This is the definition of a pointer to a function. Often used as a callback or table based call.
getTicks is the name of the function. (*getTicks)
It takes no arguments (*getTicks)(void)
It returns an unsigned 32 bit integer unit32_t (*getTicks)(void)
It is static to this function (no global scope) static uint32_t (*getTicks)(void)
And as a pointer it is initialized to NULL such that a caller can tell if the function is valid. Most likely called like:
if (getTicks != NULL) {
val = getTicks();
}