In February, Alianza MX and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) launched the first-ever joint call for collaborative research proposals The call covered basic and applied research on various issues related to climate change, including climate resilience, adaptation in urban areas and the built environment, and sustainable agriculture in rural areas. Proposal submissions were required to incorporate at least three PIs, at least two from the UC, and both institutions agreed to support a joint fund to provide each three projects with up to USD $100,000 in funding support for two years. Following evaluation of the proposals by experts from UC and UNAM, the following proposals were selected for funding awards in May:
1.Toward Sustainable Carbon Negative Bioproduction: Uncovering Thermodynamic Bottlenecks in Essential Metabolic Pathways (Daniel C. Zielinski, UC San Diego; Neema Jamshidi, UC Los Angeles; José Utrilla-Carreri, UNAM; José A. Farias-Rico, UNAM).
- Development of Additives Based on Nanomaterials for the Protection of Historical Buildings from Contaminant Gases and Biodeterioration in Urban Areas (Ioanna Kakoulli, UC Los Angeles; Francisco Zaera, UC Riverside; Sergio Fuentes Moyado, UNAM; Rubén Darío Cadena Nava, UNAM; Luis Cedeño Caero, UNAM).
- Biogeochemical Responses to Shelf Sea Dynamics in the Yucatan Shelf (Nick Nidzieko, UC Santa Barbara; Daniele Bianchi, UC Los Angeles; Jorge Alejandro Kurczyn Robledo, UNAM; Alejandro J. Souza, Cinvestav-Mérida).
