Awards
BioökonomieRevier-Sofortprogramm: Innolabs PlastiQuant & ProtLab
„From brown coal to BioökonomieREVIER “ Forschungszentrum Jülich is following this guiding principle with partners from the region in a joint initiative. Within the framework of structural change, the Rheinische Revier is to become a model region for resource-efficient and sustainable economic activity. Representatives from industry, science, politics and civil society met in Merzenich for the start of a second sub-project in the BioökonomieREVIER. The goal: A total of 15 „innovation labs" are to be set up at the interface between agriculture and science and will enable the rapid transfer of new processes from science to industry. In this way, new value-added chains and new jobs will be generated faster from scientific findings - based on the principles of sustainability. The German government is funding the BioökonomieREVIER project with around 25 million euros as part of the Sofortprogramm for structural change until mid 2021.
Within the project, stakeholders from science, business, politics and civil society are jointly developing concepts for the transformation of an entire region: from a region previously strongly influenced by the use of fossil fuels to a model region for sustainable economic activity based on a modern bio-economy. With the funding provided by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, we want to bring the bio-economy into application and thus create new products, new production processes and new jobs. The Rheinische Revier offers the best conditions for this and will be one of the cornerstones to fill the recently adopted new bio-economic strategy of the Federal Government with life. “This also supports the structural change" said Thomas Rachel MdB, State Secretary for Research, emphasizing the importance of the project beyond the region. In the first sub-project of BioökonomieREVIER Rheinland a regional strategy is being developed. Parallel to this, the innovation labs and platforms at the interfaces between science, industry and agriculture are already being developed. They should help to quickly implement the regional strategy with its focus on jobs and innovation. To this end, scientific institutions (Forschungszentrum Jülich, Fraunhofer Society, RWTH and FH Aachen) and companies (SenseUP Biotechnology GmbH and YNCORIS GmbH & Co. KG) in the region are pooling their expertise in order to implement promising technologies, processes and services of the bio-economy in a structurally effective and exemplary manner in the region. On the 21st January 2020 the second phase of the project BioökonomieREVIER with concrete pilot projects, the so-called “innovation labs" is started. The most diverse research institutions in the region, both from applied and basic research, as well as regional companies, are involved in a unique way in the consortium “innovation labs". RWTH Aachen University coordinates a total of 5 innovation laboratories (Main coordinator: Prof. Andreas Jupke, FVT, RWTH Aachen): DeMoBio_Box, E_HyBio, UpRePP, PlastiQuant, and ProtLab. Among them, the first three innovation labs are coordinated by the Aachener Verfahrenstechnik. The Institute of Biotechnology coordinates the innovation labs PlastiQuant and ProtLab.
The topic of the innovation lab PlastiQuant is (micro-)plastic management for a circular bio-economy and micro-plastic-free food. In this Innolab, the Institute of Biotechnology (Prof. Ulrich Schwaneberg; coordinator of the PlastiQuantLab) and the Institute of Fluid Process Engineering (Prof. Andreas Jupke) come together to develop an infrastructure for the quantification, recycling and valorization of micro and nanoplastic particles. Here, an infrastructure for the high-throughput quantification of micro/nanoplastic particles, e. g. in drinking water or environmental water samples will be developed, a strain collection of adhesion-promoting polymer-degrading enzymes (up to 100 constructs) for the efficient degradation of plastics will be established and plastic recycling processes, e.g. process concepts for the degradation of mixed plastics will be jointly developed. A certification laboratory for “microplastic-free" food will be established by 2021.
The ProtLab (Prof. Ulrich Schwaneberg; coordinator of the ProtLab) focuses on tailor-made protein products and systems for plant health and digital agriculture. The background of this Innolab is to meet the research needs for adhesion promoters for the successful reduction of pesticides through tailor-made protein systems in plant health and digital agriculture. In this Innolab, new fully biodegradable solutions for low pesticide agriculture will be developed, rapid technology transfer will be enabled to exploit the innovation and job potential of the BiFuProts and greenRelease platforms developed within the BioSc framework. In addition, research in high-throughput biophysical characterization, upscaling and formulation for field trials and related monitoring methods will be carried out. It is planned to establish a startup called “AachenGreenBiotec" by 2021 and to start filing applications for approval in the region.
