Horizon Europe detailed proposal for next EU R&I programme published

On 7 June 2018 the European Commission published the proposed structure of the European Union’s next Framework Research and Innovation Programme: Horizon Europe. The proposal makes it the largest European Union Research and Innovation programme to date with an estimated budget of approximately €100 billion for the period 2021 – 2027.

Horizon Europe is set to be the EU’s biggest ever research and innovation funding programme and is designed for greater impact. 


The proposed budget allocation of €100 billion for 2021-2027 includes €97.6 billion under Horizon Europe (€3.5 billion of which will be allocated under the InvestEU Fund) and €2.4 billion for the Euratom Research and Training Programme. The innovation window of InvestEU will allow the use of loans, guarantees, equity and other market-based instruments to mobilise further public and private investment in research and innovation.

The Commission says, and SusChem agrees, that investing in research and innovation is investing in Europe’s future: helping Europe to compete globally while preserving the region’s unique social model. It improves the daily lives of millions of European and global citizens and helps to solve some of our biggest societal challenges.

Horizon Europe aims to strengthen EU science and technology through increased investment in highly skilled people and cutting-edge research. It will foster the EU’s industrial competitiveness and its innovation performance, notably supporting market-creating innovation via the new European Innovation Council (EIC) and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). And it will deliver on the EU’s strategic priorities, such as the Paris Agreement on climate change, and tackle global challenges that affect the quality of our daily lives.

What’s new?
There are several new elements in Horizon Europe. There will be increased support for breakthrough innovation through the EIC funding, mission-orientated research and innovation will deliver more and faster impact from project results and openness will be reinforced – an open science approach will be the norm. The programme will review and shape a new generation of European Partnerships in research and innovation and also look to simplify the rules for participation to reduce the administrative burden.

The structure of Horizon Europe will be based around three ‘pillars’: Open Science, Global Challenges and Industrial Competitiveness and Open Innovation.

The Open Science pillar, with €25.8 billion funding proposed, supports frontier research projects defined and driven by researchers themselves through the European Research Council (ERC) which will receive funding of €16.6 billion, funds fellowships and exchanges for researchers through Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.

The Global Challenges and Industrial Competitiveness pillar with funding of €52.7 billion directly supports research relating to societal challenges, reinforces technological and industrial capacities, and sets EU-wide missions with ambitious goals tackling some of our biggest problems.

The Open Innovation pillar with €13.5 billion funding aims to make Europe a front runner

in market-creating innovation via the European Innovation Council (€10 billion of funding). It will help develop the overall European innovation landscape, including through further strengthening the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) to foster the integration of business, research, higher education and entrepreneurship (€3 billion).

Sustainable Chemistry ready to respond
The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) reacted positively to the Horizon Europe announcement commending the level of ambition and commitment for Research & Innovation in the European Commission’s proposal and applauding the anticipated budget allocation for 2021-2027.

Marco Mensink, Cefic Director General said: “When the EU unravels the next financial framework, the Horizon Europe proposal should remain untouched, or even be increased in size. Sharing innovation efforts is one of the true values of Europe. We call upon member states and European Parliament to reflect this in the final negotiations and decisions.”

Cefic praised the European Commission for clearly recognising the innovative and enabling role of the industry by placing the pillar of the Global Challenges & Industrial Competitiveness at the heart of the Horizon Europe programme. The Commission’s ambition of making Europe an unparalleled global innovation hub is essential for global competitiveness.

The chemical industry also welcomed the Digital technologies and Industry cluster in Horizon Europe. A structural combination with industrial processes, materials development and new business model creation is key for investment and growth of the European chemical industry. SusChem will be well placed to contribute to this area (see below).

SusChem and KETs
Cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral partnerships through open innovation are essential in the new R&D programme to align the entire innovation ecosystem, including start-ups, and to bring innovation faster to market. This reflects the current approach of the SusChem innovation ecosystem.

In preparation for Horizon Europe, SusChem outlined its position on what can be achieved by Key Enabling Technologies (KETs). In a White paper on KETs and Horizon Europe published earlier this year the technology platform outlined the major technology developments and initiatives needed to:

• create Advanced Materials for use in energy efficiency (e.g., light weight), renewable electricity production and energy storage (e.g., batteries elements), or smart functionalities responding to stimuli (e.g., self-repair),
• develop Advanced Process Technologies, including Industrial Biotechnology, for more sustainable production including through utilisation of alternative carbon feedstock (waste, biomass, CO2) and alternative energy sources, and
• leverage Digital Technologies for use in advanced process control and materials modelling, to enable disruptive business models and to create new customer experiences.

You can read the full paper here.

Innovation in these areas is essential for the EU to grow a low carbon, circular and digital economy and to continue generating jobs and attracting investments and will be at the heart of the Horizon Europe programme in the Digital technologies and Industry cluster and other areas.

Help shape the SusChem contribution in these three areas at our Annual Stakeholder event in Brussels on 20 June and celebrate a fruitful future in Horizon Europe!

The European Commission press release announcing the Horizon Europe structure is available here and a detailed annex giving much more information on the proposal is available here.

Announcing the 2017 European Responsible Care Awards

The European Responsible Care Awards 2017 organised by Cefic are now open for entries. The Responsible Care Programme has been at the heart of the Chemical Industry for many years.  And each year, the Responsible Care Awards enable chemical companies to demonstrate their commitment to this unique initiative. But be quick - the final date for applications to be submitted is 10 May 2017.

The European Responsible Care Awards provide Cefic member companies the opportunity to share effective and innovative projects for cooperation up and down the product chain, energy efficiency and combating climate change initiatives, health, safety and environmental excellence that demonstrate the business value of Responsible Care and its ability to enable engagement with stakeholders.

Cefic is looking forward to your entries and for 2017 is particularly encouraging SMEs to participate. Take part in the competition and get your work done in front of the people that matter! The Awards will be presented at a ceremony during the Cefic Chemical Convention in Vienna that takes place on 27 October 2017.

What does it involve?
Do you believe your organisation deserves increased visibility for its commitment and accomplishments in applying the Responsible Care principles? Are you keen to present your efforts and achievements that are actively contributing to the Responsible Care objectives? Do you consider your project outstanding?

The 2017 European Responsible Care Awards, managed by Cefic, are looking for examples in one of the three categories (listed below) that embrace the Responsible Care ethic.

