The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2016 has been awarded to Professors Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa for "for the design and synthesis of molecular machines". All three laureates have participated in EU-funded research projects, and Bernard L. Feringa is also a recipient of two European Research Council (ERC) grants.

The European Research Council awarded Professor Bernard Feringa, based at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant in 2008 and 2015 for his projects exploring nanomachines and molecular motors. He won his first ERC grant in 2008, competing with over 2,000 leading scientists from around Europe and beyond, in the ERC first ever Advanced Grant call, in which nearly 300 researchers were funded.

Further information can be found on ERC website