NaNoLens – see more, more precisely and faster

- At the beginning, I did not believe it would work, but I am very happy with the grant and the positive reviews, says Trusiak. - For the evaluation panel, the most important thing was that the planned research should open up new possibilities in science, and that the scientist was confident that this was the best time to carry out the project and was the most suitable person to take on this particular challenge.

„High risk – high gain” – is the motto attached to the grants provided by European Research Council – ERC. The projects awarded must be of cognitive, pioneering character and boldly go beyond the reach of current boundaries of knowledge. Among 2696 applications, 400 projects have been selected. The total sum of grants is EUR 628 million.

Maciej Trusiak, ProfTit., with Piotr Zdańkowski, PhD, BEng., Julianna Winnik, PhD, BEng., Piotr Arcab, MEng and Mikołaj Rogalski, MEng.

- This is a huge success for our scientist, which means not only prestige, but also tangible financial benefits, allowing him to focus on his project, team and new discoveries. I warmly congratulate the professor, says Mariusz Malinowski, ProfTit., Vice-Chancellor of the Warsaw University of Technology for Science. - The ERC grant is also an important step for the Warsaw University of Technology in building its position as a strong centre in the European research space, in line with the University's development strategy. We want to provide our scientists with appropriate conditions for work, implementation of their ideas and research, which, we hope, will contribute to further achievements,' he emphasises.

- The name of the competition ('Starting Grant') may be misleading, as it suggests that you can receive it at the start of your scientific career. Meanwhile, most often, winners can already boast of several projects completed under their leadership, says Trusiak. - This would not be possible without building a team. Mine is excellent. Cooperation with it motivates me to keep going, to carry out further projects and has resulted in an ERC grant,' he emphasises.

Maciej Trusiak with a part of the Quantitative Computational Imaging QCI LAB research team

Trusiak’s project revolves around using the lenseless holographic microscopy and radiation in deep ultraviolet in high-capacity imaging of alive cells. For more details on the method, visit here. For more information on the grant, visit here.