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On 14 April, the ERC announced the names of 277 established researchers who will receive grants from the funding organisation, six of whom are directors of projects being carried out at Catalan research centres and universities. One of the grantees is Adrian Bachtold, an ICFO researcher who will receive European funding for the next five years to work on the project “Nanotube Mechanical Resonator, Spin and Superfluidity”, in which the research group he heads, known as NanoOptoMechanics, will study new physical phenomena under extreme conditions not previously explored. In their work, the researchers will take advantage of the ability of materials such as carbon nanotubes and graphene to act as nanomechanical resonators and detect extremely small forces and masses.

To draw a comparison to objects on a more familiar scale, a nanotube resonator acts like a guitar string, and a graphene resonator like a drumhead—though in this case the membrane is just one atom thick. These resonators are highly sensitive and their vibrations can be used to detect physical phenomena that cannot be measured using conventional methods. Another advantage is that they can be coupled in an efficient manner to elementary particles such as electrons or photons.

The awarding of this grant brings to 20 the number of ICFO projects that have received ERC funding—in the form of Starting, Advanced, Consolidator, and Proof of Concept Grants—since the Institute was founded in 2001.

In this competition the ERC received 1,953 grant applications, of which 227 (14%) were successful. Each funded project will receive up to €2.5 million over five years. In exceptional cases this limit may be raised to €3.5 million to cover specific needs. In total, the EU will provide €647 million in funding to projects based in 21 European countries. Twelve of these projects will be carried out in Spain (six in Catalonia). Spanish projects will receive grants totalling €25 million.

The grants are awarded to projects in the physical sciences and engineering, life sciences, and social sciences and humanities to reinforce excellence, dynamism and creativity in European research.