GFI Research Grants 2024 seeking innovative projects
GFI – Good Food Institute have announced their 2024 Research Grants programme. The Institute is seeking to fund innovative projects that will advance the science and technology of the plant-based, fermentation-derived, and cultivated meat industries. “Meat” includes seafood such as fish and shellfish. Since launching the Research grants in 2018, GFI has awarded 21 million USD to 118 research projects across 21 countries in five continents.
The Request for Proposals (RFP) is soliciting research proposals aimed at tackling urgent scientific and technological challenges within the alternative protein industry. GFI supports early to mid-stage research proposals, corresponding to a technology readiness level (TRL) of 1-6.
InnovationHongKong® attended an information webinar last month which went into detail about what requirements are, specifics required with proposal submissions etc and that is available to view via the link provided at the end of this article.
There are also collaborative virtual mixer events and one in coming up on May 1 where one can find partners to join their research projects requiring these potential grants – a great initiative from GFI.
Proposals are being sought from three specific areas:
1.Upcycled plant proteins
Improve the functionality of known food industry sidestreams using emerging processing methods/technology with a calculated sidestream volume, limited economic assessment, and end-product demonstration.
Production platform: Plant-based
Technology sector: Ingredient optimization
By utilizing sidestreams from existing processes to produce higher-value ingredients, overall financial and environmental costs can be reduced by generating more revenue than in animal feed or as a waste product.
Resources traditionally treated as waste products can instead be reclaimed, converted, and valorized into new materials. The processing and food application of most sidestream materials can be optimized.
2.Next-gen fermentation downstream processing
Sustainable and low-cost approaches for downstream food protein isolation from precision fermentation biomanufacturing.
Production platform: Fermentation
Technology sector: Manufacturing
There is an industry-wide need for downstream bioprocessing ( DSP) equipment to meet food-grade, purity, and formulation requirements for a variety of PF-derived proteins that offer substantial savings in electrical and water consumption over the current technologies.
A proposed solution to reduce the cost and increase the sustainability of precision fermentation-derived DSP would be to develop novel approaches for protein isolation and drying that improve the unit economics.
3.Hydrolysates for cultivated meat*
Optimize raw material processing and characterization to enable lower-cost and higher-performing hydrolysate ingredients for cultivated meat media.
*meat not only covers traditional livestock products but also seafood such as fish and shellfish.
Production platform: Cultivated meat
Technology sector: Cell culture media
Amino acids used in cell culture media currently come primarily from individual fermentation processes, only some of which are produced at a sufficient scale to service a future cultivated meat industry producing millions of metric tons.
For cultivated meat, it has been hypothesized that the primary source (i.e., at least 50%) of amino acids should come from hydrolysates, with certain individual amino acids consumed in high quantities being supplemented.
Several advances must be made before hydrolysates can easily slot into the variety of cell culture media used to cultivate meat and become the primary supply of amino acids. Proposed advances and areas of focus may fall along various processing stages, such as raw material selection and preparation, hydrolysis, heat application, filtration, purification, and end-product characterisation.
Funding amount per project
Up to 3.4M USD is allocated for Field Catalyst awards across the three priority areas. Field Catalyst Grants offer targeted funding for high-priority scientific and technological topics, typically spanning no more than 24 months and $250,000. 50,000 USD additional funding for projects partnering with researchers and/or industry stakeholders not previously engaged in alternative protein research is also being offered.
Submission deadline: May 23rd, 2024 at 4pm ET (1pm PT)
Submissions are open to applicants from all sectors worldwide, encompassing academia, government, industry, and nonprofits. For further information please click here: gfi.org/researchgrants