New Project Call: Schmidt Futures Bioreactor Innovation
Thanks to a partnership with Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative of Eric and Wendy Schmidt that brings talented people together in networks to prove out their ideas and solve hard problems in science and society, BioMADE is pleased to announce a special Project Call focused on advancing bioreactor design and development.
This Project Call focuses on innovation priority areas identified in the BioMADE Technical Roadmap with particular attention toward innovations to revolutionize bioreactor design and function. Technologies, including hardware development and engineering, that improve bioreactor design to be more efficient, flexible, and modular are critical for rapid expansion of the U.S. domestic bioindustrial manufacturing capability and capacity, and the focus of this specially funded competition. For example:
Could a more efficient, portable, flexible bioreactor be designed for use near feedstock production, and then be moved as feedstock crop seasons change?
Could better sensors, impellors, gas and nutrient input systems, be designed to work with closed-loop artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) systems to optimize fermentation batches in real-time to decrease losses and improve yields?
Could a bioreactor have lower CapEx cost, higher production, lower waste, and fewer inputs?
Could computational models predict and design more efficient systems?
In this Project Call, we request proposals that will tackle these and other pressing challenges to rapid expansion of U.S. domestic bioindustrial manufacturing capability and capacity that will result in a functional demonstration bioreactor operating beyond the benchtop scale.
White papers are due August 10. This funding opportunity is only open to BioMADE members; membership is required at the time of white paper submission for all organizations. Click here for more information about becoming a BioMADE member.
Teaming Opportunities
BioMADE encourages teaming among organizations for this Project Call. If you're looking for a project team, sign up to present a teaming slide at the Proposer’s Day webinar on July 15 at 12:00 eastern / 9:00 pacific.
Melanie Tomczak, BioMADE Chief Technology Officer, and Penny Norquist, BioMADE Senior Technology Program Manager, will give a brief introduction to the Project Call. Andrea Hodgson, Program Scientist at Schmidt Futures, will speak briefly about the goals of this Project Call. The rest of the time will be dedicated to presentations from organizations interested in teaming for this Project Call. Organizations may have one slide and roughly 3 minutes to present. To sign up to present:
Download the appropriate slide template and fill it out with information about capabilities, equipment, and what gaps you are trying to fill with a partnership, or highlight your organization’s areas of interest.
Send the completed slide to hello@biomade.org with the subject line “Schmidt Futures Bioreactor Innovation Teaming” by end of day, Wednesday, July 13.
In addition to being presented live on July 15, this information will be disseminated via email to other BioMADE members. Please do not include any proprietary or confidential information in the teaming slides.
Note that you can still submit a slide even if you can’t join the webinar on July 15; it will be shared with BioMADE members after the webinar.
To initiate a partnership with another organization, we encourage you to reach out directly to the point of contact listed on the slide. Alternatively, you are free to reach out to your own networks to find potential partners. Please keep in mind that partners must become BioMADE members at the time of the white paper submission.
This webinar is open to BioMADE members and prospective members. BioMADE members will have the opportunity to present their teaming slide first, and will receive a copy of the slides later.
Submitting White Papers
This will be a two-step solicitation. All proposals require submission of a maximum four-page, single- spaced white paper prior to possible advancement to the full proposal stage. White papers will be reviewed by internal BioMADE technical staff and U.S. Government subject matter experts to determine their ability to address the Project Call requirements. Invitation for full proposal submission does not constitute an assurance of funding. Once a white paper proposal is internally reviewed, the submitting team will receive notice of status for the submission from a BioMADE Program Manager. For projects invited to the full proposal stage, submission instructions, timelines, and guidelines will be provided at that time of notification.
Key dates for proposal submission and decisions for this Special Project Call are as follows.
June 29, 2022: BioMADE Project Call: Schmidt Futures Bioreactor Innovation 2022 is released.
July 15, 2022: Virtual Proposer’s Day to articulate the program requirements, answer questions about the proposal submission process, and connect members interested in creating a proposal team. Members will have to option to briefly present a teaming slide highlighting their strengths and the types of projects that are of interest to them.
August 10, 2022: White papers are due by 8 pm ET.
BioMADE anticipates providing invitations to submit a full proposal to selected teams within 8 weeks of the white paper deadline. Furthermore, teams should plan to submit full proposals within a month of notice of selection.
Download the white paper template here.
Submit white papers electronically via this submission form. Proposers invited to submit a full proposal will receive additional information on required materials. White paper and proposal documents should be submitted as Microsoft Word documents, completed templates, and Excel files, when applicable. Project leads are expected to collect details on the budget and cost share for all sub-awardees. If you need any further instructions or clarification, please reach out the BioMADE team at proposals@biomade.org.
More Information and Questions
Find answers to frequently asked questions about project funding here. For questions about the submission process, reach out to proposals@biomade.org. For technical questions about the Project Call, reach out to Penny Norquist, Senior Technology Program Manager, at pennyn@biomade.org.