László Nagy and Árpád Csernetics awarded ERC Proof of Concept grant

Jul 29, 2025 | News

The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the list of winners of the ERC Proof of Concept (PoC) grant. 150 projects will receive a total of €22.5 million in funding, each worth €150,000 and lasting 18 months. The aim of the PoC grants is to promote the application of scientific results from ERC-funded research that show industrial potential.

The Lendület Fungal Genomics and Evolution Research Group, based at the Institute of Biochemistry of the HUN-REN SZBK, is among the current winners, and their research aims to develop new, sporeless mushroom strains for the mushroom cultivation industry. The title of their project is:

"From evolutionary biology to crop mushrooms: constructing sporeless mushroom strains."

Based on their previous studies, they will create new mushroom strains using newly identified genes related to sporulation and genome engineering techniques. They will also assess the market potential of these strains.

Photo: Zsolt Merényi

Congratulations for the recognition!
(Source: https://erc.europa.eu/news-events/news/proof-of-concept-grants-2025)