The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the results of its latest Starting Grant competition, awarding a total of €705 million to 421 early-career researchers across Europe. The grants support researchers at a pivotal stage of their careers, helping them develop ambitious ideas, establish their independence and build their own research teams.
Twelve researchers from EUTOPIA partner universities have been selected for funding in this year’s competition, highlighting the strength and diversity of research across the alliance. EUTOPIA congratulates all the awardees and their host institutions on this achievement.
- Aurélie BELLEMANS — Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
- Project Title: Energising the future with clean plasma-based technologies
- Christina BEZARI — Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
- Project Title: Mediterranean Shores and Women’s Networks: Translation, Print Culture and Decolonial Thought in Southern Europe and the Maghreb (1912–1995)
- Andreas BLOMMAERT — Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
- Project Title: Gravity without boundaries – a cosmological hologram
- Nel DE MÛELENAERE — Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
- Project Title: Creativity and Domestic Care as Civilian Resistance in Occupied Europe, 1939-1945
- Pablo MARIN-PALOMO — Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
- Project Title: Dynamics of Coupled Lasers: All-Optical Scalable Path for Programmable On-Chip Frequency Comb Sources
- Kai Markus SCHNEIDER — Technische Universität Dresden (TUD)
- Project Title: Decoding Neural Circuits in Cholangiocarcinoma
- Lutz SAGER — ESSEC Business School
- Project Title: A new Framework for Local Economic Growth without Environmental Destruction
- Nikita MELNIKOV — NOVA University Lisbon
- Project Title: Gang Crackdowns: Labour Mobility, Development, and Discrimination in Post-Gang El Salvador
- Razvan JURCHIS — Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB)
- Project Title: Hidden in Plain Sight: The Genesis of Conscious Experience from Statistical Regularities
- Daniel ZULETA — University of Gothenburg (GU)
- Project Title: Beyond mortality: redefining forest biomass dynamics through structural damage and recovery
- Naomi MUGGLETON — University of Warwick (UW)
- Project Title: Economic Conditions and Health Outcomes: How Economi Pressure Changes Behaviour and Health
- Adam WRIGHT — University of Warwick (UW)
- Project Title: Clarifying Polariton Chemistry Using the Gas Phase
The ERC Starting Grants support researchers across a broad spectrum of disciplines, from life sciences and engineering to social sciences and humanities. A Starting Grant provides up to €1.5 million over a maximum period of five years, with additional funding available for eligible costs such as major research equipment, access to large-scale facilities, and costly experimental or fieldwork.
The 2026 competition attracted a record 4,807 proposals, representing a 22% increase compared with last year’s call. Only 8.8% of proposals were selected for funding, underlining the highly competitive nature of the scheme.
The successful researchers will carry out their projects at universities and research centres in 25 EU Member States and associated countries. The ERC estimates that the new grants will create more than 2,700 jobs within the teams of the successful researchers.
