Thirteen talented EPFL Researchers obtain ERC Grants 2013

This new crop of awards cements EPFL’s high scientific reputation as successful in obtaining this important source of funding. Since 2007, EPFL has received the 4th highest number of ERC grants in the European landscape. EPFL is leading the success together with ETH Zürich among continental European universities.

The ERC grants are the foundation of the “Ideas” programme, part of the European Seventh framework programme (FP7), with the goal of not only encouraging research of exceptional quality, but also novel and innovative ideas. In practical terms, they provide funding up to €3.5 million over five years.

The Researchers and their projects:

>> 4 Young Scientists received Starting Grants in 2013:

Nikolaos Geroliminis, Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Assistant Professor in the Urban Transport Systems Laboratory, with a project in Modelling and controlling traffic congestion and propagation in large-scale urban multimodal networks.

Kevin Sivula, Basic Sciences, Assistant Professor in the Laboratory for Molecular Engineering of Optoelectronic Nanomaterials, with a project in Crystal Engineering for Molecular Organic Semiconductors.

Ola Svensson, Computer and Communication Sciences, Assistant Professor in the Theory of Computation Laboratory 2, with a project in Strong Convex Relaxations with Optimal Approximation Guarantees.

Jérôme Waser, Basic Sciences, Assistant Professor in the Laboratory of Catalysis and Organic Synthesis, with a project in Hypervalent Iodine Reagents: A Tool Kit for Accessing Molecular Complexity.

>> 6 Scientists received Advanced Grants in 2013:

William Curtin, Engineering, Professor in the Laboratory for Multiscale Mechanics Modeling, with a project in Predictive Computational Metallurgy.

Pierre Gönczy, Life Sciences, Professor in the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, with a project in Dissecting the mechanisms governing centriole formation.

Rachid Guerraoui, Computer and Communication Sciences, Professor in the Distributed Programming Laboratory, with a project in Adversary-Oriented Computing.

Jeffrey Hubbell, Life Sciences, Professor in the Merck Serono Chair in Drug Delivery.

Bruno Lemaitre, Life Sciences, Professor in the Global Health Institute, with a project in The Drosophila-Spiroplasma interaction as a model to dissect the molecular mechanisms underlying insect endosymbiosis.

Gisou Van der Goot, Life Sciences, Professor in the Global Health Institute, with a project in Roles of Palmitoylation networks in the ER architecture and functions.

>> 1 Scientist received Proof of Concept Grant in 2013:

Nava Setter, Professor in the Ceramics Laboratory, with a project in Mobile Two Dimensional Gas.

>> 2 Scientists received Consolidator Grants in 2013:

Anastasia Ailamaki, Computer and Communication Sciences, Professor in the Data-Intensive Applications and Systems Laboratory, with a project in Transforming Raw Data into Information through Virtualization.

Sylvie Roke, Engineering, Assistant professor in the Julia Jacobi Chair of Photomedicine - Laboratory for fundamental BioPhotonics, with a project in Roke, Water, Ions, Interfaces: Quantum effects, charge and cooperativity in water, aqueous solutions and interfaces.