Two European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grants were recently awarded to researchers affiliated with the Vienna BioCenter. Congratulations to Magnus Nordborg from the Gregor Mendel Institute and Sasha Martens at the Max Perutz Labs Vienna.
The European Research Council has supported research projects with Synergy Grants since 2012. The grant goes to projects that bring together scientists from different disciplines to pursue goals that were previously beyond the reach of science.
Magnus Nordborg
GENomes Evolve in a Landscape of Transposable Elements (GENELT)
Magnus Nordborg from the Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, together with Richard Durbin and Felipe Teixeira from the University of Cambridge, has been awarded a prestigious ERC Synergy Grant.
With this grant, the researchers will combine expertise in computational genomics, population genetics, and experimental analysis to investigate how transposable elements shape host genome evolution in multicellular eukaryotes.
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Sasha Martens
On the Degradability of Protein Aggregates by Autophagy
An ERC Synergy Grant was awarded to Sascha Martens, in collaboration with former Perutz group leader Claudine Kraft (now University of Freiburg) and James Hurley (UC Berkeley).
They aim to uncover how the cellular recycling system, known as autophagy, can be strengthened to prevent the accumulation of toxic protein aggregates that contribute to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. This prestigious and highly competitive grant represents a major investment in fundamental cell biology research and unites three experts in autophagy and protein quality control.
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