The European Research Council (ERC) has published the timeframe for the Proof of Concept call for proposals under the Work Programme 2023, the first deadline being 24 January 2023.
Frontier research often generates radically new ideas that drive innovation and business inventiveness and tackle societal challenges. ERC Proof of Concept Grants aim at maximising the value of the excellent research already funded by the ERC, by granting further funds for activities which were not scheduled to be funded by the original ERC frontier research grant (Starting, Consolidator, Advanced or Synergy) to verify the innovation potential of ideas arising from these projects.
Proof of Concept Grants would help among others:
- testing, experimenting, demonstrating and validating the idea;
- conducting research required to carry out the above activities and to address the weaknesses uncovered by them;
- establishing viability, technical issues and overall direction;
- clarifying IPR protection or knowledge transfer strategy;
- involving industrial partners, societal or cultural organisations, policymakers or any other potential stakeholder supporting the translation of research results into innovation;
- assessing potential “end users” of the expected innovation.
The call is open to all Principal Investigators in one of the ERC frontier research main grants who must be able to demonstrate the relation between the idea to be taken to proof of concept and the project they are working on.
The Host Institution must engage the Principal Investigator for at least the duration of the Proof of Concept project and must either be established in an EU Member State or a Non-EU Country Associated to the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, or it may be an international organisation established in an EU Member State or Associated Country.
Applications can be submitted at any time from the opening date of the call until the specified submission deadlines: 24 January, 20 April and 21 September 2023.
Further information on how to apply is available here.
