Professor Ineke De Moortel

University of St Andrews

Ineke received her ERC Consolidator Grant in 2015 to support her work on solar physics. Her project aims to answer the long-standing question of the extremely high temperatures in the Sun’s outer atmosphere (corona) through the development of computational models.

Since 2015, Ineke has strengthened existing collaborations as well as starting new ventures including a partnership with a US-based company that builds satellites and collaboration with the University of Oslo. The Grant has also enabled Ineke to continue research despite increasing administrative commitments. Having a team of students and postdoctoral researchers has allowed the research to continue.

There is no other funding in Ineke’s field that will allow her to develop such a substantial project.

On the value of the grant, Ineke said:

“At this stage in my academic career, I have a substantial amount of administrative and service commitments. Without a team of students and postdoctoral researchers, my research would have stalled. This level of funding really allows a PI to develop a substantial project and is simply not available in the UK for my field.”