Imperial scientists win prestigious ERC Starting Grants for ambitious ideas

Two Imperial scientists have won prestigious European Research Council Starting Grants through the Horizon Europe funding programme. 

Starting Grants have been awarded to Dr Soheyla Feyzbakhsh from the Department of Mathematics and Dr Nicole Salomons from the Department of Computing. 

The extremely competitive grants recognise talented early-career scientists who show potential to be research leaders.  The funding – worth up to €1.5 million for a period of 5 years – helps the researchers to develop ambitious ideas, build their own teams and establish their independence at a pivotal stage in their careers. 
 
President of the European Research Council, Professor Maria Leptin, said: “The creativity and ambition of this new generation of grantees are inspiring.” 

Studying geometric spaces

Dr Soheyla Feyzbakhsh from the Department of Mathematics will use the ERC Starting Grant to develop new mathematical tools for studying geometric spaces.  
 
Her research applies ideas inspired by string theory to tackle long-standing problems in algebraic geometry, from understanding curves to higher-dimensional spaces and their connections with mathematical physics. 

Dr Feyzbakhsh said: “The ERC grant will provide the opportunity for me to develop an ambitious research programme, bringing together ideas from algebra, geometry and mathematical physics.” 

Transforming how robots engage with groups 

Dr Nicole Salomons, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computing, leads the RINGS project: Robots in Natural Group Settings.  
 
The RINGS project will transform how robots engage with groups, moving beyond one-to-one interactions toward natural, collective collaboration. It will create personalized models of group members, enable group-level decision making, and capture dynamics such as leadership, collaboration, and inclusion.  
 
The project will culminate in a long-term in-the-wild study, where a robot supports groups of children in a school over several months, demonstrating real-world impact. 
 
Dr Salomons said: “I was thrilled to hear that my proposal was selected for funding. The ERC Starting Grant gives me the opportunity to place my lab at the forefront of group human-robot interaction, advancing robots that can engage naturally with multiple people in real‑world environments, from homes and classrooms to public spaces.” 

Opportunities with Horizon Europe

The UK is an Associated Country to Horizon Europe, which means UK researchers can apply for Horizon Europe funding. For Imperial researchers looking to engage in Horizon Europe and find out more about opportunities in the programme, please get in touch with the Research Office and the Enterprise Research Impact Management Office.