The ERC’s Proof of Concept program is designed to help researchers translate innovative academic discoveries into practical applications.
By Shula Rosen
Two research teams at Bar-Ilan University have secured Proof of Concept grants from the European Research Council, supporting new approaches in targeted cancer therapies and the study of government regulation.
One of the projects, led by Dr. Itay Koren of Bar-Ilan’s Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, is working on a new way to eliminate harmful proteins inside the body.
His team has designed tiny molecular “tags” that mark these proteins, making it possible for the cell’s natural cleanup system to remove them.
Unlike current treatments, which often rely on complicated processes and are limited, this approach could tackle proteins connected to tough-to-treat cancers such as prostate and breast cancer.
“This technology could dramatically expand the universe of druggable targets,” Dr. Koren said in a press release. “We’re aiming to pioneer a new class of therapeutics that can improve precision medicine outcomes.”
A second grant was awarded to the BEHAVREG initiative, led by Prof. Yuval Feldman of the Faculty of Law and Prof. Yoav Goldberg of Computer Science.
Their team is applying artificial intelligence, including machine learning and natural language processing, to study how regulations are drafted, enforced, and received by the public. The aim is to identify which policy designs consistently influence compliance.
“We’re applying computational methods to understand patterns in regulatory success and failure,” Feldman said.
“It’s about turning data into insight—and insight into smarter policy,” Goldberg added.
The ERC’s Proof of Concept program is designed to help researchers translate innovative academic discoveries into practical applications. Bar-Ilan officials say the awards place the university at the center of international efforts to convert scientific and policy research into real-world impact.
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