European CTO of the Year 2015 Award

Dr. Marcel Wubbolts of Royal DSM has received the European CTO (Chief Technology Officer) award of the Year 2015, an award for excellence in technology and innovation leadership, for laying the foundation for the growing number of bio-based manufacturing processes in DSM’s businesses.

Dr.Wubbolts has a central role in Royal DSM, a company that over the past two decades has transformed itself completely from a petrochemical to a life and materials sciences company active in health, nutrition and materials.  Royal DSM is also a leading player in the biotech industry. “The frontrunner development and commercialization of lignocellulosic ethanol technology is only one very relevant example of many in which Dr. Wubbolts is intimately involved. His enthusiasm and drive for science and sustainable innovation for society is an inspiration for many”, praises Gert-Jan Gruter of Avantium, jury member and European CTO of the Year 2014

in SME category.

“The European CTO of the Year Award is a unique way to recognize outstanding individuals whose vision and passion have made a big difference in keeping their companies at the forefront of innovation. All the winners have shown exemplary leadership as technology managers, we’re happy and proud to recognize them for their impressive accomplishments.”, states Dr. Carlos Härtel, jury member and Managing Director Europe

The other two winners of the CTO of the Year 2015 are Martin Curley of Intel Corporation and Jonathan O’Halloran of QuantuMDx.

  

About the CTO of the Year Award

European CTO of the Year is the leading European award, awarded by EIRMA (European Industrial Research Management Association) and Spinverse (Nordic leader in innovation consulting). The concept is Pan-European and, 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”.

'Seal' identifies project proposals which merit funding from alternative sources

TODAY – 13 October 2015 the European Commission has launched a new initiative called "Seal of Excellence". This new scheme will allow regions to recognise the quality label awarded to promising project proposals submitted under Horizon 2020 and promote their access to different funding sources like the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) and other national or regional investment programmes. By introducing this new label, the European Commission wants to improve the synergies between EU funding for regional policy and for research.

The initiative was launched today by Commissioners Corina Creţu, responsible for Regional Policy and Carlos Moedas, responsible for Research, Science and Innovation, at the OPEN DAYS - Week of European Regions and Cities.

Commissioner Corina Creţu said: "For 2014-2020, €100 billion worth of investments from the European Regional Development Fund will foster research and innovation, including over €32 billion earmarked to support SMEs, start-ups and entrepreneurs, the main drivers of innovation in Europe. The Seal of Excellence will help identify and support innovative projects and help them grow and compete internationally."

Commissioner Carlos Moedas said: "EU regions are already a major investor in quality research and innovation in Europe. Through the Seal of Excellence they can benefit from the world class Horizon 2020 evaluation system to easily identify the best projects in their regions to support with their  funds".

The "Seal of Excellence" quality label will be awarded to promising projects submitted under Horizon 2020 which could not secure funding due to budgetary constraints but received high assessment scores in the demanding and independent evaluation process. In its pilot phase, the "Seal of Excellence" will first be given to proposals by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) submitted under the SME instrument of Horizon 2020. The action could then be extended to cover more areas of Horizon 2020.

How does the 'Seal of Excellence' work in practice?

The Horizon 2020 'SME instrument' has been selected for the introduction of the 'Seal of Excellence' because of the relevance to regional and national funders, as the project proposals are mostly led by a single SME and address small scale R&I actions close to the market with a clear territorial impact.

The action concerns, for this initial ‘pilot’ phase, only proposals applying for the SME instrument and in particular all those SME instrument proposals evaluated above the quality threshold (13 or more out of 15 in Phase 1, or 12 or more out of 15 in Phase 2) but not receiving Horizon 2020 funding. Later on it could be extended to cover more areas of Horizon 2020. A holder of the certificate can then approach alternative funding sources (regional, national, private or public) and presents the certificate as a label of a high-quality project proposal.

What should the SMEs expect?

While the Commission certifies with the seal the quality of the proposals according to Horizon 2020 criteria, it may not always be the case that, at local level, the SME will find funding schemes ready to provide the required support and, where they have been established, funding will not be automatic simply based on the recognition of the seal.

Further information on funding opportunities can be obtained at the local/national level either directly with the Managing Authorities or through Europe Enterprise Network and National Contact Point network.

