The Ministry for Science, Research and Arts of the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg (BW-MWK) has provided funding for a bioeconomy graduate school to support the development of this interdisciplinary research field. The resulting BBW ForWerts graduate program was founded in July, 2014 and is aiming to educate excellent young academics who will take on the task of finding solutions for global problems and meeting current economic demands through the natural sciences.

During the three-year program, BBW ForWerts PhD students will have the opportunity to participate in summer schools, workshops, method courses and excursions in order to gain not only in-depth insight into their own research fields, but also an overview of the other focus areas in the graduate program. This interdisciplinary approach will enable the students to gain extensive knowledge of a variety of bioeconomic issues. Networking with fellow students, industrial partners and research institutions is also a crucial part of the BBW ForWerts graduate program.

Thematically, BBW ForWerts currently covers three focus areas which are further divided into action areas:

Lignocellulose
“Development of an alternative commodity platform for new materials and products”
- Biomass production and allocation
- Decomposition, modification and conditioning
- Conversion and utilization pathways
- New products and product development
- System analysis and process simulation
- Social frameworks

Biogas
“Sustainable and flexible value added chains in BW”
- Substrate preparation
- Conversion
- Utilization of conversion products
- Economic, ecologic, ethical and social implication of biogas production and processing

Micro algae
“Integrated use for food and animal feed industries”
- Micro algae as source of raw materials
- Micro algae as supplier of alternative and valuable materials

Each PhD student works on a specific research project which falls within one of these three focus areas at one of several institutions across Baden-Württemberg

Further details:
http://bbwforwerts.cos.uni-heidelberg.de