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Bristol celebrates ten years of the ERC

Press release issued: 15 March 2017

It may not be immediately apparent what volcanoes, artificial intelligence and the Arctic all have in common. Yet they are all subjects of ground-breaking University of Bristol research which was celebrated this week at an event to commemorate 10 years of the European Research Council.

Since the ERC formed in 2007, over 50 University of Bristol researchers have received funding – one of the highest investments in the UK.

The University of Bristol hosted an event at the Wills Memorial Building, one of many Europe-wide celebrations happening this week to showcase ERC-funded research of the past ten years.

Several ERC grant recipients were at the event to share the findings of their research, including Steve Sparks CBE, celebrated volcanologist whose work in the field enabled improved forecasting for early warning; Nello Christianini whose work in artificial intelligence (AI) has included the study of nearly one billion tweets; and Kate Hendry, whose seeks to understand how natural resources in the Arctic will respond in future to climate change.

Pro-Vice Chancellor for research, Professor Nishan Canagarajah, said:

"The European Research Council has driven frontier research here in the UK and Europe over the past ten years.

"Thanks to the ERC, researchers here at the University of Bristol have been able to pursue pioneering projects in fields as diverse as climate science, artificial intelligence and volcanology.

"I think I can speak on behalf of the UK research community when I say the ERC has helped make the UK and Europe a global centre of excellence for research."

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