Fiberight and Southampton have just completed a BIV project on ‘Recovery of food waste from municipal solid waste (MSW)’ during pulping, with funding from the BBSRC FoodWasteNet NIBB (www.foodwastenet.org). The aims of the work were to test an alternative separation technology for Fiberight’s innovative MSW-based sugar platform process, and determine how much food waste can be recovered from different stages. The sidestreams can then be tested for their potential to produce energy and higher-value products. The process is thus a key part of a waste-based biorefinery.
Tag: funding
Permastore Tanks and University of Southampton complete first BIV
The Environmental Labs at the University of Southampton have just completed our first Business Interaction Voucher (BIV) project in conjunction with Permastore Ltd. The work involved development of a test procedure for materials to be used in advanced anaerobic digestion applications, including at thermophilic temperatures and in harsh conditions where the process may become unstable or fail. Testing was based on continuous simulation in 35-litre anaerobic digesters, and has provided comprehensive data that would not be available from simple batch tests. An innovative side-stream ammonia stripping system was used to control digestion parameters and provide a wide range of reactor conditions. This BIV was funded by BBSRC through the Anaerobic Digestion Network.
Information on all the work done in the Environmental Labs can be found on their Facebook page.
You too can benefit from such funding for academic help: see www.anaerobicdigestionnet.com/funding for more information.
IB Catalyst Round 4 – Apply Now!
Our AD Network now features the latest information on the IB Catalyst Round 4 which closes in August. IB catalyst is directly relevant to the AD world and anyone interested is encouraged to apply. Remember that the AD Network can help fund meetings in order to formulate/put together bids. Contact us for more information.
Newton Fund UK – China – Philippines – Thailand – Vietnam joint call
The Newton Fund UK-China-Philippines-Thailand-Vietnam call for collaborative research proposals in rice research has now been launched: www.bbsrc.ac.uk/rice
One aspect of this call that may be of particular interest is “Utilisation of rice by-products” with Vietnam and the Philippines.
Please promote this to your Network members, any queries can be directed to the BBSRC Newton Fund email inbox newton.fund@bbsrc.ac.uk
Please note that the deadline for applications is 4pm GMT 13 August 2015
LB Net Early Stage Career Workshop – 8-10 July 2015, Redworth Hall, Darlington
If you are in the last year of your PhD or you are a postdoctoral researcher within 3 years of completing your PhD do not miss this opportunity to engage with experts from industry and academia in the lignocellulosic biorefinery area and take part in a creativity workshop aimed at inspiring researchers to recognise the potential for innovation and research in the area of industrial biotechnology and lignocellulosic biomass.
Take part in this 3-day workshop, where a series of inspirational talks are planned. Participants are expected to form teams and develop innovative and competitive ideas for funding. Mentors from industry and academia will be there to support delegates. This is a great opportunity to mix with like minded researchers and be guided in how to develop creative research into competitive proposals and entrepreneurial ventures. The workshop is led by Dr Edward Green, founder of Green Biologics and Chain Biotechnology and the aim is to encourage creative and innovative thinking.
Register by completing the LB Net application form and returning it to veronica.ongaro@york.ac.uk
EXPERTS NEEDED!
BBSRC are looking to appoint suitably qualified and motivated individuals from academia, industry and other BBSRC user communities to fill a number of vacancies on our Strategy Advisory Panels, the Pool of Experts, Committee E and Follow-on-Fund Committee.
This is an opportunity to work with other highly experienced people from across the academic, public, private and civil sectors to make an important contribution to the future direction of bioscience research.
There are vacancies for:
- Assessment Committee (pool) members
- Strategy Panel members
- Agriculture and Food Security Strategy Advisory Panel
- Bioscience for Health Strategy Advisory Panel
- Bioscience For Industry Strategy Panel
- Bioscience for Society Strategy Panel
- Exploiting New Ways Of Working Strategy Advisory Panel
- Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy Strategy Advisory Panel
- Committee E members (fellowship funding)
- Follow-on-Fund committee members
If you know of anyone who you think would be interested in applying to this, please can you pass this information on to them.
