Two Oxford chemists awarded ERC Advanced Grants
Two researchers from the Department of Chemistry are among fourteen researchers at the University of Oxford awarded Advanced Grants from the European Research Council (ERC). Each of these grants is worth up to €2.5 million over a period of five years.
The ERC Advanced Grants competition, part of the EU’s Horizon Europe programme, is one of the most prestigious and competitive funding schemes in the EU. It gives senior researchers the opportunity to pursue ambitious, curiosity-driven projects that could lead to major scientific breakthroughs. A record of 3,329 proposals was submitted to this funding round, with 9.6% of proposals being selected for funding.
Prof Harry Anderson's project will investigate the chemistry and physics of molecular quantum rings: nanostructures that confine electrons to a circular path resulting in unique quantum mechanical behaviour. It will focus on quantum rings with a radius between 1 and 10 nm, which have scarcely been investigated. The core objective is to create molecular materials with unprecedented emergent electronic and magnetic properties and to understand their structure-property relationships.
Prof Anderson said:
I feel excited, and very privileged, to have been awarded five years of flexible funding to pursue the field of research that most interests me, even when its applications are far from clear; as one of the expert reviewers wrote "Interestingly, this project is presented solely as a fundamental investigation without claims of tangible delivery on significant applications – this is a refreshingly honest approach.” I would not have been able to secure this grant without a lot of help from colleagues and collaborators. Special thanks must go to my group for their exciting results and brilliant ideas.
Prof Jason Davis's project seeks to establish foundations for controlling the interactions between nano materials and molecular water, with downstream applications in environmentally responsive imaging, therapy and diagnostics. A central part of this is the design of hybrid inorganic-organic responsive nano materials, including magnetic liposomes and paramagnetic polymers. The aim is to control water movement and displacement and, in so doing, deliver a step change in the generation of environmentally responsive imaging, besides our ability to capture circulating cells and diagnose pre-symptomatic neurodegeneration.
Prof Davis said:
The award is an acknowledgement of preliminary work done by talented people in my group, a number of valuable collaborations and the importance of this form of funding to UK research teams.
President of the European Research Council, Professor Maria Leptin, said:
The new Advanced Grant projects demonstrate the creativity, ambition and intellectual boldness that frontier research requires. The ERC’s role is to support researchers who are asking difficult scientific questions and want to venture into unexplored territory in pursuit of new knowledge. Congratulations to all our new grantees.
Read more about the other Oxford recipients here.
