Welcome to the ZIM – Innovation Network „Microalgae – a sustainable source of high quality natural products“
Managed by T+I Consult
About us
The international ZIM-Innovation Network “Microalgae – a sustainable source of high quality natural products” is focused on biotechnical and industrial usage of microalgae for producing high-grade natural substances in different fields such as chemistry, pharmacy and food. In addition, innovative economically usable products and processes will be created in the areas of technological development (e.g. new production systems, degree of automation, contamination, gas management, quality monitoring systems) and
embedding of microalgae systems in industrial circulation systems (recovery of recyclable materials, waste water, aquaponics, air purification).
In this context, innovative economically usable products and processes are developed in close cooperation between companies and research partners. The further development and expansion of cooperation between German, Australian and Swiss partners is of special importance.
Network partners
Akees Data Intelligence GmbH
Location: Berlin
Established since: 2018
Akees is operating in the field of life sciences and works together with public and private institutions to provide solutions for analytical quality assurance. Another focus is the development, optimisation and validation of new measurement methods and processes.
Akees addresses issues of food safety, medicine, environmental protection, forensics and materials research and develops new approaches for experimental design, method validation, data interpretation and evaluation using artificial intelligence, mathematics and statistics.
Bioactive Food GmbH
Location: Bad Segeberg
Established since: 2008
BioActive Food researches, develops and produces natural food concentrates to supplement daily nutrition.
Dr. Eberhard Bioenergie GmbH & Co. KG
Location: Neustadt Glewe
Established since: 2017
Dr. Eberhard Bioenergie deals with the production of microalgaes for the food industry. Extraordinary is its innovative, open system for producing end products with high quality.
EvU – Innovative Umwelttechnik GmbH
Location: Gröditz
Established since: 2004
EvU (Development of Environmental Technology) is an established company that develops and offers modern and environmentally friendly technologies for the industrial and municipal waste water sector. The company plans and implements biological wastewater treatment solutions. The company combines the highest cleaning performance with modern, environmentally friendly technology.
Füllner & Partner GmbH
Location: Stahnsdorf b. Berlin
Established since: 1992
Füllner und Partner GmbH is specialized on the extensive planning, software and hardware development, 3D construction, production of mechatronic components, LED luminaires and luminaire systems.
IGV Institut für Getreideverarbeitung GmbH
Location: Nuthetal
Established since: 1960
IGV GmbH and its more than 100 employees develop innovative products, plants and processes for food and feed production and are experts in the field of biotechnology with microalgae. In the field of microalgae, IGV has years of experience in research and development in the cultivation of phototrophic microorganisms, such as microalgae, cell and tissue cultures. The main objective is the technical generation of active ingredients and raw materials, e.g. in the fields of cosmetics and food.
INPUT Ingenieure GmbH
Location: Sehnde
Established since: 2000
INPUT Ingenieure GmbH enriches the network with extensive and long-standing expertise in plant construction (infrastructure, building construction as well as energy- and environmental engineering). In this field, they have been operating successfully for 20 years in the planning and construction of individual trades as well as in the realisation of large-scale environmental engineering projects.
KTS Alge GmbH
Location: Laucha an der Unstrut
Established since: 1991
Agrar Burgscheidungen eG is a fruit farm with about 1,800 ha of arable land and about 300 ha of cultivated grassland. Furthermore, it currently cultivates about 22 ha of vineyards. Although the main crop is winter wheat, they also regularly harvest barley, rapeseed, sunflowers, rye, oat, sugar beet, maize, peas and, since this year, hemp.
K T S Alge GmbH, a subsidiary of Agrar Burgscheidungen will focus on the integration of microalgae cultivation in agriculture in order to counteract a myriad of increasing challenges (e.g. climate change, political decisions, market situation, shortage of skilled workers, etc.).
LABOKLIN GmbH & Co. KG
Location: Bad Kissingen
Established since: 1989
LABOKLIN is a private accredited laboratory with great experiences in the fields of pathology, microbiology and molecular biology.
