Project description
Harnessing microbes to clean up pollution
Hazardous compounds, including persistent organic pollutants, increasingly endanger ecosystems and human health. While natural recovery processes do exist, leveraging biological agents such as plants and microorganisms could provide cost-effective and sustainable clean-up solutions. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the BIOREM project will close critical knowledge gaps about microbial species and the biochemical pathways they use to detoxify specific pollutants under various conditions. BIOREM brings together experts in microbial biology, AI and environmental science to advance microbial-assisted bioremediation. By combining bioaugmentation, biostimulation and phytoremediation, the project aims to link pollutant removal with the responsible microbial pathways. Using high-performance computing and AI, BIOREM will develop predictive models to customise efficient bioremediation strategies for polluted sites.
Objective
The growing presence of hazardous compounds in the environment such as persistent organic pollutants compromises the health of
ecosystems and humans worldwide. The spontaneous ecological recovery of contaminated sites is possible due to the action of
biological agents, including plants and microorganisms. The exploitation of the capability of the latter to transform toxic
contaminants into harmless end-products can lead to cheap and sustainable bioremediation alternatives. However, the significant
knowledge gap on the molecular mechanisms and microbial species responsible for an efficient detoxification of specific pollutants in
determined environmental conditions is a burden slowing down the development of efficient microbial assisted bioremediation
technologies. BIOREM is an integrated action conformed by experts in microbial systems biology, artificial intelligence tools and
environmental sciences that will work together to gain knowledge in the identification of responsible microbial metabolic routes
within natural and synthetic consortia for the degradation of target contaminants. The project through inter-sectorial and
multidisciplinary training and collaboration will investigate the synergetic effect of different and combined bioremediation strategies,
such as bioaugmentation, bioestimulation and microbial-assisted phytoremediation, stablishing links between effective pollutants
removal and the responsible microbial pathways. Predictive models for TPHs and PAH remediation will be developed using High-Perfomance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence to enhance the efficiency of bioremediation strategies by enabling the
analysis of vast amounts of environmental data. The integration of the project information (key microbial players and environmental
conditions) into mathematical models will allow the establishment of tailored and efficient removal strategies based on the chemical
composition and natural microbiome presence in polluted sites.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental biotechnology bioremediation
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-SE - HORIZON TMA MSCA Staff Exchanges
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-SE-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
09001 Burgos
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.