BBSRC – Our Latest News

BBSRC Innovator of the Year 2019 Award: applications open now

Do you know a brilliant BBSRC-funded researcher that deserves recognition? Innovator of the Year is once again ready to recognise and reward impact from BBSRC’s research portfolio, from commercial success to influence on public policy, from breakthrough inventions to innovative solutions to global problems.

BBSRC relies on recommendations to highlight excellent researchers and encourage them to apply – either directly or by recommending them through our website. We encourage everyone to apply, from early-career researchers who are demonstrating promising impact to experienced academics with a lifetime’s work to celebrate.

Winners of each of the four categories – Commercial Impact, Social Impact, International Impact and Early Career Impact – will receive a £10,000 award, with a further £10,000 for the BBSRC Innovator of the Year winner. Awards will be presented at a high-profile event in London in May 2019.

Further information and links to the application and recommendation forms can be found on our website: http://bbsrc.ukri.org/innovator

The application deadline is 30th January 2019

BBSRC Funding – Apply now

We would like to draw your attention to the following BBSRC funding opportunities:

BBSRC Follow-on Funding call – Deadline 10 Oct 18 – funding to help bridge the gap between BBSRC-funded research and its translation into practical application, including commercialisation. See https://bbsrc.ukri.org/funding/filter/follow-on/
18ALERT: Mid-Range Equipment Initiative – Deadline 25 Oct 18 – aims to enhance the capability of the UK research base in areas of the BBSRC’s remit through the purchase of mid-range equipment (over £200K incl. VAT). Equipment should benefit researchers in one or more institutions for deployment on a multi-project, multi-use basis. See https://bbsrc.ukri.org/funding/filter/2018-alert-mid-range-equipment-initiative/
International Flexible Interchange Programme (I-FLIP) – Deadline 16 Oct 18 – for international exchanges of up to 12 months’ duration between UK and organisations that operate within countries on the DAC list. See https://bbsrc.ukri.org/funding/filter/2018-international-flexible-interchange-programme/
Enterprise Fellowships – Deadline 31 Oct 18 – designed to encourage the development of a new business, building on previously funded BBSRC research to enable the recipient to concentrate on developing the commercial potential of the research. See https://bbsrc.ukri.org/funding/filter/enterprise-fellowships/

BSRC FOLLOW ON FUND open now – deadline 10 Oct 18

The BBSRC Follow on Fund currently has an Industrial Biotechnology highlight for the upcoming round.

The webpage with all the call details can be found here: https://bbsrc.ukri.org/funding/filter/follow-on/ and the application deadline is 10^th October 2018.

FUNDING CALL: Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy in the Developing World

BBSRC has launched a call for proposals titled ‘Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy in the Developing World’ which may be of interest to our Network members.

The call is up to £5 million and aims to support a number of collaborative research projects addressing challenges relating to industrial biotechnology and bioenergy in the developing world.

This call will develop the potential to utilise different biogenic feedstocks (for example crop residues) for the purpose of generating multiple (valuable) products (for example energy, pharmaceutical/ chemical precursors and clean water) in a sustainable way using biotechnologies to help support economic and welfare activities in the developing world.

The call is funded from the UK government’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). As well as being scientifically excellent, research supported under it must meet the criteria for classification of expenditure as Official Development Assistance (ODA).

Funds can be requested for up to three years and projects must be completed by 1 February 2022. Applications must not exceed a maximum of £2 million (at 100% of their full economic cost).

Applications must be submitted via the Je-S system by 6 June 2018, 16:00

Further information can be found on the BBSRC webpage here:

https://bbsrc.ukri.org/funding/filter/industrial-biotechnology-bioenergy-in-the-developing-world/

AD Network Events Roundup – Oct 17

The 2nd Annual Food and Drink Engineering & Processing Summit, Coventry -7^th November 2017. Food and Drink Business Europe has over 20 years’ experience in the food and beverage manufacturing industry. See: http://foodengineeringexpo.com/ .

BIOSURF/Bin2Grid EU projects Final Conference, Brussels – 24^th November 2017

These EU Horizon 2020 projects have been running for 3 years and their joint (free) final conference is in November. Further details at: http://www.biosurf.eu/en_GB/ and http://www.bin2grid.eu/en_GB/home . For more information, please contact the EBA secretariat at info@european-biogas.eu .

World Biogas Association/EESC: Making Carbon Count: pricing in externalities to drive the Circular Economy, Brussels – 11^th December 2017. See: http://www.worldbiogasassociation.org/carbon-pricing-conference/ .

BioCatNet/RSC Biotechnology Group: BIOTRANSFORMATIONS: From science to industrial application, London – 19^th December 2017. See: http://www.rsc.org/events/detail/28220/biotransformations-from-science-to-industrial-application .

