4th Short Term Scientific Missions (STSM)
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
- Call for applications for the 4th Short Term Scientific Missions (STMS) in the framework of the COST Action CA21146 (PURPLEGAIN).
- Deadline for applications: 30th April 2024
- STSMs must be completed by 30th September 2024.
COST Action
COST Action CA21146
COST Action CA21146 is a four-year networking action that aims at creating a European network to share information, facilitating technology and knowledge transfer between the academic and industrial sectors, related to Purple Photosynthetic Bacteria (PPB) applications for resource recovery from organic waste sources. Resource recovery includes wastewater or organic waste, open or closed environments, in single or chain processes.
The network associates fundamental-focused and applied research groups, improving lab-scale technology optimization through mechanistic modeling. It benefits the technology transfer from applied-research groups to industry, considerably improving process design. PURPLEGAIN also aims to create a database for techno-economic, social and environmental impacts studies, which facilitates the marketability of both the PPB-based technologies and the products to extract. Some focused products are polyhydroxyalkanoates, single-cell proteins, biomass for energy, biomass as fertilizer, biohydrogen, carotenoids, terpenoids, organic acids, coenzyme Q10, and 5-aminolevulinic acid.
COST
COST is an intergovernmental framework for European Cooperation in Science and Technology established to initiate networking and coordination of nationally funded research activities on a European level. It facilitates bringing good scientists together under light strategic guidance based on networks, called COST Actions, centred around research projects in fields that are of interest to COST countries and cooperating countries.
Applicants
Applicants
STSM applicants shall be engaged in an official research programme as a PhD Student or postdoctoral fellow or can be employed by, or affiliated to, an institution, organisation or legal entity which has within its remit a clear association with performing research.
The institutions/organisation or legal entities where applicants pursue their main strand of research are considered Home Institutions.
The Host Institution is the institution / organisation that will host the successful applicant.
In this call, the minimum duration for the Short-Term Scientific Mission (STSM) is established at one month, equivalent to 30 days.
More information
The following table shows the scenarios available to eligible STSM applicants:
The full list of Near Neighbour Countries (NNC) is as follows: Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Jordan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Russia, Syria, Tunisia, and Ukraine.
Note that both countries, home and host, must have joined the COST Action PURPLEGAIN.
Participating COST country should have accepted the memorandum of understanding of this Action (see here) and that the home institution and the host institution must be located in two different countries. The nationality of the applicant is not a bar to eligibility.
Financial Support
Financial Support
An STSM Grant is a fixed financial contribution which takes into consideration the budget request of the applicant and the outcome of the evaluation of the STSM application. STSM Grants do not necessarily cover all expenses related to undertaking a given mission. A STSM Grant is a contribution to the overall travel, accommodation and meal expenses of the Grantee.
More information
The calculation of the financial contribution for each STSM shall respect the following criteria:
- Up to a maximum of EUR 3 500 in total can be afforded to each successful applicant.
- Up to a maximum of EUR 160 per day can be afforded for accommodation and meal expenses.
The Action Chair and the STSM Coordinator can approve differentiated country rates to cover accommodation and meal expenses based on the perceived cost of living in the host country.
Specific provisions have been introduced to enable researchers from ITC participating in the COST Action to request a pre-payment of 50% of their STSM Grant when they complete the first day of their STSM. In such case, the representative of the Host Institution shall confirm by e-mail to the Grant Holder that the STSM applicant has officially started the mission on day 1. Only then the Grant Holder can arrange the payment of 50% of the STSM grant. The remaining 50% of the Grant is payable once the administrative requirements have been satisfied after the STSM.
The COST Association and the Grant Holder of the Action cannot be considered as being an STSM grantee’s employer (unless it is in alignment with the Action deliverables in the latter case). STSM grantees shall make their own arrangements for all provisions related to personal security, health, taxation, social security and pension matters.
Application procedure
Application procedure
To submit an application, follow the steps below:
- Find your potential host institutions and the research topics in this list.
- Check that the STSM relates to PurpleGain’s objectives.
- Get the host scientist’s written agreement before applying.
- Log into e-COST and click on the Grant Applications tab, and encodes a new application, clicking on ‘Apply for a grant’.
- Add the supporting document(s), and submit the grant application.
