Eight researchers at Cambridge have received €17 million funding from the European Research Council’s (ERC) Consolidator Grant this year.

Announcing the awards, the University said that the programme will “support promising mid-careers scientists to pursue creative research ideas across a broad range of scientific fields”.

The ERC receives its funding from the Horizon programme, an EU scientific research scheme. The programme funds research at universities and research centres within both EU member states and associated countries, such as the UK. This year, the body awarded a total of €728 million.

The UK agreed to maintain associate membership of the scheme as part of the Brexit trade deal struck in 2020, but disagreements over the Northern Ireland Protocol led the EU to refuse the UK’s membership. The UK was able to officially rejoin in 2023, after the agreement of the Windsor Framework.

This year’s awards represent an increase on previous years: four Cambridge researchers received funding from the Consolidator Grant in 2023, followed by another three in 2024.

The awards include a grant to Dr Emily Mitchell, from the Department of Zoology, funding research into the natural selection process during the Ediacaran period, when animals first evolved. Meanwhile, Professor Alexandra Woolgar, from the Department of Psychology and MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, has been awarded funding for research using advanced brain imaging to uncover “invisible patterns” of brain activity behind focus and thinking.

When announcing the grants for this year, Professor Maria Leptin, President of the European Research Council, said: “To see all this talent with groundbreaking ideas, based in Europe, is truly inspiring. This bold research may well lead to new industries, improve lives and strengthen Europe’s global standing”.

Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, added: “The record budget of 728 million euro invested to support these scientific projects shows the EU is serious about making the continent attractive for excellent researchers.”

The awards come after the recent announcement that the UK is to rejoin the Erasmus+ study scheme from 2027, which will allow British students to study at European universities for up to a year without paying additional fees. Last week, Varsity reported that the University “warmly welcome[s]” this announcement, with a spokesperson saying that the programme “will re-establish the mutual role that British and EU students and staff play in enriching academic life, culture and community across campuses.”