Past winners
ERC Proof of Concept, recent awardees
€150,000 top-up for existing ERC grant holders to explore the commercial or societal potential of their research.
30 funded projects indexed from OpenAlex and CORDIS
Top countries
- IT×4
- NL×3
- BE×3
- DE×3
- IL×3
Top institutions
- VIB VZW×2
- INSTITUT DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DEVELOPPEMENT×2
- WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE×2
- UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON×1
- POLITECNICO DI TORINO×1
2027
DeepSonic: Deep sea soundscapes from machine learning
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON · UK · €150,000
Acoustic recordings of ocean noise offer vital insights into marine ecosystems, revealing the impacts of human activities such as noise pollution and climate change. Large baleen whales like blue and fin whales emit low-frequency calls that travel long distances and can be detected by ocean bottom seismometers (OBS)—instruments originally deployed for seismological research. This makes OBSs a cost-effective, passive tool for long-term marine mammal and ocean noise monitoring in deep and remote a
Sustainable and Ultra-PeRforming supercApacitors with 3D Laser-Induced Graphene (SUPRALIG)
POLITECNICO DI TORINO · IT · €150,000
Electrochemical energy storage devices such as supercapacitors and batteries rely on metallic current collectors that are costly, dense and environmentally intensive to manufacture. These limitations hinder the development of flexible, lightweight, and scalable energy storage technologies needed for emerging applications including wearable electronics, IoT devices, and distributed renewable energy systems. SUPRALIG proposes a disruptive alternative: the use of Laser-Induced Graphene (LIG) as a t
Robust and Scalable Catalytic Ball Milling for Plastic Recycling (Scalable IMPACT)
UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT · NL · €150,000
Polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene make up more than 50% of global polymer production and are thus a major contributor to waste accumulation in the environment. Classical recycling via melting and reshaping usually leads to a lower quality product. Chemical recycling is proposed as solution, in which the chemical bonds of the polymer are broken to obtain chemical building blocks. It is most desired to produce monomers to make high quality polymers again. However, for polyolefins
Lipopolysaccharide Lipid A Profiling to Guide Microbiome-Supported Immunotherapy in Melanoma
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI FEDERICO II · IT · €150,000
Understanding how gut microbiota shapes host physiology is central to biomedicine. Yet current microbiome studies largely infer function from genetic signatures rather than directly measuring biochemical outputs. This limitation becomes critical in interventional settings such as faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in oncology, where donor-to-recipient transfer can alter immune tone in ways not captured by taxonomy alone. Among key microbial immune modulators are lipopolysaccharides (LPS) fr
Scalable MXene-Based Thermal Shields for Next-Generation Radar and Aerospace Electronics
AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS · ES · €150,000
THERMOBARRIER aims to develop an inorganic tunable thermal barrier based on metal transitional carbides, i.e. MXenes, designed to stabilize electronics that are sensitive to temperature variations. By material engineering of MXenes, we create films with record-low thermal conductivity, flexibility, stability in thermal cycles, and electromagnetic compatibility with the targeted electronics. Preliminary work within ERC THERMO2DEAL shows feasibility and scalability, protecting the IP of the therm
Targeting liquid organelles to develop new antiviral strategies against influenza A virus infections
UNIVERSIDADE CATOLICA PORTUGUESA · PT · €150,000
Rising antiviral resistance, vaccine hesitancy, and more frequent zoonotic spillovers, amplified by climate change and ecosystem disruption, demand for more and different antiviral solutions. Most licensed influenza antivirals act by inhibiting viral protein functions and can be undermined by resistance. LOFlu_TREAT develops an evolution-resilient approach against epidemic and pandemic influenza A virus (IAV) by modulating the material properties of virus-induced biomolecular condensates, membra
Engineering microglia to treat Alzheimer’s disease
VIB VZW · BE · €150,000
"Microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, are increasingly implicated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis by genetic studies and functional evidence showing defective recognition and clearance of amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides. Inefficient microglial clearance of Aβ plaques leads to progressive accumulation, enhanced neuroinflammation, and neuronal loss. While current antibody therapies target Aβ, these interventions face significant safety concerns, limiting pharmacology. This ERC Pr
Utilising the principles of excluded volume effect to heal cutaneous pathologies using in vitro engineered cell-assembled living substitutes
PANEPISTIMIO IOANNINON · EL · €150,000
The ERC-2019-Co-ACHIEVE programme investigates the fundamentals of excluded volume effect, through the application of macromolecular crowding (MMC), in cell culture. Outcomes of the ERC-2019-Co-ACHIEVE programme demonstrate the potential of MMC in regenerative medicine, drug discovery and cellular agriculture. The ERC-2026-PoC-EVE_HEALS programme will utilise MMC to develop tissue engineered medicines for wound healing applications.
