Category: News

We are currently facing major social challenges. Topics such as resource scarcity, the climate crisis and social and economic injustice are issues of acute relevance. On 24 March 2025, the university research and transfer centre b-ACT^matter held a symposium on these key issues. The centre’s interdisciplinary and broad-based scientific team cooperates with regional and international partners to develop innovative solutions and successfully establish them on the market.

In the presence of representatives from the Saxon State Ministries for Infrastructure and Regional Development (SMIL) and for Science, Culture and Tourism (SMWK), the Research and Transfer Centre for Bioactive Matter at Leipzig University (b-ACT^matter) held a one-day symposium on 24 March 2025, which focused on new approaches to solving pressing social challenges such as resource scarcity, sustainable production processes and comprehensive environmental protection and monitoring. Together with representatives from science, industry and administration, the participants discussed how interdisciplinary research in the field of bioactive matter – with properties of living and biological organisms – can help to overcome these challenges and rapidly transfer innovative solutions into industrial applications. On the one hand, the symposium offered a review of the past three years in which the centre was established as part of the ‘aufbauACT’ project, which is part of the STARK programme for structural support in lignite mining regions. On the other hand, it looked to the future in order to define the next steps and goals.

The diverse portfolio of b-ACT^matter was discussed with academic and industrial partners from Saxony, Germany and across Europe. Topics ranged from the AI-supported development of bioactive substances and technologies for converting CO₂ and waste streams into sustainable chemical products and energy sources to innovative meat alternatives. A particular focus was placed on the rapid and efficient transfer of the latest research findings into technological applications and industrial processes. Both existing obstacles to technology transfer and new regional opportunities in the Leipzig area, which arise in particular as a result of funding under the STARK programme for structural change in the lignite regions, were discussed in detail.

Successful examples were presented by promising start-ups and spin-off initiatives such as Pacifico Biolabs, EST3R Biotech and SCPsense. They emphasised how crucial the support of partners in the entrepreneurial, scientific and technological fields – including Leipzig University’s SMILE start-up initiative, b-ACT^matter and the leap:up and medical:forge associations – is in successfully overcoming critical hurdles in the spin-off process.

Looking back, the symposium showed that b-ACT^matter has successfully established itself in the region since its launch in July 2021 and has also built up a strong national and international network. During this time, the centre has been able to achieve new research results in more than 20 projects together with over 20 partners from science and industry. At the same time, b-ACT^matter actively supports innovative spin-off projects such as Pacifico Biolabs, EST3R Biotech and SCPsense. The current research projects REPLACER, BIOWIN, LivMat and Microbial Leaf utilise pioneering concepts of hybrid living materials to produce biobased and sustainably produced precursors for plastics, animal feed and pharmaceuticals from CO₂ and/or waste streams.

What’s next? In strategic cooperation with other regional centres and institutes, b-ACT^matter is developing new perspectives for research and transfer in the field of bioactive matter: the centre will intensify its cooperation with the Center for the Transformation of Chemistry (CTC), which is currently being established, and the Kurt Schwabe Institute for Measurement and Sensor Technology Meinsberg e.V.. In addition, b-ACTmatter is planning to establish a venture lab together with the BBZ at Leipzig University as part of its reorganisation in order to transfer innovations into commercial applications in an even more targeted manner.

Looking to the first years of b-ACTmatter, the speakers at the symposium were also positive about the development of the centre: the Vice-Rector for Excellence Development: Research and Transfer, Prof. Dr Jens-Karl Eilers, and the representatives of the Saxon State Ministries – Dr Konstantin Pötschke from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development (SMIL) and Dr Lutz Bryja from the Ministry of Science, Culture and Tourism (SMWK). Dr Konstantin Pötschke, head of the department for supra-regional structural development measures, aptly emphasised that the first period of the centre was a ‘AUFBAU-ACT’, an act of construction. The solid foundations have now been laid, creating excellent conditions for further growth and innovation.

With this strong foundation and its interdisciplinary network, b-ACT^matter is ideally positioned to develop pioneering solutions for global challenges in the coming years and to establish the Leipzig region internationally as a centre of innovation for bioactive technologies.

The future of the sustainable bioeconomy has already begun here.

Impressions of the Symposium. Photos: University of Lepzig, b-ACT^matter

SAS and b-ACTmatter visit pupils in Lommatzsch

On August 6 and 7, Dr. Susanne Ebitsch, Managing Director of b-ACTmatter, and Thomas Wendland from the Saxon Agency for Structural Development GmbH SAS, visited the Lommatzscher secondary school for Nursing care for a talk on Circular Economy.

