Alumni Spotlight presents outstanding research achievements and special awards received by members of the Alumni Club and the Medical University of Vienna. In this issue of Alumni Spotlight, the focus is once again on research projects that have been awarded an ERC grant.

Three distinguished researchers from MedUni Vienna – Adam Gosztolai, Conrad Merkle, and Christoph Bock – will present their innovative projects, made possible through research funding from the European Commission. In the following discussion, they will delve into the challenges of submitting a proposal, key factors to consider, and the critical role of international networks. Harald Sitte will then provide some insights into the review process behind the ERC Grants. The event will be moderated by Vice-Rector Michaela Fritz.

We look forward to your registration at our landing page with registration form or at anmeldung-alumni-club@meduniwien.ac.at 

 


Adam Gosztolai, research group leader at MedUni Vienna's Institute of Artificial Intelligence, has been awarded a "Starting Grant" from the European Research Council (ERC) with funding of EUR 1.5 million over five years. The aim of the "NEURO-FUSE" project is to develop a mathematical theory that combines recordings of individual neurons throughout the brain into a unified model that can predict global brain states.




Conrad Merkle, principal investigator at MedUni Vienna’s Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, has been awarded a “Starting Grant” from the European Research Council (ERC) with funding of EUR1.5 million over five years for his project “Total Optical Coherence Characterization for Automated Tumor Analysis” or TOCCATA. The TOCCATA project aims to develop new medical imaging technology to better characterize tumor tissue samples with the goal of improving personalised medicine.


Christoph Bock, principal Investigator at CeMM and Professor for Medical Informatics at the Medical University of Vienna, receives a prestigious and well-endowed ERC Consolidator Grant of the European Research Council. Christoph Bock and his research team receive funding worth EUR 2 million for a period of five years to pursue a highly ambitious biomedical research project which will focus on the epigenetic regulation in CAR T cell therapy – an important but underappreciated aspect of cell-based therapies. This is his second ERC grant after receiving an ERC Starting Grant in 2016.



Harald Sitte, Professor of Psychopharmacology at the Institute of Pharmacology of the MedUni Vienna, and president of the Alumni Club of the MedUni Vienna. His research focuses are neurotransmitter transporters and psychostimulant drugs. He founded the Center for Addiction Research (AddResS), which is dedicated to research and information in the field of substance use disorders. Since this year, Harald Sitte has been a member of the ERC starting grant panel for the European Commission.


 

Programme

6.00 – 6.10 pm
Welcome and Introduction
Harald Sitte, President MedUni Vienna Alumni Club
Michaela Fritz, Vice-Rector of the MedUni Vienna
     
6.10 – 7.20 pm
Presentations

Adam Gosztolai - NEURO-FUSE
ERC Starting Grant

Conrad Merkle - Total Optical Coherence Characterization for Automated Tumor Analysis" (TOCCATA)
ERC Starting Grant

Christoph Bock - Understanding and engineering cell states for personalized immunotherapy
Consolidator Grant

Harald Sitte – A brief look at the other side – the review panel view
     

7.20 – 8.00 pm
Discussion
Moderator: Michaela Fritz

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