The following scientists of the Rhine-Main-Universities receive the ERC Consolidator Grant:

• Prof. Dr. Dorothee Dormann (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) for her research on protein aggregates that are linked to neurodegenerative diseases,
• Prof. Dr. Shuqing Xu (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) for his research on real-time (co)evolution in a multitrophic community under current and future climates,
• Prof. Dr. Sebastian Erdweg (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) for his research on Automatic Incremental Computing,
• Dr. Christian Münch (Goethe University Frankfurt) for his research on a mechanism which was discovered by him and which the cell uses to operate its recycling system,
• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Schneider (TU Darmstadt) for his research on tools for the automatic generation of software that protects personal data and functions, and
• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Graeff (TU Darmstadt) for a GSI research project to improve tumor therapy.

On behalf of the European Union, the European Research Council (ERC) promotes excellent basic research in Europe on the basis of scientific excellence and innovation potential. The ERC Consolidator Grants support excellent scientists in consolidating their independent research. The funding volume is up to two million euros for five years.

With the ERC Consolidator Grant, the European Research Council (ERC) promotes excellent scientists over a period of 7 to 12 years in their postdoctoral phase. In addition to proving their excellence in their respective field of science, applicants must also demonstrate the groundbreaking nature of their approach and its feasibility in order to be awarded funding for a period of five years.