Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
408 researchers won grants from the European Research Council (ERC) this year. The funding, totaling €636 million and part of the Horizon Europe programme, will help outstanding young scientists, with two to seven years post-doctoral experience, launch their own projects, form their teams and pursue their most promising ideas. According to a statement issued by the UNHCR headquarters in Brussels

Maria Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “We are proud to enable young researchers to pursue their curiosity. These new ERC laureates bring an impressive wealth of scientific ideas, will advance our knowledge and some already have practical applications on the horizon. I wish them all the best in their explorations.”

Grants will be invested in scholarly projects spanning all research disciplines from engineering to life sciences to humanities. For example, a cryptographic engineer in Paris will look for better ways to secure digital resources; a professor of vaccinology in the Netherlands will develop effective vaccines for parasitic diseases such as malaria; And a legal researcher in the Czech Republic who will study the role of courts in international refugee law.

The winners of this scholarship have proposed implementation of their projects in universities and research centers in 26 countries across Europe. The grants will create more than 2,000 jobs for postdoctoral fellows, doctoral students, and other staff at host institutions