Awards – Cesam

Awards for projects funded by Portugal 2020 or 2030

Inês Correia Rosa — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 11:20:02 +0000

Deadline: 28 February 2025

This competition aims to promote projects funded by the European Union, through Portugal 2020 or 2030. It aims to demonstrate the impact of projects supported by European funds on social, economic and environmental development in the territories where they are implemented, highlighting the importance of European support.

Additional information can be obtained here (only available in Portuguese).

CESAM integrated members that are interested in obtaining more information about this opportunity may access it through here.

Biopharma Innovation Cup to turn ideas into impact

Tânia Sofia Queirós Barros — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 09:10:56 +0000

Deadline: 31 January 2025

The Biopharma Innovation Cup is a dynamic and inspiring event that brings together postgraduate students from various disciplines, including life sciences, computer science, and business, to transform innovative ideas into concrete solutions for the pharmaceutical industry. By participating in this event, you will have the opportunity to interact with top students from around the world, collaborate in teams to develop innovative ideas, and create a business plan with support from experienced professionals. The programme offers shared monetary prizes, with €20,000 for the winning team, €5,000 for the second-place team, and €3,000 for the third-place team. Participants who stand out may receive offers for permanent employment at the company. Additionally, options to implement the most promising business plans will be considered, thus providing the possibility to transform ideas into real impact in the pharmaceutical sector.

How does it work

As part of the Innovation Cup, selected applicants join a week-long summer camp (19-25 July, 2025, near Frankfurt, Germany) to work together in a highly stimulating environment. After being selected you will work as part of a team to generate new ideas in the fields of Oncology, Neuroscience & Immunology, Drug Discovery, Green Chemistry, Digital Health, Smart Manufacturing, and Neuroinspired AI inference acceleration.

A jury consisting of Biopharma senior researchers and managers as well as external experts will pick the winning business plans for first and second place. Following the Innovation Cup, options to implement the best business plans are evaluated.

Travel, accommodation and food expenses are offered.

Eligibility

Applications are from postgraduate students in the life sciences working towards a PhD in biology, medicine, biotech, bioinformatics, computer science, data science, biochemistry, chemistry, pharmacy, engineering or related fields. Postdoctoral students are also welcome to apply.

Additional information can be found here.

L’Oréal Portugal Honor Medals for Women in Science 2024

Tânia Sofia Queirós Barros — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 13:34:05 +0000

Deadline: 6 December 2024

Applications are now open for the L’Oréal Portugal Honor Medals for Women in Science. The laureates will carry out advanced studies of scientific research, at the post-doctoral level, within an institution in the national science and technology system, in the fields of Science, Engineering, and Technologies for Health or the Environment. This award is promoted by FCT, the L’Oréal Portugal and the National Commission of UNESCO. Each Medal of Honor is € 15000.

Additional information can be obtained here.

CESAM members that are interested in obtaining more information about this opportunity may access it through here.

Prize for innovative projects in the seafood sector

Tânia Sofia Queirós Barros — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 10:42:32 +0000

Deadline: 15 November 2024

The Expo Fish Portugal Innovation Award, promoted by Docapesca, funds new ideas and projects for new seafood products, solutions for more sustainable fishing and aquaculture, new equipment and production methods, innovative digital solutions and services, and contributions to biodegradable fishing gear. There will be prize money for the three best projects (€ 5000 for 1st place, € 4000 for 2nd place, and €3000 for 3rd place).

Objectives

a) To identify and support projects/companies characterising the strengthening of innovation in the area of seafood;

b) To identify and support projects/companies characterised by process change and knowledge transfer in the area of sustainable fishing;

c) Identify and support projects/companies characterised by the creation of innovative processes and new equipment linked to activities in the seafood sector;

d) Identify and support projects/companies characterised by the creation of digital processes and solutions.