1. Chemical substances safety
Projects that demonstrate their excellence in addressing health and safety issues related to products in the way they are developed, manufactured, distributed, used and disposed of in a responsible manner. This category recognises value chain projects that help companies set up and improve their chemicals management procedures. It also recognises projects related to the Product Stewardship initiative which, in line with chemicals regulations, addresses management of risks and improvement of the performance of products in the fields of health and safety during its entire life cycle.

2. Occupational health, process safety and security
Projects that either

• demonstrate their excellence in occupational health, by the means of improved or sustained health programme performance and a healthy workforce and workplace, which includes but is not limited to management commitment, employee engagement and evidence of a culture of proactive health risk management and well-being support initiatives, or 
• demonstrate their outstanding and exemplary record in implementing effective process safety management systems from process design to continued operation and routine maintenance, best practises and improvements for chemical prevention, preparedness and response to reduce major process hazards and risks for on-site operations, or 
• demonstrate their outstanding performance in management practises to protect people, property, products, processes, information and information systems by enhancing security, including security against potential terrorist attacks of industrial sites.

3. Environment Responsibility
Projects that either

• demonstrate excellence in environmental processes and products over their life cycles so as to avoid harm to people and the environment by reducing their pollutant emissions to air, water and soil and to limit environmental hazards related to their operations through the development of innovative technology. Also using resources efficiently and minimising waste, or implementing solutions for a circular economy, or
• demonstrate their outstanding performance in energy efficiency, renewable or low-carbon energy along the supply chain. This area gathers projects that relate to the SPiCE3 initiative, that effectively contribute to, or favour, a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and have a proven impact across the whole economy. This category also addresses the efficient management of energy to improve practises and technologies in heat and power generation, the review of the steam flow in processes and its optimisation, and the use of electricity.

Judging criteria
Entries will be assessed by a panel of independent judges, including representatives from EU institutions, other industries, trade associations and the media. Judging of all entries will take place in June 2017. The jury will select one winner in the each of the three categories.

Winning projects should have elements of originality, innovative features and best practise sharing within the chemical industry and with customer industries.

For more information about the 2017 Responsible Care Award, including guidelines for applications and information on past winners, please visit the Responsible Care Award pages on the Cefic website, or contact Katleen Raes at Cefic.

European Polymer Federation Congress, Lyon, July 2017

The 16th European Polymer Federation Congress (EPF 2017) takes place in Lyon from 2-7 July 2017. The Congress promises to be an exceptional rendezvous for all polymer scientists and engineers belonging to universities, institutions, and companies from around the World. The Congress theme is ‘From last trends in polymer science to cutting-edge industrial innovations’. 

With invited plenary talks and some 40 keynote presentations given by renowned speakers from leading international teams EPF 2017 will present the latest trends, results, and applications for polymers and polymer science.

With the highly relevant selected topic areas and the anticipated high participation from all areas of the polymer science world and related fields, the EPF 2017 congress will be an important place for inspiring international and interdisciplinary exchanges at the forefront of polymer science and technology. The EPF 2017 Congress aspires to be the place to identify the hottest topics in polymer science and the latest applications of polymers, to meet all the polymer community, to discuss,  and design new collaborations, … and to discover Lyon as well!

The EPF 2017 Congress topics include:

• Macromolecular Chemistry
• Polymerisation Processes
• Physics of Polymers & Polymer Materials
• Polymer Characterisation Methods
• Modelling & Simulation

Sessions will also cover Polymers as Answers to Societal Issues including topics such as Energy, Transport and Mobility, Resources and Environment, Global Health, Information Society, Polymers and the Industry of the Future

On Tuesday 4 July, EPF 2017 will also be hosting , the second Australian-European Workshop that will illustrate connections, interactions and collaborations between European and Australian polymer researchers.

The extensive list of plenary speakers for EPF 2017 includes Prof. Jean-Marie Lehen, Université Strasbourg; Dr. Floryan De Campo, Head of Technology Specialty Polymers Solvay Company; Prof. Emmanuel Giannelis, Cornell University; Prof. Gaetano Guerra, Università degli Studi di Salerno; Prof. Laura Kiessling, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Prof. Joao Mano, University of Aveiro; Prof. Rolf Mulhaupt, Freiburg University; Prof. Anthony Ryan, Sheffield University; and Dr. Søren Kristiansen, LEGO Group Sustainable Materials.

Get involved!
All participants are invited to submit abstracts for oral or poster presentations. Submitted abstracts will be peer reviewed for their acceptance by the International Advisory Board and the Organising Committee. If the organisers cannot accept an oral presentation, presenters will be invited to present their research via a poster presentation.

Online registration and abstract submission are open now, but be quick as the deadline for abstract submission for an oral presentation is 31 January and notification of acceptance of the abstract is 15 March. The deadline for abstract submission for a ‘last-minute’ poster presentation is 31 March.

Find out more on the EPF 2017 website. For further details contact the EPF 2017 Congress Secretariat via email.

EFIB 2015: Is the Chemical Industry catching up with Biobased?

The European Forum for Industrial Biotechnology and the Bioeconomy (EFIB) is the market leading annual event in Europe for Industrial Biotechnology and the Bioeconomy. And the 2015 event on 27-29 October promises to be better than ever. The eighth EFIB takes place at The Square in Brussels and will welcome some 90 industry experts and over 700 delegates from the leading sectors in biobased value chains and address the future of the bioeconomy in Europe. SusChem and Cefic are organising a dedicated session on biobased chemical value chains as part of EFIB2015.

Industrial Biotechnology is currently worth €23 billion – this represents just 6% of sales in the overall worldwide chemicals market. However, the sector is significantly out-performing the overall chemicals market at an impressive 20% annual growth rate. and it has the potential to become the dominant technology of tomorrow’s chemicals industry representing a huge future opportunity.

Delivering on this opportunity will require significant investment, innovation and value chain development and, most importantly, new collaborations across the sector. In addition the chemical industry is faced with important challenges posed by high energy prices, the impact of the shale gas boom on the development of biobased chemicals markets and the ongoing need for predictable, coherent and supportive policy in the EU.

A biobased Chemical Industry?
In order to understand and overcome these challenges and prosper in the industrial biotechnology market, industry experts throughout the vibrant and innovative biobased community are coming together to discuss the key issues at EFIB2015.

The Cefic session at EFIB2015 takes place on the morning of 29 October and will be chaired and introduced by Pierre Barthélemy, Executive Director Research and Innovation at Cefic. The view of the European Commission DG GROW will be given by Reinhard Buescher, Head of Unit for Chemicals Industry.

Insights from industry will be presented by François Monnet from Solvay,  Dr. Henrike Gebhardt of Evonik Industries AG, Dr. Stefan Lundmark of Perstorp AB, and Dr Marcel Wubbolts from DSM. The presentations will be followed by a group discussion.