Gold medal for the iGEM team Aachen at the Giant Jamboree 2019
The Giant Jamboree is an annual event where the results of the International Genetically Engineered Machine – iGEM – competition are presented. All participating iGEM teams gather there to present their projects in the field of synthetic biology, hoping to be rewarded with an award. This year's iGEM competition, held at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, USA, was attended by 360 international multidisciplinary teams.
This year's iGEM team at RWTH Aachen University participated with their project Plastractor. The team was able to decorate magnetosomes with plastic binding peptides in such a way that the functionalized magnetosomes can bind polymer particles made of polypropylene or polystyrene that can ultimately be extracted via magnets. The iGEM in Aachen has won a gold medal with Plastractor and a nomination for the best environmental project.
This year the team was supervised by Prof. Blank and Prof. Schwaneberg. The team was accompanied by Claudia Greiner and Dr. Shohana Islam from the Schwaneberg group in the laboratory.
Further information about the project and the Giant Jamboree can be found under the following links:
greenRelease wins first place at the start-up competition “Bio-Gründer Wettbewerb” 2019
On September 11, 2019, the greenRelease team, with its innovative approach for crop protection, won the first place in the competition Bio start-up “Bio-Gründer Wettbewerb” 2019. Dr. Felix Jakob (Biotechnologist, DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials and RWTH Aachen University), Dr. Caspar Langenbach (Biologist, RWTH Aachen University), Alexander Töpel (Chemist, DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials and RWTH Aachen University) and Dr. Michael Wustmans (Economist, Friedrich Wilhelm University Bonn) competed with greenRelease as a research project. A total of 40 teams applied, and the 7 best presented their projects in front of more than 100 guests from the fields of science, business and politics. The prize was awarded by Dr. Kirsten Bender from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, and Digitalization NRW.
"The founding team of greenRelease will revolutionize plant protection with its development," said the jury of the Bio start-up competition. The idea behind it: microscopically small, so-called microgel containers can be applied to the leaves surfaces, which released pesticides continuously over a long period of time (weeks). Anchor peptides ensure that the microgel containers adhere specifically to the leaf surface and are not rinsed off in the rain. Conventional pesticides, on the other hand, are often washed off by rain. Therefore the protection of the plant is limited in time or requires that the product is applied more frequently. Thus, the optimized approach in the greenRelease project enables a clear reduction in the amount of pesticide used.
The greenRelease cooperation project is as FocusLab part of the Bioeconomy Science Center, a consortium of three NRW universities and Forschungszentrum Jülich. The project is coordinated by Dr. Felix Jakob (DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials and RWTH Aachen University). Involved in the project are the working groups of Prof. Ulrich Schwaneberg (DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials and RWTH Aachen University), Prof. Andrij Pich (DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials and RWTH Aachen University), Prof. Uwe Conrath (RWTH Aachen University), Prof. Stefanie Bröring (Friedrich-Wilhelms University Bonn), Prof. Georg Noga (Friedrich-Wilhelms University Bonn), Prof. Claudia Knief (Friedrich-Wilhelms University Bonn), Prof. Georg Groth (Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf), Prof. Holger Gohlke (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf) and Prof. Ulrich Schurr (Forschungszentrum Jülich). Prof. Schwaneberg, Prof. Pich, Prof. Bröring and Prof. Conrath prepared and accompanied the team as mentors to the competition. The Bioeconomy Science Center was founded in 2010 and consists of 58 different groups.
The annual Bio start-up competition for innovative start-up entrepreneurs and young entrepreneurs in the field of agricultural and food industry, biotechnology, biochemistry and related fields took place for the twelfth time. The competition is organized by the Competence Center of Biosafety and offers innovative ideas the space for development. The winners received cash and prizes in the amount of 4000 €.
Teaching Award 2018 for Dr. Monika Reiss
Just like in previous years, Dr. Monika Reiss has once again received a teaching award from the student council of biosciences of the RWTH Aachen University. This is the third time she received this award. After receiving the 2nd place in 2014 and the 1st place in 2015 she was awarded with the 3rd place in 2018.
The teaching award is given to distinguished teaching staff for their performance and high quality of education by the students of biosciences of RWTH Aachen University
The overall winner of this year´s award was Prof. Marc Spehr (Biologie II) with Prof. Dominik Wöll (Juniorprofessor für Spektroskopie kondensierter Materie aus der Physikalischen Chemie) as runner-up.
Congratulation and well done from the whole Schwaneberg group, Monika!
