University of Amsterdam researchers awarded ERC grants Six scientists in the Netherlands have clinched European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grants, each worth EUR 2.5 million. The University of Amsterdam researchers received the grants on the basis of their scientific excellence with respect to their skills and research propos... Six scientists in the Netherlands have clinched European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grants, each worth EUR 2.5 million. The University of Amsterdam researchers received the grants on the basis of their scientific excellence with respect to their skills and research proposals. Of the six researchers, three are from the university's Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR): Marlies Glasius, Anita Hardon and Annelies Moors. The other three, Has Caswell, Gerard Muijzer and André de Roos, will carry out their research at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED). It should be noted that it is very rare for three Advanced Grants to be given to one research institute, and it is even rarer for these grants to be awarded to two separate university institutes. Dr Glasius will examine the effect of the globalisation of information and communication, association and people movements in authoritative regimes. For example, the recent series of uprisings in the Arab world indicates that people do not have a great deal of understanding about the nature and the sustainability of contemporary authoritarian regimes. Access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) and media, the role of international non-governmental organisations, and a rise in the supply and outflow of people have also raised questions about how citizens are controlled. Dr Hardon will investigate the use of chemical and pharmaceutical compounds by young people, from the perspective of young people themselves. While the majority of current studies of chemical use among the youth target the abuse of specific recreational drugs and their influence of deviant youth sub-cultures, Dr Hardon's research, will focus on the pervasive use of chemicals from the perspectives of youths. Dr Moors' work, meanwhile, will evaluate new forms of Muslim marriages, such as those that are unregistered, temporary and visiting (i.e. of couples not living together). Dr Caswell will look at individual stochasticity (randomness) and population heterogeneity in the demography of plants and animals. Dr Muijzer will investigate the diversity, physiology and ecological role of sulphur bacteria in soda lakes. Dr de Roos, for his part, will probe the eco-evolutionary dynamics of ontogenetic asymmetry and complex life cycles. The ERC Advanced Grants help promote high-quality and pioneering research in Europe by providing key funding for scientists and their projects. Of particular importance are projects that are interdisciplinary in nature and that explore ideas in new fields of research.For more information, please visit: European Research Council (ERC):http://erc.europa.eu/University of Amsterdam:http://www.uva.nl/en Countries Netherlands
