Southampton scientists win prestigious European research grants

Researchers from the University of Southampton have won European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grants totalling more than €12 million.

Professor Lajos Hanzo, from Electronics and Computer Science (ECS), and Professors Peter Kazansky and Nikolay Zheludev, from the Optoelectronics Research Centre, have raised over €7.5 million for pioneering research in the Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering as three of five funding awards at the University.

It is the second time that Lajos has won an ERC Advanced Grant, joining an esteemed group of only 29 other UK researchers to have accomplished this in the last 10 years.

He has successfully bid for €2.49 million for his QuantCom research project, which aims to solve part of the ‘quantum jigsaw puzzle’ and contribute to the conception of the wireless Quantum Internet, or Qinternet, conceived for seamless high-speed connectivity across the globe at uncompromised security.

Lajos, Head of the Next Generation Wireless Research Group, says, “It is a humbling experience to contribute to this new wave of frontier research, which would not have been possible without the closely-knit collaboration with my much valued colleagues in ECS.”

Professor Peter Kazansky has been awarded €2.5 million for his project entitled ENIGMA (ENgIneerinG MAterial properties with advanced laser direct writing). The project will examine the interaction between intense ultra-short light pulses and matter at, or below, the wavelength scale, reaching states of matter found only deep in the cores of the Earth and other planets. Professor Nikolay Zheludev has been awarded €2.57 million for his FLEET (FLying ElectromagnEtic Toroids) project, which will study the generation, detection and interaction with matter of Flying Toroids, a type of light pulses never experimentally studied before.

Professor Bashir Al-Hashimi, Dean of Physical Sciences and Engineering, says, “ERC Advanced Grants are a prestigious and competitive source of funding and I’d like to congratulate Lajos, Peter and Nikolay on their excellent funding awards. This unprecedented success demonstrates the quality and breadth of research being led in our Departments as our researchers advance ground-breaking developments in their field.”

Professor Malcolm Levitt, from Southampton’s School of Chemistry, and Professor Tony Brown, from the School of Geography and Environment, have also received a combined €5.42 million for projects focusing on the use of use of ancient agricultural terraces and Enhanced Spectroscopy applications respectively.