More information
- It is essential that the STSM relates to PurpleGain’s objectives. The initiative for an STSM can come from either the host or the visiting scientist. A list of potential host institutions and research topics can be found in the following link:
- The applicant must obtain the written agreement of the host scientist before submitting the application. It is important that the host and the applicant mutually agree on the content of the planned STSM.
- The applicant encodes a grant application by logging into e-COST and clicking on the Grant Applications tab. Any already existing applications are available for consultation in the Grant Applications Monitoring. To encode a new application, the applicant clicks on ‘Apply for grant’. The application page contains:
- Applicant details
- STSM details (work plan)
- Bank details (indicate if you are applying for a pre-payment of 50% of the Grant – only for applicants from Inclusiveness Target Countries)
- Host details (must be located in a different country than the country of the applicant)
- Financial support
- Supporting documents: i) STSM grant Application (based on e-COST template: https://www.cost.eu/STSM_GrantApplication), ii) Confirmation of the host on the agreement from the host institution in receiving the applicant, iii) Other documents required by the Action:
- Full work plan (two pages maximum).
1_Lastname_Firstname_workplan.pdf
- A letter of motivation by the applicant with a detailed explanation about how the STSM will contribute to the Action’s aims and the Grantee’s carreer (1 page maximum). Also indicate the working group of the COST Action to which this STSM belongs.
2_Lastname_Firstname_Letter_of_motivation.pdf
- Requested budget and its justification on half a page (total expected cost for travel, accommodation and daily allowance, additional financial support). Also indicate: Should the grant be transferred to the applicant or the home institution?
3_Lastname_Firstname_Budget.pdf
- Short Bio of the applicant (1 page maximum).
4_Lastname_Firstname_CV applicant.pdf
- Short Bio of the host group (1 page maximum)
5_Lastname_Firstname_CV host group.pdf
After adding the supporting document(s), the applicant can submit the grant application. The application status will change from draft to submitted. Prior to approval of the application, if need be, the applicant will be able to revise the application.
Short Term Mission List of Institutions
Host Institution Contact person e-mail contact Expertise (research topics proposed for the short term mission) Key Infrastructure Institute of Sustainable Processes-University of Valladolid Raúl Muñoz mutora@iq.uva.es PPB-Wastewater Treatment, Biogas production from PPB, Biogas upgrading to Biomethane using PPBs, Genome Scale Metabolic Modelling, Biomass fractionation, PPB biomass pretreament Two 180 L ponds, one 120 L tubular photobioreactor, Biogas upgrading reactors, Analytical and Instrumental Equipment for monitoring wastewater treatment, Steam explosion, Ozonizer (https://envtech.uva.es/analyses.html) Group of Chemical and Environmental Engineering. University Rey Juan Carlos. Spain Daniel Puyol daniel.puyol@urjc.es PPB wastewater treatment, production of bioplastics with PPB, PPB microbial protein production and characterization, photo-bioelectrochemical systems for carbon capture and utilization, analysis of photo-biorefineries, thermal and thermo-chemical pre-treatments of PPB biomass, extraction and purification of products, biochemical modelling, proteomic and metabolomic analysis A fully automatized pilot plant composed by 2x500 L anaerobic ponds, settlers and scada system, 3x 2L lab scale MBRs, 1 7-L pilot photo-bioelectrochemical unit, several 500 mL-H-cells equipped with potentiostats, several 2-L CSTR photobioreactors, Western blot equipment, microbiology lab, downstream pilot plant including thermal hydrolysis-steam explosion unit, microwave volumetric heating unit, biomass tray drier & decanter Department of Molecular Evolution. Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA). Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid Cristina Cid cidsc@inta.es PPB wastewater treatment, PPB microbial protein production and characterization, biochemical modelling, genomic, proteomic and metabolomic analysis, metabolic modelling inferred from genomics and proteomics. Microbiology laboratory, western blot equipment, 2D electroforesis equipment, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer, ICP-MS quadrupole spectrometer, laser scanning confocal microscope, electron microscope. Laboratory of Energy Alternative Sources, Scientific and Production Center "Armbiotechnology" NAS RA, Yerevan, Armenia Vigen Goginyan goginyan@gmail.com Culture collection of PPB, effective microbial consortia creation; new strains isolation, identification; morphology, physiology, cultural properties, metabolic features; genetic manipulations; growth condition optimization, obtaining efficient biomass, wastes treatment; physicochemical analysis of metabolites․ Microbiological laboratory, photobopreactors, analytical equipment (HPLC, LC/MS, CG, Infrared spectrometer, amino acid analyzer, ICP-OES), Genetics equipment. GIS Center for research, map making and data processing for river and air pollution, University of Sarajevo Rahman Nurkovic rahmannurkovic58@gmail.com Coal mines and thermal power plants, energy production, problems of landfills and sewage for the population and other plant and animal species. Today, they are the biggest cause of carcinogenic diseases in the population, animals and agricultural crops for human consumption. Photographs from the field give results through digital processing in space. Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), University of Florencce, Italy Alessandra Adessi alessandra.adessi@unifi.it PNSB strain cultivation and phenotypic characterization. Genomics and metabolic modelling. Use of selected strains for hydrogen production and PHB accumulation from agroindustrial wastes or residues. Integrated processes with dark fermentation steps. Microbiological laboratory, bench photobioreactors, analytical equipment (HPLC, GC, UV-VIS spectrofotometer, ICP-OES). Molecular biology laboratory, Phenomics laboratory (PhenotypeMicroarray technology). School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia Adrian Oehmen a.oehmen@uq.edu.au Metabolic modelling of PPB, PHA production, integration with dark fermentation, microbial analysis, metabolomics Modelling software, bioreactors, analysis of chemical and microbiological properties. ESNL: Energy-sustainabilty nexus labarotaory , University of Stavanger, Norway Gopalakrishnan KUMAR gopalakrishnan.kumar@uis.no PPB wastewater treatment, production of bioplastics with PPB, BioH2 production via dark fermentation Microbiological laboratory, batch bioreactos for H2 production, PHB analysis, and general analytical equipment (HPLC, LC/MS, CG,), Anaerobic chmaber, AMPTS Laboratory of Optical Spectroscopy, Insitute of Physics, University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic Valentyna Kuznetsova tinakouznets@gmail.com Ultrafast spectroscopic studies of photosynthetic pigments and pigment-protein complexes (carotenoids and pigment-protein complexes). Expertise in understanding of light-harvesting and photoprotection processes in photosynthetic organisms. Ultrafast laser spectroscopy studies. We are able to apply a number of experimental arrangements to study light-driven processes (pump-probe, multipulse, two-photon). Faculty of Technology Novi Sad, University of Novi Sad, Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Serbia Senka Vidovic senka.vidovic@uns.ac.rs Extraction of bioactive compounds from different biomass using: high pressure extractions (sub- and supercritical carbon dioxide, subcritical water, pressurized ethanol), ultrasound assisted extraction, integration of different extarction processess. Spray drying, freeze drying and encapsulation of various active ingredients. Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems, National Research Council, Florence, Italy Eleftherios Touloupakis eleftherios.touloupakis@cnr.it Growth of purple non sulphur bacteria in different types of photobioreactors for hydrogen and/or polyhydroxyalkanoate production. PNSB immobilisation for hydrogen production in photobioreactors. Laboratory photobioreactors (various sizes), outdoor tubular photobioreactor (70L); HPLC for PHB analysis; GC for H2 analysis; UV-VIS spectrophotometer Faculty of Natural Resource Sciences. University of Akureyri. Akureyri, Iceland Oddur Vilhelmsson, Auður Sigurbjörnsdóttir oddurv@unak.is, mas@unak.is 16S rDNA-based community analysis/metabarcoding of bacteria in environmental samples, including PPBs. Genomics and metagenomics. Ecological roles of PPBs in various natural environments. Selective isolation of psychrotrophic PPBs from sub-Arctic environments, identification, phylogenetics and characterization of isolates. Department of Biotechnology, Dr B R Ambedkar NIT Jalandhar, Ministry of Education, Govt. of India, India Nitai Basak basakn@nitj.ac.in Metabolic Analysis of products formed after fermentation of cheese whey waste water by purple non sulfur bacteria in different bioreactor, computational fluid dynamic simulation of heat and light transfer through fermentation broth during biohydrogen Production in different photobioreactors, production and characterization of bio plastics by purple non sulfur bacteria Bioreactor, HPLC, GC, Freedge dryer, refrigerated centrifuge, UV Visible double beam spectrophotometer, refrigerated water bath, SEM, EDX Analyser, Politecnico di Milano - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Andrea Turolla andrea.turolla@polimi.it (i) Agri-food wastewater treatment via multi-stage process (acidogenic fermentation + PPB) aimed at resource recovery (PHA, protein and biostimulants), (ii) detailed multi-physical process modelling (radiation transfer, fluid dynamics, biochemical reactions) via advanced modelling techniques (CFD) aimed at (i) the optimization of design and operation of photobioreactors, and (ii) process monitoring and control Lab-scale and small pilot-scale experimental batch and continuous photobioreactors (artificial and natural irradiation), modelling tools, analytical equipment for chemical and physical properties (e.g, LC-MS, GC-MS, ICP-MS, UV-vis spectrophotometer, spectrofluorimeter) Faculty of Chemistry, Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic Stanislav Obruča obruca@fch.vut.cz Complex characterization of bacterial cells by various spectroscopical (FTIR, Raman, UV-VIS etc.), thermal (DSC, TGA) and other biophysical techniques, analysis of bacterial cultures by spectral flow cytometry, determination of stress robustness of the bacterial cultures, cultivation of extremophiles, material characterization of PHA by various techniques Flow Cytometry (Cytek Aurora system), FTIR spectrometers (Thermo Nicolet is5, is10 and iS50) with wide range of accessories and various UV-VIS spectrometers with accessories (fiber-optic probes, sphere for turbid samples), Scanning electron microscopes (Jeol JSM-7600F, Zeiss EVO LS10) with ESEM mode, fluorescence correlative spectroscopy system MicroTime 200 (PicoQuant GmbH). Thermal analysis: TGA Q5000 and Q50, DSC Q2000, modular isothermal microcalorimeter TAMIII; TA Instruments; microcalorimeters PEAQ-ITC and MicroCal PEAQ-DSC; Malvern. Polymer characterization methods: SEC-MALLS with RI, UV, and viscometric detectors (Wyatt) Laboratory of Proteomic and Microbiology, Research institute of Bioscences, University of Mons, Belgium Baptiste Leroy baptiste.leroy@umons.ac.be Analysis of carbon and redox metabolism in PPB; Analysis of electron sinking mechanism during photoheterotrophic growth on reduced carbon sources; Proteomic and metabolomic analysis using LC-MS; Functional genomic analysis using transposon mutant library (available for Rh. rubrum, coming soon for Rb. capsulatus and Rb sphaeroides). GC-MS; LC-MS, Small scale photobioreactors (0,1 - 2 -10L); Large scale photobioreactors (> 100L; to be implented soon) Lab of Anoxygenic Phototrophs, Institute of Microbiology, Trebon, Czech Rep. Michal Koblizek koblizek@alga.cz Infra-red epifluorescence microscopy of bacteriochlorophyll-containing cells, HPLC of bacterial pigments, infra-red variable fluorescence measurements, isolation and cultivation of anoxygenic phototrophs, genome sequencing and annotation, amplicon sequencing and analysis of 16S and pufM genes, purification and analysis of photosynthetic complexes, flow cytometry and cell sorting epifluorescence microscope Zeiss with IR sensitive EM-CCD camera, HPLC Shimadzu Nexera, Spectrophotometer Shimadzu with an integrating sphere, Flow cytometer and sorter BD Influx, infra-red kinetic fluorometer FL3000 from Photon Systems Instruments, IR imaging screening system Department of Bioscience Engineering. University of Antwerp. Belgium Luis Diaz Allegue Luis.DiazAllegue@uantwerpen.be 1. Metabolic, biochemical, and biophysical mechanisms of PPB and mathematical models. 2. Resource recovery from waste and wastewater and downstream procedures for PPB biomass. 