Series of European conferences launched on 21 November at Bielefeld University

From 21 to 24 November, internationally renowned experts along with young academics from more than 20 nations will be meeting in Bielefeld to present current findings and trends in using bacteria and yeasts to produce materials from renewable resources. The conference "Microorganisms for Industrial Biotechnology" is the first in a new series of European Science Foundation (ESF) conferences to be held at Bielefeld University.

The Centre for Biotechnology (CeBiTec) at Bielefeld University has negotiated successfully with the European Science Foundation (ESF). The annual conference series on "Advances in Industrial Biotechnology“ will come to Bielefeld for the next 6 years. These conferences will be held at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research (ZIF) where they will report on the latest international research findings in the fields of microbes and industrial biotechnology, sun to fuel technologies, and cell culture technologies.

The joint goal of the initiators Professor Dr. Volker Wendisch, Professor Dr. Alfred Pühler, Professor Dr. Thomas Noll, and Professor Dr. Olaf Kruse was to sponsor a series of top European natural science conferences at Bielefeld's CeBiTec. By successfully attracting a European series of conferences, the CeBiTec yet again confirms its status as a major centre of industrial biotechnology research in Germany.

The first set of three conferences in 2010–2012 begins on 21 November with the topic "Microbes and Industrial Biotechnology." Because of renovation work at the ZiF, this year's conference is being held at the PARK INN Hotel in Bielefeld. It will be chaired by Professor Dr. Volker Wendisch and Professor Dr. Alfred Pühler.

International Autumn School for Young Academics
The international ESF-CeBiTec conference will be followed by a laboratory course as part of an autumn school at Bielefeld University's Centre for Biotechnology (CeBiTec). A total of 24 doctoral and postdoctoral students from 14 nations spread across three continents will be attending. The latest technology in the fields of high throughput sequencing and the subsequent genome and postgenomic analyses will be demonstrated in four departments. The laboratory course is being sponsored by the genome research and bioinformatics technology platform at CeBiTec.

A supporting programme will provide opportunities for the CeBiTec doctoral students to meet scientists from other institutes and – where possible – organize cooperations. The experimental further training course for international young academics is the third CeBiTec event of this kind and should also be continued in 2011 and 2012. It grants Bielefeld University an internationally visible sign of its competence in the field of microbial genomics.

Contact:
For the series of conferences:
Prof. Dr. Olaf Kruse, Bielefeld University
Centre for Biotechnology
Tel. 0521 106-12258, E-Mail: olaf.kruse@uni-bielefeld.de

For the present conference:
Prof. Dr. Volker Wendisch, Bielefeld University
Centre for Biotechnology
Tel. 0521 106-5611, E-Mail: volker.wendisch@uni-bielefeld.de

For the Autumn School:
Prof. Dr. Alfred Pühler, Bielefeld University
Centre for Biotechnology
Tel. 0521-106 8750, E-Mail: puehler@cebitec.uni-bielefeld.de