European Research Council Awards Prestigious Grants to LSE Academics

Strategic Insights -

Three academics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) have been awarded prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grants, totaling EUR 761 million awarded to 478 early-career researchers across Europe. This funding will support the researchers' work on innovative projects, creating up to 3,000 jobs within their teams.

The LSE academics, Assistant Professors Clare Balboni, Isabela Manelici, and Carl Muller-Crepon, will receive funding for their projects, which aim to address critical knowledge gaps and tackle pressing global issues. Assistant Professor Balboni's project, "Managing local and global externalities from growth," will focus on developing countries' ability to manage the consequences of their growth. Her research will provide novel insights into the magnitude and distribution of externalities in low-income countries and the design of policies that balance growth with shielding vulnerable populations.

Assistant Professor Manelici's project, "Can Multinational Linkages Be Leveraged for Development (LINK4DEV)," will examine the potential and risks of multinational linkages for development, with a focus on the impact of MNCs on domestic firms, workers, and consumers. The project will use a wide micro-to-macro lens, combining "big data" and causal-inference methods with novel theory, and partnering with governments from four continents.

Assistant Professor Muller-Crepon's project, "Border Change and Local Development in Europe and Beyond," will develop a theory of the impact of border change on socio-economic development and its underlying economic, demographic, and political mechanisms. The research team will collect new, spatially disaggregated data on historical local development and empirically examine the mechanisms driving the effects of border changes in Europe since 1815 and globally since 1945.

President of the European Research Council, Professor Maria Leptin, highlighted the significance of these innovative projects and the potential of Europe to empower and support early-career researchers.

Key Takeaways:

  • The European Research Council has awarded ERC Starting Grants to 478 early-career researchers across Europe, with a total funding of EUR 761 million.
  • LSE academics, Assistant Professors Clare Balboni, Isabela Manelici, and Carl Muller-Crepon, have been awarded grants for their innovative projects.
  • Assistant Professor Balboni's project, "Managing local and global externalities from growth," will focus on developing countries' ability to manage the consequences of their growth.
  • Assistant Professor Manelici's project, "Can Multinational Linkages Be Leveraged for Development (LINK4DEV)," will examine the potential and risks of multinational linkages for development.
  • Assistant Professor Muller-Crepon's project, "Border Change and Local Development in Europe and Beyond," will develop a theory of the impact of border change on socio-economic development.
  • The projects are expected to create up to 3,000 jobs within the teams of the new grantees.
  • Only 12% of all proposals in this competition were funded, highlighting the need for more investment in early-career researchers.

Statistics:

  • EUR 761 million in funding awarded to 478 early-career researchers across Europe.
  • Up to 3,000 jobs expected to be created within the teams of the new grantees.
  • 12% of all proposals in this competition were funded.

Sources:

  • Houghton: London School of Economics and Political Science
  • European Research Council (ERC)
  • Maria Leptin, President of the European Research Council.