ERC GRANTS in FB4

Dr. Cyprien Verseux

Dr. Cyprien Verseux

ERC Starting Grant (2024)

Astrobiologist Dr. Cyprien Verseux from the Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) has been awarded a €1.56 million ERC Starting Grant for his cutting-edge research project. Verseux’s project investigates how cyanobacteria can be used to sustain long-term missions to Mars by providing the crew with a permanent supply of essential resources such as oxygen and food. Verseux and his team at the Laboratory of Applied Space Microbiology (LASM), which he heads, have already demonstrated that some cyanobacteria are able to produce oxygen and biomass from the natural resources on Mars. They will also transfer their findings and the systems they have developed into new approaches and technologies that will serve a more sustainable use of naturally occurring but increasingly scarce resources on Earth.

Prof. Dr. Andreas Fischer

Prof. Dr. Andreas Fischer

ERC Consolidator Grant (2022)

Engineering scientist Andreas Fischer has been awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council. In the research project InOGeM (Indirect Optical Geometry Measurement), Fischer and his research group will work on the fundamentals and potential of a paradigm shift in the non-contact, precise measurement of component geometries. For decades, measuring with light has been a guarantee for speed and precision in production. In fact, immediate information on the production result – i.e. on the manufactured component geometry – is the key to making manufacturing processes more efficient, resource-saving, and sustainable. But the demands on measurement technology are growing because the variety of geometries and materials that can be produced continues to increase. In order to circumvent the limitations of classic optical measurement principles in this respect, Andreas Fischer is conducting research in the ERC project on the measurement of components through the air surrounding them.

Prof. Dr. Lutz Mädler

ERC Advanced Grant (2017)

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded an ERC Advanced Grant to Lutz Mädler, a professor at the University of Bremen and head of the Department of Process Engineering at the Leibniz Institute for Materials Engineering – IWT. The award is endowed with 2.5 million euro. At the heart of this million-plus funding is a goal-oriented project in which new reactor concepts for reactive spraying are being developed. This technology makes it possible to produce customized materials and surfaces like the flexible electronic and catalytic coatings used to measure exhaust fumes, for example. Mädler and his team perform experiments on tiny single droplets hardly larger than the diameter of a hair. 

 

Prof. Dr. Fabio La Mantia

ERC Consolidator Grant (2017)

Better batteries thanks to salt and wind: The research work of Fabio La Mantia is funded by the European Research Council with around two million euro. La Mantia is Professor in the Department of Production Engineering and at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Applied Materials Research (IFAM). La Mantia will use the ERC Consolidator Grant primarily for basic research in ElIonT (Electron and Ion Transfer at the Interface: a Hyphenated Dynamic Multi-Frequency Approach). He wants to investigate how advanced analytical methods, modeling, and precise experimental designs can be combined to better understand the effect of non-ideal particle interaction in the charge-transfer process at the solid-liquid interface. This process is the basis of all electrochemical systems, including fuel cells, electrolyzers and batteries, which are much discussed in the energy transition.

 

Prof. Dr. Ekkard Brinksmeier

ERC Advanced Grant (2010)

Production engineer Professor Ekkard Brinksmeier is allocated 2.3 million euros by the European Research Council (ERC) to finance his research project called "CoolArt – the Art of Cooling". He is leader of the Laboratory for Micromachining (LFM) and Director of the Department of Manufacturing Technology at the University of Bremen’s Institute for Materials Science (IWT). Brinksmeier will use the money to continue his highly successful research on the subject of cooling lubricants.

The "CoolArt" project is embedded in the Institute for Materials Science (IWT).

Kurosch Rezwan

Prof. Dr. Kurosch Rezwan

ERC Starting Grant (2007)

The European Research Council has granted Professor Kurosch Rezwan 1.5 million euros for his research in the area of materials science. His project with the title “Bioceramics: Multiscale Engineering of Advanced Ceramics at the Biology Interface” is evaluated as excellent. Professor Kurosch Rezwan conducts interdisciplinary basic research on the development of innovative new materials for use in the fields of environmental and energy engineering, and medicine.

 

The European Research Council (ERC) regularly awards ERC Grants to leading researchers. These grants are highly regarded in the international scientific community.

  • The ERC Starting Grant is aimed at young, innovative researchers who intend to establish a new research group. The grant usually amounts up to 2.5 million euros. The maximum funding period is five years.
  • The ERC Consolidator Grant is intended for promising young researchers who are at the beginning of an independent research career. The maximum funding is 3 million euros and the maximum funding period is five years.
  • The ERC Advanced Grant is aimed at already established, excellent researchers with an outstanding scientific track record. The funding usually amounts to 3.5 million euros and is granted for a period of five years.
  • The Proof of Concept Grant is a follow-up grant to other ERC Grants. The funding scheme exclusively targets ERC grant holders who want to bring (ongoing or finished) research to a pre-demonstration stage where potential commercialization opportunities have been identified. The grant amounts to up to 150,000 euros over a maximum period of 18 months.
  • ERC Synergy Grants fund teams of two to four promising researchers whose projects are expected to lead to important discoveries and provide substantial breakthroughs in knowledge at the interface of established fields of research. Teams must be comprised of excellent young researchers as well as established active researchers who already have outstanding scientific achievements.