3. Building the PPB value chain Cultivation of pure and mixed cultures for protein and nutraceutical products. Lab-scale and small pilot-scale photobioreactors for photo - autotrophic and -heterotrophic growth. All necessary microbiological laboratory and analytical equipment. Hacettepe University, Environmental Engineering Department, Ankara, Turkey Kenan Dalkilic kenan.dalkilic@gmail.com PPB-Wastewater Treatment, Biogas production from animal manure using PPB, Biogas upgrading to Biomethane. Effect of power supply on PPB in a combined MEC-photobioreactor. Lab-scale bioreactors, combined microbial electrolysis cell and anaerobic reactor, UV/VIS spectrophotometer, multimeters, furnace, autoclave, atomic absorption spectrophotometer, GC-MS Aqualia Innovation and Technology Department Patricia Zamora patricia.zamora@fcc.es PPB- wastewater treatment, biogas production from PPB biomass, industrial wastewater treatment by PPB Pre-pilot plant composed of two 0.5 m3-PPB photobioreactors and 200L-static decanters, feed, recirculation and harvest pumps, control cabinet and pH, ORP and O2 probes. Fully automated pilot plant composed of two 32.3 m3-PPB photobioreactors, two 2-m3 static decanters and anaerobic digestion skid, feed, recirculation and harvesting pumps, pH, ORP and O2 probes, electric cabinet and SCADA. Fully automated demo plant composed of two 139.5 m3-PPB photobioreactorS, two 80-m3 decanters, feed, harvesting and recirculation pumps, electric cabinet and SCADA. These are the biggest PPB photobioreactors ever built. Institute of Food Technology, University of Novi Sad, Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Serbia Alena Stupar alena.tomsik@fins.uns.ac.rs Extraction of bioactive compounds from different biomass using: natural deep eutectic solvents, NADES, high pressure extractions (sub- and supercritical carbon dioxide, subcritical water, pressurized ethanol), ultrasound assisted extraction (US bath and probe), integration of different extarction processess. Determination of bioactive compounds by HPLC an GC "For extracting bioactive compounds: chemicals for NADES preparation, accelerated solvent extractor, equipment for microwave, ultrasonic extractor, and conventional extraction techniques. Laboratory for instrumental analysis is available for analyses of prepared extract as development of functional food products. Laboratory is equipped with, liquid and chromatographs with various detectors, protein bioanalyzer on chip, ELISA analyzer, atomic absorption spectrophotometer, DSC, TGA, lyophilizator, texture analyser, and additional laboratory equipment necessary for the performance of the planned activities (evaporators, centrifuges, distillers, mixers, UV-Vis spectrophotometer, Minolta chroma meter, equipment for encapsulation with nano-spray dryer for spray drying of aqueous and organic solvent samples.
Acriditated microbiological laboratory and sensory laboratory are also on disposal." CRETUS - Universidade de Santiago de Compostela Marta Carballa; Anuska Mosquera; Alba Pedrouso marta.carballa@usc.es; anuska.mosquera@usc.es; alba.pedrouso@usc.es Target VFA production from organic wastes as suitable feedstock for PPB; metabolic and kinetic modelling of VFA production; PPB- wastewater treatment; Development/application of activity tests (maximum activity, inhibition,...); PHA production Lab-scale bioreactors for waste and wastewater treatment; waste and wastewater characterization; conventional analytics (spectrometry, HPLC, FPLC, Gas chomatography...); molecular biology lab; bioinformatics; USC general services (TEM, SEM, LC-MS/MS, etc.) Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, UKIM, Skopje Dr. Jana Klopchevska jana@tmf.ukim.edu.mk Extraction of bioactive compounds using, ultrasound assisted extraction, Clevendger extration, freon extraxtion, integration of different extarction processess. HPLC, centrifuge, spectrophotometer, water bath, texture analyser, colorimeter, Clevenger, humidity analyser, vaccum drier, Microbiology laboratory. University Ca' Foscari of Venice- Italy Cristina Cavinato cavinato@unive.it Coupling Acidogenic fermentation of organic waste (agricultural and OFMSW) with PNSBs for hydrogen production, focus on volatile fatty acid production batch and semi-continuous equipment for biogas and biohydrogen production, analitycal equipment for waste and wastewater characterization, collaboration with industrial partner for prototype development Brunel University London, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Water and Systems Engineering group Vasileia Vasilaki vasileia.vasilaki@brunel.ac.uk 1. Life-cycle assessment (LCA), Life cycle costing (LCC), Social LCA (sLCA), Technoeconomic analysis, Circularity assessment, Eco-efficiency analysis, 2. Post-processing and treatment of materials derived from wastewater treatment plants (e.g. sludge, bioplastics etc.) 3. Conversion of recycled/recovered materials from WWTPs into value-added products , 4) Data acquisition, data analytics, sensor