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The iGEM-Team Aachen wins a gold medal at the 2018 Giant Jamboree
The Giant Jamboree is an annual event that showcases work from the iGEM Competition. All iGEM teams were invited to present their synthetic biology projects and compete for prizes. This year iGEM hosted over 300 international, multidisciplinary teams, at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA, USA.
With the project “MelaSense”, iGEM Aachen team happily announce that they are bring a gold medal and - just like in 2017 - a nomination for "Best hardware" to Aachen.
You can find more information about the project and the Giant Jamboree on the following websites:
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Innovationspreis der BioRegionen 2018
The Schwaneberg group is proud to announce that the project greenRelease was awarded with the Innovationspreis der BioRegionen Deutschland during this year´s edition of the Deutschen Biotechnologietage in Berlin, the price which is sponsored by the scientific journal BIOspektrum and carries a value of 2,000 € was presented to Dr. Felix Jakob and Prof. Ulrich Schwaneberg.
The Innovationspreis has been awarded for the 11th time and acknowledges the three most innovative ideas and patents developed in the BioRegions.
The Arbeitskreis der BioRegionen in Germany is an association of the BioRegionen in Germany located at the Biotechnologie-Industrie-Organisation Deutschland e. V. (BIO Deutschland) in Berlin. The 31 members of the association primarily support financing, founding and technology transfer as well as representation of the German biotechnological industries.
The Innovationspreis of the BioRegions in Germany is awarded to outstanding research in the fields of biotechnology and life sciences […] In this year, it was especially hard for the judges to select the laureates among a large list of excellent applications”
– Dr. Hinrich Harbeck, Speaker of the Arbeitskreis der BioRegionen Deutschland e.V.
The greenRelease technology awarded with this price consists of a universally chargable microgel container which protects active compounds from environmental hazards and releases them on demand. The second component consists of “anchor peptides” that attach the microgel containers to a large variety of crops and facilitates rainfastness.
This project is catered for by the division Biohybrid Systems of the Schwaneberg group and conducted in cooperation with the DWI - Leibniz Insitute for Interactive Materials e.V. and SFB 985 „Functional Microgels and Microgel Systems“ (DFG) as well as financed by the the Bioeconomy Science Center (BioSC). The resulting technology minimizes the loss of active compounds (fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides) into the environment, improves plant compatibility and ensures adjustable biodegradability of the microgel containers.
Interested in the greenRelease-Technology? Please find further information on our website. A detailed description of the award ceremony and the laureates can be found here.
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CAAS-Appointment as distinguished Professor 2018
During his recent visit to a number of Chinese research institutions, Professor Schwaneberg was awarded with Letters of appointment as Distinguished International Supervisor and as Distiguished Professor by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
CAAS - Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences is a national Chinese research organization of 42 institutes focussing on agricultural reserach. This organization is employing more than 5,000 scientists and has founded more than 100 companies as well as won more than 3,000 national and international prices since 1957. CAAS investigates a wide spectrum of agricultural topic and as bred more than 1,000 new breeds of plants and lifestock, produced novel vaccines and developed new strategies for plant protection.
The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences acknowledges the longterm efforts of the Schwaneberg group and its leader for the education and training of Chinese students and the joint work in application for grants as well as projects in the field of agricultural sciences.
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The iGEM-Team Aachen wins a gold medal at the 2017 Giant Jamboree
The Giant Jamboree is an annual event that showcases work from the iGEM Competition. All iGEM teams were invited to present their synthetic biology projects and compete for prizes. This year iGEM hosted over 300 international, multidisciplinary teams, at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA, USA.
With the project “Salt vault”, iGEM Aachen team happily announce that they are bring a gold medal and nominations for the best environmental project and the best hardware to Aachen.
You can find more information about the project and the Giant Jamboree on the following websites:
https://www.biotec.rwth-aachen.de/cms/BIOTEC/Studium/~kype/iGem/lidx/1/
https://www.facebook.com/iGEMAachen/
http://2017.igem.org/Giant_Jamboree
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Professor Schwaneberg receives 2016 BMBF research award
Professor Schwaneberg receives the research award from BMBF endowed with 1.7 million Euros for the “Next Generation of Biotechnological Processes”
Since 2012, the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research - BMBF - grants this award every two years within the Initiative Biotechnology 2020+. Together with the Max Planck Society, the Fraunhofer Society, the Helmholtz Association, the Leibniz Association and universities, the Federal Ministry founded this initiative in 2010. Major scientific breakthroughs for bio-based productions are acknowledged by these grands. We are pleased to announce that Professor Schwaneberg was honored in 2016 with the award “Next Generation of Biotechnological Processes" from BMBF. With this 1.7 million Euro award, funding of a research group for five years will be possible. The coordination of this funded project will be managed in the Schwaneberg group by Johannes Schiffels.
