Plant and insect symbionts
Aileen Berasategui Lopez receives the Grant to investigate plant and insect symbionts: an organism that is closely associated with another organism. Plant diseases are a significant challenge in agriculture, leading to over 188 billion euros in annual losses. These diseases are frequently transmitted by herbivorous insects. Evolutionary theory predicts that natural selection should enhance the fitness of these insect vectors to increase disease transmission to uninfected plants. Consequently, a microbe may exhibit pathogenicity in one host (the plant) while acting as a mutualist – engaging in a beneficial interaction – in another host (the insect).
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Regulation of protein production in neurons
Max Koppers received a Starting Grant for his research on the regulation of protein production in neurons. Neurons are elongated cells with many branches that need to last a lifetime. It seems like an almost impossible task to supply all these distant locations within a neuron with the necessary proteins to stay healthy. Koppers will investigate how specific mRNAs are sent to all parts of neurons to enable local protein production and ensure that proteins are produced in the right place and time. These mRNAs are transported to specific locations within neurons, but we still don't fully understand how this happens. This mRNA transport and local protein production are crucial for the development and functioning of the brain.
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Unraveling the history of ocean plateaus and their impact on the environment
Lawrence Percival will research oceanic plateaus and how they have impacted Earth’s climate, environment and carbon cycle throughout our planet’s history. Exploring earth's ancient sedimentary record for long-lost oceanic plateaus opens a new frontier in understanding volcanic phenomena and their impact on the Earth's surface. Discovering that such plateaus existed during a time for which we know almost nothing about Earth’s oceans would provide a new glimpse into our planet’s history, and the links between its deep interior and the surface environment inhabited by life.
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How does the brain reads?
Joshua Snell researches how the brain reads. Understanding how the brain reads has been a puzzle for scientists for more than 150 years. ‘Reading is a complex skill that involves many different cognitive processes, such as attention, memory and language processing,’ says Snell. ‘To really understand reading, we need to connect these processes.’ His research is primarily focused on visual language processing, that is, reading.
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ERC Starting Grants
The ERC has awarded a total of 494 Starting Grants to support young European scientists in their research. The funding—amounting to nearly €780 million—supports groundbreaking research across a wide range of disciplines, from life sciences and physics to social sciences and humanities. It helps early-career researchers launch their own projects, form their teams, and pursue their most promising ideas. More information can be found in the ERC's press release.