Job Opportunity – KTP Associate Biogas Development Engineer

The successful candidate (KTP Associate) will support Greenvill Energy Ltd in conjunction with South West College, in research and design of a biogas upgrading system for small scale biogas operators without grid access. As well as overcoming the challenges of this design, the associate will also be involved in managing the build, test and commission of the plant with a view to supplying the system to similar sites.

Closing Date: Mon 10 Apr 17 @ 12 noon

Reference: KTP 52/17

Duration: 2.5 yrs

Interview: 24th April 17

For more information, please visit the South West College Website.

Nominate your best research project for the UK AD Biogas Awards 2017

This award is one of a number of awards which will be presented at the UK AD Biogas trade show gala dinner on 5 July 2017. This award will be given to any person, team, company, business, university or other entity which has carried out a research project in the last 12 months which has made a significant contribution to the AD industry. More information can be found here.

2nd International Conference The Advanced Biomanufacturing Centre, Sheffield, 22-23 May 17, Royal Victoria Hotel, Sheffield

Following the success of its first international conference in 2015, the ABC would like to invite you to its 2nd International Advanced Biomanufacturing Conference in Sheffield.  Following the overall themes of Cell Engineering and Bioprocess Engineering the conference will attract experts from around the world as well as featuring early career researchers.

Academic, research & industrial contributions are welcomed from all areas of biomanufacturing and abstract submissions of no more than 400 words should be sent via the website before the deadline of 31st January 2017.

Presentation topics (for oral, poster and flash) may include: manufacturing platforms; biopharmaceutical;, bioprocess management; upstream and downstream bioprocessing; technology benchmarks and bio-computing.

Technical papers presenting results as well as position papers challenging pros and cons of particular systems or processes may be presented.

To be part of our next conference please contact:

karen.wood@sheffield.ac.uk

+44 (0)114 222 9605

www.sheffieldbiomanufacturing.org

 

Funded PhD Scholarship on Biogas from Biomass Residues – MMU – Deadline 31 Jan 17

The aim of this PhD is to demonstrate the potential of the investigated biomass integrated biorefinery configuration to produce green compostable bioplastic (PLA) and bioenergy in the form of biogas. This is an excellent opportunity to apply the principles of oil refinery to degradable biomass in a zero-waste approach for sustainable production of value-added products and energy. More information can be found on the MMU website.

3rd International Conference on Biogas Microbiology – Wageningen 1-3 May 17

The is a chance to attend a focussed conference on the increasingly popular theme of  Biogas Microbiology. The Conference offers a common ground for bioprocess engineers and microbiologists to share their knowledge, and gives the opportunity to discuss and focus on important recent developments in biogas microbiology. Conference Themes include:

Anaerobic reactors: Waste to gas
Methane production under extreme conditions
New trends in biogas production
Novel anaerobes
Methane-omics
Biogas from Nature
Complex anaerobic communities (SIAM sessions)

For more information, see the conference website.

BrisSynBio Connect event, Bristol ā€“ 27th April 2017 2-9pm

BrisSynBio is a multi-disciplinary research centre that focuses on the biomolecular design and engineering aspects of synthetic biology. See: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/brissynbio/ .

This event is the climax of BrisSynBio’s 4-Day More Business Acumen course. You will have the opportunity to see future synthetic biology entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to real biotech investors.

They will be showcasing the most exciting translational research from BrisSynBio and you can learn about cutting edge synthetic biology products and applications from leading UK industrialists.

Register (free) soon as places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

https://brissynbioconnect.eventbrite.co.uk .

Part-time MSc – Carbon Foot-printing and Life Cycle Assessment – Open to 6 Jan 17

Would you like to learn about LCA methodology?

A part-time MSc module on Carbon Foot-printing and Life Cycle Assessment will be delivered entirely online by Bangor University from January through to April 2017, drawing on freely available online calculators and the latest research to demonstrate application of LCA to evaluate bioenergy and bio-based product value chains, and their interaction with food production. This module is part of the Industrial Biotechnology MSc, and BBSRC Advanced Training Partnership. Anyone wishing to enrol on the full Bangor or Aberystwyth MSc courses that this module sits within may also be eligible for the new English postgraduate loan. Registration now open, until 6th January 2017.

See: http://www.atp-pasture.org.uk/en/study-options/distance-learning-modules/carbon-footprinting-and-life-cycle-assessment .

See also the module on On- Farm Anaerobic Digestion (AD) ā€“ May 2017.

EC Horizon 2020 call: greening the economy. Apply now, closes 7 Mar 17.

The European Commission invites proposals for its H2020-SC5-2017 Greening the economy ā€“ single stage call which closes 7 Mar 17.

