ERC Grantees
They share their experience with us
2020 news
In 2020, INRAE obtained 5 ERC grants, for 30 project applications, i.e. a success rate of 16.7%. The 5 grants were attributed to:
- 2 Starting Grants: Julie Reveillaud and Charlotte Kirchhelle
- 1 Consolidator Grant: Lisa Wingate
- 1 Advanced Grant: Olivier Hamant
- 1 Proof of Concept Grant: Olivier Berteau
In 2020, France obtained 11 Proof of Concept Grants, 38 Starting Grants, 34 Consolidator Grants and 22 Advanced Grants.
Olivier Hamant has received an ERC Advanced Grant for the MUSIX project, which studies the role of mechanical forces on the shape of plants. The duration of the grant is 5 years, with a maximum budget of €2.5 million.
The COSMYCA project financed by a €2.7 million ERC Consolidator Grant aims to improve our current representation of CO2 exchange between the biosphere and atmosphere in Land Surface Models by studying a similar gas to CO2: carbonyl sulfide (COS). Lisa Wingate will coordinate this project, which will contribute to a better understanding of the carbon cycle and how to adapt our ecosystems accordingly to face climate change.
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Olivier Berteau, research director at INRAE, conducts innovative research in the biochemistry of the gut microbiota. He is the recipient of one of the prestigious ERC Proof of Concept Grants 2020 which will enable him to develop new applications based on his team’s research work.
Julie Reveillaud receives a Starting Grant for her project ROSALIND on the interactions between the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia and its host, the common mosquito, Culex pipiens, in view to develop alternative control methods against insect-transmitted pathogens – a major public health issue. The article is in French only.
Based on an animal model, scientists have proved for the first time that intestinal inflammation and concomitant changes in the microbiota can mutually sustain each other and generate a stable pre-disease state. Their results open new perspectives in terms of diagnosis, preventive nutrition and therapy in medicine.
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Stella Césari, a researcher at the Joint Research Unit for Biology and Genetics of Plant-Pathogen Interactions (BGPI) at INRA’s Occitanie-Montpellier centre, will receive a Starting Grant for her ii-MAX project.
A specialist in the biochemistry of the microbiota, Olivier Berteau has been awarded a Proof of Concept grant from the European Research Council. This type of grant provides an opportunity to explore the innovation potential of a previous ERC grant project, in this case on the biosynthesis of active peptides.
Rut Carballido-López is the winner of a 2017 Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The award will provide 1.9 million euros to fund her team’s research on the morphogenesis of bacteria, and ultimately to open up new doors to finding different modes of action for antibiotics.
Harry Sokol is a gastroenterologist who specialises in inflammatory bowel disease. He has always been passionate about science, and conducts research on the role of the microbiota in immunity. His work has been recognised by the European Research Council, who awarded him a Starting Grant in 2016.
Olivier Hamant and his team made a significant discovery by demonstrating how mechanical forces interact with an organism’s regulatory gene network to determine its shape and size. In 2013, he received a grant from the European Research Council for his project which aims at identifying how mechanical signals are perceived and interpreted by the plant to control its growth.