ERC Proof of Concept Grant (ERC-2019-PoC)

Call updates

Oct 2, 2019 12:33:34 PM

A total of 251 proposals were submitted in response to the third and final deadline (19 September 2019) of the ERC 2019 Proof of Concept Lump Sum Pilot Call (ERC-2019-PoC). This represents 33% more than PoC 2018 DL3.
Overall the ERC 2019 Proof of Concept call received 520 proposals (15% more than 2018 call).

The ERC-2019-PoC call is closed.

The next call, ERC-2020-PoC, will be published and open for submission on the Participant Portal on 15th October 2019, with 3 cut-off dates (deadlines): 21 January 2020 - 23 April 2020 and 17 September 2020 (17:00:00:time zone Brussels time).
According to the rules on restrictions on applications: "Principal Investigators may submit only one proposal under Work Programme 2020. If multiple submissions are made at different cut-off dates under the Work Programme 2020 only the first eligible proposal will be considered".

Aug 16, 2019 2:56:28 PM

Dear PoC Applicant,

An important notification has been sent today in your Portal account regarding your application to the ERC Proof of Concept Lump Sum Pilot [ERC-POC-LS] call, with the cut-off date 19 September 2019.

Due to an IT error on our side, the proposal template used for your application was not appropriate: it refers to a ERC-POC (Proof of Concept Grant) Type of Action, instead of the accurate template for the ERC Proof of Concept Lump Sum Pilot [ERC-POC-LS] call.
We ask you therefore to restart your application process:
Please create a new application and copy/ paste the data you had drafted in your previous version into a new one, using the correct Lump sum template (now available on the online submission system).
You can view your initial proposal from My Proposals tab ( https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/myarea/proposals) in the Funding & Tenders Portal, and you can delete it once you have submitted your new application with the correct template for ERC-POC-LS (Lump Sum Pilot).
Check if the proposal is complete. Once submitted, it is recommended to verify the proposal and its content by downloading all the submitted files. We strongly advise that you submit your proposal at least 48 hours in advance of the call deadline (19 September 2019 - 17:00:00 Brussels time).
Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience caused.
Thank you for your understanding and best regards,
European Commission - Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System team

For any inquiries please contact the SEP helpdesk (+32 2 29 92222 or DIGIT-EFP7-SEP-SUPPORT@ec.europa.eu).

Jul 29, 2019 11:47:34 AM

An overview of the evaluation results (flash call info) is now available under "Topic conditions & documents" section, under additional documents

Apr 26, 2019 11:46:25 AM

ERC-2019-PoC-Deadline 2 (25/04/2019):
A total of 132 proposals were submitted in response to the second intermediate deadline (25 April 2019) of this ERC 2019 Proof of Concept call (ERC-2019-PoC). This represents the same number of submissions than for the second cut-off of the 2018 call, and 5 proposals less (3,5%) than the first cut-off of this 2019 call.
The final deadline for submission to this call is 19 September 2019 (17:00:00 Brussels local time).
NB: According to the new rules on restrictions on applications (ERC 2019 WP), a Principal Investigator may submit only ONE application per call.

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ERC-2019-PoC-Deadline 1 (23/01/2019):
A total of 137 proposals were submitted in response to the first intermediate deadline of this call (23 January 2019). This represents 18 proposals more (15%) than for the first cut-off for the 2018 call.

The second intermediate deadline for submission is 25 April 2019, and the final deadline for submission is 19 September 2019 at 17:00 (Brussels local time).
According to the new rules on restrictions on applications (ERC 2019 WP), a Principal Investigator may submit only one application per call.

22 January 2019 16:59

Due to technical issues, the submission deadline originally scheduled for 22 January 2019 (5 pm) is postponed for 24 hours.

The submission session is now available for: ERC-2019-POC(ERC-POC)

10 December 2018 12:17

Update of H2020 Annotated Model Grant Agreement V5.1 is now available: see below, under Topic Conditions: 5. Additional documents.

18 October 2018 11:41

The submission session is now available for: ERC-2019-POC(ERC-POC)

TOPIC : ERC Proof of Concept Grant

 Horizon 2020

Topic Description

Scope:

Eligible Countries­

1. Eligible countries: The conditions specific to the ERC are described in the ERC 2019 Work Programme under the heading Eligibility criteria and in Annex 3. An overview is provided below:

The ERC actions are open to researchers of any nationality who intend to conduct their research activity in any EU Member State or H2020 Associated Country. Principal Investigators may be of any age and nationality and may reside in any country in the world at the time of the application. ERC Principal Investigators do not have to be based full-time in Europe.

