ERC Advanced Grants for two HU research projects
Gökce Yurdakul from the Institute of Social Sciences and Hans Börner from the Institute of Chemistry each receive funding of almost 2.5 million euros
For her project ‘MENBELONG – Belonging for Single Migrant Men: A Cross-Country Comparative Perspective’, Prof Dr Gökce Yurdakul will receive almost EUR 2.5 million as part of an ERC Advanced Grant, of which around EUR 1.7 million will go to Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU). Prof Dr Hans Börner is also being funded with an ERC Advance Grant of almost 2.5 million for his project ‘IDefix – Digging Deep into the Sequence Space of Electrochemical Debonding of Peptides to Impact Next Generation Polymer Adhesives’. The funding period for the projects is five years.
MENBELONG – Belonging for Single Migrant Men: A Cross-Country Comparative Perspective
People who want to live permanently in a new country need a sense of belonging in order to integrate successfully. Single men are a large group among global migrants, but face high barriers to integration: They are often seen as deniers of opportunity and classified as oversexualised or criminal. Migration research has so far hardly taken this group into account. In her project, Prof. Dr. Gökce Yurdakul is investigating the experiences of belonging of single men with a migration background in five countries with migration movements and different equality and integration policies - including Syrians in Turkey, Mexicans in Canada, Turks in Germany, Myanmar nationals in Thailand and Venezuelans in Chile. “Together with an interdisciplinary team, I want to develop a theory of migrant belonging as part of my research. The comprehensive approach provides insights into how single men experience belonging despite serious challenges, looking at different countries and life situations,” says Yurdakul.
IDefix – Digging Deep into the Sequence Space of Electrochemical Debonding of Peptides to Impact Next Generation Polymer Adhesives
Strong adhesives that can be easily detached at the push of a button will become important in many microelectronics and engineering applications. Chemists can provide new materials that might offer solutions to pressing questions about easy repair and efficient recycling, as demanded by the European Union’s Green Deal. The IDefix project aims to identify the molecular requirements, necessary for strong adhesion and clean electrochemical deactivation. Researchers of the IDefix project will install a generic information-based approach to screen a vast number of peptides for the desired properties. Deep sequence analysis leveraging machine learning will be used to draw conclusions about the necessary molecular properties for the desired materials. From this, a design strategy for strong and cleanly switchable polymer-surface interactions will be derived. “Our approach will enable the synthesis of new functional materials, such as adhesives that can be precisely removed at the push of a button; but also, completely new composites that reinforce themselves in areas subject to mechanical stress, or radio-controlled medicinal patches that release drugs into the body in a smart way,” explains Börner.
ERC Advanced Grants
With Advanced Grants, the European Research Council (ERC) supports excellent researchers who have demonstrated significant research achievements in the last ten years. The maximum funding amount is 2.5 million euros for a period of five years.
ERC press release from 17 June 2025
Contact
Prof. Dr. Gökce Yurdakul
Institute of Social Sciences at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
+49 30 2093-66613
gokce.yurdakul(at)sowi.hu-berlin.de
Prof. Dr. Hans Börner
Institute of Chemistry of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Organic Synthesis of Functional Systems
+49 30 2093-82852
h.boerner(at)hu-berlin.de
www.boernerlab.de
Press release HU Berlin, 18 June 2025