3rd International IET/SynbiCITE Engineering Biology Conference 2017, London – 12/13^th December 2017. See: http://events.theiet.org/engineering-biology/index.cfm?utm_source=redirect&utm_medium=any&utm_campaign=engineering-biology .

Water Innovation Network: Bioresources – Getting the most out of sludge, Peterborough – 24^th January 2018. This event is your chance to collaborate with Anglian Water to improve the anaerobic digestion methods and processes to produce more energy, and to make further suggestions on how to get the best return from sludge. See: http://waterinnovation.net/event/bioresources-getting-the-most-out-of-sludge/ .

European Biogas Association 2018, Antwerp, 24-26^th January 2018. The theme to this bi-annual conference will be ‘Greening gas’. See: http://european-biogas.eu/events/eba-conference/ .

REA Event – UK Biomethane Day 2018, Birmingham – 2^nd May 2018. A fantastic networking opportunity, where developers and operators can meet financiers, feedstock providers, waste hauliers, government officials and suppliers. See: https://www.r-e-a.net/events/rea-event-uk-biomethane-day-2018 .

IBioIC Annual Conference, Glasgow, 25-26^th January 2018. See: http://ibioic.com/news_and_events/d4/ .

RWM Exhibition, NEC Birmingham,11-13^th September 2018. RWM is the leading community for the Waste, Energy, Recycling and Water sectors to network, learn and trade. With over 450 exhibitors and 11,000 visitors you can join them 11-13th September 2018 NEC Birmingham. See: www.rwmexhibition.com/welcome/about-us#/ .

Biogas Science 2018, Torino, Italy, 16-19^th September 2018. The deadline for Abstracts for this conference is 30^th November 2017. We still have a number of ECR Conference Travel bursaries available – contact us for details. See: http://www.biogas-science2018.it/index.php#!/sez_11 .

AD Network Event Roundup – Sep 17

Maximising the Renewable Gas Potential from Small Scale Biogas, Dublin – 3^rd October 2017. This briefing seminar at Teagasc Ashtown Food Research Centre is aimed at farmers, advisors, researchers as well as energy policy and decision makers and will address the challenges related to the economic and environmental sustainability of biogas production and utilisation. See: www.eventbrite.ie/e/maximising-the-renewable-gas-potential-from-small-scale-biogas-tickets-37874535756
11th European Wastewater Management Conference & Exhibition, Leeds – 3/4^th October 2017. See: http://ewwmconference.com/
ADBA Northern Ireland Conference, Belfast – 5^th October 2017. See: http://adbioresources.org/events/northern-ireland-national-conference/.
BioProNET 4th annual science meeting, Warwick – 10/11^th October 2017. See: http://biopronetuk.org/category/events/
LBNet sandpit workshop: “UK BioChem 10″, York – 18/19^th October 2017. See: https://lb-net.net/save-the-date-next-lbnet-sandpit-workshop-uk-biochem-10-18-19-october-2017/
HVCfP: Annual Meeting, Manchester – 19^th October 2017. See: https://hvcfp.net/events/annual-meeting-2017/
Biovale Focus on Feedstock, York – 1^st November 2017. A half-day workshop to discuss the issues around AD feedstock: how to get your feedstock right and what to do when you get it wrong. Talks, Q&A and ‘ask the expert’. See: www.biovale.org/news-and-events/events/ .
REA/ORG Event – Understanding PAS110 in Full, Reading – 2^nd November 2017. See: www.r-e-a.net/events .
C1net Conference 3, Nottingham – 5/7^th November 2017. This is the third C1net conference, and focuses on chemical production from C1 gases by gas fermentation. See: http://www.c1net.co.uk/Events.html
INNOVATE UK, NEC, Birmingham – 8/9^th November 2017. Innovation event. See: http://www.innovate2017.gov.uk/
REA Biogas Meeting with policy focus, London – 7^th November, 2017. See: http://www.biogas.org.uk/events/rea-biogas-meeting-with-policy-focus
REA AD Biology Day, Solihull – 14^th November 2017. See: www.r-e-a.net/events
Future of Biogas Europe 2017, London – 15/16^th November 2017. See: http://www.wplgroup.com/aci/event/future-biogas-europe/
European Biosolids & Organic Resources Conference & Exhibition, Leeds – 20/21^st November 2017. See: http://european-biosolids.com/
CBMNet Event: Factories for advanced biomanufacturing, Sheffield – 6/7^th December 2017. FREE event on microbial chassis engineering and those interested in improving the robustness of whole-cell biocatalysts. See: http://cbmnetnibb.group.shef.ac.uk/events/ .
ADBA National Conference, London – 7^th December. See: http://adbioresources.org/events/?/events
REA: Biomethane as a Transport fuel, London – 14^th December 2017. See: www.r-e-a.net/events
BioProNET: Molecular chaperones: structure, function and application in bioprocessing, Kent, 20^th December 2017. See: http://biopronetuk.org/category/events/
C1net Metabolic Modelling Workshop 4, Nottingham, 15/19^th January 2018. See: http://www.c1net.co.uk/Events.html
EBA Conference, Antwerp – 24/26^th January 2018. See: http://european-biogas.eu/events/eba-conference/
Energy Storage & Connected Systems 2018, London – 6/7^th February 2018. See: www.energystorageconnectedsystems.com/About/
Recent breakthroughs and new perspectives of protein aggregation: measuring, predicting and controlling protein aggregation, Manchester -13^th February 2017. See: http://biopronetuk.org/category/events/
CBMNet sponsored : ‘The artificial cell: biology-inspired compartmentalisation of chemical function‘, Buckinghamshire – 26-27^th February 2018. See: https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2018/02/artificial-cell/
CBMNet sponsored: Microbial Stress, Ireland – 23/25^th April 2018, IRELAND, UK. Event details available at: http://www.efb-central.org/index.php/microbial_stress/.

