International Funding Opportunities /

The 12th call for proposals of “Bioeconomy International”: Germany-Thailand Bioeconomy Call Announcement 2025

The bioeconomy, according to the FAO, is the sustainable use of biological resources for economic growth. It provides solutions to global challenges like food security, climate change, and resource protection by replacing fossil resources with renewable ones. To accelerate this transformation, research, technology development, and international cooperation are crucial. Germany and Thailand are working together to enhance their bioeconomy competitiveness and address global challenges.

Deadline:

25 November 2024, 18:00 (BKK time)

Fund:

  • Support from PMU-B: The total budget for a Thai researcher’s project can be up 5,000,000 Thai Baht over three years.

Note: Support from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), for German researcher’s project, please refer to the Announcement “Bioeconomy International 2025” (Eng ver).

Duration:

Up to 36 months

Piority Topics:

  • Synthetic biology for the design and construction of new biological parts, devices, and systems, or re-design of existing, natural biological systems for useful purposes (e.g., orthogonal bio-systems, regulatory circuits, minimal genome approaches, and protocells).
  • Systems biology to expand the knowledge of biological processes and regulatory mechanisms in intra- and intercellular processes. This includes the use of bioinformatics tools (e.g., data standardization, modeling, open repositories) and the development of new computational methods.
  • Metabolic engineering for targeted optimization of microbial production strains and biological processes, including the optimization of metabolic pathways and their regulation.
  • Development or advancement of technologies for production of value-added products from sustainably sourced biomass.
  • Biotechnological approaches (possibly in combination with chemical ones) to transform bio-based building blocks into high-value products in a sustainable way.
  • Innovations to support sustainable and resilient food systems focused on reducing or reusing wastes, enhancing efficiency, and improving circularity.
  • Use of bioinformatics tools (e.g., data standardization, modeling, open repositories) for the identification and utilization of metabolic pathways, such as those useful for bio-production and strain/variety improvement.

Eligibility for Thailand-Side:

  • Proposals must fulfil the following criteria to be eligible for funding under this Programme:
  • The proposal must have the researchers from Thailand at least 2 institutes/universities to cooperate with.
  • Lead Applicants in Thailand must be;
  • Researchers and/or university professors/instructors who work in public/non-profit organization research institute or university in Thailand and are competent in conducting research with international partners.
  • The project leader must hold a doctoral degree or equivalent, possess a record of high-quality research, and be employed at a higher education institution or government agency in Thailand. Additionally, neither the project leader nor any of the research team members may have been involved in any violation of research ethics.A project leader is an individual with expertise who is affiliated with a government research unit or a higher education institution nationwide and has a research track record that demonstrates their practical knowledge and abilities.The project leader should have publications in international academic journals as a Corresponding or First Author, with at least 5 publications in the past 5 years or as specified by PMU-B.
  • If the project leader is a researcher in science and technology, their publications must be in journals indexed in Scopus or ISI and have an Impact Factor.
  • The proposal topic must directly address the topic outlined in the call for proposals (PMU-B).
  • The budget must stay within the specified constraints.

For the eligibility information for the German side, please refer to the official website: https://www.bioeconomy-international.de/bi2025 or the Announcement “Bioeconomy International 2025” (Eng ver.)

How to Apply?

For Germany Submission:

  1. The German project coordinators must register first to the submission tool and invite their (international and German) partner(s) of the consortium in the “PARTNERS” section for registration.
  2. Please register on this website
  3. After activation of the partner’s account by the coordinator, the partners need to fill-in the required basic information.
  4. Upon registration, the coordinator is enabled to navigate through the sections of the submission tool and provide all required information in the respective sections. This includes basic information (e.g. name, institute, email address, record of selected publications), CV details as well as project-specific information (e.g. project title, acronym, keywords, project summary, work plan etc). The main part of the proposal (the “project description”) shall be uploaded as pdf file. A template with the required structure and limitations of characters of each section is provided in the “Call Document” section. For the template: please download
  5. After completion, the entered information can be validated by pressing the “VALIDATION” button. Missing information will be highlighted. Furthermore, there is the possibility to generate a “FACTSHEET” of the proposal that can be opened and saved as a PDF file.
  6. The submission can be finalized by pressing the “SUBMISSION” button.
  7. The submission can be done several times until the submission deadline for necessary updates of the proposal content. Only the most recent version will be saved.
  8. The submission tool will automatically cause a logout after an inactive session of 24 minutes.

For Thailand Submission:

  1. Thai project leader must also submit the full proposal to PMU-B through NRIIS: https://nriis.go.th For instructions on managing your budget, please refer to the PMU-B financial guideline; https://pmu-hr.or.th/proposal-submit-guide/  or download.
  2. Thai project leader must fill in the proposal details in the NRIIS system.
    • For the budget section, please fill in the budget details that the Thai applicant will be requesting from PMU-B.
    • Thai project leader must attach documents;
      • Full proposal
      • Letter of Support (LOS) : Researchers from each participating institution in Thailand must have a letter of support from their home institution, signed by an authorized representative of the institution/organization (P.S. The format and content of LOS forms can vary from one institution to another. Please contact your institution for guidance on completing their LOS form)
      • Supporting Documents e.g. The CV from Thailand Project Leader and co-researchers.
      • Any additional documents (if any)
    • Thai project leader (and co-researchers) must submit their proposal in the NRIIS system by November 25, 2024 (6:00 PM Bangkok time).
  3. The Thai project leader’s institute must endorse the submission in the NRIIS system by November 25, 2024 (6:00 PM Bangkok time).

For more information:

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