. The first group includes the following projects: “Food circuits: hidden links between migrants and societies,” by Frederico Fiuza, from the Association of the Instituto Superior Técnico for Research and Development; “Food circuits: hidden links between migrants and societies,” by Seth Holmes, from the Institute of Social Sciences (University of Lisbon); "Queer citizenship over time: aging, ageism, and age-related LGBTI+ policies in Europe," by Ana Cristina Santos, from the Center for Social Studies (University of Coimbra); and "Fishing architecture: the ecological continuum between buildings and fish species," by André Tavares, from the University of Porto. The project in the field of exact sciences is led by João Cascalheira, from the University of Algarve, and is entitled “Population trajectories and cultural dynamics of late Neanderthals in the far west of Eurasia.”

In January, the ERC announced the results of the Starting Grants, the Studentships early-career scientists, which included five Portuguese projects, now joined by three other projects from the reserve list. Of these new projects, two focus on the field of evolutionary and developmental biology, specifically the one led by Inês Fragata, from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, with the project "Feedback between population dynamics and the evolution of interactions in a tritrophic system," and the one led by Waldan Kwong, from the Gulbenkian Institute of Science, with the project "Genetic factors that enable microbiome symbiosis: bees as a natural model system." The third project, led by Alex Armand, from the New University of Lisbon, is entitled "The global impact of coastal water contamination on economic development." Portugal has therefore received a total of around €13 million in funding under the Starting Grants program, marking a record of eight projects selected for this type of Studentship in a single Call.

In February, the ERC also awarded four Portuguese projects with Proof of Concept Grants, which Studentships at projects previously funded by the ERC that seek to explore the commercial and social potential of research beyond research itself, with total funding of €600,000.

To date, Portuguese research has already secured around €24 million in funding Calls European Research Council (ERC) Calls since the beginning of the year, under Horizon Europe (2021-2027), the European framework program for research and innovation funding that succeeds Horizon 2020.

Summaries of selected projects

Consolidator Grants

Frederico Fiuza
Association of the Instituto Superior Técnico for Research and Development
“Extreme particle acceleration in collisions: from the laboratory to astrophysics”

In space, shock waves occurring between supersonic plasmas give rise to the most powerful particle accelerators in the universe. Recent astronomical observations have revealed the nature and importance of phenomena associated with shock waves in plasmas in the Universe, such as the acceleration of cosmic rays in supernova remnants, the light emitted in neutron star collisions, and the jets fired by massive black holes. However, until now, it has not been possible to understand the physical principles governing particle acceleration during astrophysical shocks. This project aims to explore and understand the scientific questions related to this topic, using computer simulations and machine learning techniques, followed by laboratory experiments.

Seth Holmes
Institute of Social Sciences (University of Lisbon)
“Food circuits: hidden connections between migrants and societies”

Most fruits and vegetables would not be available in European markets without the work of migrant workers. However, the contribution of migrants to food systems is generally hidden from those who buy and consume food. This project considers the cases of asparagus from Germany, oranges from Spain, and strawberries from California to study the links between migrants and societies, as well as the ways in which these links become invisible.

Ana Cristina Santos
Center for Social Studies (University of Coimbra)
“Queer citizenship over time: aging, ageism, and age-related LGBTI+ policies in Europe”

Sexual and gender diversity are constitutive elements of democratic societies that have been targeted by far-right populism and other anti-democratic forces. Taking queer citizenship as a set of criteria by which democracies can be evaluated, this project explores the extent to which the EU has influenced local politics and socio-legal advances in LGBTI+ rights, narratives, and experiences over time.

André Tavares
University of Porto
“Fishing architecture: the ecological continuum between buildings and fish species”

To what extent can fish produce architecture? This project proposes to trace a socio-ecological history of North Atlantic architecture related to fishing, elucidating the relationships between marine environments and terrestrial landscapes, assessing the ecological impact of fishing constructions and the natural resources on which they depend.

João Cascalheira
University of Algarve
“Population trajectories and cultural dynamics of late Neanderthals in the far west of Eurasia”

The Iberian Peninsula, due to its geographical position and the role of its southern regions as one of the last refuges of Neanderthals, represents an ideal natural setting for testing models of cultural and demographic trajectories leading to the definitive disappearance of these populations. This project seeks to expand this framework by implementing a new approach to archaeological and paleoenvironmental records associated with late Neanderthals in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula.

Starting Grants

Waldan Kwong
Gulbenkian Institute of Science
“Genetic factors enabling microbiome symbiosis: bees as a natural model system”

The gut microbiome is essential for the well-being of many animals, including humans and bees. However, the genetic factors that give rise to stable and healthy microbiomes are still poorly understood. Because of the complexity of most gut microbiomes, previous work in this field has been limited to fairly simplified in vitro studies. In contrast, the central objective of this project is a systematic analysis of microbial interaction mechanisms at the molecular and ecological levels. Unlike other systems, we can cultivate all members of the gut microbiome of bees, and we have also recently developed genetic tools for its manipulation. The work aims to contribute to the identification of general principles of microbiome composition and function, which has broad implications in fields where microbiomes play important roles, including agriculture, medicine, and biotechnology.

Inês Fragata Almeida
Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon
“Feedback between population dynamics and the evolution of interactions in a tri-trophic system”

This project proposes an in-depth analysis of the eco-evolutionary process, combining experimental studies of evolution and theoretical modeling of a tri-trophic system composed of plants (Arabidopsis thaliana), herbivores (Tetranychus urticae), and predators (Amblyseius swirskii). The long-term goal is to develop statistical and theoretical tools to generate predictions about how a wide range of ecosystems persist in a rapidly changing world.

Alex Armand
Universidade Nova de Lisboa
“The global impact of coastal water contamination on economic development”

Around the world, the ocean supports the livelihoods of more than 3 billion people, the vast majority of whom live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Recent evidence shows that human contamination of coastal waters is having a significant impact on marine life. The project will identify, across all these countries, the exogenous variation in coastal water contamination, determined by pollutant discharges into rivers and climate change over the last five decades, by gathering a wide range of microdata, from household surveys to satellite images, and applying advanced microeconometric techniques.