Hebrew U researchers lead Israel with 14 European Research Council grants in 2015

Six of the researchers were awarded an ERC Consolidators Grant, and eight won an ERC Starting Grant, in various fields of science.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Updated: JANUARY 8, 2016 05:44
The Hebrew University (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The Hebrew University
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Fourteen Hebrew University researchers were awarded prestigious European Research Council grants in 2015, allowing for groundbreaking research in a variety of fields, the university announced on Thursday.
The awards constituted the most ERC grants for any Israeli academic research institution. Total funding from the awards exceeded €23 million to promote research in medicine, mathematics, sciences and the humanities.
Six of the researchers were awarded an ERC Consolidators Grant, and eight won an ERC Starting Grant, in various fields of science.
The grantees included four women – HU’s first female grant recipient in mathematics, Prof. Tamar Ziegler of the Einstein Institute of Mathematics; and Israel’s only ERC Consolidators grant recipient in the Social Sciences and Humanities panel for 2015, Prof. Elisheva Baumgarten, from the department of history of the Jewish people and contemporary Jewry.
Awarded their second ERC grants were Prof. Nathalie Balaban from the Racah Institute of Physics and Prof.
Edit Tshuva from the Institute of Chemistry.
HU’s vice president for research and development Prof. Isaiah Arkin said: “These 14 HU researchers are in the first ranks of scientists not only in Israel but around the world. The awarding of these grants by the EU will strengthen Israeli research in Israel and enable our researchers to make breakthroughs that benefit all humankind.”