THREE academics from Glasgow University have been awarded more than €4.7m (£4.07m) from the European Research Council Starting Grant scheme.
The trio are among 408 researchers who have been awarded ERC Starting Grants which aim to help top younger scientists form teams and pursue ideas.
Dr Suzannah Rihn, Dr Lorenza Fontana and Dr Anna de Jong have been awarded cash to further their research into new coronaviruses, the wildfires emergency in the global south and the impacts of tourism.
Virologist Dr Rihn, from the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Virus Research, has been awarded €1.9m to improve understanding of how new coronaviruses may be able to transmit between rodents and humans in the future.
Her research will focus on answering questions about the potential for future coronaviruses from animals to cross over into humans.
Currently, seven coronaviruses are known to have widely circulated in humans and although some of these viruses, like SARS-CoV-2, are thought to have originated in bats, there are others that are believed to have rodent origins.
Dr Rihn said: “Our research will seek to improve the world’s understanding of the potential for a new coronavirus transmission between rodents and humans.
“Ultimately, we hope this work can improve preparedness, and efforts to help prevent another devastating pandemic. I’m very grateful to the ERC for this funding and look forward to using our work to improve our understanding of how coronaviruses emerge in the human population.”
Dr Lorenza Fontana, from the School of Social and Political Sciences and senior lecturer in International Relations, has been awarded €1.5m to carry out a cross-continental study of the political drivers of wildfires, focusing on the global south.
Extreme wildfires are increasingly becoming a pressing issue and have been on the rise across the world due to climate change.
Dr Fontana’s research aims to deliver new framework to help understand and explain the connections between politics and wildfires, at a time when wildfires have been identified as a socio-ecological challenge within the global climate emergency.
Dr Fontana said: “The likelihood and extent of extreme fires are increasing worldwide. This project will be a timely contribution to understand and explain how politics, broadly defined, shape wildfires and vice versa.
“I am grateful to the ERC for this opportunity, and I look forward to working alongside my team to generate novel findings that will be instrumental in crafting alternative pathways for the sustainable and equitable management of wildfires, notably within the global climate debate and action plans.”
The third recipient of the grant was Dr de Jong, from the School of Interdisciplinary, who has been awarded €1.3m to carry out the JUST TOUR project, which aims to increase knowledge of the impacts of tourism development on residents.
Mass tourism can result in industrial and population decline, which can in turn lead to a lack of attractive employment opportunities, skill shortages, underinvestment, as well as youth drain.
The research will focus on capturing the decision-making process involved in developing tourism across the UK and the EU and the effects it has on residents.
Dr de Jong, who is also a senior lecturer in tourism, said: “This research hopes to bring attention to the injustices experienced by residents in tourism-dominant regions and will also work to develop solutions to these injustices.
“I’m incredibly grateful to the ERC for funding this research, and I cannot wait to begin working on the project.”
The ERC starting grant is open to researchers of any nationality who have two to seven years of experience since completing their PHD, and who also have a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal.
