“This funding will allow our grantees to pursue innovative ambitious research projects at the cutting edge of their disciplines”

Two St John’s Fellows have won funding from the European Research Council to invest in their pioneering work in the field of green energy.

Professor Erwin Reisner is one of nine Cambridge academics to have been awarded Advanced Grants by the European Research Council (ERC), which are made to leading researchers who are established in their field and have a recognised track record of achievements.

Dr Laura Torrente Murciano has recently been named as one of five Cambridge researchers to win Consolidator Grants from the ERC. These are designed to support excellent researchers in ground-breaking and ambitious projects with the potential to transform their research fields.

The ERC grants are among the most prestigious in the European funding landscape, awarded to pursue the most promising avenues at the frontier of science as part of the EU’s Horizon Europe programme. The two St John’s academics are both researching sustainable technologies in different areas.

Congratulating the Advanced Grant recipients, Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, said: “Each of the awardees has made outstanding contributions to their field and the ERC funding they have secured is testament to this.

“This funding will allow our grantees to pursue innovative ambitious research projects at the cutting edge of their disciplines and their success reminds us of the greatly valued contribution of ERC funding programmes to our research environment.”

The 2021 Advanced Grants competition will see funding worth €624 million going to 253 leading researchers across Europe, while the Consolidator Grants will see 313 winners awarded grants totalling around €632 million.

“This generous support will enable me to establish an ambitious and transformative research programme to support the transition to a net zero carbon society”

Professor Reisner, Professor of Energy and Sustainability at the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, has obtained funding for his project, which is called ‘Semi-biological Domino Catalysis for Solar Chemical Synthesis’.

“The project will combine the strength of synthetic and biological technologies to use sunlight for the synthesis of high value organic chemicals from the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide,” said Professor Reisner. “This cross-disciplinary approach will establish sunlight-to-chemical conversion technologies for sustainable chemical manufacturing in a circular economy.”

The other successful Cambridge Advanced Grant applicants are Professor Anuj Dawar, Professor Vikram Deshpande, Professor Paul Dupree, Professor Matthew Gaunt, Dr Florian Markowetz, Professor Pierre Raphael, Professor Rodolphe Sepulchre and Professor Ivan Smith.

Professor Reisner added: “I am absolutely thrilled to receive this award. This is a massive recognition for my entire research team and the generous support will enable me to establish an ambitious and transformative research programme to support the transition to a net zero carbon society.”

“I believe it will have a great impact in St John’s, raising our profile in our commitment to decarbonisation and contributing to the UK energy independency”

The latest round of Consolidator Grants will create an estimated 1,900 jobs for postdoctoral fellows, PhD students and other staff at 189 host institutions.

Dr Torrente has been awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant of €2.1 million to develop novel processes and functional energy materials for the storage of renewable energy in ammonia, a carbon-free energy vector.

Leader of the Catalysis and Process Integration Group at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, she said: “I am extremely excited about the opportunity. I also believe that it will have a great impact in St John’s, raising our profile in our commitment to decarbonisation and contributing to the UK energy independency, which is probably more critical now than it has ever been.”

The other four Cambridge Consolidator Grant winners are Dr Ana Cvejic, Professor Nikku Madhusudhan, Professor Ulrich Schneider and Dr Philippa Steele.

Professor Maria Leptin, President of the ERC, said: “Even in times of crisis and conflict and suffering, it is our duty to keep science on track and give our brightest minds free reign to explore their ideas. We do not know today how their work might revolutionise tomorrow - we do know that they will open up new horizons, satisfy our curiosity and most likely help us prepare for unpredictable future challenges.

“So, I am thrilled to see a new group of ERC grant winners funded for their scientific journey. I wish them the best of luck on their way to push the frontiers of our knowledge.”

The overall ERC budget from 2021 to 2027 is more than €16 billion. Cambridge received the most awards of any UK institution in the latest 2021 rounds of funding.

Published 29/4/2022

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