Nobel Prize-sized EURYI awards go to 20 young researchers

Twenty young researchers will receive awards of up to €1.2 million in Helsinki on 27 September. They will be the last to benefit from the European Young Investigators Awards (EURYI), as the scheme will be replaced after four years. It was the aim of the award, supporte...

Twenty young researchers will receive awards of up to €1.2 million in Helsinki on 27 September. They will be the last to benefit from the European Young Investigators Awards (EURYI), as the scheme will be replaced after four years.

It was the aim of the award, supported by the European Commission's Sixth Framework programme (FP6), to attract outstanding young scientists from around the world to create their own research teams at European research centres.

The list of awardees this year includes researchers based in eight countries: the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. Their research ranges from new techniques to manipulate antimatter ('Precise laser and microwave spectroscopy of antimatter atoms - new techniques to manipulate antimatter', Dr Masaki Hori, Germany) to functional genomics in the domestic dog ('Disease gene mapping and functional genomics in the domestic dog', Dr Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Sweden).

The 20 candidates were chosen on the basis of their future potential and their academic and research excellence. There had been nearly 500 applications, which were first judged at national level. A high-level scientific panel finally selected the prize recipients at international level. This year's selection is at the same time the youngest - the average age is 33.1years - as well containing the highest percentage of women: as six women are among the winners.

'It has been amazing to witness how the EURYI scheme has evolved and become a force to be reckoned with in recognising young researchers' works by granting them Nobel Prize-scale funding,' said John Marks, chief executive of the European Science Foundation (ESF). 'It is also with mixed feeling to acknowledge this would be the last EURYI awards, at least in its present form.'

The award has been organised by the European Heads of Research Councils (EuroHORCs) and the ESF for the past four years. Now, it will be replaced by the new Starting Investigator Research Grant scheme under supervision of the European Research Council (ERC) and funded under FP7.