Deadline: 06-Oct-21
The European Commission (EC) is offering grants programme to Environmental services: improved bioremediation and revitalization strategies for soil, sediments and water.
The topic aims at improving bioremediation and revitalization strategies for soils, sediments, surface water and groundwater while respecting the EU legislation and regulations applicable in this area, including the use of naturally occurring and optimised organisms.
Proposals should:
- Identify and analyse optimised proteins, microorganisms, microbiomes, plants, and animals (specifically fish and molluscs/bivalves including mussels) for sediment, watershed and wastewater remediation and revitalization (e.g. novel enzymes to degrade xenobiotic small molecules such as toxins, antibiotics and microplastics, selective uptake of non-degradable metal toxins, bioadsortion);
- Identify and characterise plant platforms, microorganisms and microbiomes that can be optimised for efficient remediation of a range of contaminated environments (e.g. enzymes optimised for efficient bioconversion and/or biosequestration of environmental contaminants, biological tools/systems for land-based bioremediation, phytoremediation for contaminated industrial sites);
- Identify and characterise plants transformed with pathways and metabolisms that enable the uptake of targeted contaminants and that have clearly visible ‘markers’ for public surveillance (for example, colours that clearly mark the plant as being genetically modified, so as to prevent people from eating these plants);
- Develop strategies for efficient metabolic pathways of naturally-occurring species to be re-introduced into the environment;
- Develop sustainable and cost-effective technologies for bioremediation of water resources used for water production and effective in situations with mixed waste (e.g. nature-based solutions); and/or develop sustainable and cost-effective technologies for bioremediation of soil resources, including those effective in situations with mixed waste;
- Enable new microbial approaches, such as combinations of synthetic auxotrophies, that increase the safety and reduce the risk of deploying optimised microbes in the field;
- Develop and analyse the ability of defined consortia of bacteria, fungi algae and/or other organisms to most productively revitalise soil, sediment and water sources (for example, by researching functioning of ecosystems in the hyporheic zone, which plays a crucial role in the purification of bank filtered water and thus in ensuring a safe supply of drinking water in several countries);
- Identify and assess (with quantification) the key environmental, economic, social and safety benefits of bioremediation and revitalization strategies for soils, sediments, surface water and groundwater compared to standard physicochemical remediation approaches;
- Where relevant, proposals should seek synergies and capitalise on the results of past and ongoing research projects.
Funding Information
The check will normally be done for the coordinator if the requested grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000, except for:
- public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
- cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (lowvalue grant).
Expected Outcomes
Project results should contribute to all of the following outcomes:
- Improved bioremediation and revitalization strategies for contaminated environments, including soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater using recent advances in biotechnology;
- New approaches for efficient bioremediation and resource recycling;
- Provide science-based evidence and bio-based solutions enabling a better assessment of pollution threats from pollutants’ remobilisation to soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater;
- Reduce the main negative impacts of pollution in terms of loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services;
- Validated newly developed and effective bioremediation methods in different environmental conditions, also based on microbiome exploitation potential;
- Improved overall environmental performance (soil and sediment health, water quality, reduction of emissions, etc.);
- Improved environmental footprint and lower toxicity of processes, products and services by means of biotechnologies;
- Advanced assessment of effective methods of bioremediation with improved environmental, economic and social sustainability.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States;
- eligible non-EU countries:
- countries associated to Horizon Europe;
- low- and middle-income countries.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2V08tJE
