EuropaBio seeks Europe’s most innovative Biotech SMEs

SusChem founding partner, EuropaBio is inviting biotech start-ups and SMEs from across Europe to apply for the 10th edition of the Most Innovative European Biotech SME Award. This is a unique annual initiative recognising biotech innovation and its contribution to society. SMEs can apply in three categories: healthcare, agricultural or industrial biotechnology. The awards have become one of the highlights of the European biotech calendar, with over 250 SMEs competing since they were started.

The European Commission considers, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to be the backbone of Europe's economy. They represent 90% of all businesses in the EU. Peter Heinrich, Chair of EuropaBio’s SME Platform highlights: “The majority of the most valuable innovation happens in SMEs, which then go on to form relationships with larger companies, paving the way for improved health, cleaner energy and better environment, for products and processes as well as a sustainable farming for Europe’s societies.”

Biotechnology exemplifies the way in which science and scientific breakthroughs can be applied to respond to some of society’s most difficult challenges. From new therapies that can address unmet medical needs, to industrial processes that use resources more efficiently, to drought-resistant crops that allow farmers to feed a growing population in unpredictable climatic conditions, biotechnology pays economic, societal and environmental dividends.

Tjerk de Ruiter, EuropaBio’s Chair and CEO of Corbion, comments: “The diversity and quality of applications received in previous years demonstrate the entrepreneurial excellence of EU biotech SMEs. They are at the forefront of some critical innovation and are delivering solutions under challenging circumstances. Through these awards we recognise the vital breakthroughs they are making.”

How to enter

Applications for the awards must be submitted online at the dedicated awards website by the end of Sunday 15 September 2019. Two companies will be shortlisted in each of the three categories (healthcare, agricultural or industrial biotechnology) by a Jury of biotech and SME experts, with the winners celebrated during a landmark event to be held in Brussels on 6 November 2019. Each category winner will also receive EUR 10 000 prize money and two years free EuropaBio membership, in addition to European-level exposure and publicity.

The jury experts are all involved in biotech and understand the science, the funding realities and the regulatory and political frameworks in which European biotech SMEs must operate. They appreciate the contribution that innovative SMEs will make to Europe’s future, and together, they will carefully analyse each application to select the final nominees. The award winners from the 2018 competition are pictured below.

To be eligible for an award, participating companies must qualify as an SME under the standard EU SME definition (i.e. primary location of operations within Europe, 250 or less employees, EUR 50 million or less annual turnover).

More information

For more information on the awards including full terms and conditions and success stories from winners of previous awards, please visit the awards website.

BBI JU 2019 Call now open

The BioBased Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) has published its 2019 Call for proposals under Horizon 2020. This sixth call will provide a further EUR 135 million of funding to boost the development of the EU’s biobased industries sector. The call is built around four strategic orientations: Feedstock, Process, Products, and Market uptake and continues the BBI JU’s objective of accelerating the development of new sustainable value chains from biomass feedstock supply via efficient processing, to the acceptance and application of bio-based products in end-markets.

The 2019 call identifier is H2020-BBI-JTI-2019 and contains 21 topic areas previously outlined in the BBI JU Annual Work Plan 2019. This document gives the full texts of the call that include 10 Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs), 7 Innovation Actions (IAs) - specifically 4 Demonstration (DEMO) calls and 4 Flagship (FLAG) calls - and 4 Coordination and Support Actions (CSAs) under the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme.

The deadline for submission of proposals is 4 September 2019, 17:00 CET, with proposal evaluations taking place during October and November and results being sent to applicants hopefully during December 2019.

Proposals to the Call 2019 can be submitted through the Funding and Tender Opportunities Portal - SEDIA (former known as the Participant Portal), the official EU funding communication channel, that gives an extensive overview of all Call information, such as Call documentation, how to get support regarding intellectual property, IT, and partner searches etc.

Via the BBI JU’s Partnering Platform, potential participants and consortia members can create  free, online profiles that enable a better interaction with other potential BBI JU Call applicants.

Applicants interested in receiving professional support or advice at the national level can get in contact with the appropriate member of the BBI network of National Contact Points.

BBI Info Day

On 12 April the BBI JU Info Day 2019 is taking place in the Charlemagne Building, Brussels. Plenary presentations on Europe's biobased sector and the development of the global bioeconomy will be followed by an outline of the BBI JU 2019 Work Programme from Philippe Mengal, Executive Director of the BBI JU. Information will be provided about the BBI JU initiative and all other aspects of the 2019 Call process including details of the proposal submission and evaluation processes.

After lunch, the BBI JU Networking event, will help participants to build their networks and find potential partners for the BBI JU Call for proposals.

And throughout the day, participants will have the opportunity to speak to representatives from BBI JU's founding partners and Member States as well as exchange views with entities in synergy with the BBI JU, including SusChem. The BBI JU's Programme Office staff will also be available to answer questions about the Call process and procedure.

The SusChem News Interview: Joanna Dupont-Inglis

SusChem was created with a mission to revitalise and inspire European chemistry and industrial biotechnology research, development and innovation in a sustainable way to respond to pressing societal challenges. Industrial biotechnology has always been a significant key enabling technology for SusChem and the Bioeconomy a priority policy area. And this continues as the platform works towards a new strategic innovation and research agenda for Horizon Europe.

EuropaBio was one of the founding partners of the platform. SusChem News recently caught up with Joanna Dupont-Inglis, Secretary-General of EuropaBio to get her views on SusChem’s achievements and what the future may hold for the platform.

Joanna has been a tremendous supporter of SusChem and its initiatives for many years and has recently stepped down from the SusChem board. Agnes Borg, EuropaBio's Director of Industrial Biotechnology, is now the organisation's representative on the SusChem management board.

Joanna has worked in Brussels for almost 20 years for a variety of industry groups, including CEFIC sector groups. A UK/Irish national with a background in Environmental Science and European Studies, she became directly involved with SusChem when she was appointed as Communications Manager with EuropaBio in 2009. Her role increased when she became Director of Industrial Biotech in April 2011. In 2016 Joanna was appointed as chair of the EU Bioeconomy Stakeholders Panel and since September 2018 Joanna has been EuropaBio’s Secretary General.

