Twenty-four researchers receive financial and scientific support for their research projects on crop protection / Successful projects may develop into permanent collaborations with Bayer in the future / The grant recipients were selected from more than 600 proposals from 39 countries
Monheim, 
June 2, 2021 – Twenty-four research projects will receive funding from Bayer’s Grants4Ag program this year. These include projects to accelerate the development of precision agriculture, reduce chemical agents to improve soil health and control pests while protecting biodiversity. The successful researchers will receive grants of between €5,000 and 15,000 to provide financial support for their projects. Bayer also provides them with scientists from the company to accompany and advise on the projects as they progress.
“I was very pleased that my project was selected,” says microbiologist Vanessa Nessner Kavamura. “As a postdoc, you rarely have the opportunity to develop your own science project. Therefore, it is a great opportunity to develop my research ideas. Bayer can support me very well with its experienced team, and I hope to get exciting results that will lay the foundation for future collaboration.”
Kavamura is working on solutions to control a fungal disease in wheat crops with the help of microbes. Like her project, the other selected ideas aim to help farmers around the world protect their crops and thus their harvests. Researchers funded by the Grants4Ag program receive financial support and scientific advice to help them develop their ideas and contribute to progress in agriculture. The grants can also lead to an investment by Bayer in a more extensive, long-term collaboration.
“The ideas of this year’s fellows represent all of our research and development areas at Bayer Crop Science,” said Phil Taylor, who is responsible for Open Innovation at Bayer’s division. “We think it’s great that, with the support they need, these research projects could potentially be a game changer for agriculture.”
With support from Halo, a collaborative platform for scientific innovation, Bayer received more than 600 applications from 39 countries during the five-week application period last fall. Participants in Bayer’s Grants4Ag program retain all intellectual property rights to their projects.
Grants4Ag Scholarships 2021
– Addie Thompson – Michigan State University
– Ana Laura Torres Huerta – Monterey Institute of Technology
– Bryan Berger – University of Virginia
– Eduardo Rodriguez – Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology of Rosario
– Elizabeth Skellam – University of North Texas
– Enrico Bonello – Ohio State University
– Haoyu Niu – University of California, Merced
– Ian Henderson – University of Cambridge
– Ingrid Span – Heinrich Heine University
– Jishnu Bhatt – Penn State University
– Maria DeRose – Carleton University
– Megan Rúa – Wright State University
– Ming-Zhi Zhang – Nanjing Agricultural University
– Sigfredo Fuentes – The University of Melbourne
– Sivam Krish – GoMicro
– Vanessa Nessner Kavamura – Rothamsted Research
– Yinghui Mu – South China Agricultural University
– Yulia Poroshenko – Agrohub
– Yi-Zhen Deng – South China Agricultural University
– Yongle Li – University of Adelaide – Waite Campus
– Yuxi Zhang – Monash University
– Zihau Zhou – China Agricultural University
For more information on the Grants4Ag 2021 program and the selected projects, please click here.