Project description
Training Europe’s new bioeconomy leaders
The bioeconomy is a top priority for Europe to address key environmental challenges. It is meant to reduce their dependence on natural resources, transform manufacturing and promote the sustainable production of renewable resources from land, fisheries and aquaculture for conversion into food, feed, fibre, bio-based products and bio-energy, while growing new jobs and industries. The EU-funded AgRefine project will train PhD students to become bioeconomy leaders and position Europe as the global leader in an agri-bioeconomy industry based on advanced biorefinery technologies. The AgRefine integrated training programme will facilitate the amelioration of Europe’s agri-sector competitiveness and environmental sustainability challenges through new or optimised agri-resource and agri-waste valorisation pathways.
Objective
This AgRefine European Training Network (ETN) will provide Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) with the necessary skills and knowledge to position Europe as the global leader in developing an agri-bioeconomy industry based on advanced biorefinery technologies. AgRefine disrupts the mechanism by which biomass is currently being used by cooperatively integrating innovative stand-alone technologies so that the highest value, socio economically beneficial products per input substrates, can be achieved. An integrated training programme will facilitate the amelioration of Europe’s agri-sector competitiveness and environmental sustainability challenges by creating new and optimising current agri-resource and agri-waste valorisation pathways. The ETN will consist of 15 highly interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral PhD projects, each specialising in specific aspects of the bioeconomy, and provide training in a number of cross-cutting multi-disciplinary and highly interdisciplinary advanced technical subject areas including chemical and process engineering, biological science, life cycle assessment, and economics. The network will combine assessment of legislation and policy as it applies to the bioeconomy, with industry-led innovation of AgRefine technology, and market-led experience of sustainable value chain creation. The ESRs will receive training on adopted RRI principles, project management, communication, presentation and media skills. The network will provide ESRs with access to partners with key-expertise in the bioeconomy, gaining a range of relevant transferable skills and expertise in environmental, economic and social aspects of AgRefine. AgRefine will build on successful partnerships from the H2020 AgroCycle project and will leverage the capabilities of the AgroCycle team as well as bring new partnerships into this ETN to provide key researcher training opportunities that the bioeconomy needs in order to be a successful “Bio-green Revolution” for Europe.
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Coordinator
4 Dublin
Ireland