Excellent early-career research: Six new ERC Grants at LMU 

• Six talented early-career researchers have obtained prestigious starting grants from the European Research Council
• The successful projects came from the fields of Geology, Quantum Sciences, Philosophy of Sciences, Physiology, Neuroanatomy and Medical Microbiology

Four talented early-career scientists from various disciplines have each obtained a starting grant together with LMU for their research. Two researchers move to LMU with grants they have acquired with other institutions. Awarded by the European Research Council (ERC), the project grant is worth approximately 1.5 million euros in each case. Winners are chosen based on the scientific excellence of the applicants and of the proposed project. The research grant is among the most prestigious awards of its kind in Europe.

Awarded projects:

Geology: Weathering of sediments

Prof. Aaron Bufe is a Professor of Sedimentology at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. The geologist investigates the interaction of processes that shape landscapes, drive the transport of sediments, and modulate global geochemical cycles. The chemical weathering of rocks for example influences the CO2 content of the atmosphere, offsets CO2 emissions from Earth’s crust and mantle, and stabilizes the climate of our planet. However, this knowledge has been limited largely to weathering in mountainous regions. Once these rocks are eroded, they can be re-deposited as sediment, for example in valley fills and floodplains. There, they can continue to weather. With his project FloW (Floodplain Weathering), Aaron Bufe wants to investigate these phenomena.

Physics: Symmetries in the quantum world

Dr. Markus Dierigl, Senior Researcher at the Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics at LMU, works in the field of mathematical physics and string theory. So far, generalized symmetries have been mainly discussed in theories without taking the effects of gravity into account. In his new project SymQuaG (Symmetries in Quantum Gravity), Markus Dierigl wants to include gravity and develop theoretical ideas for deriving universal constraints on theories of quantum gravity with generalized symmetries. This combination will provide insights into the hitherto unknown laws of quantum gravity, their manifestation in our Universe, and their implications at low energies.

Philosophy of Science: Parting from the final theory as a philosophical guide

Dr. Sébastien Rivat is Assistant Professor at the Chair of Philosophy of Science. At the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP) he works on the history and philosophy of physics. The ideal of a final theory has shaped much of modern physics and its philosophical interpretations. Physicists have used it as a blueprint to construct theories of space, time, matter, and motion that apply in principle everywhere and under any circumstances. Philosophers have used it as a guide to interpret existing theories and depict the entire universe in terms of a bedrock of fundamental entities. The RESCALE (The Scale Revolution in Physics: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives) project contends that the ideal of a final theory no longer provides a sensible interpretative guide, leaving us with no better option but to depict the universe one scale at a time.

Neuroanatomy: Insights into the control center

Dr. Anna Schroeder previously worked at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research and the University of Freiburg and will move to LMU in April 2025 as a Professor of Systemic Neuroscience. To survive, you must adapt your behavior accurately and rapidly to your environment. Mounting evidence suggests that the zona incerta, a little studied brain region, is a central switchboard for such adaptive behavior. A central function of the zona incerta might be to locally compute needed transitions in behavior based on internal state changes, which are then broadcast to downstream targets to convert this into action. Anna Schroeder will address this hypothesis in her project CERTASTATES (internal state drivers of behavioral flexibility and their underlying neural circuitry in the zona incerta).

Stroke research: Activating intrinsic repair processes of the brain

Prof. Dr. med. Dr. sc. nat. Anna-Sophia Wahl is Professor of Neuroanatomy at the Chair II Anatomy and research group leader in the Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD) at LMU University Hospital. In addition, she is a member of the SyNergy Cluster of Excellence. Her main research interest focuses on understanding cellular mechanisms of repair in the brain after injury (e.g. a stroke) and how these mechanisms can be further enhanced to promote recovery of lost brain functions. In the ARISE (Activate Repair In StrokE) project, Anna-Sophia Wahl wants to discover fundamental principles how the brain orchestrates the cellular response and how it can be further improved.

Medical Microbiology: Viruses against antibiotics resistant bacteria

Prof. Carolin Wendling has been a Professor of Medical Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene at the Max von Pettenkofer Institute since April 2024. Her research focuses on the evolutionary changes in bacteria and their impact on pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance. She secured her grant PHAGE-PRO (Advancing Phage Therapy through Synergistic Strategies: Phage-Mediated Killing and Competitive Exclusion Using Engineered Prophages) through Helmholtz Munich, where she will conduct parts of her research. She will explore the use of bacteriophages, viruses that infect and kill bacteria, and new ways to use them therapeutically.