Two more Portuguese projects approved for ERC's Studentships Proof of Concept

There are two projects of Portuguese researchers that the European Research Council (ERC - European Research Council) selected in the last Call Proof of Concept Grants, whose results were known yesterday, September 6. Each project will receive funding in the order of 150 thousand euros, which translates into a total of about 300 thousand euros allocated to Portuguese research in this Call.

The Portuguese researchers who saw their projects approved for funding by the ERC were: Ana Rita Cruz Duarte, from Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, with the project "CryoDES - Nature-inspired Cryopreservation Systems using Natural Deep Eutectic Systems"; and Joana Goncalves-Sá, from LIP - Laboratory of Instrumentation and Experimental Particle Physics, with the project "ARE_AUDIT: Fake News Recommendations - an Auditing System of Differential Tracking and Search Engine Results".

The ERC approved in this edition 55 projects from the 120 proposals submitted to Call of the Proof of Concept Grants, corresponding to a total of 8.25 million Euros of investment, of which Portuguese researchers were able to capture 3.6% of the available funding.

Proof of Concept Grants are an extension of the financial support provided to projects previously selected for one of the other ERC research Studentships , which aim to facilitate the exploitation of the commercial potential of scientific research, verify the practical viability of scientific concepts, explore business opportunities or prepare patent applications. This financial support was awarded to researchers working in 14 countries, namely: Israel (9), Germany (9), Spain (7), France (7), Netherlands (6), United Kingdom (4), Sweden (3), Portugal (2), Norway (2), Turkey (2) Finland (1), Cyprus (1), Denmark (1) and Belgium (1).

The Proof of Concept Grants, in association with the other Studentships of the Horizon Europe program, are fundamental to foster the development and applicability of innovative scientific research in new areas and new themes. In Portugal, FCT is the coordinator of support to the scientific community for the Horizon Europe program, for the period 2021-2027, through Delegates and the National Contact Points (NPCs).