The European Research Council (ERC) announced the awarding of 291 Consolidator Grants to ambitious researchers in Europe. They will receive a total of 573 million Euros. These grants are designed to support researchers of any nationality at the stage of consolidating their own research team and program. Two research group leaders at the MPI-CBG are amongst the awardees! The funding gives researchers full freedom and flexibility to contribute to major advances in science.
Gaia Pigino received the grant for her project “Self-organization of the cilium: the role of the tubulin code”. Pigino explains: “Our current knowledge of the basic principles which lead to self-organization is quite limited. Hence, my project aims at understanding the role of the tubulin code for self-organization of complex microtubule based cellular structures, with the focus on the structure of the cilium.”
The project of Caren Norden “Principles of retinal neuronal lamination from zebrafish to humans” will use the vertebrate retina with its five neuronal cell types arranged in a highly ordered pattern to investigate the emergence of neuronal lamination. “This project aims to establish an interdisciplinary integrative and interspecies approach that will contribute to our understanding of how neurons laminate and thereby generate the foundation for correct and efficient connectivity of an important part of the brain, the retina”, summarizes Norden.
Congratulations to both!