networks, IoT, supervisory control, Image processing, AI and machine learning, process control and optimisation, and knowledge-based decision support systems. Sustainability assessment tools (SimaPro, Umberto, Brightway2); Lab-scale compounder and extruder, compression moulding, 3D-printers, homogeniser, eletrospinning, rheometer, gas pycnometer, instron, nanoindenter, ATR-FTIR, XRD, DMA, TGA-DSC, SEM, EDX, XRF, TEM, AFM; programmable logic controllers (PLC), National Instrument Suite, sensor & actuation networks, high-resolution cameras, flexible I/O configurations, hardware-in-the-loop (HiL), software-in-the-loop (SiL), robotics, 3D Scanner and Printers, high-performance computing facilities platform and the latest Pascal GPU architecture, Edge computing, Cloud computingprocessing, NVIDIA SoC and embedded systems, Human-Computer Interface (HCI) and User-friendly interfaces, and in general dedicated Web/Mobile application and computing platforms Department of Chemical Engineering, Materials and Environment, Sapienza University of Rome (Italy) Antonio Zuorro antonio.zuorro@uniroma1.it "Extraction of bioactive compounds from agroindustrial wastes or other biomass residues using
cell-wall degrading enzymes as pretreatment agents and/or green solvent
mixtures. Characterization of bioactive extracts and solid residues. Microencapsulation
or freeze drying of bioactive compounds." "Lab-scale thermostated and mechanically stirred extractor; Naviglio extractor; UV-Vis spectrophotometer;
Buchi Rotavapor; Anton Paar monomodal microwave reactor; Bench freeze dryer, Buchi
Encapsulator " Institute for Applied Biotechnology, Biberach University of Applied Science (Germany) Hartmut Grammel grammel@hochschule-bc.de Bioprocess development, microaerobic cultivation, dark fermentation, High Cell Density cultivation, Metabolomics, metabolic pathways, metabolic modelling, exploitation of industrial and agricultural waste streams, biohydrogen, carotenoids, PHA, Bioreactor facility with currently 25 CSTR Bioreactors from 0.2 L up to 30 L working volume and 4 Photobioreactors, Department of Physics, University of Cyprus, Nicosia Cyprus Spiros S. Skourtis skourtis@ucy.ac.cy Theory of charge and energy transport processes in biological (bioenergetic) and molecular/biomolecular systems (cellular, solution, molecular junction, single-molecule environments). Modelling and computation of molecular/biomolecular charge and energy transfer rates and currents. Electron and exciton transfer pathway analysis. Structure-function analysis methods for biomolecules involved in transport. Multidisciplinary background in molecular/chemical physics and biophysics. The Computational Biophysics and Molecular Physics Group at UCY has a computational cluster of 50 nodes with x86_64 architecture running Scientific Linux (5 TFLOPS, and 22.5TB storage capacity). The group uses the computational chemistry packages Orca, Q-Chem, NWChem, NAMD, ADF, and parallel MATLAB and Mathematica. In addition, the group owns 2 computational workstations (24 CPU cores (2.20 GHz) and 28 CPU cores (2.20 GHz), respectively, each with 96 GB RAM and 4 TB storage capacity.) These contain GPUs and are devoted entirely to charge and energy transport simulations. The group also has unlimited access to the University central HPC cluster. Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, Department of Biology, Osmaniye, Turkey Emrah Sağır emrahsagir@osmaniye.edu.tr Biological hydrogen production, Photofermentation, Immobilization of Purple Non-Sulfur Bacteria, Metabolism of PNSB, Valorization of the wastes for value-added products. Basic microbiology laboratory instruments and equipments GreenSapiens group (bit.ly/GreenSapiens) Department of Chemical Engineering Materials & Environment at Sapienza - University of Rome (Italy) Antonio Zuorro antonio.zuorro@uniroma1.it Extraction of bioactive compounds from different biomass using: microwaves, natural deep eutectic solvents, NaDES, high pressure extractions (sub- and supercritical carbon dioxide, subcritical water), ultrasound assisted extraction (US bath and probe), integration of different extarction processess. Specifi expertize on ENZYME-ASSISTED extraction by using commercial enzymes preparations. Remediation of wastewater through adsorption, organic waste/wastewater valorization through fermentation and single-cell protein, microbial analysis. Extraction of bioactive compounds from different biomass using: microwaves, natural deep eutectic solvents, NaDES, high pressure extractions (sub- and