Idéhistoriker får ERC Starting Grant
10 January 2022
Nu är det klart vilka som får Europeiska forskningsrådets (European Research Council) Starting Grant i 2021 års utlysning. En av forskarna är verksam vid Uppsala universitet: Ylva Söderfeldt, universitetslektor vid institutionen för idé- och lärdomshistoria.
Totalt får 397 forskare i Europa 1,5 miljoner euro vardera för att utveckla sin forskning och bygga upp sina forskargrupper. 14 av forskarna är verksamma vid ett svenskt lärosäte.

idé- och lärdomshistoria. Foto: David Naylor
Ylva Söderfeldt är docent och universitetslektor i idé- och lärdomshistoria och föreståndare för Centrum för medicinsk humaniora vid Uppsala universitet. Hon får anslag till projektet “ActDisease”.
– Projektet handlar om patientföreningar, som är ett utbrett fenomen men varit bortglömda av historisk forskning. Jag kommer att använda en kombination av traditionella och digitala metoder för att utforska hur det moderna sjukdomsbegreppet tagit form i just dessa föreningar under 1900-talet. Hypotesen är alltså att patienter själva varit mycket mer centrala än tidigare antagits i hur sjukdomskategorier och definitioner kommit till, berättar Ylva Söderfeldt.
Vad betyder det för dig och för forskningen att du har fått det här anslaget?
– Det är enormt viktigt. Genom anslaget får jag möjlighet att driva forskning på en mycket bredare front än med andra anslag, vilket är nödvändigt för att fånga en historisk process som pågått under 100 år och i flera länder samtidigt. Det är också väldigt roligt att anslaget går till forskning inom humaniora.
Mycket hög konkurrens
ERC Starting Grant riktar sig till forskare i början av sin karriär och har vetenskaplig excellens som enda urvalskriterium. Forskarna och deras projekt har genom peer review-granskning och i mycket hög konkurrens blivit högst rankade i Europa.
I år sökte över 4 000 forskare bidraget.Totalt får 397 forskare i Europa dela på 619 miljoner euro, vilket ger en beviljandegrad på cirka 10 procent.
Bland de 14 forskarna i Sverige som får ERC Starting Grant 2021 är sex verksamma inom Social Sciences and Humanities, fem inom Physical and Engineering Sciences och tre inom Life Sciences.
Europeiska forskningsrådet
- ERC, som inrättades av Europeiska unionen 2007, finansierar forskningsprojekt över hela Europa.
- ERC erbjuder fyra grundläggande bidragssystem: Starting Grants, Consolidator Grants, Advanced Grants och Synergy Grants.
- ERC:s totala budget från 2021 till 2027 är mer mer än 16 miljarder euro, som en del av Horisont Europa, det nya ramprogrammet för forskning och innovation.
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