Paulo Rocha and Bárbara Gomes, scientists from the University of Coimbra (UC), have just been awarded Starting Grants of four million euros by the European Research Council (ERC).
Paulo Rocha, from the Centre for Functional Ecology of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC), will receive 2.2 million euros to complete the project "Green - Generating Energy from Electroactive Algae", which aims to generate clean and sustainable energy through communication between algae.
According to the researcher, this five-year project "aims to develop a new, low-cost source of clean energy to significantly reduce electricity costs, fossil fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions".
Bárbara Gomes, Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra (FMUC), has been awarded €1.8 million to carry out an innovative study on citizens' experiences of where they would prefer to die and where they actually die, entitled 'EOLinPLACE - Choice of where we die'. The research will be carried out in four countries with different realities - Portugal, the Netherlands, Uganda and the United States.
The European Research Council (ERC) was established by the European Union (EU) in 2007 to fund outstanding researchers. The "ERC Starting Grants" are aimed at early career researchers and allow them to set up research groups and develop projects in different scientific fields.
Translation by Diana Taborda