SusChem and the bioeconomy
The SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) has a dedicated chapter on ‘A Sustainable and Inclusive Bioeconomy’ and SusChem is an essential link between the chemical industry, industrial biotechnology and stakeholders in the bioeconomy.

The platform is actively involved in two large and relevant PPPs between the European Commission and industry launched in 2014:

• The Joint Technology Initiative ‘Biobased Industries’ (BBI) that brings together research and industry partners along the whole value chain of biobased products and focuses on innovation for products from biobased feedstock.
• The PPP ‘Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency’ (SPIRE) that provides a solid basis for academia, SMEs, and multinational companies to collaborate on cross-sectorial initiatives in these areas.

SusChem contributes to the alignment of both initiatives. The interface between BBI and SPIRE is the provision and use of biobased platform chemicals. In addition, both PPPs may support projects using biotechnological conversion processes and specific improvements of biotechnology processes may be eligible for funding through either PPP. SusChem will enable the coherence of ongoing and future funding initiatives and the deployment of flagship projects that demonstrate technological leadership and that Europe is a globally competitive location to invest in the bioeconomy.

More information on EFIB
Delegates to EFIB2015 will receive a comprehensive update on the status and outlook for the biobased industries in Europe and globally. EFIB is proud to foster engagement between policy makers, a broad range of stakeholders connected with the existing biobased value chain and seeks to reach out to, and include, new interlocutors. EFIB2015 is the only meeting to combine high-level discussions on business and policymaking.

If you book by 8 August you can save € 300 on your registration.

The conference kicks off with a set of pre-conference Workshops on 27 October with the full conference on 28 October and 29 October. You can request a full conference brochure here.

K4I presents ‘What Digital’ / ‘What Smart’ for Advanced Manufacturing

Knowledge4Innovation (K4I) is holding a K4I Forum Dinner debate on 'What “Digital” / What “Smart” for Advanced Manufacturing?’ on Tuesday 12 May from 19h30 to 22h00 in the Members Salon of the European Parliament in Brussels. The event will be hosted by Mr Victor Negrescu MEP.

Advanced manufacturing is undergoing an unprecedented transformation. As an industrial renaissance takes hold in Europe, advanced manufacturing is being transformed in multiple ways. From the nature of work within a plant to the physical technology used, the traditional picture of manufacturing is fast becoming outdated.

Europe is well positioned to take a leading role in this transformation. Advanced manufacturing in Europe is diverse, technologically advanced, produces high quality products and employs a highly trained workforce. A key economic activity, it provides over 20% of Europe’s jobs and generates 67% of its exports.

But there are a certain challenges that advanced manufacturing in Europe faces in its struggle to improve competitiveness and similar issues also face the ICT sector. At this forum participants will explore the transformation currently underway in advanced manufacturing and its specific technological and non-technological needs and the further potential for “smart” transformation. Participants will also debate what digitalisation and the introduction of the 'internet of things' means for manufacturing as well as the management of 'big data'.

Issues

• Status of ICT use in advanced manufacturing
• Potential of even further ICT-enabled advanced manufacturing for a European Industrial Renaissance
• Current challenges faced in going forward
• Approaches to sustainability

Questions

• What are the challenges of the advanced manufacturing industry that can be solved by ICT?
• What are the main challenges that the ICT industry / community need to solve in order to enable its best use by an advanced manufacturing?
• What common non-technological issues need to be addressed and how to make Europe a competitive place for advanced manufacturing?
• What EU action is currently being taken, and should be taken, to support digitalisation in and around advanced manufacturing?

Speakers at the event include Zeljko Pazin Executive Director, EFFRA (who will act as Moderator); Prof. Egbert-Jan, Vice Chairman, EFFRA; Rudolf Strohmeier of DG RTD, European Commission; Khalil Rouhana of DG Connect, European Commission; and Danuta Hübner, MEP

More information and registration
For more information on the event, please visit the K4I website. To register directly, please click here. Registration is open until Tuesday 5 May.

Sixth European Innovation Summit: A Mandate for Innovation in Europe

The Sixth European Innovation Summit (6EIS), organised by Knowledge4innovation, will take place from 17 to 20 November 2014 at the European Parliament in Brussels and Cefic and SusChem will be there to show how sustainable chemistry can inspire and lead innovation for growth in Europe.

The programme features more than 25 conference sessions and discussions on important topics for innovation in Europe and presents more than 100 speakers from the European parliament, the European Commission, the educational and the private sectors. The motto of this year’s summit is ‘A Mandate for Innovation in Europe’: innovation should be a top strategic priority in the new institutional cycle of the European Union and the centerpiece of a revised Europe 2020 strategy.

Innovation to market
Cefic-SusChem is involved with a number of the events taking place at the 6EIS including a breakfast debate on 'Advanced Manufacturing for a new European Industrial Renaissance' on the morning of 18 November.

“Despite Europe’s strong performance in research, we still lack the ability to bring innovation swiftly and successfully to the market,” comments Gernot Klotz, Executive Director Research and Innovation at Cefic. “Therefore, we need a critical mass to push the market uptake of our innovations by working along the entire value chain. It is only by working together that we can reach the true potential of Europe’s innovation capacity. We shouldn’t design materials and cars, but rather materials for cars.”

Now, more than ever, Europeans need industry and industry needs Europe. To establish the roots of a viable economy for growth and jobs, industrial production is paramount to ensure the future of Europe and a high living standard for its citizens. However, under global competition, a new European Industrial Renaissance can only be achieved through a rejuvenated, and therefore sustainable, advanced manufacturing and processing sector.

Europe must integrate resource and energy efficiency along the full value chains where all input resources (including raw materials, renewable feedstocks, energy and water), all processes, output materials (including products, by-products and waste streams) and all recycle options can be  fully optimised.

“This means opening minds and our business models to new concepts and materials for sustainable and smart construction and urban mobility,” continues Gernot Klotz. “Where self-healing properties, printed electronics, 3D printing can really leap-frog Europe into the 21st century.”

Europe – industry and the public - needs to be enthused by breakthrough key enabling technologies that would make science fiction become reality: such as transforming CO2 into a renewable power engine both for industry and daily life.

“We need to give a chance to “good-old-manufacturing” to become the new, responsible “high-tech-made-in-Europe-driver” of endless possibilities,” concludes Gernot Klotz.

