July 25, 2013 | News

1.3 Million Euro Grant for Mikko Myrskylä

MPIDR-researcher Mikko Myrskylä receives a 1.3 million euro grant from the European Research Council for a research project on the health consequences of increasing age at  parenthood.

Mikko Myrskylä's research proposal on the health consequences of increasing age at parenthood has been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant of 1.3 million euro, providing funding  for 5 years. The project aims to analyze the consequences of one of the most dramatic demographic changes of the latter half of the 20th century - the postponement of parenthood. Advanced maternal and paternal ages at parenthood have been associated with a range of negative outcomes for the offspring, and they have been estimated to have population-level health effects comparable to those of obesity. Mikko Myrskylä and his research team will analyze the consequences of late parenthood at birth on the health and well-being of adult offspring and the parents themselves.

Mikko Myrskylä is one of the 10 scientists from the Max Planck Society to receive the ERC starting grant in 2013. Overall, less than 9% of the proposals were selected for funding. A total  of 287 top scientists out of 3329 applicants have been selected by the ERC in its sixth Starting Grant competition, which is the last one under the EU's Seventh Research Framework Program (FP7). The selected projects cover a wide range of topics in all fields of sciences. They are awarded nearly 400 million Euro, with grants being worth up to 2 million Euro each.