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

On December 3, theEuropean Research Council ( ERC) announced the 328 projects selected for the Call ERC Consolidator Grant 2024, which aims to fund researchers who are in the process of consolidating their research teams. On this list, there are three projects by researchers carrying out their research in Portugal, with funding amounting to six million euros (two million euros per project).

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

The winners of the Consolidator Grant 2024 to carry out 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 tissue function“;
  • Clara Pereira, REQUIMTE/LAQV/University of Porto, with the SelfEnergyDriver project, “3-in-1 Self-Powered Hybrid Energy-Driven Wearable Technologies: Unifying Energy Harvesting and Storage“;
  • Tomos Proffitt, ICArEHB/University of Algarve, with the WRAP project, “Western Rift Archaeology and Palaeoenvironment Project“.

Results from the Portuguese Diaspora

There are also three projects led by three Portuguese researchers working abroad, totaling 6.3 million euros in funding:

  • Duarte Figueiredo, Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, with the NoSexSeed project, “Engineering pollen-independent seed and fruit production in crops“;
  • Carlos Mota, Maastricht University, with the NEPHRON project, “Nurturing Environment – BioPrinting Human Renal Organ Networks“;
  • Jorge Fernandes, Instituto de Políticas e Bens Públicos/CSIC Madrid, with the SEE project, “Seeing and Being Seen: Representation in Proportional Systems“.

FCT coordinates national representation and participation in the European Research Council and, as announced at the 1st ERC Portugal Meeting, has been developing a series of programs covering the various cycles of national participation in the ERC’s Calls . These include ERC-PT Pre-Assessment, ERC-PT A-Projects and ERC-PT Careers.

 

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