The ERC’s Starting Grants support exceptional researchers, between two and seven years from PhD completion, to become fully independent research leaders.
They are particularly intended to enable the researcher to create or strengthen their own research team or programme. The grants are awarded under the 'excellent science' pillar of Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation programme.
University of Bristol recipients of the ERC Starting Grants are:
- Dr Bryan Byzdek in the School of Chemistry awarded €2.315M for his project entitled ‘Comprehensive Investigations of Aerosol Droplet Surfaces and Their Climate Impacts – AeroSurf’
- Dr Alastair Lennox in the School of Chemistry awarded €1.553M for his project entitled ‘Selective Electrochemical Nucleophilic Fluorination – SENF’
- Dr Ruth Bush in the Department of French awarded €1.5M for her project entitled ‘The Creative Lives of African Universities: Pedagogies of Hope and Despair – AFRIUNI’
- Dr Remco Hin in the School of Earth Sciences awarded €1.6M for his project entitled ‘The chemical consequences of vapour loss during planetary accretion – VapLoss’
Professor Philip Taylor, the University of Bristol’s Pro Vice Chancellor for Research and Enterprise said: “The range and ambition of the projects awarded European Research Council Starting Grants this year is testament to the exceptional researchers we have here at Bristol.
“The sole criterion for these sought-after grants is excellence. With a combined value of almost €7M, the grants will enable these talented individuals to pursue their fascinating areas of research and, I believe, see them become leaders in their fields.”