Advanced BioFuels USA

(São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) )  The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) in Brazil www.fapesp.br/en and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) in the UK www.bbsrc.ac.uk are pleased to announce a joint call for collaborative research proposals that underpin integrated biorefinery approaches for the manufacture of advanced biofuels.

The purpose of the call is to build on the strengths of academic research groups in Brazil and the UK and allow them to work together on collaborative, cross-disciplinary projects relevant to the biological processes that underpin integrated biorefinery approaches.

This call for collaborative proposals will require applicants based in Brazil and the UK to work in partnership on research projects where the São Paulo, Brazil-based component would be funded by FAPESP and the UK-based component would be funded by BBSRC. Eligibility to apply will be determined by standard eligibility criteria for both agencies. The nature of the resources requested must also adhere to each agencies guidelines.

Priority areas for this call are:

• Enzyme design and development for scaling up processing of cellulosic biomass.
• Control and/or optimization of feedstock attributes and their effect on production and processing for advanced biofuels, biogas, commodity and high value chemicals.
• Development of high-yielding fermentative organisms.

Applicants wishing to apply to the call must use the specific Case for Support Template associated with this call.

2. BACKGROUND TO THE CALL

In September 2009 RCUK and FAPESP signed a memorandum of understanding to support joint activities. Over the last 5 years FAPESP and BBSRC have co-funded a variety of high quality collaborative research proposals, and have developed a shared vision of supporting excellent international research. The strong scientific links between Brazil and the UK was highlighted at the International Bioenergy Conference, held in Manchester in March 2014, which included a plenary talk from the scientific director of FAPESP, Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz as well as in a plenary talk by Duncan Eggar, the BBSRC Bioenergy Champion, at II BBEST, in Campos do Jordão, Brazil in October 2014.

It is recognised that research towards the development and implementation of integrated biorefinery approaches for the manufacture of advanced biofuels is of global importance. FAPESP and BBSRC have both made significant investments in sustainable bioenergy research and wish to further strengthen and diversify their biorefinery and bioenergy portfolios. As well as the desire for improved production of current advanced biofuels, there is also recognition of the need to develop ‘drop-in’ biofuels for certain sectors (e.g. aviation).

FAPESP and BBSRC have identified specific areas of bioenergy research where there would be particular merit, and benefit to both countries, in developing joint collaborative research projects relevant to advanced sustainable bioenergy research. To that end, they have developed a joint call in integrated biorefinery approaches for the manufacture of advanced biofuels.

The call for proposals is focussed around the 3 key areas which were agreed to be priorities (see Scope of the Call, below).

For information about bioenergy research supported by FAPESP please see www.fapesp.br/en/472

For information about bioenergy research supported by BBSRC please seewww.bbsrc.ac.uk/funding/priorities/ibb-bioenergy/

3. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES THAT UNDERPIN THE FAPESP-BBSRC INITIATIVE ARE:

a. Advance the excellent scientific relationships developed between UK and Sao Paulo scientists and encourage new partnerships.

b. Advance the scientific area by encouraging deployment of complementary expertise and unique facilities

c. Produce industrially relevant scientific outputs, which can be taken up by industry at the national or global level.

4. SCIENTIFIC SCOPE

Research towards the generation and implementation of integrated biorefinery approaches for the manufacture of advanced biofuels represents a very broad research topic. FAPESP and BBSRC have identified three key priority areas to form the focus of this call:

4.1 Priority Areas

a) Enzyme design and development for scaling up processing of lignocellulosic or waste feedstocks from lab to pilot scale with the requirements of further scales in mind. Enzyme discovery can form part of a proposal but should not be the main focus.

b) Optimization of feedstock attributes and their effect on production and processing for advanced biofuels and commodity and high value chemicals. This could include new agronomic practices for improving yield, sustainability and the integration of food and bioenergy production.

c) Development of novel high-yielding fermentative organisms, able to generate a range of (novel) products but with wide-ranging substrate tolerance and resistance to inhibitors.

Projects should be 3 to 5 years in duration and should demonstrate that the sustainability, social, economic and environmental aspects of the processes and products that are being developed has been taken into account.

Lignocellulosic and waste feedstocks include: sugarcane bagasse, other agricultural residues such as straw, municipal solid waste (MSW), forestry waste, unavoidable food waste, and perennial biomass.

4.2 Additional Factors to Consider

Projects that employ cutting edge technologies including: genomics, metabolic engineering, systems biology and synthetic biology are particularly welcome, as are projects that reach across the boundaries of individual science areas and employ multi-disciplinary teams. Where possible projects should involve some form of private sector engagement (although the non-academic component would not be eligible for funding).

Projects are encouraged to consider the long term potential for implementation of the work and/or outcomes in developing economies outside of the two partner countries.

Successful applicants will be expected to participate in workshops to work together to create a cohesive programme.

Proposals do not need to request equal amounts of funding from FAPESP and BBSRC. The agencies expect that the cost to each one in each proposal will reflect an approximately equal distribution of research effort to be undertaken by each nation.

Interested parties in the State of São Paulo, Brazil are encouraged to consult with FAPESP before starting to work on a joint proposal to understand the requirements for proposal qualification practiced by FAPESP in the program you are applying for.

4.3 Exclusions

This call is designed to fund experimental research projects or projects that combine both theoretical and experimental based approaches. Requests to fund theoretical projects that are not coupled to experimental work or projects based on networking and knowledge transfer only will not be supported.

This call will not support research projects that:

• Exploit thermochemical and / or other non-biological routes to produce biofuels.
• Utilise biofuel technologies using the whole crops or grains that could otherwise be used for human or animal feed (e.g. wheat, maize, oil crops) as the feedstock.

The funders reserve the right to withdraw applications that do not fit the scientific scope.

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