The 3,000th scientist to receive EU funding to pursue essential research across Europe was reached. The European Research Council (ERC) has marked the occasion, with a symbolic awarding of a grant to Professor Christian Keysers to further his research in the field of empathy and the brain.

The European Union awarded the 3,000th grant to Professor Christian Keysers to further his research in the field of empathy and the brain. According to the Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, this is an important milestone of the European Research Council, which has in a very short time proved to be a success story. The European Commission has proposed a strong "Horizon 2020" programme for 2014-20, of which the ERC will be a vital part.

Professor Keysers, who received the funding of €1.8 million, is the Department Head of the Social Brain Lab at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN), a purely research-based institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy for Arts and Sciences (KNAW). His research project, VICARIOUSBRAIN, aims to better understand the processes of empathy within our neurons. In particular, he and his team, will examine how the network of regions in the brain involved in action observation - the so-called vicarious motor network - integrate information. A particular focus will be on the direction of information flow between the different vicarious motor nodes to challenge traditional models of action observation.

Professor Keysers stressed that to get an ERC grant is a dream come true, and being the 3,000th grantee is very inspiring. His research will explore how we share others' actions and emotions, examining how neurons in brain regions associated with empathy respond during the experience and witnessing of emotions.