SN: How has SusChem been for you?

JDI: Being part of SusChem over the last ten years has been a great privilege, having given me the opportunity to work with experts, sometimes from quite different perspectives, who share a collective passion for the potential of chemistry and biotech.

The platform has grown and integrated a wider European community of industry, technology platforms and academia that is working to provide sustainable solutions to European challenges. SusChem successfully expanded the breadth and range of people involved in its work through its stakeholder engagement events encouraging cross-disciplinary work, helping to form consortia and reaching out along value chains to other organisations and initiatives. The network of SusChem National Technology Platforms, incorporating 17 countries across Europe, has been really significant  here too.

A big success for SusChem has also been its role to capture and articulate the benefits that sustainable chemistry and biotech to many of the major challenges facing our society and to global targets such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. It has done this by boosting awareness and visibility of research and innovation initiatives in sustainable biotech and chemistry.

SN: What do you see as the main ‘concrete’ achievements of the ETP?

JDI: The establishment of the SPIRE Public Private Partnership (SPIRE) and the BioBased Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) are major achievements which SusChem helped work towards establishing. Many members of the SusChem board and the wider SusChem community were active and effective in advocating for the solutions and advantages that could be delivered via these two PPPs.

It’s really rewarding to see the hundreds of projects, focused on renewability, resource efficiency and climate change mitigation, that are now being delivered through these two initiatives and the valuable role of SusChem in helping to contribute to these two strategic research and innovation frameworks. The research and innovation outcomes from SPIRE and BBI are also demonstrating huge value-added potential for sustainable chemistry and industrial biotechnology by boosting jobs and growth in Europe while also ensuring environmental benefits.

The PPPs are helping Europe to remain at the cutting edge of technologies in these and other areas. They are bringing people together in new and novel partnerships and establishing links that continue beyond the projects themselves.

SN: How has SusChem influenced research and innovation activities in the EU working towards a functioning bioeconomy?

JDI: The impact and influence of SusChem’s research and innovation agendas are reflected throughout the European Commission’s Framework programmes FP7 and Horizon 2020.

SusChem’s research and innovation agendas have also been a major help here in laying the foundations of the bioeconomy by highlighting relevant technology priorities . SusChem has had a direct input through its own ‘SusChem inspired’ projects in FP7 and Horizon 2020 and also in its influence in supporting the agenda for the BBI’s work programme.

It’s work on sustainable chemistry applications, in topics such as renewable feedstock, holds great potential for benefiting rural and coastal communities through the development of their local and regional bioeconomy in terms of jobs and growth.

SusChem has also been impactful in advocating the link between resource efficiency and the bioeconomy, providing the basis for synergies with the circular economy.

SN: How do you see the platform’s role developing in Horizon Europe?

JDI: The new SusChem’s SIRA, to be published in light of Horizon Europe, will be really important here.  On a personal level, I’m excited to see how in the future SusChem will change the perception of CO2 and CH4 from being ‘’problem GHGs’’ to valuable feedstocks. Although the exact nature and functioning of Horizon Europe’s missions are still to be clarified, their raison d’etre is to use research and innovation to deliver tangible benefits that citizens are looking for to provide a healthier, more sustainable future for them and generations to come. Consumers are becoming more and more engaged in sustainability issues and, therefore, in what they buy and use. SusChem could have a role here through engaging with the public to showcase what can be achieved; demonstrating the options and impact that sustainable chemistry and industrial biotechnology can deliver.

The platform also has a role in encouraging academia to provide the courses and resources to ensure we are giving people the right skills and knowledge to enable a more sustainable society.

SusChem is very well placed, thanks to its collective expertise, to contribute to these missions. Indeed, it is hard to imagine how many of the proposed missions could succeed without input from biotech and sustainable chemistry. SusChem can deliver on these urgent needs and will continue to play a key role in the movement to ensure society uses our natural resources as sustainability as possible going forward for the benefit of everyone.

Registration for SusChem Brokerage 2018 is now open!

The SusChem Brokerage Event 2018 which will take place on Tuesday 23 October 2018 at Hotel Le Plaza, Bld Adolphe Max 118-126 in central Brussels, Belgium. Registration is now open and participation in the event is free of charge!

SusChem’s vision is for a competitive and innovative Europe where Sustainable Chemistry, Biotechnology and enabling Digital technologies respond to Societal challenges by providing Sustainable solutions. 

The SusChem Brokerage event is a unique opportunity for large industry, academic institutions, research organizations (RTOs), SMEs and startups to form consortia and submit project proposals targeting the 2019 and 2020 calls of Horizon 2020. Project ideas can cover topics such as Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials, Biotechnology and Advanced Manufacturing and Processing (NMBP).

Details of the 2018-2020 Work Programme for Horizon 2020 can be found here.

What can you expect?

The event aims to open up a dialogue on how bright Sustainable Chemistry ideas can enhance Europe’s competitiveness, and drive the development of beneficial partnerships between early-stage innovators, Industry and Academia.

During the brokerage event, participants can:

• Be informed directly by European Commission representatives presenting open Horizon 2020 calls on SusChem-related topics (e.g., Materials, Process Technology, Eco Innovation),
• Interact with the SusChem National Platforms (NTPs), representing a number of project ideas,
• Connect with BBI JU and SPIRE and receive information on their project portfolio and open calls,
• Pitch project ideas live to the SusChem Stakeholder community,
• Reach out to other stakeholders via ‘speed-dating’ and networking sessions to form consortia.

The draft agenda for the event is available to download here and you can register for the event here.

The event kicks off on 23 October at 08h30 with presentations starting from 09h30. In the morning the Commission will present on call topics for Materials, Processes. And Eco Innovation calls followed by a project pitching session. After a coffee break the Commission will present its calls on ICT topics and Energy followed by a second project pitching session.

After lunch a presentation on ‘Disruptive Innovation in Europe’ will be made followed by a third project pitching session, an introduction to the speed-dating session and the session itself. The event will wrap up with a networking cocktail

Pitch those ideas!

To submit project ideas for the pitching sessions on the Horizon 2020-2019 calls, SusChem invites you to go to our GRANT-IT portal and select "Propose a Project" from the top  menu.

