From cancer therapy and the archaeology of ancient Egyptian cities to research on the human brain: three researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences have been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant in the current funding round. Computational biologist Christoph Bock, Egyptologist Irene Forstner-Müller, and neuroscientist Jürgen Knoblich will each receive one of Europe’s most prestigious research grants, with a combined funding volume of approximately €8 million.

AI-Supported CAR-T Cell Therapy Against Solid Tumors

Despite its medical breakthrough in treating blood cancers, CAR-T cell therapy has so far achieved limited success against solid tumors. Christoph Bock, research group leader at the OeAW’s CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine and professor at MedUni Vienna, aims to tackle this challenge at its roots.

Using AI-supported in vivo screening in immunocompetent mice, his team will develop a new generation of CAR-T cells that can better withstand the hostile microenvironment of solid tumors.

A key innovation is a kind of “two-factor authentication” for immune cells. Artificial intelligence will be used to design genetic switches that activate CAR-T cells only when they are actually located within tumor tissue, rather than in healthy tissue. This approach is intended to prevent dangerous side effects caused when immune cells attack the body’s own tissues.

The most promising strategies will first be tested in human CAR-T cells using animal models, with future clinical trials planned thereafter. The project will focus on HER2-positive colorectal, lung, and breast cancers and will receive approximately €2.5 million in funding over five years.

Liminality in Ancient Egypt

Compared with other areas of Egyptology, the urban archaeology of ancient Egypt has received relatively little attention. Irene Forstner-Müller of the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Siences (OeAW) is pursuing a fundamentally new approach centered on the concept of liminality - the state of being “in between,” characterized by transformation and ambiguity - in pharaonic cities.

City gates, harbors, building entrances, and cemetery boundaries will be examined as physical manifestations of liminal spaces. Two Egyptian cities serve as case studies: Tell el-Dab'a, the capital of the Hyksos rulers in Lower Egypt and Kom Ombo, a regional center of the Old Kingdom in Upper Egypt. Her project goes far beyond architectural questions, exploring the social processes that unfold in these threshold spaces. The research will receive approximately €2.7 million in funding.

Understanding the Self-Organisation of Cortical Networks

How does the human brain organise itself into functional neural networks - and what happens when this process is disrupted? Jürgen Knoblich of the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) is seeking answers using cerebral organoids, miniature brain-like structures grown from stem cells.

Using state-of-the-art measurement techniques - from electrical recordings to imaging of cellular activity - his team will first determine which types of neurons are responsible for specific network patterns. To do this, they will employ specially engineered “chimeroid” organoids, in which the ratio of excitatory and inhibitory neurons can be precisely controlled.

In a final phase, organoid models of epilepsy and autism will be analysed using machine learning to understand how cellular composition influences the activity of entire neural networks. The project will receive approximately €2.8 million in funding.

ERC Funding at the OeAW

With these three new grants, the total number of ERC grants awarded to OeAW researchers since 2007 rises to 96, supplemented by 9 ERC Proof of Concept Grants. In addition, the OeAW has participated in 19 further ERC-funded projects.

This places the Austrian Academy of Sciences among the most successful Austrian research institutions in securing these highly prestigious European research awards.