The Summer School took place from 8-12 May at the Invention Center Aachen with participants from all over the world and lecturers from a wide range of disciplines. Numerous aspects of the topic of plastics were highlighted, from the extraction of various monomers from different bio-based resources, through polymerisation, to the degradation of the polymers and the recycling of the monomers.

At the MittelstandsMAKERTHON NRW from 9 to 11 May 2023, co-organised by the BioSC, interdisciplinary student teams developed surprising, creative and above all professional solutions for current entrepreneurial challenges. The winning team convinced with an almost market-ready approach for the production of customised and highly stable shipping materials made of paper.

After much interest last year, the public lecture series "Meet the Cicular Economy - Sustainability in Practice", co-organised by the BioSC, has started for the second time at RWTH Aachen University. At the first event on 24 April, the company Covestro, among others, presented its approaches to sustainable production. Six further dates will take place in May and June.

A new Sonderforschungsbereich is being funded at HHU Düsseldorf for the next four years, focusing on communities of microorganisms. Cooperation partners are Forschungszentrum Jülich, RWTH Aachen University, the Universities of Bielefeld and Cologne and the MPI for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne. 15 of the 29 project leaders are members of the BioSC, where a large part of the necessary collaborations have been initiated.

Homepage of SFB 1535 „Microbial networking – from organelles to cross-kingdom communities“

Since September 2019, the FocusLab Transform2Bio analysed the regional characteristics and strengths of the Rheinische Revier, developed possible transformation paths towards a sustainable bioeconomy and investigated how divergent interests of different social groups can be brought together. On 1 December 2022, the final workshop took place at Forschungszentrum Jülich.

On 11 November from 7 pm to midnight, RWTH Aachen University opened its doors and presented hands-on science for all generations. The aim of the event is to explain science in a comprehensible way and make it tangible, as well as to liven things up by combining it with music, art and culture.

The Bioeconomy Science Center and the structural change initiative BioökonomieREVIER presented approaches to the bioeconomy at a joint stand using practical examples. Around 5,000 visitors enjoyed accessible explanations of scientific topics during the Night of Science.