Babeş-Bolyai University secures groundbreaking ERC grant for psychology research

Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca has achieved a significant milestone by obtaining a grant of almost 1.5 million euros from the European Research Council (ERC). This funding marks a groundbreaking first for psychology in Romania and is the first ERC grant awarded to a Romanian institution in this field since the establishment of the Council in 2007.

The grant, amounting to 1,489,715 euros, was awarded in full within the highly competitive Starting Grant competition, which focuses on scientific excellence and is intended for researchers at the beginning of their independent careers. Coordinated by lect. univ. dr. Răzvan Jurchiş from the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at UBB, the project is entitled GENESIS - 'Hidden in Plain Sight: The Genesis of Conscious Experience from Statistical Regularities'.

The GENESIS project tackles the intriguing question of how unconscious learning influences our conscious experience. The researchers hypothesize that conscious experience may arise through a process of information compression, transforming complex structures learned unconsciously into simpler, more accessible representations. This could explain phenomena where individuals utilize information they cannot consciously articulate, such as the grammatical rules of a language or the intricate movements of athletes.

Over the next five years, the research will explore how regularities and structures learned without awareness are converted into conscious thoughts. Răzvan Jurchiş notes, 'What we think we know about the reasons for our own actions may not always faithfully reflect the processes that actually guided our behavior.' This research continues a vital direction developed by the Cluj school of psychology in the field of unconscious information processing.

The recognition of this project and its coordinator is not just a win for Jurchiş, but also highlights UBB’s capability to compete for high-level European funding. As UBB rector prof. univ. dr. psych. Daniel David stated, 'An ERC grant represents one of the strongest validations.' The funding will enhance the participation of Romanian research in leading international networks in psychology and cognitive sciences.