Six researchers from Würzburg have been awarded prestigious grants for their projects: the European Research Council's Starting Grants are worth €1.5 million each.
'Six prestigious ERC awards in one fell swoop is an outstanding achievement that only a few universities manage to accomplish. It is clear evidence of the breadth of excellent research at our university and a milestone on our path to becoming a university of excellence,' said JMU President Paul Pauli.
Talented young researchers who have a promising track record and an excellent new research idea can apply for Starting Grants from the European Research Council (ERC). These prestigious grants are worth €1.5 million each.
In the latest round of awards, five researchers from Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) and one researcher from the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) were successful with their applications:
- Dr Beatrice Baragli, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, is investigating why the Sumerian remained preserved in the Ancient Near East for many centuries even though it was no longer spoken.
- Dr Jerome Beetz, Neuroscience, is investigating the brain functions that enable insects to navigate flexibly in the field.
- Dr Jacqueline Degen, Zoology, is investigating the effects of light pollution on nocturnal insects.
- Junior Professor Dr Mona Garvert, Neuroscience, is investigating the neurobiological basis for flexible human behaviour.
- Dr Jake Greenfield, Chemistry, is investigating how spiral-shaped molecules can be deformed with light.
- Junior Professor Dr Jens Hör, RNA-based Infection Research, HIRI, is studying phages - viruses that infect bacteria - with RNA genomes.
The JMU Research Advancement Centre (RAC) actively supported the researchers from the university in submitting their applications.
The Six New ERC Projects
Late Sumerian: The Afterlife of an Ancient Near Eastern Language (LASU)
Dr Beatrice Baragli from the Chair of Ancient Near Eastern Studies : Sumerian is probably the earliest recorded language of mankind, and its writings are among the most important sources for the study of the ancient Near East. It has been documented in the cuneiform script for over three millennia. However, two fundamental questions remain unanswered: Why did the cultural and religious elite of the ancient Near East continue to use the Sumerian until the beginning of the Common Era, if the last native Sumerian speaker passed away no later than 2000 years before? What enabled Sumerian to trump many other languages of that time in terms of longevity? In her ERC project LASU Beatrice Baragli wants to prove that Sumerian survived for so long because it was considered sacred. Taking an innovative philological and religious-historical approach, LASU aims to apply a unique, language-order-based framework for deciphering Sumerian's interactions with other languages of the multilingual ancient Near East of the first millennium BCE.
Neural representation of space: From individual to social place learning in bees (BeeSpace)
Dr Jerome Beetz, head of an Emmy Noether junior research group at the Biocentre : Humans navigate their environment with ease every day. This is thanks to the cognitive maps of their surroundings that their brains have created. How insects memorise their environment is the subject of Jerome Beetz's planned research. He recently developed techniques for recording the brain activity of freely navigating insects and identified navigation-relevant nerve cells that are very similar to those described in vertebrates. Based on this, he wants to investigate the neural basis of insect navigation in more detail in his ERC project BeeSpace. 'If we understand how insects navigate their home terrain with relatively simple neural circuits, we can also identify innovative ways to develop autonomously navigating vehicles,' says the researcher.
From streetlight to starlight: How light pollution disrupts insect orientation and alters habitat connectivity (LIGHTSTAR)
Dr Jacqueline Degen, group leader at the Biocentre : Moths are ecologically important insects because they pollinate many plants and serve as a food source for other animals. However, like other nocturnal organisms, they are threatened by light pollution: illuminated settlements and streets brighten the night and disrupt the moths' ability to navigate. Jacqueline Degen is investigating these relationships in her ERC project LIGHTSTAR. This is because science does not yet understand well enough how moths navigate and react to light. The researcher will develop a drone-based 3D tracking system to record the behaviour of insects in large-scale field experiments with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. The data obtained and incorporated into advanced simulation tools, will fundamentally broaden the knowledge of the effects of light pollution. Among other things, the new findings can help to develop insect-friendly lighting solutions.
Neurocomputational mechanisms underlying adaptive flexibility in cognition, emotion and behavior (CogFlex)
Dr Mona Garvert, junior professor of neuroscience : People often assume that their behavior is rationally controlled by cognition. But emotions have a profound influence on how we perceive the world, process information and ultimately act. Nevertheless, science often investigates these two brain functions in isolation from one another. Mona Garvert's goal is to overcome this separation: In her ERC project CogFlex, she aims to prove that emotions have a direct influence on the way the human brain maps the environment and how it generalises, updates and responds to information. To this end, the researcher uses high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging and mathematical models, among other things. Her work aims to provide new insights into the neurobiological basis of flexible behaviour. In the long term, it could also expand the knowledge of mental illnesses in which these processes are disrupted.
Helical Out-of-Equilibrium Systems: Exploring Light-Induced Structural Distortions (HeliOS)
Dr Jake Greenfield, head of a junior research group, Organic Chemistry : Nature offers striking examples of how spring-like structures store and release energy: some seed pods use this strategy to literally explode and disperse their contents far and wide. Inspired by these principles, Jake Greenfield is investigating how spiral-shaped molecules can be deformed in his ERC project HeliOS. To achieve this, he couples the spirals with light switches - molecules that reversibly change their structure under the influence of light. In addition to the widely used azo-based switches, next-generation imine-based switches developed by Greenfield's team and at the Center for Nanosystems Chemistry at JMU are also being used. The aim of the project is to develop light-sensitive spiral molecules and precisely control their properties with light pulses. Among other things, this could enable new strategies for energy storage.
Elucidating molecular principles of RNA phage-host interaction (RIBO-PHAGE)
Dr Jens Hör, JMU Junior professor, Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) : In the realm of viruses, some do not infect humans or animals, but bacteria. These viruses are called phages and are characterised by their enormous biological diversity. They serve science well as both research tools and as sources of biotechnological methods. In addition, they have already helped to achieve progress in the fight against multi-resistant bacteria. Until now, however, research has neglected the potential of those phages whose genetic material consists of RNA. These phages differ fundamentally from phages with DNA genomes: they pursue unique strategies to reproduce in bacteria, and their victims in turn defend themselves against the infection using specific strategies. It is precisely these processes that Jens Hör wants to analyse in detail in his ERC project RIBO-PHAGE. He sees this, among other things, as the prerequisite for being able to use RNA phages in therapies as well.
