Council of German BioRegions Meeting in Hamburg
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| The Council of German BioRegions met at the offices of Eppendorf AG in Hamburg, photo: Council of German BioRegions |
The Council of German BioRegions recently convened in Hamburg for its first meeting of 2014. The representatives of the bioregions approved the application by the Mainz-based “leading-edge cluster” (http://www.bmbf.de/en/20741.php?hilite=top+cluster) Ci3, Cluster for Individualised Immune Intervention, to join the council. Other topics on the agenda included the German Biotechnology Days, the Bioregions’ Innovation Prize and the Biotech>inside initiative.
Preparations for the German Biotechnology Days 2014 in Hamburg are in full swing. Speakers at the event will include state secretaries from federal ministries, representatives of the state government and city, entrepreneurs, and experts from the various biotechnology fields (www.biotechnologietage.de). The number of registrations is even higher than in previous years. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research will provide information on state-funded research projects in a special part of the programme featuring over 30 presentations. Other parts of the programme will address the topics of general conditions, the bioeconomy and the healthcare industry.
The Bioregions’ Innovation Prize, which is being organised this year by Heidelberg Technology Park, will be awarded at an evening event in the Fliegende Bauten theatre during the German Biotechnology Days. Fifty-three companies submitted applications for the prize. The competition is aimed at patent holders or patent applicants from university and non-university research institutes. The patents must be of relevance to modern biotechnology.
2014 marks the fourth edition of the Biotech>inside initiative. The Germany-wide campaign is being coordinated once again this year by Munich-based BIO M and will provide a wide range of information on biotechnology to policymakers and the media from the autumn.
Work has already started on planning the 2015 German Biotechnology Days. The programme committee will meet in the second quarter to agree on the initial details. The German Biotechnology Days are supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Further information on the work of the Council of German BioRegions is available at www.biodeutschland.org/ak-bioregio.html