Proposals may address the following topics:

  • climate services, including SC5-01-2017 exploiting the added value of climate services, SC5-02-2017 integrated European regional modelling and climate prediction system and SC5-04-2017 towards a robust and comprehensive greenhouse gas verification system
  • towards a low-carbon Europe, including SC5-06-2016 pathways towards the decarbonisation and resilience of the European economy in the timeframe 2030-2015 and beyond
  • raw materials, including SC5-13-2017 new solutions for sustainable production of raw materials
  • earth observation, including SC5-18-2017 novel in-sit observation systems
  • nature-based solutions for territorial resilience, including SC5-32-2017 biodiversity scenarios
  • water, including SC5-33-2017 closing the water gap

The indicative budget for this call is ā‚¬124 million. See the H2020 Participant Portal: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/index.html, under the ā€˜Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materialsā€™ work programme (Societal Challenges Pillar).

Want to hold a meeting to put a bid together ā€“ contact us! We have funds to assist.

EPSRC call for feasibility studies in energy – closes 5 Jan 17

Up to Ā£3m is available for this call, with a cap of Ā£200k for each proposal. Proposals should examine a topic within EPSRC’s Energy remit (e.g. Bioenergy), review past and current activity, and identify key research challenges that need to be addressed. The proposed research must be novel, innovative, have the potential to lead to high impact outcomes and strengthen the UK’s position in within the international energy community. Submissions towards this call must also demonstrate collaborations with established energy groups/organisations (academia, industry, non-governmental organisations, Government etc.) who are willing to support the research proposal and provide a potential route for exploitation. More information can be found on their website.

Tender for Industrial Biotechnology Landscape Report Provision (by 20 Jan 17 at 1200 hrs)

BACKGROUND
BBSRC, with support from EPSRC, have committed Ā£18M to fund 13 unique collaborative networks in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy (BBSRC NIBB). The BBSRC NIBB foster collaborations between academia, industry, policy makers and NGOs in order to find new approaches to tackle research challenges, translate research and deliver key benefits in Industrial Biotechnology (IB). Each network has a particular focus area, mainly within the UK, but with interest to build international links. These multidisciplinary networks will drive new ideas to harness the potential of biological resources for producing and processing materials, biopharmaceuticals, chemicals and energy.

Four NIBBs (CBMNet, BIOCATNET, C1Net and P2P) are commissioning this project with the aim of mapping the strengths of the entire UK Industrial Biotechnology sector. The focus of the project should be on research and development through to commercialisation with additional focus on Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4-7. The target audience for the report are UK funders and The Government.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
The report will provide the following:
1. A concise, critical synopsis of the relevant reports and roadmaps assessing and analysing UK Industrial Biotechnology and BioEnergy (IBBE) (see below for a list from a previous report; the list is not exhaustive), the report should cover the last 5 years. This exercise should identify any limitations in the existing studies and not simply summarise what is already known.
2. A detailed analysis of the current UK landscape in IBBE. Mapping the key capabilities (strengths and weaknesses e.g. research, technologies, scale up technologies) across the UK IBBE sector, including research organisations and small, medium, and large companies.
3. Critical evaluation of the current state of the UK IBBE sector, including its capacity to commercialise research.
4. A benchmark assessment of the UK IBBE industry compared to that of the top performing competitors (for example USA, Canada, Brazil, Malaysia and Germany).
5. Identify UK IBBE success stories and projects that provide examples of best practise for translation of research into commercial application (Case Studies).
6. Identify IBBE areas in which the UK could have a competitive advantage in terms of inherent resources (feedstocks), infrastructure (plant and buildings), innovation (expertise), enterprise and funding systems. This should include an assessment of whether and how IBBE-related IP generated in the UK is exploited in the UK.
7. Identify and assess options for an IBBE translation framework to support future commercialisation of IBBE research in the UK. This should include an assessment of various forward looking mechansims to encourage adoption of innovative solutions by industry by removing/mitigating risk.
8. Horizon scanning to identify emerging technologies and trends that will impact on a range of sectors and drive the future of IBBE in the UK.
9. Provide an evidence-based roadmap and policy recommendations for the developing key IBBE activities in which the UK has existing strength and capacity that provide a solid and credible foundation on which to build a competitive world-class UK IBBE sector.
If you would like to tender for this report or for more information, please see https://in-tendhost.co.uk/sheffield

The tender reference number is 1526/DM and the closing date for responses is at 12 noon on Friday 20th January 2017. To view the tender notice and access the documents, please hover over ā€œTendersā€ and click on ā€œCurrentā€ and from there click ā€œView Detailsā€, finally please click on the ā€œExpress Interestā€ button where, after registering to use the site, you will be able to download the relevant details. Please also be aware that all correspondenceā€™s & tender returns should be conducted through the In-tend site.
Contact Us

For any enquiries about our network, please contact:
Dr Jen Vanderhoven
Network Manager, CBM Network
jen.vanderhoven@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 (0) 114 2229766
University of Sheffield, E100 Addison Building, Firth Court, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN