The hunt is on for potentially ground-breaking scientific research in food security and green chemistry. Entries and nominations are now open for the second global Olam Prize for Innovation in Food Security (Olam Prize) and the 2017 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards.
The Olam Prize recognizes an innovative scientific research project for its potential impact on the availability, affordability, accessibility and adequacy of food with US$50,000 of funding for the winner to support the solution’s further development. Laureates may also have the opportunity to work with Olam to develop the practical application of their solution, and benefit from the company’s expertise in agricultural supply chains across 47 products and 70 countries.
“Despite being a global agri-business, we do not have all the answers as to how we are going to feed more than 1 billion extra people by 2030. But there are research teams across the world who are uncovering new insights and techniques every day,” commented Sunny Verghese, co-founder and Group CEO at Olam. “Through this prize we hope to support and scale-up a breakthrough innovation that will ultimately prevent people going to bed hungry without depleting our natural resources.”
Research projects in nutrition science, plant science, soil science, agricultural sciences or other field of scientific research impacting food security are invited to apply. Applicants may be members of academic or research institutions, civil society organisations, or the private sector, and their research can be based anywhere in the world, focused on innovation for food security in developed and/or developing countries and any part of the agricultural supply chain. Further details on eligibility and how to apply can be found here. The deadline for applications submission is before midnight CET (France) on January 25, 2017.
The prestigious Presidential Green Chemistry Awards recognize chemical technologies that incorporate the principles of green chemistry into chemical design, manufacture, and use. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced its call for nominations for the 2017 challenge, seeking companies and institutions that have developed new processes or products that help protect public health and the environment.
“Green chemistry innovations couple scientific brilliance with the entrepreneurial spirit that are helping to solve environmental challenges,” said Jim Jones, the assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “This year, we look forward to receiving another round of outstanding nominations to continue the tradition of making manufacturing processes and every day products safer to use.”
Nominations for innovative technologies featuring greener chemicals and products, are due to the agency by December 31, 2016. In June 2017, the EPA expects to give five awards to outstanding technologies in the traditional categories – Greener Synthetic Pathways, Greener Reaction Conditions, the Design of Greener Chemicals, Small Business, and Academic – as well as a sixth award to a technology that addresses climate change.
Since its inception, the annual competition has received more than 1700 nominations and presented awards to developers of 109 technologies. According to the EPA, the recipients have collectively helped cut hazardous solvents and chemicals by more than 826 million pounds, saved 21 billion gallons of water, and eliminated 7.8 billion pounds of carbon dioxide releases to air.
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Published Oct 19, 2016 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST