Help shape the next SusChem SIRA

Do you want to help shape the next SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA)? Then you need to register for the SusChem Workshop ‘Towards a New SusChem SIRA’, which will take place on 16 and 17 May 2019 at Hotel Le Plaza in Brussels, Belgium.

The May event will bring together members of the SusChem Board, the SusChem National Technology Platforms (NTPs) and Research and Innovation experts in a two-day working meeting to help finalise the revised SusChem SIRA that will feed into future technology road maps and calls under the next European Commission Framework Programme (Horizon Europe) and other European innovation initiatives.. 

The participation and contribution of as many SusChem Stakeholders as possible is crucial to ensuring the right priorities and topics are included in the revised SusChem SIRA. 

Sessions and key topics 

On 16 May, four sessions, with a number of round table discussions, will focus on cross-fertilisation topics, helping to define strategic priorities for future sustainable research and innovation activities in chemical sciences. 

The four sessions are: 

• Process Intensification. Sub-topics: reaction engineering, digitalisation, electrification, modularisation, and materials;
• Safe-chemicals-by-design. Sub-topics: R&I themes relevant to process and materials innovation as well as methodologies towards improved safety and sustainability;
• Circular Economy. Sub-topics: biomass valorisation, CO2 valorisation, waste valorisation, circularity-by-design and water circularity); and
• Sustainability Assessment. Sub-topics: methodologies, data, tools and uptake. 

On the second day, 17 May, the event will feature the conclusions on high-level priorities from Day 1, followed by a panel discussion on ‘Strategic Research priorities on Sustainable Chemistry and Industrial Biotech’, between SusChem Board members and European Commission representatives from the Directorate-General for Research & Innovation (DG RTD).

Three parallel sessions will follow to fill remaining gaps for specific technology priorities under Advanced Materials, Advanced Processes and enabling Digital Technologies, accounting for their contribution to Horizon Europe challenges and intervention areas.

A draft agenda for the Workshop can be downloaded here and details of how to register for the event can be found here. 

We look forward to seeing you in Brussels on 16 and 17 May!

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.

The BioBase4SME Network

The BioBase4SME network represents a group of leading biobased economy experts and advises SMEs from across North-West Europe on how to develop new ideas into marketable products. The BioBase4SME project can help Start-ups and SMEs to overcome technological and non-technological barriers to bring their bioeconomy innovations to market.

The bioeconomy represents a massive opportunity for Europe. Locally produced biobased feedstocks rather than imported fossil resources can be used to produce materials, chemicals, energy and more, creating a new knowledge and technology intensive economy with high employment potential and with reduced environmental impact.

The BioBase4SME project expects to bring at least 20 promising innovations closer to the market, resulting in new investments and job creation, and provide training to about 200 entrepreneurs active in the biobased economy, thus boosting their innovation capacity. Other principle outputs are a strong, interregional network to guide entrepreneurs towards successful innovation, improved regional support for the bioeconomy in terms of innovation and investment climate, legal framework and public approval.”

Bio-Innovation

The BioBase4SME project can provide ‘bio-innovation’ support to entrepreneurs throughout regions in north-west Europe. This support can include:

• Free workshops and professional training
• Innovation Biocamps
• Innovation vouchers worth up to EUR 100 000.

The support available through the Innovation voucher system can include:

• Technical assistance such as support for scale-up to pilot scale
• Life Cycle Assessment
• Techno-economic evaluations
• Market research
• Feedstock analysis
• Social acceptance studies
• Business planning and business plan support

The partners involved in the BioBase4SME project include AC3A (France), Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant (Belgium), CLIB2021 (Germany), the Flanders BioBased Valley (Belgium), MateriaNova (Belgium), the NNFCC (UK), REWIN (NL), TCBB Resource (Ireland), and the University of York (UK).

INTERREG NWE

BioBase4SME is supported by INTERREG North-West Europe (NWE), a European Territorial Cooperation Programme funded by the European Commission through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The programme has the ambition to make the North-West Europe area a key economic player and an attractive place to work and live, with high levels of innovation, sustainability and cohesion. It invests EUR 370 million of ERDF money in activities based on the cooperation of organisations from eight countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Find out more about the BioBase4SME project here.

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.