The university has opened another call for applications for Proof of Concept (PoC) funding to accelerate the commercialisation of research-based ideas. For Professor Tarja Malm, PoC projects have opened several doors.
Leading a research group on neuroinflammation at the A. I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, Malm has, in the recent years, secured PoC funding from the university for two projects focusing on biomarkers associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
“Both of these projects have served as useful stepping-stones to other funding, or towards commercialisation.”
To receive PoC funding, the requirement is to have an innovative idea for commercialisation with a significant, preliminarily recognised market potential. Alzheimer’s disease is becoming increasingly common globally, and earlier diagnosis is hoped to open up new opportunities for treatment. This is why there is both a medical and an economic demand for new, early biomarkers.
In the PoC project funded in 2018, Malm’s research group created a data package on the usability of extracellular vesicles in Alzheimer's disease diagnostics. The results serve as the foundation for a research ecosystem which brings together research organisations, companies and the Finnish Red Cross Blood Service, and which was awarded Co-Innovation funding by Business Finland a few years later. The ecosystem focuses on the use of nano-sized vesicles secreted by cells as both biomarkers in disease diagnostics, and as drug transporters in their treatment. Malm is the leader of a work package focusing on biomarkers.
“The results of the PoC project also enabled us to get the EU’s ERA-NET NEURON funding for a well-advanced project that investigates extracellular vesicles as biomarkers in stroke prognosis. In other words, wisely used PoC funding opened several doors for my research group,” Malm says.
In 2021, she secured PoC funding for another project that tested a new, functional Alzheimer's biomarker, which had been discovered by the group.
“The results seem so promising that we are now applying for a patent and aiming for commercialisation. Do we have what it takes? We’ll see.”
The university’s funding for a PoC project is a maximum of 20,000 euros.
“That kind of funding doesn’t allow for any exploratory projects, but it has enabled my group to carry out carefully defined and limited studies, for which no other funding has been available,” Malm says.
Funding for research-based ideas irrespective of the field
The 2022 call for PoC funding is open from 28 February to 3 April 2022, with UEF researchers eligible to apply. The funding is used to enhance the suitability of the research idea for further funding from Business Finland and EIC, as well as to promote faster transfer of project results to commercial activities. Projects receiving PoC funding must be implemented in 2022.
The university’s PoC funding can be applied for annually in February–March. Earlier projects receiving this funding represent a wide range of innovations from produgs to solar cells, and to biosensors, diagnostic algorithms, and industrial enzymes. Abstracts of the previously funded projects and further instructions for applicants are available on the Proof of Concept (PoC) Funding pages in the university’s intranet, Heimo.
For further information on PoC funding, please contact:
Senior Innovation Advisor Irina Lavikainen https://uefconnect.uef.fi/en/person/irina.lavikainen/
Senior Innovation Advisor Matti Höytö https://uefconnect.uef.fi/en/person/matti.hoyto/
For more information on the neuroinflammation research group:
Professor Tarja Malm, https://uefconnect.uef.fi/en/person/tarja.malm/
