欧洲12国联合力量发展工业生物技术领域

Sixteen  research  organisations  from  twelve  European  countries  have  joined  forces  in  the  area  of  industrial  biotechnology.  The  recent  award  made  by  the  European  Union  to  the  network  ERA  Industrial  Biotechnology  (ERA-IB),  is  an  essential  contribution  to  improving  Europe's  competitive  position.  ERA-IB  was  launched  in  Brussels  on  30  and  31  May  2006.

The  cooperation  must  result  in  a  harmonisation  of  the  currently  fragmented  national  research  policies,  the  implementation  of  a  joint  strategy  and  coordination  of  new  international  research  programmes  in  the  area  of  industrial  biotechnology.  To  achieve  this  the  network  will  be  supported  by  the  European  Technology  Platform  for  Sustainable  Chemistry  (ETP-SusChem)  and  by  the  European  Association  for  Bioindustries  (EuropaBio).

With  the  national  research  programme  B-Basic  and  the  Kluyver  Centre  for  Genomics  of  Industrial  Fermentation,  the  Netherlands  has  a  unique  expertise  in  the  area  of  research  into  industrial  biotechnology.  NWO  is  one  of  the  founders  of  ERA-IB  and  is  also  the  coordinator  of  the  project.  The  Netherlands’  main  task  is  to  manage  the  entire  network.  In  addition  to  this  NWO  will  make  an  important  contribution  to  the  communication  activities  of  the  new  European  network.

Industrial  biotechnology  is  the  sustainable  production  of  chemicals  using  biological  raw  materials.  In  the  production  processes  microorganisms  and  enzymes  are  used  as  a  catalyst,  and  agricultural  products  and  the  residue  of  these  are  used  as  renewable  raw  materials.  Research  into  industrial  biotechnology  is  essential  in  order  to  make  the  chemical  industry  a  sustainable  sector.  Moreover,  it  is  viewed  as  a  key  technology  for  obtaining  the  Lisbon  objectives.

The  European  Union  has  awarded  3  million  euros  for  network  costs.  This  will  be  used  to  set  up  the  necessary  infrastructure  and  data  management  system  within  a  period  of  five  years.  Further  the  network  will  devote  attention  to  the  societal  aspects  of  a  bio-based  chemical  industry.  ERA-IB  aims  to  develop  a  new  transnational  research  programme  by  the  end  of  the  subsidy  period.  The  funding  for  the  research  programme  will,  amongst  others,  come  from  the  organisations  involved  and  the  European  Union.

The  network  is  a  virtual  office  and  the  employees  will  not  be  located  at  the  same  physical  location.  The  network  will  be  coordinated  from  the  NWO  office  in  The  Hague,  which  will  also  house  the  joint  secretariat.  The  researchers  who  will  eventually  benefit  from  this  network  will  be  located  throughout  Europe.   (责任编辑：泉水)

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欧洲12国联合力量发展工业生物技术领域