Perennial Ryegrass to Microbial Proteins: A Pilot-Scale Biorefining Workshop for Early Career Researchers

The biomass conversion and biorefining group propose to host eight external Early Career Researchers (ECRs) from universities partnered with the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein (BCSP) and the UKRI Engineering Biology Microbial Foods Hub (MFH). A key impact delivery capability at Aberystwyth is the IBERS BEACON Pilot-Scale Biorefining Centre housed at AberInnovation. This is one of a handful of UK assets, it uniquely integrates decades of crop breeding and biomass feedstock expertise with pretreatment, fermentation, fractionation, and downsteam processing technologies, supporting the food, feed, and biobased chemicals sectors of the UK bioeconomy. We aim to harness this unique capability to deliver a hands-on workshop that empowers early-career researchers at partner institutes with direct access to industrial-scale bioprocessing equipment. By bridging the gap between lab-scale research and real-world application, the workshop will accelerate skill development, foster cross-institutional collaboration, and spark innovation in sustainable bioprocesses. It will also create valuable networking opportunities and strengthen the impact of BCSP and MFH in shaping the future of microbial foods. Aberystwyth University will contribute £3000 to the workshop through the AberCollab funding scheme and AberInnovation will contribute £3270 in kind through facility use and technician fees.