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Research for sustainable economy through renewable raw materials
The Bioeconomy Science Centre
How can plant-based biomass be made available in a sufficient and sustainable way? And how can reusable materials be produced cost-effectively and efficiently with the aid of microorganisms, for example? These questions, and many others, are the focus of researchers at the RWTH Aachen, the Universities of Bonn and Düsseldorf and the Jülich Research Centre together with business partners at the Bioeconomy Science Centre. On 12 September 2011, together with representatives from the EU as well as the federal and state governments, they discussed the opportunities and challenges for a future bio-economy.
The multidisciplinary research cooperation in this pioneering field was welcomed by Svenja Schulze, Minister of Science for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia; as well as Thomas Rachel, parliamentary state secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research; Dr. Alfredo Aguilar, Head of Unit Biotechnologies Directorate Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology of the European Commission’s Research and Innovation Directorate-General; and Dr. Christian Patermann, North Rhine-Westphalia state advisor for the knowledge-based bio-economy and member of the BioEconomyCouncil.
Central questions for the research collaboration include: How does the bio-economy fit into the overall economy and what social developments are necessary for this?
The Bioeconomy Science Centre comprises 54 institutes with over 1,200 employees. They research the foundations for a future bio-economy together with partners from the business and science worlds. For this purpose the Research Centre also cooperates closely on projects of the previous and current phases of the Excellence Initiative and coordinates collaborative research networks and projects with industry on both, national and international level in all areas of research.
Further Information on the Bioeconomy Science Centre, click here
For the interview with Christian Patermann on Bioeconomy Science Centre, click here