Claudia Felser and Matthias Neubert awarded a total of EUR 4.5 million by the European Union
17.11.2011
Two scientists working at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have been informed by the European Research Council (ERC) that they are each to receive an ERC Advanced Grant, i.e. the highest endowed EU grant that can be awarded to individuals. The two, Professor Dr. Claudia Felser of the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry and Professor Dr. Matthias Neubert of the Institute of Physics, are also chiefly responsible for the JGU application for financing under the current round of the German Federal Excellence Initiative. Claudia Felser is the Director of the Graduate School of Excellence Materials Science in Mainz (MAINZ), which was successful in the first phase of the Excellence Initiative and has now submitted a proposal applying for a further five years of funding. Matthias Neubert is the Coordinator of the Cluster of Excellence Precision Physics, Fundamental Interactions and Structure of Matter (PRISMA) that was invited several weeks ago to submit a full proposal for support through the Excellence Initiative.
The award of the ERC Advanced Grant means that Claudia Felser will have EUR 2.4 million at her disposal to pursue her research into new materials based on Heusler compounds. Matthias Neubert receives a total of EUR 2.1 million and will thus be able to initiate a new project in the field of theoretical high-energy physics.
ERC Advanced Grants are awarded to outstanding scientists to conduct projects considered to be highly speculative due to their innovative approach, but which, because of this, can open up new paths in their respective research fields. Only researchers who have already made significant breakthroughs and have been successfully working for at least ten years at the cutting-edge of international research are eligible for these grants.