One more ERC Starting Grant project for Cyprus!
The Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF), would like to congratulate Dr Fotios Mpekris, post-doctoral researcher in the Cancer Biophysics Laboratory of the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering of the University of Cyprus, that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC), under the ERC Starting Grant (ERC StG) 2022. This is the second project funded under this call and the 30th ERC project overall for Cyprus.
The project, entitled «Mechano-modulation of tumor microenvironment with mechanotherapeutics and sonopermeation to optimize nano-immunotherapy» with acronym MMSCancer, aims to use non-invasive methods to optimize the perfusion of cancerous tumors, which in relation to the surrounding tissue may be reduced due to the compression of their blood vessels. Successful completion of the project will evolve this strategy as a cancer specific, non-invasive, and cost-effective breakthrough therapy and will make the results of the research immediately transferable to the clinical stage as the proposed agents and methods are clinically improved.
The ERC Starting Grants support excellent researchers with 2-7 years of experience after their PhD, that would like to implement ground-breaking, frontier research projects. The funding can reach €1,5 m. for up to 5 years, with the possibility for an additional €1m. The only evaluation criterion of ERC is scientific excellence. The deadline for the next ERC StG call is 24 October 2023 and more information will be provided in an online info-day co-organised by RIF and ERC for Cyprus on 11 July 2023.
The RIF can support researchers interested in submitting ERC proposals with a Host Institution in Cyprus, via proposal screening services, access to the ERC Mentoring Initiative and the ERC Visiting Research Fellowship scheme, interview training and mock interviews and other services. For more information contact the ERC National Contact Points in Cyprus: Katerina Karakasidou Malla, [email protected], tel. 22205036 and Ioannis Theodorou, [email protected], tel. 22205038.