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The European Research Council
ERC Proof of ConceptMartin Penny
Head of UnitPhysical Sciences & Engineering
The objective of PoC
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Provide funds to bring ERC-funded ideas to a pre-demonstration stage for:
• potential commercialisation opportunities or
• potential societal benefits
Maximise the value of the excellent research that the ERC funds:
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PoC - what is it?
To do what? Establish the innovation potential of the idea: technical validation, market research, clarifying IPR strategy, investigating business opportunities
Who can apply? Holders of an ERC grant with an idea substantially drawn from their ERC-funded project
Amount: A fixed amount of €150,000 per grant (18 mo.)Total budget for 2020: € 25 million (167 grants)
Evaluation: Experts in technology transfer check the innovation potential and verify that the plan is reasonable.
What kind of activities can be funded?
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establishing viability, technical issues and overall directionmarket research clarifying IPR strategy investigating business opportunitiesinitial expenses for start-up
bring ERC-funded ideas to a pre-demonstration stage for potential
commercialisation opportunities and/orsocietal benefits
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Commercial opportunities
Financial profit Venture-funded start-upLicensing to new or existing company
Commercial innovation
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Societal benefits
[… but also a new product, production process or technology]
a social venture, ICT-based social network, web-based platform, non-profit organisation, new grass-roots organisation
PoC data (2011-2018)
Budget 10M Budget 10M Budget 10M Budget 15M Budget 20M Budget 20M Budget 20M Budget 20M
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 TOTAL
Proposals 139 120 279 426 323 408 497 441 2633
Funded 51 60 67 121 160 159 154 160 932
Success 37% 50% 24% 28% 50% 39% 31% 36% 35%
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Next call: ERC 2020 PoC
Opening date: 15/10/2019
ERC grant holders can submit only one application per year, to one of the three cut-off dates:
21 January 2020 - 23 April 2020 - 17 September 2020
Eligible Principal Investigator: All Principal Investigators in an ERC frontier research project, that is either ongoing or has ended less than 12 months before 1 January 2020, are eligible to participate and apply for an ERC Proof of Concept Grant.
NB One more PoC cut-off date from the 2019 call: 19 September 2019
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Since 2019, PoC financing is through a simple lump sum – inline with the simplification spirit of H2020.The lump sum is pre-fixed at the level of the call and the samefor all projects: €150,000.
Advantages: simplifies the reporting requirements of the HI removes all obligations on cost provisions and reporting at
proposal stage and at project implementation, and there areno financial audits nor financial checks.
PoC Financing
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PoC applicants must: describe the efforts and the resources that they commit to mobilise for
this lump sum amount: “What will you do with the money and how willyou do it?” - e.g. specify the type of project staff working on a task andthe estimated effort (person-months).
Indicate the proposed split of the lump sum per beneficiary (in case ofmulti-beneficiary grants).
PoC Lump Sum
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Selection of PoC evaluators
The selection of experts is done by the ERC Scientific Council
There is only one pool of experts responsible for the evaluation of the proposals, regardless of their originating scientific domain
Experts DO NOT evaluate science
At the end of the call, the list of experts is made public via the ERC website
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Profile of the PoC evaluator
• building/commercialising IPRs;
• developing technologies through proof-of-concept and prototype stage and in licensing onwards to a wide variety of industry sectors;
• identifying, protecting and evaluating the commercial potential of (basic) research;
• providing investment to support the early stages of business formation out of research in the public sector science base.
