ERC-Proof of Concept (ERC-2017-PoC)

Call updates:

20 February 2018 15:00

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10 January 2018 16:58

An overview of the evaluation results for the ERC-2017-PoC - Deadline 3 (05 September 2017) is now available in the "Flash Call Info" document, under the ‘Topic conditions & documents - Additional Documents’ section on the topic page.

19 September 2017 09:47

A total of 269 proposals were submitted in response to the third and final deadline (05 September 2017) of this ERC 2017 Proof of Concept call (ERC-2017-PoC). This represents 93% more than DL2 and 67% more than PoC 2016 DL3.
Overall the ERC 2017 Proof of Concept call received 532 proposals (a 22% increase, compared to 2016 call).
The ERC-2017-PoC call is closed.

The next call, ERC-2018-PoC, has already been published and is now open for submission on the Participant Portal from 6th September 2017, with 3 cut-off dates (deadlines): 16 January 2018 - 18 April 2018 and 11 September 2018 (17:00:00:time zone Brussels time).
According to the new rules on restrictions on applications (ERC-2018-WP), a Principal Investigator may submit only one application per call.

26 April 2017 09:13

A total of 139 proposals were submitted in response to the second intermediate deadline (25 April 2017) of this ERC 2017 Proof of Concept call (ERC-2017-PoC). This represents 3.6 % more than the second cut off of the 2016 call, and 10% more than the first cut-off of 2017 call.
The final deadline for submission to this call is 05 September 2017 (17:00:00 Brussels local time).

According to the new rules on restrictions on applications (ERC 2017 WP), a Principal Investigator may submit only one application per call.

20 January 2017 11:46

A total of 124 proposals were submitted in response to the first intermediate deadline of this call (19 January 2017).
The second intermediate deadline for submission is 25 April 2017, and the final deadline for submission is 5 September 2017 at 17:00 (Brussels local time).
According to the new rules on restrictions on applications (ERC 2017 WP), a Principal Investigator may submit only one application per call. 

11 January 2017 11:14

Switzerland eligible for funding under all H2020 calls:
From 1 January 2017 Switzerland is associated to the whole Horizon 2020 programme instead of the previous partial association. This applies to all the grant agreements signed on 1 January 2017 and afterwards. For more information please see the relevant Note on the Participant Portal: Swiss participation in Horizon 2020 

Topic Description

Scope:

Objectives

Frontier research often generates unexpected or new opportunities for commercial or societal application. The ERC Proof of Concept Grants aim to maximise the value of the excellent research that the ERC funds, by funding further work (i.e. activities which were not scheduled to be funded by the original ERC frontier research grant) to verify the innovation potential of ideas arising from ERC funded projects. Proof of Concept Grants are therefore on offer only to Principal Investigators whose proposals draw substantially on their ERC funded research.

Ethical Principles

All proposals will be subject to ethics review as with proposals for the ERC's frontier research grants.

Maximum size of grant and grant assessment

The financial contribution will be up to a maximum of EUR 150 000 for a period of 18 months. The ERC expects that normally, proof of concept projects should be completed within 12 months. However, to allow for those projects that require more preparation time, projects will be signed for 18 months. Given this initial flexibility, extensions of the duration of proof of concept projects may be granted only exceptionally.

The overall level of the funding offered will be assessed during the evaluation. The funding requested by the applicant will be judged against the needs of the proposed activity before award. The funding requested by the Principal Investigator must be fully justified by an estimation of the actual costs for the proposed activities.

The Union financial contribution will take the form of the reimbursement of up to 100% of the total eligible and approved direct costs and of flat-rate financing of indirect costs on the basis of 25% of the total eligible direct cost (Excluding the direct costs for subcontracting and the costs of resources made available by third parties which are not used on the premises of the host institution). The level of the awarded grant represents a maximum overall figure – the final amount to be paid must be justified on the basis of the costs actually incurred for the project.

The indicative budget for this call for 2017 is EUR 20 000 000 (approximately one-third of which will be for each of the three evaluation rounds following three specific deadlines).