On 18 and 19 November 2019 the 4th International BioSC Symposium took place in Cologne with about 180 participants. The speakers` contributions covered a broad spectrum from research to product development and market launch and reflected very different expertise and points of view. In addition to the presentations, 49 posters, three of which received awards, were points of contact for intensive scientific discussions. The conference has once again demonstrated the need for an integrated approach to bioeconomy and provided a platform for interdisciplinary exchange and future cooperation.

On November 19, 2019 the sixth internal retreat for BioSC members took place in Cologne. The projects from phase 2 of the NRW Strategy Project BioSC that had started in 2017 and 2018 were presented with short presentations. This was followed by workshops on the future opportunities for cooperation in different topic areas. Dr. Thomas Drepper (HHU Düsseldorf) and Dr. Stephan Noack (Forschungszentrum Jülich) were awarded the BioSC Supervision Award 2019.

There were two SEED FUND calls in 2019 as part of phase 2 of the NRW BioSC strategy project. The OPEN Call was without thematic restrictions while the LINK call focused on topics related to the FocusLabs. Five projects were selected and started in September 2019.

On 19 September 2019 at RWTH Aachen University, an international BioSC workshop on the treatment of wastewater with the aid of algae was held for the second time. The workshop was led by Tania V. Fernandez (Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Wageningen), Ladislav Nedbal (Forschungszentrum Jülich/BioSC) and Patrik Jones (Imperial College, London). Among the approximately 50 participants were algae scientists from Israel, the USA and numerous European countries.

In July and October, the PhD students in the FocusLabs had the opportunity to gain insights into the bioeconomy-relevant industry through excursions to BAYER Crop Science (Monheim) and B.R.A.I.N. Biotech (Zwingenberg). On 30 October, the fourth NRW PhD Day „Future bioeconomy“ took place in Düsseldorf-Neuss.

Dr. Christiane S. Farinas from the Brazilian agricultural research institute Embrapa, Prof. Wout Boerjan from the University of Ghent and Dr. Jochen Förster from the Carlsberg company were BioSC guest speakers in September and October. The BioSC was represented at the science nights of HHU Düsseldorf and RWTH Aachen University with lectures by Prof. Markus Pauly and Prof. Andreas Jupke.

The BioSC was able to welcome two new Core Groups in the course of 2019. Prof. Dr. Thomas Gries heads the Institute of Textile Technology (ITA) at RWTH Aachen University. Prof. Dr. Silke Hüttel holds the Chair of Production Economics at the University of Bonn.

The 7th BioSC Spotlight “Modular Biotransformations in a Circular Bioeconomy” will take place in Aachen on 5th February 2020.

On 10th  February 2020, the BioSC Workshop “Closing Plastic Cycles in the Bioeconomy” will also take place in Aachen.

Registration for both events is open!

Further information on events and calls can be found here: