Success through synergies
Nine ERC Synergy Grants for Max Planck researchers
Nine scientists of the Max Planck Society, each in a team with colleagues from other institutions, have won one of the much-coveted Synergy Grants 2020 of the European Research Council ERC. This puts the Max Planck Society at the top of the European ranking, together with the French CNRS, which also scooped up nine grants. Out of a total of more than 440 submitted proposals, 34 were selected.
Synergy Grants enable groups of two to four outstanding researchers to join their complementary skills, knowledge and resources to work in synergy to jointly solve resarch questions together. The grantees receive up to ten million euros for a period of up to six years. In this latest application round, the ERC is providing a total of 350 million euros. Out of 440 applications, 34 are being funded, making this year's call one of the most competitive in ERC history.
Nine Max Planck scientists are involved in seven of the selected projects:
Chemistry, Physics and Technology Section
- Victor Brovkin, MPI for Meteorology
- Martin Heimann, MPI for Biogeochemistry
- Mathias Goeckede, MPI for Biogeochemistry
Project: Quantify disturbance impacts on feedbacks between Arctic permafrost and global climate (Q-Arcitc) - Markus Antonietti, MPI for Colloids and Interfaces
Project: Disruptive Modes and Materials of Energy Storage
Biology and Medicine Section
- Andrea Musacchhio, MPI for Molecular Physiology
Project: Integration of the Biochemical and Mechanical Networks of Cell Division
- Detlef Weigel, MPI for Developmental Biology
Project: Understanding and predicting PATHOgen COMmunitites (PATHOCOM)
- Wolfgang Baumeister, MPI for Biochemistry
Project: Plasmodesmata, Symplasmic pores for plant cell-to-cell communication
- Nils Brose, MPI for Experimental Medicine
Project: Microglia Control of Physiological Brain States
Humanities Section
- Russell Gray, MPI for Human History (since June 2020 at the MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology)
