GCRF Interdisciplinary Research Hubs

Research Councils UK invites proposals from eligible UK research organisations to establish and lead a number of challenge-led and impact-focused GCRF Interdisciplinary Research Hubs which meet the aims of Official Development Assistance.

The Intention to Submit survey must be completed by 29th September 2017. Outline proposals must be submitted via Je-S by 16:00 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on 9th November 2017
Further information can be found here:

http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/funding/gcrf/interdisciplinary-research-hubs-to-address-intractable-challenges/

Global Engagement Meetings

The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) is running a series of international Global Engagement Meetings. I am pleased to announce that the application form to attend the Meetings is now open and can be found at the link below. Applications are open to UK and non-UK academics and non-academics who have an interest in international development research.

More details about the Meetings and application form can be found here: www.rcuk.ac.uk/funding/gcrf/gcrf-global-engagement-events/
The aim of these large scale events is to showcase the opportunities available through the GCRF; to bring together developing country and UK researchers and representatives from other organisations to forge networks; and to discuss opportunities for maximising the contribution of GCRF research into policy and practice.

The Meetings will be held on the following dates and locations:
• Colombia (Bogota) Wednesday 4th-Friday 6th October 2017
• India (Delhi) Tuesday 7th-Thursday 9th November 2017
• South Africa (Pretoria) Tuesday 5th-Wednesday 6th December 2017

Applications are open until Thursday 27th July, and successful applicants will hear in early August. Please circulate this to your contacts.

If you have any queries please contact gcrf@rcuk.ac.uk

Pitch Event: Chemistry and industrial biotechnology for a circular bioeconomy

An opportunity for entrepreneurs and investors to gain valuable insights and form new business relationships in sustainable technologies that can help move us towards a circular bio-economy.

Date: 21st September
Time: 2:00pm–4:00pm
Venue: University of York

More information at https://www.biovale.org/event/pitch-event-chemistry-and-industrial-biotechnology-for-a-circular-bioeconomy/

UK-India Industrial waste challenge 2017

Innovate UK and Research Councils, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), are investing up to £8 million in projects that use cutting-edge solutions to reduce industrial waste in India.

Projects should address reducing industrial waste and pollution, and improve value recovery from waste using biotechnology in one or more of these 5 sectors:
• leather/tanning/textiles
• municipal solid waste
• paper and pulp
• sewage
• sugar cane

The total project grant will not exceed £2 million per project for UK partners. Match funding will be made available for Indian project partners by the Government of India. Projects should last between 30 months and 3 years.
Important dates
Final date for UK registration: midday 11 October 2017
Submission of full application: midday 18 October 2017

Further details on the call can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-competition-uk-india-industrial-waste-challenge-2017/competition-guidance-uk-india-industrial-waste-challenge-2017

There is also a workshop on 12th July in York, UK which is open to UK and Indian delegates:

https://www.ktn-uk.co.uk/events/uk-india-newton-fund-industrial-waste-challenge-2017-academic-to-business-partnering-workshop

Future of NPRONET BBSRC NIBB

BBSRC is seeking to renew the funding of Networks in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy (NIBB). It is expected that a smaller number of networks, potentially with a wider remit and community, may be sought to minimise overlap and the numbers of events that run. This renewal process provides an opportunity to rethink the remit of the NIBB and help ensure that they serve the research and industry communities appropriately going forward. To help inform this process, we are asking you to complete a short questionnaire.

The survey can be accessed following this link: http://www.qdpservices.com/online/OLI_Questionnaire.asp?SID=10001-1227551-00000

The survey is hosted by QDP Services Ltd, who will analyse the data and share it with the NIBB. The deadline for completion of the survey is Friday, 30 June 2017

Landscape Review of Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy (IBBE)

We are contacting you to ask if you would be able to help contribute to an ongoing Landscape Review of Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy (IBBE) in the UK.

A consortium of the NIBBs (Biocatnet, CBMNet, C1Net, and P2P) have commissioned RSM, an economic research consultancy, to undertake this study. As part of this research, we would appreciate if you could spare ten minutes of your time to fill in the survey link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/JSQPSVG

Your response will be strictly anonymised, and feedback will be utilised solely for research purposes.

We hope that this is something you can support, and please also feel free to share this with any of your colleagues who might be interested in participating. Should you have any queries regarding the research, please also feel free to get in touch with Project Manager Jonathan Hobson (jonathan.hobson@rsmuk.com) or Sam Donaldson (sam.donaldson@rsmuk.com)

The Advanced Biomanufacturing Centre, Sheffield 2nd International Conference 22-23 May 2017, 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 this conference please contact: karen.wood@sheffield.ac.uk +44 (0)114 222 9605 www.sheffieldbiomanufacturing.org

Early bird rates until 10th February 2017 – £165/£100, Standard rates after 10th February

Bioeconomy strategy – BEIS call for evidence (closes 29 January 2017)

BEIS call for evidence to inform the development of the Government’s bioeconomy strategy https://beisgovuk.citizenspace.com/im/uk-bioeconomy-call-for-evidence/
The bioeconomy is distributed around the UK, includes ‘life sciences’ and healthcare and is a large and growing sector:
• In 2014 the whole bioeconomy generated approximately £220Bn in Gross Value Added (GVA) and supported 5.2 million jobs. http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/policy/2016/160726-pr-evidencing-the-bioeconomy/
• The bioeconomy is projected to grow by 13% over the years ahead.