On 28 June 2022, Medical University of Lodz hosted the nationwide meeting on the development of functional foods and personalised nutrition. Opened by prof. Lucyna Woźniak, Vice Rector for Research Strategy and International Relations, the event was participated by over 80 representatives of leading universities, research institutes and food processing industry.

The aim of the meeting was to discuss the initiative of NutriAKADEMIA, the scientific and industrial cluster established to initiate research and coordinate the research collaboration in the areas as well as promoting functional foods, educating consumers, designing certification system for functional foods, creating a personalised nutrition network and functional foods sale system.

The meeting also provided an opportunity to present a new government programme NUTRITECH, which offers funds for research and development initiatives in functional foods and personalised nutrition. The presentation was given by Kamil Grotnik from the National Centre for Research and Development.

The total budget in the first call for proposals amounts to PLN 100 million, and particular projects can obtain from PLN 1 to 10 million each.

The programme funding is available for about 30-40 consortia in the agriculture and food sector and R&D units. The call for proposals will be open till 30 September 2022.

More information on the programme and the call is available here:
https://www.gov.pl/web/ncbr/nutritech-i-konkurs

NutriAKADEMIA meeting was an excellent chance for debates, experience exchange and discussions on potential collaborations also in other research areas. The participants underlined that such meetings contribute to better understanding and strengthening the cooperation between business and science.

The event was held in BRaIn, a research centre of the Medical University of Lodz where the participants could visit the laboratories and learn about the research infrastructure which was described by the head of the Department of Pharmacognosy, prof. Monika Olszewska, whose team conducts research in BRaIn laboratories on a daily basis.

Anyone interested in collaboration, please contact
Andrzej Siemaszko PhD Eng. (International Projects Team)
andrzej.siemaszko@umed.lodz.pl, Phone: 664 032 122