More details on how to submit your project proposal can be found here.

SusChem Brokerage 2017 is on 18 October

The SusChem 2017 Brokerage event which will take place on Wednesday 18 October 2017 in Brussels, Belgium at the Thon Hotel in the EU quarter. Don’t hesitate - register now! Participation in the event is free of charge, but prior registration is compulsory.

As always the SusChem Brokerage event will be the unique opportunity for SusChem stakeholders from industry, academia, SMEs and other sectors to present project ideas, develop consortia and submit funding proposals targeting the 2018 and 2019 calls for Horizon 2020 with deadlines falling in the late 2017 and early 2018.

The Horizon 2020 work programme for 2018-2020 is expected to be officially published in early October, but you can read a Commission document that describes the context for the entire strategic programming process, which will guide the preparation of the work programme itself, here.

During the SusChem brokerage event, you will have the opportunity to:

• Get detailed views on the Horizon 2020 2018-2019 programme calls focusing on:
• Advanced Materials Research
• Process and Biotechnologies, and
• Raw Materials calls in Societal Challenge 5
• Present your project ideas to the SusChem stakeholder community
• Meet consortia looking for partners, and
• Interact with other stakeholders during the speed dating session.  

The draft agenda for the Brokerage event is available here.

Use Grant-It

Delegates are kindly invited to propose their project ideas for the 2018 and 2019 calls of Horizon 2020 on GRANT-IT - your one-stop access to funding opportunities from the European Commission and Regional and National governments in the field of sustainable chemistry.

SusChem members can use GRANT-IT resources for free to search for funding, identify project opportunities, propose project ideas and search for potential project partners.

Submitting your project ideas via GRANT-IT will make it available to the whole SusChem community and allow interested partners to contact you for meeting requests when the brokerage speed dating tool is open.

For additional information and for questions related to accommodation or how to access the venue, please visit the SusChem 2017 Brokerage event registration portal.

Do not miss this opportunity - register now for the SusChem 2017 Brokerage Event! 

Are you the Most Innovative European Biotech SME?

SusChem founding partner EuropaBio is inviting small and medium sized biotech companies (SMEs) across Europe to apply for the 8th edition of its Most Innovative European Biotech SME Award: a unique annual initiative recognising biotech innovation and its contribution to society. SMEs interested in entering the competition are invited to apply by 26 June 2017 via the awards dedicated website.

Three categories are available for entry: healthcare, agricultural or industrial biotechnology. Applications must be submitted online at biotechSMEawards.eu by close of business on 26 June and two companies will be shortlisted in each category by a jury of biotech experts.

The winners will be celebrated during a landmark event for SMEs to held in early October. Each winner will also receive a €10 000 prize and two years free membership of EuropaBio.

In order to be considered for the EuropaBio SME awards a company must qualify as an SME under the standard EU SME definition: the company's primary location of operations must be within Europe, it must employ 250 or less staff, and its annual turnover must be €50 million or less.

Why SMEs?

According to the European Commission, “small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of Europe's economy. They represent 90% of all businesses in the EU. In the past five years, they have created around 85% of new jobs and provided two-thirds of the total private sector employment in the EU.” 

In other words, SMEs matter and their leaders in innovation should be recognised and rewarded.

Biotech exemplifies the way in which science and scientific breakthroughs can be applied to respond to society’s current challenges. From new therapies that can address unmet medical needs and fight epidemics and rare diseases, to industrial processes that use renewable feedstocks instead of crude oil, to drought-resistant crops that allow farmers around the world to feed more people under unpredictable climatic conditions, biotechnology pays significant economic, social and environmental dividends.

The awards have become one of the main initiatives in the European biotech calendar, with almost 200 SMEs competing over the years. The success stories from previous winners can be read online at biotechSMEawards.eu.

The jury

The expert jury are all involved in biotech and understand the science, the funding realities and the regulatory and political frameworks in which European biotech SMEs operate. They appreciate the potential of innovation and SMEs for Europe’s future, and they will carefully analyse each application to select the nominees. The jury includes:

• Peter Heinrich, Chairman of German national biotech association BIO Deutschland and Managing Director of Sinfonie Life Science Management GmbH, Planegg.
• Frank Bulens, member of the Management Committee and Board of Directors of Capricorn Venture Partners. He is active in diagnostics, therapeutics and medical devices as well as digital health-tech for the various Capricorn funds that are investing in these areas.
• John Brennan, the new Secretary General of EuropaBio, who takes up his post from 19 June 2017, with over 25 years’ experience both on the regulatory and the industrial sides of the healthcare industry.

Further jury members will be announced before the summer.

Registration for SusChem Stakeholder event 2017 is open!

Our most influential annual event – the SusChem Stakeholder event – is now open for registration. The 2017 event takes place on 8 June at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Brussels and will bring together global audiences, senior players from the chemical industry, academia, research technology organisations (RTOs) and EU institutions to address common challenges and debate priorities crucial to the sustainability of the European chemical and biotechnology innovation sectors. This year’s theme is ‘Accelerating innovation and impact in Europe: Shaping expectations and priorities for the next EU Framework Programme’.

As usual the annual stakeholder event is free to SusChem members so why not register now!

In the morning plenary presentations will be given by Peter Droell, Director at DG Research and Innovation for Industrial Technologies and Dr. Klaus Sommer, Chairman of the SusChem Board and the SusChem communications team will also present the SusChem rebranding project.

Breakout sessions

Participants will then split into three parallel breakout workshops. There will be two sessions held either side of the morning coffee break and delegates will be asked to select two of the three topics at registration.

The three breakout session topics are:

• Defining success factors for EU funded projects to optimise innovation impact and value for Europe How can we maximise the market uptake and impact of EU funded project results by examining success learnings from projects? Exemplary projects will share relevant success factors and critical learnings and all stakeholders will have an opportunity to share their views on collaborative projects and how they can be designed to optimise impact.
• SME’s as a driver of the EU innovation ecosystems: How can we stimulate market-creating innovation through SME funding? Chemical and biotechnology SMEs are key enablers of innovation. This breakout session will try to identify the right mechanisms and ways to enhance their engagement in European public funding.  The session will examine current policies drivers, funding requirements and barriers to the commercialisation of SME innovation.
• Shaping funding instruments to accelerate innovation and competitiveness in Europe Competitiveness relies on the capacity to create added value.  In this breakout session we will examine the strengths and weaknesses of the design and structure of EU innovation funding instruments by sharing experiences with Horizon 2020. Together, we will identify a short list of ideas and recommendations for the EU Commission in the evolution and design of the next EU Framework Programme.