Categories

The competition’s theme is ‘Innovation and research linked to the seafood sector’. Proposals that fall into the following categories will be accepted:

a) New seafood products;

b) More sustainable fishing and aquaculture;

c) New equipment and production methods;

d) Digital solutions and services;

e) Biodegradable fishing gear.

Eligibility

All individual persons, namely higher education students attending a bachelor’s, postgraduate, master’s or doctoral degree course at a higher education establishment in Portugal, professors or companies, start-ups and research centres, can apply for the award.

Applications

Applications must be submitted here.

Projects must be submitted in the form of a written report in non-editable PDF format. As a guideline, it is suggested that work carried out in text format (MS Word) not exceed 8 pages and that work carried out in presentation format (MS PowerPoint) not exceed 16 pages, in both cases excluding any annexes. Projects submitted in text format must be in Arial Narrow font, size 12, paragraph 1.15. It is suggested that the proposal is written in Portuguese, but other documents in English may be attached if necessary.

Evaluation

The Jury will have the following main assessment criteria:

1) Definition of the problem / objectives of the project;

2) Ability to achieve the proposed objectives;

3) Innovation;

4) Existence of a market and potential for growth;

5) Technical and economic feasibility.

Supporting information

If you want to compete, you should consult the Rules of Participation (only available in Portuguese). You can also see the finalist and prize-winning projects from last year’s edition here.

R&D Award in the area of accidental marine pollution from ships

Tânia Sofia Queirós Barros — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 09:35:24 +0000

Deadline: 30 November 2024

The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited (ITOPF) launches the ITOF R&D Award to fund projects which have the potential to lead to improvements in the knowledge and understanding of issues related to accidental marine pollution from ships (e.g., spill preparedness and response, techniques for monitoring, clean-up, resource protection and restoration). Short-term projects (up to £ 60K) and PhD research projects (up to £ 40K plus a student stipend and university fees) can be funded.

CESAM members that are interested in obtaining more information about this opportunity may access it through here.

Award for contributions to sustainable use and protection of water resources

Tânia Sofia Queirós Barros — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 11:45:22 +0000

The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) administers the annual Stockholm Water Prize (SWP), which honours outstanding contributions to the sustainable use and protection of the world’s water resources. The aim is to provide its winners with global acknowledgement and visibility. Laureates can win more than 85 K€.
Deadline: 30 September 2024

The main achievements of the candidate, who must be nominated for the prize, should be within one or both of the following categories:
• Policy and practices;
• Research.

Eligible nominees are individuals or organisations from any country who have:
• Attained outstanding achievements of lasting significance for sustainable use and protection of the world’s water resources.
• Achieved results with proven impact or great potential that provide stimulation for further important contributions to the conservation and protection of water resources and improved health and well-being of the planet’s inhabitants and ecosystems.
Laureates receive a prize of SEK 1 million (ca. 85 287 €) and a specially designed sculpture.

Additional information here.

INOVA+ prize for projects in emerging areas

Tânia Sofia Queirós Barros — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 09:13:53 +0000

The 2nd edition of the INOVA+ Prize will honour innovative projects in scientific, business and public contexts. The INOVA+ Prize is aimed at differentiating products, services, solutions and/or technologies in emerging areas, capable of responding to the main European priorities.

Deadline: 15 July 2024

CESAM members can apply for the Scientific Innovation category, which is looking for projects (ideas, solutions) in emerging technological areas, with application and impact on industry and/or society (TRL 1 to 5), capable of responding to the main European priorities: sustainability and digital transformation, and associated subtopics.

In this category, the winner will receive a cash prize of € 5 000 and the runners-up will receive consultancy services worth € 2 500.

Applications must be written in Portuguese.

The regulations and submissions are available here (only in Portuguese).

Competition for young researchers (aged 21-35)

Tânia Sofia Queirós Barros — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 09:20:24 +0000

A call is opened to young researchers (aged 21-35) in all disciplines to participate in the EU Talent Katowice European Union Contest. Initiated, funded and co-created by the European Commission, EU TalentOn is one of the biggest brainstorming events happening in the European City of Science Katowice 2024.

Deadline: 7 July 2024

The idea of EU TalentOn is to challenge young bright minds to shape the future, by giving them a chance to participate in an open competition for creative scientific solutions to major global challenges.

In this competition, they are invited to come up with solutions to major challenges in the world of today and tomorrow.
The participants take on challenges linked to the 5 EU Missions of Horizon Europe – 5 Mission Arenas of EU TalentON :

Adaptation to Climate Change
Cancer Prevention and Care
Restore our Ocean and Water
100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030
A Soil Deal for Europe

To be selected as a participant of the contest, applicants need to answer four questions until the 7th of July:

What is your motivation to participate in EU TalentOn?
What is your perspective on the most important open issues related to the Mission Arena that you have selected?
Please describe how you deal with teamwork and working under time pressure?
Explain how your scientific background makes you a perfect person to participate in EU TalentON within the Mission Arena that you have selected?

125 participants will be selected and invited to form a team of 3-5 participants and 1 buddy. Participants will be teamed, based on the result of an online meeting, organized shortly after the participants are selected. During the meeting, the participants will have the chance to introduce themselves to other people in their own Mission Arenas and provide the organizers with an (unpublished) list of preferred team members.

The EU TalentOn Finale will be an event held in Katowice on 9 to 14 September 2024 at SpinPLACE Centre for Creativity and Coworking (Bankowa 5, Katowice, Poland).

The organizer will fund travel and accommodation and provide catering service during the competition.

If your team is one of the awarded teams you may be awarded with these prizes:

Main prize (EU TalentOn Winner): 12 000 EUR;
First prize per each Mission Arena: 7 500 EUR;
Second prize per each Mission Arena: 4 500 EUR;
Special prize – EU TalentOn Community Award: 3 000 EUR.

Additional information and applications h e re.

Awards for projects in blue biotechnology

Tânia Sofia Queirós Barros — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 09:24:27 +0000

The Blue Bio Value Ideation initiative aims to support teams in developing business strategies and accelerating their market entry in the field of blue biotechnology. The winning team(s) will have access to personalised support for the development of the project and the possibility of a prize of up to €10,000.

Deadline: 14 July 2024

This program targets teams of R&D that are involved in the development and plan of a project focused in one of the following challenges:

Feading a growing population & ensuring sustainable food systems
Improving health & well-being
Mitigation and adaptation to climate change
Addressing resource scarcity & preserving natural ecosystems and biodiversity
Empowering a circular bioeconomy growth model
Reducing plastic production & pollution

The winning teams will have access to a programme, run remotely over six weeks and including two face-to-face sessions. They will also have access to online workshops and group discussions with experts from different areas, including CEOs, entrepreneurs, investors, among others, mentoring to present pitches, as well as networking opportunities. They will also be eligible for a prize of €10,000 to be used on the Blue Demo Network.

The Blue Bio Value Ideation is an initiative of Fundação Oceano Azul and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian and has as partners the Maze and the Blue Bio Alliance that has CESAM as a member. The CESAM researcher Sónia Cruz makes part of the team of the Blue Bio Value.

Registration and additional information can be read here.

Fellowship for early-stage researchers to develop their work in the Antarctic

Luís Carlos de Oliveira Carvalheiro — Fri, 14 Jun 2024 14:15:05 +0000

The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) has launched its 2024 Antarctic-related Fellowships for early-career researchers (PhD students or those within five years of completing a PhD). It will award 4-5 projects with up to $15,000 (each).

The SCAR Fellowship programme is for PhD students, or those within five years after completing the PhD (on the day of the application deadline). Fellows undertake research at an institute in one of the 46 SCAR Member countries different from that of the applicant’s origin and current residence. The submitted projects should contribute to the objectives of one or more of SCAR’s science groups, including the Humanities and Social Sciences group, and/or the Scientific Research Programmes.

Additional information can be found here.