Microganic GmbH
Location: Melle
Established since: 2015
Microganic GmbH sells and produces microalgae and their ingredients for the food industry, the medical field and cosmetics. Their interdisciplinary, internationally trained team combines years of experience in algae production, sales and business administration.
TERRA URBANA Umlandentwicklungsgesellschaft mbH
Location: Zossen
Established since: 1993
TERRA URBANA is a nationally and internationally acting business, that is focused on environmental planning and environmental technologies.
Associated partners - Science
Albert-Ludwigs Universität Freiburg
Location: Freiburg
Research areas: microalgae for production of amino acid; characterization of new algae strains.
Alfred-Wegener-Institut
Location: Bremerhaven
Research areas: microalgae cultivation; integrated multitrophic aquaculture; process and installation engineering; ecologically, economically and socially sustainable microalgae production.
Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg
Location: Cottbus
Research area: phototrophic biotechnology, especially the cultivation and extraction of valuable substances from microalgae.
Gesellschaft zur Förderung von Medizin- , Bio und Umwelttechnologien e.V.
Location: Halle (Saale)
Research areas: phototrophic processes for optimal biomass- and product building; analytics for algae ingredients; reactor systems on a scale 500 ml – 30 l; experimental platform for the evaluation of lightening, pH value, supply of carbon dioxide and nitrogen.
Hochschule Anhalt
Location: Köthen
Research areas: biotechnological production of valuable and active substances (carotenoids, sulfolipids, fatty acids, proteins, amino acids, pharmaceutical substances) from algae and the fermentation of complex biomass substrates (biogenic waste materials, renewable raw materials).
Hochschule Bremerhaven
Location: Bremerhaven
Research area: biotechnology of microalgaes and cyanobacterias.
Hochschule Kaiserslautern
Location: Kaiserslautern
Under the direction of Dr. Michael Lakatos, the University of Kaiserslautern is working on systems for building-integrated systems and is currently researching in the field of systems for the production of terrestrial microlayers. They pursue the bundling of competencies along the value chain for the production of innovative active ingredients and novel hybrid materials.
Hochschule Neubrandenburg
Location: Neubrandenburg
The main research areas of the University of Neubrandenburg are health and nutrition as well as sustainable structural change and conversion of rural regions. Prof. Dr. Michael Sandmann, Professor of „Food Bioprocess Engineering“ at the Department of Agriculture and Food Sciences, is focusing on the field of food bioprocess engineering.
Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
Location: Berlin
Research areas: organization and function of metabolic networks; phototrophic metabolism using cyanobacteria as model organisms.
Martin – Luther Universität Halle
Location: Halle (Saale)
Research areas: chemical and biological screening of actinomycetes and cyanobacteria strains, stock culture, isolation and structure elucidation of biologically active natural products.
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Location: Bochum
Research areas: biochemistry; genetics and biotechnology of photosynthetic microorganism with the focus on the interaction between different metabolic pathways in photosynthetic cyanobacteria and green algae.
Technische Hochschule Wildau
Location: Wildau b. Berlin
Research areas: molecular biotechnology and functional genomics with focus on screening, development of robotics, lightening and Software; strain maintenance and culturing of microalgae and the analysis of carotene, unsaturated fatty acids and other ingredients; production of algae for the production of renewable resource and as a source of food for zooplankton.
Universität Bielefeld
Location: Bielefeld
The Algae Biotechnology & Bioenergy Research Group at Bielefeld University was founded in 2009 and is part of the Faculty of Biology and of the Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec). The working group of Prof. Kruse investigates the potential of microalgae for the utilization of light energy and CO2 for the biotechnological production of valuable compounds in fundamental and applied research projects. Targets in the focus of our current research include hydrocarbons, carbohydrates, lipids, recombinant proteins and other bioactive molecules.
Universität Potsdam
Location: Potsdam
Research areas: identification and application of secondary plant substances, identification and characterization of proteins due to Proteomresearch, Proteinprofiling or mapping, valuing changes in the structure of proteins.
