Portugal attracts another project funded by the European Research Council

The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the research projects selected for the Call ERC Proof of Concept 2024, aimed at projects previously selected by the ERC that intend to explore commercial and social potential beyond basic fundamental research.
Filipe Natálio, from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, will receive funding of 150,000 euros for the BIODENIM project, "Bio-Engineered Dyeing Innovations for Sustainable Cotton Textiles", dedicated to developing sustainable solutions for dyeing cotton fibers. The researcher returned to Portugal in September 2024, bringing with him the BIOMATFAB project "Biological fabrication of cotton fibers with tailored properties", also funded by the European Research Council (ERC), in the form of a Consolidator Grant, worth two million euros.
The ERC work plan for 2024 included two rounds of the Call ERC Proof of Concept. In the first round (the results of which were announced in July 2024), Cláudia Nunes dos Santos, from NOVA Medichal School / Universidade Nova de Lisboa, was also one of the researchers to benefit from this funding, for her project NEUROSHIELD - Novel small molecule attenuator of neuroinflammation in Parkinson's Disease, a project dedicated to developing a new therapy to combat neuroinflammation in Parkinson's disease.
In this second round, 134 proposals were selected for funding, covering a universe of researchers who carry out their scientific activity in 20 countries, with Germany, Italy, the Netherlands (15 each), Spain and the United Kingdom (14 each), Israel (12), Belgium (11) and France (10) standing out. Researchers carrying out their research in the Widening countries had 6 projects, one in each country, including Portugal. See the list of all the winners.
During the previous European funding framework program for research and innovation, H2020 (2014-2020), 15 projects were funded in Portugal in the context of ERC Proof of Concept. In the first half of the current Horizon Europe framework program, Portugal has already reached the mark of 16 ERC Proof of Concept projects.
FCT coordinates national representation and participation in the European Research Council and, as announced at the 1st ERC Portugal Meeting, has been developing a series of programs covering the various cycles of national participation in the ERC's Calls . These include ERC-PT Pre-Assessment, ERC-PT A-Projects and ERC-PT Careers.
2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the European Union's Framework Program, the largest instrument for promoting European Research, Development and Innovation and the beacon for international scientific cooperation.