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Antonio M. Echavarren receives an ERC Advanced Grant

‘The ERC Advanced Grant funding targets researchers who have already established themselves as independent research leaders in their own right.’- is written at the ERC Advanced Grants web-site.

Professor Antonio M. Echavarren, group leader and vice-director for academic affairs at ICIQ, has been awarded with one of these very prestigious grants. The ERC grant involves a €2.5 million budget to spend over 5 years of research.‘This is one of the greatest satisfactions in my scientific career.’ -says Prof. Echavarren. ‘It is a recognition of both my personal efforts and the efforts of my current and former research groups formed by very talented and enthusiastic young researchers.’

Antonio M. Echavarren: An established reference in Gold Catalysis

Antonio M. Echavarren has established himself as a reference in gold catalysis. His research group has become a pioneer team in the advancement of this research line. Echavarren has played a major role in the development of gold homogeneous catalysis and this European award recognises it.

‘This ERC Advance Grant allows us to explore new areas of gold chemistry and to develop new reactions and catalysts that will lead to more ambitious synthetic targets, both in terms of molecular complexity and applications in materials chemistry’.

The research project has been qualified as being highly ambitious, pioneering and unconventional.

The Catalan institute of Chemical Research (ICIQ) counts with seven ERC

ICIQ is one of the most successful Spanish research institutions in percentage of European grants with two European Advanced Grants and five Starting Grants, a total of 7 ERC within the 18 research groups that form the research institute.

‘It is also a great personal satisfation to be able to contribute to the high level of excellence reached by all the research groups that work at ICIQ’ – says Echavarren. ‘This European reward also recognises the research work we have been able to develop at ICIQ over the last 8 years, in a research institute that aims at and promotes excellence in a encouraging and challenging scientific environment.’

According to Antonio M. Echavarren, this sort of European projects that evaluates researchers individually should serve as an inspirational model when it comes to science policy and R&D organisation in Spain.Tha national newspaper ‘El Mundo’ (Orbyt) published an article about this on Saturday, 24th November.