ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS

The ERC Proof of Concept Grants aim to facilitate the exploration of the commercial and social innovation potential of ERC-funded research. These grants are available only to Principal Investigators whose proposals build substantially on their ERC-funded research. The grant provides a lump sum to cover both direct and indirect eligible costs over a period of eighteen months.

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Agency	HORIZON (EU)
Region	EU
Country	N/A
Legal form	Company, NGO, Government organization, Other
Start date	20 Jan 2026
End date	17 Sep 2026
Max funding	EUR 150,000 (lump sum) per grant for a project period of 18 months.
Budget	EUR 60,000,000 for the ERC-2026-PoC call.
Coverage	The lump sum covers direct and indirect eligible costs, including personnel costs, subcontracting, purchases, other cost categories, and indirect costs.

Grant application conditions

Eligible Principal Investigator	Only Principal Investigators whose ERC main frontier research grant is ongoing, or ends on or after 1 January 2025, are eligible. A maximum of three Proof of Concept Grants may be awarded per main grant project, or six in the case of Synergy Grant projects.
Resubmission Restriction	Principal Investigators may submit only one proposal under this Work Programme Proof of Concept 2026 call. If multiple proposals are submitted at different cut-off dates, only the first admissible and eligible proposal will be considered.
Synergy Grant Applicants	Synergy Grant Principal Investigators are eligible only with written consent from all Principal Investigators in the same project. Each Principal Investigator in a Synergy Grant project can submit one Proof of Concept application.
Eligible Host Institution	The host institution must engage the Principal Investigator for at least the duration of the Proof of Concept project. The host institution must be a legal entity established in an EU Member State, Associated Country, or be an international European research organisation. Any type of legal entity (university, research organisation, or undertaking) is eligible.
Eligible Countries	Principal Investigators may be of any age or nationality and may reside in any country, but research activities must be conducted in a Member State or Associated Country.
Gender Equality Plan	Host institutions that are public bodies, research organisations, or higher education institutions must have a gender equality plan or equivalent in place for the duration of the project.
Proposal Requirements	Proposals must be complete, readable, accessible, and submitted before the deadline. Proposals must relate to the objectives of the call and type of grant. A maximum of 10 pages for the proposal description (excluding title, abstract, references, and risk mitigation table) with specified formatting requirements.
Exclusion Criteria	Applicants who are subject to administrative sanctions or exclusion situations under the EU Financial Regulation are banned from participation.
Open Science and IPR	Beneficiaries must ensure immediate open access to all peer-reviewed scientific publications resulting from the project, with full re-use rights. A data management plan must be established within the first six months if the project generates research data, following the FAIR principles.
Documentation	https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/ERC-2026-POC

Eligible expenses

Evaluation criteria

Business exclusions

Reporting

Application process

Application requirements