The award winner, Professor Ulrich Schwaneberg, develops a technology platform to utilize established production organisms for the material production in organic solvents. The general use of production organisms would catalyze the convergence of material production industries via chemical synthesis and biotechnological procedures and allow new integrated and combined material production processes. Inspired from nature, nanogels are used, which stick to cells and generate synthetic biofilms. These thin synthetic biofilms protect the cells from organic solvents without hindering material transfer significantly. The binding of the nanogels to the bacterial surface takes place via a procedure involving anchor peptides, whereby this platform is submitted for patent.
E. coli was selected as model organism. For the whole cell catalysis selective P450-monooxygenases and hybrid catalyst systems were selected. Monooxygenases catalyze chemical "dream reactions" like chemoselective hydroxylation of aromatic compounds with ambient temperature with oxygen as a green oxidizing agent. The productivity is often limited by the low water solubility of hydrophobic substrates or the stability of hybrid catalysts in water. Hybrid catalysts constitute a new class of catalysts, in which transitional metal complexes such as ruthenium are anchored in proteins.
The integration of metal catalysts in protein surroundings allows up to now non-achievable chemoselective conversions. One important example is the Nobel prize-winning metathesis reaction in 2005, which is used industrially in large scales including olefin metathesis in the petrochemistry, synthesis of pheromones and pharmaceuticals like anti-inflammatory drugs. Enzymes do not catalyze the industrially used metathesis reaction. The control and selectivity over the protein surroundings in hybrid catalysts allows innovative and new processes particularly in the chemoselective synthesis of hardly water soluble like steroids, aromatic and cyclic hydrocarbons from their polymers, odoriferous substances and preliminary stages of pharmaceuticals. Monooxygenases as well as the whole cell hybrid catalysts are adapted by directed evolution to cost-effective production conditions. The method directed evolution is comparable to evolution in the nature, whereas directed evolution is million times accelerated compared to natural evolution.
Gold medals for iGEM2016 RWTH Aachen team
The International Genetically Engineered Machine iGEM team 2016 supervised by RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich won gold medal for Best New Application Project and gold medal for the Best Hardware in Boston USA. Within their project, they were searching for an ecological alternative for boric acid based light inducible proteases.
Scholarships of the Chinese Sholarship Council (CSC) 2016
Congratulations to Haiyang Cui and Yu Ji for obtaining CSC scholarship of Chinese government. They will be funded for a maximum of four years to perform their PhD study in our group.
Teaching award of the student council of biosciences 2015
Dr. Tamara Dworeck and Dr. Monika Reiss were awarded with the 1st place of the "Lehrpreis der Fachschaft für Biowissenschaften 2015" of RWTH Aachen University, after already recieving the 2nd place in 2014.
Supervision Award 2015 by BioSC
In the frame of BioSC premium to promote outstanding young scientists Dr. Ljubica Vojcic won “BioSC Supervision Award 2015” and was awarded with 25.000 euros for projects funds.
Gold medal for iGEM2015 RWTH Aachen team
Interdisciplinary iGEM team Aachen 2015 worked on a project for effective usage of methanol for biotechnological processes and won a gold medal for the best measurement project at Giant Jamboree 2015 competition in Boston (USA).
Gold medal for the 2014 iGEM team of RWTH Aachen University
An international student team of 15 biotechnologists supervised by RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich won a gold medal for the best development of an analytical method and received a special award for the best software and safety concept in the iGEM competition 2014 in Boston, USA. The team developed a modular biosensor for the detection of pathogens.
Borcher Award for best graduates at RWTH Aachen University
The Borchers Badge is awarded to doctoral students of RWTH Aachen University, who have passed their PhD examination "with distinction". Dr. Anna Joelle Ruff and Dr. André Jakoblinnert from Institute of Biotechnology were awarded on the celebration ceremony in September 2014.
Teaching award 2014 at RWTH Aachen University
Teaching award 2014 at RWTH Aachen University
Dr. Tamara Dworeck and Dr. Monika Reiss shared second place for “Teaching Award 2014” by Student Council Biology at RWTH Aachen.