FP9 debate

After lunch SusChem stakeholders will receive updates from our National Research Platform (NTP) network and feedback from the breakout sessions before a high-level panel discussion that will examine how to accelerate innovation and deliver impact in the upcoming Framework Funding Programme (FP9).

The panel will be moderated by Cefic Director General Marco Mensink and will feature contributions from Prof. Michael Matlosz, President and Chief Executive Officer of the French National Research Agency (ANR), Cosimo Franco, CEO of Endura, Angels Orduña, the SPIRE PPP Executive Director, Ulrich Kuesthardt, SusChem Board Member and CIO at Evonik, and Kurt Vandenberghe, Director for Policy Development and Coordination at DG Research and Innovation.

Following a summing up of the day’s activities and outcomes, the SusChem Stakeholder event 2017 will conclude – as ever – with a networking cocktail reception.

For more details, please visit the event website or register direct by clicking here. In the meantime why not catch up with the highlights of the 2016 SusChem Stakeholder event!

SusChem UK hosts BBI workshop in London

On 3 May 2017 SusChem UK, the Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), the Horizon 2020 UK National Contact Points (NCPs), and Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) are holding a Consortia Building Event: European Funding for Bio Based Industries in London. This one-day event will give details about the 2017 call for proposals from the European Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) and will provide the opportunity to start building consortia and finding new project partners.

The London event is suitable for anyone with an interest in participating in European projects in the forthcoming 2017 call topics under the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking. The workshop will present a range of experience in European projects from newcomers to people who have coordinated EU projects on a regular basis.

Representatives from industry (small and large), academia, RTOs and other types of organisations with appropriate skills and expertise to address the forthcoming 2017 call topics in BBI should attend and delegates from all European Member States are encouraged to be there – in fact one-third of the spaces available are reserved for non-UK participants.

By attending the workshop delegates will have the opportunity to:

• Identify and link with new partners across Europe
• Join consortia forming around forthcoming 2017 call topics
• Discuss and refine your projects ideas with potential partners
• Gather information on forthcoming 2017 call topics
• Take advantage of the NCP, BBI JU, KTN and EEN support available on the day

BBI calls for 2017 and 2018

The strategic orientations for the BBI JU’s calls in 2017 and 2018 are:

1. Fostering a sustainable biomass-feedstock supply to feed both existing and new value chains;
2. Optimising efficient processing for integrated biorefineries;
3. Developing innovative bio-based products for specific market applications; 
4. Creating and accelerating the market uptake of bio-based products and applications.

The calls that will be reviewed at the workshop are:

• Feedstock: BBI 2017.R1, BBI 2017.D1, BBI 2017.D2
• Process: BBI 2017.R2, BBI 2017.R3, BBI 2017.F1
• Products: BBI 2017.R4, BBI 2017.R5, BBI 2017.R6, BBI 2017.R7, BBI 2017.D3, BBI 2017.D4, BBI 2017.D5, BBI 2017.F2
• Market Uptake: BBI 2017. S1, BBI 2017.S2

You can find more details on these topics and a full list of BBI JU call topics here. The BBI JU 2017 call programme was also described in SusChem News in January.

The event will take place at the Ambassadors Bloomsbury Hotel in central London. More information is available here. Registration is free, but all participants must register by 13 April. Please contact Susanne Coles with any further queries.

Biobased Consortia Building in Manchester on 3 March

The UK's KTN (Knowledge Transfer Network) is organising a major event on Thursday 3 March to promote the 2016 calls from the Biobased Industries Consortium/ BioBased Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU). This free to attend event will give details about the new call for proposals from the BBI JU that opens in April.

The event is aimed at companies and research organisations that are interested in European Funding for Biobased Industries and who wish to work with European counterparts in collaborative research and innovation projects.  During the morning the event will highlight information about the 2016 call for proposals from the Biobased Industries Consortium including views from industry and an overview of the purpose and objectives of the BBI JU. In the afternoon a highly participative session will support consortia building and proposal development.

To find out more information and to register please click here.

Biobased focus
The event will focus in particular on consortia building for the following call topics:

• BBI 2016.R4 - Flexible biorefining technologies able to handle different feedstock, leading to new value chains or enlarging existing ones by using the same processing plant 
• BBI 2016.R5 - Advanced biomaterials for smart food packaging
• BBI 2016.R8 - Emerging technologies for conversion of the organic content of Municipal Solid Waste and improving waste-to-chemicals value chains 
• BBI 2016.R9 - Exploiting algae and other aquatic biomass for production of molecules for pharma, nutraceutic, food additives and cosmetic applications 
• BBI 2016.R10 – Industrial biotransformation for the production of bio-based chemicals

Many of the calls topics under the BBI JU require environmental and socio-economic assessments, such as LCA, therefore organisations with recognised strengths in this area are especially welcome to participate in this event.

The event will take place at the Chancellors Hotel (part of the University of Manchester) on the Fallowfields campus in south Manchester, UK.

Save the date: Industrial Technologies - Creating a Smart Europe June 22-24

The Netherlands Presidency of the European Union will be hosting the European Conference Industrial Technologies 2016 to be held from 22 to 24 June 2016 at the RAI Conference Centre in Amsterdam.

Industrial Technologies 2016 will be the largest networking conference in the field of new production technologies, materials, nanotechnology, biotechnology and digital technologies in Europe with more than 1 250 high level delegates expected.

The conference's advisory board includes a number of SusChem stakeholders - not least SusChem's Chairman of the Board Dr Klaus Sommer.

"Innovation is the basis of Europe’s competitiveness. In particular piloting and demonstration facilities are important to bridge the gap between research and competitive business," says Dr Sommer. "New technologies play a key role in this effort, signified by e.g. the focus on Key Enabling Technologies."

