Being 'investigator-driven', or 'bottom-up', in nature, the ERC approach allows researchers to identify new opportunities and directions in any field of research, rather than being led by priorities set by politicians. This ensures that funds are channeled into new and promising areas of research with a greater degree of flexibility.
ERC grants are awarded through open competition to projects headed by starting and established researchers, irrespective of their origins, who are working or moving to work in Europe. The sole criterion for selection is scientific excellence. The aim here is to recognize the best ideas, and confer status and visibility on the best brains in Europe, while also attracting talent from abroad.
The following Amsterdam Neuroscience affiliates have been awarded an ERC grant.
2023
| Grant | Researcher | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | Amélie Freal | PLaisTICITY: mechanisms underlying Axon Initial Segment plasticity |
2022
| Grant | Researcher | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced | Huib Mansvelder | Rapidly processing of large quantities of information by specialized cell types in the human brain |
| Advanced | Elga de Vries | The role of our immune system in Alzheimer's Disease |
| Starter | Jorien Treur | Psychiatric disorders and cardiovascular disease |
2021
| Grant | Researcher | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced | Pieter Roelfsema | Neuronal mechanisms for conscious perception |
| Advanced | Eus van Someren | Overnight vulnerable emotion reset normalizing invalidating generalized hyperaroused tension |
2020
| Grant | Researcher(s) | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Consolidator | Matthijs Brouwer | Improving prognosis by using innovative methods to diagnose causes of encephalitis |
| Consolidator | Martijn van den Heuvel | Connecting cross-condition patterns of brain connectivity towards a common mechanism of mental conditions and prediction connectomics |
| Proof of Concept | Claudia Persoon and Matthijs Verhage | Drug discovery screening using human neurons |
| Starting | Rik Ossenkoppele | Tau Pathology in Alzheimer’s disease: Spreading and Resilience |
| Pieter Roelfsema | Investigating which mechanisms in our brain are responsible for conscious perception. |
2019
| Grant | Researcher | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced | Danielle Posthuma | Development of novel methods and experimental set-ups that can bridge the gap between genetics and neurosciences, applied to brain-related traits. |
2017
| Grant | Researcher | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Consolidator | Meike Bartels | The grant gives her the opportunity to investigate the dynamic interplay between an individual’s genetic make-up, epigenetic make-up, and (social) environmental exposure. |