The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the first group of researchers to be awarded ERC Proof of Concept Grants in 2025. In this initial round of the 2025 competition, 150 projects will receive €22.5 million in funding. Each grant is worth €150,000 and is designed to help ERC grantees to bridge the gap between the results of their pioneering research and the early phases of its commercialisation or societal application. The grant scheme is part of Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation programme.
Projects selected for funding
The new grantees’ work will cover a wide range of subjects. Examples include: using AI to better predict conflict escalation and risk; reducing the environmental footprint of paracetamol production; developing a tool to detect distortions in electricity markets caused by dominant energy firms; and creating a portable device to capture and detect PFAS (“forever” chemicals) in water — among many others.
See full list of winners
Facts and figures
The new grantees will be based at universities and research centres in 21 EU Member States and associated countries, notably Germany (27 grants), Spain (20 grants), UK (17 grants), France and the Netherlands (both 12 grants).
Among the winners are 29 researchers with German nationality, 20 Spanish, 17 Italian, – as well as researchers of 29 other nationalities.
This competition attracted 480 proposals, and in this round over 31 percent of proposals were selected for funding.
Next Proof of Concept Grant call
The ERC 2025 work programme includes two calls for proposals for Proof of Concept Grants with a total budget of €45 million.
The scheme is open only to researchers who currently hold, or have previously been awarded, ERC frontier research grants. These top-up grants help to explore the commercial or societal potential of the findings researchers made through their ERC projects. The objective is to enable ERC-funded ideas to progress on the path from ground-breaking research towards innovation.
Interested in applying for an ERC Proof of Concept? The next funding round is now open for applications, with the deadline set for 18 September 2025.
More about Proof of Concept Grants
New report reveals myriad uses of ERC Proof of Concept Grants
A new report reveals how the ERC Proof of Concept Grants are turning frontier research into real-world solutions. With just 1% of the ERC’s total budget – €259 million between 2014 and 2023 – some 1,700 PoC projects have delivered impressive results in innovation, commercialisation and cross-sector impact.
How ERC frontier research strengthens Europe’s competitiveness
Other data on how ERC-funded research results are moving closer to market
Report from Survey on the use of patents by ERC grantees
Examples of ERC-funded research contributing to the creation and support of successful companies
Source: European Research Council | News & Events | News (https://tinyurl.com/44d5p9ya)