Hebrew U. researchers awarded research grants totaling over 6 million EUR

The winners were chosen after having demonstrated excellent, ground-breaking research ideas, as well as having displayed proven potential to establish independent research careers and to become world leaders in their chosen fields.

Vice president for research and development at the Hebrew University, Prof. Hillel Bercovier, said, “The research grants are international recognition of the high level of valued research conducted at the Hebrew University. I am proud to see that this year too, a high number of researchers were awarded these research grants.”

The research grants are awarded to researchers by the European Research Council (ERC) – a research funding body established under the EU's 7th Framework Program two years ago, designed to enable young researchers from different scientific fields to advance their research careers and to establish themselves as independent, leading researchers in their fields.

300 scientists were chosen out of 2,502 applicants who had completed their doctorates between three and eight years ago. Altogether, 13 researchers from Israel received research grants, five of them from the Hebrew University. Israel was one of 24 countries whose researchers submitted applications to this research grant. Last year, six researchers from the Hebrew University were also awarded with the research grant.

The five Hebrew University winners and their research projects are:

Dr. Yaakov (Koby) Nahmias from the Benin School of Computer Science and Engineering, for his research on microfabrication-based rational design of transcriptional-metabolic intervention for the treatment of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

Dr. Noam Berger from the Einstein Institute of Mathematics, for his research project to improve the methods of study of processes of random motion in an irregular medium.

Dr. Edit Tshuva from the Institute of Chemistry, for her research on sophisticated well-targeted therapeutic entities based on biologically compatible Ti(IV) active cores and building blocks”

Dr. Eran Sharon from the Racah Institute of Physics, for his research on growth and shaping of soft tissue.

Dr. Ariel Knafo from the psychology department, for his research on 'from the child's genes to parental environment and back to the child': gene-environment correlations in early social development.