ERC Proof of Concept

All Principal Investigators in one of the ERC frontier research main grants (Starting, Consolidator, Advanced or Synergy) are eligible to participate and apply for an ERC Proof of Concept Grant. Principal Investigators in an ongoing main grant are eligible to apply to both Proof of Concept calls. 

The Principal Investigator must be able to demonstrate the relation between the idea to be taken to proof of concept and the ERC frontier research project (Starting, Consolidator, Advanced or Synergy) in question.

A Principal Investigator may submit only one application per call.

A maximum of three Proof of Concept Grants may be awarded per main grant project, except for Synergy Grant, in which case a maximum of six Proof of Concept Grants may be awarded per ERC funded project.

Synergy Grant Principal Investigators are eligible to apply only with the written consent of all Principal Investigators in the same Synergy Grant project.

Key insights

• Funding Amount: Lump sum of €150,000.
• Duration: 18 months, with many projects typically completed within 12 months.
• Total Budget: €30 million.
• Funding Rate: 100% of eligible costs.

Purpose and objectives

The ERC PoC Grant aims to maximize the value of ERC-funded research by enabling ideas to progress from ground-breaking research towards innovation. It supports activities such as:

• Testing, experimenting, and validating ideas

• Conducting additional research to address weaknesses

• Establishing viability and technical issues

• Clarifying intellectual property rights (IPR) protection

• Involving potential stakeholders

• Assessing potential end-users of the innovation

Impact and scope

The PoC grants support a wide range of disciplines and innovations, including:

• Detecting space debris

• Exploring artificial soil for plant nutrition

• Developing methods to detect ovarian cancer6

In the 2023 call, grants were awarded to researchers in 16 countries, with projects distributed across Physical Sciences and Engineering (55%), Life Sciences (36%), and Social Sciences and Humanities

Criteria

To apply for the ERC PoC grants, applicants must meet specific eligibility criteria:

• The grant is open to Principal Investigators with ongoing ERC grants or those whose grants ended after January 1, 2024.
• Each main grant project is allowed a maximum of three PoC grants, while Synergy Grants can apply for up to six.

The ERC Proof of Concept funding is made available only to those who already have an ERC award to establish proof of concept of an idea that was generated in the course of their ERC-funded projects.

Frontier research often generates radically new ideas that drive innovation and business inventiveness and tackle societal challenges. The ERC PoC Grants aim at facilitating exploration of the commercial and social innovation potential of ERC funded research and are therefore available only to PIs whose proposals draw substantially on their ERC funded research.

Proof of Concept Grants aim at maximising the value of the excellent research that the ERC funds, by funding further work (i.e. activities which were not scheduled to be funded by the original ERC frontier research grant) to verify the innovation potential of ideas arising from ERC funded projects.

Eligibility

• Open to Principal Investigators (PIs) who have received an ERC frontier research main grant (Starting, Consolidator, Advanced, or Synergy),

• PIs must have an ongoing main grant or one that ended less than 12 months before January 1, 2023,

• The proposed idea must be clearly related to the ERC-funded research project.

Host Institution Requirements

• Must be established in an EU Member State, Associated Country, or be an International European Interest Organisation

• Can be any type of legal entity, including universities, research organizations, and private for-profit research centers