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FAPESP and BBSRC announce call for proposals Versão em português
Colaborative integrated biorefinery approaches for the manufacture of advanced biofuels will be supported (photo: Wikimedia)
The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) in São Paulo, Brazil and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) in the UK announce a joint call for collaborative research proposals that underpin integrated biorefinery approaches for the manufacture of advanced biofuels.
The purpose of this call is to build on the strengths of academic research groups in Brazil and the UK and allow them to work together on collaborative, cross-disciplinary projects relevant to the biological processes that underpin integrated biorefinery approaches.
To support the areas of this call for proposals the UK side will offer up to £5 million and the Brazilian partner organizations will match this with equivalent research effort. Thus the requested values do not have to be the same on each side – what must be comparable are the research efforts dedicated to the project.
Priority areas for this call are:
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Enzyme design and development for scaling up processing of cellulosic biomass.
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Control and/or optimization of feedstock attributes and their effect on production and processing for advanced biofuels, biogas, commodity and high value chemicals.
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Development of high-yielding fermentative organisms.
Projects should be 3 to 5 years in duration and should demonstrate that the sustainability, social, economic and environmental aspects of the processes and products that are being developed has been taken into account.
Each collaborative research proposal must involve eligible applicants based in the State of São Paulo, Brazil and the UK, with a minimum of one applicant per country.
For applicants in the State of São Paulo the requirements for eligibility are those applied to FAPESP Thematic Grants, the FAPESP Young Investigator Award program, or the Sao Paulo Excellence Chair (SPEC) pilot-program. Proposals from the São Paulo side can include one or more of these funding modes, in a coordinated way.
Proposals requesting funds from FAPESP must show an adequate balance between capital costs and operating costs (consumables, fellowships). Proposals with excessive capital costs will be considered at lower priority.
The deadline for submission of proposals is November 25, 2015.
The call for proposals is available at: www.fapesp.br/9759.