Speakers at the event will include Rudolf Strohmeier,  Deputy Director General, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission; Gernot Klotz, Executive Director Research and Innovation, CEFIC; and Henna Virkkunen, Member of the European Parliament.

Innovative programme
For a sixth consecutive year 6EIS brings together EU’s political, business, academic and scientific elite and provides a valuable opportunity for networking and sharing experience with other innovative organisations and high level EU policy makers. What is more, the summit is a unique chance to meet the newly elected MEPs and learn about their plans for the future of innovation in Europe.

Cefic –SusChem will actively participate in a number of events; in particular on 18 November when contributions will be made in two morning sessions (‘Framework conditions and obstacles to innovation in Europe’ and ‘Horizon 2020: First impressions and expressions’ – where new Research Commissioner Carlos Moedas will speak) and one of the afternoon sessions (‘The role of innovation for a secure and affordable energy in Europe’)

The 6EIS programme also features conference sessions on important "horizontal" aspects of innovation such as Framework conditions for innovation, TTIP, Horizon 2020, as well as parallel sessions for specific sectors for which innovation is the major resource to overcome the big challenges ahead: agriculture, energy, transport, health, climate, IT.

The detailed programme for the summit can be found here.

Exhibition space
During the four days of the event, delegates will also have the opportunity to visit the special EIS Exhibition Space where a number of organisations, including Cefic – SusChem, will present concrete case studies from their day-to-day experience and demonstrate their innovative and technological achievements and solutions.

Cefic – SusChem will be highlighting the role of sustainable chemistry in innovation for growth and including how developments in chemistry and materials are fuelling additive manufacturing and potentially revolutionising how we make ‘stuff’: minimising waste and energy use while maximising consumer choice.

K4I
Knowledge4Innovation is an open, independent, nonprofit platform with a wide variety of stakeholders including small and large companies, universities and research centers, regions and cities, trade organisations and think tanks. It is the leading Brussels based innovation platform operating within the environment of the EU Institutions. K4I includes members from the private, academic and public sectors and includes large networks such as EUREKA, COST, Cefic, ECPA and EFPIA as well as universities, regional development organisations, cities, think tanks and small enterprises.

For more information visit the K4I website or email the K4I secretariat.

BIO-TIC Workshops: Building blocks, Biofuels and Bioplastics

Three Bio-Business workshops are being organised by SusChem’s FP7 BIO-TIC project during Q4 2014. The workshops will help shape BIO-TIC’s strategic agenda to boost the uptake of industrial biotechnology (IB) in Europe. The workshops cover three major IB product segments that promise significant potential for Europe’s industry and society: Chemical Building Blocks, Biofuels and Bioplastics.

Building blocks
The first workshop takes place on 1 October in Reims, France as part of the major IB event: the European Forum for Industrial Biotechnology and the Biobased Economy (EFIB 2014). Its title is: "Chemical Building Blocks – What do we need to do to build sustainable foundations for the bio-based chemical industry in Europe?”

“The objective of this workshop is to collect input from stakeholders interested in chemical building blocks, discuss the main hurdles that impact the use of IB in this market segment and develop concrete actions to mitigate these hurdles,” says Pierre Barthélemy, Innovation Manager at Cefic. “The information collected during this and the other workshops will be included in the final version of the BIO-TIC roadmap that will be published in mid-2015.”

Biofuels
The second workshop is organised in London on 23 October and covers "Advanced Biofuels – Fuelling the Industry in Europe." Although at present the production of advanced biofuels world-wide is still quite low, various policy drivers both in the EU and elsewhere provide a significant incentive for their future development. However, many hurdles exist to the full exploitation of advanced biofuels production in the EU.

The outputs of this workshop will be used in the development of a roadmap to identify research and innovation funding priorities within the EU and will help shape the EU research and innovation agenda to 2030.

You can download a flyer for this workshop here.

Bioplastics
Finally a workshop entitled "Bio-based Plastics – How do we grow the EU Industry?” will be held on 1 December in Brussels. Today, bio-based plastics have an established market, demonstrating rapid growth both in Europe and globally. While Europe is currently the largest producer and user of bio-based plastics, this situation is expected to change in the future with production increasingly being based in countries where feedstocks are cheaper and where production costs are lower. Even with increasing fossil fuel prices expected to make bio-based plastics more competitive compared to fossil-derived plastics, ensuring the cost-competitiveness of EU bio-based plastics production compared to other regions globally is expected to become an increasingly difficult challenge.

“Stakeholders interested in bioplastics will have the opportunity to discuss the main hurdles that impact the use of industrial biotechnology in the bioplastics market segment and propose concrete actions to overcome these hurdles,” explains Pierre Barthélemy.

Registration for all the workshops is now open and can be accessed via a dedicated website.

Objectives
With these workshops and two previous events, the BIO-TIC project consortium aims to bring together industrial biotechnology end users (downstream) with technology providers (upstream), innovation agencies and decision makers to stimulate interconnected discussion and knowledge exchange platforms and processes.

The objectives of all the workshops are to:

• identify technological, non-technological and market hurdles for the uptake of industrial biotechnology in these sectors, 
• develop recommendations and solutions to overcome the identified hurdles, 
• contribute to the development, testing and fine-tuning of the BIO-TIC roadmaps,
• bring together industrial biotechnology end users (downstream) with technology providers (upstream), innovation agencies and decision makers to stimulate interconnected discussion and knowledge exchange platforms and processes,
• collect data to develop draft indicators to measure the socio-economic and environmental impact of IB and the use of renewables-based products in the European Union.

More information
Input from the market and experts in industry and research are critical to build a basis for the BIO-TIC roadmaps and to ensure that actions are developed which best fit the needs of this sector. SusChem, Cefic, EuropaBio and all the BIO-TIC partners welcome any comments on the current draft documents. You can submit comments via email.  

For more information on the BIO-TIC project and the business-case workshops visit the project website or contact Pierre Barthélemy, Innovation Manager at Cefic.

Who is Europe’s Most Innovative CTO?

Who is the most innovative European technology leader you know? Spinverse Ltd. and EIRMA, the European Industrial Research Management Association, have launched this year's quest for Europe's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the Year. And they are looking for your nominations.

The CTO of the Year award is designed to highlight the role of the most prominent leaders of technology-based growth, promoting innovations to renew European industry and boosting Europe’s competitive advantage. The winner does not have to be CTO by title, however, he or she must be responsible for technology and its development in their company. The competition is based on an open call for nominations, across industry sectors and across Europe.
 
