Academic Researchers

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 shall draw substantially on this scientifically excellent ERC-funded research. However, the additional funding is not aimed at extending the original research or predominantly concerned with overcoming obstacles to practical application.

The funding will cover activities at the very early stage of turning research outputs into a commercial or socially valuable proposition, i.e. the initial steps of pre-competitive development.
The funding can be used to:

• Establish viability, technical issues and overall direction
• Clarify intellectual property rights position and strategy
• Provide feedback for budgeting and other forms of commercial discussion
• Provide connections to later stage funding
• Cover initial expenses for establishing a company

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