Go to 2014 Call page to see open calls in this topic.
The ERC is committed to ensure the full exploitation of the excellent, useful ideas it funds. The Proof of concept funding was initiated to help ERC grant-holders bridge the gap between their research and the earliest stage of a marketable innovation.
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. The activities to be funded draw substantially on the outputs of ERC-supported research, but they are not aimed at extending the original research.
This funding aims at supporting grant-holders during the pre-demonstration phase to prepare a "package" to be presented to venture capitalists or companies that might invest in the new technology and take it through the early commercialisation phase.
ERC Proof of Concept Guidelines:
Open only to the Principal Investigators who have previously benefitted from an ERC starting or advanced grant.
The original ERC grant must be ongoing or have ended less that 12 months before the publication date of the ERC Proof of Concept call.
The grant will support an idea that was a direct result of the ERC-funded project. The Prinicipal Investigator will have to show the link between the two.
Calls will be published annually with 2 deadlines.
The grant can be up to € EUR 150 000 per grant for the duration of 12 months.