The award will be given to the most innovative technology leader, bringing significant value to their company’s growth through technology. An inspiring team-builder and a leader, he or she must be a passionate communicator of the benefit of technology to all stakeholders in an understandable way. The company represented by him or her will have an innovative and competitive - or an exciting, emerging - technology-enabled offering in Europe and globally.

As Robert-Jan Smits, Director-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission says: "Europe needs to celebrate those who advance technology and innovate. Initiatives like the ‘CTO of the Year award’ are very welcome as they lead to role models and further strengthen innovation in Europe."

More information
For more information, visit http://www.ctoeurope.net. Nominations are open until August 24th. You can also follow the award on Twitter at @CTO_Europe.

Green light for Bio-Based Industries Initiative!

Today (6 May) EU governments have given the green light to roll out, over 2014-2020, an ambitious Innovation Investment Package worth over €20 billion for public and private investment in research and innovation.  The package is set to tackle some of the EU’s major societal challenges and boost growth and jobs through strategic public-private partnerships (PPP); in particular through the new Bio-Based Industries (BBI) PPP.

The BBI will create new jobs, especially in rural regions, and offer Europeans new and sustainable products sourced and produced locally. Making the economy more sustainable by using renewable resources in a smart and efficient manner will benefit society as a whole.

Bio-based industries will increase the competitiveness of the European economy through re-industrialisation and sustainable growth. New value chains will be created between often unconnected sectors, ranging from primary production and processing industries to consumer brands.

The development of new bio-based products and markets based on smart and efficient use of resources will diversify industries’ revenue streams. The BBI should therefore enable European companies to be more competitive in the global bioeconomy race with the US, China and Brazil.

The BBI is expected to bridge European research knowledge with commercial scale bio-based products, making full use of European scientific and technological knowledge. SusChem has played a significant role in laying the foundations of the BBI initiative and looks forward to supporting its development.

The BBI should benefit all Member States where regions can play an important role through their Smart Specialisation Strategies.

Now that EU governments have given their green light, the BBI will be officially established on the day of publication of the Regulation in the Official Journal of the European Union in early- mid-June.

9 July: launch of the first BBI Calls

The BBI’s first Call for Proposals will be launched on 9 July. The BBI will fund projects aimed at: 

• Building new value chains based on the development of sustainable biomass collection and supply systems with increased productivity and improved utilisation of biomass feedstock (including co- and by-products); 
• Unlocking the utilisation and valorisation of waste and lignocellulosic biomass; 
• Bringing existing value chains to new levels, through optimised uses of feedstock and industrial side-streams while offering innovative added value products to the market, thus creating a market pull and reinforcing the competitiveness of EU agriculture and forest based industries.  
• Bringing technology to maturity through research and innovation, by upgrading and building demonstration and flagship biorefineries that will process the biomass into a range of innovative bio-based products. 

About the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking

The Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking is a €3.7 billion Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the EU and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC). 
The BBI is dedicated to realising the European bioeconomy potential, by turning biological residues and wastes into greener everyday products through innovative technologies and biorefineries, which are at the heart of the bioeconomy.

The BBI is about bridging key sectors, creating new value chains and producing a range of innovative bio-based products to ultimately form a new bio-based community and economy. 

BIC, the industrial partner in the PPP, hosts a unique mix of sectors including agriculture, agro-food, technology providers, forest-based/pulp and paper, chemicals and energy. It is an association that was specifically established in 2012 to collectively represent the private sector in the BBI. To date, BIC has 69 full industrial members (large, SMEs, clusters) and over 100 associate members (RTOs, universities, associations, technology platforms). And it is still growing. 

For more information contact the BIC secretariat or visit the BIC website where you can also find the latest BIC newsletter.

SusChem is at Industrial Technologies 2014!

The European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry (SusChem) has joined forces with the Greek Presidency of the EU to promote Smart Growth through Research and Innovation at the European Commission’s major Industrial Technologies 2014 event that is taking place in Athens from 9 – 11 April. 

The Industrial Technologies 2014 conference is part of the programme of the Greek Presidency of the EU and integrates nanotechnology, biotechnology, advanced materials and new production technologies; all areas where SusChem has a leading role in coordinating and initiating research and innovation projects and programmes.

SusChem will demonstrate its broad influence in pushing forward industrial technologies and competitiveness in Europe in collaboration with many partners.
 
Sustainable chemistry is a key enabler to ensure competitiveness in Europe and a vital component of almost all value chains across the continent.

Dr. Jacques Komornicki, Cefic Innovation Manager and SusChem Manager, will be leading the SusChem team at Industrial Technologies 2014 and says: “SusChem is at Industrial Technologies 2014 to continue to provide input into the Horizon 2020 programme as it evolves and to ensure that sustainable chemistry remains at the forefront of European innovation.”

Dr. Komornicki is a member of the external advisory group for the conference.

Visit Stand B6
The SusChem stand will be at Booth B6 in the exhibition area and will highlight how innovation and chemistry can help tackle societal challenges (see below).

As well as highlighting SusChem and its European and national technology platform network, the stand will feature the two major SusChem inspired public-private partnerships under Horizon 2020:

• BioBased Industry Consortium (BIC) JTI – using renewable resources and innovative technologies to create greener everyday products [link to IndTech2014 poster]
• Sustainable Process Industries through Resource and Energy Efficiency (SPIRE) contractual PPP – dedicated to resource and energy efficiency across multiple process sectors [link to IndTech2014 poster]

The stand will also showcase four on-going SusChem FP7-funded projects:

• Bio-Tic – assessing the future of European industrial biotechnology [link to IndTech2014 poster]
• CRM_InnoNet – substitution of critical raw materials [link to IndTech2014 poster]
• MatVal – a value chain approach to materials research and innovation [link to IndTech2014 poster]
• R4R – resource and energy efficiency in the regional chemical industry [link to IndTech2014 poster]

These projects exemplify SusChem’s strategic approach. “The FP7 projects show how the knowledge we gain from these projects then feeds into our strategic research and innovation agenda,” comments Dr. Komornicki.

You can download the SusChem poster for IndTech 2014 here.

Conference speakers
SusChem will also be taking a leading role in the conference sessions. Dr. Gernot Klotz, Cefic Executive Director Research and Innovation, will be speaking in the plenary session on ‘Horizon 2020, NMP and Regional Funds Research Strategies’. This plenary session will investigate how the mission of Horizon 2020 can help target regional growth and promote ‘SusChem’ enabling technologies, and how this will benefit everyday life and society at large.

Also at the conference Antonia Morales Perez, Cefic Innovation Manager, will be chairing the session entitled ‘Ensuring availability and security of water supplies – New business opportunities for European industry’.

