Pollutants resulting from human action are detrimental to ecosystems at different functional levels, representing an important economic load for society.
Specific Challenge
Environmental pollution is a major global issue affecting natural resources and the environment in generic terms and creating important concerns for human health in particular.
Scope
Proposals should cover the following activities:
- Research and innovation for efficient and low cost remediation strategies using microorganisms by means of emerging biotechnologies that require minimum or zero external energy or chemicals and that reduce the remediation time compared to physicochemical processes.
- Work to ensure remediation in soil, sediments, mines, surface water, groundwater or industrial water.
- Develop a system to remove different contaminants, including complex mixtures, covering hydrocarbons and their derivatives, recalcitrant compounds, metals, nanomaterials, paints and coatings, nutrients, pharmaceuticals or micropollutants and toxic contaminants.
- Include field trials to prove an acceptable performance for field applications will be a plus.
This topic is part of the EU-China flagship initiative on Biotechnology for Environment and Human Health, which will promote substantial coordinated and balanced research and innovation cooperation between the EU and China. China-based legal entities have to apply for funding under the Chinese co-funding mechanism with the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).
The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU between EUR 4 and 5 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.
Deadline
15 April 2020 at 17:00 Brussels time
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