Biocompatible agents for preventive diagnostics in vascular disease
TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET MUENCHEN · DE · €150,000
Perfusable vascularized microphysiological systems such as vasculature- and thrombosis-on-chip platforms are emerging as powerful tools to study cardiovascular disease and evaluate therapies. Monitoring biochemical processes such as platelet activation, thrombin generation, or endothelial signaling within these systems remains challenging. Current readout strategies rely mainly on continuous microscopy or integrated sensors, which are difficult to scale across extended vascular networks and inte
Automated Security Validation for Zero-Knowledge Systems
TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET WIEN · AT · €150,000
Zero-knowledge (ZK) systems are foundational to modern privacy-preserving technologies, yet ensuring the correctness of their increasingly complex implementations remains a major bottleneck. The high stakes involved---for instance, the 745 million USD in digital assets managed by the Linea blockchain that relies on such infrastructure---highlight the critical need for a scalable and reliable solution. Currently, correctness relies heavily on costly and labor-intensive manual audits, which do not
Live-testing a light-speed gravity-based tsunami warning system
INSTITUT DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DEVELOPPEMENT · FR · €150,000
Earthquakes caused nearly one million fatalities in the last 25 years and billions of euros of economic loss. Earthquake early warning systems exist in some countries at risk. They send alerts based on the rapid analysis of early seismic waves generated by the earthquake and therefore only provide a few seconds of warning before the strongest shakings. Moreover, for fundamental reasons, these systems systematically underestimate the magnitude of large events, which results in dramatic underestim
Safeguard Repressor-Mediated Cell Fate Lock Gene Therapy for Glioblastoma
DEUTSCHES KREBSFORSCHUNGSZENTRUM HEIDELBERG · DE · €150,000
"Glioblastoma (GBM) remains the most lethal primary brain tumour, with a median survival of 15 months despite maximal treatment, unchanged in two decades. Over 95% of clinical trials have failed. The fundamental reason is cell fate plasticity: GBM cells switch between phenotypic states to evade any single therapy. No current approach addresses the regulatory machinery that permits this switching. SafeCure will translate two discoveries from ERC Starting Grant SafeFate into a first-in-class gen
AD-LINK: Reversing Early Aβ-Driven Network Hyperexcitability
VIB VZW · BE · €150,000
Despite decades of research, there is currently no drug capable of preventing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and ~99% of the drug candidates ultimately fail in clinical trials. This high failure rate is largely due to the lack of reliable preclinical models that enable continuous, longitudinal testing of therapeutic interventions from the earliest, pre-symptomatic stages of the disease. AD‑LINK is a chronic neurotechnology platform designed to extract high‑resolution neurophysiological signatures of
Multi-model Approach for Runup and INundation Analysis
UNIVERSITA CA' FOSCARI VENEZIA · IT · €150,000
The MARINA project addresses the critical need for accurate, real-time coastal flood forecasting. Current operational tools rely either on computationally expensive process-based models or fast but inaccurate empirical formulations. MARINA bridges this gap by developing a scalable Decision Support System based on a probabilistic multi-model framework. Originating from the ERC Starting Grant WARMCOASTS, this technology utilizes a hybrid architecture where offline high-fidelity simulations are use
Next-Gen Immunomodulatory Nanoplatforms Targeting Regulatory T Cell Metabolism to combat cancer
IDRYMA IATROVIOLOGIKON EREUNON AKADEMIAS ATHINON · EL · €150,000
Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are vital for maintaining homeostasis and self-tolerance. This immunosuppressive nature is exploited by cancer for tumour growth. Consequently, Treg accumulation in tumors is associated with poor prognosis and is a fundamental impediment to the success of immunotherapy. Thus, Treg suppressive mechanisms emerge as appealing therapeutic targets. However, current approaches focus on their systemic elimination, failing to yield significant clinical outcomes and are accompa
Self-powered wireless sensor node through ultrahigh performance energy storage capacitors
SILICON AUSTRIA LABS GMBH · AT · €150,000
