Acelera@UC 2025 Proof of Concept — Applications open until 28 November
With a total funding of €260,000, the competition will support 23 technologies — from proof-of-concept to innovation projects — enabling UC lecturers, researchers and students to advance the technological maturity of their ideas and move them closer to market.
The University of Coimbra (UC), through UC Business – Technology Transfer Division, is launching the Acelera@UC 2025 Proof of Concept (PoC) competition. The initiative will allocate €260,000 to support the UC innovation ecosystem.
The main goal of this competition is to promote knowledge valorisation and technology transfer. This edition will provide funding to increase the technological maturity of 20 inventions and three innovation projects developed at the University of Coimbra, helping them progress along the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale and move closer to market readiness.
The financial support is distributed across four different funding lines, allowing for the support of projects at various stages of development:
- Proof of Concept by INOVC+: allocates €50,000 to fund ten projects at TRL 1–2, providing €5,000 per project.
- Proof of Concept by UI-TRANSFER 2.0: contributes €50,000 to finance five projects at TRL 2–3, allocating €10,000 to each.
- Proof of Concept by the Santander Foundation: provides €100,000 to fund five projects at TRL 3–4, with €20,000 per project.
- Innovation Projects by ULS-UC: allocates €60,000 to fund three projects, at €20,000 each.
Applications for proof-of-concept funding supported by INOVC+, UI-TRANSFER 2.0 and the Santander Foundation are open — individually or in teams — to all UC lecturers, researchers and students with inventions already patented or in the process of industrial property protection (properly disclosed via an Invention Disclosure Form). Co-inventors from other organisations that are co-owners of the patent, or members of the team that developed the invention currently under protection, may also join these applications.
For innovation projects funded by ULS-UC, applications may also be submitted — individually or in teams — for projects that are in a pre-protection or invention disclosure stage.
Applications are open until 28 November. All details about the call, including the application form, are available [in Portuguese] at: https://www.uc.pt/ucbusiness/acelera-uc/.
