(Vienna, 23 June 2026) No fewer than three researchers affiliated with the Medical University of Vienna have been awarded ERC Advanced Grants in the latest round: Igor Adameyko will receive the grant directly at MedUni Vienna, Christoph Bock for a project based at CeMM, and Jürgen Knoblich for a project at IMBA. Bock and Knoblich are also affiliated with MedUni Vienna.
The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the results of the 2025 Advanced Grant round. These grants are among the most prestigious European programmes for established researchers and support scientifically ambitious, high-risk projects with potentially far-reaching significance. Across Europe, 319 researchers are receiving funding totalling 838 million euros.
Among the projects awarded funding are three with close links to MedUni Vienna. Igor Adameyko, Professor of Neuroimmunology at the Center for Brain Research at MedUni Vienna, has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant for the ‘FATING-THE-CROWD’ project. Christoph Bock, Principal Investigator at the CeMM Research Centre for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Professor of Medical Informatics at MedUni Vienna, is receiving funding for the ‘Solid-CART’ project. Jürgen Knoblich, Senior Group Leader at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Postdoc at MedUni Vienna, has been awarded a grant for the ‘CASCO’ project.
Understanding cellular decisions during development
Igor Adameyko’s project “FATING-THE-CROWD” explores how cell populations make decisions about their future specialisation during developmental processes. The focus is on so-called collective multipotency: that is, the ability of cell groups to follow different developmental pathways whilst producing ordered proportions of different cell types. Adameyko’s research combines developmental biology, single-cell analyses, lineage tracing and functional experiments to better understand the fundamental mechanisms underlying cell fate decisions.
Programmed immune cells against solid tumours
Christoph Bock’s ‘Solid-CART’ project aims to develop a new generation of CAR-T cells for the treatment of solid tumours. CAR-T cell therapies have already proven effective against certain blood cancers, but have so far proved significantly more difficult to apply to solid tumours. Using AI-supported methods and CRISPR-based screens, the aim is to programme CAR-T cells so that they recognise tumour tissue more specifically and spare healthy cells as much as possible. The focus is on HER2-positive forms of lung, breast and bowel cancer.
Brain organoids as a model for neural networks
In the ‘CASCO’ project, Jürgen Knoblich is investigating how functioning neural networks organise themselves in the human brain and how disruptions to these processes may be linked to disease. To this end, his team is using cerebral organoids – three-dimensional models of human brain development grown from stem cells. Modern measurement methods, imaging and machine learning are intended to help better understand the link between cell composition, network activity and disease-related changes.
Strong networking at the Vienna research hub
The three ERC Advanced Grants underscore the international visibility of biomedical research in Vienna and the close scientific collaboration between MedUni Vienna and leading non-university research institutions in the city. The funded projects range from fundamental mechanisms of cell and developmental biology, through new strategies in cancer immunotherapy, to research into human brain development and neurological disorders.