17,5 million NOK for pandemic research
UiT researcher Richard Fraser is one of seven Norwegian researchers awarded start-up funding by the European Research Council in 2025. He will study how China's global infrastructure development could influence the spread of pandemics.
Associate Professor Richard Fraser at UiT's Department of Social Sciences has been awarded €1.5 million (17,5 million NOK) for the five-year project "Zoonotic Anthropology and Multispecies Infrastructures along China's Belt and Road" (ZOONOSIS).
In the project, he will investigate how China's global infrastructure projects, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), may pose a risk for diseases and pandemics.
A field with societal benefits
"The funding enables me to develop as a leading researcher in multispecies and zoonotic anthropology and to build an international research team. We can conduct research that has a tangible impact on public health and sustainable development," says Fraser.
Fraser will examine how the global reach of the BRI affects interactions between wildlife, livestock, pathogens, and humans. He will also explore how cultural understanding and local experiences influence perceptions of disease transmission. This will be analysed in the context of the impact of China's health diplomacy and health and preparedness policies.
The fieldwork focuses on three high-risk contact zones: the trade of various animal species along China's borders with Myanmar and Nepal, the export of industrial meat from Pakistan and Kazakhstan, and markets selling bushmeat in Cameroon and Congo.
"The support from the ERC will help establish zoonotic anthropology as a field of study at a time when understanding interactions between humans, animals, and pathogens is critically needed," Fraser adds.
ERC
The leading organisation in Europe for research funding is the European Research Council (ERC), which is part of the EU's Horizon Europe programme. Through ERC's schemes, researchers can receive support to build teams with other researchers, realise promising ideas, or reach an early stage of commercialisation. ERC grants also enable researchers to make discoveries across a wide range of disciplines.
In 2025, ERC's Starting Grant awarded €761 million to 478 researchers from 51 countries, both within and outside Europe. A total of 3,928 researchers applied for funding from ERC in these categories: life sciences, natural sciences, engineering, humanities, and social sciences.
ERC also awards Consolidator Grants, Advanced Grants, Proof of Concept Grants, and Synergy Grants.
Seven of this year's ERC grant recipients are affiliated with Norwegian universities and research institutions.