The Alt Protein Project

We define alternative proteins as meat, egg, or dairy products that are plant-based, cultivated, or fermentation-derived. We envision a food system that provides people with the foods they love — produced without conventional animal agriculture.

Want to learn more? Read about the diversity and opportunity of the alternative protein world.

Even students who are excited and motivated to join the alternative protein field are often unaware of the critical role they play in defining the trajectory of our food system from within the university.

Students are the catalysts who can shape university priorities. From driving scientific inquiry that improves the sensory and functional qualities of new protein products to creating educational programs and establishing a talent pipeline for a growing industry, universities are becoming a cornerstone of the alternative protein ecosystem. 

The Good Food Institute established the Alt Protein Project so that motivated, visionary students could lead their universities to supporting the transformation of the food system to one that is sustainable, secure, and just.

New fields, especially those that are interdisciplinary by nature, flourish when all stakeholders have the opportunity to connect and cooperate. The project is all about creating connections — between tissue engineers and food scientists, entrepreneurial business students and technical innovators, principal investigators and the next generation of research talent. 

Most importantly, the Alt Protein Project connects members with the right ideas, questions, and opportunities that will help accelerate a global transition. The result is a network of academic institutions that prioritize plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation-enabled protein. This network helps provide this growing alt protein sector with the institutional resources and human ingenuity it needs to scale and feed the world sustainably.

The Alt Protein Project is much more than a social group. It provides students and researchers with an interdisciplinary community in which to explore the alternative protein-related applications of their academic expertise. At each host institution, student leaders work with GFI experts to build initiatives that will have the greatest impact on growing their own school’s alternative protein ecosystem.

Some groups have chosen to design course materials and advocate for alternative protein curriculum development; to meet with principal investigators and other scientists to catalyze alternative protein-enabling research; to create alternative protein startups; and much more. Alt Protein Project groups are social hubs, too, where passionate, like-minded students can find one another through journal clubs and plant-based meat tastings—that’s part of what gives rise to the Alt Protein Project’s most exciting emergent properties.

As a student, you have incredible power to drive change at your universities.  Creating a chapter of the Alt Protein Project at your university would allow you to build an interdisciplinary network of like-minded peers and mobilize them around the most high-impact activities for advancing alternative proteins.

We’re looking for undergraduate and/or graduate student leaders at research universities that have the foundations for a long-lasting alternative protein ecosystem. This could mean universities:

• Where students believe they can energize the academic community around the science, engineering, and commercialization of alternative proteins.
• Located in a region with established agtech, biotech, or manufacturing capabilities.
• With strong programs in any of the many sciences that enable alternative protein innovation—tissue engineering, fermentation science, and plant biology, to name just a few.

New student groups should have at least two co-organizers, where:

• Both individuals:
  • Demonstrate a commitment to GFI’s mission of building a sustainable, secure, and just protein supply
  • Are willing to dedicate 5-10 hours per week for a year to running a successful student group
• At least one individual:
  • Is experienced in community organizing
  • Is housed within a key scientific discipline for alternative proteins
  • Has deep familiarity with the alternative protein field
  • Will graduate from the university no earlier than August 2025
  • Is comfortable facilitating group discussions or could be with training

Do you have what it takes to bring the Alt Protein Project to your school? Our student resource hub will walk you through the key responsibilities and opportunities associated with running a student group. If you’re feeling energized to start building your own community, we’d love to hear from you!

Groups with at least two founders are almost always more successful than those with one. Compared to a solo founder, you and your partner(s) will collectively have more free time to meet with administrators, maintain larger academic networks from which to recruit members, generate more energy to host meetings and larger events, and bring diverse perspectives to your group discussions. You will also find that as the academic year ebbs and flows, co-founders can pick up each other’s slack and support each other through difficult exam periods. This is so important that we make cofoundership a requirement before you can apply for the Alt Protein Project.

Though we think it’s essential to start your group as a team, you should be thoughtful about picking your co-founder and other team members.

Looking for a co-founder
Some people may feel alone in their interest in alternative protein and aren’t sure who to approach as a potential co-founder. If you’re having difficulty finding a partner, consider going to meetings or events hosted by student groups related to food technology, sustainability, effective altruism, and animal welfare to meet mission-aligned individuals. You can also reach out to GFI to see if anyone else from your school has contacted us about founding a group! If they’ve given us permission to share their contact information, we’ll put you in touch.

Once you’ve identified a few potential candidates, here are some things to consider when choosing a dedicated co-founder.

Mission-alignment: Pick someone who is passionate about creating a world where alternative proteins are no longer alternative. If you or your co-founder(s) are just doing this to fill in the “volunteer” section on your LinkedIn profile, it’s much more likely that one of you will take ill-advised shortcuts or out-and-out bail when you’re crunched for time.

Availability: Are you and your co-founders each taking five classes, including organic chemistry? Then regardless of how enthusiastic you are, this might not be a viable dream team. Group founders should treat the Alt Protein Project like another class: it will require a few hours of paperwork to establish an official university student group, more hours of planning for group meetings, and even more time if you want to launch ambitious research and education initiatives on campus.

Your co-founding team should have at least 10-20 collective hours a week to spend on group-related work. After your first semester running the group, the time commitment will likely become much less demanding.

Complementary skill sets: The most passionate people in the room don’t always make the best group leaders. We recommend taking stock of the responsibilities involved with running a student group and assessing whether your co-founding team has the complementary skill sets to make your vision a reality.

Responsibilities may include:

• Creative problem-solving with limited resources
• Energizing and inspiring your peers
• Paperwork, especially official registration work for the organization
• Financial responsibility, ranging from the handling of receipts to applying for funding
• Logistical planning, such as booking rooms, securing food, and delegating tasks for meetings and other events
• Advertising and recruiting, including securing slots in activities fairs and designing posters or other recruiting material
• Facilitating discussions with students and researchers about the challenges and opportunities around alternative proteins

And more! Check out our student resource hub for more information on the key responsibilities and opportunities associated with running a student group.

GFI connects alternative protein scientists, entrepreneurs, and other innovators across the world. We tap into our network to showcase and amplify the impact of our student groups. In addition to maintaining a collection of resources for students, GFI works closely with members of the Alt Protein Project to provide strategic mentorship, guidance, and ad hoc support. Alt Protein Project members have access to a Slack workspace where GFI staff answer questions and stimulate innovative discussions. And, of course, student leaders in the workspace support one another and celebrate shared successes!

Once a month, GFI hosts a student leader call that serves as a forum for connecting our global community. These calls include roundtables, training from alternative protein experts, collaborative problem-solving sessions, and networking activities. Each active student group is also eligible for grants to support group projects and activities, in addition to the funds student groups can raise independently. Additionally, GFI will work with student leaders to help amplify news about student group events, campaigns, and other public-facing projects across our network.