The host institution must either be established in an EU Member State or H2020 Associated Country as a legal entity created under national law, or it may be an International European Interest Organisation (such as CERN, EMBL, etc.), the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) or any other entity created under EU law.

Eligibility and admissibility conditions

2. Eligibility and admissibility conditions:

The conditions specific to ERC grants are described in the ERC Work Programme 2019 under the heading Eligibility criteria and in the ERC Rules for Submission and Evaluation under Section 2.4. An overview is provided below:

Eligible proposals: All proposals must be complete and submitted before the relevant call deadline. A complete proposal needs to include all parts or sections (see “Proposal submission and description” below). Incomplete proposals may be declared ineligible. The content of the proposal must relate to the objectives and to the grant type set out in the call, as defined in ERC Work Programme 2019. A proposal will only be deemed ineligible on grounds of ‘scope’ in clear-cut cases.

Eligible Principal Investigator: All Principal Investigators in an ERC frontier research project, that is either on going or has ended less than 12 months before 1 January 2019, are eligible to participate and apply for an ERC Proof of Concept Grant.
Principal Investigators may submit only one proposal under the Work Programme 2019 calls. If multiple submissions are made at different cut-off dates under the Work Programme 2019 only the first eligible proposal will be considered.
A Principal Investigator whose proposal was rejected on the grounds of a breach of research integrity in the calls under Work Programmes 2017 or 2018 may not submit a proposal to the calls under Work Programme 2019.

Eligible Host Institution: The host institution (Applicant Legal Entity) must engage the Principal Investigator(s) for at least the duration of the project, as defined in the grant agreement. It must either be established in an EU Member State or H2020 Associated Country as a legal entity created under national law, or it may be an International European Interest Organisation (such as CERN, EMBL, etc.), the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) or any other entity created under EU law. Any type of legal entity, public or private, including universities, research organisations and undertakings can host Principal Investigators and their teams.
In a Synergy grant up to four Host Institutions could engage a Principal Investigator. Where they bring scientific added value to the project, additional team members may also be hosted by additional legal entities which will be eligible for funding, and which may be legal entities established anywhere, including outside the European Union or H2020 Associated Countries, or international organisations. Legal entities established outside the European Union or Associated Countries are eligible for funding provided that their participation is deemed essential for carrying out the action.

Restrictions on submission of proposals: The restrictions for submission are related to the outcome of the evaluation in previous calls and are designed to allow unsuccessful Principal Investigators the time necessary to develop a stronger proposal. For further details please consult pages 19-20 of the ERC Work Programme 2019 or the Frequently Asked Questions.

Proposal page limits and layout

Proposal page limits and layout: A complete proposal is composed of:

• Administrative proposal forms (including Ethics Review Table): available in section 5 of the topic conditions and in the submission tool below. To access the submission tool, you need to register to the Participant Portal first.

• Proposal (Part B) and any supporting documentation should be uploaded and submitted via the submission tool below as PDF files.
• Host Institution Binding Statement of Support (available as a word-template in the submission tool below). Only the host institution of the Corresponding Principal Investigator must confirm its association with and its support to the project and the Corresponding Principal Investigator, listing the other participating Principal Investigators.

• Ethics review self-assessment (if applicable) and supporting documentation.

Proposal Part B:

Idea and justification on innovation potential: max. 2 pages
Expected impact of the proposed innovation: 2 pages
Proof of concept plan: 2 pages
Budget table and justification: 1 page (+ Budget Table)

Evaluation criteria and process

Evaluation

The conditions specific to ERC are described in the ERC Work Programme 2019 under the heading 'Evaluation procedure and criteria' and in the ERC Rules for Submission and Evaluation. An overview is provided below:

Evaluation procedure

A single-stage submission and single-step evaluation procedure will be used. The evaluation will be conducted by independent experts. These experts may work remotely and may if necessary meet as an evaluation panel as set out below on the application of the evaluation criteria.

Evaluation criteria

Proof of Concept Grants are awarded in relation to an existing ERC-funded project which has already been evaluated on the basis of excellence as the sole criterion. The evaluation criteria for selection of proposals for Proof of Concept Grants are excellence in innovation potential, impact and quality and efficiency of the implementation. The detailed evaluation elements applying to the proof of concept project and the Principal Investigator are set out in the ERC Work Programme 2019.