Objective
Today it is common practice for farmers to provide crops with more fertilizers than the plants need. However, this practice has negative economic and environmental impacts. While accurate and timely knowledge of Nitrogen availability could enable adjustment of the inputs, the existing analytical tools for Nitrogen quantification are insufficiently used because of various limitations related to costs, laborious procedures or sensitivity to environmental factors. Our nitrate biosensor recently developed based on findings from the ERC starting Grant REDOX SHIELDS by-passes these limitations and has the potential to massively increase the frequency of nitrate sensing in agriculture. We designed single-use electrochemical biosensors which can be used by untrained users to get accurate nitrate readings directly in the field.
With the ERC Proof-of-Concept project LiveSEN we now propose to explore commercialization possibilities of this nitrate biosensor. Our vision is to involve the farmers to perform independently the nitrate analysis while on the field, right before fertilization. The recommendation for nitrogen input will be provided immediately through a smartphone app connected to a cloud system. Our business model will rely on a low-cost or no-cost measurements coupled to a paid recommendation service. The service will be accessible to the farmers through a monthly fee or may be covered by larger companies such as fertilizer providers that have an interest in gaining customers binding through exclusivity. Furthermore, we would like to provide our customers with predictions for nitrate needs through a big data approach which integrates biosensor readings with satellite imagery and weather information. Our idea has the potential to increase yields in agriculture by 5 to 10% through optimized use of nitrogen fertilizers. This will save costs for farmers while reducing pollution of the environment, especially water resources.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors biosensors
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences hydrology
- natural sciences computer and information sciences data science big data
- social sciences economics and business business and management business models
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2017-PoC
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
44801 Bochum
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.