The second edition of the Daniel Carasso Fellowship is now open

The Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation opens the second edition of the Daniel Carasso Fellowship, in which two grants will be awarded for the recruitment of young postdoctoral researchers committed to sustainable food systems and diets. Each of the grants is endowed with 160,000 euros to finance the hiring and development of research activities of the beneficiaries in a Spanish university or research center, public or private non-profit, for a period of two years.

The Daniel Carasso Fellowship is aimed at researchers from any scientific discipline and nationality whose work contributes to building healthy food systems for people and respectful of ecosystems. The submission of candidatures for this edition, whose deadline will be open until March 10, must be made by the research staff of the universities or research centers hosting the candidates.

The Daniel Carasso Fellowship is endowed with 160,000 euros: 120,000 will be used to cover the beneficiary’s remuneration for a period of 24 months and 40,000 as aid for research activities. In addition to supporting scientific careers, the ultimate goal of the program is to build a community of researchers who are committed to joining their efforts to guide the transition to sustainable food systems.

Supporting young researchers

Science is undoubtedly one of the pillars for building fairer, greener and more resilient societies. In the context of the climate and socioeconomic crisis we are experiencing, it is necessary to generate knowledge and identify viable solutions that ensure universal access to food and, at the same time, preserve natural resources. This requires dialogue and greater collaboration between stakeholders and researchers from different academic contexts and disciplines.

A better understanding of the ecological, socio-economic and nutritional challenges and mechanisms of food and agriculture, as well as the linkages between them, is essential to guide the transition. To this end, we support the generation and dissemination of knowledge that promotes a global vision on how to guide the transition to sustainable food systems and that facilitates decision-making based on scientific evidence.

An invitation to undertake projects around sustainable food

The Daniel Carasso Fellowship aims to encourage the scientific community to develop systemic research projects to address the different challenges facing food systems. And as a consequence, also to remove the barriers that turn disciplines into silos and address the various dimensions of sustainability from a more integrated and holistic approach, in order to help stakeholders and policymakers develop pioneering solutions.

This programme, aimed at promoting sustainable food systems and diets from interdisciplinary and multidimensional approaches, has a double intention: on the one hand, to promote research on sustainable food in Spain and, on the other, to consolidate scientific talent in our country. The two winners of the first edition, the Colombian Daniel Gaitán and the Spanish Raquel Ajates, exemplify both aspects.

Thanks to the 2021 Fellowship, Daniel Gaitán, a graduate in Ecology and PhD in Sustainability Metrics of Food Systems, was able to continue his work as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (ICTA-UAB). Her project revolves around sustainable public food procurement in Spain and its barriers. Thus, it seeks to generate knowledge on how the influence of the public sector can be increased in the expansion of agroecological systems through the purchase of nutritious and healthy food for schools, hospitals, universities and other centers.

On the other hand, Raquel Ajates, a graduate in Psychology and PhD in Food Policy, joined the National University of Distance Education (UNED) as a researcher with a project on seed policies, studying their sustainability and the impacts of the digitalization of plant genetic resources. Recently, the FAO has determined that 80% of the seed varieties that were cultivated a few years ago have been lost. Ajates’ project is close to open-source initiatives that try to protect cultivable seeds in the digital sphere.

The need for sustainable

food systemsThe Daniel Carasso Fellowship was born two years ago as a result of its predecessor Daniel Carasso Award as a further step in the transition towards sustainable food systems that guarantee both the availability of healthy diets and the protection of the planet’s resources. These systems are characterized by being respectful of both people and ecosystems.

Of course, this requires a systemic approach that targets the entire food value chain. In this sense, our vision of food systems encompasses the interactions between all the elements (environment, people, inputs, processes, infrastructures and institutions) and activities involved in the production, extraction, processing, distribution, processing and consumption of food, as well as the results of these activities.