METU Food Technologies Lab Secures Three New Horizon Europe Projects
The METU Food Engineering Department is pleased to share that the METU Food Technologies Lab recently secured funding for three major Horizon Europe projects. Prof. Dr. Mecit Halil Öztop serves as the coordinator for all three initiatives. These successes represent a major development for the department and the university.
The first initiative, Fix-APro, received funding through the MSCA Staff Exchanges call with a total budget of approximately 1.8 million Euros. This project centers on alternative proteins and seeks to solve challenges that prevent these items from being easily integrated into food systems. The team will look for ways to improve extraction and find ways to verify quality for consumers.
Funding was granted for REACtOE under the European Excellence Initiative with a total budget of about 5 million Euros. This institutional transformation project ranked second in Europe during a competitive selection process. It focuses on strengthening research capacity and modernizing management across the agri-food sector by bringing together various partners.
The third project is FAroGels, which is supported by the MSCA Doctoral Network program and has a total budget of around 4.2 million Euros. This marks the first MSCA Doctoral Network coordinatorship for Türkiye under Horizon Europe. The research involves developing biodegradable and edible food-grade aerogels for use in sustainable food systems. This work will support fifteen doctoral candidates across Europe.
We are pleased to see these projects begin and look forward to the progress they will bring to the field of food science.