Exeter’s science dons awarded £5 million

Three professors at the forefront of scientific research at the University of Exeter have been selected to receive over £5 million to carry out 5-year research projects.

The scheme run by the European Research Council has appointed pioneers of research, Professors Isaballe Baraffe, Tim Frayling, and John Dupré to receive these grants.

What will they be researching you ask?

Professor Baraffe, head of Astrophysics will utilize the £2.1 million to test the physical processes which characterise the various stages of evolution of physical entities in space, such as planets, brown dwarfs or massive stars.

Professor Frayling, of the University of Exeter Medical School has been awarded £1.7 million to explore the biological mechanisms involved in diabetes, addressing key issues concerning the occurrence of diabetes within people with relatively lean bodies as opposed to the normal glucose levels found in many obese people.

Professor Dupré is director of Egenis, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Centre for Genomics in Society, which examines ways in which contemporary advances in biology have fundamentally changed our understanding of all types of life, from humans to crops, animals or viruses. Dupré has received £1.6 million to develop this research.