Ceres is an exciting new project, involving a collaboration of 5 Universities (Reading, Cambridge, East Anglia, Hertfordshire and Lincoln) and 3 research institutes (NIAB, Rothamsted and the John Innes Centre) working together to develop a regional agri-tech knowledge exchange cluster.

The 3-year project, funded by Research England, is looking to support collaboration among university and research institute partners, together with industry and investment partners, in order to drive growth, productivity and innovation in the agri-tech sector in the East of England. The partnership is looking to identify, invest in and support the development of commercially viable, collaborative projects which respond to innovation needs in the agri-tech sector, with grants of up to £250,000 available for translational projects.

The Partnership is still in its set-up phase and several details still need definition.

Kate Green [ k.m.green@reading.ac.uk] will be the UoR contact for this project, working with Sarah Werts from the KTC.

A lunchtime workshop will be held on the 1st November at 1-2pm in School of Agriculture, Policy and Development (Frank Parkinson room), where more information will be made available.