Two new ERC Advanced Grants go to Norwegian researchers:
ERC grants for studies of global crises and Arctic conditions
Two more Norwegian researchers have earned Advanced Grants from the European Research Council (ERC). Professor Thomas Hylland Eriksen will receive funding for his research project on global crises, while Professor David G. Anderson has been granted funding for his research on the relationship between animals and humans in the Arctic.
This means that four of the six Norwegian finalists in this year’s competition for funding from the EU’s open arena for established researchers have succeeded in earning a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant. The winners can look forward to five years of EU funding.
Even greater ambitions
Thomas Hylland Eriksen is the recipient of an ERC Advanced Grant in the domain of Social Sciences and Humanities. (Photo: Ram Gupta/UiO)
“The Norwegian success rate in this year’s grant allocations was 16 per cent. The average for all countries was roughly 13 per cent, so we are pleased,” says Anders Hanneborg, Executive Director of the Division for Science at the Research Council of Norway. “But our ambitions should not stop there.”
Only 25 Norwegian researchers applied for ERC Advanced Grants this year, and just six made it to the final round. We can do even better, says Mr Hanneborg, pointing out that last year seven Norwegian researchers won ERC Advanced Grants.
The amounts awarded under the newest ERC Advanced Grants have not yet been set, but in previous years the individual grants have totalled NOK 15 to 20 million over five years.
Hot planet
Entitled “Overheating”, Professor Hylland Eriksen’s project will examine three major global crises in the spheres of business and finance, culture and identity, and climate and the environment. The project will study these crises in a global context to see how different countries deal with them.
The project objective is nothing short of a history of the 21st century. “A contemporary history of globalisation,” explains Professor Hylland Eriksen of the University of Oslo.
David G. Anderson has been granted an ERC Advanced Grant to research the relationships between people and animals in the Arctic. (Photo: UiT)
Animals and humans in the Arctic
Professor David G. Anderson of the University of Tromsø has gotten the green light for his project “Arctic Domestication: A Renewed Model of Human-Animal Relationships in the North”. Researchers will study the relationship between animals and people in the Arctic region.
The objective is to develop a new model that includes the influence of human-animal relationships in shaping human history, from the perspectives of archaeology, social anthropology, history and social science.
The project will focus on seven geographical areas of the Arctic, from Russia to Canada, where researchers will study the synergies between hunters and gatherers, fishermen and farmers and reindeer, dogs and salmon. According to the project description, this will enable the researchers to learn more about the complex, subtle socio-ecological relationships between animals and humans, how they interact within the cultural landscape, and the evolution of an ecological strategy.
Other Norwegian recipients of ERC Advanced Grants in 2011
Professor Pål Rasmus Njølstad of the University of Bergen and Professor Mats Carlsson of the University of Oslo each were awarded ERC Advanced Grants earlier this year for their research on child diabetes and theoretical astrophysics, respectively.
- Published:
- 05.12.2011
- Last updated:
- 05.12.2011
