Researchers from the University of Limerick receive grants from ERC

Two University of Limerick researchers have been granted up to €3m in funding from the European Research Council (ERC) to carry out two brand new projects looking at male infertility and energy-efficient electronics. 

The two researchers are Dr Eoghan Cunnane, senior research fellow at the university’s School of Engineering, and Dr Sarah Guerin, postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Physics.

Professor Norelee Kennedy, Vice President of Research at UL said,

 “The announcement of the two ERC starter awards to Sarah and Eoghan is a fantastic achievement for them and reflects their calibre as researchers. We are very excited at UL to support their novel and exciting research, which adds to the excellent research undertaken at the university”. 

‘RE3MODEL’ (representative, reliable, and reproducible in-vitro models of the human testes) is Dr Cunnane’s initiative. ‘Pb-Free’ (piezoelectric biomolecules for lead-free, reliable, and eco-friendly electronics) is Dr Guerin’s project. 

UL researchers receive prestigious ERC grants for groundbreaking projects

Dr Eoghan Cunnane from the School of Engineering & Dr Sarah Guerin of the Department of Physics receive almost €3m in funding

Find out more about their researchhttps://t.co/Z8NCNv1qpd#StudyatUL pic.twitter.com/0u7TkqHHGV

— University Of Limerick (@UL) January 10, 2022

The ERC, established by the European Union in 2007, is the leading European funding body for research. The ERC provides grants to researchers doing ground-breaking work in their field in the hope to help ambitious young researchers launch projects, form teams, and pursue their best ideas. 

After receiving nearly 4,000 submissions, the ERC will fund €619 million in 397 researchers through the Horizon Europe initiative – including Dr Cunnane and Dr Guerin.

Professor Maria Leptin, President of the ERC, took to Twitter to say;

“Congratulations to all 397 new grantees! Satisfying to see that the share of women among the awardees continues to rise steadily and rapidly, up to the highest ever; 43% this year.”

For more information on the European Research Council, go HERE

For more education stories, go HERE