"I am truly delighted that DEEP-LIFE has been awarded an ERC Synergy Grant. This is a milestone for us as a university and a strong recognition of the researchers’ scientific excellence. It demonstrates that we have research environments where world-class research can emerge and thrive," says Göran Hilmersson, vice-chancellor of Linnaeus University.
Researchers Henrik Drake and Mark Dopson had been eagerly awaiting the funding decision.
“This is a major boost for our research. ERC Synergy Grants are highly competitive, and we’re both pleased and proud to have been entrusted with carrying out this project. This gives us unique opportunities we wouldn’t otherwise have had,” says Henrik Drake.
The project will investigate microbial life deep within the Earth’s crust. These environments have remained habitable for exceptionally long periods of time and may contain microbes that have evolved in isolation from the outside world for hundreds of millions of years, or even more than a billion years. The aim is to gain new insights into how life evolved on Earth and to uncover clues about its earliest history.
“The Earth’s surface has changed dramatically over billions of years, but deep within the bedrock there are environments that have remained far more stable. By studying these microbes, we hope to gain unique insights into evolutionary processes that unfold over immense timescales,” says Henrik Drake.
The researchers will combine expertise in geology, microbiology, DNA sequencing and evolutionary biology to analyse microbes, rocks and ancient fluids obtained from boreholes extending kilometres into the Earth’s crust. By linking information gathered from present-day microbes with traces of ancient life, they hope to contribute important pieces to the puzzle of how life evolved.
A key part of the project will be a deep-drilling operation next autumn, at a site where the bedrock is believed to have provided habitable conditions for an exceptionally long time. The researchers plan to drill to a depth of approximately 1.5 kilometres to collect samples from environments that may function as biological time capsules.
“If we succeed in identifying the right environments, we may gain access to microbes that have evolved in relative isolation over very long periods of time. This could provide valuable insights into the evolutionary history of life,” says Henrik Drake.
The DEEP-LIFE research team is led by Henrik Drake, the lead principal investigator and a professor at Linnaeus University, Sweden. The team’s other principal investigators are Mark Dopson, professor at Linnaeus University, Sweden; Stefan Bertilsson, professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden; and Daniel Tamarit Chulia, assistant professor at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. DEEP-LIFE has been awarded €10 million and will begin on 1 May 2027.
Find out more in an interview with Henrik Drake and Mark Dopson on Lnu.se.
Press images of professor Henrik Drake and professor Mark Dopson are available here. Photo: Joakim Palmqvist, Linnaeus University