The Supergen Bioenergy Hub is consulting on a wide variety of subject areas for the Supergen Bioenergy Hub. For details and registration, see: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/supergen-bioenergy-hub-consultation-14937732265

AD Network Funding Roundup: Sep 17

The AD Network still has funding available as follows:

Joint AD Network/Food Waste Network BIV – £20K match funded – Closing date 9 Oct 17
Business Interaction Voucher (quarterly) – Closing date 30 Sep 17
AD Network 4th Proof of Concept call – Closing date 16 Oct 17

Other NIBB Networks still have funding calls open as follows:

BioCatNet: 5th POC Call – Closes 31 Oct 17
FoodWasteNet: BIV Call – Closes 15 Oct 17
HVCfP: BIV Call – Closes 22 Nov 17
NProNet: BIV Call – Closes 6 Oct 17
PhycoNet: BIV Call – Closes 15 Dec 17

Further funding opportunities include:

GCRF, see: http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/funding/gcrf/

BBSRC, see: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/funding/

There are a number of innovate opportunities, e.g. Emerging and Enabling round 3 -8^th November 2017. See: www.gov.uk/guidance/innovation-apply-for-a-funding-award

BBSRC Industrial Partnership Awards (IPAs)

These encourage and support collaboration between academic research groups and industry. IPAs are academic-led, responsive mode grants that have significant industrial involvement and industry partner(s) contributes in cash at least equivalent to 10% of the full project costs. For example with a £550,000 award, industry would contribute £50,000.

See: www.bbsrc.ac.uk/innovation/collaboration/industrial-partnership-awards/ .

Application deadline: 4^th Oct 2017

Funding for Mid-Range Capital Equipment over £200K

This supports the purchase of research equipment through the 17ALERT call for investigators that seeks to pioneer the use of emerging advanced technology and seek to utilise equipment in novel applications.

The principal investigator must be resident in the UK and an academic employee at the lecturer or equivalent level at an eligible organisation. Instrumentation should be deployed on a multi-project or multi-use basis and must enhance the capability of the UK research base in areas of science in BBSRC remit.

The capital equipment budget is £10 million. Applicants can seek capital funding for equipment over £200,000 including VAT, including limited installation and maintenance costs

Closing Date: 14^th Sept 2017.

See: www.bbsrc.ac.uk/funding/filter/2017-alert-mid-range-equipment-initiative/ .

Call for postdoc panel members: Biosciences Skills and Careers Strategy Advisory Panel

The Bioscience Skills and Careers Strategy Advisory Panel (BSC) has received input from a Bioscience Skills and Careers Postdoctoral Researcher Subgroup since March 2013. Membership of the subgroup is currently being refreshed to ensure it continues to have the necessary skills and expertise to provide input into topics highlighted by the subgroup’s recently updated terms of reference.

BBSRC is looking to appoint eight postdocs to the subgroup. Applications are sought from postdocs working in academia, including those based in research institutions, as well as those in government laboratories or industry (Postdoc in the industrial context meaning someone with a PhD carrying out a research role, but who is not directing a research programme / who does not have significant management responsibilities) Further information can be found here:

www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/people-skills-training/2017/170703-n-call-for-bioscience-skills-careers-postdoctoral-researcher-subgroup-members/ .

The deadline for applications is 7^thAugust 2017.