Two biologists, an engineer, a physicist and a health scientist from ETH Zurich have been awarded ERC Advanced Grants worth around 12 million euros. The researchers are among the first in Switzerland to receive this prestigious EU research funding after a hiatus of several years.
In brief
- Researchers at Swiss higher education institutions can again apply for the prestigious grants from the European Research Council ERC.
- This has been made possible by an agreement between Switzerland and the European Union.
- Of a total of 20 ERC Advanced Grants that have been awarded to researchers in Switzerland for the first time since early 2022, five have gone to professors at ETH Zurich.
Since just a few months ago, researchers in Switzerland have again been able to apply for the coveted and scientifically important ERC Grants and project coordination roles in the world's largest research funding programme Horizon Europe – as the European Union has opened up almost all calls for research funding to Switzerland.
For the first time in three-and-a-half years, researchers from ETH Zurich have been awarded Advanced Grants approved by the European Research Council ERC. Congratulations to Jacob Corn, Jér?me Faist, Mustafa Khammash, Ferdinand von Meyenn and Julia Vorholt. Through their ERC-funded projects, over CHF 11 million (around 12 million euros) will flow into ETH Zurich in the next few years.
ERC Advanced Grants are the highest standard for top-level research in Europe and a seal of quality for excellent science worldwide. After the breakdown of negotiations on the Framework Agreement between Switzerland and the EU in 2021, Switzerland was treated as a non-associated third country. Researchers based in Switzerland have therefore not been able to apply for the ERC Grants in recent years. As an interim arrangement, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) created the SNSF Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant and Advanced Grant on behalf of the Federal Council.
From associated partner to beneficiary
Although Switzerland is still not a fully associated member of the EU research and innovation programme, under the EU’s transitional arrangement the status of researchers in Switzerland has changed and they are now considered ‘beneficiaries’ and not ‘associated partners’ as before.
The beneficiary status means that researchers from Swiss universities can again participate in the European research programme as full and equal project partners, and apply for funding directly from the EU.
Agreement to be signed in late autumn
The Swiss Federal Council approved the EU Programme Agreement (EUPA) and the associated protocols in the fields of education, research, innovation and health on 9 April 2025. It allows Switzerland to take part retroactively from 1 January 2025 in programmes such as Horizon Europe, Euratom and Digital Europe. The agreement is due to be signed in November of this year, will enter into force after ratification, but can already be applied on a provisional basis.
The awarded funding was applied for from the EU but will continue to be paid by the federal government until the Agreement is signed. No grants can be paid out by the EU until the agreement is signed in November.
As an interim solution, these ERC-approved grants will be funded by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). Officially, ETH Zurich will have to reject the approved ERC grants and then apply for the funding from SERI. These projects will then receive the label ‘SERI-funded ERC Advanced Grant’.
Regardless of the exact name of the award and the precise route through which the funds are received, for the five successful ETH researchers, the grants constitute recognition of their work and give them the scope and flexibility they need to carry out their research.
The five award-winning projects
Jacob Corn is a professor of genome biology. His research involves developing and using techniques that allow genetic material to be modified in a targeted manner, such as CRISPR/Cas 'gene scissors'. However, when different cells are modified using the same tool, the outcome is often different between those cells. In his ERC project, he is investigating the reasons for this variability. To this end, his group will develop new methods to measure millions of cells simultaneously how different DNA editing tools affect the outcome of genome editing and which genes control this process. His aim is to improve our understanding of how cell type and state influence genome editing tools. He then intends to use this knowledge to develop more precise and effective genome editing tools for use in research, biotechnology and medicine.
Jér?me Faist is a professor at the Institute of Quantum Electronics and researches how light and electrons can be manipulated in tiny semiconductor structures – for example, to make new quantum phenomena visible or to develop light sources in the infrared range. In his second ERC Advanced project, he is investigating how the enhancement and shaping of vacuum fluctuation in dedicated terahertz resonators – tiny optical cavities – can influence the behaviour of electrons in solids. To do this, special resonators will be fabricated and coupled to engineered two-dimensional electron gas. Faist wants to use the electric fields generated by vacuum fluctuations in the resonators to create novel interactions between electrons. This should enable exotic quantum states to be controlled and stabilised in an orderly manner. In the long term, the researcher wants to use the light fields to generate superconducting states solely through the effect of light.
ETH Zurich Professor Mustafa Khammash is developing artificial genetic control circuits for living cells. These cells act like tiny biological computers: they detect disease signals in the body and use built-in control algorithms to autonomously produce therapeutic molecules at precisely the right doses. In his ERC project, Khammash aims to advance this field by using generative artificial intelligence and other methods to design these genetic controllers. His goal is to apply the findings to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease marked by chronic joint inflammation. Khammash plans to engineer immune cells that can recognize inflammatory signals and respond by producing just enough antibody to reduce pro-inflammatory messengers, thereby alleviating symptoms without compromising the body’s ability to fight infection.
ETH Zurich Professor Ferdinand von Meyenn is investigating how environmental factors, nutrition and metabolic processes leave epigenetic traces in human cells. These are molecular changes that influence gene activity without altering the DNA sequence. They play a role in metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. In his ERC project, von Meyenn will develop methods to specifically modify epigenetic traces in cells. To this end, he will use antibody-like molecules to guide the body's own epigenetically active enzymes to the desired location on the DNA. The research will contribute to the development of therapies that correct epigenetic dysregulation in diseases such as diabetes and obesity.
Julia Vorholt, Professor of Microbiology, has been awarded her third ERC Advanced Grant. She investigates the molecular mechanisms of microbial interactions and metabolic processes using a combination of approaches from the fields of engineering, experimental evolution and biochemistry. In her ERC project, she will explore the emergence of endosymbiosis, a process central to the evolution of complex life. Endosymbiosis is a unique form of life, whereby a microbe is taken up by a host or invades it and continues to live within it. Vorholt will develop new technologies that allow for the controlled introduction of cells into other cells, thereby initiating and studying endosymbiosis prospectively. This approach opens up new avenues via which to understand fundamental biological processes and biotechnological applications.