Unusual strong funding outcome for Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics

The sun is shining a little brighter on this year’s Swedish Research Council grant recipients. From left: Stefan Björklund, Andrei Chabes, Anna Arnqvist Björklund, Ronnie Berntsson and Anders Hofer.

ImageIngrid Söderbergh

Four of the researchers, Anders Hofer, Anna Arnqvist Björklund, Andrei Chabes and Ronnie Berntsson, have been awarded project grants within the Swedish Research Council’s Medicine and Health funding area. Stefan Björklund has received a project grant within Natural and Engineering Sciences.

The projects explore, among other things, how cells cope with stress and regulate the levels of DNA building blocks, as well as how disease-causing microorganisms can be targeted and how bacteria cause persistent infections and spread DNA.

The grants represent a significant share of the total SEK 107 million awarded to Umeå University within the two funding areas. The department’s grant success rate was 62.5 per cent, compared with around 16 per cent across the Swedish Research Council’s two funding areas as a whole.

The news was met with great enthusiasm at the department.

“I feel happy and proud of everyone at the department. This is fantastic news, and of course there will be cake for everyone!” says Erik Johansson, Head of the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at Umeå University.

So, what is behind this strong outcome? According to Erik Johansson, there is no single explanation. At its core, it is about building a strong international research environment and asking interesting and bold research questions, invest the time and effort to publish in high-impact international journals, together with collegial support during the grant application process.

“Our group leaders are naturally in the spotlight on a day like this, but such a strong outcome would not have been possible without everyone in their research groups. Research is a team effort, in which postdoctoral researchers, PhD students, staff scientists, research engineers, support staff and group leaders all play important roles,” says Erik Johansson.

“Our staff scientists and research engineers deserve special recognition. They provide stability within the research groups and contribute the experience needed to tackle new, groundbreaking and often difficult research questions.”

Important support for the coming years

The project grants also create new opportunities for research at the department in the coming years.

“This means a great deal to us. The vast majority of our research is funded by external grants. The department has also been through some financially challenging years and has implemented several cost-saving measures to achieve a balanced budget. That makes this positive news particularly welcome.”