A total of four research departments at Ruhr-Universität Bochum are networking their applied research activities under the umbrella of SolarBioproducts Ruhr. The Herne network serves as an additional platform to promote knowledge and technology transfer between research and industry. This is intended to strengthen the innovative capacity and international visibility of the entire Metropole Ruhr region in the field of biotechnology.

In addition to the founder of SolarBioproducts Ruhr, Prof. Dr. Thomas Happe, who is responsible for the field of photobiotechnology, there are three other equal partners with different scientific focuses. These are Privatdozentin Dr. Anja Hemschemeier (biotechnological use of microalgae), Prof. Dr. Marc Nowaczyk (molecular mechanisms of photosynthesis) and Prof. Dr. Dirk Tischler (microbial biotechnology).

The Photobiotechnology WG at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) has many years of expertise in the field of green biotechnology, especially in the enzymatic production of hydrogen and chemical substances using microalgae. As co-initiator of SolarBioproducts Ruhr, the AG is the contact for scientific questions concerning microalgae and biotechnology. The AG Photobiotechnologie can look back on many years of cooperation with international research institutions. Together with the cooperation partners of SolarBioproducts Ruhr a large network has been established. The interdisciplinary expertise of the network partners creates the basis for joint projects.

The innovative projects were and are supported by various funding bodies such as the Federal Ministry of Education and Research or the Volkswagen Foundation.

Here are some examples:

ERASynBio
Together with partners from Oxford University in the UK and CEA Cadarache in France, the Sun2Chem research alliance has been established. The development of synthetic chloroplasts for the production of fuels as well as chemical substances in microalgae is the research focus here.
The SolarBioproducts Ruhr team took over the organization of the network meeting in September 2017 as well as administrative tasks.
Sun2Chem

VW Foundation
As part of the Volkswagen Foundation initiative “Integration of molecular components into functional macroscopic systems”, SolarBioproducts Ruhr organized the 3rd international status symposium in Hannover together with the AG Photobiotechnologie.
3rd Status Symposium of the VW Foundation

Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Successful evaluation of the project outline “Deutsch-Chinesisches Labor für Algen-Bioenergie (Sigal4NRG)”. In August, the two-year binational project of the Chair of Biochemistry of Plants/AG Photobiotechnology and the Qingdao Institute of BioEnergy and Bioprocess Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences started with Dr. Christina Marx from Sbp as project coordinator.