THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS

Their core work

The University of St Andrews is a research-intensive Scottish university with deep strengths in fundamental science — particularly photophysics, organic semiconductors, marine biology, and cognitive sciences. Through H2020, they have hosted a large number of individual research fellowships (Marie Curie, ERC Starting Grants), making them a magnet for early-career researchers across physics, chemistry, biology, and the humanities. Their applied work spans organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), solar physics, marine ecosystem research, and public engagement with science. They also contribute to European research infrastructure clusters in life sciences and environmental monitoring.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2015–2018), St Andrews had a broad portfolio spanning international cooperation (Caspian region studies), environmental research infrastructure, mathematics, and fundamental chemistry and physics fellowships. From 2019 onward, a clear concentration emerged around organic semiconductors and OLED technology (TADF materials appearing repeatedly) alongside a growing commitment to public engagement with research. The university also deepened its marine science and solar physics threads while the earlier international-development work tapered off.

St Andrews is concentrating its EU research identity around advanced organic electronics and photophysics, while building a parallel track in science-society engagement — expect future proposals at this intersection.

How they like to work

St Andrews acts predominantly as a project coordinator (63 of 101 projects), but most coordinated projects are individual fellowships (MSCA, ERC) rather than large multi-partner consortia. When they do join consortia as a participant, they tend toward large research infrastructure clusters (CORBEL, ENVRI PLUS, EMBRIC) with many partners. With 491 unique partners across 51 countries, they are a well-connected hub, though their partnership pattern reflects the fellowship-heavy profile — many one-off connections rather than repeated deep alliances.

An exceptionally wide network of 491 unique partners across 51 countries, reflecting both their fellowship hosting role (attracting researchers from many nations) and participation in pan-European infrastructure projects. Geographic reach is truly global, not limited to any regional cluster.

What sets them apart

St Andrews combines world-class photophysics and organic electronics research with strong marine and environmental science — a rare combination in a single institution. Their extraordinary fellowship success rate (34 MSCA + 9 ERC Starting Grants) signals that top early-career researchers consistently choose St Andrews as their host, making it an excellent partner for proposals that need credible hosting of individual researchers. For consortium builders, they bring both scientific depth and a proven ability to manage EU-funded research.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CORONALDOLLS
  EUR 2M ERC grant on multi-scale coronal heating — their largest single award and a flagship in solar physics.
• RomaInterbellum
  EUR 2.4M project on Roma civic emancipation — their highest-funded project overall and an unusual humanities topic for a science-strong university.
• ABLASE
  EUR 1.4M on bioderived and biocompatible lasers — bridges their photonics strength with life sciences applications.