Three EUTOPIA Researchers Awarded ERC Proof of Concept Grants

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded €22.5 million in the first round of its 2025 Proof of Concept Grants competition, supporting 150 projects aimed at transforming frontier research into real-world applications. Among the awardees are three researchers from EUTOPIA partner universities:

• Stefan KASKEL (Technische Universität Dresden), for their project Innovation in Hydrogen Production Energy Efficiency: A Three-Phase Electrolyser

• Matevž DULAR (University of Ljubljana), for their project Combining Cavitation and Plasma to Tackle Drinking Water Pollution

• Nikoleta JONES (University of Warwick), for their project SOCial Impact Assessment Tool for Nature Protection and Restoration Policies

Each award provides €150,000 in funding to bridge the gap between frontier science and its potential use in society. The selected projects span a wide range of domains, from environmental technology and sustainable industry to public policy and digital innovation.

These awards reflect EUTOPIA’s shared ambition to support research excellence and foster innovation with tangible impact. The alliance congratulates the grantees and their institutions for this success.

The Proof of Concept scheme is open only to researchers who currently hold or have previously held an ERC frontier research grant. This first round of the 2025 competition attracted 480 proposals from 21 countries, with over 31% selected for funding.

Learn more about the ERC Proof of Concept scheme and view the full list of 2025 awardees here.