ERC Grants awarded to three UG scientists

Description

Three University of Groningen researchers have been awarded an ERC Starting Grant:Tessa Quax, Tamer Nawar and Iva Pesa. The European Research Council (ERC) awards these personal grants of EUR 1.5 million to excellent researchers in order to stimulate groundbreaking research in Europe.

Tessa Quax (Faculty of Science and Engineering)

Archaeal Virology: unravelling the mechanisms of interviral warfare (ARCVIR)

Archaea are ubiquitous microorganisms that are found in numerous surroundings ranging from extreme environments to the ocean and the human gut and skin. Marine archaea have a huge impact on biogeochemical cycles and the climate, while archaea in the gut influence the human microbiome and health. Archaea can be infected by unusual viruses that are structurally very diverse and have unique infection mechanisms. As viruses are the major predator of archaea, they shape archaeal communities.

This project will visualize the mechanisms that viruses use to fight each other to gain access to host cells. This knowledge of viral mechanisms can, for example, be applied to control archaeal populations to increase human gut health or to reduce the production of the harmful greenhouse gas methane by gut archaea of ruminants. The outcome will be of lasting impact in the field of microbial virology, and application of this knowledge will enable innovations that stimulate human health, fight global warming and fuel biotechnology.

Tamer Nawar (Faculty of Philosophy)

Philosophical conceptions of truth in ancient and medieval philosophy

This project will offer the first focused and systematic examination of philosophical conceptions of truth in ancient and medieval philosophy. It will examine the origins, motivations, and challenges faced by conceptions of truth in this period and how these challenges led to the development of alternative theories of truth.

Iva Pesa (Faculty of Arts)

AFREXTRACT Environmental histories of resource extraction in Africa: Understanding cultural and political responses to environmental transformation

Resource extraction has caused devastating effects all over the world. AFREXTRACT looks at three emblematic localities of large-scale industrial resource extraction in sub-Saharan Africa, namely oil drilling in Nigeria, copper mining in Zambia and gold mining in South Africa. Through a comparative environmental history approach, the project asks why the environmental changes caused by mining and oil drilling elicited such varied responses in these three localities. Using literature and song and paying particular attention to forms of popular political mobilisation, the project sheds light on the lived experiences of environmental transformation in Africa.

More about ERC

ERC supports talented young researchers in setting up a research team and starting an independent research project. An ERC grant enables these researchers to start bold, groundbreaking research and thus open up new avenues in their field of study.