CIBIO-INBIO researcher Miguel Carneiro is awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant

Miguel Carneiro is one of few Portuguese researchers to have won the prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant, designed to support excellent researchers to pursue frontier research.

Two million euros of funding will be used to develop the project "EYESPOT - The Genetic, Cellular, and Photonic Mechanisms of Avian Structural Colouration”, which aims to decipher the genetic and cellular basis of the structural colours present in bird species.

Structural colouration is widespread in nature and generates some stunning visual effects. The eye spots in a peacock's tail are a good example of this type of colouration. "Understanding the biological and molecular mechanisms that allow the evolution and maintenance of this type of visual ornament is a fundamental question in evolutionary biology” Miguel Carneiro explained.

Miguel Carneiro highlights the importance of this grant as "it provides the funds and the time needed for us to implement more comprehensive and multidisciplinary approaches, which are impossible to achieve with traditional financing models. The ERC Grants are also important because they acknowledge the career of a researcher, which is naturally gratifying”.