ERC Starting Grant for Marthe Walvoort

Prof. Marthe Walvoort has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant worth EUR 1.5 million from the European Research Council. She receives this grant for research on the impact of bacterial glycoproteins on the process of bacterial adhesion and infection.

In the STICKY SUGARS project, Marthe Walvoort will investigate the impact of bacterial glycoproteins on the process of bacterial adhesion and infection. Using the power of chemistry and enzymes, she will develop novel techniques to directly visualize the sugars on the outside of bacteria. In collaboration with researchers from the Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute (GBB) and the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), she will also unravel the contribution of these sugars to bacterial infection. This project will lead to inspiring ideas in the field of novel antibacterial therapies based on attacking bacterial sugars.

ERC Starting Grants are awarded to early-career researchers with two to seven years of experience since completion of the PhD and a scientific track record showing great promise. The funding is provided for up to five years and will help individual scientists to build their own research teams and conduct pioneering research.