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Nutrition and Dietetics Department of a Health-Focused University in Istanbul Seeking Partners for the FutureFoodS Call

Summary

Profile Type
  • Research & Development Request
POD Reference
RDRTR20251203010
Term of Validity
3 December 2025 - 3 December 2026
Company's Country
  • Turkey
Type of partnership
  • Research and development cooperation agreement
Targeted Countries
  • Finland
  • Norway
  • Italy
  • Sweden
  • Estonia
  • Slovakia
  • Germany
  • Belgium
  • Lithuania
  • Portugal
  • Spain
  • Bulgaria
  • Romania
  • Austria
  • Netherlands
  • Iceland
  • Denmark
  • Ireland
  • France
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General information

Short Summary
The Department is seeking partners for 3 proposals under the FutureFoodS Call. Two proposals focus on Topic 1, (Domestic food practices enhancing sustainable and healthy diets) while one targets Topic 2 (Towards diverse, sustainable and circular food processing systems). Partners from eligible countries are invited to join.
Full Description
University Profile: The University, founded in 2007, is a non-profit private academic institution in Istanbul dedicated to health sciences. The Department of Nutrition and Dietetics has a large and diverse team, allowing researchers to contribute to different aspects of the call.

Target Call: Second Joint Transnational Co-Funded Call of the FutureFoodS Partnership
The Department of Nutrition and Dietetics is actively engaged in this call and has developed three project concepts, each seeking partners and from eligible participating countries.

1. Project: HEAT-SAFE
Topic: Domestic food practices enhancing sustainable and healthy diets — systemic work at the household level covering food safety, cultures, nutritional needs and consumer behaviour.
Thermal processing at home contributes to contaminants such as acrylamide, HMF, PAHs, HAAs, and nitrosamines. Related risk is majorly behavior-driven (darker browning, oil reuse, high heat, flame contact). Household-level mitigation is limited. Project will provide a practical Toolbox to reduce exposure while maintaining sensory quality and safety.
HEAT-SAFE develops and evaluates a household-focused Thermal Contaminant Toolbox to reduce exposure to process-induced contaminants. Tools will include color reference cards, oil-use protocols, and QR-linked videos. Pilot implementation will assess behavioral change and chemical validation. Outputs will be openly shared to support scaling.
Project reduces chemical exposure in home-prepared foods, promoting safer cooking without compromising nutrition or tradition. Supports sustainability by enabling informed choices, reducing waste from burnt products, and strengthening community engagement.

2. Project/ Sustainable Food Processing Strategies to Enhance Bioavailability of Food-Grade Senolytic Compounds from Pseudocereal By-Products

Topic: Towards diverse, sustainable and circular food processing systems — improved processing/packaging, valorization of by-products and side-streams, and compositions tailored to diverse consumer groups.
Modern food systems face a dual challenge: nutrient loss during processing and growing demand for healthy ageing solutions. Senolytic and senomorphic compounds (quercetin, fisetin, curcumin, resveratrol, etc.) naturally occur in pseudocereals and their by-products but show poor bioavailability. Valorization of sprouting residues, bran fractions, and fermentation side-streams can enable a circular, sustainable approach while improving nutritional and functional quality. The project proposes innovative, low-energy processing and carrier systems to maximize nutrient retention, bioaccessibility, and gut availability — aligned with sustainable and circular food processing goals.

3. Project/ H-SEBCIP
Topic: Domestic food practices enhancing sustainable and healthy diets — systemic work at the household level covering food safety, cultures, nutritional needs and consumer behaviour.
The H-SEBCIP project aims to design, implement, and validate a holistic framework that integrates education and monitoring processes to enhance sustainability performance at the household level. Within the scope of the project, food production practices, waste reduction, water and energy efficiency and environmentally friendly purchasing behaviours will be the main focus. By combining tailored behavior-change interventions, sustainability education modules, resource-monitoring tools, and sustainability scoring criteria, the project aims to enable families to make informed decisions and achieve measurable behavior changes that reduce their carbon and water footprints. This project intends to demonstrate measurable improvements through concrete indicators, including increased household sustainability knowledge and behavior scores, as well as reductions in food waste amounts.
Advantages and Innovations
Across the three proposed ideas, the team introduces innovative approaches aligned with the FutureFoodS Partnership priorities. Two proposals address Topic 1. These concepts emphasize practical, user-centered innovations such as toolkits and tailored educational components that can be scaled across diverse communities.