Interested in implementing the 'Seal' approach?

In order to allow for exchanges of know-how, the European Commission has established a 'Community of Practice' exploring the best ways to implement funding schemes in support of high-quality projects with the 'Seal of Excellence' through ESIF or other sources. The 'Community of Practice' is reserved for National or Regional authorities that have a funding power for Research and Innovation actions. It is also open to other Funding Agencies for Innovating SMEs (including private banks and investors).

National or Regional authorities that can provide funding for Research and Innovation, interested in being part of the Europe-wide 'Community of Practice', can send an Expression of Interest by e-mail.

Background

Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation funding programme between 2014 – 2020, offers nearly €80 billion in investments for research and innovation projects to support Europe’s economic

competitiveness. At least 20%, or nearly €9 billion from the programme's 'leadership in industrial technologies' and 'societal challenge' pillars, is expected to benefit SMEs directly in the form of grants, including via the "SME Instrument".

Since 2013, the new rules governing investments under the European Structural and Investment Funds call for a more strategic and synergetic use of different EU funds for a greater impact on growth and jobs. With a budget of €450 billion for the 2014–2020 period, the European Structural and Investment Funds invest in key growth-generating areas such as innovation, support to SMEs, training and education, social inclusion and the low-carbon economy.

The OPEN DAYS – the European Week of Regions and Cities are co-hosted by the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions. From 12 to 14 October 2015, 6,000 representatives

from Europe's regions and cities are gathering in Brussels for the 13th annual OPEN DAYS to exchange their views on how to fully exploit the potential of Cohesion Policy in terms of growth and job creation.

More information: Go to http://ec.europa.eu/research/regions/index.cfm or download the flyer: http://ec.europa.eu/research/regions/pdf/seal_of_excellence_flyer_2015.pdf .

Download the Seal of Excellence Fact Sheet.

SusChem Position Paper on the Circular Economy

Following approval by the SusChem board, the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry has published a position paper on the Circular Economy. You can download the paper here. Since its inception in 2004 SusChem has inspired numerous research and innovation activities that address major European societal issues. SusChem’s solutions are based on sustainable enabling technologies developed by the chemical industry and its partners in academia, research and technology organisations, and other industrial players from a wide variety of different value-chains and sectors. Many of these technologies are essential to the implementation of a sustainable circular economy.

The position paper develops SusChem’s vision for a functioning circular economy in Europe (and globally) and provides some concrete examples of the high impact contributions that the platform and its partners can make to achieve this essential objective.

The paper has three main messages.

A sustainability-based approach is needed
The integration of all aspects of sustainability is essential to the development of a circular economy in order to effectively ensure a positive impact on society while minimising environmental impact and maintaining economic growth.

Technology development is required for a sustainable circular economy
A circular economy cannot be achieved only through implementation of new regulations, services and business models.  Advanced technologies are essential to enable a better use of existing resources along the whole life cycle to develop new production and recycling paths – and the expertise of the chemical industry as a material supplier is highly valuable and important here. In particular SusChem believes that the principle technology developments should take place in the following three areas:

• Utilisation of sustainable alternative feedstock including  secondary raw materials, ligno-cellulosic biomass, waste or CO2 from industrial flue gases. 
• Design of sustainable materials enabling eco design of ‘products’ that are easy to recycle while maintaining or improving performance.
• Improved efficiency for production processes to maximise the use of all resources entering the system including primary and secondary raw materials, water, and energy.

These technologies are more fully described in the SusChem’s 2015 Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) and should be supported through the appropriate European funding instruments.

Coherence and stability over time for the policy framework is critical for European leadership
To contribute fully to a sustainable economy, the circular economy policy should be developed in coordination with other related policies such as the Energy Union Package. Policy coherence, as well as policy stability over time, is essential to establish a regulatory framework that enables investment in sustainable, resource efficient and innovative technologies in Europe and ensures European leadership in sustainable/clean technologies.

Case studies
The SusChem position paper concludes with  five case studies that describe a selection of potential contributions by SusChem technology solutions to the circular economy. Each case study describes the potential contribution of the technology to the circular economy, the technology development or deployment required, and the non technology barriers and policy framework aspects that require addressing.