supercritical carbon dioxide, subcritical water), ultrasound assisted extraction (US bath and probe), integration of different extarction processess. Specifi expertize on ENZYME-ASSISTED extraction by using commercial enzymes preparations. Remediation of wastewater through adsorption, organic waste/wastewater valorization through fermentation and single-cell protein, microbial analysis. Bose Lab Group (https://sites.google.com/site/arpitaboselab/home) Department of Biology, Washington Unviersity in St. Louis Arpita Bose abose@wustl.edu Our lab studies microbial metabolisms and their influence on biogeochemical cycling using an interdisciplinary approach. We apply the knowledge we gain to generate new ways of addressing issues such as the energy crisis, climate change, pollution, human health, sustainability and the circular economy. All microbiology, molecular biology, electrochemistry School of energy and environmental engineering Xiaoyang Liu 2020076@hebut.edu.cn Bacterial metabolism monitoring by vibrational spectroscopy and the microbial products isolation and identification Basic microbiology laboratory instruments and equipments, Freedge dryer, HPLC, GC, FTIR, Raman, etc. University of Antwerp Research group of Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology Siegfried Vlaeminck Abbas Alloul Siegfried.vlaeminck@uantwerpen.be We are experts in purple bacteria biotechnology, covering several research fields on a fundamental and applied level. Research topics, for example, include wastewater treatment, micorbial protein production, microbial community dynamics, mechanistic modelling, photohydrogenotrophy, probiotics, peptidomics, proteomics,... Full automated photobioreactors, molecular techniques, analytics such as GC-TCD, GC-FID, Ion chromatography. Middle East Technical University, Hydrogen Research Laboratory, Ankara (Turkey) Harun Koku, Tuba Hande Erguder-Bayramoglu harunk@metu.edu.tr, etubahan@metu.edu.tr Research on multiple species of PNS (purple non-sulfur) bacteria, Hydrogen and PHB production from defined and complex media, waste valorization, analysis of hydrogen and PHB production, growth patterns and metabolism, photobioreactor design, operation and scaleup. Laboratory scale reactors: (50-350 mL), Pilot scale photobioreactors (9-20 L) and greenhouse for outdoor operation, gas and liquid chromatography systems for biogas and liquid media analyses, spectrophotometer, incubators, ovens, freezers and autoclaves for bacterial growth and storage Laboratory of Biophysics, Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Estonia Arvi Freiberg, Kristjan Leiger arvi.freiberg@ut.ee, kleiger@ut.ee Various spectroscopic measurements in UV-Vis-NIR range: absorption, fluorescence emission, excitation spectroscopy, circular dichroism, time-resolved spectroscopy in picosecond range. High pressure (up to ~5 GPa) and low temperature (down to 1.8 K) measurements. Cary 60 UV-Vis spectrophotometer, circular dichroism spectrometer Chirascan Plus, selective spectroscopy setup, picosecond fluorescence spectrochronograph, microspectroscopy setup, diamond anvil cells for high pressure measurements. Liquid N and He cryostats. More info: http://utbiophys.eu/?q=node/28
Evaluation process and result announcement
Evaluation process
When the Grant application is submitted, the Grant Awarding Coordinator is notified. The applicant, Action Chair and Vice Chair also receive a copy of the notification. The Grant Awarding Coordinator will be able to review and approve/reject the Grant application on behalf of the Management Committee (MC)
More information
The STSM coordinator will then propose a ranked list of applications to the management committee: chair and vice-chair, WG leaders, Grant Awarding coordinator, Science Communication Coordinator, Training Schools Coordinator, and Stakeholder Coordinator. In case of rejection, a justification needs to be encoded. The justification will be included in the e-notification to the applicant.
Evaluation will be based on the complementarity of the applicant and host group, the quality and scientific excellence of the research proposal, the relevance of the work plan for the achievement of PURPLEGAIN objectives, the impact on the career of the grantee, the potential to support new collaborations. There should be special considerations with respect to supporting COST policies on promoting gender balance, enabling Early Career Investigators (ECI) and applicants from ITC countries (Inclusiveness-Target-Countries), while broadening geographical inclusiveness.
