ICREA-ICCUB researcher L. Verde has been awarded a Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council (ERC) in its 2016 call for her project Beyond Precision Cosmology: Dealing with Systematic Errors (BePreSysE).

ERC Consolidator Grants, which are part of the European Union Research and Innovation program Horizon 2020, have been designed to back up talented researchers who want to establish their research teams and continue developing a successful career in Europe. The awarded candidates must have an excellent scientific track record showing scientific talent and an excellent research proposal for the next 5 years. This time, the ERC has evaluated 2,274 research proposals, out of which 13.8% have been selected for funding. The total funding has been €605 million.

Licia Verde, one of the most highly cited authors according to the Highly Cited Researchers list published by Thompson Reuters in 2015, has been an ICREA researcher at ICCUB (IEEC-UB) since 2010, where she leads the Cosmology and Large Structure group. Among other recognitions, she was awarded the Gruber Prize of Cosmology 2012 and an ERC Starting Grant in 2009. Her expertise includes fields such as theoretical cosmology, cosmic microwave background, large scale structure, galaxy clusters, statistical applications and data analysis. Thorough her career, Verde has worked in the main cosmological surveys of the last decade: the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS), Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS).

The aim of the awarded project is to develop a framework to deal with systematic errors in forthcoming cosmological surveys. Over the past 20 years cosmology has made the transition to a precision science: the Standard Cosmological Model has been established and its parameters are now measured with unprecedented precision. However, while there is a well-defined and developed framework for treating statistical errors, there is no established approach for systematic errors. The scientific community is currently coordinating crucial large surveys to map the cosmos. To go beyond precision cosmology and reap the benefits of the forthcoming observational program, an approach to deal with systematic errors, such as the one the project lead by L. Verde aims to provide, is essential.

ERC Press Release