Prestigious support for CUI scientist Dr. Melanie Schnell: As the ERC announced, the scientist at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) will receive funding to the amount of € 1.499 million. Supported by the ERC Starting Grant she will start her project “ASTROROT”. It aims at combining broadband microwave spectroscopy and observation data from next generation telescope arrays, to investigate chemical processes in the universe. One of the main goals is to discover new classes of molecules in space which contribute to a better understanding of astrochemical reactions.
With the annually awarded and highly coveted Starting Grants, the European Research Council recognizes and fosters young scientists at the beginning of their independent career. They need to have already proven their excellence in conducting research, and their activities shall promise to open novel prospects. The financial support enables them to build up their own research group and/or to expand their fields of research. For a period of five years, the scientists may pursue a specific project at a research institution of their choice. Per project, the ERC allocates a budget of up to € 1.5 million, in some circumstances up to € 2 million.
Since October 2010, Melanie Schnell is heading one of the independent research groups of the Max Planck Society. At the same time, she is a lecturer at the Leibniz Universität Hannover, and a project leader within CUI. Together with her team of junior researchers, she devotes her work at the MPSD to study the “Structure and Dynamics of Cold and Controlled Molecules”. In addition to Dr. Melanie Schnell, Dr. Sebastion Loth and Francesca Calegari currently working at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter(MPSD) will receive ERC Starting Grants.