Elisenda Feilu receives prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant

​Elisenda Feliu from Department of Mathematical Sciences receives an ERC Consolidator Grant of €1,782,648 for the project. “Signs, polynomials, and reaction networks".

The overall aim of the project is to develop novel mathematical theory within applied algebra to ultimately advance in the systematic analysis of biochemical models, thereby strengthening the bridge between applied algebra and real-world applications.

An honour and a surprise to receive ERC Consolidator Grant

Elisenda Feilu explains that the title of the project very accurately refers to what it is all about.

"Many real-world problems are reduced to the study of the signs that certain polynomials attain when evaluated only at positive values. This is in particular the case for models of the abundance of the species in a biochemical reaction network. The polynomials associated with realistic models are huge, with many parameters and variables, making qualitative analyses, without fixing parameter values, challenging".

She adds that the project more specifically addresses the project addresses several open and important mathematical problems concerning properties of the set of equilibrium points of the models, and their stability. The problems will be investigated in full generality within the framework of so-called “semi-algebraic geometry", whose object of study is the solutions of systems of polynomial inequalities.

"Receiving an ERC consolidator grant is an honour and came as a big surprise to me. I take it as a recognition of my work during the past 10 years building my own research profile at the intersection of applied algebra and mathematical biology. The grant gives me excellent conditions to address some very exciting, and hard, new research problems together with a strong team of junior researchers".

Read more about Elisenda's research in the group Mathematical Biology.

About the Consolidator Grant

The grant is a solid push for researchers who have unique research ideas. ERC supports outstanding researchers with between 7 and 12 years of experience after a PhD within all disciplines. You can get up to EUR 2 million over five years.

Heidi Pagaard Andersen

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