Third transnational call for research projects to be expected in December

ERA-MBT partners are currently working on realizing the 3rd ERA-MBT call for proposals to be published mid December.

The tentative focus of this call is to target research towards marine microbial metagenomes, with a view to identifying new enzymes, metabolites, and metabolic pathways with biotechnological potential. The uniqueness of marine environments in which marine microbes live, offers researchers with opportunities to explore their habitat and exploit the genetic properties in a wide range of product and process applications. The complexity of marine environments is reflected in the genetic diversity of the microbes that inhabit these ecosystems. Studying this diverse microbial resource relies heavily on multi- and inter-disciplinary research teams and access to a range of tools and methodologies that are generally described as “-omics” technologies or “-omics” based approaches. ERA-MBT's mission is to help develop these tools further within projects willing to pursue both a scientific goal and an ambition to expand the toolbox making it possible to gain new knowledge with potential for new innovations.

Previous ERA-MBT calls for research proposals presented the research community with considerable scope for innovative research designed to extract value from marine bioresources firstly by the development of biorefinery processes and more recently promoting the need for discovery of bioactive materials from the marine environment.

The third ERA-MBT joint transnational call aims to coordinate European funding for marine biotechnology research, development and innovation, and stimulate joint European research and development activities in marine biotechnology. Transnational research consortia from academia, research institutes and industry will be invited to submit proposals in a one-step procedure. Projects will be expected to start by the end of 2017.

Tentative timeline: