Professor Gregers Rom Andersen, Associate Professor Peter Ebert Andersen, and Tenure Track Assistant Professor Vera van der Weijden have each received personal grants to support their ambitious research projects over the coming years. In total, the grants amount to more than DKK 30 million.

“This is a great recognition of our research environment. The fact that three of our colleagues have received these prestigious grants provides strong momentum not only for them but for the entire department,” says Head of Department Claus Oxvig.

The many faces of proteins – Gregers Rom Andersen

Professor Gregers Rom Andersen has been a central figure in MBG’s structural biology research for decades. Using advanced techniques such as X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy, he has contributed to the determination of numerous atomic-level structures of proteins in various states.

Recent technological advances, however, have revealed that proteins often exist not in just a few but often in many different conformations. In his new project, supported by a Distinguished Investigator Grant of DKK 11.4 million, he aims to investigate how these conformations arise, rearrange and how long they persist.

“I’ve spent 35 years understanding the architecture of molecules. Now, it’s time for me to understand their soul,” he explains.

The project will be carried out in collaboration with Victoria Birkedal’s group at iNANO, as well as an international partner, and will involve a PhD student, a postdoc, and Andersen himself.

Diapause as a key to fertility – Vera van der Weijden

Tenure Track Assistant Professor Vera van der Weijden has received a Hallas-Møller Emerging Investigator Grant from the Novo Nordisk Foundation for her project on embryonic diapause - a natural pause in early embryonic development that some animals use to optimize conditions for pregnancy.

The project investigates how this pause can provide critical insight into the embryo’s developmental competence and the uterus’s receptivity - two key factors in successful pregnancy. Using innovative cell-based models, her lab will also explore how environmental pollutants, such as microplastics and flame retardants, may impair fertility.

“By learning from nature’s own strategies, like diapause, we hope to uncover the biological mechanisms that either promote or hinder successful pregnancy - even in humans,” she explains.

When germ cells take a different regulatory route – Peter Ebert Andersen

Peter Ebert Andersen, Associate Professor at MBG, has been awarded a Hallas-Møller Ascending Investigator Grant of DKK 11.4 million for his project PARAGLIDE, which investigates how paralogs of key gene regulators play a unique role in the development of egg and sperm cells.

The project explores how these paralogs - variants of well-known gene-activating proteins - enable a distinct form of gene regulation in germ cells, diverging from what is seen in other cell types. Using fruit flies as a model system, the project will shed light on how this alternative regulation is essential for fertility.

“By understanding the molecular mechanisms that govern germ cell function, we can gain new insights into the causes of infertility - and potentially develop future treatments,” he says.

Three grants – one strong research culture

These three projects span fundamental biological processes and pressing societal challenges such as fertility and environmental impact. What unites them is a shared ambition: to uncover the fundamental mechanisms of biology and to transform that knowledge into future insights and solutions.