The case studies cover:

• Utilisation of CO2 as an alternative carbon resource 
• New composite materials
• New catalysts 
• Industrial symbiosis 
• Biorefineries

More information
The full position paper can be downloaded here. If you have any questions about the paper, how you or you organisation could work with SusChem in achieving the circular economy, or would like more information on SusChem activities in general, please contact the SusChem secretariat.

Metal By-product Recovery

The European Commission’s DG GROW is organising an International Conference on ‘Exchange of good practices on metal by-products recovery –technology and policy challenges’ in Brussels on 12-13 November 2015 at the Thon EU Hotel. The Conference will tackle the technology challenges as well as the policies and regulatory framework appropriate to promote the recovery of metal by-products which are currently sub-optimally exploited.

The event will provide a unique opportunity to share experiences, exchange good practices and present existing examples across the whole raw materials value chain. It will bring together industry, academia and research entities excelling in technologies to recover metal by-products, as well as relevant public entities and policy makers from the EU and from third countries.

The conference will be highly relevant to many SusChem stakeholders interested in materials and process technologies. The SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) features access to critical raw materials in its first chapter on climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials.

Existing and emerging technologies vital for the progress of our society and the competitiveness of our economy are highly dependent on the sustainable supply of raw materials. In particular, a number of scarce or critical metals play a fundamental role on innovations in high-tech sectors such as renewable energy, telecommunications, information technology and the defence industry.

Strategic metals
Many of these strategic metals are often by-products of mining, processing and recycling: they are contained in ore bodies or complex end-of life products accompanying elements of the major metals, usually at low concentrations. Nowadays, many by-products are often not properly recovered so they finish diluted in major elements or in waste streams.

There will be a specific session of the Conference aimed to promote cooperation in the field of research and innovation. Draft versions of the Horizon 2020 work programmes for 2016-2017 have recently been published online. The session will include an overview of the topics on raw materials under Societal Challenge 5 of Horizon 2020 Programme, with particular attention to the topic SC5-13b: 'New technologies for the enhanced recovery of by-products (2016)'. These draft calls reflect some of the topics outlined in the SusChem SIRA.

Registration for the conference is free but the deadline for registration is 25 October and space is limited so register soon! You can find the link to registration here.

More information
Further information on the event can be found at the dedicated conference website or contact the conference secretariat. More information on the European Commission’s actions to ensure a sustainable supply of raw materials for the European Union can be found on the DG GROW website and the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw Materials website. The raw materials section of the SusChem website can be found here.

Catalysts for Cleaner Cement Production

Sustainable chemistry has a major role in building our future Smart Cities, ensuring our technologies are as clean as possible and providing the basis for 'green' living.

SusChem has provided much input on chemistry's contribution to energy efficiency in buildings and their contribution to Smart Cities initiatives including the SusChem report "Innovative chemistry for Energy efficiency of buildings in smart cities" and our visionary flagship project the Smart Energy Home. 

Another clear example of chemistry's contribution to cleaner construction is provided by Clariant. Cement production generates considerable harmful emissions including fine particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and ammonia, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and sulfur oxides. Cement is the main component of concrete, the most widely used construction material in the world.

Using a combined catalytic process the emissions from cement production can be reduced by 90% or more. In a first stage nitrogen oxides and ammonia in the cement process flue gas react on a catalytic layer, where they bind to iron active centres. The molecules interact with each other forming water and harmless nitrogen.

In the next stage remaining organic contaminants and carbon monoxide are eliminated by catalytic oxidation in an innovative ceramic honeycomb catalyst with an activated zeolite-coated surface. The zeolite matrix provides durable protection against dust, sulfur oxides, and moisture which can result in fast catalyst deactivation. This key innovation enables the catalyst to survive under the harsh conditions of the process for a considerable time.

Benefits
Using the two-stage process toxic pollutants are almost completely purified with pollutant emissions reduced by 90% and more meaning that required emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants can be easily met by cement plants. You can find out more about this innovative process in the video below.

For more information on SusChem initiatives for Smart Cities and construction materials, please contact SusChem coordinator Jacques Kormornicki at Cefic.

Non-animal-based safety assessment: within reach or over-sold?

