Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A PI holding an active ERC Consolidator Grant in synthetic biology applies for a PoC Grant to run a technical feasibility study and file a provisional patent on a diagnostic assay that emerged from the funded project, ahead of pursuing licensing or spinout formation.
- Is an instance
A PI whose ERC Advanced Grant ended in mid-2025 applies for a PoC Grant to validate market demand and engage prospective industry partners for a materials-science process developed under the original grant, since the grant's end date still falls within the current eligibility window.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A postdoctoral researcher who was not the PI on an ERC main grant applies directly for PoC funding to commercialize a side project unrelated to any ERC-funded work — ineligible, since PoC eligibility attaches to the PI role on a qualifying ERC main grant, and the proposed activity must draw on that project's results.
- Not an instance
A PI applies for a PoC Grant to fund an entirely new line of basic research unconnected to their prior ERC-funded findings — ineligible, since PoC funding is explicitly restricted to exploring the application potential of existing ERC-funded results, not financing new frontier research.
Editorial commentary
The ERC Proof of Concept Grant sits at the boundary between ERC-funded basic research and downstream commercialization or societal-impact activity, functioning as a bridge rather than a competitive entry point. Research administrators supporting PIs at institutions with active ERC awards should track PoC eligibility windows alongside the main grant’s award and end dates, since the window for eligible PIs is time-limited and defined relative to when the underlying main grant ends.
How PoC funding is used
The scheme is intentionally broad in what it will fund, provided the activity draws on results from the underlying ERC project. Common uses include:
- Technical validation or feasibility testing to move a research finding closer to a working prototype or applied method
- Freedom-to-operate or intellectual-property strategy work, including provisional patent filings
- Market or stakeholder validation, such as early engagement with potential licensees, industry partners, or investors
- Preparing follow-on funding applications, for example to SBIR-style instruments or venture funding, once a concept has been de-risked
Because PoC funding is explicitly meant to help a PI test commercial or societal application potential rather than continue frontier research, institutions with technology-transfer offices typically involve that office early — both to help scope a fundable PoC activity and to manage any resulting intellectual-property or licensing steps in parallel with the grant. See CASRAI’s guides on entrepreneurial resources for university spinouts and funding options for a university spinout for how PoC-stage outcomes typically feed into later spinout and licensing pathways.
Relationship to the four core ERC schemes
PoC Grants are not a fifth tier alongside Starting, Consolidator, Advanced, and Synergy Grants — they are only accessible to PIs who already hold or have held one of those four. See CASRAI’s comparison of ERC Starting, Consolidator, Advanced, and Synergy Grants for how those four core, investigator-driven schemes differ by career stage and funding ceiling. A PoC award does not extend or top up the funding amount of the main grant itself; it is a separate lump-sum award with its own application, evaluation, and reporting requirements.
Eligibility window and application limits
Eligibility is tied to PI status on a qualifying main grant, not institutional affiliation alone. For the 2026 Work Programme, eligible applicants are PIs on an ongoing ERC main grant or on one that ended on or after 1 January 2025. A PI may submit only one PoC application per call round, and a given main grant project can receive at most three PoC awards across its lifetime (six for Synergy Grant projects). Applicants should always verify the current year’s exact eligibility cut-off date and call deadlines against the official ERC Work Programme and call documents, since the ERC has adjusted this window between Work Programme years.
Related terms
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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