An ERC Consolidator Grant is awarded to researchers who have demonstrated the potential to become leading figures in their field.
ERC received a total of 3,121 applications, of which 349 were funded. Researchers at the University of Oslo have performed exceptionally well, securing four of the seven grants awarded to Norwegian applicants.
¨C This grant is valuable because it enables important long-term research. And of course, it is especially pleasing to see UiO¡¯s researchers do so well. My congratulations and thanks for their efforts, says UiO Rector Ragnhild Hennum.
The state of science in autocracies
Tore Wig, Department of Political Science, receives funding for his project AutoKnow: Authoritarian Threats to Scientific Knowledge.
Tore Wig has received EU funding for his project examining how authoritarian regimes and leaders influence scientific knowledge production.
¨C I want to find out how authoritarian regimes and leaders affect science. Does it matter for social science in the United States if the country moves in a more authoritarian direction? China produces a lot of research, but would it perform even better if it were a democracy?¡±
Wig emphasises that this research is important because an increasing share of science activity takes place in authoritarian states.
¨C China, as an established one-party dictatorship, invests heavily in research across variuos fields. We must understand what impact it has on our knowledge of the world, that more and more countries are moving in an authoritarian direction, he says.
The Faculty of Social Sciences now hosts 37 ERC projects¡ªgiving it a success rate well above the average in both Norway and Europe.
Read more about Wig?s research
Long-term governance of climate challenges
Manjana Milkoreit, Department of Sociology and Human Geography receives funding for the project CAMELOT - Capacities for More Effective Long-Term Climate Change Governance.
Milkoreit will study how societies can govern long-term climate risks.
¨C Many of the most dangerous climate risks ¨C like tipping points ¨C unfold over decades or centuries, while our political and institutional systems are geared towards the short term.
According to Milkoreit, this mismatch creates genuine blind spots and significant threats to human wellbeing, development and security.
¨C If we are to protect present and future generations, we need governance systems capable of anticipating and responding to long-term, non-linear change, she says.
Read more about Milkoreit?s research
Goddesses and rituals in Asia
Aike Peter Rots, Department of Culture, Religion, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, receives funding for the project Maritime Goddesses: Transnational Connections, Blue Environments, and Ritual Care in East- and Southeast Asia (MARGO).
Rots, together with an interdisciplinary research team, will explore goddess worship in East and Southeast Asia. Coastal areas in this region are among the places where environmental and climate changes are most visible. The project will examine how rituals and religious practices are shaped by these transformations.
¨C The funding from the ERC means a great deal to me. It will make it possible to continue researching popular religion, rituals, sacred animals, the sea, and environmental change, Rots says.
Read more about Rots?s research
New statistical methods
Anna Chaimani, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, receives funding for the project KaLeIDO-CARE.
Chaimani will develop new methods and software to provide more precise and up-to-date clinical guidelines for treatment and prevention of health diseasees.
¨C Medical progress is happening faster and faster, and there is a continuous production of new research. When we do not consider and combine all the available data, we may overlook valuable information. We have enormous amounts of information from published studies and other sources of knowledge that are not being fully exploited,¡¯ says Chaimani. About Horizon Europe and ERC Consolidator Grants
Read more about Chaimani?s research
- The European Research Council (ERC) awards Consolidator Grants to researchers who completed their PhD seven to twelve years ago.
- The grant forms part of Horizon Europe¡¯s Pillar I, ¡®Excellent Science¡¯, and provides up to €2 million for research projects lasting up to five years.