The Centre for International Cooperation is pleased to announce another success of Maria Curie-Skłodowska University staff: prof. Jaco Vangronsveld and dr hab. Małgorzata Wójcik.
They obtained funding within the Horizon 2020 programme for the project enitled: "Bridging the gap between phytoremediation solutions on growing energy crops on contaminated lands and clean biofuel production". The achievement is all the more gratifying as it is the result of the work of one of the professors employed at our university within the 'Research in Lublin' programme, Prof. Vangronsveld.
The project on the part of UMCS will be implemented at the Institute of Biological Sciences under the direction of Professor Jaco Vangronsveld (employed at our university as part of the 'Research in Lublin' programme) and Dr. Małgorzata Wójcik, Professor of the university.
With the funds obtained from the project it will be possible to produce pure biofuel from selected species of plants with high biomass production and rich in lignocellulose (so-called energy crops), grown on polluted land, which in the long term will contribute to reducing the level of pollution and restoring agricultural production in these areas.
The first stage of the project, which involves a team of scientists from UMCS, will develop the most optimal way to grow energy crops (e.g. miscanthus, switchgrass, industrial hemp) on contaminated land, in order to obtain the greatest possible biomass and to reduce the level of pollution in the soil. Optimisation of cultivation will include i.a. the selection of appropriate agrotechnical techniques, the use of microorganisms and other biostimulants stimulating plant growth and increasing their tolerance to pollution. These treatments will also result in increased plant uptake of inorganic pollutants (e.g. heavy metals) and degradation of organic pollutants (e.g. oil derivatives). The process of cleaning the environment using plants is called phytoremediation. In the next stage, the technology of obtaining clean, contamination-free biofuel from the obtained plant biomass will be developed. The final result of the project will be a model of effective phytoremediation combined with biofuel production - "bridging the gap" between these processes.
Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin is a partner in a project coordinated by CRES - Centre For Renewable Energy Sources and Saving Fondation from Greece.
The project will be implemented in a large consortium consisting of 20 entities from the following countries: Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, China, Italy, France, Portugal, United Kingdom, India and Canada. By participating in this initiative, our university will gain a unique opportunity to exchange research experience with top institutions from all over the world.
The project budget for UMCS amounts to 183 thousand euro (nearly 830 thousand PLN). The project will last 4 years, and the implementation of project activities is planned to start in spring/summer 2021.
We sincerely congratulate you on your success and wish you a successful realisation of the project activities!
Centre for International Cooperation
Rector's Office, room 1207
tel. 81 537 53-86, 54-98, 54-58
e-mail: cwm@umcs.pl
facebook: @cwmUMCS
www.projektybadawcze.umcs.pl/miedzynarodowe
