Seven Portuguese Scientists Awarded ERC Starting Grants

The European Research Council (ERC) announced in September the award of Studentships Starting Grants. The results reveal the recognition of the work of seven more Portuguese researchers, to whom these awards were attributed. Studentships European top research funding institutions. Five are developing research projects in Portugal, two are carrying out research in other European countries and all were FCT scholarship holders or researchers.

The Portuguese winners of the Starting Grants were Ana Patrícia Gonçalves, from the University of Minho, Miguel Cardina, from the Center for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra, Francisco Freire, from the Networked Center for Research in Anthropology (CRIA), Pedro Barquinha, from the Institute of Nanostructures, Nanomodeling and Nanofabrication (CENIMAT/I3N, FCT NOVA), Joaquim Alves Gaspar, from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (FCUL), Beatriz Viçoso, from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria, and Bruno Correia, from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland).

Ana Patrícia Gonçalves develops research in mathematical sciences and her project is entitled “Hydrodynamic Limits and Equilibrium Fluctuations: universality from stochastic systems”. It aims to analyze and characterize the universality of the macroscopic behavior of certain physical systems, using underlying microscopic stochastic processes, the so-called particle systems. The aim of the project is to obtain macroscopic laws, namely partial differential (stochastic) equations, that govern the space-time evolution of the thermodynamic quantities of these systems.

Miguel Cardina is interested in colonialism, anti-colonialism and colonial warfare. His study “Crossed Memories, Politics of Silence: The Colonial-Liberation Wars in Postcolonial Times” has as its main challenge the production of innovative knowledge about the memories of colonial and liberation wars. It will seek to delve deeper into this topic, which has already been addressed previously in a study carried out only in national territory. This Studentship will enable the study to be extended to Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe. The project will help to address a still traumatic past, a consequence of the heavy legacy left by European colonialism.

Francisco Freire , an anthropologist with a particular interest in the study of Islam and Mauritania, proposes an analysis of the reconfigurations established in the political-social vocabulary of the West Saharan region – southern Morocco, West Saharan and Mauritania – from the “post-empire” to the present day. The ERC-approved project is entitled “Critical Approaches to Politics, Social Activism and Islamic Militancy in the Western Saharan Region (Mauritania, Western Sahara, Southern Morocco)”.

Pedro Barquinha , graduated in Materials Engineering from FCT NOVA, where he is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Materials Science, submitted to the Call from ERC the project “TREND – Transparent and flexible electronics with embedded energy harvesting based on oxide nanowire devices”. This project aims to create truly intelligent, information-processing and self-powered flexible and transparent surfaces. In its construction, nanocircuits based on multi-compound oxide nanowires will be used, starting from sustainable and recyclable materials, with low-temperature processing and compatible with large-scale production. Its development will drive innovative products in areas such as consumer electronics or even wearables for medical applications.

Joaquim Alves Gaspar 's research project, entitled “The Medieval and Early Modern Nautical Chart: Birth, Evolution and Use”, proposes to resolve a series of fundamental and open questions in the History of Cartography, using innovative techniques – cartometric analysis, numerical modeling and multispectral analysis of charts –, in addition to traditional methods of historical research. The researcher also hopes to highlight the enormous contribution of the Portuguese to the world's scientific knowledge, at the time of the Discoveries and maritime expansion.

In Vienna, Beatriz Viçoso is interested in understanding various aspects of the biology of sex chromosomes and the evolutionary processes that shape their peculiar characteristics, with her research theme being “Prevalence and influence of sexual antagonism on genome evolution”. Your project will be developed at the Austrian Institute of Science and Technology.

Bruno Correia heads research at a protein design and immunoengineering laboratory in Switzerland. His research project, entitled “Computational Design of Novel Functional Proteins for Immunoengineering”, is a multidisciplinary proposal, where computing is interconnected with experimentation (biochemistry, structural biology and immunology), in which computational design is used in the search for new functional proteins for immunoengineering. The results of this study may have groundbreaking effects in terms of discovering new therapies: vaccines and cancer immunotherapy.

These Studentships Starting Grants, aimed at researchers with 2 to 7 years of post-doctoral experience, were awarded under the “Excellent Science” pillar of Horizon 2020, the European Union (EU) Research and Innovation Programme under the responsibility of Commissioner Carlos Moedas. Portuguese researchers will receive Studentships individuals between 1.1 and 1.6 million euros, totaling almost 10 million euros. In this Call 325 top scientists from across Europe were distinguished, with a total investment of 485 million euros in Studentships of investigation.