November 30, 2020

Launch of UMNIK Cherkizovo competition for young scientists

Cherkizovo Group and the Foundation of Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises (FASIE) have announced the launch of a joint initiative, the UMNIK Cherkizovo competition.

The aim of the competitions is to support young scientists working on promising projects in the food manufacturing industry.

The competition is open to scientists aged 18 to 30 working on projects related to the food industry, meat and meat products, plant-and animal-based feeds, feed additives, biotechnology and genomic selection.

The competition's final will be held in Moscow in early March next year.

Cherkizovo Group will offer support to the winners in several different ways. In addition to a RUB500,000 (US$6,569) grant from FASIE, the company will provide RUB300,000 (US$3,941) to co-finance at least five projects that made it to the final. While carrying out their projects, the winners will be able to use Cherkizovo Lab equipment and visit the group's facilities in Russia. Additionally, the company will hold a number of educational events, both offline and online.

"This is the first time that we have been able to offer grants worth RUB 800,000 (US$10,511) under the UMNIK programme. Cooperation with large companies to hold joint competitions opens up new opportunities for the winners as this framework helps combine demand from the leading market players, financial support and research tools," said Anton Sorokin, head of the UMNIK project team at FASIE.

"Cherkizovo Group places special emphasis on R&D to improve the quality of its products and streamline production processes. We are happy to announce this competition aimed at young scientists brimming with new ideas related to food manufacturing. For us, this is not just a project competition, but rather a platform for exchanging experience. Cherkizovo's highly qualified professionals can share insights that may prove very useful for the young scientists' further research. We will be very glad to support not only the most promising projects, but also relevant R&D efforts aimed at further developing Russia's meat industry," said Anastasia Mikhailova, head of communications at Cherkizovo Group.

- Cherkizovo