The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the results of the 2026 call for ERC Starting Grants, with two WASP researchers among the recipients; one exploring how robots can better understand and manipulate deformable objects, and one examining new perspectives on proof complexity in theoretical computer science.

The two recipients affiliated with WASP are:

Noémie Jaquier, WASP Fellow and assistant professor, KTH, GEOMANIP: The Geometric Nature of Deformable Object Manipulation
Susanna De Rezende, WASP supervisor and assistant professor atLund University, META: Meta-Computational Perspectives on Proof Complexity

“I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunity to bring the ideas behind this project to life. The funding gives me the freedom, resources and time to pursue the research I truly believe in. I can build a team and explore a completely new way for robots to understand and handle deformable objects,” says Noémie Jaquier, WASP Fellow, KTH.

In total, 421 researchers in Europe will receive ERC Starting Grants of 1.5 million euros each to develop their research and build up their research groups. This is a success rate of 9 percent. Of the 22 researchers based in Sweden who received grants, two are affiliated with WASP.

Among the Swedish recipients, eight are active in life sciences, five in social sciences and humanities, and nine in physical and engineering sciences.