ERA-IB Second Joint Call for Proposals 2010

ERA-IB has launched Europe’s second jointly coordinated, transnational call for multilateral research projects addressing:

"Industrial biotechnology for Europe: an integrated approach".

ERA-IB’s objective is to foster knowledge transfer from invention to innovation, from fundamental research into technically realisable and cost-effective products and technologies. It is aimed at establishing cross-border partnerships between industrial and academic IB research, improving and accelerating technology transfer, and strengthening European efforts to achieve sustainable industrial development. These goals should be achieved by implementing common calls for trans-national R&D projects. The transnational collaboration on research as well as on funding level will contribute to strengthen the still fragmented European Industrial Biotechnology funding landscape.

Funding possibilities will be offered to excellent innovative industrially relevant R&D and applied research projects. Applications should integrate several of the below given topics of Industrial Biotechnology into the proposal:

· Novel enzymes and microorganisms for new and more efficient
bioprocesses

· Metabolic engineering for the improvement of industrial
microorganisms, including synthetic biology approaches
· Enzyme design combining rational and or evolutionary methods
· Development of multi-enzyme processes and modular enzymes
· Microbial stress under process conditions
· Development of new platform chemicals, including biomonomers
· Development of new and functionalised biopolymers
· Process analytical technologies for improved bioprocess understanding
· Scale-up of bioprocesses
· Innovative down-stream processing and biocatalyst recycling
· Biotechnological upgrading and valorisation of biorefinery byproducts

ERA-IB wants to foster the integration of different steps of the whole value chain. Therefore projects only covering one of the above given topics will not be considered. As the topic of “biofuels” is covered by the ERA-NET Bioenergy, applications dealing with this topic will not be considered within the ERA-IB call.

Who can apply
All researchers in Industrial Biotechnology based in Flanders (Belgium), Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Romania and The Netherlands, who are eligible to apply for funding at the ministries and funding agencies from the listed Sponsors, will be eligible to apply for ERA-IB research grants. Applicants for funding must form project consortia in which a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of eight (8) partners originating from a minimum of three participating countries. The maximum of participants can only be exceeded in cases where Finland is participating, as Finnish academic partners are required to bring along several industrial project partners.

Industries are encouraged to actively participate in projects.

When can be applied
The deadline for the submission of the pre-proposals was Wednesday 31 March 2010. The deadline for the submission of full proposals (only for selected pre-proposals applicants) is Wednesday 30 June 2010.

Procedure
Applications for ERA-IB project funding will follow a two-stage procedure involving the submission of pre-proposals followed by full proposal applications.

Sponsors
The call is financed by the following ministries and funding agencies:

Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of
Croatia (MSES), Croatia
Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes),
Finland
French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME),
France
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), Germany
Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Umwelt und Landwirtschaft
(SMUL)/Freistaat Sachsen, Germany
National Center for Research and Development (NCBiR), Poland
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal
Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN), Spain
National Centre for Programme Management (CNMP), Romania
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO,
The Netherlands
Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT), Flanders/Belgium

There will be no funding from the European Union.

Interested?
In order to support the formation of trans-national research consortia in Industrial Biotechnology for the ERA-NET Industrial Biotechnology 2nd Joint Call a Partnering Event will be organized on Tuesday 2 February 2010 in Frankfurt (Germany) to bring together interested persons from the countries involved and to facilitate the establishment of contacts.

Pre-proposal preparation and submission
Click here to enter the site with details concerning the pre-proposal preparation and submission.