Morales Perez says “ensuring the security of our water supplies is challenging in Europe because the water business is not considered to be very profitable and needs a broader perspective since water affects not only citizens and water sectors, but also has a strong impact on industry activity and growth.”

She continues: “the chemical sector is committed to collaborating with other sectors for the benefit of Europe and our focus here today is on how the chemical Industry can help boost sustainable water management.”

Other sustainable chemistry speakers can be found featured throughout the conference programme.

Showing the benefits of chlorine chemistry

Euro Chlor, the Brussels-based business association representing chlor-alkali producers in Europe, has just launched a new website featuring the many advantages and benefits of chlorine-based chemistry. The site describes chlorine-based chemistry applications in ten areas of everyday life, from feeding the planet to transportation solutions and home comfort.

Many people know the role of chlorine in disinfecting drinking water and swimming pools, but the wide variety of other uses of chlorine chemistry is relatively unknown. This will change with the new Euro Chlor website.

On the ‘Chlorine Things’ site you can learn how to swim faster than a fish, the way solar cells are produced and how pavements can clean polluted air – all thanks to chlorine chemistry. You can watch videos about how chlorine reacts with metals, and how virtually all communication relies on chlorine chemistry.

The site is also a portal to dialogue with Euro Chlor. The organization is eager to know what its website visitors think about chlorine chemistry. The homepage presents a range of interactive buttons that offer different possibilities for dialogue with the Euro Chlor. Visitors can post links to chlorine-related videos or just ask any chlorine-related question and there is the possibility to win a prize in the process! Click-through links allow visitors to connect with all major chlorine industry websites worldwide.

Why not visit the Chlorine Things website and start a fascinating journey through the chlorine universe!

Save the Date: SusChem's 10th Anniversary Celebration

This year SusChem will be celebrating its 10^th anniversary. And to mark a decade of sustainable chemistry research and innovation leadership in Europe the 12^th SusChem Stakeholder Event will be extra special! Our 10 year anniversary celebration will take place over two days in Brussels: 11 and 12 June 2014.

The theme of the 10-year celebration is: 'Sustainable Chemistry: Always at the Forefront of Innovation.' At the event we will be looking for SusChem stakeholders to contribute to defining our new Strategic Research Innovation Agenda for the next decade and we will be celebrating SusChem successes stories from the past ten years.

Ten years of success
The SusChem European Technology Platform was officially launched in Brussels on 6 July, 2004 by the European Commission, together with Cefic and EuropaBio, with the aim to "increase the attractiveness of investments in chemical R&D and innovation in Europe."

“Research is the primary source of innovation in the knowledge-intensive chemical industry and is driving the sector forward,” said European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin at the launch. “The European chemical industry has an impressive track record of developing new products and manufacturing processes, but the challenge is to improve the transformation of laboratory ideas into new sustainable products and services to boost EU competitiveness.”

Save the date
This special SusChem Stakeholder event takes place on 11 -12 June at the Renaissance Hotel in Brussels. Join us in celebrating this important occasion for SusChem and sustainable chemistry in Europe, and help to pave the way forward for future SusChem success!

More details will be available soon and registration for the event will open on Monday 24 March via the SusChem website.

Innovative Financing for Innovative Water SMEs

On 24 January 2014, the European Water Platform (WssTP) and the European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN) are organising an information day on public funding opportunities for SMEs in the water sector. The session is also organised through the FINNOWATER Action Group of the European Innovation Partnership on Water (EIP Water).

This afternoon workshop entitled 'All you wanted to know about financing innovative SMEs but…' will start with a networking lunch at 12:30 and give a comprehensive overview of funding schemes available for SMEs in 2014. The event will be of interest to all stakeholders wishing to gain an understanding of the current funding opportunities. and takes place at the Netherlands Embassy in Brussels, Kortenberglaan 4-10, 1040 Brussels.

Funding opportunities addressed will include, amongst others EIB, Eco-ovation, Horizon 2020, the SME instrument COSME, Eurostars, Acqueau, crowdfunding, and business angels.

The event will be followed by a networking cocktail. The event may also be web-streamed for interested people that are not able to attend in person: this will be confirmed in the near future.

The EIP Water is strongly supporting this event and will include the outcomes in a practical guide for European water innovation funding opportunities which will be developed in the next few months.

For more information on the final programme for the workshop here and pre-registration can be found on the WssTP website.

Founded in 2001, ERRIN is a Brussels-based platform of regions dedicated to strengthening regional research and innovation capacities in Europe by exchanging information, sharing best practice, supporting project development, policy shaping and profile raising.

One Million in Prizes! Ten years of LRI Innovative Science Awards

The recent LRI Annual Workshop in Brussels on 21 November was the occasion to celebrate ten years of the LRI Innovative Science award. The event saw the presentation of this prestigious award for younger scientists to its tenth recipient: Dr. Sabine Langie of VITO. Dr Langie received her prize of € 100 000 from Prof. Ellen Fritsche of the University of Dusseldorf: herself a previous winner and now a member of LRI’s External Scientific Advisory Panel (ESAP).

The Cefic-LRI award programme has been hugely successful over the past decade. The LRI Innovative Science Award was established in 2004 to inspire highly innovative and industry relevant projects in biomedical toxicology and ecotoxicology led by promisingly early career scientists.

The prize of € 100 000 has been awarded annually ever since - boosting the careers of ten younger European scientists in the challenging fields with which LRI is engaged.

This year’s award – making a total of one million euros distributed to research projects under this element of the Cefic-LRI programme so far – was presented by Prof Fritsche (below, left) to Dr Sabine Langie (below, right) of the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO) at the LRI Annual Workshop.

Dr. Langie will use the award to broaden her current work on the analysis of DNA methylation patterns in the saliva of children participating in two significant birth cohort studies in Flanders. She is exploring the hypothesis that prenatal chemical exposures can alter foetal DNA methylation patterns and predispose the child to develop allergic diseases later in life.

The use of saliva is less burdensome for the children in study and easier to collect than, for example, blood samples. The ultimate aim of the study is to develop prevention strategies (including reduction of chemical exposure), particularly in children, and reduce the societal burden associated with allergic diseases.

Career boost
Reviewing the history of the award Prof. Fritsche, who won the award in 2006, described the prize as: “Nitromethane for an Early Career – the LRI award was a big accelerator for my career - a rocket!” This view was echoed by contributions from other awardees over the years.

