European researchers awarded more than EUR7 million to research photosynthesis

In the UK, a University of Sheffield academic is part of a research team which has been awarded over EUR7 million to continue pioneering research into photosynthesis by the European Research Council (ERC). Photosynthesis is a fundamental process on Earth, harnessing the energy of sunlight to generate the oxygen we breathe and the food we eat. However, plants and other photosynthetic organisms absorb only a fraction of the available solar energy and incur further losses converting this energy into biomass.

The research funded with an ERC Synergy Grant, one of only 37 awarded in all subjects across Europe, will combine expertise in genetics, biochemistry and biophysics to design novel versions of photosynthesis. In the future this could lead to crop plants getting more energy from sunlight, leading to increased food production and enhanced biofuel production.