On March 13th, the 20th BioSC Lecture took place in the Jülich Research Center. Prof. Dr. Thomas Brück, holder of the Werner Siemens Chair for synthetic biotechnology and director of the AlgaeTec Center at the Technical University of Munich, presented different bioprocesses for fixation, valorization and storage of CO2.

The 10th “BIO-raffiniert” conference took place from February 26th to 27th, 2019 at Fraunhofer UMSICHT in Oberhausen. This year´s theme "New ways to use biogenic resources?", which was also the topic of the first “Bio-refined” conference in 2003, was examined from different perspectives. Two of the presentations were given by BioSC members Dr. Nina Ihling (RWTH Aachen University) and Dr. Arnd Kuhn (FZ Jülich). 

The fifth event in the “BioSC Spotlight” series took place in Bonn on February 4, 2019. This time the focus was on factors that influence whether a new technology can enter the market, as value chain partners, competitors, public and private standards. Scientists from academia and industry held a total of eight specialist lectures. The World Café „Transfer of bio-based inventions into the market“ offered the opportunity for intense discussion.

The 2018 DECHEMA Prize has been awarded to a BioSC member. Prof. Dr. Dörte Rother from RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich receives the prize in recognition of her pioneering work in the development of efficient synthetic enzyme cascades for the production of high-quality chiral substances. The prize is worth € 20,000 and will be presented at the DECHEMA Day event in Frankfurt on 23 May 2019.

Prof. Dr. Stefanie Bröring, Dr. Felix Jakob and Dr. Michael Wustmans represented the BioSC at this year´s Farm&Food 4.0. While Prof. Dr. Stefanie Bröring delivered a keynote speech on disruptive technologies, new business models and the AgriFood system of the future, Dr. Felix Jakob and Dr. Michael Wustmans from the BioSC greenRelease FocusLab welcomed round table discussion to debate new strategies for reducing pesticide usage.

The Supervision Award 2018/19 goes to Dr. Anita Loeschcke from the Institute of Molecular Enzyme Technology of the Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf and the leader of the BioSC FocusLab CombiCom.