ERC announces PoC grant winners
The European Research Council has published the details of 59 new projects benefitting from its Proof of Concept (PoC) grant scheme. Research set to be funded includes a simple blood test to diagnose breast cancer, a forensic device to trace the origin of tropical timber and artificial veins inspired by marine sponges.
Worth up to €150,000 per grant, PoC funding helps ERC grant holders to bridge the gap between their existing frontier research and its commercial applications. The top-up funding will enable the scientists to cover costs of technical validation and create a start-up to explore business opportunities or establish intellectual property rights.
Speaking about the grant announcement, ERC President Professor Jean-Pierre Bourguignon said: “The demand for PoC funding is on the rise, showing that the scientific community is open to such an entrepreneurial mind-set. A growing number of ERC grantees are unleashing the potential of their most creative scientific ideas in a broader environment.”
In the latest ERC competition, 120 researchers are being funded, of which the last 59 were announced today. In this second round, grants go to researchers in 15 countries across the European Research Area, including 11 in the Netherlands, nine in the United Kingdom and eight in Spain. The budget for the whole call is €18m and in total 442 applications were submitted, representing a 51% increase compared to the previous call.
Adding his thoughts, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Carlos Moedas commented: “The PoC grants will enable some of our top research to compete with the best innovations out there. This will help improve our ability to bring innovations to market, boost competitiveness and create the jobs and growth needed in Europe.”
The 2015 call for proposals for ERC PoC grants is currently open. With multiple deadlines throughout 2015, more information can be found here.
