Portugal reaches €109 million in funding from the European Research Council

On December 3, theEuropean Research Council (ERC ) announced the 328 projects selected in Call ERC Consolidator Grant 2024 Call , which aims to fund researchers who are in the process of consolidating their research teams. This list includes three projects by researchers conducting their research in Portugal, with funding totaling €6 million (€2 million per project).

With these results, research carried out at institutions belonging to the National Science and Technology System (SNCT) has reached €109 million in funding through Calls running at national institutions since the start of Horizon Europe (2021), the European framework program for research and innovation funding for the period 2021-2027.

The winners of the Consolidator Grant 2024 to conduct research in Portugal are:

• Rui Domingues, 3Bs/University of Minho, with the FORTIFy project “Gating cell force sensors with tailor-made nanoswitches to restore tendon tissuefunction";
• Clara Pereira, REQUIMTE/LAQV/University of Porto, with the SelfEnergyDriver project , “3-in-1 Self-Powered Hybrid Energy-Driven Wearable Technologies: Unifying Energy Harvesting andStorage";
• Tomos Proffitt, ICArEHB/University of Algarve, with the WRAP project, “Western Rift Archaeology and Palaeoenvironment Project".

Results of the Portuguese Diaspora

There are also three projects led by three Portuguese researchers working abroad, with total funding of €6.3 million:

• Duarte Figueiredo, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, with the NoSexSeed project, “Engineering pollen-independent seed and fruit production incrops";
• Carlos Mota, Maastricht University, with the NEPHRON project,“Nurturing Environment – BioPrinting Human Renal OrganNetworks”;
• Jorge Fernandes, Institute for Public Goods and Policies/CSIC Madrid, with the SEE project,“Seeing and Being Seen: Representation in Proportional Systems.”

The FCT coordinates national representation and participation in the European Research Council and, as announced at the 1st ERC Portugal Meeting, has been developing a set of programs covering the various cycles of national participation in Calls . Of particular note are ERC-PT , ERC-PT , and ERC-PT .

2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the European Union Framework Program, the largest instrument for promoting European research, development, and innovation, and a beacon for international scientific cooperation.