Introducing new SusChem Chair: Dr. Markus Steilemann

The European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry (SusChem) Board has announced that Dr. Markus Steilemann is its new Chair, succeeding Dr. Klaus Sommer who served six years in this position.

Dr. Steilemann (above), who will lead the Board in managing SusChem’s strategy and activities, brings valuable expertise in innovation and management. He is the Chief Commercial Officer of material producer Covestro and - since 2015 - a member of the Covestro Board of Management. His responsibilities encompass all commercial functions, including innovation and the company’s three segments: Polyurethanes, Polycarbonates and Coatings, Adhesives and Specialties.

Dr. Steilemann holds a PhD in Chemistry and started his career at the Bayer Group, where he moved to various management positions at the former Bayer MaterialScience, which has become Covestro in 2015.

SusChem beyond 2020

“I am honoured to take the leadership of SusChem at a time when new strategies in the European research and innovation policy, missions and funding beyond 2020 are being designed,” Dr. Steilemann said, adding that SusChem is already working together with the European Commission on the preparation of the next EU Framework Programme after Horizon 2020.

“The role of the chemical industry should feature prominently in it as the crucial link between scientific breakthroughs and societal challenges for delivering impact. The disruptive technologies needed to transform our economy and society towards a more sustainable future will be enabled through chemistry,” Dr. Steilemann underlined.

A driving force for KETs

SusChem is a driving force behind the EU strategy for Key Enabling Technologies. Under Dr. Sommer’s leadership its strategy was refocused and its role for accelerating innovation reinforced. 

SusChem now includes 14 national technology platforms, connecting national and regional sustainable chemistry initiatives and developing synergies with EU policy and funding schemes. 

Dr. Sommer (pictured right) played a decisive role in the discussions, initiated by SusChem, which lead to the establishment of the SPIRE Public-Private Partnership in the process industries and of which he was also Chair of the Board of Management.

2017 LRI Innovative Science Award Ceremony and Workshop on Making Sense of ‘Omics’

The winner of the prestigious LRI Innovative Science Award, worth €100,000, will be announced at the opening gala dinner of the 19th annual Cefic Long-range Research Initiative (LRI) workshop on November 15-16 in Brussels. The topic of the main workshop is “Making Sense of Omics”. 


Cefic’s LRI Innovative Science Award is Europe’s biggest prize for early career life scientists. It finances outstanding research contributions developing novel approaches for assessing the potential impact of chemicals on human health and the environment.

The research undertaken by the LRI programme complements that done by SusChem with  focus on technology innovation and chemical safety/omics for regulatory applications.

Participants attending the 19th Annual Workshop have the opportunity to gain insights into the LRI programme and its future direction.

Omics: global perpectives
This year’s workshop theme is “Making Sense of Omics”. A dedicated session will discuss the regulatory applications of omics from a European and US perspective.  ‘Omics’ describes a wide portfolio of biology research areas including genomics, proteomics and  or metabolomics.

The event showcases the results from LRI Programme projects and their impact on pressing issues around the technical aspects of chemicals policy. Chemicals-related topics to be examined at the workshop by leading scientists involved in policy making in Europe, Canada and the USA include:

• Biodegradation
• Bioaccumulation
• Carcinogenicity
• Inhalation nanotoxicology

Key speakers
Key speakers of interest to the media include:

• Dr Albert Piersma - professor in reproductive toxicology at Utrecht University and Senior Scientist at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands, member of the Dutch Health Council and of advisory committees for the EU, OECD and WHO
• Dr Frank Gobas – environmental toxicologist at Simon Foster University, Canada and a member of scientific expert groups and advisory boards for the UN, the US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and the Canadian government
• Dr Damian Helbing – assistant professor at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, USA

More information and registration
The LRI workshop takes place at two venues with the opening gala dinner and awards ceremony at Le Plaza Hotel in Brussels on the evening of 15 November with the workshop taking place at The Square conference facility in central Brussels on 16 November.

The full programme for the workshop is available here and you can register via this link. Participation is free.