News
ERC Synergy Grant
6 Nov 2025
International team with CeNS member Tim Liedl receives prestigious funding by the European Research Council
Physicist Prof. Tim Liedl has been awarded a Synergy Grant for a project carried out in international research teams. Synergy Grants are one of the most coveted awards of the European Research Council (ERC). With its highly competitive Synergy Grants, the ERC supports projects that can only be realized with the interdisciplinary collaboration of two to four teams of researchers and which lead to “advances at the frontiers of knowledge.” The funding per project consists of up to 14 million euros for a period of up to 6 years.
Using DNA to build the next generation of technology
Tim Liedl (LMU Munich), Jeremy Baumberg (University of Cambridge), and Peer Fischer (University of Heidelberg) have been awarded an ERC Synergy Grant for their project DNA4RENOMS (DNA for Reconfigurable Nano-Opto-Mechanical Systems). The grant funding will support the construction of nanomachines – tiny devices built atom by atom.
Modern technologies such as smartphones, projectors, acceleration sensors, and medical implants rely on micro- and nano-electromechanical systems. These are microscopic machines etched into silicon chips which can sense movement, eject ink, or steer light in optical devices. Manufacturing them, however, entails much waste of materials and energy.
Backed by an ERC Synergy Grant, the new project is pursuing an innovative approach which involves disassembling and rebuilding DNA structures. “This is not just about making something small,” says Tim Liedl. “It’s about inventing a completely new way to make machines – one that nature itself could approve of.”
Source: LMU press release