Objective
StarFreeze targets a painful and unresolved bottleneck in assisted reproduction: finding and recovering rare vital sperm in samples where sperm are immotile and visually resemble dead cells. These difficult cases occur in severe male-factor infertility, are highly demanding for embryologists, and often require time-consuming manual procedures with limited throughput and imperfect reliability.
The project seeks to translate frontier research from my ERC into a practical route toward objective, scalable selection of vital immotile sperm for challenging infertility conditions.
The project will concentrate on the most important early questions for translation: whether the underlying concept can be engineered into a robust prototype pathway, whether its core functions can be performed with sufficient precision and compatibility, and whether the resulting innovation can be credibly positioned from intellectual property, regulatory, end-user, and market perspectives.
If successful, StarFreeze could unlock significant value in the global infertility treatment market by addressing a high-need, high-cost segment where workflows remain manual, slow, difficult to scale, and often place a burden on public healthcare systems. By the end of the project, StarFreeze will establish whether this high-risk, high-gain concept can define a new category of fertility technology and form the basis for the next translational step toward clinical and commercial deployment.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2026-POC
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
9019 Tromso
Norway
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.