ERC Grants

The European Research Council (ERC), set up by the European Union in 2007, is the premier European funding organisation for excellent frontier research. It funds creative researchers of any nationality and age, to run projects based across Europe.

ERC is Europe’s most prestigious research grant, supporting excellent researchers in carrying out ground-breaking, ambitious, cutting-edge research projects.

Researchers are selected based on their innovative ideas for future research as well as the exceptional quality of their previous work, with the grants exclusively rewarding scientific excellence.

The ERC offers 4 core grant schemes: Starting GrantsConsolidator GrantsAdvanced Grants and Synergy Grants. With its additional Proof of Concept Grant scheme, the ERC helps grantees to explore the innovation potential of their ideas or research results.

NOVA researchers have been awarded 38 ERC grants, totalling €46.8 million from 2007 to 2025.

ERC Grantees at NOVA University Lisbon


Principal Researcher – António Jacinto
Grant – Starting Grant
Project – RESEAL-Epithelial Resealing
Amount – 1.150.000 €
Project Duration – 2008-2014
Academic Unit – NOVA Medical School

Principal Researcher – Miguel Ferreira
Grant – Starting Grant
Project – UNIVERSAL BANKING – Universal Banking, Corporate Control and Crises
Amount – 1.174.000 €
Project Duration – 2013-2018
Academic Unit – Nova SBE

Principal Researcher – Mariana Pinho
Grant – Starting Grant
Project – PROTEINLOCALIZATION – Finding New Mechanisms for Protein Localization in Bacteria
Amount – 1.656.960 €
Project Duration – 2013-2018
Academic Unit – ITQB NOVA

Investigador Principal – Carla Fernandes
Grant – Starting Grant
Project – BLACKBOX – A collaborative platform to document performance composition: from conceptual structures in the backstage to customizable visualizations in the front-end
Amount – 1.378.200 €
Project Duration – 2014-2019
Academic Unit – NOVA FCSH

Learn more here and here

Investigador Principal – Ana Cecília Roque
Grant – Starting Grant
Project – SCENT – Hybrid Gels for Rapid Microbial Detection
Amount – 1.500.000 €
Project Duration – 2015-2020
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT

Learn more here

Investigador Principal – Luís Pereira
Grant – Starting Grant
Project – NEW_FUN – New era of printed paper electronics based on advanced functional cellulose
Amount – 1.429.719 €
Project Duration – 2015-2020
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT

Learn more here

Principal Researcher – Pedro Barquinha
Grant – Starting Grant
Project – TREND – Transparent and flexible electronics with embedded energy harvesting based on oxide nanowire devices
Amount – 1.500.000 €
Project Duration – 2017-2021
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT

Learn more here

Principal Researcher – Francisco Freire
Grant – Starting Grant
Project – CAPSAHARA – Critical Approaches to Politics, Social Activism, and Islamic Militancy in the Western Saharan Region (Mauritania, Western Sahara, Southern Morocco)
Amount – 1.192.144 €
Project Duration – 2017-2020
Academic Unit – NOVA FCSH

Learn more here

Principal Researcher – Catarina Homem
Grant – Starting Grant
Project – StemCellHabitat – Metabolic and Timed Control of Stem Cell Fate in the Developing Animal
Amount – 1.700.000 €
Project Duration – 2018-2022
Academic Unit – NOVA Medical School

Learn more here

Principal Researcher– Cláudia Nunes dos Santos
Grant – Starting Grant
Project – Zooming the link between diet and brain health: how phenolic metabolites modulate brain inflammation (LIMBo)
Amount – 1.500.000 €
Project Duration – 2018-2023
Academic Unit – NOVA Medical School

Learn more here

Principal Researcher – João Conde
Grant – Starting Grant
Project– Cancer heterogeneity and therapy profiling using bioresponsive nanohydrogels for the delivery of multicolor logic genetic circuits (GelGeneCircuit)
Amount – 1.435.312 €
Project Duration – 2020-2025
Academic Unit – NOVA Medical School

Principal Researcher – Alex Armand
Grant – Starting Grant
Project – GLOBCOADEV: The global impact of coastal water contamination on economic development
Amount – 1.474.496 €
Project Duration – 2022-2027
Academic Unit – Nova SBE

Principal Researcher – Arturo Zoffmann Rodriguez
Grant – Starting Grant
Project – STEXEU: The constitutional road to dictatorships: states of exception and authoritarianism in Europe between 1900 and 1939
Amount – 1.500.000 €
Project Duration – 2025-2029
Academic Unit – NOVA FCSH


Principal Researcher – Elvira Fortunato
Grant – Advanced Grant
Project – INVISIBLE – Advanced Amorphous Multicomponent Oxides for Transparent Electronics
Amount – 2.250.000 €
Project Duration – 2009-2014
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT

Principal Researcher – Elvira Fortunato
Grant – Advanced Grant
Project – Multifunctional Digital Materials Platform for Smart Integrated Applications | DIGISMART
Amount – 3.500.000 €
Project Duration – 2018-2023
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT

Learn more here

Principal Researcher – Mariana Pinho
Grant – Advanced Grant
Project – MissingLinks: Finding the missing links in the bacterial cell cycle
Amount – 3.000.000 €
Project Duration – 2024-2029
Academic Unit – ITQB NOVA


Principal Researcher – Cristina Silva Pereira
Grant – Consolidator Grant
Project – MIMESIS – Development of biomaterials through mimesis of plant defensive interfaces to fight wound infections
Amount – 1.795.968 €
Project Duration – 2015-2020
Academic Unit – ITQB NOVA

Principal Researcher – Isabel Ferreira
Grant – Consolidator Grant
Project – CapTherPV – Integration of Capacitor, Thermoelectric and PhotoVoltaic thin films for efficient energy conversion and storage
Amount – 1.999.375 €
Project Duration – 2015-2020
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT

