Two ERC Consolidator grants of 2 million euro to Maastricht

This funding round, the ERC is distributing a total of 678 million euros in grant money to experienced researchers in 25 EU countries and 20 other countries that contribute to the Horizon Europe research programme. With two applications granted, UM is having a successful year. Only eight grants went to Maastricht since the consolidator grant was created in 2013. The total now comes to ten.

Brigitte Le Normand and Carlos Mota

The UM researchers who can count on a grant this year are associate professor Brigitte Le Normand (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences) and assistant professor Carlos Mota (Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences). Historian Le Normand will use the money to research female migrants from the Northern Mediterranean who worked in post-war North-Western Europe.

Molecular biologist Mota, working at research institute MERLN, receives the money for a project on ‘bioprinting’ - a technology for growing tissues or organs - with a focus on human kidneys. For MERLN, it is the third consolidator grant in a short time: in 2023, researchers Sabine van Rijt and Matt Baker also received one.

There were 2,313 grant applications this year, of which 328 (14.2 percent) were successful. With 67 Consolidator Grants, Germany is head and shoulders above the rest. The 37 grants secured by the Netherlands puts it almost on par with France and the UK, which each received 38 grants.

Consolidator Grants allow recipients to set up their own research teams. The ERC estimates that this round will fund some 2,750 postdocs, PhDs and other staff.

Waste of talent

This year, the Council had 51 million euros more to distribute compared to 2023. ERC president Maria Leptin regrets that despite this increase, many researchers will miss out this year. “This waste of talent can only be avoided if Europe invests more in fundamental research.”

The Horizon programme will likely have to cut 2.1 billion euros from its budget over the next three years, although the final word on this has not yet been spoken.

HOP, Hein Cuppen/DV
Translation: Taalcentrum-VU