ERC Consolidator Grant for Heidi Stöckl

The Team of IMPROVE_LIFE in Bangladesh: Ruhi Nusrat, Ruchira Naved, Heidi Stöckl and Mamun Mahfuz

Prof. Heidi Stöckl from the Chair of Public Health and Health Services Research at LMU Munich is funded by the ERC Consolidator Grant for the project IMPROVE_LIFE. IMPROVE_LIFE aims to investigate violence during pregnancy both theoretically and empirically, particularly regarding its intergenerational transmission and its health and social effects.

According to estimates by the World Health Organization, in which Heidi Stöckl was involved, one in four women worldwide becomes the victim of physical or sexual violence in a relationship during her life. Pregnancy is often a life-changing time in which violence in relationships occurs for the first time, increases or decreases.

IMPROVE_LIFE: Research on violence during pregnancy

One innovative aspect of IMPROVE_LIFE is the use of clinically tested biomarkers in research on violence against women. Stöckl and her team will be collecting new intergenerational cohort data in Bangladesh, analyzing existing data from the United Kingdom and pooled, cross-national survey data from the Demographic and Health Survey from over 54 countries. Qualitative data will be collected using the Bangladesh Birth Cohort. The key outcome of IMPROVE_LIFE is the development of a theoretical and conceptual framework to inform policy, prevention and response programs to combat violence during pregnancy and childbirth.

Heidi Stöckl has been professor for Public Health Evaluation at the Chair of Public Health and Health Services Research at the Faculty of Medicine at LMU Munich and the Pettenkofer School of Public Health since 2021. Previously, she conducted research at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

With Consolidator Grants, the European Research Council (ERC) supports excellent scientists in further developing their innovative research. The award is endowed with funding of up to two million euros for a period of five years. The decision for the prestigious grants is based on the scientific excellence of the applicant and of the project applied for.

A total of nine researchers from different disciplines have acquired a Consolidator Grant together with LMU. They come from subjects as diverse as quantum dynamics, media research, genetics, political science, astronomy, medicine and art history.