Learn more here

Principal Researcher – Ana Rita Duarte
Grant – Consolidator Grant
Project – Des.solve – When solids become liquids: natural deep eutectic solvents for chemical process engineering
Amount – 1.877.006 €
Project Duration – 2017-2020
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT

Principal Researcher – Mariana Pinho
Grant – Consolidator Grant
Project – ChronosAntibiotics – Exploring the bacterial cell cycle to re-sensitize antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Amount – 2.600.000 €
Project Duration – 2018-2022
Academic Unit – ITQB NOVA

Learn more here

Principal Researcher – Maria de Lurdes Rosa
Grant – Consolidator Grant
Project – VINCULUM; Entailing Perpetuity: Family, Power, Identity. The Social Agency of a Corporate Body (Southern Europe, 14th-17th Centuries)
Amount – 1.600.000 €
Project Duration – 2018-2023
Academic Unit – NOVA FCSH

Learn more here

Principal Researcher – Susana Viegas
Grant – Consolidator Grant
Project – Film and Death: Film-Philosophy as a Meditation on Death
Amount – 1.700.000€
Project Duration – 2023-2028
Academic Unit – NOVA FCSH

Principal Researcher – Manuel Mendes
Grant: Consolidator Grant
Project – X-STREAM – Power-to-X: STREAMing Hydrogen from 3-Band Solar Cells boosted with Photonic Management
Amount – 1.999.608 €
Project Duration – 2024-2028
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT


Principal Researcher – António Jacinto
Grant – Proof of Concept
Project – EMODI – Epithelial resistance modulation to treat disease
Amount – 147.500 €
Project Duration – 2016-2018
Academic Unit – NOVA Medical School

Principal Researcher – Isabel Maria Mercês Ferreira
Grant – Proof of Concept Grant
Project – Cellulose Aluminium Polymer multi-ions composite Solid-electrolyte (CAPSEL)
Amount – 150,000 €
Project Duration – 2018-2020
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT – Association for Research and Developement and Innovation (Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da NOVA)

Learn more here

Principal Researcher – Isabel Maria Mercês Ferreira
Grant – Proof of Concept Grant
Project – Integrated Solar Energy System (INSOLENSYS)
Amount – 150.000 €
Project Duration – 2021-2022
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT

Principal Researcher – Ana Cecília Roque
Grant – Proof of Concept Grant
Project – ENSURE: Non-invasive follow-up of urinary tract cancers
Amount – 150.000 €
Project Duration – 2022-2023
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT

Principal Researcher – Pedro Barquinha
Grant – Proof of Concept Grant
Project – FLETRAD: Flexible and transparent platform based on oxide transistors for detection and readout of ionizing radiation
Amount – 150.000 €
Project Duration – 2022-2024
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT

Principal Researcher – Ana Rita Duarte
Grant – Proof of Concept Grant
Project – CryoDES: Nature-inspired Cryopreservation Systems using Natural Deep Eutectic Systems
Amount – 150.000 €
Project Duration – 2022-2024
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT

Principal Researcher – Luís Nunes Pereira
Grant – Proof of Concept Grant
Project – EXCELL: CELLuloe nanocomposite separators for the nEXt generation of smart batteries
Amount – 150.000 €
Project Duration – 2023-2024
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT

Principal Researcher – Ana Rita Duarte
Grant – Proof of Concept Grant
Project – Improvita: Improve the shelf life of perishable goods through stabilization of vitamins
Amount – 150.000 €
Project Duration – 2023-2025
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT

Principal Researcher – Cristina Silva Pereira 
Grant – Proof of Concept Grant
Project – SNAIL: High performance hydrophobic suberin nanoparticles for the generation of liquid-air biphasic droplets with application in food and therapeutics
Amount – 150 000,00 €
Project Duration – 2024-2025
Academic Unit – ITQB NOVA

Learn more here

Principal Researcher – Ana Cecília Roque 
Grant – Proof of Concept Grant
Project – UNMASK: Unraveling Parkinson´s disease diagnostic
Amount – 150 000,00 €
Project Duration – 2024-2025
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT

Learn more here

Principal Researcher – Cristina Silva Pereira 
Grant – Proof of Concept Grant
Project – SNAIL: High performance hydrophobic suberin nanoparticles for the generation of liquid-air biphasic droplets with application in food and therapeutics
Amount – 150 000,00 €
Project Duration – 2024-2025
Academic Unit – ITQB NOVA

Principal Researcher – Cláudia Nunes dos Santos 
Grant – Proof of Concept Grant
Project – NEUROSHIELD: Novel small molecule attenuator of neuroinflammation in Parkinson’s Disease
Amount – 150 000,00 €
Project Duration – 2025-2026
Academic Unit – NOVA Medical School

Principal Researcher – Filipe Natálio  
Grant – Proof of Concept Grant
Project –BIODENIM: Bio-Engineered Dyeing Innovations for Sustainable Cotton Textiles
Amount – 150 000,00 €
Project Duration – 2025-2026
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT

 


Principal Researcher – Cristina Brito
Grant – Synergy Grant
Project – 4-OCEANS – Human History of Marine Life: Extraction, Knowledge, Drivers & Consumption of Marine Resources, c.100 BCE to c.1860 CE
Amount (for NOVA) – 1.796.858€
Project Duration – 2021-2026
Academic Unit – NOVA FCSH

Principal Researcher – Maria Helena Godinho
Grant – Synergy Grant
Project – ALCEMIST – Atypical Liquid Crystal Elastomers: from Materials Innovation to Scalable processing and Transformative applications
Amount (for NOVA) – 2.300.000€
Project Duration – 2025-2029
Academic Unit – NOVA FCT