"Europe would benefit from a stronger sense of community between innovation and technology players. The conference is a great opportunity to network but also to emphasize the importance together with the European Commission," concludes Dr. Sommer.

Creating a Smart Europe
The three day conference will bring together personalities involved in research, industry, education, finance and policy activities from  manufacturing and process industry and technology domains from all over Europe to identify priorities that are crucial to strengthen the European industrial innovation ecosystem and deliver ‘A Smart Europe’.

Reasons to attend include:

• Inspiring keynotes and eye-opening site visits
• Interaction to identify priorities for the policy agenda
• Networking with European players in research, industry, finance and policy

Registration is now open and 'early bird' fees will apply until 15 April.

A provisional schedule for the conference is available. To keep up to date with developments for the conference visit the conference website and subscribe to the conference newsletter. You can also follow the conference on Twitter via @IndTech16.

Sustainable Chemistry in Action: A close look at how science can change the world for the better

Science and sustainable chemistry has had an enormous impact on the development of a healthier and more sustainable and prosperous society, yet there is still so much to be done to tackle the world’s most pressing problems such as poverty, hunger, disease and climate change. Every day, scientists across the globe strive to provide answers to these global challenges, going to great lengths and making huge personal sacrifices to develop real solutions.



Dutch chemical and biotechnology company Royal DSM are using the tagline 'Bright Science. Brighter Living' to talk about these challenges and possible solutions. The company is paying tribute to the unsung heroes of our time: the world’s scientists who inspire us by making a positive difference to our society (see the video above).

This campaign aims to start a conversation with the general public, NGOs, governments, businesses and other stakeholders about the importance of science with positive societal purpose. In order to have real societal impact, science should be a truly collaborative effort. Please feel free to share the campaign video that can be found on YouTube  and visiting the dedicated website.

You can also follow DSM on twitter (@DSM) with the campaign hashtag #brightscience, on Facebook, and they have a dedicated YouTube channel too.

Opinion: CO2 Conversion Technologies “No one size fits all”

CO2 conversion is set to play a critical role in the future for manufacturing and renewable energy storage. Pierre Barthelemy of Cefic Research and Innovation discusses what this means for a sustainable European chemical industry.

The utilisation of CO2 as a feedstock by the European chemical industry could develop into a key solution to reduce the use of fossil feedstock, reduce the EU’s dependence on imports of fossil resources, and improve the security of supply of carbon-based feedstock.

CO2 conversion is set to play a very important role in the future, not just for manufacturing chemicals but also for renewable energy storage.   Unfortunately the fragmentation of know-how and activities across Europe is a barrier to the fast development and uptake of CO2 conversion technologies.

CO2 is widely available, sometimes in localised and relatively concentrated streams, for example industrial flue gases, yet its conversion into higher value chemicals or fuels is challenging.  The very high thermodynamic stability of CO2 is a technical intrinsic hurdle that justifies the wide range of customised options being investigated worldwide by the scientific and industrial communities.

Biotech innovation and CO2 bioconversion
Funded by the European Commission, the BIO-TIC FP7 project was launched to develop an overview of the barriers to biotech innovation and to identify solutions to overcome these barriers. As part of this objective, several online surveys and stakeholder consultations have been conducted. One interesting finding from an online survey that preceded the recent BIOTIC Workshop on CO2 bioconversion confirmed the common view that chemical conversion of CO2 is a more mature technology compared to CO2 bioconversion technologies; respondents see chemical catalysis as the main CO2 conversion technology by 2020 but expect that bioconversion (especially using microalgae and fermentation) would become the main CO2 conversion technologies by 2030.  The most advanced biotechnological (bio-electrochemical conversion of CO2 and artificial photosynthesis) are promising in the long term but are currently at low technology readiness levels (TRL).

CO2 conversion technologies: “no one size fits all”
Due to the variety of CO2 sources and different requirements and limitations of the various CO2 conversion technologies, one may actually expect coexistence of various conversion routes, each of them representing an optimised solution to a specific situation.   In fact, hybrid solutions combining bioconversion and chemical catalysis for different steps in the entire process (purification, conversion, downstream processing) could enlarge the portfolio of options to solve the economic and technical equations for a given situation.

There is a significant amount of know-how in Europe on CO2 conversion technologies overall, however only a few projects are currently emerging at the pilot or demonstration scale level.   For CO2 bioconversion, all the emerging success stories are US-based.
 
The recent BIO-TIC workshop on CO2 bioconversion has provided more insight on the hurdles and possible solutions for the use of CO2 as a feedstock for industrial biotechnology processes, which is now being integrated in the final BIO-TIC roadmaps.  The latter will be available for public consultation early in the New Year.

SusChem’s contribution to CO2 conversion technologies
CO2 conversion technologies in general—including chemical catalysis processes— feature in the new SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) that will also be published at the beginning of 2015. The SIRA addresses the challenges of CO2 conversion via both chemical and biotechnology routes and identifies a series of research and innovation actions that will move the field forward. In addition to efficient conversion processes these actions include sustainable technologies to recover CO2 from flue gases and the integration of renewable energy and efficient technologies for H2 production.

For more information please contact Pierre Barthelemy at Cefic, read the SusChem blog or visit the SusChem website. One of the SusChem twitter account's areas of interest is news and information on CO2 capture and utilisation (CCU) using the hashtag #useCO2 to highlight tweets on the subject.

BIO-TIC Roadmaps – your comments please!

Despite the many major drivers for its application in tackling some of today’s huge global societal challenges, such as climate change and dwindling fossil fuel resources, several hurdles continue to hamper the full exploitation of Industrial Biotechnology’s (IB) potential. SusChem’s FP7 funded BIO-TIC project is “a solutions approach” centred on an extensive exercise that is comprehensively examining these many innovation hurdles in IB across Europe and formulating action plans and recommendations to overcome them. Three revised roadmaps have just been published by BIO-TIC and are now open for consultation.

The three roadmaps covering markets, technological and non-technological issues, have just been published (April 2014) and represent the second draft of the roadmaps. They are based on literature studies, more than 60 interviews with experts, and on the information collected through eight regional workshops undertaken by BIO-TIC across Europe.

