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The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded an international research team led by Florian Meyer from the Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) at the University of Bremen a Synergy Grant in recognition of their research on fire safety in space.
This year, the ERC is providing 684 million euros in funding to support exceptional researchers who wish to set new scientific standards through international collaboration and the exchange of expertise and resources. Out of 712 applications, ZARM, together with its partners from the Ghent University, Sorbonne Université, and Centrale Lille Institut succeeded with their “FireSpace” project. This makes them one of 66 research teams selected to receive this highly prestigious grant.
The Synergy Grant is part of the EU’s Horizon Europe funding program for research and innovation and is one of the highest honors for excellent international research that brings great visibility to projects worldwide. FireSpace will receive around 14 million euros in funding, 5.3 million euros of which will go to the University of Bremen. The funding, which will be distributed over six years, will enable the implementation of several research positions, the acquisition of technical equipment, the use of experimental infrastructures, and face-to-face scientific exchange between the participating institutions.
Success After Intensive Application Process
The FireSpace consortium consists of Bart Merci (principal investigator) from Ghent University, Serge Bourbigot (corresponding principal investigator) from Centrale Lille Intitut, Guillaume Legros (principal investigator) from Sorbonne Université and Florian Meyer (principal investigator) from the Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) at the University of Bremen. Florian Meyer is the head of the Combustion Engineering research group at ZARM. Since June 2023, he has been collaborating with colleagues from France and Belgium on an application for a Synergy Grant. Upon completion of the complex application process, the team traveled to Brussels in September 2025 to present the project and the intensive cooperation between the participating institutes in person. "The amount of work involved was enormous and the probability of being selected out of 712 applications was low," says Meyer. "Today, of course, we are glad that we believed in our project and we are incredibly proud to receive such a prestigious award."
Joint Research for Greater Safety in Space
FireSpace focuses on combustion processes and fire safety strategies under space conditions. The ZARM team has conducted experiments in previous projects, for example in the Bremen Drop Tower, some with support from the German Space Agency at DLR. They were able to prove that an increased oxygen concentration in spacecraft atmospheres, as planned for future space missions, can significantly increase the risk of fire. The international partners further this research by developing new types of fire-retardant materials and investigating innovative fire mitigation methods, for example with the use of acoustic waves.
They are also conducting detailed numerical simulations to scale the results to the dimensions of spacecraft and various habitats. Thanks to the funding, the team will now be able to conduct additional experiments in the Bremen Drop Tower, on parabolic flights, and on sounding rockets. This project is unique because the close cooperation between the partner institutions will ensure that the results are directly comparable and transferable. "With the Synergy Grant, we will achieve results that would not have been possible in individual projects," Meyer emphasizes. “Our long-term goal is to establish a secure basis for an improved fire safety strategy for astronautical exploration.”
Dr.-Ing. Florian Meyer
Email: florian.meyer@zarm.uni-bremen.de
The FireSpace consortium: Bart Merci, Ghent University, Serge Bourbigot, Centrale Lille, Guillaume L ...
Quelle: ZARM
Copyright: ZARM/ Universität Bremen
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