The selection committee, composed of the Action Chair, the Grant Awarding coordinator and a representative of each WG, will evaluate the STSMs proposals within a month after the STSMs call deadline and will inform the grant holder of the successful evaluated proposals. The successful applicants will then receive an e-mail from the grant holder (Grant Letter Notification), stating the official approval of the STSM application, the granted budget and a payment request form which has to be completed after the completion of the STSM for the grant to be transferred. The Grant Letter outlines the rights and duties of the grantee and of the Grant Holder.
If the amount of funding by all applications within a call does not exceed the available budget, the applications are handled by the Grant Awarding coordinator only. The Grant Awarding coordinator then presents the list to the selection committee which must accept the funding of every application.
If there are more applications than funding is available, the following procedure takes place.
- A list of all applications (containing an informative summary as well as the names of the home and host institutions) is distributed to all members of the selection committee in form of a table in which every evaluator can mark which applications he or she can evaluate according to their field of expertise.
- To guarantee a fair and objective evaluation, an evaluator should have no affiliation with neither the home nor the host institution of the STSM proposal in question.
- All applications are evaluated by two members of the selection committee. The Grant Awarding coordinator distributes the proposals to the individual evaluators.
- The criteria given in the table below shall be applied for evaluation. The first criterion (a) is assessed by the Grant Awarding coordinator prior to the evaluation process.
Criterion | max. points |
a) Before any further criteria are considered |
|
Application is complete and fulfils all formal requirements | pass/no pass |
The application will be ranked last if the applicant was granted in previous STSM call | pass/no pass |
b) Evaluation of the proposal |
|
Applicant or host group from ITC country | 0 or 10 |
Applicant is ECI | 0 or 10 |
Impact on the career of the application | 15 |
Complementary between the applicant and the host group | 10 |
Multidisciplinarity or interdisciplinarity of the proposal | 10 |
CV of the applicant | 10 |
CV of the host group, aligned with the objectives of PurpleGain action | 10 |
Scientific Quality and Relevance to the objectives of PurpleGain Action | 20 |
Creation of a new collaborations within PurpleGain partners* | 0 or 5 |
*-Scientific productivity, training capacity and available infrastructure referred to the last 5 years
**-The home and host institution have not collaborated previously
- The evaluators report their evaluations to the Grant Awarding coordinator.
- The Grant Awarding coordinator ranks all evaluations and then reports the final result to the selection committee to be discussed and accepted. The STSM coordinator will approve the applications selected in the e-cost platform.
- The applicants are informed about the decision reached.
After the STSM
1 day and 10 days after the end of the grant, the grantee receives a reminder to upload the report. The deadline to submit the report is 30 days from the end of the activity, within 15 days from the end date of the Grant Period or within a shorter timeframe as per Grant Holder/ Grant Awarding Coordinator’s request to meet reporting deadlines.
The grantee receives an e-notification to submit the report and other supporting documents on e-COST, the GH manager and the Grant Awarding Coordinator will be in copy of the notification. The grantee must complete the report template, upload, and submit it in e-COST along with a host approval letter of the report (free style). A scientific report template is available on-line here: https://www.cost.eu/STSM_Report
The Grant Awarding Coordinator is notified when the grantee submitted the report and must verify the validity and content of the report by clicking the link in the notification. After review of the report by the procedures agreed by the MC, the Grant Awarding Coordinator needs to encode its approval or rejection on behalf of the MC. Upon the recording of the payment, an e-notification is sent to the grantee, with a copy to the Grant Holder manager.
Acknowledgement of CA21146 in publications
If work resulting from an STSM visit is published in a journal, please add the following acknowledgement: Part of this work was supported by the COST Action Fundamentals and applications of purple bacteria biotechnology for resource recovery from waste (PURPLEGAIN)- CA21146
If the work is presented in a conference or event, the COST logo must be displayed and the Action CA21146 must be acknowledged.
More information
- Website COST Action
- Online application form
- COST Vademecum
- Short Term Scientific Mission (STSM) – User Guide
For further information you may contact the STSM coordinator Raúl Muñoz Torre (mutora@iq.uva.es).