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Three people wearing white lab coats stand smiling in front of industrial laboratory equipment.
The Talent4BBI project: BIONET lab-pilot team in Murcia, Spain (left to right): Ana Del Hierro (MSCA ESR fellow), Juan Moreno-Cid (Supervisor, Years 1–3), and Fuensanta Verdú (Supervisor, Year 4) © Ana Del Hierro Calvachi, 2024

ProjectTalent4BBI

Training the future leaders of Europe's bioeconomy

Developing Talent for Bio-Based Industries of Europe (Talent4BBI)

"As part of the Talent4BBI project, I design and evaluate continuous bioprocesses that convert waste into high-value industrial products, ensuring through techno-economic modelling that they are scalable and viable for the bioeconomy." - Ana Del Hierro Calvachi

Project impact

Europe’s bio-based industries are addressing the key challenge of sustainability with researchers coming up with ways to turn agricultural and food waste into everything from energy to plastics and cosmetics. As a result, Europe needs to prepare its researchers to take leading roles in this emerging sector, which is where the Talent4BBI project comes in. It is helping early-stage researchers to work with industry and universities to get the skills and experience they need to become the continent’s future bioeconomy leaders. The project enabled 10 researchers to develop skills and experience in fields such as biotechnology and green chemistry to make bio-based products. For example, researcher Ana Del Hierro Calvachi used bioreactor technology to design continuous fermentation processes. By working with yeast, she could convert carbon sources derived from local food waste into high-value chemicals for industrial use. Ana and the Bionet team (industry partner) are able to support local industries in the Spanish region of Murcia and demonstrate how the process can be scaled up from the laboratory to pilot scale, contributing to Europe’s transition to a more circular biobased economy.

  • Coordinator

    Ireland

    University College Dublin, National University of Ireland

  • Participating and partners countries

    • Austria
      • Sappi
    • Ireland
      • Alltech
      • Carbery
      • Glanbia Ingredients
    • Italy
      • Consorzio Italbiotec
    • Netherlands
      • Corbion
      • Fresenius Kabi I&D Center EnzyPep BV
    • Spain
      • Bionet
    • Switzerland
      • Bloom Biorenewables

    • Belgium
      • Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
      • Bio-Based Industries Consortium
    • Germany
      • Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen
    • Italy
      • Novamont SpA
    • Netherlands
      • Wageningen University and Research
      • Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
    • Spain
      • ADM Biopolis
    • Sweden
      • Chalmers Tekniska Högskola
    • Switzerland
      • École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne