MANGROVE MICROALGAE BIOREFINERY: An integrated pathway to value-added bioproducts

• Grant number: 23/10214-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: May 01, 2024
• End date: April 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Elen Aquino Perpetuo
• Grantee: Bruna Bacaro Borrego
• Supervisor: Nidia de Sa Caetano
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidade do Porto (UP), Portugal
• Associated to the scholarship: 21/04367-2 - Evaluation of photoautotrophic microorganism's potential as feedstock for ethanol production, BP.DR

Abstract

The present project consists of applying for a research-abroad internship grant as a step of the ongoing Ph.D. project (FAPESP No. 2021/04367-2). The project's main objective is to optimize the conditions for cultivation and hydrolysis of biomass from different microalgae to obtain third-generation bioethanol as a primary product. In line with the biorefinery concept, other bioproducts, such as fatty acids and pigments, will also be studied as a relevant complement to the project developed in Brazil. The proposal aims to carry out these activities at the University of Porto and Polytechnic of Porto (Portugal), under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Nídia de Sá Caetano, Researcher at the Laboratory of Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (LEPABE - FEUP), collaborator of Center for Innovation in Engineering and Industrial Technology of the School of Engineering of the Polytechnic of Porto (CIETI - ISEP), and Coordinator Professor at the ISEP). Thus, the established partnership is highly encouraged for the internationalization of the student, which will strongly contribute to her knowledge, her doctoral thesis, and the research group she is inserted in (Bio4Tec Lab - CEPEMA POLI USP).