Five More Studentships Proof of Concept Studentships to Bridge Cutting-Edge Research and Innovation

Five newProof of Concept (PoC) Studentships were awarded by the European Research Council (ERC) in the 2026 call to researchers based in Portugal. Each project will receive 150,000 euros in funding to explore the potential for innovation and societal impact of the results generated by cutting-edge research in ERC projects—including Starting, Consolidator, Advanced , and Synergy grants — that are currently underway or have recently concluded, as well as possible follow-up initiatives that may be established through the European Innovation Council’s funding instruments.

A total of 182 projects were selected in this call for proposals, representing an investment of 27.3 million euros. The five projects selected in Portugal are good examples of how cutting-edge research can generate potential new avenues for innovation:

• WHALE-TWIN: Whales in the Wall: A Scalable Cultural Digital Twin Infrastructure for Europe’s Ocean Heritage, led by Cristina Brito (NOVA University of Lisbon – NOVA FCSH), originated from the 2020 ERC Synergy project— the first ERC Synergy Grant with a Principal Investigator conducting research in Portugal in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities—and proposes a digital infrastructure for Europe’s ocean heritage.
• APOLLO-BC: Advanced Perfused Platform for Breast Cancer Therapy-Response Prediction, led by João Conde (NOVA University of Lisbon – NOVA Medical School), is part of the 2019 ERC Starting Grant project and aims to improve treatment—more specifically, for various types of breast cancer—with more predictable outcomes. João Conde is also a co-founder of TargTex, a company recently supported by the European Innovation Council’s Accelerator program.
• KineSense: Stretchable Mechanosensors for Quantitative Musculoskeletal Monitoring and Rehabilitation, led by Mahmoud Tavakoli (University of Coimbra – Faculty of Science and Technology), is the result of the 2021 ERC Consolidator Grant and explores sensors for the direct monitoring and measurement of musculoskeletal mechanics. The expected results could transform rehabilitation monitoring and support personalized therapies.
• LOFlu_TREAT: Targeting liquid organelles to develop new antiviral strategies against influenza A virus infections, led by Maria João Amorim (Portuguese Catholic University – Faculty of Medicine), is part of the 2020 ERC Consolidator Grant and explores new antiviral strategies against the influenza A virus, seeking to disrupt the physical structures necessary for viral replication. The project may even change the approach to antiviral drug development.
• PEUSP: Pan-European Earthquake Selection Platform, led by Paulo Lourenço (University of Minho), stems from the 2018 ERC Advanced Grant project. It aims to develop an innovative platform for selecting appropriate seismic events that will enable the prediction of building safety with a high degree of reliability, surpassing current tools. The project will also pave the way for its commercialization.

With these results, Portugal has reached the milestone of 29 ERC Proof of Concept projects under Horizon Europe, with cumulative funding of approximately 4.4 million euros—nearly double the number of projects funded by the ERC in this category during the entire previous European framework program, Horizon 2020 (15 projects, 2014–2020). The distribution across the ERC’s three scientific domains now includes 11 projects in the Life Sciences, 12 in the Exact Sciences and Engineering, and 6 in the Social Sciences and Humanities, underscoring that the bridges between research and innovation span all domains of knowledge.

FCT has been developing a series of innovative programs within the European context that cover the various stages of national participation in Calls — ERC-PT , ERC-PT , and ERC-PT —with a significant return on investment.