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Two Utrecht researchers will receive an this year. The European Union awards this grant of 2 million euros on average to researchers who have earned their spurs in science. The Utrecht researchers receiving a grant for their research are both part of the Faculty of Science. Martijn Kool and Tzviya Zeev Ben Mordehai can use the grant to conduct five years of research, together with a research group.

About the research projects

Enumerative geometry of surfaces in Calabi-Yau 4-folds

I expect this project will provide bridges between several previously unrelated areas of mathematics and physics.

Martijn Kool is Associate Professor in Mathematics. He will use his ERC Consolidator Grant (1.87 million euros) in project FourSurf to investigate an unexplored area in algebraic geometry: the enumerative geometry of surfaces in Calabi-Yau 4-folds. Kool: "This research is fundamental in nature, but there are surprising connections with other areas of mathematics as well as physical phenomena, such as Hodge theory string theory. I expect this project will provide bridges between several previously unrelated areas of mathematics and physics.

Opening new frontiers in understanding infertility

This ERC project will open new frontiers in understanding infertility

Structural Biologist Tzviya Zeev-Ben-Mordehai receives an ERC Consolidator grant of 2 million euros for her project GettinginShape. This project aims to provide a molecular understanding of how sperm transitions from round precursor cells called spermatids into motile sperm.

Sperm are highly specialised cells with a unique structure that has been optimised for efficient delivery of the male genetic material. Sperm morphological defects are often observed in infertility, and male infertility is on the rise globally. This ERC project has the potential of high impact and is very timely, says Zeev-Ben-Mordehai.

“Diagnostics and interventions are built on fundamental molecular understanding, and this also holds true in the case of infertility. This ERC project will provide the required basic knowledge, thus opening new frontiers in understanding infertility.”