EU grants €8.25 million in top-up funding to spur innovation

To bring their research findings closer to market, 55 researchers have been awarded a total of €8.25 million, or €150,000 each, through the European Research Council’s Proof of Concept grant scheme. The funding will help outstanding researchers to explore the commercial and societal potential of their research results and improve our lives. A new low-cost and highly-accurate test for COVID-19, new treatment options for retinal degenerative diseases and blindness, as well as new ways to share cultural expertise in our increasingly diverse European societies, in order to solve conflicts and protect disadvantaged social groups – these are just three examples of how the frontier researchers will use the awarded grants. Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “The Proof of Concept grants awarded by the ERC today, demonstrate how frontier research results can be applied to create innovations that benefit society and industry. The research funded in this call is set to break fresh ground and to open new ways of dealing with pressing challenges in the areas of health, migration and climate change, amongst many other fields.” The new grants are funded via Horizon 2020, the EU’s research and innovation programme from 2014 to 2020. More information is available in this ERC press release. The list of the 55 grant recipients is here and examples of funded projects are here.