• management of tech transfer from research through practical use;
• working with academics to deliver research collaborations, exchange know-how, license new technologies and create new business ventures;
• developing innovative technologies from public (and private) sources, turning ideas into patented, scientifically validated and licensable technologies;
Experts in knowledge transfer with experience in:
Evaluation criteria
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1. Excellence (Innovation potential) ability to move the output of research towards the initial steps of a process leading to commercial or social innovation
2. Impactability to generate economic and/or societal benefits and suitable process that is designed to result in a concrete application
3. Quality & efficiency of implementation (Quality of the PoC plan) reasonable and acceptable plan of activities against clearly identified objectives and towards establishing the feasibility of the project
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PoC : Remote evaluationEvaluation criteria VS Part B 1/4
Evaluation Criteria 1 Excellence in Innovation potential
Section 1: The idea - Innovation potential (max. 2 pages)
Does the proposed proof of concept activity greatly help move the output of researchtowards the initial steps of a process leading to a commercial or social innovation?
The proposal should include plans for an analysis of whether the project’s expected outcomes are innovative or distinctive compared to existing solutions.
a. Succinct description of the idea to be taken to proof of concept:a.1 - The problem: Description of the problem or the need that the idea is aiming to solve or alleviatea.2 - The solution: Explanation of how the idea will solve or alleviate the problem or the need and the meaning that this will make. A clear value proposition should be included. b. Demonstration of Innovation Potential -Detailed description of how the project outcomes will be innovative or distinctive. This should include a clear explanation of why the solution proposed is new compared to what already exists.Explain: 1) how the idea solves users' problems or improves their situation; 2) why potential users or sponsors should pay for this solution and not for other existing ones.
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PoC : Remote evaluationEvaluation criteria VS Part B 2/4
Evaluation criteria 2 - Impact Section 2 - Expected Impact:2. Impact 2.1 Is the project to be taken to proof of concept expected to generate any effect or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services and are these appropriately identified in the proposal? 2.2 Does the proposal provide a suitable outline of how the commercialisation or the generation of the above listed benefits will be achieved?
The proposal should include: - plans to asses and validate the effectiveness of the project’s outcomes; - plans to clarify the IPR position and strategy or knowledge transfer strategy; - plans for setting up contacts with industry partners, societal or cultural organisations, policymakers or any other potential ‘end users’ of the projects’ results.
a. Identification and description of any effect or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy/services. b. Outline of the value creation process (plans for the knowledge transfer, the commercialisation or any other process foreseen to generate the above listed benefit) This should include proposed plans to:- assess and validate the effectiveness of the project’s outcomes (Testing, technical reports or any other form of validation to confirm that the solution is effective, efficient, sustainable, or just) (where applicable)- clarify the IPR position and strategy or knowledge transfer strategy (where applicable)- set up contacts with industrial partners, societal or cultural organisations, policy makers or any other potential users or sponsors of the projects’ results (where applicable)
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PoC : Remote evaluationEvaluation criteria VS Part B 3/4
Evaluation criteria 3. Quality and efficiency of the implementation (Quality of the proof of concept plan)
Section 3: The proof of concept plan (max 3 pages)Table 1a: Action description.
Does the proposal provide a reasonable and acceptable plan of activities against clearlyidentified objectives and towards establishing the feasibility of the project?This should include: a sound project-management plan,
including appropriate risk and contingency planning;
demonstration that the activities will be conducted by persons well qualified for the purpose;
demonstration that the budget requested is necessary for the implementation of the project and properly justified.
Project-management plan including risk and contingency measuresa.1 - Describe the organisational structure and the decision-making process and explain why they are appropriate to the complexity and scale of the projecta.2 - Describe what can go wrong and present a plan for the identification and acceptance or off-setting of possible risksa.3- Present a plan for unforeseen events, including back-up procedures, emergency response and ex-post recoveryb. Description of the team b.1 - Describe your team and their achievements and experience in relation to the approach you will be taking. b.2 - Describe the roles of the team within your project. What is the role of the PI? What are the main strengths and weaknesses of the team?
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Evaluation criteria 3. Quality and efficiency of the implementation (Quality of the proof of concept plan)
Section 3: The proof of concept plan (max 3 pages)Table 1a: Action description.