One proposal, responding to Topic 2, focuses on sustainable and circular food processing strategies. It leverages emerging technologies such as green processing and fermentation to enhance nutrient availability while valorizing by-products and reducing food system waste. This reflects a commitment to circularity, resource efficiency, and added-value ingredient innovation.

Collectively, these proposals demonstrate the department’s capacity to bridge basic science, applied research, and societal impact. The projects also offer clear contributions to European priorities on sustainability, food system resilience, and consumer well-being.
Technical Specification or Expertise Sought
We are seeking complementary partners for three interconnected project concepts under the FutureFoodS Partnership Call. For HEAT-SAFE, we look for academic groups to co-lead the design, implementation and evaluation of heat-health risk assessment tools, municipalities to support real-life piloting and scaling in vulnerable communities, and industry partners (e.g. appliance or digital solution providers) to co-develop and integrate QR-guided tools into household devices. For the project on Sustainable Food Processing Strategies to Enhance Bioavailability of Senolytic Compounds, we seek: (i) a food technology institute/SME with expertise in green/sustainable processing and/or packaging, (ii) an analytical partner with strong LC-MS/MS metabolite profiling capacity, and (iii) industry partners working with functional ingredients and valorisation of side streams. For H-SEBCIP, we are open to universities, research centres, SMEs, companies and municipalities with expertise in nutrition, food systems, urban health, behaviour change, digital tools and community-level implementation, from eligible FutureFoodS countries.
Stage of Development
  • Concept stage
Sustainable Development Goals
  • Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being
  • Goal 2: Zero Hunger
IPR status
  • No IPR applied

Partner Sought

Expected Role of a Partner
For each of the three project concepts, the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics seeks partners who can contribute complementary expertise, infrastructure, and implementation capacity within the scope of the FutureFoodS Partnership Call.

1. Project – HEAT-SAFE: Partners Sought
Academics: To lead analysis, design, and evaluation. (Open to relevant academic groups from eligible countries participating in the Future Foods call.)
Municipalities: To support wider access and scaling of the project.
Industry partners: To enhance tool practicality and implementation, particularly for integrating QR-guided tools into relevant household appliances.

2. Project – Sustainable Food Processing Strategies to Enhance Bioavailability of Senolytic Compounds: Partners Sought
• Food Technology Institute / SME: Expertise in sustainable packaging or green processing.
• Analytical Partner: LC-MS/MS metabolite profiling.
• Industry Partner: Functional ingredients, scaling valorization processes.

3. Project – H-SEBCIP: Partners Sought
Open to academic groups, universities, research centers, companies, SMEs, and municipalities from eligible countries participating in the FutureFoodS call.
Type and Size of Partner
  • SME <=10
  • R&D Institution
  • SME 11-49
  • SME 50 - 249
  • Big company
  • University
Type of partnership
  • Research and development cooperation agreement

Call details

Framework program
  • Horizon Europe
Call title and identifier
FutureFoodS Second Joint Transnational Co-Funded Call of the FutureFoodS
Submission and evaluation scheme
2 stage application
Anticipated project budget
500000
Coordinator required
No
Deadline for EoI
Deadline of the call
Project duration in weeks
144
Web link to the call
https://www.futurefoodspartnership.eu/news/pre-announcement
Project title and acronym
Nutrition and Dietetics Department of a Health-Focused University in Istanbul Seeking Partners for the FutureFoodS Call

Dissemination

Technology keywords
  • 08002002 - Food Microbiology / Toxicology / Quality Control
  • 08001005 - Food Technology
  • 08001004 - Food Processing
  • 08003 - Micro- and Nanotechnology related to agrofood
Market keywords
  • 07003002 - Health food
Sector Groups Involved
  • Agri-Food
  • Energy-Intensive Industries - BioChemTech
Targeted countries
  • Finland
  • Norway
  • Italy
  • Sweden
  • Estonia
  • Slovakia
  • Germany
  • Belgium
  • Lithuania
  • Portugal
  • Spain
  • Bulgaria
  • Romania
  • Austria
  • Netherlands
  • Iceland
  • Denmark
  • Ireland
  • France