Workpackage 6: Management

Workshop 5: Management

Project Coordinator

 

Project Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Robert Kourist Coordinating Insitution: Graz University of Technology  

The primary responsibilities for the coordinator are:

• Monitoring overall implementation of the Project
• Acting as primary contact for the EU Project Officer
• Chairing Meetings of the steering committee
• Submitting reports and deliverables to the EU Project Officer
• Submitting cost claims and audit certificates
• Receiving and distributing payments from the EC
• Producing financial reports as per H2020 reporting requirement

Project Manager

 

Project Manager: Julirose Kourist
Managing Insitution: Forshungs und Technology Haus – Graz University of Technology

The primary responsibilities for the project manager are:

• Acting as secondary contact for EU Project Officer
• Acting as secretary for the Steering Committee meetings
• Collating Work Package (WP) reports to produce overall quarterly project reports
• Reviewing progress in conjunction with the steering committee
• Formulating project documentation and templates
• Providing advice and information to consortium partners
• Writing periodic management reports
• Maintenance of consortium plan

Cotutelle Project Manager

 

Cotutelle Project Manager: Micaela Viola
Managing Insitution: Protisvalor – Aix Marseille University

The primary responsibilities for the cotutelle manager are:

• Finalization of Cotutelle Agreements, and Secondment Agreements,

• Assist the Training Manager (as Back-up to PM)
• Initiate the Multiple Degree Strategy

Workpackage 5: Training

Workpackage 5: Training

Objectives of the Training Workpackage:

  1. Act as the Quality control of the PhD training
  2. Mediate in any formal issues related to the cotutelle-process (ESRs participate in graduate schools at
    RUB, UGR, TUHH, AMU, UPo and WUR)
  3. Monitor of career development and training progress through career development plans.

 

Training Manager

The Training manager ensures balance of scientific and transferable skills training of ESRs together with the Graduation Manager and Cotutelle Project Manager.

Workpackage Leader: Prof. Dr. Veronique Alphand
Lead beneficiary: Aix Marseille University

Workpackage 4: Dissemination

Workpackage 4: Dissemination

WP4 aims to communicate both the scientific and non-scientific results of the project.   A Dissemination Board is elected from the consortium and its role is to identify potential areas of exploitation, coordination of IPR, publication and other dissemination activities.  

Workpackage Leader: PD Dr. Marc Nowaczyk
Lead beneficiary: Ruhr University Bochum

Workpackage 3: Reaction optimization and up-scaling of photobiocatalysis

Workpackage 3: Reaction optimization and up-scaling of photobiocatalysis

WP3 aims at identifying and optimizing key physiological parameters e.g. cultivation concepts and reactor forms for cyanobacteria, amounts of catalytic components, light-intensity, temperature, pH, organic solvent, hydrophobicity, water-activity, etc. for product formation, intracellular NADPH amounts, space-timeyield, and turnover numbers. 

WP3 focuses on achieving high product titers (≥50 g/L) and space-time-yields (≥15g/(L×h)). For higher enzyme stability (aqueous or organic media) and for enzyme reuse, different immobilization techniques will be evaluated. Photocatalysis in low-water media will be optimized by rigorous evaluation of organic solvents, as well as by using alternative reducing equivalents. Up-scaling of strains (up to 25 L, two model enzymes introduced in chassis systems by UPo) will be done together with the industrial partner after identifying parameters for synthesis at large scales. Up-scaling of the photocatalysis for ADHcatalyzed diol oxidation and for UPo-catalyzed cyclohexane hydroxylation will be demonstrated. Furthermore, photocatalytic strategies developed within the EJD program will be evaluated in terms of enzyme consumption, volumetric productivity, and waste generated.

Workpackage Leader: Dr. Selin Kara
Lead beneficiary: Aarhus University

Workpackage 2: Light-driven in vitro photobiocatalysis

Workpackage 2: Light-driven in vitro photobiocatalysis

The work package aims to understand and develop concepts and methods for the in vitro exploitation of light driven reactions. This encompasses:

  1. investigations of the light harvesting systems including artificial as well as natural systems 
  2. identification of suitable cofactors and optimization of electron transfer as well as 
  3. elucidating reactions by enzymes which require light for the reaction itself.

For instance, pterins and folate derivatives will be evaluated as photoantenna cofactors concerning their properties and efficiency capturing photons. The concept will be demonstrated by coupling the light reaction to selective mono- and dihydroxylations of arenes and olefins catalyzed by Rieske non-heme iron oxygenases. Alternatively, the foundation for a photosystem 1 (PS1) based photocatalytic platform for light-driven in vitro biocatalysis with nicotinamide coenzyme reduction as model reaction will be laid out (ESR 8) in close collaboration with ESR 9 who will investigate synthetic nicotinamide coenzyme biomimetics (NCBs) for biotechnological applications. ESR 6 will develop the concept for combining an artificial water splitting photosystem with a Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase. Protein scaffold-enzyme complexes combined to photocatalysis will be evaluated in terms of enzyme stability and activity. An example for an enzymatic reaction that requires light for the reaction itself, is catalyzed by the oxygen-insensitive but light-dependent protochlorophyllide reductases (LPORs), which perform the reduction of a C=C double bond adjacent to a pyrrole ring in nature at the expense of NADPH and light. The reaction and substrate requirements of light-driven (asymmetric) reduction of pyrrol derivatives will be elucidated (ESR 7).

Workpackage Leader: Prof. Dr. Wollfgang Kroutil
Lead beneficiary: University of Graz

Workpackage 1: Metabolic engineering of light-driven in vivo biotransformations

Workpackage 1: Metabolic engineering of light-driven in vivo biotransformations

WP1 compares different types of transformations in cyanobacteria and explores tools for their optimization. The enzymes are cloned in shuttle vectors under the control of constitutive and inducible promoters. After verification of the functional expression, activity and substrate spectrum are investigated and the reaction conditions optimized. The enzymes will be linked to Synechocystis mutants with optimized electron flow.

Workpackage Leader: Prof. Dr. Paula Tamagnini
Lead beneficiary: University of Porto