Wireless sensor nodes (WSN) are enablers for the Internet of Things (IoT), as they allow to collect distributed data about the environment, machine conditions, etc., even at remote locations. The key aspect for WSN is their energy-autonomy, namely perpetual operation without any external energy source. This is generally achieved by combining an energy harvesting module (e.g. solar cell) with a suitable energy storage module. Common energy storage devices for WSNs are batteries and supercapacitor
2026
Enzymatic STEreospecific RNA phosphorothioate modification for next-generation therapeutics
WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE · IL · €150,000
RNA therapeutics have emerged as a powerful medical modality, from COVID-19 vaccines to treatments for rare genetic diseases and cancer. However, a fundamental bottleneck limits their potential: RNA instability. Most approved RNA drugs rely on phosphorothioate (PS) modifications for stability and delivery, but current chemical synthesis produces stereochemical mixtures reducing efficacy, increasing toxicity, and complicating regulatory approval. Moreover, chemical PS synthesis is restricted to s
Sustainable Marine Autonomous Real-Time Platform Technology
INSTITUT DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DEVELOPPEMENT · FR · €150,000
Plankton drives the ocean’s biological carbon pump, regulating climate and sustaining marine ecosystems. Yet its dynamics remain largely unobserved because current technologies cannot deliver continuous, high-frequency (hour, day), vertically integrated measurements. This observational gap limits our ability to understand and predict ocean services such as climate regulation. The ERC HOPE project demonstrated the feasibility of autonomous offshore monitoring, deploying a prototype integrating 12
Stretchable Mechanosensors for Quantitative Musculoskeletal Monitoring and Rehabilitation
UNIVERSIDADE DE COIMBRA · PT · €150,000
Musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders are among the leading causes of disability worldwide and represent a major burden for healthcare systems. Despite the increasing demand for rehabilitation, progress assessment in clinical practice remains largely qualitative and relies on subjective evaluation by therapists. Existing wearable technologies can measure electrical muscle activity or estimate joint motion indirectly, but they cannot directly capture the mechanical behavior of muscles and joints, which
Safer Therapeutics Through Early Toxicity Detection
QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON · UK · €150,000
The development of safer and more effective medicines is constrained by the late detection of drug-induced toxicity, one of the principal causes of attrition during drug development and a major contributor to escalating costs. Existing screening strategies are primarily designed to identify target engagement, whereas toxic liabilities frequently become apparent only during advanced preclinical studies or clinical trials, resulting in costly failures and significant delays in bringing new therapi
An LLM-Resilient Tool for Safe RTL Sharing
TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT DARMSTADT · DE · €150,000
Modern chips are no longer designed in isolation. Instead, they are assembled from numerous third-party intellectual property (IP) blocks that are exchanged and reused across complex global supply chains. While this modular ecosystem is convenient for development, it also exposes valuable design assets to reverse engineering and unauthorized reuse. These risks are rapidly increasing with the emergence of AI models for code understanding, such as large language models, which can infer the functio
Closed-loop machine learning platform for the optimisation of battery materials
UNIVERSITE DU LUXEMBOURG · LU · €150,000
BATMAT will deliver a proof-of-concept, closed-loop machine-learning platform that makes high-fidelity, first-principles screening of battery materials practical for industrial decision cycles. Battery R&D is increasingly constrained by late discovery of instability, slow ion transport, or reactive interfaces, i.e. failure modes that often require expensive electronic-structure simulations under realistic conditions (defects, diffusion pathways, interphases). Building on algorithms and software
Progressive lenses on the spot - reimagining the ophthalmic value chain
TECHNION - ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · IL · €150,000
In this PoC we propose to develop a Progressive Lens Generator – a device that will enable rapid, wasteless, and automated end-to-end fabrication of high-quality multifocal ophthalmic lenses, without relying on capital-intensive surfacing infrastructure or centralized manufacturing facilities. The device will be based on our ERC-funded technology, which allows the formation of high-quality optical elements. As part of the ERC, we have already demonstrated fabrication of single-vision lenses in u