Does the proposal provide a reasonable and acceptable plan of activities against clearlyidentified objectives and towards establishing the feasibility of the project?This should include: a sound project-management plan,
including appropriate risk and contingency planning;
demonstration that the activities will be conducted by persons well qualified for the purpose;
demonstration that the budget requested is necessary for the implementation of the project and properly justified.
c. Plan of the activitiesc.1 – Resources: Grants to be awarded under this action (Proof of Concept), shall exclusively take the form of a standard lump sum pre-fixed by a European Commission decision. The amount of the lump sum for each grant is fixed at 150 000 EURWe/I confirm that:- subcontracts will be best value for money and free of conflict of interest and- all beneficiaries have followed their own accounting practices for the preparation of the budget and have included therein only costs that would be eligible for an actual costs grant, excluding costs that are ineligible under the H2020 rules.c.2 – Description of the work: Present a detailed project plan including a narrative description of the resources planned for each activity (see Table 1.a). The description of work (Proof of Concept action) in table 1.a must demonstrate that the resources are appropriate for the implementation of the project and correspond to the fixed amount of 150 000 EUR.
PoC : Remote evaluationEvaluation criteria VS Part B 4/4
Invest some time on your idea Take a look at the market, try to identify
beforehand the competitors and who will benefit from it.
Experts also expect external help, you are researchers, not business people!
Submit your proposal, you will get constructive feedback from experts.
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PoC : General Tips
PoC : How to write Part B TIPS 1/2
•Try to answer the following questions:
• State the expected output of your project. Why is yourproposal innovative?
• If you plan to improve a product, method, process etc.: how will you proceed?
• Describe briefly how is it done today and how yourproject will do it better?
• Do you know the state of the art in the industry (social) sector? Find out!
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Present the proof of concept plan having in mind the technical and the commercial (social) needs.
Write a sound management plan: do not forget to mention the risk and contingency!
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PoC : How to write Part B TIPS 2/2
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PoC : Evaluation Flow
Reception of proposals at ERCEA
Eligibility check Remote evaluation
Preliminary evaluation results
Ranking or panel meeting if needed
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PoC: Ranking methodology
Proposals scored as ‘very good’, ‘good’ or ‘fail’Proposals which fail a criterion will not be rankedIf three experts fail one criterion, that criterion will be failed, the proposalwill not be considered
If there is not enough budget to fund all the proposals which pass all three evaluation criteria, the proposals which pass all three evaluation criteria will be ranked by the marks they received sorted by the order of the evaluation criteria
Proposals will be funded up to depletion of budget€8.5 M for each deadline = ~55 proposals
Main reasons for rejecting a proposal
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Reason for rejection:
Researchproject 40%
PoC plan 31%Innovation not well described.
21%
Budget 7%TOT 100%
• it is more a continuation of the frontier research project than a PoC;
• lack of innovation potential (no real innovation);
• Impact too restricted;• problems with the PoC plan
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PoC : Key messages
Keep in mind that:
1. The proposals are evaluated fully remotely
2. All proposals are evaluated within the same pool of experts: there is no distinction of scientific domain
3. Experts come from the technology transfer world
4. The principal reason why a proposal fails is because they submit a research proposal ‘disguised’ as a PoC
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ERC-2020-PoC : Indicative Evaluation Calendar
DEADLINE 1 DEADLINE 2 DEADLINE 3
Deadline for submission of proposals: 21/01/2020
Deadline for submission of proposals: 23/04/2020
Deadline for submission of proposals:17/09/2020
Expected feedback to applicants: May 2020
Expected feedback to applicants: July 2020
Expected feedback to applicants: December 2020
Indicative date for grant agreement signature: August 2020
Indicative date for grant agreement signature: November 2020
Indicative date for grant agreement signature: April 2021
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Some ERC PoC funded projects
View on the ERC website some of the existing ERC funded PoC grants:
http://erc.europa.eu/projects-and-results/erc-funded-projectsand success stories: https://erc.europa.eu/news-events/magazine/PoC-2019-second-round-highlights
