Science Foundation Ireland in partnership with the Marine Institute will be cooperating on a new joint pan-European co-fund scheme spanning 16 countries that will target the EU Blue Bioeconomy. The Blue Bioeconomy ERA-Net programme, which is anticipated to launch this December, has an estimated total fund of €30 million.

Irelands has the EU’s largest sea territory, thus a large potential for sustainable exploitation of marine bioresource. Marine bioresource is currently recognised as a largely under-valued and under-explored source of sustainable biomass, which has the potential to supply raw materials for high value products in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and bioenergy sectors, amongst others. The Blue Bioeconomy ERA-NET call will focus on developing value chains in order to achieve a sustainable and competitive blue bioeconomy in Europe. Participation in this initiative will allow Ireland to showcase its world-class research in marine biotechnology and aqua-food research base on a European scale.

This cross-agency national approach to co-funding, will result in a combined investment from Ireland of €1.5 million. Science Foundation Ireland is delighted to be engaging with the Marine Institute to give researchers the opportunity to forge new collaborations across Europe. For further information on the scheme please contact maria.nash@sfi.ie.