The ICIQ gets new ERC funding

Professors R. Martín and J. R. Galán-Mascarós have been awarded a ‘Proof of Concept’ (PoC) grant to establish the innovation potential of ideas arising from their ERC-funded projects.

José Ramón Galán-Mascarós project, ‘A novel platform for user-friendly spectroscopy at very low temperatures and under strong magnetic fields’ (U-SPEC), aims to assess the technical and economic feasibility of a new device for spectroscopic measures developed by his research group. This new low-cost platform will allow performing spectroscopy and dichroism experiments in a large temperature range, and under high magnetic fields. The prototype will be IP protected, validated, developed as a commercial product and a business model strategy will be defined to bring this technology to market.

The project of Rubén Martín, ‘Catalytic reductive carboxylation of unactivated olefins with carbon dioxide’ (OLE-DIOX), offers the opportunity to convert ubiquitous alkenes into carboxylic acids, building blocks of utmost importance in our chemical industry, thus representing an important contribution for our circular economy by effectively recycling bulk materials into valuable products in one-step operation.

Worth up to €150.000 per grant, ‘Proof of Concept’ funding helps ERC grant holders to bridge the gap between their existing frontier research and its commercial applications. This top-up funding will enable the scientists to cover costs of technical validation, create a start-up to explore business opportunities, or establish intellectual property rights, for example.

Media:

ERC Press release

Agencia Sinc

El Periódico

Industria Química