Transnational Cooperation

ERA-Net in Industrial Biotechnology

FCT is a member of an ERA-Net project in Industrial Biotechnology - ERA-IB, involving 16 funding agencies and 12 countries, seeking to identify best cooperation practices as the basis for the implementation of the European Research Area (ERA). This project is dedicated to promote the transnational cooperation between funding agencies with research programmes in Industrial Biotechnology (IB).

Calls for transnational research projects are one of the main goals of the ERA-NETs, as a mechanism for validating the cooperative effort between the various funding agencies.

Transnational Calls

ERA-IB launched two transnational calls for research projects in 2007 and 2009, under the topic: Industrial Biotechnology for Europe - an Integrated Approach.

2^nd Call (2009)

ERA-IB partners coordinated efforts to organize and fund a 2^nd call in 2009 for transnational research projects in IB.

The participating countries were: Germany, Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Finland, France, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Romania.

The panel of independent experts recommended for funding 10 transnational proposals, 2 of which with Portuguese participation, from a total of 45 submitted proposals. The total budget for the 2^nd call was over 12 M €, and FCT financed approximately 300.000 €.

PROJECTS RECOMMENDED FOR FUNDING WITH PORTUGUESE PARTICIPATION

Success rate for portuguese participation = 25%

Robust fermentation production of tacrolimus and related immunosuppressors: Molecular genetics and metabolic engineering to construct a by-product free superproducer – IMMUNOTEC, project led in Portugal by Marta Vaz Mendes (IBMC), with a total budget of 165.100€ for the 3 year duration of the project;
Integral Engineering of Acetic Acid Tolerance in Yeast – INTACT , project led in Portugal by Isabel Sá-Correia (IBB/IST), with a total budget of 128.800€ for the 3 year duration of the project.

1^st Call (2007)

The participating countries were: Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Netherlands, Poland and Portugal.

The 1^st ERA-IB call allowed the academic and industrial researchers to establish cross-border partnerships in research in Industrial Biotechnology. From 32 submitted proposals, 8 research projects were selected for funding (success rate of 25%). The total budget for the 1^st call was approximately 9.7 M €, and FCT financed 345.000 €. In total, 51 research teams were funded through this call, with an increase of 7 teams who participated with their own funding.

FUNDED PROJECTS WITH PORTUGUESE PARTICIPATION

Success rate for portuguese participation = 18%

ERA-NOEL - Novel Enzyme Tools For Production of Functional Oleochemicals from Unsaturated Lipids, led in Portugal by Armando Silvestre (U. Aveiro), with a total budget of 145.000 €, for the 3 year duration of the project.
BioProChemBB - Bio-based production of Chemical building blocks: Corynebacterium glutamicum as a platform for new and efficient bioprocesses, led in Portugal by Helena Santos (ITQB), with a total budget of 200.000 € for the 3 year duration of the project.