ERC Starting Grants for two UofG early-career researchers
Published: 4 September 2025
Two early-career researchers from the University of Glasgow’s College of Science & Engineering are among hundreds from across Europe who have received new Starting Grant funding from the European Research Council (ERC).
Two early-career researchers from the University of Glasgow’s College of Science & Engineering are among hundreds from across Europe who have received new Starting Grant funding from the European Research Council (ERC).
Dr Rachael Boyd of the School of Mathematics & Statistics and Dr Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas of the School of Computing Science will use the new funding to help support groundbreaking new research projects.
A total of 478 early-career researchers will share €761 million from the ERC for new Starting Grants. The grants support excellent research across diverse fields, including physical sciences and engineering, life sciences, and social sciences and humanities. The backing will help researchers at the beginning of their careers to launch their own projects, build research teams and pursue their most promising ideas.
Dr Rachael Boyd. Image credit: Patrick Orson
Dr Boyd will lead a project called ‘Moduli spaces in low dimensions’. Dr Boyd will be supported by two postdoctoral researchers and a PhD student.
ModuLow will focus on studying moduli spaces of three-dimensional manifolds and knots or links within them. Moduli spaces are ‘spaces of spaces’: they capture all possible variations of these geometric objects in a single space. Dr Boyd’s project will explore moduli spaces by combining tools from geometric group theory, geometric topology, and algebraic topology.
The project’s methodology involves breaking complex objects into simpler pieces, solving problems for those pieces using geometric techniques, then using techniques from algebraic topology to reassemble the results and understand the original structure. The grant has 13 objectives across seven goals, including computing cohomology groups, understanding homotopy types, and proving new relationships between moduli spaces of three- and four-dimensional manifolds.
Dr Boyd said: "I’m very grateful to the ERC for this grant, which will allow me to build on previous developments in my work and to establish a research group of my own.
“The ModuLow project is pure mathematics, where we’re aiming to push boundaries for the sake of discovery itself. Just as past mathematical breakthroughs found unexpected applications decades later, we can't predict where this will lead. I'm also grateful this grant allows me to give back to the mathematical community by training the next generation of researchers and creating opportunities for postdoctoral mathematicians here at Glasgow.”
Dr Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas
Dr Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas’ project is called ‘Reshaping the Future of animal-computer interaction through a Framework for Animal User Needs and Agency’, or FUTUREFAUNA.
The project represents a significant step up from Dr Hirskyj-Douglas’ previous research into animal-computer interaction, which has explored the potential of technology to enrich the lives of animals in domestic and zoo settings.
FUTUREFAUNA will enable Dr Hirskyj-Douglas, who leads the School’s Animal-Computer Interaction research group, to develop a comprehensive framework for designing, implementing and adapting technologies for animal users. She will lead a team, including two PhD students and two postdoctoral researchers, working alongside animal behaviour experts and zookeepers to develop and field-test a new generation of interactive systems for animals in zoos and homes. Her ambition is to fundamentally reshape how animals implement control over their environment and provide radically different opportunities for social connections.
Dr Hirskyj-Douglas said: “Technology offers a wealth of opportunities for animals – it can help pets keep in touch with their caregivers and each other through video calls, or give zoo animals more direct control over their environment. Imagine the possibilities that open up when we use technologies as new ways to observe how animals make choices, solve problems and navigate social situations. Can we develop technologies, for example, that allow animals to connect with each other between zoos, or to other species, as they would do in the wild, and what do we learn from how they connect?
“However, in order to ensure that we’re actually offering them valuable experiences and truly enriching their lives with interactive devices, we need to ensure that those devices work for them. Every species has their own unique way of experiencing and understanding the world with their bodies and senses. To build a workable ‘animal internet’, we must develop species-specific technologies to meet their needs, giving them tools that match their abilities. This project will enable me to open up a new frontier to expand the use of information technology beyond what I’ve been able to achieve in my career so far, and I’m delighted that the ERC have chosen to support it with this grant.”
Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, said: “Among the winners in this new round of EU funding are researchers of 51 nationalities. They will be advancing knowledge across a wide range of scientific fields, including cancer, mental health and quantum science. We see leading scientists coming to Europe with these new grants, and many choosing to remain here thanks to this support. This demonstrates Europe’s potential to attract and keep top scientific talent.”
President of the European Research Council Prof. Maria Leptin said: “All these bright minds and the plethora of brilliant ideas that they will go after really inspire me, and so does their scientific creativity. It also gives hope that Europe empowers them and backs them. Yet, we could do more! Only 12% of all proposals in this competition are being funded, even if many more are excellent. More investment in this type of science is needed for Europe to reach its full potential.”
First published: 4 September 2025