A plant scientist from the University of Nottingham has been awarded €2M for research to unlock the mysteries of how plant roots sense and respond to water availability.
Dr Poonam Mehra is a BBSRC Discovery Fellow in the School of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham and has been selected from over 3,000 applicants to receive a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting grant for her research.
Her project titled 'Water Blind' will pioneer the first-of-its-kind screening of mutants to identify 'water-blind' roots, which are impaired in their ability to perceive water. Multidisciplinary approaches will be utilized to uncover the molecular networks responsible for water sensing and explore how these mechanisms influence soil exploration and water foraging in plants.
The funding is one of 494 Starting Grants awarded to young scientists and scholars across Europe. The finding – totalling nearly €780 million – supports cutting-edge research in a wide range of fields, from life sciences and physics to social sciences and humanities. It will help researchers at the beginning of their careers to launch their own projects, form their teams and pursue their most promising ideas.
"Water stress is one of the most significant challenges facing global agriculture, particularly as climate change disrupts traditional rainfall patterns," said Dr Mehra. "While we know that plant roots can adapt their shape to forage for water, the mechanisms behind how roots sense water availability remain largely unknown. The ERC funding will allow me to explore this question using innovative, real-world approaches.
I am excited about the translational impact of this research, as humankind faces increasing challenges from climate change and altered rainfall patterns. By understanding how roots sense water availability, this new knowledge can support efforts to develop climate-smart crops, making global food production more resilient to a changing world.
This competition attracted 3,474 proposals, which were evaluated by peer review panels of internationally renowned researchers. Overall, 14.2% of the proposals were selected for funding.
44% of these Starting Grants were awarded to female researchers, compared with 43% in 2023 and 39% in 2022. The Starting Grants calls have attracted nearly 62,000 submissions since 2007. During this time, the number of proposals submitted by women has increased from around 30% to around 40%.
Empowering researchers early on in their careers is at the heart of the mission of the ERC. I am particularly pleased to welcome UK researchers back to the ERC. They have been sorely missed over the past years. With fifty grants awarded to researchers based in the UK, this influx is good for the research community overall.
Starting Grants amount to €1.5 million per grant for a period of five years. However, additional funds can be made available to cover costs related to moving from a country outside the EU or associated countries, the purchase of major equipment, access to large facilities or major experimental and fieldwork-related costs.
The grants are estimated to create 3,160 jobs within the teams of new grantees.