The call is open until midnight Sunday 5th July
Interested in algal research? Try Spark Plus funding
The KTN has announced the new Spark Plus award. Closing date is 22 May 15. These are awards of £10K to an academic partner if an industry partner provides £5K match funding. Further details can be found at https://connect.innovateuk.org/web/algal-biotechnology-special-interest-group/algal-spark-plus-awards
If you are looking for industry or academic partners, contact us – we have a large member list, many of whom are interested in algae.
IB Catalyst Engineering Event – 9 Jun 15
The KTN are holding an IB Catalyst Engineering focused workshop on Tuesday 9th June in Fallowfield, Manchester from 09.30 to 16.00. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ib-catalyst-engineering-focused-workshop-tickets-16629811213
This is a free consortium-building event which aims to present information to Engineering academics and encourage them to apply their skills to IBBE problems and become involved in IB Catalyst proposals. The workshop offers opportunities for engineers to provide new approaches for IB projects and for biotechnological industries searching to design engineering solutions to their biological processes.
This is a free consortium-building event to stimulate engineering lead projects for the Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst (IB Catalyst). It is designed to help business and researchers develop innovative engineering solutions for different industrial biotechnological applications.
The aim of this workshop is to:
- Highlight the engineering opportunities within industrial biotechnology;
- Identify new engineering technologies that could be applied to a range of biological processes: and
- Learn about national investment in industrial biotechnology through IB Catalyst, NIBBs and Supergen.
Representatives from Innovate UK, EPSRC, BBRSC and KTN will be present to address any queries related to the funding competition.
Who should attend?
The workshop offers opportunities for:
- Engineers to provide new approaches for industrial biotechnological projects.
- Biotechnological industries searching to design engineering solutions to their biological processes.
Workshop Structure
It covers:
- Scope of the IB Catalyst competition and rules
- Overview of different opportunities that engineering offers to industrial biotechnology.
- State-of-the-art engineering technologies for biotech companies.
- Delegate pitch presentations outlining expertise and chances for collaboration.
About IB Catalyst
In January 2014 Innovate UK, BBRSC and EPSRC invested £40M to support integrated researcher and development projects through the Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst (IB Catalyst). The IB Catalyst provides funding to companies and researchers to work together in priority areas to bring their biotechnology innovations to market and to help cement the UK’s position as a world leading sector.
IB Catalyst programme will accelerate commercialization by supporting the development of new industrial biotechnology products and processes, and enabling their potential to scale-up. It supports R&D for the processing and production of materials, chemicals and bioenergy through the sustainable exploitation of biological resources.
There are five types of award – Early Stage; (1) Translational, and (2) Feasibility studies: (3) Industrial Research: (4) Late Stage; and (5) Experimental Development – and, with the exception of Translation awards that are academic lead, can involve a single business or be collaborative. Total Project Size can range from up to £250k for feasibility studies to up £10m for experimental development.
Scope:
IB Catalyst supports R&D in the process and production of materials, chemicals (including pharmaceutical precursors and biopharmaceuticals) and bioenergy. The biological resources that may be used in these processes include tissues, enzymes, and genes from algae, marine life, fungi, microorganisms and plants.
Projects should address one or more of the following challenges using biological processes, or processes in which biological and chemical approaches are used in combination:
- Production of fine and speciality chemicals and natural products (for example fragrances, flavours, and pharmaceutical intermediates).
- Production of commodity, platform and intermediate chemicals and materials (for example plastics, resins and textiles).
- Production of liquid and gaseous biofuels.
- Production of peptides and proteins (for example enzymes, antibiotics, and recombinant biologics).
- Novel or improved upstream or downstream processes to reduce cost or improve efficiency.
The IB Catalyst will not fund research that uses feedstock from material that could be used for human food or animal feed to produce liquid and gaseous fuels (unless they have already fulfilled their food purpose).
Projects involving the production of food and drink are out of scope. However, projects may address the production of fine chemicals for use as food ingredients, for example flavourings and colourings. The IB Catalyst will not support research on natural products aimed at discovering new organisms or searching for new activity, but will support the translation of discoveries into a commercial activity.