NEWS Two researchers at Umeå University have been awarded ERC Starting Grants – a research programme that aims to support promising young researchers at the beginning of their careers. They are Iker Valle Aramburu, a new MIMS group leader who is affiliated with the Department of Molecular Biology, and Gerard Rocher-Ros, who will start research at the Department of Ecology and Environmental Science (EMG) after the new year.
Iker Aramburu, Department of Molecular Biology. Photo:Hans Karlsson
“I am extremely happy and honored to receive such a prestigious grant that will help advance our research on microproteins. During the application process,I have learnt a lot and I am very grateful to everyone who contributed with their feedback and advice”, says Iker Valle Aramburu.
The project he has been awarded funding for, ‘Illuminating the dark microproteome in innate immunity’, is about identifying and studying the role of microproteins in innate immune cells.
“Microproteins are small proteins that provide a pool of unexplored new players in different biological processes. I will focus on innate immune cells to further understand how our bodies tailor a regulated immune response against different pathogens”, says Iker Valle Aramburu.
Gerard Rocher Ros, will start research at the Department of Ecology and Environmental Science (EMG) in the beginning of 2025. Photo:Private
Gerard Rocher-Ros has been awarded funding for the project ‘A mechanistic understanding of Arctic River methane emissions’, which focuses on methane emissions in rivers. He was also a finalist in the international Frontiers Planet Prize earlier this year, with a similar project. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that causes global warming and is largely emitted from aquatic ecosystems, and with climate change, emissions in the Arctic are increasing rapidly.
“But we do not know how methane emissions from rivers are responding. In this project, I will combine large scale experiments with mathematical models to predict future emissions of methane from Arctic rivers”, says Gerard Rocher-Ros.
“This ERC grant provides generous resources and a long timeframe to develop large projects that otherwise are not possible to tackle. It is a unique opportunity to start my independent scientific career like this, even though it is a bit overwhelming to suddenly have a team to manage from after being just a postdoc”, says Gerard Rocher-Ros.
The ERC Starting Grant is a research funding awarded by the European Research Council (ERC). It is designed to support promising young researchers at the beginning of their careers who wish to establish their own research team or program.
Applications are evaluated by a panel of international experts. The assessment is based on the scientific excellence of the research and the researcher's potential.