ERC awards "Proof of Concept" grants to 300 winners in 2025, including 136 for the second round

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded a 2025 Proof of Concept grant to 136 projects in the second round, it announced on 27/01/2026. This brings the number of grantees in 2025 to 300, representing an overall budget of €45 million.

Proof of Concept grants are available to winners of ERC awards who have demonstrated "proof of concept" for their projects. They aim to provide finding to researchers to help move towards practical application or early commercial use. Each grantee receives €150,000.

For the second round in 2025, Italy had the most winners (24), just ahead of Germany (23). For the year as a whole, Germany takes the lead with 51 grant grantees, in front of Spain (42), Italy (33) and the United Kingdom (31).

In 2025, Luxembourg will have the highest number of laureates per million inhabitants, followed by Israel. Although France ranks 18^th in this classification, it is one of its institutions, the CNRS, that has the most laureates (13).

Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, said: "The discoveries emerging from ERC-funded…