A4F joins international consortium SeaWheat
Source: COST Action
CA 20106 - Tomorrow's “Wheat of the Sea”: Ulva, a Model for an Innovative Mariculture
A4F - Algae for Future is committed, together with a group of experts (105 specialists from 28 countries), in the development of the project: Tomorrow's “Wheat of the Sea”: Ulva, a Model for an Innovative Mariculture. The project started in October 2021 and has a duration of 4 years.
The SeaWheat project proposes an innovative conceptual pathway to significantly improve knowledge in the biology of Ulva, capitalising on their economic potential, and exploring commercial applications in the human food, animal feed, pharmaceutical industries and ecosystem service.
Rui Pereira, Head of the Seaweed Division at A4F and Leader of the SeaWheat COST Action Working Group 2, explains the importance of this project: "This project brings together experts from all over the world, from different research and industry sectors, committed to collaborating to develop an aquaculture of a single genus of algae - the Ulva genus. Ulva is known as ‘sea lettuce’ and, despite being one of the most studied algae, there are still constraints that prevent its large-scale production. This COST Action aims to transform Ulva into the equivalent of a “sea cereal”, thus the ‘Sea Wheat’”.
In the scope of this project, explains Rui Pereira, “A4F will be responsible for engineering and design concepts for cost-effective, large-scale biomass, land-based cultivation for high value products”.
COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a funding organisation for research and innovation networks. The Actions help connect research initiatives across Europe and beyond and enable researchers and innovators to grow their ideas in any science and technology field by sharing them with their peers. COST Actions are bottom-up networks with a duration of four years that boost research, innovation and careers.
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