CEP Announcement:
Isabela Manelici receives European Research Council Starting Grant
4 September 2025
A European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant has been awarded to CEP assistant professor, Isabela Manelici.
With a total funding of €761 million awarded to 478 early-career researchers across Europe, ERC Starting Grants are highly sought-after and are estimated to create up to 3,000 jobs within the teams of the new grantees. The prestigious grants aim to help researchers at the beginning of their careers to launch their own projects, build research teams and pursue their most promising ideas.
Isabela will receive her award for her project: Can Multinational Linkages Be Leveraged for Development (LINK4DEV)?
LINK4DEV will break new ground in three ways. First, the program will examine the impact of MNCs and their linkages on development through a wide (inside-the-firm) micro to (cross-country) macro lens. Second, it will combine “big data” and causal-inference methods with novel theory. Third, it will partner with governments from four continents, maximizing cross-country learning and impact.
Assistant Professor Manelici said: “I am excited about this opportunity to pursue a frontier research agenda aimed at closing critical knowledge gaps on the potential and risks of multinational linkages for development.”
President of the European Research Council Professor Maria Leptin said: “All these bright minds and the plethora of brilliant ideas that they will go after really inspire me, and so does their scientific creativity. It also gives hope that Europe empowers them and backs them. Yet, we could do more! Only 12% of all proposals in this competition are being funded, even if many more are excellent. More investment in this type of science is needed for Europe to reach its full potential.”