The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the first results of its new funding initiative, the Proof of Concept. These 'top up' grants, worth up to €150,000 each, are designed to help ERC-funded blue sky research maximise value. In total, 30 top researchers, already holding ERC grants across Europe, will be given this additional support to bridge the gap between their research and the earliest stage of a marketable innovation. The funding can cover activities related to for instance intellectual property rights, technical validation, market research or investigation of commercial and business opportunities.
The projects, selected through peer review evaluation, treat topics ranging from health to telecommunication: research on needle-free injections of vaccines, safer mobile communications, responses to consumers' concerns on health and food safety, as well as devices controlling e.g. wheel chairs manoeuvred with the nose simply by sniffing. With a very limited part of the whole ERC budget, the initiative could unleash considerable innovation potential.
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