Map for the Mediterranean: A Scalable Four-Dimensional Application to Manage Data on a Deep Environment
UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA · ES · €150,000
MAP FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN: A Scalable Four-Dimensional Application to Manage Data on a Deep Environment. The Mediterranean Sea is among the most complex regions globally, facing acute geopolitical and environmental tensions. The challenges it faces, and the opportunities it presents, extend beyond the surface into the deep waters, making traditional bidimensional mapping from above inadequate for analysis, teaching, and decision-making. Moreover, historical and scientific data on the Mediterrane
SMART-SMAPs: a new paradigm of cell-free cytotoxic immunotherapy for resistant CLL
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI SIENA · IT · €150,000
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most prevalent adult leukemia, with ~32,000 new cases annually in Europe and a disease burden that has more than doubled over the past three decades. Despite significant advances with BTK and BCL-2 inhibitors, CLL remains incurable. Acquired resistance driven by the immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment (TME) leads to inevitable relapse in most patients. This challenge is shared across B-cell neoplasias, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma, diffuse large
From Discovery to Scale – Precision Membranes for Critical Ion Recovery
KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN · BE · €150,000
The rapid electrification of mobility and energy systems is driving an unprecedented demand for critical raw materials including lithium. Yet current lithium supply chains remain highly inefficient, resulting in significant loss of valuable metals and minerals to processing and waste streams, because of low efficiency of the existing separation technologies in handling complex, high-salinity streams. Membrane technology is emerging as a promising solution because of its versatility. However, con
Immuno-Modulatory Platform for Advanced CLL Therapy
STICHTING AMSTERDAM UMC · NL · €150,000
This project aims to advance a first-in-class/best-in-disease novel trispecific T cell engager, TRIDENT-19, with improved efficacy as compared to standard CD3-based bispecifics as it overcomes tumor-associated T cell dysfunction. Multispecific antibodies (MA) enable simultaneous engagement of immune effector cells and tumor cells. Crosstalk within the tumor microenvironment frequently impairs T cell function, leading to partial and short-lived responses to CD3-engaging multispecific antibodies i
Unlocking Immunotherapy Potential with CapCure: A Novel Chemical Antagonist of PSME4
WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE · IL · €150,000
Immunotherapy has transformed cancer treatment, yet many patients fail to benefit because their tumors develop intrinsic mechanisms to block immune attack. Recent discoveries from our ERC-funded work revealed that the proteasome, a central protein degradation system, can be hijacked by tumors to suppress immune recognition and promote an immunosuppressive environment. This Proof of Concept project aims to translate these findings into a novel therapeutic approach. We will develop and validate s
Ultrafast Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors
DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET · DK · €150,000
"In photonic quantum technologies, quantum information is encoded in single photons that can be entangled and used for quantum computing or transmitted through optical fibers for secure quantum communication. Unlocking their full potential requires high-speed operation. While single photons can now be generated at gigahertz rates, state-of-the-art single-photon detectors remain limited to the megahertz regime due to long recovery times inherent to conventional superconducting nanowires. This fun
The Multi-Heart Plate: a human engineered mini-heart platform for functional cardiac disease modelling and drug testing
UNIVERSITEIT TWENTE · NL · €150,000
Cardiovascular diseases remain a leading cause of mortality worldwide, yet drug development is hampered by the lack of predictive human models that capture cardiac function. In particular, diastolic dysfunction and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction represent major unmet medical needs, partly because current preclinical models inadequately reproduce human cardiac physiology. This HEARTPUMP project aims to explore the innovation potential of the Multi-Heart Plate (MHP), a novel human
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