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Trinity professor Conor Buckley was among the recipients, who will all receive €150,000 in funding for their research projects.
The European Research Council (ERC) has announced 102 new proof-of-concept (POC) grants for European researchers, bringing the total number of awardees from last year’s competition rounds to 240.
These researchers will each receive €150,000 through the grant programme, which is a part of the EU’s research and innovation programme, Horizon Europe. According to the ERC, the grants aim to “bridge the gap between the results of their pioneering research and the early phases of its commercialisation”.
Among the latest cohort of awardees is Prof Conor Buckley of Trinity College Dublin (TCD), for his project on the rejuvenation of the intervertebral disc using self-healing biomimetic extracellular matrix biomaterial tissue adhesives.
Buckley, who previously received an ERC Consolidator Grant in 2019, is a professor in biomedical engineering at TCD. His research focuses on the exploration of topics such as biomaterials (namely collagen and chondroitin sulfate) and cell-based strategies for tissue regeneration. He told SiliconRepublic.com that he was “delighted” to receive the award, which he says will support the extension of his lab’s efforts in “advancing injectable biomimetic biomaterials for the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration”.
“Over the past two years, we have dedicated our research to the development of extracellular matrix biomaterials aimed at rejuvenating disc tissue,” said Buckley. “We have successfully tailored their biochemical and biomechanical properties to closely resemble those of native disc tissue. Additionally, we have engineered these materials to exhibit self-healing and adhesive properties, facilitating seamless tissue integration upon injection.
“The ERC POC award represents a tremendous opportunity for my team and our clinical collaborators to advance our work along the path of commercialisation and clinical application.”
This latest funding announcement brings the total number of Ireland-based recipients of the 2023 cohort to four. In July of last year, Dr Daniel Kelly of TCD, Dr Martin O’Halloran of the University of Galway and Dr Dimitrios Zeugolis of University College Dublin were each awarded ERC proof-of-concept funding for their projects.
In total, 564 proposals were submitted for the proof-of-concept grants in 2023. The 240 successful grantees were announced across three rounds, with the first round being announced in May, followed by the second in July. The awardees are spread across 20 countries in Europe, with the highest number of grants being hosted in Germany with 40 recipients.
Commenting on the latest funding round, ERC president Prof Maria Leptin said that with the help of these grants, these researchers can “go one step further and test the market potential of their basic research projects”.
“Curiosity-driven research and innovation go hand in hand and the ERC is proud to fund both. I am also happy to see that researchers from all fields are applying to this grant scheme, which shows the innovation potential of all areas of the sciences and humanities.”
To see the full list of winners from the latest funding round, visit the European Research Council website.
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Updated, 4.10pm, 18 January 2024: This article was amended to include a statement from Prof Conor Buckley.
