Congratulations to our alumni Per Engzell and Bastian Betthaeuser who have both been awarded prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grants in Social Sciences and Humanities.
In this alumni spotlight, Per Engzell (pictured) tells us how his time as a Postdoctoral Researcher (2020-2022) at the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science helped him secure an ERC Starting Grant. He also offers advice to prospective applicants for the next funding call which closes on 15 October 2024.
The ERC Starting Grants were awarded to emerging science talent across Europe, with Per and Bastian both receiving grants in the domain of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Bastian, previously a Postdoctoral Researcher at LCDS and now Assistant Professor of Sociology at Sciences Po, secured the grant for his LEARN project on ‘Understanding the Consequences of Major Health Crises for Education: Learning from the COVID-19 Pandemic’.
LCDS alumni Per, now Associate Professor of Sociology at the University College London’s Social Research Institute, received the grant for his MaMo project on ‘Markets and Mobility: How Employers Structure Economic Opportunity’. On receiving the grant, we asked Per the following:
How do you plan on using the ERC Starting Grant?
I’m using the ERC Starting Grant to study how family background affects people’s chances in the labour market. I’ll be using large-scale administrative data to understand how inequality plays out within and between companies. By digging into how people move through their careers, I hope to uncover what drives these inequalities and figure out what can be done to give everyone a fair shot, whether it’s by employers or through government policies.
Tell us more about your research and time at LCDS
My time at LCDS coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and led to a collaborative effort to understand and reduce its social impact. I ended up studying the effects of school closures on children’s learning, work which gained a lot of attention and put me at the heart of policymaking for a few intense months. What stood out was how spontaneously this work emerged from a group of us just trying to put our skills to the greatest use for the common good.
How did these experiences at LCDS help shape your ERC Starting Grant?
My experiences at LCDS helped me aspire to be bold, creative, and relevant, a lesson that’s shaped my career. While this grant shifts away from my LCDS work and back to my long-term research on inherited advantage in the labour market, my approach to research remains influenced by my experiences at the Centre. I’m especially looking forward to applying knowledge gained on academic leadership to this ERC Starting Grant.
What advice would you give to others who are thinking of applying for the next round of ERC Starting Grants?
Connect with successful grantees early to understand the process and what makes a strong application. Get broad input, as what interests people in your field may not have the wide appeal needed for a grant like this. Most importantly, pursue an idea you're passionate about and believe in. It should be adaptable enough to last you for five years – and to allow those you hire to exercise their own talent and creativity.
If you would like to apply for the ERC Starting Grant with LCDS as a Host Institution, please email our research team.