ERC Synergy Grant winners 2025
Several researchers working in Sorbonne University’s laboratories have been awarded funding from the European Research Council (ERC) as part of its 2025 Synergy Grant scheme.
The winning Principal Investigators :
Sorbonne University staff
- Olivier Martineau and Kumiko Kotera, for the HERON project: “Opening a new window on the violent Universe with the Hybrid Elevated Radio Observatory for Neutrinos.”
Olivier Martineau is a lecturer and researcher at the Laboratory for Nuclear and High-Energy Physics (LPNHE - Sorbonne University/CNRS) and Kumiko Kotera is director of the Institut d'astrophysique de Paris (IAP - Sorbonne University/CNRS). Find out more (article in French presently): Le projet GRAND capte ses premiers rayons cosmiques dans le désert de Gobi.
- Guillaume Legros, for the FireSpace project: “Fire safety in space exploration.”
Guillaume Legros is a full professor and researcher at the Institut Jean Le Rond d'Alembert (∂’Alembert - Sorbonne University/CNRS).
Staff from partner institutions
- Olivier Bénichou et Aurélien Grabsch, for the UniCIPS project: “Universal Equation for Non Equilibrium Correlations in Interacting Particle Systems.”
Olivier Bénichou, a CNRS research director, and Aurélien Grabsch, a CNRS researcher, work together at the Laboratoire de physique théorique de la matière condensée (LPTMC - Sorbonne University/CNRS).
- Daniele Fachinetti, for the CenAGE project: “Centromeric view on AGEing: unveiling centromere instability in ageing.”
Daniele Fachinetti is a CNRS research director at the Cell Biology and Cancer Laboratory (CNRS/Institut Curie/Sorbonne University).
- Aleksandra Maria Walczak, for the CoEVOLVE project: “Co-evolutionary dynamics of viral pathogens and human antibody response.”
Aleksandra Walczak is a CNRS research director at the ENS Physics Laboratory (LPENS - ENS/CNRS/Sorbonne University/Université Paris Cité).
- Cécile Guieu, for the HARVEST project: “Hydrothermal iron from the earth’s interior as fertiliser of photosynthesis in the ocean.”
Cécile Guieu is a CNRS research director at the Laboratoire d’océanographie de Villefranche-sur-Mer (LOV - Sorbonne University/CNRS).
- Stéphanie Descroix, for the PathCorg project: “Spatially patterned organoids: regionalization, cell fate and lamination in cortical development and neuronal migration disorders.”
Stéphanie Descroix is a CNRS research director at the Physics of Cells and Cancer Unit (Institut Curie/CNRS/Sorbonne University).
ERC Synergy Grants
ERC Synergy Grants are awarded to groups of two to four researchers (Principal Investigators - PIs) who are working and bringing different skills and resources together to tackle ambitious research problems.
The Principal Investigator is the leader of an ERC (European Research Council) project.