Transnational cooperation

Plant Knowledge Based Bio-Economy (KBBE) Initiative

The French (ANR), German (BMBF) and Spanish (MINECO) cooperation in plant genomics, plant biotechnology and molecular breeding has successfully executed four consecutive calls for cooperative research projects - published under the titles:

Functional and comparative genomics approaches for the investigation and use of natural diversity in 2003;
Trilateral partnership and beyond: the future for European public/private partnerships in plant genomics in 2006;
Scientific and Technological Cooperation in Plant Genome Research as basis of the ‘Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy’ in 2008 and 2009.

In parallel to the call in 2009 the trilateral initiative was extended with a fourth national funding partner from Portugal, the “Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia” (FCT). As a result of all these consecutive activities, a total of 47 research proposals have been awarded so far, with grants corresponding a public budget of more than 58 Million €.

The aim of the Plant-KBBE partners is to foster more joint research and development activities in Europe and beyond, which are preferably industry-driven and clearly directed towards application-oriented objectives.

Open Call for Transnational Research Projects 2012

Plant-KBBE launched the 6^th transnational call for research projects under the topic: Food & Feed: crop yields and nutrition security in the contexto of climate change.

Submission deadline for proposals

By the 15^th of October 2012

Eligibility and National Regulation

Research themes, application and evaluation process will follow as described in the Plant-KBBE call announcement. The final decision of funding will be undertake by FCT’s Board of Directors and in case of a positive funding decision Portuguese applicants will be asked to submit a formal national application. National regulations will be applied for Portuguese participant institutions.

FCT encourages the participation of companies in proposals submission. Companies will be eligible for a maximum of 50% funding and should be integrated in consortia with R&D institutions.

Detailed information on this Call

www.ptj.de/plantkbbe/en

5^th Call for Research Projects (2010)

A fifth joint call for research projects was launched in 2010 within the new framework of the transnational cooperation initiative between France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and – for the first time – Canada, who is represented by the funding partner “Genome Prairie” (GP).

The 5^th call focuses on the Scientific and Technological Cooperation in Plant Genome Research as basis of the KBBE. Special interest will be devoted to topics related to the following general fields:

Bioenergy
Biomaterials and bio-based products (plant cell factory)
Sustainable production of healthier and safer food and feed

This call for proposals intends to attract integrative projects that (i) share resources and technologies, (ii) rule out redundancies but provide synergies, (iii) represent as many links as possible of the respective value-added chain, as well as (iv) provide significant contributions to the solution of complex questions of common interest to the five countries. Such projects are expected to strengthen industry's innovative capacity and facilitate its access to future markets. As a basic prerequisite for ensuring the success of this funding strategy, cooperation between industry and science is highly encouraged with the aim to accelerate the application of new findings and to translate research results more quickly into products, services and processes.

The call is now closed (deadline 20 May 2010), and evaluation is on-going. Positively evaluated projects are expected to start in the 2^nd trimester of 2011.

4^th Call for Research Projects (2009)

FCT participation in the 4^th transnational call was vital for the funding of 2 research projects with Portuguese participation:

Genomic tools in maritime PINE for enhanced biomass production and SUSTAINable forest management, led in Portugal by Célia Miguel (IBET), with a total budget of 200.000 €, for the 3 years duration of the project.
Engineer SUberin biopolyester production in potato to Improve stress Tolerance, led in Portugal by José Graça (UTL), with a total budget of 200.000 €, for the 3 years duration of the project.

Eligibility and other National Regulations

Research themes, application and evaluation of research proposals will follow the procedure as defined in the PLANT-KBBE call text. However, the FCT Board of Directors will make the final approving of funding. In the case of a positive funding decision all Portuguese applicants will be asked to submit a formal national application.

For Portuguese institutions affiliated participants the national regulations will apply. FCT encourages the participation of companies in the projects. These companies, under FCT regulations, will be eligible for a maximum of 50% funding if integrated in consortia with R&D institutions.

For additional information, please contact the FCT responsible person for this initiative or browse the network official site.