Apply Now: Germany Is Looking for "Innovative Thinkers" to Combine AI and Biotechnology in the Circular Economy

A large portion of chemicals and materials are still derived from petroleum. This ties production to non-renewable resources and drives up emissions. Biomanufacturing points the way toward other, sustainable approaches. Yet it has so far reached its limits: microbial monocultures can only metabolize pure and homogeneous feedstocks into complex products. It’s a good start, but it’s nowhere near enough to replace petrochemical technologies on a large scale.

Nature has already shown us the way: consortia of different microbes process unprocessed, variable feedstocks and can carry out multistep chemical syntheses that isolated strains cannot. However, until now, the technological use of such complex consortia has meant unpredictability and a loss of control—issues for which biomanufacturing has no scalable, technical solution.

The opportunity: New AI models, real-time sensor technology, and high-throughput automation are opening up avenues that were previously considered impossible. By directly linking AI modeling to active process control, wild cell teams can be transformed into observable, controllable precision factories. This makes it possible to utilize low-cost, minimally processed feedstocks and waste materials on an industrial scale.

The Challenge is a project of the innovation agency SPRIND (based in Leipzig, Saxony). It is funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) as part of its digitization initiative to close material cycles and is part of the National Circular Economy Strategy (NKWS).

The goal of the Challenge is to use fermentation processes involving microbial consortia to develop robust, end-to-end, and circular biomanufacturing processes for sustainable chemicals and materials, which are continuously refined through AI-supported design-build-test-learn cycles. As these processes reach greater technological maturity, they are intended to convert waste streams and CO₂-based raw materials into usable chemicals and materials. Resource efficiency will be significantly increased, and both material and carbon cycles will be consistently closed.

Crucial to this are robust processes that ensure consistently reliable production even under fluctuating raw material qualities, changing operating conditions, or the occurrence of toxic intermediates. Fully integrated production systems are required that combine feedstock preparation, fermentation, real-time process control, and product isolation into a single, end-to-end process. To support this, the teams are using AI/ML models to make quantitative predictions and enable process-oriented control.

The challenge will run for 38 months and consist of three phases. A jury of recognized experts will assist SPRIND in selecting and evaluating the participating teams. Through funding from the BMUKNS, SPRIND provides financial support in the form of individual fixed-price contracts based on the teams’ cost estimates, with up to €4,300,000 per team across three phases. In Phase 1 (14 months), up to €1.2 million per team; in Phase 2 (12 months), up to €1.3 million per team; and in Phase 3 (12 months), up to €1.8 million per team.

To help the teams reach their full potential, SPRIND provides additional shared services (including quality control, data preparation and development, and independent robustness assessments) that do not count toward the teams’ maximum funding limits. Throughout the competition, SPRIND supports the teams through coaching, access to collaboration partners, and matchmaking sessions with investors and industrial customers.

The application deadline is November 16, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. (CET). All applications received by this time will be considered.