ERC grants for five researchers from Uppsala University

The five researchers at Uppsala University receiving ERC Advanced Grants are:

Eszter Borbas, Professor of Synthetic Molecular Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry – Ångström Laboratory has been awarded EUR 2.5 million, equivalent to approximately SEK 27.2 million, over five years for the project “Reimagining the nitrogen economy with lanthanide photocatalysts”.

The project aims to develop new ways of using nitrogen in synthesis to find alternatives to the Haber-Bosch process, which is currently the dominant method for industrial conversion of nitrogen to ammonia. Ammonia is needed in manufacturing pharmaceuticals, plastics, explosives and in particular artificial fertilisers. A great disadvantage of the Haber-Bosch process is that it results in large carbon dioxide emissions.

Metals can catalyse nitrogen fixation.

Borbas’s research group has recently discovered that a group of metals known as lanthanides can catalyse nitrogen fixation. The ERC grant will enable them to explore the potential of these new catalysts both for the synthesis of ammonia and for direct conversion of nitrogen into fertilisers and other nitrogen compounds.

Dan I. Andersson, Professor of Medical Bacteriology at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, is awarded EUR 2.5 million, equivalent to approximately SEK 27.2 million, over five years for the project “Evolution of heteroresistance”.

The project focuses on heteroresistance, a type of resistance that is common in many types of bacteria and various types of antibiotics. It means that a small proportion of a population of bacteria cells is resistant to antibiotics. During a course of antibiotics, rapid growth of resistant bacteria may then occur, as a result of which the treatment fails. Discovering the resistant cells is difficult because they are so unusual. Moreover, the resistance is genetically unstable, which means that resistant bacteria can rapidly mutate and become sensitive to antibiotics. This makes it difficult for the laboratory and the physician to choose the right antibiotic.

Investigate how heteroresistance arises

In the project, Dan I. Andersson and his research group will now investigate how heteroresistance arises, and how it can accelerate the development of stable resistance and increase the horizontal transfer of resistance genes.

“Our work is expected to lead to improved treatment methods and diagnostic methods, which will ultimately reduce death and sickness among patients and society’s costs for healthcare,” says Andersson.

Katja Petzold, Professor at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, is awarded EUR 2.5 million, equivalent to SEK 27.2 million, over five years for the project “DynaMech”.

In the project, the researchers will investigate how RNA molecules that carry and implement genetic instructions behave inside living cells. The shape of the molecules changes constantly depending on their environment, and this in turn affects their function. One hypothesis is that these changes of shape help the cells react quickly to stress, infections or changes in their environment. The RNA molecules also steer fundamental processes – from gene silencing to the replication of viruses like HIV.

Shapes of RNA molecules inside living cells

In the project, the researchers will now seek answers to the question of which shapes RNA molecules assume inside a living cell and what determines this.

“To find this out, we are using groundbreaking techniques, including NMR spectroscopy – essentially a form of magnetic camera for molecules – to directly observe RNA inside human cells and bacteria cells. The answers could open up completely new ways to develop drugs that lock RNA in inactive forms, for example in cancer cells or drug-resistant bacteria,” says Petzold.

Lisa Hultman, Professor of Peace and Conflict Research at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research and Director of the Alva Myrdal Centre for Nuclear Disarmament, has been awarded EUR 2.5 million, equivalent to SEK 27.2 million, over five years for the project “The International Politics of War Crimes”.

The purpose is to study the relationship between politics and war crimes, since international humanitarian law is essentially a political agreement.

A global database of potential war crimes

In the project, the researchers will first create a global database of potential war crimes based on media reports and international organisations. These data will then be used to study questions such as which types of war crimes receive most political and legal attention, how other states respond to accusations of war crimes (by punishment or leniency) and whether these ways of acting in turn influence compliance with the laws of war.

Valbona Muzaka, Professor at the Department of Economic History, has been awarded EUR 1,280,075, equivalent to SEK 14 million, over three years for the project “Transforming Global Health Issues into Financial Assets”.

The project will investigate what happens when global public health issues become the next area of investment for private finance.

Global societal challenges today are increasingly addressed with financing from private investors who expect returns. Global health goals were one of the first areas where this development took off. When profit-making capital becomes part of financing, however, this influences not only how measures are implemented but also which goals receive priority and how they are designed.

Global health issues converted into investment opportunities

Focusing on six case studies, the project investigates how particular global health issues are converted into investment opportunities. To attract private funding, health initiatives must be adapted to investors’ demands regarding risk and returns, which has consequences for future priorities and global health policies.

“As private financing is increasingly presented as being necessary to meet global health challenges, it is becoming increasingly important to scrutinise these new financing models, their costs and their impact on democratic accountability,” says Muzaka.

Åsa Malmberg