ERC Starting Grants 2023 - four Unipd projects financed for 5.4M euros

08.09.2023

With funding worth a total of €628 million to 400 excellent researchers across Europe, the European Research Council (ERC) supports excellent research and announces the winners of the Starting Grants 2023 call.

Among these, the University of Padua will receive 5.4M euros, a historic record for a single call. Unipd also places first among public universities and second in Italy for the number of Starting Grant projects awarded, confirming its top position among all Italian universities.

This year’s University of Padua ERC Starting Grant Principal Investigators awardees include Ivano Ciardelli (researcher at the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Pedagogy and Applied Psychology -FiSPPA), Gabriele Stevanato (researcher at the Department of Chemical Sciences - DiSC), Onelia Gagliano (researcher at the Department of Industrial Engineering - DII), and Irene Gallina (research fellow at the Department of Molecular Medicine - DMM).

In line with the positive trends envisioned from 2021-2027, these results further certifies the high quality of research and the international reach of our University. ERCs comprise three funding areas, Physical Sciences and Engineering, Life Sciences, and Social Sciences and Humanities. Researchers from the University of Padua are awarded under the funding covering each area.

University of Padua Rector Daniela Mapelli shares praises, “Witnessing the excellent results for the four prestigious ERC Starting Grants project selected out of the 32 assigned to Italian universities confirms the high value of the research carried out at the University of Padua. On behalf of the entire academic community, I congratulate the young researchers: Ivano Alessandro Ciardelli, Onelia Gagliano, Irene Gallina, and Gabriele Stevanato. As part of our university community, their presence is a sign that makes us understand how valid our recruitment system is and how attractive the University of Padua is. Not only that, their different scientific areas underline one of the main strengths of the university, our ability to excel across multidisciplinary levels.”