Funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme will support promising mid-career scientists to pursue creative research ideas across a broad range of scientific fields.
Eight University of Cambridge researchers will receive a share of the European Research Council’s (ERC) record €728 million Consolidator Grant awards this year. The grants support mid-career researchers to carry out cutting-edge research projects lasting up to five years, in fields from astronomy to zoology.
In total the ERC has selected 349 mid-career researchers to receive awards this year. With funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe programme, the grants support research at universities and research centres in 25 EU Member States - and associated countries including the UK.
The 2025 Cambridge recipients are:
Dr Davide Luca, Department of Land Economy, for ‘Bridging Rural-urban Individual Divides in Outlooks and Political Engagement’. Luca will investigate the roots of the growing social and political divide between urban and rural communities - one of the defining issues of our time. Using innovative research across six countries he will explore how early-life environments and local social interactions shape views, and develop practical ways to reduce divisions on key issues like migration and climate policy.
Professor Blake Sherwin, Department of Applied Mathematics & Theoretical Physics, for ‘Revealing Cosmic Structure Growth and the Early Universe with the CMB Backlight’. Sherwin will use the universe’s oldest light, the cosmic microwave background, as a backlight to map where cosmic matter lies and how it moves. This will provide new insights into how the universe began and allow the team to test ideas about how cosmic structure grew.
Professor Alexandra Woolgar, Department of Psychology and MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, for ‘Pinging the brain to reveal hidden neural states underpinning flexible human cognition’. What if the real magic of thinking happens in hidden brain states we can’t usually see? Woolgar is developing new ways to reveal these invisible patterns using advanced brain imaging and stimulation. By uncovering this ‘secret wiring’ she aims to better understand how our minds focus, adapt, and think flexibly.
Dr Emília Santos, Department of Zoology, for ‘A predictive model of diversification and convergence of colour patterns in East African cichlid fishes’. This work will help understand, and ultimately predict, how diversity arises in nature. Santos will study striking colour patterns in East African cichlid fishes to understand how novel traits originate and evolve. By combining population genomics, developmental biology and mathematical modelling, the work will reveal how different biological layers interact to produce morphological diversity, and why certain traits evolve repeatedly.
Dr Emily Mitchell, Department of Zoology, for ‘Understanding selection in the early animals of the Ediacaran’. Animals first evolved on Earth during the Ediacaran time period, after over three billion years of only microbial life. Yet scientists don’t understand what drove this evolution. This project will help us to understand how natural selection acted upon these early animals and why these adaptations occurred.
Dr Somenath Bakshi, Department of Engineering, for ‘Systems Analysis of The Physiological Determinants of Phage Infection Dynamics’. As antibiotic resistance surges, phages - viruses that infect and kill bacteria - offer a transformative therapeutic alternative. Bakshi will map how bacterial physiology, including cellular resources, energy, and stress, controls phage infection dynamics. These insights will guide the design of engineered phages and treatment strategies that work reliably in complex, real-world clinical settings.
Dr Eleanor Raffan, Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, for ‘Appetite and Obesity: leveraging the power of dog genetics for biomedical insight’. Raffan will study pet dogs to find genes and biological processes that contribute to obesity. Laboratory studies will help in understanding how these genes influence appetite, activity, and metabolism, and the team will check whether they have similar effects in humans. The overarching aim is to reduce the impact of obesity on human and animal health.
Dr Angela Trentacoste, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, for ‘Feeding Roman Italy: Continuities and Innovations in animal production from urbanisation to empire’. This project will investigate farming in Italy from 600 BC–AD 200, a dynamic period of urbanisation and political expansion. By studying the bones and teeth of ancient livestock, it aims to reshape understanding of this fundamental area of ancient society, and whether shifts in its organisation could have motivated expansion in early urban states.
President of the European Research Council, Professor Maria Leptin, said: “To see all this talent with groundbreaking ideas, based in Europe, is truly inspiring. This bold research may well lead to new industries, improve lives and strengthen Europe’s global standing.
"This was one of the most competitive ERC calls ever, with record demand and many excellent projects left unfunded. It is yet another reminder of how urgent the call for increased EU investment in frontier research has become.”
Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, said: “Congratulations to all the researchers on winning the ERC grants. The record budget of 728 million euro invested to support these scientific projects shows the EU is serious about making the continent attractive for excellent researchers.”