Our success rate was 26%, double the European average. With these new grants, Ghent University has passed the milestone of 100 ERC grantees, including the ERC projects of our researchers associated with VIB and IMEC. received in total 108 researchers ERC funding since its inception in 2007. For the past 15 years, Ghent University has won 143 ERC projectsfrom what 120 main grantseach with a budget between 1.5 and 2.5 million euros. 23 projects are Proof-of-Concept projects, follow-up projects on a main grant, each worth 150,000 euros.
Excellence in research
Ghent University is a breeding ground for research talent. The research strategy of all faculties and the central administration are designed to stimulate excellence in research. The expanded central EU team can now provide more tailored training and support to all applicants under the Ghent University Funding Academy. ERC winners are happy to help new applicants by sharing their experiences and challenging them to think outside the box.
“At Ghent University, we nurture talent and support our researchers as much as possible to conduct groundbreaking research. This has led to an increasing number of acquisitions [MB1] of external funding, including from ERC. We are very proud of all these talented researchers.” (Professor Ignace Lemahieu, Director of Research)
Research at European and global level
A recent study, Mapping Frontier Research, by the ERC and its Executive Agency, shows that research funded by ERC is highly relevant to science and society. Professor Dirk Inzé, director of the Center for Plant Systems Biology at VIB, professor at Ghent University and two-time ERC grantee, chaired this study as a member of the ERC Scientific Council.
“The ERC funds research-driven frontier studies across all disciplines of science. An in-depth analysis of more than 6700 funded projects between 2014 and 2021 shows a wealth of topics and highlights synergies across disciplines. The study also demonstrated the major contribution of ERC projects tackling European and global challenges, often by providing innovative solutions. Congratulations to all ERC beneficiaries of Ghent University for their commitment to groundbreaking top research.” (Professor Dirk Inzé)
Meet the grantees
The 100th researcher to receive an ERC grant at Ghent University is Prof. Emilie Caspar, associate professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences. You can read more about her brain research in Rwanda here.
Below you can also briefly get acquainted with all our 2022 grantees and their research. Ghent University will also organize a festive gathering in the spring of 2023 to which all ERC beneficiaries will be invited.
DISOBEY – Emilie Caspar
The core objective of this project is to uncover the neuro-cognitive mechanisms of disobedience. Why do some people obey immoral commands in a given situation and others don’t? With DISOBEY, Emilie wants to solve this fundamental question by using a neuroscientific approach. She tests civilians, soldiers, but also former genocide perpetrators and rescue workers in Rwanda using Magnetic Resonance Imagery.
SIESS – Nick Bultinck
In the SIESS project, Nick focuses on the quantum mechanical behavior of a recently discovered family of materials that are superconducting at high temperatures and are almost perfectly two-dimensional (only a few atoms thick). The aim of the SIESS project is to develop theoretical models and numerical simulations to explain the experimentally observed properties of these enigmatic materials.
MiCoS – Caroline De Tender
Until now, little or no information is available about the distribution of plastic in European (agricultural) soils. With the project MiCoS, Caroline wants to understand how the current level of microplastic pollution affects the health of soil and plants. She is researching whether plastic-degrading micro-organisms can be used to reduce the introduction and accumulation of plastic.
HYBRIPEST – Nicky Wybouw
Mating with the wrong partner can lead to sterile or non-viable offspring. These defects are controlled by both its own genome and that of bacterial symbionts such as Wolbachia. Incompatible mating is a strong isolation barrier that drives speciation and is also implemented in pesticide-free pest management. HYBRIPEST unravels the primary molecular genetic mechanisms, and their interactions, that shape hybrid defects within a single system of closely related mite species.
NOMISS – Pieter Geiregat
Wearable optoelectronic devices such as smartphones, laptops, smartwatches and the like are based on the interaction of short-wavelength radiation, ie visible light, with matter. However, the use of longer wavelengths offers enormous possibilities, for example to quantify molecules in chemical sensors, to detect glucose in blood samples or to measure greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Unfortunately, the devices used for these studies are very expensive, bulky and often composed of limited chemical elements (Hg, Pb, …). Within the NOMISS project, Pieter will therefore explore a route to cheap, safe and flexible infrared optoelectronics.
VIOLENCE WORK – Gillian Mathys
VIOLENCE WORK studies daily violence in former Belgian Central Africa: Burundi, Congo and Rwanda (19th-20th century). This project combines hitherto neglected source material and a new conceptual starting point – work(s) of violence – to emphasize everyday violence practices that are crucial to the creation and maintenance of a colonial state. The main innovation of the project is that violence work was not carried out exclusively by formal violence workers – men in uniform – but rather by a range of actors (colonizer and colonized) inside and outside the state. This study of everyday colonial violence will provide the basis for further research into how colonial legacies persist and interact with local and emerging repertoires of violence, and will help debunk persistent colonial myths about these regions and their inhabitants as inherently violent.
DYE-LIGHT – Felix Sauvage
Eye diseases affect the quality of life of millions of patients. Despite improvements in pharmacological treatments, the arsenal of drugs for the treatment of serious eye diseases today remains quite limited to traditional medicines. DYE-LIGHT argues that strategies that allow the use of PLs in the eye at much lower energy than today could significantly improve safety and pave the way for both new ocular therapies and advanced surgical procedures. DYE-LIGHT will investigate vital dyes, such as those used by eye surgeons to stain tissues, as photosensitizers. If successful, this could open new perspectives to improve the effectiveness of drug and gene delivery to the retina.
LASIQ – Kasper Van Gasse
In LASIQ, Kasper will for the first time develop an on-chip titanium-sapphire mode-locked laser capable of generating low-noise optical frequency combs in the 650-1100 nm wavelength range. Optical frequency comb generators are light sources capable of generating a spectrum of millions of equally spaced laser lines. Such light sources make it possible to convert optical frequencies (THz) into the microwave domain (GHz). That would enable precision laser spectroscopy and the construction of optical atomic clocks.
CATTLEFRONTIERS – Samuel Coghe
This project investigates the changes in cattle farming in South and Central Africa during the colonial and early post-colonial period (1890s – 1970s). During this period, (post)colonial governments, scientists, entrepreneurs and settlers attempted a wide range of interventions to overcome the perceived uneconomic attitude of African pastoralists and to turn cattle into a profitable commodity. CATTLEFRONTIERS breaks new ground with the first history of these transformation processes from hoof to table, for multiple colonial empires and over a long period of time. The project applies the concept of ‘commodity frontiers’, from the global history of capitalism, to African bovine economies.
AFireTest – Ruben Van Coile
Within AFireTest, Ruben and his research team want to develop the necessary methods and instruments for a scientifically based approach to fire testing and fire safety in the built environment. A concept of ‘Adaptive Fire Testing’ will be developed whereby fire tests are adapted to the specific characteristics of the building product and its application, providing a detailed insight into the fire performance.
About the ERC
Founded in 2007 by the European Union, the ERC is the leading European funding organization for excellent frontier research. It funds creative researchers of all nationalities and ages for projects across Europe. The ERC offers four core grant schemes: Starting Grants, Consolidator Grants, Advanced Grants and Synergy Grants. With its Proof of Concept supplementary grant scheme, the ERC helps fellows bridge the gap between their groundbreaking research and the early stages of its commercialization.
Researchers inside and outside Ghent University who want to apply for an ERC Starting Grant with our university as a host institution can contact the EU team for advice and support.
