In this podcast we talk to scientists and scholars, explorers and discoverers who push the frontiers of knowledge. Occasionally, you’ll hear also from experts in science communication who share their secrets of how to make the important interesting. And don’t be surprised sometimes to get a useful tip on how to obtain our coveted grants.   

The European Research Council, set up by the European Union in 2007, is the premier European funding organisation for excellent frontier research. It funds creative researchers of any nationality and age, to run projects based across Europe. More about the ERC: https://erc.europa.eu/

Frontiers of Research

How do universities and research institutions communicate about science? Saman Musacchio https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanmusacchio/ is International Communications Manager at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)https://www.cnrs.fr . The CNRS is the largest research institution in Europe, with over 1000 labs and some 30,000 researchers (including many ERC grantees!). In this podcast interview, Saman shares his experiences as a science communicator, and explains how he and his colleagues promote the work of the CNRS around the world.

Science communication today - Interview with Saman Musacchio

In this episode, Professor Michael Kramer, a renowned radio astronomer and astrophysicist and Professor Alberto Sesana, a theoretical astrophysicist, talk about their recent detection of low-frequency gravitational waves. 
 
Tune in to hear about the latest breakthrough that opens up the possibilities for astrophysicists to understand fundamental questions about the origins and evolution of the universe, our existence and to what happened closer in time to the Big Bang. 
 
Michael Kramer, University of Manchester and Director at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
 
Alberto Sesana, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

New gravitational wave astronomy: black holes, the Big Bang and the early universe

What is important for researchers to have in mind when preparing an ERC grant application? What are the tips to follow and the pitfalls to avoid? Prof. Andrea Mattevi from the University of Pavia vividly narrates his experience both as being a chair in an ERC evaluation panel, and being an ERC grantee himself, explaining the intricate and, at the same time, intriguing journey of an ERC grant.

What does it take to chair an evaluation panel at the ERC? Bonus: tips for potential applicants

Electrical impulses that occur naturally in the heart could one day be used to detect and repair irregular heartbeats known as arrhythmias. In this episode, we speak with Daniël Pijnappels, Head of the Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology at Leiden University Medical Center. His research, funded by the ERC, aims to develop a completely new type of ‘biologically integrated cardiac defibrillator’ that would replace more invasive treatments, improve patients’ wellbeing, and save lives.

Helping the heart to heal itself

Professor Baroness Susan Greenfield, a renowned neuroscientist, talks about defeating Alzheimer’s, how digital tech affects children’s brains, and what drugs and alcohol do to our heads. Also, she shares her own uncommon career path and weights in on the question of women in science.

Drugs, alcohol and social media: The science of the brain

In conversation with Professor Michael Bruter on voter psychology and democracy
What goes through people’s minds when their vote? Should we be concerned about disinformation? Can technology help get out the vote? Michael Bruter is Professor of Political Science and European Politics at Department of Government of the London School of Economics and Political Science. On 24 January 2024 he delivered the 2024 STOA Annual Lecture at the European Parliament in Brussels.  He also sat with Tony Lockett, ERC’s head of communication, for a conversation on voters and democracy in the year in which Europeans and half of humanity will go to polls.

Inside the mind of a voter: Elections and democracy in times of political hostility

ERC_research