Seven researchers at the University of Cambridge have been awarded Synergy Grants from the European Research Council to lead five new collaborative projects that will tackle some of science’s toughest puzzles.
ERC Synergy Grants bring together research expertise, skills and resources across institutions to tackle ambitious research problems that no single group could address alone.
These highly competitive grants foster collaboration between outstanding researchers, enabling them to push forward the boundaries of scientific discovery. The funding is part of the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. In total the ERC has awarded €684 million to sixty-six research teams, bringing together 239 scientists. The projects cover diverse topics across many disciplines.
The Cambridge recipients of 2025 ERC Synergy Grants are:
Professor Jeremy Baumberg, Department of Physics for ‘DNA for Reconfigurable Nano-Opto-Mechanical Systems’ (DNA4RENOMS), in collaboration with the Universities of Heidelberg and Munich. Using the ability to knit strands of DNA into rigid structures, and combining these with polymer ‘muscles’ that can be triggered by light, the team aims to construct nanomachinery with a wide range of applications including sensors and low energy computing.
Professor Ewa Paluch, Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, and Professor Daniel St Johnston, Gurdon Institute and Department of Genetics for ‘Robustness and plasticity of epithelial architectures’
Professor Enrico Crema, Department of Archaeology for ‘Investigating alternative trajectories for human demographic growth in temperate northern Holocene societies’ (FORAGER)
Professor Richard Durbin and Dr Felipe Karam Teixeira, Department of Genetics for ‘GENomes Evolve in a Landscape of TEs’
Professor Sadaf Farooqi, Institute of Metabolic Science for ‘The biology of innate behaviour’
Only about one in ten proposals were selected for funding by the ERC, with the successful projects receiving on average €10.3 million each. The projects will be carried out at universities and research centres in 26 countries across Europe and beyond – with 24 grantees based in the United Kingdom.
“Many congratulations to our Cambridge colleagues on these prestigious ERC funding awards, which will enable them to collaborate with outstanding researchers at other institutions to address complex scientific problems. We're fortunate at Cambridge to have so many world-leading researchers across a range of disciplines, and I look forward to seeing the outcomes of their work,” Professor Sir John Aston, Cambridge’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research
University of Cambridge article
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