BASF Novel Approaches for Ploidy Detection
Award: Sponsored research, typical awards are in the range of $10 - $100K
Deadline: 4/3/26
Interested? Please contact the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations at [email protected] for directions on how to submit a partnering request. If the partnering request draws interest from the company, you will need to submit a Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) Proposal Request Form and work with SPA on the detailed proposal and draft project agreements.
Overview
Funder seeks innovative approaches to develop a new methodology for ploidy detection that can reliably distinguish haploid from diploid tissues at the earliest possible developmental stage, ideally at the embryo stage, with the young plantlet stage also acceptable. Proposed approaches should prioritize high recall of doubled haploid (2N) plants, ensuring that fertile material is retained even if some haploid plants (false positives) are carried forward.
Their must-have requirements are:
• Rationale for applicability to wheat DH production, with potential for use in other crops
• Preserves viability of the embryo or plant material for continued growth
• Early applicability, ideally at the embryo stage, though use at the young plantlet stage is acceptable
Nice-to-have's are:
• Simple, binary output (yes/no) requiring minimal data processing and delivered within a short timeframe
• Minimal tissue handling, ideally avoiding sampling
• High-throughput screening, potentially enabling analysis of thousands of plants per day
What's out of scope:
• Methods that rely on nuclei/DNA extractions
• Solutions involving components from restricted organisms (e.g., viruses, humans, pathogens)
• Measurements on young leaves with a spectrometer Ocean Optics DH-2000-BAL (UV-VIS-NIR light source) have already been tried with no success
Important Information
This opportunity is via HALO Science, a matchmaking platform for industry and science.
Through the HALO platform, there is a chance to see others' questions and ask your own of the funders.
Process
Contact the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations at [email protected] for directions on how to submit a Halo partnering request. We will share the opportunity with you and if you decide to pursue it, you will register at Halo site and complete the simple application (usually less than one hour to complete). The industry partner will contact you and when that occurs, you will complete the SPA Proposal Request Form and work with SPA on the detailed proposal and draft project agreements.