Six Young Ghent University Researchers Receive ERC Starting Grant From European Commission

Can network theory help unravel the origin of cardiac arrhythmia? How do plants communicate internally about stress? Can we make thermometers with new nanomaterials that can also administer medication? And can traditional concepts of medical ethics keep up with rapidly succeeding innovations in medicine? These are some of the questions that six young Ghent University researchers will be working on in the coming years. Like 422 of their colleagues across Europe and 8 other colleagues in Flanders, they have received a prestigious ERC Starting Grant from the European Commission. This grant, up to a maximum of 1.5 million euros per person, should enable them to build up a research group and carry out groundbreaking research within five years. International Cooperation Rewarded. The researchers are drawn from all disciplines, from social sciences and humanities to natural, medical and applied sciences. Two of them are coordinator of an International Thematic Network (ITN) . Marthe De Boevre coordinates the MYTOX-SOUTH network and Katrien Van Poeck is responsible for the SEDwise network. With the International Thematic Networks , Ghent University wants to stimulate international cooperation in order to increase the scientific and social impact of research on certain themes, something to which Europe, too, attaches increasing importance. Read more about the plans of the six researchers below. Do mycotoxins in our food lead to cancer?. Do mycotoxins in our food lead to cancer? This is what Marthe De Boevre (Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences) is going to investigate.