Top European grants to the University of Bergen
Associate Professor Marc Vaudel and Professor Linda Gröning at the University of Bergen have each been awarded a prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant.
Main content
With this, Vaudel and Gröning will each receive around 23 million NOK to establish research groups that will, over the next five years, work on groundbreaking projects with significant societal benefits.
"I am very pleased that two of our researchers have succeeded in the strong international competition for the ERC Consolidator Grant. My warmest congratulations to Marc Vaudel, Linda Gröning, and their academic environments at the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Law. Both have succeeded with original projects that have great potential to make an important difference for both individuals and society," UiB Rector Margareth Hagen says.
Early pregnancy
Marc Vaudel is a researcher at the Department of Clinical Science at the Faculty of Medicine. His research mainly looks at women's pregnancies, symptoms and complications during pregnancy, as well as what controls both the mother's and the fetus's genetic material.
Through advanced computer modeling, he wants to find out more about women's symptoms early in pregnancy. The symptoms can provide important information about the mother's risk of cardiovascular disease later in life.
- It’s a topic that is understudied, where women report not being listened to and not receiving adapted care. Thanks to support from the European Research Council, we now have a unique opportunity to change this, says Vaudel.
The support from the ERC is about € 2 million spread over five years. Vaudel says that the grant will be used to run a large and in-depth analysis of hormone levels during pregnancy.
- We want to link the symptoms reported by the mothers directly to the health of the mother and child later in life. The support means that we can now establish new knowledge directly actionable in antenatal and perinatal care, so that women and their families receive the support they deserve.
"Important recognition"
Vice-Dean of Research at the Faculty of Medicine, Marit Bakke, says it’s great news that Vaudel has been awarded the ERC Consolidator Grant in life sciences.
"This is an impressive achievement that shows the weight of Marc's research. This grant both strengthens our faculty and promotes Norwegian research in the international arena".
Dean Per Bakke comments the award is an important recognition of Marc Vaudel's research and an important step in the career of a young and talented researcher.
"There is fierce competition for these grants. We have every reason to congratulate him", says Bakke.
Mental Disorders in Criminal Law
As a recipient of an ERC Consolidator Grant, Professor Linda Gröning will lead a groundbreaking project that aims to advance our understanding of law’s associations between criminal insanity and mental disorders.
The research project COMPLEX will last for five years and collect data from 20 countries. The project is interdisciplinary and includes perspectives from psychology, medicine, and philosophy in addition to law.
"COMPLEX is a highly ambitious project that can only be realised with the type of resources an ERC grant provides" Gröning says.
The ambition is to provide a new theoretical framework for understanding mental disorders in criminal law. COMPLEX has the potential to challenge current paradigms and have major implications for both science and society.
"Norway is one of the most resource-rich countries globally, yet we still face substantial challenges in this field. We also know that in many other countries, the problems are even greater. It motivates me that here in Norway, based on the strong academic community at the University of Bergen, we can take the lead in developing knowledge in this area" says the law professor.
First ERC Grant to the Faculty of Law
Dean Karl Harald Søvig is very impressed with the work that Gröning has done to build an internationally leading research environment at the faculty, related to criminal responsibility and accountability. Gröning is the first recipient of an ERC grant at the Faculty of Law, and she is also the first legal scholar in Norway to be awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant.
"The faculty is very pleased with this award. It is a recognition of research at a high European level. Congratulations to Gröning and the many people she has worked with to bring this project to fruition," says Søvig.
ERC Researcher to UiB
Project leader Laura Feldt from the University of Southern Denmark has also been awarded the ERC Consolidator Grant for the project RADHEART (Radical Habits of the Heart, Embodiment and Strong, Individual Commitment in Ancient Radical Religion).
Feldt has recently been appointed as an associate professor at AKHR, the Faculty of Humanities, and will start in the position in February. She will then bring her ERC project to the University of Bergen.
Rector Margareth Hagen is pleased that UiB attracts other outstanding researchers with ERC projects.
"I look forward to get to know Laura Feldt’s research when she arrives in Bergen in February. I am confident that Feldt will be warmly welcomed at the Faculty of Humanities," she says.
At the SapienCE Centre at UiB, there is also joy following today’s funding from ERC. Dr. Margit H. Simon has been awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant to lead groundbreaking studies on how climate and environment have influenced human development.
Dr. Simon is a climate researcher at NORCE, the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, and SapienCE.
