EU grants €11.4 million to top researchers to bring science findings closer to market

The European Commission announced today that 76 top researchers will receive European Research Council’s (ERC) Proof of Concept grants, worth €11.4 million. This top-up funding worth €150,000 each is awarded to ERC grantees to explore business opportunities, prepare patent applications or verify the practical viability of their scientific findings. Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “The EU is supporting researchers to break new ground and push the frontiers of our knowledge. These new ERC projects put new discoveries into practice. They also prove that funding frontier science is a key way to build foundations for the innovative economy and society.” The new grants, which are part of the EU’s research and innovation programme Horizon 2020, will help produce a safer and cheaper treatment for patients with autoimmune conditions, such as arthritis, develop a method to measure if autistic children are getting the intended benefits from the educational programmes and bring about many other innovations. This final injection of €11.4 million pushes the total number of ERC Proof of Concept funded projects for 2019 to 200. It completes the third and final round of the 2019 ERC Proof of Concept grant competition, to which an overall budget of €30 million was dedicated. More information is available in this ERC press release.