Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Lignin Engineering, Analysis, and Research for Sustainable Technology (CLEAReST)

规划资助：可持续技术木质素工程、分析和研究工程研究中心 (CLEAReST)

• 批准号: 2124368
• 负责人: Stephen Rankin
• 金额: $ 10万
• 依托单位: University of Kentucky Research Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2023-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2124368&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Planning; Grant; Engineering; Research; Center

The Planning Grants for Engineering Research Centers competition was run as a pilot solicitation within the ERC program. Planning grants are not required as part of the full ERC competition, but intended to build capacity among teams to plan for convergent, center-scale engineering research.The objective of this planning grant is to move towards a NSF-sponsored Center for Lignin Engineering, Analysis, and Research for Sustainable Technology (CLEAReST), which will serve as a focal point for the scientific advancements required to develop lignin-first processes for biomass conversion. Formation of CLEAReST is inspired by the global need to find renewable replacements for aromatic petrochemicals to sustainably address energy, climate, and food security needs. These aromatic compounds are found in everyday products including fuels, plastics, personal care products, and pharmaceuticals. Lignin, a biopolymer found in all plants, is the only renewable source of aromatic chemicals, but is difficult to effectively utilize because of its complex, heterogeneous structure. Worldwide, there is growing recognition that utilizing lignin is an essential technological part of reducing the environmental and climate impact of human industrial activity. By making scientific advances in its core scientific and engineering missions, CLEAReST will lower technological barriers to realizing this goal. This will be accelerated by cooperating with global lignin science partners and industrial leaders to address the most relevant problems in lignin processing. Breakthroughs in science and engineering of lignin will be cultivated by pursuing five parallel, intertwined missions. First, the fundamental rules of life governing lignin biosynthesis will be uncovered and engineered to create plant feedstocks able to be deconstructed into valuable building blocks without loss of food value. Second, dedicated analytical tools will be assembled to provide comprehensive characterization of lignin all the way from plant cell to final product. Third, the science of lignin deconstruction will be advanced to provide efficient ways to convert a given lignin source to the most suitable set of intermediate chemicals. Fourth, discovery-based applications of lignin-derived products will be advanced by developing structure-property relationships for well-defined lignin molecules. Finally, the systems thinking and convergence research-driven advances in lignin science of CLEAReST will be used as a platform for recruiting a diverse cohort of students and providing education, outreach, and knowledge transfer to an interdisciplinary scientific workforce. The Center integrates the first four missions to seek scientific breakthroughs that advance integrated lignin science from its initial biosynthesis in plants to structure-property relationships in upgraded products. This planning grant will define high-impact engineering science targets within the missions of CLEAReST by bringing together potential collaborators and stakeholders for a series of workshops. To move towards the goal of broadening the impact and participation of scientists from all backgrounds in the lignin utilization challenge, the planning grant includes activities to strengthen ties with social science researchers to better understand the economic, educational, and social implications of expanding the biorefining concept in rural communities, thus moving towards decentralized processing of lignin as a renewable source of aromatic chemicals, pharmaceutical precursors, and advanced materials.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

工程研究中心竞赛的计划赠款是在ERC计划中作为试点招标进行的。 Planning grants are not required as part of the full ERC competition, but intended to build capacity among teams to plan for convergent, center-scale engineering research.The objective of this planning grant is to move towards a NSF-sponsored Center for Lignin Engineering, Analysis, and Research for Sustainable Technology (CLEAReST), which will serve as a focal point for the scientific advancements required to develop lignin-first processes for biomass conversion. 最清晰的形成是受到全球需求的启发，即寻找可再生石化的可再生能源替代品，以可持续满足能源，气候和粮食安全需求。 这些芳香化合物可在包括燃料，塑料，个人护理产品和药品在内的日常产品中找到。 木质素是在所有植物中发现的一种生物聚合物，是芳香化学物质的唯一可再生能源，但由于其复杂的，异质的结构而难以有效地利用。 在全球范围内，人们越来越认识到使用木质素是减少人类工业活动的环境和气候影响的重要技术。 通过在其核心科学和工程任务中取得科学进步，最清晰的技术将降低实现这一目标的技术障碍。 通过与全球木质素科学伙伴和工业领导者合作解决木质素加工中最相关的问题，这将加速这一点。 木质素科学和工程的突破将通过追求五个平行的，相互交织的任务来培养。 首先，将发现和设计有关木质素生物合成的生命基本规则，以创建能够被解构为有价值的构件而不会损失食物价值的植物原料。 其次，将组装专用的分析工具，以提供木质素从植物细胞到最终产品的全面表征。 第三，将提出木质素解构的科学，以提供有效的方法将给定的木质素源转化为最合适的中间化学物质集。 第四，基于发现的木质素衍生产品的应用将通过为定义明确定义的木质素分子开发结构特性关系来提出。 最后，最清晰的木质素科学的系统思考和融合研究驱动的进步将被用作招募各种学生队列，并提供教育，外展和知识转移到跨学科科学劳动力的平台。 该中心集成了前四个任务，以寻求科学突破，从而将木质素科学从植物中的最初生物合成到升级产品中的结构 - 特质关系。 该计划赠款将通过将潜在的合作者和利益相关者汇总为一系列研讨会，将高影响力的工程科学目标定义在最清晰的任务中。 为了朝着扩大木质素利用挑战中科学家的影响和参与的目标，计划赠款包括与社会科学研究人员加强联系的活动，以更好地了解农村社区中生物培养概念的经济，教育和社会影响NSF的法定使命，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准来评估值得支持。