Claire Gray, BIO-TIC project co-ordinator at EuropaBio saids: “These roadmaps bring a good overview of the challenges that IB is facing today in Europe but, most importantly, they also propose several solutions towards making Europe the world’s leading region for industrial biotechnology by 2030. Despite its many societal, environmental and economic advantages, hurdles to the uptake of industrial biotech in Europe persist.”

The final roadmaps (to be available in July 2015) will show the relationship between potential market developments, research and development needs, and regulatory and non-technological aspects impacting on IB innovation. The BIO-TIC roadmaps will serve to highlight these areas and formulate action plans on how various stakeholders can work together to overcome the major current and future issues that hamper the huge potential that IB could realise for Europe.

Bio-Roadmaps
Brief details and links to the three road maps are given below.

The market roadmap relates to current markets for a selection of five IB business cases for Europe, and market projections extending to 2030.

The technological roadmap aims to gain insight into the R&D related hurdles that are impeding the full realization of Europe’s IB market potential in 2030. In addition, the roadmap seeks to set priorities in terms of R&D and other actions to overcome the R&D hurdles.

The non-technological roadmap aims to identify regulatory and non-technological hurdles that may inhibit IB innovation towards identified market opportunities in the market roadmap.

Pádraig Naughton, Innovation Manager at Cefic, said: “These roadmaps identify the main barriers currently limiting the growth of IB in the process industry and give initial pointers to solutions. We encourage readers to express their views and give feedback, to make the final integrated roadmap as comprehensive as possible.”

Your input required

The BIO-TIC roadmapping process cannot be realised without your engagement! So please take a look at the roadmaps and send us your comments and contributions (by end of August 2014) to the BIO-TIC secretariat.

All BIO-TIC roadmaps can be downloaded via the BIO-TIC web portal and you can view the BIO-TIC press release here for more details.

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.

Regional workshops are part of a series of stakeholder events 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.

Public attitudes to science and technology

The 2014 Public Attitudes to Science (PAS) survey has just been published in the UK. This annual survey is conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and shows that the UK public’s views on science and scientists are becoming ever more positive as science and technology play an ever growing role in our daily lives. 

The 2014 PAS generally shows a more positive perception compared to two years ago with the majority seeing science as beneficial to their own life, society, and economy, and agreeing with public funding for research.

A large majority (81%) of the UK public think that on the whole, science will make our lives easier, with 55% agreeing that the benefits of science are greater than any harmful effects (up from 43% in 2000).  Those feeling that science makes our way of life change too fast have dropped from half (52%) in 1996 to just a third (34%) today. This change is driven by the younger generations, rather than a shift in overall perceptions across all generations, with 34% of both Generation X (born 1966-1979) and Generation Y (born since 1980) agreeing science makes our way of life change too fast, compared to 71% of the Pre-War Generation (born before 1945).  Similarly Generation X and Y are also more likely than their predecessors to say that it is important to know about science in their daily lives

Positive role

People are also more positive about the role science has to play in the economy, with almost all (91%) agreeing that young people’s interest in science is essential for our future prosperity (up from 85% in 2008) and 38% strongly agreeing that the UK needs to develop its science and technology sector in order to enhance its international competitiveness (up from 25% in 2008).

Almost eight in ten (79%) agree that even if it brings no immediate benefits, scientific research which advances knowledge should be funded by the Government, and 65% disagree that government funding for science should be cut because the money can be better spent elsewhere.

The public’s perceptions of scientists are strongly positive, with 46% strongly agreeing that they make a valuable contribution to society, and 27% strongly agreeing that in general, scientists want to make life better for the average person.  Scientists are now third on Ipsos MORI’s veracity index of professions, behind doctors and teachers, with 83% of the public saying that they would generally trust them to tell the truth.  This shows a significant continuing increase and now places scientists ahead of priests and the clergy in terms of trust.

The survey also shows that the public have a desire to know more about science and scientific research. The proportion who currently feels informed about science has increased from 40% in 2005 to 45% in now. However, half (51%) still feel that they receive too little information. There is also a desire for the public to play more of a role. However, while 69% think that scientists should listen more to ordinary people, and 75% think that the Government should act in accordance with public concerns about science and technology, there is also a growing recognition of the need for expert advice on some aspects.  Seven in ten (70%) say that experts and not the public should advise the Government about the implications of scientific development, up from 61% in 2008.

Science and media

The following nuggets of information were teased out of the survey details by Fiona Fox, Chief Executive of the Science Media Centre in London.

People still use traditional media. 59% say TV is one of their most regular sources of information on science, 23% say print newspapers are one of their most regular sources, while only 15% say online newspapers or news websites are one of their two most regular sources.

 

However 40% think scientists are poor at communicating and 50% think scientists are secretive. 90% trust scientists working at universities compared to 60% who trust private company scientists and there is concern over independence of scientists.

Of the specific science and social science topics explored in the survey, people feel relatively well informed about climate change, vaccination, renewable energy, economics, and animal research, but most do not feel informed about nuclear power, genetically modified (GM) crops, clinical trials, stem cell research, nanotechnology or synthetic biology (see Figure below).

 

GM and energy questions

72% feel that ensuring the world has enough food to go around is a very big issue today. 36% of those who have heard of GM crops before say the benefits of GM crops are greater than the risks, while 28% say that the risks are greater than the benefits. 80% feel that no agricultural technologies should be ruled out to help increase world food production, and less than only one-in-ten (9%) reject this notion. 58% agree that GM crops are necessary to increase world food production, but one-in-five (20%) are neutral and 15% disagree.

Interestingly support for carbon capture and storage is lower than for fracking for shale gas in questions about emerging energy technologies (see Figure below).

More information

For more details see the Ipsos MORI PAS 2014 website. The survey was conducted through 1 749 interviews with UK adults aged 16+ and a booster survey of 315 16-24 year-olds. Interviews were carried out face to face between 15 July and 18 November 2013.

Bio Base Europe selected as Demo Pilot Line

The Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, a pilot plant for biobased products and processes located in the port of Ghent in Belgium, has been selected by the European Commission as a demonstrator multi-KETs pilot line. Supporting Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) is a key part of Europe’s industrial strategy to stimulate competitiveness and growth.

Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant has been selected as one of the four European demonstrator multi-KETs Pilot Lines. The Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant is a flexible and diversified pilot plant for the development, scale-up and custom manufacturing of biobased processes and products. It is an independent and open innovation pilot plant, accessible for companies and research institutions throughout the world. Bio Base Europe is one of a suite of projects across Europe that are working to realise the concepts outlined in SusChem’s original visionary project on ‘The Integrated Biorefinery’.

Six KETs - Industrial Biotechnology, Nanotechnology, Nano- and Microelectronics, Photonics, Advanced Materials, and Advanced Manufacturing - have been were defined by the European Commission. Europe invests in these technologies, in part, to enable the shift to a low carbon, knowledge-based economy ensuring the competitiveness of European industries and the creation of jobs.

To support this policy, the European Commission has launched the multi-KETs Pilot Lines project that seeks to combine several KETs under one roof. In the frame of this project, four promising European pilot facilities will be scrutinized, resulting in a tentative implementation roadmap that can be used for the further development of a systematic EU policy to support pilot and other KETs activities.

The Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant is one of the selected demonstrator projects. During the coming months, its entire ecosystem will be mapped out including best practices, barriers to be overcome, technological and organizational aspects, financing mechanisms etc.

Bio Base Europe will organize monthly guided tours for interested parties, such as SME’s, large companies, policy makers etc, and host workshops to give participants insight into its daily operations. The first guided tour is scheduled for 25 March 2014. More information on the guided tours and workshops can be found here.

This accolade strengthens the position of Bio Base Europe in its mission to support SMEs and large companies with biotechnological innovations. Prof. Wim Soetaert, founder and managing director of Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant is very pleased with this international recognition. “Through the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, Flanders has obtained a pole position in the field of industrial biotechnology,’ he commented. Prof Stoetaert was a SusChem board member.

A recent video (see below) on the initiative was made for Euronews.



More information
Bio Base Europe was Europe’s first open innovation and education centre for the biobased economy. The project is a joint venture between founding partners Ghent Bio-energy Valley in Belgium and Biopark Terneuzen from the Netherlands and is supported by the European Commission through its European Regional Development Fund programme INTERREG IV.

The aim of the project is to facilitate scale up and optimisation of bioprocesses at pilot plant scale and run test production quantities of new bio-based products for testing, and provide a facility for education and training for process operators for the bio-based industries. At the heart of the project are a pilot plant facility and a dedicated training centre.

The Bio Base Europe pilot plant is located in Ghent and was officially opened in June 2012. It is a flexible and diversified facility that can operate at the tonne level. Its mission is to provide a bridge over a critical innovation gap from scientific feasibility to industrial application for new biotechnological processes and products. It is a one-stop shop focusing on second generation biotechnologies to convert agricultural waste and non-food crops to useful bio-products. The facility is open to all and operations are supported by its own professional staff.

The Bio Base Training Centre is based in Terneuzen and is an education, networking and exhibition facility promoting the development of a sustainable, bio-based economy. It offers general and company-specific training connecting closely with current market demand. The centre is addressing a clear industry-wide skill shortage for process operators and technical specialists with experience in bio-based production and sustainable energy processes.

For more information contact Katrien Molders, Communication Manager for the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant project.

SusChem at ACHEMA 2012

ACHEMA 2012 takes place in Frankfurt from 18 to 22 June and SusChem will be taking an active part. ACHEMA is the world forum for the process industry, chemical engineering, environmental protection and biotechnology and SusChem is heavily involved in the ‘Biobased World’ theme.

Biobased World is an integral part of ACHEMA 2012 and is tagged as ‘the venue where the bioeconomy becomes visible.’ SusChem is one of the organizers of a joint event – ‘European Bioeconomy: From Knowledge via Demonstration to Products and Markets’.

The conference will cover the complete value chain from the regulatory environment at EU level via the availability of feedstock and the necessary logistical integration of the agricultural and chemical industries, the holistic approach of biorefineries and the conditions for successful market entry of new bio-based products and services.

There are five consecutive sessions over the two days:

• Part 1 – Towards a European Bioeconomy and Horizon 2020: the framework
• Part 2 – Feedstock availability and the Value Chain
• Part 3 – Conversion of Biomass: Biorefineries
• Part 4 – Via Demonstration to Products and Markets
• Part 5 – Innovative Business Models and Public-Private-Partnerships

This conference runs on 20 and 21 June and will include high-ranking speakers from European and national institutions, industry and other significant stakeholders in the bioeconomy. SusChem board member Peter Nagler of Evonik will present a SusChem overview of issues discussed at the conference from a technology platform point of view and Joanna Dupont Inglis of EuropaBio offer her conclusions and outlook at the end of the conference together with Alfredo Aguilar of the European Commission’s DG Research and Innovation.

More details of the conference and registration details can be found here. The cost of attending the conference is included in ACHEMA 2012 ticket price, but space will be limited so registration is necessary to ensure participation.

BIOCHEM at Biobased
SusChem innovation project BIOCHEM will also be taking a leading role on the Biobased World by running one of its innovative Accelerator Forums and taking a stand in the exhibition area.

A BIOCHEM Accelerator Forum combines technology transfer, partnering and venture capital events in one single location: your one-stop shop for market entry in the bioeconomy. The forum takes throughout ACHEMA 2012 with various concurrent events.

The BIOCHEM partnering event matches requests and offers for cooperation and creates one-to-one meeting schedules during the event in a dedicated partnering area, while Technology Transfer Days will bring together researchers with relevant ideas with novel products, start-up companies and SMEs with the potential to develop new bio-based business, and large industrial stakeholders.

The Venture Capital event is for early-stage, high potential start-up companies looking for funding or partnering and the Teaching Class is a two-hour training seminar for entrepreneurs and their advisors to be introduced to the BIOCHEM toolbox: a set of business and other tools that can help companies assess their potential for success in the bioeconomy and point them towards success. The final round of the BIOCHEM Business Plan Competition will also be held at ACHEMA 2012.

