“I see the grant as acknowledgment of my work to date”

Dr. Albrecht, with your measurements you could disprove the Standard Model of Particle Physics. How can that succeed?

I would like to understand nature on its smallest scales. To do this, I am looking at particles and their interactions. In physics, four basic forces are known – the gravitational force, the electromagnetic force, the weak nuclear force and the strong nuclear force. However, there are phenomena that cannot be explained by these forces. That is why I am attempting – with precision measurements at the LHC particle accelerator at CERN – to track down particles that might possibly exist, but which should not exist at all according to the Standard Model of Particle Physics. To do this, my team and I let particles collide in high-energy processes and analyze the decays of individual particles. During one of our experiments at CERN a few years ago, for example, we were able to observe one of the rarest particle decays ever measured. This ultimately corroborated the Standard Model. However, if I and my research group were to succeed in evidencing particle decays believed to be off-limits, this would be a strong indication of a new fundamental force.

What is special about ERC funding?

The funding format is highly competitive with a success rate of around twelve percent. To this extent, an ERC Starting Grant brings with it high visibility and a certain prestige. In turn, this has meant that I have been able to recruit highly qualified postdoctoral researchers to work on the project. I see the grant first and foremost as acknowledgment of my work to date and of the current project. Since I was previously the leader of an Emmy Noether Independent Junior Research Group at TU Dortmund University, I have already been able to demonstrate my scientific independence in this context. I can use the funds of €1.5 million entirely for research purposes and have a lot of freedom in this respect. That is very important because in research you are reliant on third-party funding. Of course, an ERC Starting Grant is also valuable with a view to a professorial appointment.

How did you prepare your application?

As an ambitious postdoctoral researcher, I naturally looked around for possible sources of funding and attended some information sessions on ERC grants. For the application, you should take enough time to familiarize yourself with the special requirements of an EU call for proposals, for example. In addition, it is important that you draw up a detailed and coherent plan for a five-year project, including HR and cost estimates for equipment. I started thinking about this back in 2013, and I was finally awarded the grant in 2016. If you are shortlisted, the European Research Council invites you for an interview. The National Contact Point offers special training for this. I recommend talking to colleagues and letting them look over your application – and conversely also reading other people’s applications and obtaining advice from central facilities such as Research Support Services. In this way, you can learn what makes a good proposal.

About Johannes Albrecht:

• 1999-2005 degree in physics at Heidelberg University and the University of Sydney, Australia
• 2009 doctoral degree at Heidelberg University with a dissertation on experimental particle physics
• 2009-2013 Senior Research Fellow at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland
• 2013-2016 leader of an Emmy Noether Independent Junior Research Group funded by the German Research Foundation, Department of Physics, TU Dortmund University
• Since 2016, ERC grantee in the Experimental Physics 5 Group at TU Dortmund University

Further information:
ERC Starting Grant
ERC services at TU Dortmund University 
Interdisciplinary advice and training for postdoctoral researchers and junior faculty 

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