ESF Research Conferences

Sunday 18th September

12.00-13.30: Registration at Park Inn Bielefeld

13.30: Bus transfer to ZiF

14:00: Welcome: Olaf Kruse - Peter Lindblad Conference Chairs

14.10: Opening: Johannes Hellermann Vice-Rector Bielefeld University
           
Session 1: Solar to fuel production approaches
(Chair: Volker Wendisch)

14:20: Shota Atsumi - University of California-Davis, US
Direct photosynthetic recycling of CO2 to biofuels

14:55: Patrik Jones - University of Turku, FI
Applied and fundamental studies towards the development of cyanobacteria as a host for fuel production

15:30: Yumiko Sakuragi - University of Copenhagen, DK
Regulation of carbohydrate metabolism in cyanobacteria

16:05: Coffee break

Session 2: Selected talks of young researchers
(Chair: Ben Hankamer)

16:35: Ahammed Anwar Chengala - University of Minnesota, US
Exploitation of unicellular green algae for biotechnological applications and human nutrition

17:00: Cinzia Formighieri - University of Verona, IT
Insertional mutagenesis and phenotypic selection as a strategy towards domestication of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii for improved performance in photobioreactors

17:25: Henning Knoop – Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, DE
The metabolic network of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803: systemic properties of autotrophic growth

17:50: Elena Kazamia – University of Cambridge, UK
Why an understanding of algal ecology can lead to improvements in sustainability of algal biodiesel

18:15: Announcements

18:45: Bus departure to Park Inn Hotel

20:00: Dinner at Park Inn Hotel

Monday 19th September

08:30: Bus departure from Park Inn Hotel

08:50: Announcements

Session 3: Biofuels from microalgae
(Chair: Claire Remacle)

09:00: Arthur Grossman - The Carnegie Institution, US
Producing oil from algae: Photoautotrophic compared to heterotrophic growth

09:35: Steven Mayfield - San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology, US
Micro algae for the production of biofuels and bioproducts

10:10: Steve Burgess - Imperial College London, UK
Investigating the link between fermentation and hydrogen production in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

10:35: Liu Jianhua - Genome Institute of Singapore, SG
Gametogenesis, self-flocculation, and lipid accumulation are induced upon nitrogen deprivation in the green microalga Botryococcus sudeticus UTEX2629

11:00: Coffee break and Group Photo

11:30: Claire Remacle – University of Liege, BE
Characterization of a knock-down mutant deficient for isocitrate lyase in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

11:55: Aaron Kaplan - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, IL
The mechanisms whereby desert-inhabiting phytoplankton species overcome photodamage and exhibit superb growth rates when maintained under optimal conditions

12:20: Jit Ern Chen – University of Cambridge, UK
Characterising the genes involved in the last step of the triacylglyceride biosynthesis pathway of Phaedactylum tricornutum

12:45: Joerg Toepel – Bielefeld University, DE
Hydrogen production in Chlamydomonas, new insights with -omics approaches

13:05: Announcements

13:15: Lunch

Session 4: Process Engineering, down processing and reactor design
(Chair: Thomas Noll)

14:15: Imtraut Horst – University of Cambridge, UK
Use of enzymes to facilitate extraction of fuel molecules from microalgae

14:40: René Wijffels - Wageningen University, NL
An outlook on microalgael biofuels

15:15: Ladislav Nedbal - Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, CZ
Model and validation of mass transfer and cyanobacterial growth in a flat-panel photobioreactor

15:50: Coffee break

16:15: Avigad Vonshak – Ben-Gurion University, IL
Growth rate and productivity in large scale algal cultures: Facts, fiction and everything that is in-between

16:40: Clemens Posten - Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), DE
Process development for hydrogen production with Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

17:15: Ferran Garcia-Pichel – Arizona State University, US
Farming cyanobacterial mats for the sustained production of biohydrogen

17:40: Announcements

17:45: Poster session

20:00: Bus departure to Park Inn Hotel

20:30: Dinner at Park Inn Hotel

Tuesday 20th September

08:30: Bus departure from Park Inn Hotel

08:50: Announcements

Session 5: Biofuels from cyanobacteria
(Chair: Roberto Bassi)

09:00: James Golden - University of California-San Diego, US
Developing genetic tools for cyanobacterial biotechnology

09:35: Louis Sherman - Purdue University, US
Biofuels from the unicellular, diazotrophic cyanobacteria Cyanothece

10:10: Annegret Wilde - Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, DE
Production of ethanol using cyanobacteria

10:45: Coffee break

11:15: Willem Vermaas - Arizona State University, US
Cyanobacteria as solar-powered biocatalysts for production of petroleum substitutes

11:50: Matthias Rögner - Ruhr-Univerität Bochum, DE
Engineering the energy metabolism of cyanobacteria for the production of hydrogen from water

12:25: Galyna Kufryk – Mesa Community College, US
Cyanobacteria in hydrogen production

12.50: Lunch

Session 6: State of the art and new frontiers
(Chair: Saul Purton)

14:00: Ben Hankamer - The University of Queensland/ St. Lucia, AU
Towards high efficiency microalgal biofuel systems

14:35: Yusuf Chisti - Massey University, NZ
Sunlight driven production of microalgal biofuels

15:10: Christopher Howe – University of Cambridge, UK
Biophotovoltaics – direct electricity production from microalgae

15.35: Alexandra Alves – Universidade de Lisboa, PT
Functional characterization of cytochromes involved in extracellular electron transfer

16:00: Announcements

Excursion:
16:30: Forest walk or bus transfer to the Farm House Museum, Bielefeld

17:15: Reception and snacks at the Farm House Museum

18:15: Bus transfer to the Sparrenbug Castle, Bielefeld

18:30: Guided tour through the Sparrenburg Castle

20:00: Conference dinner at the Sparrenbug Restaurant

22:30: Bus departure to hotel

Wednesday 21st September

08:45: Check out and bus departure

Session 7: Molecular tools for light to biomass conversion
(Chair: Arthur Grossman)

09:15: Roberto Bassi – Università di Verona, IT
Domestication of unicellular algae for increased biomass production in photobioreactors

09:45: Jean-David Rochaix - Université de Genève, CH
Regulation of photosynthetic electron flow in Chlamydomonas

10:20: Alison Smith - University of Cambridge, UK,
Regulation of gene expression in algae - lessons from vitamin metabolism

10:55: Lutz Wobbe – Bielefeld University, DE
Efficient photosynthesis and functional light-acclimation relies on unperturbed mitochondrial activity

11:20: Coffee

Session 8: Podium discussion EU research strategies “Biofuels from sunlight”
(Chairs: Olaf Kruse & Peter Lindblad )

11:40: Stenbjörn Styring (SOLARH2 FP7 project coordinator)
            Claire Remacle (SUNBIOPATH FP7 project coordinator)
            Philippe Schild (EU; DG Research, Energy Programme)
            Jens Hoegel (EU; DG Research & Innovation E2/Biotechnologies)
            Huub de Groot (ESF rapporteur)

12:30: Final remarks

12:45: Lunch packages & departure