Recognition of the Uruguayan researcher Daniel Chávez

The Uruguayan anthropologist specializing in urban politics and management, Daniel ChávezA Senior Research Fellow at the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute (TNI), has been awarded an Advanced Fellowship from the European Research Council (ERC). TNI is an associate center of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO). CLACSO, along with the University of Cape Town in South Africa and Nazarbayeb University in Astana, Kazakhstan, is one of the three scientific partners in the S-OIL project, in conjunction with TNI.

The recognition, which will allow Chávez to implement a five-year research project on "The End of Oil and the Global South – Ethnographies of Oil Extraction and Futures of Public Policy in a Decarbonizing World" (S-OIL), places him among the leading researchers in Europe in charge of innovative scientific projects.

The S-OIL project addresses one of the most pressing challenges of our time: how state-owned oil companies will navigate the urgent need for global decarbonization while maintaining a crucial role in the economic and social development of their countries. Its five-year implementation will begin in early 2026, with fieldwork planned in multiple countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The research findings are expected to inform public policy debates on the energy transition, development finance, and climate governance at both national and international levels. The project’s multidisciplinary approach promises to generate relevant knowledge for policymakers, development practitioners, and civil society organizations working on energy justice and sustainable development.

Daniel Chávez and his team of postdoctoral researchers and doctoral students will combine various theoretical and methodological approaches to transform the current understanding of these companies' strategies and perspectives. The research highlights two critical dimensions: their massive importance in global decarbonization efforts, and their role and impact at the national level in shaping development strategies and models, generating income, providing employment, and supplying essential public goods and services.

The ERC evaluation panel recognized the exceptional quality of Daniel Chávez's research project. One member of the evaluation team noted that the project “is extremely well detailed in terms of methodological approaches and overall and specific objectives,” combining “qualitative research, quantitative analysis, and institutional analysis.” Another evaluator argued that the research proposal “stands out not simply because of the fundamental importance of climate change and the challenges of decarbonization,” but also because the researcher has been “highly effective in arguing that national oil companies need much deeper scrutiny, and in demonstrating that existing research has major gaps when it comes to state-owned enterprises in general and national oil companies in particular.”

The ERC panel acknowledged “Dr. Chávez’s background in anthropology and political economy, which prepares him very well for the proposed research.” It highlighted as a particular strength “his experience working beyond purely academic contexts” and concluded that “the researcher is clearly well-positioned to lead this ambitious project.”

Daniel Chávez He was born and completed his early studies in Paysandú, an industrial city in northwestern Uruguay. He graduated from the University of the Republic (UdelaR) in Montevideo and holds a master's degree and a doctorate from the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) at Erasmus University Rotterdam. He is the first Uruguayan and Latin American social scientist to receive an ERC Advanced Fellowship.

TNI TNI is a policy-oriented research center dedicated to building a just, democratic, and sustainable world. For over 50 years, it has served as a unique nexus between engaged research, activism, and policymaking, working on issues of globalization, corporate power, climate justice, and democratic governance. TNI has consistently produced high-impact research that influences policy debates worldwide. By hosting this important project, the institute is confident it will have a significant impact on green industrial policy debates in the Global South.

El ERC The European Research Council (ERC) is the leading European organization in the field of funding for cutting-edge research. ERC Advanced Grants are among the most prestigious and competitive in the world, providing leading researchers with the opportunity to pursue ambitious and innovative projects. Recipients of these ERC grants conduct state-of-the-art research in the fields of life sciences, medicine, physics and chemistry, computer science and artificial intelligence, and social sciences and humanities. Advanced Grants provide funding for established, top-tier scientists with outstanding track records, ensuring significant resources for five years to implement advanced research projects.