The chemist, Prof. Dr. Rainer Haag of Freie Universität Berlin, has been awarded a prestigious Advanced Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). He is receiving the grant, which is endowed with around 2.85 million euros, for his project on research into the innovative prevention of viral infections. Funding will begin in 2023 and run for five years.

The project emerged from the "Coronavirus pre-exploration project" which was funded by the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) with approximately 1.8 million euros from July 2020 to December 2021. The extensive alliance project laid the foundation for diverse and comprehensive research on the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in Berlin. The participating researchers from Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin dealt with potential active substances, the development of vaccine approaches, and possible health policy consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, among other things. The project was part of the Berlin University Alliance's Grand Challenge Initiative on Global Health. The participation of 19 researchers from all four partner institutions has also further enhanced the collaboration in Berlin.

For further information, see Press Release of Freie Universität Berlin