Research funding
Get inspired by ongoing research into the most pressing pre-competitive challenges for alternative protein science, and find funding opportunities for your own research.
Find research funding
GFI’s research funding database provides curated grant opportunities for alternative protein research and innovation. Learn how to use this database in this 2-minute tutorial.
Learn more about Europe’s research funding landscape
Our report State of the European alternative protein research ecosystem: funding explores the current research landscape for alternative proteins in Europe.
Collaborations with external research projects
Learn more about how we can support research projects here. We work with a number of exciting projects innovating in alternative protein science.
Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein
The Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein, is a $30 million US centre based at Imperial College London, and will advance research into precision fermentation, cultivated meat, bioprocessing and automation, nutrition, and AI and machine learning.
CARMA
CARMA (Cellular Agriculture Manufacturing Hub) is a £12M research centre at the University of Bath, focused on scaling and commercialising cellular agriculture technologies such as cultivated meat and precision fermentation.
CellFood Hub
The CellFood Hub is a Danish project seeking to expand and support the fledgling cultivated meat sector in Denmark.
Circalgae
Circalgae aims to develop sustainable algae-based biorefineries and products supporting the health of aquatic ecosystems for a healthy planet and people. It is a Horizon Europe project.
FEASTS
This project aims to develop deliver a comprehensive, objective knowledge base about cultured meat and seafood and their place in the food system.
FLAVOURsome
FLAVOURsome is an EU-funded network via COST action, which aims to create shared knowledge on flavour research to boost the innovation in the plant-based food industry.
Giant Leaps
A Horizon Europe project, Giant Leaps develop methodology, datasets and innovations to accelerate the dietary shift towards sustainability and circularity, focusing on allergenicity, nutrition and food safety.
HealthFerm
HealthFerm is working to understand the impact of fermentation on human health and how fermentation can be leveraged to enhance the use of sustainable plant-based raw materials. Funded by Horizon Europe, it supports research exploring these topics.
Microbial Food Hub
Based at Imperial College London in collaboration with the universities of Reading, Kent, Aberystwyth, and Cambridge, and Rothamsted Research, the £14 million hub will work to advance fermentation technology using engineering biology approaches.
NAPIC
The National Alternative Proteins Innovation Centre (NAPIC) is the UK’s national innovation centre, and brings together academic, industry and third sector partners from across the country.
PROTWIN
PROTWIN is an EU-funded TWINNING project, led by Turkish research centre TÜBİTAK MAM, aimed at designing the next generation of nutritious, appealing, and environmentally friendly plant-based food products.
ValPro path
ValPro Path is a Horizon Europe funded project aiming to establish a concrete pathway and necessary tools to facilitate the future European Partnership for Sustainable Food Systems, to be launched in 2024.
FoodID centre
The FoodID centre is funded via the NSF Global Centres program, the Research Council of Finland and Business Finland. VTT together with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will work together on a three year project focusing especially on improving the sensory and nutritional quality of alternative foods.
Research grant opportunities
GFI’s research grant programme
Powered by donations from a small number of generous donors, our research grant programme funds open-access alternative protein research. Learn about the projects we’re funding and find funding opportunities for your own research.
Research grants tracker
Explore our alternative protein research grants tracker to discover insights about open-access research across Europe, including what’s being funded, who is funding it, at what levels, and more.
Investment in research and innovation is a key priority for our policy work, find out more about our policy work to boost research into alternative proteins, and check out our Global Policy Report, to see how Europe fits into the global research landscape.
Priority research areas
Advancing Solutions for Alternative Proteins (ASAP) is GFI’s database of research gaps, commercial whitespaces, technological needs, and investment priorities along the alternative protein value chain.
Latest science news
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Explore more of our science resources
Resources for students and educators
Learn more about available courses, how to get alternative proteins on the curriculum at your institution, and our Alternative Protein Project university chapters.
Open access tools and resources
Explore our library of free-to access resources on plant-based, cultivated and fermentation-made meat, seafood, eggs and dairy.
Research community
Join our community of researchers today to forge connections, find industry and academic collaborators, and learn about the latest science.
Get in touch
Stella Child
Research and Grants Manager
Stella leads our work to grow the alternative protein research ecosystem across Europe and to secure grant funding for open-access research.