Dr Roman Ashauer of York University won the award in 2007 and says: “The Cefic-LRI Award allowed me to pursue my own ideas. It was motivation, encouragement and the crucial bit of extra fuel in the tank to push the envelope.”

Similarly Prof Paul van den Brink of Wageningen University, the winner in 2005, commented: “The award gave me the first sense of academic freedom. It was a real push to my career and opened doors for further funding.”

The first ever winner of the award in 2004 Prof Roger Godschalk of Maastricht University is still feeing the effects of the award saying: “With the LRI-award, I was able to put my ideas into practice. It eventually evolved in to my own research line at our institute, which I can continue to build even 10 years after winning the CEFIC LRI-award.”

“Winning this award has been a pivotal factor in my research and professional career. It has allowed me to create my research group, managing my own research budget and having two PhD students working alongside me in the project,” said 2010 winner Dr Maria Saborit of Birmingham University.

Data mining
Delegates to the LRI workshop also got an update on the work of 2012 winner Dr Andreas Bender of the University of Cambridge who is looking to determine biologically relevant effects of compound exposure by chemical, biological and phenotypic data integration.

The in-silico prediction of in-vivo toxicology of a particular compound is a non trivial problem due to the lack of direct correlations between structural features and toxicity. However chemical, protein target and phenotypic data provide complementary bioactivity data and Dr Bender’s work is based on the hypothesis that more accurate toxicity predictions could be made by integrating these data. His core expertise is in data mining and the research has had success in predicting likely protein targets for compounds based on their structure in areas such as mode of action analysis, modelling of bioactivities, natural products and traditional medicines.

The performance of the model algorithm used is increasing all the time and Dr Bender is looking to the ultimate objective of automated prediction of targets given only their chemical structure. These techniques will be useful in future personalised medicine scenarios and he has recently received a € 1.5 million ERC Starter Grant to extend the work towards bioactive mixture modelling.

More information
Details of the next LRI Innovative Science Award will be released in early 2014. The focus of this eleventh competition will be in one of the environmental areas of research covered by LRI. For more details keep an eye on the Cefic-LRI website and to find out more about all previous winners click here.

SusChem at Ecochem

The Ecochem Exhibition and Conference on Smart and Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering taking place on 19 – 21 November in Basel, Switzerland will feature an all-day SusChem session. In addition the various conference streams will include presentations from many SusChem personalities.

The SusChem technical session will take place on the first day of Ecochem (Tuesday 19 November) after a plenary opening session by Hubert Mandery, Director-General of Cefic.

SusChem coordinator Jacques Komornicki will open the special day-long session that will include contributions on the two SusChem inspired public private partnership initiatives SPIRE (from Pádraig Naughton of Cefic) and BRIDGE (from Ulrich Kettling of Clariant).

Many other streams across the three-day event will be of interest to SusChem stakeholders including sessions on ‘bio-based chemicals’, ‘clean synthesis and process intensification’, ‘industrial biotechnology’, ‘opportunities and challenges in sustainable chemistry’ and ‘financing sustainable chemistry’ amongst many others.

Eight streams
In total eight session streams are available during each day of Ecochem of which five (including the SusChem session) are free to register for. The other three streams comprise a comprehensive Strategy Summit on Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering that requires separate registration.

For more details on Ecochem visit the event website or download the Event brochure. Details on registration for the event can be found here.

BIO-TIC Regional Events

During the Autumn the BIO-TIC FP7 project is organising a number of regional workshops throughout Europe. The aim of the BIO-TIC project is to develop an integrated roadmap and action plan for the successful development of industrial biotechnology in Europe. And the workshops are your opportunity to input your thoughts on how to overcome barriers to innovation in industrial biotechnology. 

Input from the workshops will be crucial in helping BIO-TIC develop an action plan which best addresses the needs of European stakeholders in this exciting growth area. Six regional workshops have recently been announced:

Poland: This free one-day workshop discussing issues surrounding the uptake of industrial biotechnology in Poland will be held on Thursday 19 September at Technopark, Łódź and is a satellite event to ‘The Second International Congress on Bioeconomy’ which is happening at Łódź on Friday 20 September. If you are interested in participating, please register online or contact Claire Gray at EuropaBio.

Spain: This free one-day workshop discussing issues surrounding the uptake of industrial biotechnology in Spain will be held on Wednesday 25 September at the Palacio de Congresos de Toledo.

Nordic Countries: This workshop discussing issues surrounding the uptake of industrial biotechnology in Nordic countries will be held on Thursday 3 October at Finlandia-talo, Helsinki.

Germany: This workshop discussing issues surrounding the uptake of industrial biotechnology in Germany will be held on Thursday 10 October in Hannover, Germany.

Italy: This workshop will discuss issues surrounding the uptake of industrial biotechnology in Italy. The workshop will be held on Thursday 24 October in Naples, Italy.

UK and Ireland: This free workshop discussing issues surrounding the uptake of industrial biotechnology in the UK and Ireland will be held on Tuesday 19 November in London.

For more information on the workshop series, please keep an eye on the BIO-TIC project website or contact BIO-TIC coordinator Claire Gray at EuropaBio for more information about registration and the workshop programmes.

What is BIO-TIC?
The BIO-TIC FP7 project is the largest network dedicated to industrial biotechnology and the bioeconomy. Launched in September 2012, BIO-TIC is a three-year project offering “a solutions approach” centred on a solid road mapping exercise involving a broad stakeholder base from industry, knowledge organisations, governments and civil society.

The regional workshops are part of a series of stakeholder workshops that will take place at national and European level to reach a comprehensive view on the solutions BIO-TIC can offer to accelerate market uptake of industrial biotechnology and the development of the bioeconomy. The final aim of the project will be to draw up a blueprint document with a comprehensive set of policy recommendations for overcoming the identified innovation hurdles within a selection of European business and societal opportunities.

You can find out more about the project at the BIO-TIC website and there is an active BIO-TIC Linked-In group that is open to anyone interested in the transformative potential of industrial biotechnology.

The project is coordinated by EuropaBio, where Antoine Peeters is BIO-TIC Project.

EUSEW13: Top Speakers share SusChem Priorities

Yesterday (June 26), the High-Level Conference of the European Union Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) officially came to an end. Over three days top-level speakers from the European Union, Member States and from civil society organisations discussed the priorities for energy in the years to come. It was clear that SusChem’s priorities in the areas of sustainability and efficiency in energy are shared by many of the speaker at EUSEW.

SusChem was present at a number of the over 100 events organised in Brussels alone and can report that our vision of the coming challenges is widely shared. In future society will need a more efficient and sustainable use of energy if we want to maintain our quality of life and be competitive on the world scene. And that means we have to support innovation in technologies, legislation and the market.

As explained by Paul Hodson, the Head of Unit for Energy Efficiency in DG Energy at the European Commission, we must overcome “financial, administrative and regulatory” barriers if we want to achieve our targets for energy efficiency in 2020. He was speaking at the EUSEW13 event 'Towards EU2020 and Beyond - Local and Regional Actions'. Following his stimulating keynote speech, a series of successful projects were presented: ranging from energy-savings measures for the street lighting of the city of Pula to the renovations of school heating system in some Paris district: it is now clear that the sustainable and efficient use of energy is a priority across the continent.

Chemistry role
And chemistry has a big part to play in overcoming the challenges of energy efficiency. One of the best examples of possible SusChem contributions to this field are the cooling and heating innovative insulations for buildings presented at the recent Smart Cities Platform Stakeholders Conference in Budapest.

Aside from being voted among the top three innovations at that conference, at EUSEW events it was made clear that this type of innovation is exactly what Europe will need to achieve its targets. At the conference event on Energy Efficiency, Mr. Pascal Eveillard, president of EURIMA – the European Insulation Manufacturers Association – made clear that cost-efficient solutions which can resolve technical challenges for the renovation of buildings will be crucial in achieving the proposed energy targets. This description fits SusChem’s key innovations like a glove.

Incentives
On top of this, local authorities are developing new incentive schemes to promote energy-efficient buildings and construction. Mr. Hoogelander of the Dutch NL Agency part of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs presented one such scheme that includes tax reductions calculated on expenses incurred while refurbishing buildings, bank capitalisation support for mortgages for energy-efficient houses and an additional index in the calculation of the building’s market value according to their energy savings. A similar scheme, though wider in scope, was presented by Mr Gatier of the French Ministry for Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing.

It is clear that SusChem, and sustainable chemistry in general, will have further opportunities to contribute solutions for the current energy dilemmas. If solutions on par with those already proposed can be made available, it will become evident that chemistry is a key area to involve in the planning of a society that can use energy sustainably and efficiently.

For more information on SusChem’s winning proposals for Key Innovation for sustainable buildings download the SusChem report.

Stories from the Biobased Economy

SusChem founding partner EuropaBio has recently launched a collection of short films that ‘show and tell’ how biobased innovation is contributing to a more sustainable, competitive and prosperous Europe. The short films show how we can successfully tackle issues such as food and energy security, climate change and resource efficiency, whilst creating jobs, regenerating industries and reviving rural communities through the application of industrial biotechnology and sustainable chemistry.

The introductory video to the biobased economy is embedded below and you can find it and five other videos on the dedicated biobasedindustries website.


BIO-TIC – your bioeconomy gateway 
The BIO-TIC FP7 project is the largest network dedicated to industrial biotechnology and the bioeconomy.

Launched in September 2012, BIO-TIC is a three-year project offering “a solutions approach” centred on a solid road mapping exercise involving a broad stakeholder base from industry, knowledge organisations, governments and civil society.

A series of stakeholder workshops will take place at national and European level to reach a comprehensive view on the solutions BIO-TIC can offer to accelerate market uptake of industrial biotechnology and the development of the bioeconomy. The final aim of the project will be to draw up a blueprint document with a comprehensive set of policy recommendations for overcoming the identified innovation hurdles within a selection of European business and societal opportunities.

You can find out more about the project at the BIO-TIC website and there is an active BIO-TIC Linked-In group that is open to anyone interested in the transformative potential of industrial biotechnology.

BIO-TIC launches Partnering Platform

The BIO-TIC FP7 project has launched its own partnering platform. BIO-TIC is the largest network dedicated to industrial biotechnology and the bioeconomy. The BIO-TIC partnering platform forms an integral part of this important EU-funded project that can help you build and enlarge your personal network of contacts within the European bioeconomy scene.

The BIO-TIC partnering platform gives you the opportunity to join the largest international community of bio-based industry experts.

By joining the platform you will get comprehensive information on several thousand organisations in the European bioeconomy, details on experts and their fields of expertise, current funding programmes and projects, new offers , requests, products and services, relevant events in the bioeconomy sector, bioeconomy job opportunities and much, much more.

You can also make use of the BIO-TIC platform to present your expertise to the international bioeconomy community, promote your products, services, offers and requests to their best advantage, publish a comprehensive and attractive presentation of your organisation and take part in the discussions and consultations within BIO-TIC that are leading to the development of an action plan for industrial biotechnology in Europe.

Networking +
Above all, through joining the BIO-TIC partnering platform, you can build up and maintain your own personal network of experts. With the platform’s user-friendly search engine you can quickly and simply identify potential business and cooperation partners and the platform has a variety of diverse features for establishing contacts, such as personal networks and bookmarks, that you can set to your personal preference.

Other features allow users to display of lists of participants (consisting of other BIO-TIC users) who are going to attend events that you also plan to attend and the “Meet me at” function enables you to selectively invite BIO-TIC users to meetings at events you are attending.

The earlier you start your BIO-TIC activities online, the earlier you will benefit from potential cooperation and business partners and the sooner you can be contacted by other BIO-TIC users.

So register now - both registration and use of the BIO-TIC partnering platform is completely free!

If you have any questions about the platform, please visit the BIO-TIC website or contact Dr. Andreas Scriba.

About BIO-TIC
The Industrial Biotech Research and Innovation Platforms Centre – towards Technological Innovation and solid foundations for a growing industrial biotech sector in Europe’ project (BIO-TIC) was launched in September 2012 and is a three-year project offering “a solutions approach” centred on a solid road mapping exercise that will involve a broad stakeholder base from industry, knowledge organisations, governments and civil society. Three intermediary roadmaps will focus on market assessments and projections, research and innovation as well as non-technological barriers such as feedstock.

A series of stakeholder workshops will take place at national and European level to reach a comprehensive view on solutions BIO-TIC can offer to accelerate market uptake of industrial biotechnology. The project has already identified five biobased product groups that could boost European competitiveness.

The final aim of the project will be to draw up a blueprint document with a comprehensive set of policy recommendations for overcoming the identified innovation hurdles within a selection of European business and societal opportunities.

You can find out more about the project at the BIO-TIC website and there is an active BIO-TIC Linked-In group that is open to anyone interested in the transformative potential of industrial biotechnology.

The project is coordinated by EuropaBio. More information can be found on the BIO-TIC website or by contacting Antoine Peeters, BIO-TIC Project Manager at EuropaBio.