Zentrum für Ernährung und Lebensmitteltechnologie gGmbH
Location: Neubrandenburg
Research areas: The Centre for Nutrition and Food Technology – ZELT has been cooperating with research and the food industry since 1997. Product and process development for food companies is flanked by sensory, microbiological, chemical and physical analyses.
Associated partners - Industry
Phytolinc GbR
Location: Köln
Established since: 2018
Phytolinc is a spin-off of the University of Cologne that has developed an innovative production process for microalgae. A membrane is used to produce terrestrial microalgae with high growth rates and new algae species that have not yet been cultivated industrially. Since this system can be connected to aquaculture, the young company is also involved in aquaculture and aquaponics.
Roquette Klötze GmbH & Co. KG
Location: Klötze
Established since: 1995
Since 2000, algae (e.g. Chlorella vulgaris) have been cultivated in Klötze. Roquette Klötze is a pioneer in the field of microalgae with its patented cultivation method in a 500 km long glass tube system. The entire cultivation from the starter culture to the finished product is controlled by the in-house laboratory and is certified according to the international standards GMP, HACCP, ISO 9001, ISO 22000, ISO 50001 and HALAL.
Whapow Deutschland GmbH
Location: Klötze
Established since: 2017
The Startup Whapow has expertise, experience and motivation in the food sector. The fresh products with algae developed and produced by Whapow are produced in a climate-friendly and environmentally friendly way and are produced and traded fairly. Whapow is of the opinion: Microalgae can solve macro problems!
Other contributors
Klosterbrauerei Neuzelle GmbH
Location: Neuzelle
Established since: 2018
Klosterbrauerei Neuzelle GmbH develops, produces and distributes innovative, distinctive beer specialities. The brewery has been increasingly working with the recycling of residual materials (brewers grain) for a long time and is therefore open to new and unconventional ways in terms of the circular economy.
Foreign partners
IMB Centre for Solar Biotechnology – The University of Queensland
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Development of new solar powered technologies and industries based on photosynthetic green algae; Strain purification, cryopreservation, nutrient and light optimisation, metabolomics and metabolic engineering, high-value product development and screening, photobioreactor and raceway system design, technoeconomic analysis, scale-up.
Climate Change Cluster – University of Technology Sydney
Location: Sydney, Australia
Research-based solutions focusing on the development of new algal biosystems with the following applications: Commercial-scale microalgal biomass cultivation methods in bioreactors; Efficient algal biomass harvesting and processing methods; Biotech-ready, genetically engineered, elite microalgal strains; Algae-based biodegradable plastics; Development and biomanufacturing of therapeutics from algae using GMP-lite facility; Bioremediation systems for wastewater and solid waste treatment.
Plant Biotechnology Laboratory – Hanyang University
Location: Seoul, South Korea
Research-based solutions focusing on the development of versatile microalgal strains using microalgae transformation technique and molecular genetics; Identification of low temperature adaptation mechanism of polar microalgae, especially characterization and application of antifreeze proteins. As efforts to produce high valued biochemicals such as biodiesel and carotenoids, scientists are developing high light conversion efficiency, high speed CO2 capturing microalgae.
Hochschule für Life Sciences FHNW
Location: Muttenz, Switzerland
Prof. Dr. Riedl from the Institute for Chemistry and Bioanalytics in Muttenz is head of the working group „process engineering and technology“ and will work in the network especially on the topic „technological development“ for an increase of economic efficiency and scalability of microlayer production.
AlgaEnviro Pty Ltd
Location: Nambour, Australia
Dr. Simon Tannock, CEO of AlgaEnviro, offers a natural method to keep waters healthy and control existing dangerous algal blooms. The Australian company uses special algae species, which are added to the water by a special process in order to be effective there.
