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Two Irish projects are among the 150 that have won Proof of Concept (PoC) grants from the European Research Council (ERC) in the first round of awards for 2025.
Each winning project is set to receive €150,000, with the funds designed to bridge the gap between pioneering research and the early phases of commercialisation or societal application. The PoC grant scheme is a part of Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation programme.
In total, the ERC has set aside €22.5m for this round of PoC grants and plans to spend another €22.5m on a second funding call due later in 2025.
Trinity College Dublin has won funds this round for a project that looks into using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict and analyse conflicts.
The project will be led by Thomas Chadefaux, a professor of political science at the university, whose work focuses on the causes and prediction of interstate conflict using spatial, economic, temporal and other data.
The Artificial Intelligence for Conflict Analysis and Prediction (AICAP) project is a spin-off from a five-year ERC funded research project called Patterns of Conflict Emergence, which tries to uncover recurring temporal patterns in the run up to wars, using machine learning methods and a wide range of data, from financial markets to satellite imagery.
“The goal of the AICAP project is to create predictive models and interactive tools to forecast conflict, through the use of advanced AI and multi-scale temporal pattern analysis. It aims to provide highly accurate insights and predictions for decision-makers across varied sectors,” said Prof Chadefaux.
“AICAP promises to impact real-world conflict prevention and mitigation efforts, bridging the gap between theoretical research and practical solutions.”
While a University of Galway project called VisionPrint will be exploring quality monitoring of 3D bioprinting via light sheet microscopy, an imaging technique which uses a sheet of laser light to illuminate a very thin slice of any given sample. This project will be led by Dr Andrew Daly, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at the university.
“VisionPRINT will allow us to integrate advanced vision technology into our bioprinting systems,” said Daly.
“This will enable detailed quality control during the manufacturing process, making it easier to print cellular 3D constructs with enhanced accuracy and reproducibility. Robust quality control is an important consideration for the translation of bioprinted constructs from the lab to clinical use.”
Other projects led by grantees based at universities and research centres in 21 EU member states and associated countries, include work that looks to reduce the environmental footprint of paracetamol production, develops a tool that detects distortions in the electricity market and creates a portable device that can capture and detect PFAS (forever chemicals).
The EU received nearly 500 grant applications, with about 31pc of the applicants receiving funds. Germany won 27 grants, followed by 20 in Spain and 17 in the UK.
The PoC grants are top-up funds only available to researchers who have held ERC’s frontier research grants. These grants help researchers explore the commercial or societal potential of the findings researchers made through their ERC-funded projects.
Three Ireland-based researchers won funding in the final round of the 2024 PoC grants. These included Trinity’s Prof Matthew Campbell and Prof Valeria Nicolosi, and Prof Fergal O’Brien from RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences.
While six other Ireland-based researchers won several millions in grants as part of the ERC Consolidator Grants in 2024, to pursue projects that looked various topics, including Viking history and refugee law.
Suhasini Srinivasaragavan
This article originally appeared on www.siliconrepublic.com and can be found here
Each winning project is set to receive €150,000, with the funds designed to bridge the gap between pioneering research and the early phases of commercialisation or societal application. The PoC grant scheme is a part of Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation programme.
In total, the ERC has set aside €22.5m for this round of PoC grants and plans to spend another €22.5m on a second funding call due later in 2025.
Trinity College Dublin has won funds this round for a project that looks into using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict and analyse conflicts.
The project will be led by Thomas Chadefaux, a professor of political science at the university, whose work focuses on the causes and prediction of interstate conflict using spatial, economic, temporal and other data.
The Artificial Intelligence for Conflict Analysis and Prediction (AICAP) project is a spin-off from a five-year ERC funded research project called Patterns of Conflict Emergence, which tries to uncover recurring temporal patterns in the run up to wars, using machine learning methods and a wide range of data, from financial markets to satellite imagery.
“The goal of the AICAP project is to create predictive models and interactive tools to forecast conflict, through the use of advanced AI and multi-scale temporal pattern analysis. It aims to provide highly accurate insights and predictions for decision-makers across varied sectors,” said Prof Chadefaux.
“AICAP promises to impact real-world conflict prevention and mitigation efforts, bridging the gap between theoretical research and practical solutions.”
While a University of Galway project called VisionPrint will be exploring quality monitoring of 3D bioprinting via light sheet microscopy, an imaging technique which uses a sheet of laser light to illuminate a very thin slice of any given sample. This project will be led by Dr Andrew Daly, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at the university.
“VisionPRINT will allow us to integrate advanced vision technology into our bioprinting systems,” said Daly.
“This will enable detailed quality control during the manufacturing process, making it easier to print cellular 3D constructs with enhanced accuracy and reproducibility. Robust quality control is an important consideration for the translation of bioprinted constructs from the lab to clinical use.”
Other projects led by grantees based at universities and research centres in 21 EU member states and associated countries, include work that looks to reduce the environmental footprint of paracetamol production, develops a tool that detects distortions in the electricity market and creates a portable device that can capture and detect PFAS (forever chemicals).
The EU received nearly 500 grant applications, with about 31pc of the applicants receiving funds. Germany won 27 grants, followed by 20 in Spain and 17 in the UK.
The PoC grants are top-up funds only available to researchers who have held ERC’s frontier research grants. These grants help researchers explore the commercial or societal potential of the findings researchers made through their ERC-funded projects.
Three Ireland-based researchers won funding in the final round of the 2024 PoC grants. These included Trinity’s Prof Matthew Campbell and Prof Valeria Nicolosi, and Prof Fergal O’Brien from RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences.
While six other Ireland-based researchers won several millions in grants as part of the ERC Consolidator Grants in 2024, to pursue projects that looked various topics, including Viking history and refugee law.
Suhasini Srinivasaragavan
This article originally appeared on www.siliconrepublic.com and can be found here
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