Global Centers Competition Invests in Bioeconomy Research

The U.S. National Science Foundation and partner agencies in the U.S., Canada, Finland, Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and the United Kingdom announced funding awards totaling nearly $82 million in their Global Centers competition. The 2024 Global Centers awards focus on advancing bioeconomy research to solve global challenges, whether by increasing crop resilience, converting plant matter or other biomass into fuel, or paving the way for biofoundries to scale up applications of biotechnology for societal benefit. The six awards support projects based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of California-Berkeley, Michigan State University, the University of Tennessee Knoxville, and the J. Craig Venter Institute. Project topics include waste management, microalgae, bioplastics, and biofoundries.