For more details and registration please visit the BIOCHEM website. Following the ACHEMA the next BIOCHEM Accelerator Forum will be held in Bilbao, northern Spain on 19 – 21 September.

BIOCHEM Business Videos

The SusChem inspired bio-based innovation project BIOCHEM is producing a series of video lectures to support enterprises looking to considering entering the bio-based products market. The first series on business basic has just been published as part of the BIOCHEM toolbox.

The first set of videos will consist of seven business orientated presentations. A general introduction video is followed by six further videos that explain the mysteries of putting together sound Business Models and Plans and give advice on how to attract investor capital. Each video is between five and ten minutes long allowing viewers to get information in easily digestible parts.

The six main video topics are:

• Module 1: What is a Business Model?
• Module 2: How to build Business Model
• Module 3: The Business Plan "Puzzle"
• Module 4: Who are the investors?
• Module 5: The "deal funnel"
• Module 6: On-line tool to check your Business Plan

Further videos are planned for upload during March:

• BIOCHEM Market update
• Carbon Foot Print
• Sustainable design guide

BIOCHEM is a Europe-wide project co-funded by the European Commission to support SMEs wishing to innovate in the emerging market of bio-based products. Find out more here.

SusChem brokerage event open to all

Preparations are well underway for the 2011 SusChem Brokerage event. The event takes place in Brussels on September 14 and will include opportunities to present project proposals, make general expressions of interest in an area of research and engage in ‘speed dating’ for consortium building.

“The SusChem Stakeholder event is open to all stakeholders in the European sustainable chemistry community, which means anybody with an interest in the sustainable chemistry research and innovation agenda,” says Ger Spork, Innovation Manager and SusChem coordinator at Cefic. “Any party with an interest to participate in the new round of FP7 calls that relate to this agenda is welcome to join us.”

The event will be held at the Hotel Silken Berlaymont (pictured) in Brussel’s European quarter. Delegates can find out more information on the Brokerage event on the SusChem website and you can register for the event here.

The agenda for the event and other useful information, including an overview of the relevant FP7 2012 calls across topics including Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and New Production Technologies (NMP), Knowledge Based Bio-Economy (KBBE), Energy, and Environment can be accessed here.

To help in the organisation of the event, and to highlight your project idea or specific offer of expertise, the SusChem Brokerage Partnering Database is now available. This database provides you with the opportunity to upload your project idea and expression of interest for specific calls prior to the event. To register for the SusChem Brokerage Partnering Database, click here.

We look forward to seeing you on 14 September.

BECOTEPS unlocks Bioeconomy potential

The FP7 project BECOTEPS (of which SusChem – via EuropaBio – is a partner) is holding its final event "Unlocking the Potential of the Bioeconomy" on 22 March 2011, from 3pm at the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences in Brussels.

This closing meeting will present and discuss the project's recently published White Paper entitled: The European Bioeconomy in 2030 - Delivering Sustainable Growth by addressing the Grand Societal Challenges. The meeting will also be a great opportunity for bio-economy stakeholders to network.

SusChem is one of nine European Technology Platforms (ETPs) involved in the Knowledge-based Bio-Economy (KBBE) thematic area that are party to the BECOTEPS (The Bio-Economy Technology Platforms join forces to address synergies and gaps between their Strategic Research Agendas) project.

White paper - grand challenges
The BECOTEPS White Paper is the result of discussions between its constituent ETPs and a series of open meeting with a wide variety of stakeholders. The primary focus of this document is to elaborate on common themes and joint priorities across the widely diverse sectors relevant to the European Bioeconomy.

It shows how the Bioeconomy can address the grand societal challenges and sets out a vision for 2030 together with a set of policy recommendations needed to achieve it. Realising the vision across a range of sectors will create a smart, sustainable and inclusive European Bioeconomy. It is hoped that the White Paper will help to provide a better understanding of the Bioeconomy and key actions needed for its successful development to 2030.

The paper concludes that a successful Bioeconomy needs coherent and integrated policy direction, with key areas being:
• Investment in relevant research areas, both within each of the sectors and by encouraging multidisciplinary programmes;
• Encouraging innovation to make sure that more of the knowledge developments reach the commercialisation stage;
• Making entrepreneurship within the Bioeconomy a desirable career option;
• Providing a skilled workforce by making the various sectors of the Bioeconomy attractive career options through secondary and tertiary education;
• A streamlined and innovation-friendly regulatory framework which balances both risks and benefits;
• Good two-way communication with the public embedded in R&D projects to ensure societal appreciation of research and innovation.

Registration
The closing event on March 22 is free and a walking dinner will be provided, but pre-registration is mandatory. An outline programme for the event is given below. To register for the BECOTEPS "Unlocking the Potential" event just email Antoine Peeters at EuropaBio with your name and organisation.


BECOTEPS is a FP7 Specific Support Action (SSA) that was formally launched in March 2009 and funded for two years. The project aims to increase coordination between its participating ETPs and develop recommendations for better interaction between stakeholders along product supply chains, promote sustainability, and address research synergies and knowledge gaps.

Got a Good Bio-based Business Idea?

During 2011 and 2012, the SusChem inspired European project BIOCHEM will provide entrepreneurs wishing to develop new bio-based products with a unique opportunity to promote their company and meet face-to-face with top European biotech investors, venture capitalists and other industry players.


Four ‘Accelerator Fora’ are being organised by BIOCHEM as part of its mission to boost innovation by smaller enterprises in the emerging bio-based sector.

The first forum is now scheduled for 5-7 October in Milan. In 2012, two more fora will be held in Frankfurt and in London. The first forum was initially planned for Madrid in May 2011 but this has now been postponed until 2012.

Networking is key
The BIOCHEM Accelerator Forum offers a partnering system to assist in identifying potential partners from academia and industry, venture capitalists and test facilities all over Europe.

Recent research is showing that this type of networking is critical to small business success in the biotech sector. Writing in the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Cristina Sousa and colleagues at "INETI" - the National Institute of Engineering, Technology and Innovation based in Lisbon, Portugal claim that the opportunities that arise, and whether or not they are exploited by biotechnology entrepreneurs, depends to a large extent on how well connected the individual business person is and how well they mobilise their social network.