The results of the 2022 European Research Council (ERC) Starting grant call (call deadline 13 January  2022) were published. Starting Grants are open to researchers with 2-7 years of experience since completion of PhD (extensions are possible under certain documented circumstances), a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal. Of the 2932 submitted proposals 408 researchers received an ERC Starting grant including fifteen researchers based at Flemish host institutions:

• Nick Bultinck, Universiteit Gent, “SIESS - Strongly interacting electrons in synthetic superlattices”, evaluation panel Physical Sciences and Engineering 3
• Emilie Caspar, Universiteit Gent, “DISOBEY - The Disobedient Brain: The social neuroscience of non-compliance to immoral orders” evaluation panel Social Sciences and Humanities 4
• Nuria Codina, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, “COLLAB - Making Migrant Voices Heard through Literature: How Collaboration is Changing the Cultural Field” evaluation panel Social Sciences and Humanities 5
• Samuel Coghe, Universiteit Gent, “CATTLEFRONTIERS - (Post)Colonial Cattle Frontiers: Capitalism, Science and Empire in Southern and Central Africa, 1890s-1970s” evaluation panel Social Sciences and Humanities 6
• Caroline De Tender, Universiteit Gent, “MiCoS - Microplastic contamination in agricultural soil ecosystems and the effect on soil and plant health” evaluation panel Life Sciences 9
• Pieter Geiregat, Universiteit Gent, “NOMISS - Nanomaterials for Infrared Silicon Photonics” evaluation panel Physical Sciences and Engineering 4
• Benjamin Gorissen, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, “ILUMIS - Interactive Fluidic State Machines for Soft Robotics” evaluation panel Physical Sciences and Engineering 8
• Benoit Henriet, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, “FORAGENCY - Foraging, Fishing and Hunting as Agency in Colonial Central Africa (c. 1885 - c. 1960)” evaluation panel Social Sciences and Humanities 6
• Gillian Mathys, Universiteit Gent, “VIOLENCE WORK - Violence work: Creating and Contesting Colonial Authority on the Ground in Africa through Everyday Violence” evaluation panel Social Sciences and Humanities 6
• Félix Sauvage, Universiteit Gent, “DYE-LIGHT - Pulsed Laser Light and Nano-encapsulated Ocular Dyes for Advanced Therapies in the Eye” evaluation panel Life Sciences 7
• Ruben Van Coile, Universiteit Gent, “AFireTest - Adaptive Fire Testing: A new foundation stone for fire safety” evaluation panel Physical Sciences and Engineering 8
• Kasper Van Gasse, Universiteit Gent, “LASIQ - Photonic Laser Integration for Metrology and Quantum Systems” evaluation panel Physical Sciences and Engineering 7
• Koenraad Van Meerbeek, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, “FutureNature - Shaping functional ecosystems of the future” evaluation panel Life Sciences 8
• Nicky Wybouw, Universiteit Gent, “HYBRIPEST - Unravelling the molecular-genetic underpinnings of hybrid defects in agricultural pests” evaluation panel Life Sciences 9
• Xing Yang, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, “IonFracMem - Enabling Targeted Fractionation of Ions via Facilitated Transport Membranes” evaluation panel Physical Sciences and Engineering 8

Background on the evaluation results, projects and teams can be found in the press releases from ERCEA, Universiteit Gent and KU Leuven