DSI Technology Pty Ltd
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Software solutions for production control in the agricultural and food sector; Process monitoring in the breeding, production and extraction of high-quality active ingredients
Global Futuremakers Pty Ltd
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Sustainable and innovative energy and water solutions
Our international activities
News
Circular Bioeconomy Clustermeeting in Australia - 31. October – 4. November 2022
Opening algae plant by Agrar Burgscheidungen
BMWK's Innovation Day - 23. June 2022
"World Algae Day" 2020
International Circular Bioeconomy Cluster Meeting - 18. September 2020
We are moving: new address and phone number as of April 23
The network enters phase II
New guidelines for the Central Innovation Programme for SMEs (ZIM)
Circular Bioeconomy Cluster Meeting & Workshop – 18.-19. November 2019
4th Australian-German Science and Innovation Day 2019 - 9. October 2019
12th Federal Algae Meeting 2019 - 11.-12. September 2019
New algae species discovered in Lake Halbendorf near Weißwasser
Symposium "Saxony-Anhalt - Center of Algae Biotechnology in the Metropolitan Region" - 14. May 2019
Projects
AlgaSubst
Project start
1. October 2020
Partners
Microganic GmbH | Mack bio-agrar GmbH | Uni Bielefeld (Biolog. Fak.) | Uni Bielefeld (Techn. Fak.)
Brief description of the project
Within the AlgaSubst project, a granulate made from microalgae will be developed that naturally contains important ingredients for feed and food, e.g. certain vitamins or trace elements. This product will be produced without genetic engineering by improving cultivation processes on a purely vegetable basis and will be geared to a wide range of applications as feed and food in terms of price-performance ratio, sensory properties and ingredients. Through the development and orientation towards a larger production scale, the product has the potential to be permanently included in feed and food formulations as a healthy, natural and sustainable ingredient with value-giving ingredients.
Fucoxanthine-rich microalgae for agesensitive feeding of small animals
Project start
1. July 2020
Partners
UP Transfer GmbH an der Universität Potsdam | BioActive Food GmbH | Laboklin Labor für klinische Diagnostik GmbH & Co. KG | Martin-Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg
Brief description of the project
The aim of this project is to study how the dosage parameters of the marine xanthophyll, fucoxanthin, influences its bioavailability. Secondly, its protective effects on the metabolism in pets will also be investigated. In addressing these research questions, both a product innovation (development of small animal snacks) and a technological innovation can be achieved. To the latter, the project will focus on optimizing the culture/processing conditions of microalgae in order to produce and make available the fucoxanthin-rich starting materials.
Quick test system for standardized quality assessment of refined soya products
Project start
1. July 2020
Partners
Proteome Factory AG | Gesellschaft zur Förderung von Medizin-, Bio- und Umwelttechnologien e. V.
Brief description of the project
The planned project will develop a novel rapid-test system to provide a representative, fast and reliable method of examining the quality of processed soy products and other agricultural protein sources (e.g. legume). This will give small and medium-sized soy farmers the opportunity to establish an independent quality management system for the production of marketable soy-based goods. In summary, the planned concept will enable regional farmers to produce economically competitive products for the food and feed industry and to sell them independent of large companies.
Hand-held device for honey analysis
Project start
1. April 2020Partners
Füllner & Partner GmbH | Fraunhofer IKTS | IfU GmbHBrief description of the project
In Germany honey is produced by about 140,000 hobby and 500 professional beekeepers. About 500 beekeepers produce more than 40,000 kg honey per year. The type of honey can change several times a year due to the sources from which the bees obtain the honey. Nowadays there is a great interest in quality honey production (sources of honey), which significantly influence the price of the product. The analysis for essential parameters of honey (type of pollen, pH, conductivity, etc.) is done in laboratories, which is very expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, a hand-held device is to be developed which is able to display the essential parameters of honey on the basis of the measurement of colour in reflection and transmission, pores, pollen size and shape, conductivity and pH-value. Due to the added value of the product to be achieved by the concrete quality specification, such a device is profitable for more than 500 beekeepers in Germany.T+I Consult
Network management
T+I Technologie- und InnovationsConsult GmbH has extensive know-how in the field of ZIM network and cluster management. Within the networks that we initiated we support partner companies and scientific institutions in the identification of ideas and development of joint projects. We also support funding applications for innovative projects and ensure that reporting and billing to the promoters is compliant with the guidelines.
Furthermore, we ensure a constant exchange between the participating companies and scientific cooperation partners.
Bärbel Riemann
Administration
E: riemann@ti-consult.de