ERC grants awarded to Sackler researchers

In 2015 the European Research Council awarded 24 grants to young Israeli researchers, including two laureates from the Sackler Faculty of Medicine. The ERC Starting Grants award funds to promising researchers with ground-breaking ideas. This funding can total up to €1.5 million per grant and enables young researchers to set up their own teams and labs. Nearly 3000 young scientists worldwide applied for them, of which only 291 people won. Per capita, Israel received the most awards in comparison to the other contending countries.

Tel Aviv University received eight grants, the most of all Israeli institutions. Sackler recipients include Dr. Moshe Parnas and Dr. Eran Stark, both senior lecturers at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and the Sagol School of Neuroscience.

Dr. Moshe Parnas is interested in exploring the various mechanisms by which neural circuits encode information and support behavior, learning and memory. His funded research project is entitled "Do behaving animals extract information from precise spike timing? – The use of temporal codes."

Dr. Eran Stark studies the way in which neuronal networks give rise to function. He is most interested in the spiking network mechanisms underlying short-term memory. His lab uses a mechanistic approach that involves high-density recording and manipulation of dozens to hundreds of neurons simultaneously, while freely-moving rodents perform cognitive tasks.