The Long-Range Research Initiative Programme (LRI) of the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) is organising its 17th annual workshop on 18 and 19 November 2015 in Brussels. This year, the Annual CEFIC-LRI Workshop will focus on non–animal-based safety assessment and will showcase the outcome and impact of several LRI projects completed in 2014-2015 from the fields of environmental risk assessment, bioconcentration, chemo-informatics, exposure modeling, skin sensitization and acceptance of innovation.

Registration is now open and free!
The Cefic-LRI workshop is a must-attend event for the scientific community and an excellent networking opportunity for policymakers. This year’s venue is Le Plaza Hotel Brussels.

On the first day the LRI programme will present the winner of the LRI Innovative Science Award for 2015 and also catch up with the progress of winner of the 2014 LRI Award winner Dr Alexandra Antunes (pictured below) of the Centro de Química Estrutural, Complexo Interdisciplinar Instituto Superior Técnico in Portugal and her work on Covalent Modification of Histones by Carcinogens: a novel proteomic approach toward the assessment of chemically-induced cancers.

The second day will feature plenary sessions on the impact of LRI projects with a focus on environmental risk assessment, bioconcentration, chemo-informatics, exposure modelling, skin sensitisation, and acceptance of innovation.

And during the afternoon of Day 2, Prof Ian Kimber of the University of Manchester will moderate a dedicated panel discussion on non-animal-based safety assessment with the working title: “Non-animal based safety assessment: within reach or over-sold? Do we need to set back expectations?”

The panel will focus on current and future developments in non-animal toxicity testing methods and examine visionary versus unrealistic regulatory expectations in view of REACH 2018. Key questions include:

• What progress has been made in assessing risks to man without generating in vivo test data?
• Has the use of in vitro technologies, “shifted” in the right direction?
• What can be achieved with new developments and by when?
• What are the biggest challenges? 
• What is really needed to get 'omics' accepted in regulation?

The members of the panel will be Dr Karel de Raat (ECHA), Dr Karen Niven (Shell), Dr Alan Poole (ECETOC), Dr Rick Becker (American Chemistry Council), Dr Raffaella Corvi (JRC/EURL-ECVAM), Prof Jim Bridges (Univ. Surrey), and Dr Kirsty Reid (Eurogroup for Animals).

 

For more details go on the 17th Annual CEFIC-LRI workshop visit the dedicated webpage.

A draft programme for the workshop can be downloaded here.

To register for the event, please click here.

You can follow the event on Twitter via the hashtag #lri2015

For more information on the workshop, please contact Dr. Bruno Hubesch, LRI Programme Manager or the LRI Secretariat.

More about LRI
The Long-range Research Initiative (LRI) programme is a major voluntary initiative of the European chemical industry to support the long-term sustainability of its sector and European society. Through the programme we hope to identify the hazards posed by chemicals and improve the methods available for assessing the associated risks.

The LRI sponsors high-quality research of a standard publishable in a reputable peer-reviewed journal, and seeks to provide sound scientific advice on which industry and regulatory bodies can draw-on to respond quickly and accurately to the public's concerns.

UK Horizon 2020 Events announced

The Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge Five (SC5 -  Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials) is happening today (21 September) in Brussels, but in the UK Horizon 2020 National Contact Points (NCPs) are organising a number of information and networking events over the next two months at various locations across the UK. 

The events are theme-based and reflect the main interests of the UK research and industry community following preparatory work between the NCPs and many UK organisations for the 2016 - 2017 Work Programme. The events will be ideal places to learn about many interesting potential project ideas and to link up with project partners.

Attending one of the UK events will allow you to hear about the details of the SC5 funding calls and also to meet and network with organisations interested in collaboration.

Nature-based solutions - re-greening cities
30 September 2015 in London

Funding for water innovation
1 October 2015 in Manchester

Climate resilient business
2 November 2015 in Exeter

More information
For more information or to take advantage of our extensive UK network of industry and academia contacts for partner searching opportunity (provided both via the Knowledge Transfer Network and the Enterprise Europe Network), please contact Ewa Bloch UK National Contact Point for EU Horizon 2020 - Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials (Societal Challenge 5). Ewa will also be at the 21 September InfoDay in Brussels.

To register for regular updates from Horizon 2020 UK NCPs visit the UK Horizon 2020 website.