Bioeconomy Research and Technology Council
Project status: | current | |
Project period: | 01/2009 to 12/2011 | |
Project type: |
Description
The Bioeconomy Research and Technology Council (BioEconomyCouncil) advises the Federal government on measures to promote the bioeconomy in Germany. The Council makes policy recommendations to policy makers, science and industry in the corresponding fields of research and action. The members of the Council are respected senior figures drawn from across the fields of science.
In developing its reports and recommendations, the Council works independently on its own authority. It is administratively associated with acatech. The Council is financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
How does the Council Work?
The Council’s task is to advise the Federal government on strategic fields of action to improve the framework for innovation and new technologies, to promote the development and diffusion of innovative technologies, as well as to identify prospective needs for research.
The BioEconomyCouncil produces expert reports including recommendations for action. Reports are handed over to policy makers during public events. Such events serve to promote the exchange between science and industry.
The Council moreover issues expert opinions on current topics in response to requests from policy makers, science, and industry. Reports and recommendations are published and made available to the public online and in print.
The Council meets regularly. It draws on additional expertise by commissioning studies and reports as well as by hosting hearings and workshops.
Principle members
The council consists of personalities from science, industry and politics:
- Prof. Dr. Reinhard F. Hüttl (Chair), Chair of the Executive Board, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences Potsdam and President of acatech
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Prof. Dr. Bernd Müller-Röber (Deputy Chairman), Professor of Molecular Biology, Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology and University of Potsdam
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Dr. Dr. h.c. Andreas J. Büchting (Deputy Chairman), Chairman of the Supervisory Board KWS SAAT AG
- Prof. Dr. Achim Bachem, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH
- Dr. Helmut Born, Secretary-General of the German Farmers’ Union (Deutscher Bauernverband e.V.)
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Prof. Dr. Thomas Hirth, Director, Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB) and Institute for Interfacial Engineering at the University of Stuttgart
- Dr. Andreas Kreimeyer, Member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE
- Prof. Dr. Manfred Schwerin, Professor of Animal Breeding, University of Rostock and Director, Research Institute for the Biology of Farm Animals
- Prof. Dr. Carsten Thoroe, Retired president of the Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut (vTI) Braunschweig
- Prof. Dr. Wiltrud Treffenfeldt, Director Bioprocess R&D, Dow AgroSciences LLC, Indianapolis, USA
- Prof. Dr. Fritz Vahrenholt, Chief Executive Officer, RWE Innogy GmbH
- Prof. Dr. Joachim von Braun, Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington DC, USA
- Prof. Dr. Alexander Zehnder, Director, Water Research Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
- Dr. Christian Patermann (permanent guest), NRW Government Advisor on Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy