COLLABORATIONS
Since our founding, we have formed research and development collaborations with leading institutions and companies, including dozens of technology agreements that provide us outlets for our innovations or rights to enabling technology.
Our Major Partners
Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation
In 2006, we established a long-term agreement with the Noble Foundation for the development and commercialization of energy crops. This relationship provides us exclusive access to extensive breeding infrastructure and an exclusive license to elite switchgrass breeding lines and advanced cultivars. Initial projects under the collaboration agreement will expand the conventional and molecular breeding program at the Noble Foundation with our markers and other genomics technologies. In addition, the Noble Foundation will develop agronomic systems and best management practices aimed at optimizing biomass production and educating farmers.
Texas Agrilife Research
In 2007, Ceres signed an exclusive, multi-year joint research and commercialization agreement with Texas Agrilife Research (formerly Texas Agricultural Experiment Station) of The Texas A&M University System for high-biomass sorghum. As part of this agreement, Ceres obtains exclusive commercialization rights to Agrilife's high-biomass sorghum hybrids developed in the joint research program.
Monsanto Company
In 2002, Ceres entered into a multi-year product discovery and development collaboration with Monsanto focused on applying genomics technologies to identify genes that provide improvements in certain row crops. Under the agreement, Monsanto acquired rights to Ceres technologies in certain row crops and applications in exchange for license payments over several years. Monsanto also funded a jointly implemented research program with Ceres.
Institute of Crop Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
In 2004, we began a multi-year collaboration with the Institute of Crop Sciences (ICS) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, which provides us with a cost-effective, high-throughput system to advance our trait pipeline in rice, a monocot that predicts trait function in many energy and food crops.
Research Grants
In collaboration with leading institutions and companies, Ceres is studying new ways to improve energy crops. See our currently funded projects >>
Ceres — the energy crop company®