Lead Partner
Teagasc
Teagasc (The Agriculture and Food Development Authority) is Ireland’s national body for agriculture and food, delivering integrated research, advisory, education, and innovation services to support a competitive, sustainable, and resilient agri-food sector. Established in 1988, Teagasc plays a central role in linking scientific research with practical application, addressing challenges across farming, food production, environmental sustainability, and rural development along the entire food chain from farm to fork. Teagasc is the lead organisation and project coordinator of the AIMBIO initiative, providing overall scientific, strategic, and operational leadership. Teagasc leads the development and demonstration of integrated, zero-waste marine biorefineries, converting macroalgae and seafood side-streams into high-value, sustainable bio-based ingredients and products.
Partner
Agri Food & Biosciences Institute
The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) (http://www.afbini.gov.uk) is the second largest agricultural research institute in the UK, employing approximately 630 staff across Northern Ireland. It has a unique breadth of facilities and scientific capability in agriculture, animal health, food, environment, biosciences and economics, conducting a wide range of valuable projects for both the public and private sectors. AFBI provides scientific research and services to government, including statutory and reference testing, and advice and research in support of policy development. AFBI is the AIMBIO lead for Task 4 (Matt Service/ Heather Moore, Jonathan Ellis, Xianjiang Chen) and assists in Tasks 2 and 3 (Heather Moore, Jonathan Ellis, Xianjiang Chen). In Task 4, the optimisation and scale-up of seafood streams, AFBI leads the valorisation of crustacean shells (subtask 4.4) and assists in the analysis of processed fish and fish by-products (subtasks 4.1, 4.2, and 4.5). AFBI is also involved in the seasonal analysis of seaweed harvested from Rathlin Island (subtask 2.3), and the analysis of seaweed product streams (subtasks 3.2, 3.4, and 3.5).
Partner
Atlantic Technological University
ATU is a multi-campus technological university in the west and northwest of Ireland with over 20,000 students and 2,200 staff. ATU’s commitment to AIMBIO will be delivered by expert staff within the University’s Contract Research Unit (CRU) and the Marine and Freshwater Research Centre (MFRC). The MFRC is a dynamic group of researchers, academics and students working to enhance the management and conservation of marine and freshwater ecosystems in Ireland and worldwide. Based at ATU’s Galway Campus, the Centre conducts policy relevant applied research in close collaboration with academic, government and commercial partners. The ATU team will contribute to the optimisation and scale-up of seafood side streams within work-package 4. They will lead the development of a valorisation strategy for end-of-life left over biomass within Task 4.5.
Partner
BeoBio Teoranta
BeoBio Teoranta is an Irish seaweed processing company specialising in the sustainable growing, harvesting, processing, and formulation of seaweed-derived biostimulants and agricultural inputs.
Within the AIMBIO project, BeoBio Teoranta is responsible for the industrial processing and formulation workstream, including raw seaweed preparation, extraction, concentration, and conversion into stable, scalable biostimulant products using dedicated washing, extraction, evaporation, milling, and blending equipment.
BeoBio Teoranta acts as Task Lead for processing and scale-up activities within the relevant work package, ensuring all formulations can be manufactured reproducibly and in line with regulatory and quality requirements.
Partner
Islander Kelp
Islander Kelp farms kelp on ropes in the clear deep waters off the Rathlin Island shore, where the wild Atlantic and the clean cold waters of the Irish sea meet to produce the perfect growing conditions. The McFaul family have been fishing and gathering kelp for generations on the island.
Our kelp ropes reach down into the unusually strong currents around Rathlin. The strength of these tides keeps the temperature at a constant and provides the nutrients for our kelp to flourish. The seedlings for our kelp are sourced locally and grown in our very own bespoke nursery, before being transplanted out to sea.
We are delighted to be taking part in the AIMBIO project and excited to play our part in the research. As a seaweed grower, our role will be mainly liaising with and supplying our partners with the seaweed they need throughout the project.
Partner
Indigo Rock Marine Research Centre
Indigo Rock Marine Research Centre company are an internationally engaged research institution, that aims to be locally and globally relevant. The research activity addresses social, economic and environmental challenges related to the marine environment and marine productive activities. Their mandate is to make a valuable contribution to the development of marine research both nationally and internationally, through successful participation in research programmes, regional development and education initiatives. Indigo Rock Marine Research Centre is mainly involved in Task 2 and leads Task 2.1 “Technical design of aquaculture site, construction and preparation of production site”. They will also be involved in Task 1 by supplying data, Task 3 and 5 for which they will supply biomass and Task 7 as part of the project management.
Partner
T.C.D.
Trinity College Dublin (TCD) is internationally recognised as Ireland’s premier university, ranked 75th in the QS World University Rankings 2025 and 12th in the ‘Most International Universities, A member of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) and holder of the Athena SWAN Silver Award (and TCD has a proven record of excellence in research and gender equality. TCD will work closely with Teagasc to optimize and scale up the extraction and fractionation of alginates, proteins, and fibers. The team will also focus on producing proteins, peptides, and lipids from both solid and liquid side streams, while supporting process integration and the design and construction of the biorefinery.
Partner
Technological University of the Shannon (TUS)
Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) is a multi-campus technological university in Ireland, established in 2021 through the merger of Limerick Institute of Technology and Athlone Institute of Technology. The Circular Agriculture and Biotechnology group (CircAB), part of the LIFE Institute of the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS). brings together experts and principal investigators from diverse fields including biotechnology, environmental science, chemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, plant science, soil health, green energy, water treatment, materials science, and predictive modelling.