The aim was to familiarize the 8th and 9th grade students with the topic using the traveling exhibition “Circular economy from the perspective of Saxon research institutions” and the projects about enzymatic plastic recycling by the founding team ESTER Biotech and plastic production with slimy bacteria / algae-WGs by the junior research group BIOMAT of b-ACT matter. Together with the pupils, we discussed ideas on how everyone can contribute to a sustainable circular economy. The drinking cups and gardening tools made from bio-based plastic (PBS @ Exipnos) were particularly eye-catching. The circular economy has particularly great potential for successful structural development in the Free State of Saxony.

The aim was therefore also to sensitize the young generation to the importance of the circular economy and to provide initial insights into research and the future world of work.

Many thanks to the principal Ms. Gerlach and all the class teachers involved!

We recently started our new M-ERA.NET Pproject “LivMat: Productive catalytic living materials: combining 3D biobased fibrillar membranes with synthetic microbial consortia to produce chemicals” together with our partners from Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Solaga GmbH, Istanbul Technical University, Kaunas University of Technology and University of Latvia.

The LivMat project aims to syndicate biobased porous materials with microbial consortia to effectively capture natural and waste resources to synthesize chemicals continuously, demonstrating the basis for catalytic living materials. Within the project we will exemplify the approach by the production of monomers for textile polymer synthesis including ε-caprolactone and adipic acid.

We at b-ACT^matter had a lot of fun and great discussions at the Saxon Innovation Conference 2024 on 19 June 2024!

In the workshop “From research to product – how does it work?” we got suggestions on how to use design thinking to further develop our research results in an application-oriented and user-centered way. We got creative (see picture Rohan Karande ). Thanks to Jannis Bulla , Milina Rochelle Alber and Lydia Woiterski.

Ronny Frank reports on the ESTER Biotech team’s validation grant results at the conference.

Congratulations to the winners of the Saxon Founder Award

• 1st place: enaDyne
• 2nd place: next3D
• 3rd place: Primogene

Vocatium is a career fair for pupils and students and took place in Dresden on May 28, 2024. The fair is a platform for training and studying that offers career guidance for pupils and parents every year.
In addition to the opportunity to talk to trainers on site, pupils and students can also gain insights into the various professional fields through presentations by exhibitors.

Selina Hanisch explained “How a slimy bacterial flat share is helping to shape our energy transition” in a Science Slam at the Vocatium and won 2nd place!

Congratulations!

On May 14, 2024, a report for the ARD program was filmed at b-ACTmatter and the Faculty of Chemistry. The report was broadcast this Monday on ARD Mittagsmagazin.
In the programme, Dr. Christian Sonnendecker and Dr. Ronny Frank from the start-up team ESTER Biotech explain how they are planning the up-scaling of PET recycling with enzymes from laboratory scale to industrial application. The result is PET monomers that can be reused for production without fossil fuels.

Millions of tons of plastic waste are generated in Germany every year. Only 35 percent of the plastic waste collected is recycled and less than one percent is returned to raw materials or chemicals. The majority of plastic waste is used to generate energy, i.e. incinerated. During the incineration process, the climate-damaging carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere as exhaust gas.

Two years ago, Dr. Christian Sonnendecker from the Institute of Analytical Chemistry and the b-ACTmatter transfer center at Leipzig’s Südfriedhof cemetery discovered an enzyme that can be used to break down polyethylene terephthalate, or PET for short, into its basic chemical components in record time and process it for the manufacture of new PET products. The process enables 100% and infinitely repeatable recycling, which could replace previous processes that only allow a few PET reuse cycles and enable efficient recycling. Since then, the enzyme has been continuously developed and optimized with the support of scientists from the Chair of Structural Analysis and the Chair of Biochemical Cell Technology at the BBZ.

In the article, Dr. Sonnendecker presents a prototype recycling technology in the laboratories of the BBZ and b-ACTmatter that makes it possible to break down PET products into their individual components twice as quickly as two years ago.

Together with Dr. Ronny Frank from the Chair of Biochemical Cell Technology at the BBZ, the biochemist is now working on a reactor that is 50 times larger and can decompose up to 20 kilograms of PET in twelve hours. In order to utilize the process industrially, the two scientists would like to transfer the technology into a start-up with the spin-off project ESTER Biotech.

To the article in the ARD media library

Valentina Schmitz, PhD student in the BIOMAT junior research group at the b-ACTmatter research and transfer center, presented the M-ERA-NET project REPLACER at the D-A-CH Algae Summit 2024 in Bern on May 7-8.

Current developments in the algae industry and research were discussed at the event. The first “D-A-CH Algae Summit” took place in Vienna in 2021. The event showcases current developments in the algae industry and research and aims to promote networking and the exchange of experience between industry, science and administration in the DACH countries.

Valentina Schmitz presented the Biomat group’s research, in which hybrid living materials are developed using phototrophic biofilms of different species to produce sustainable products.

On April 19, 2024, b-ACT Matter presented itself at the Böhlener Kulturhaus together with other funded projects of the federal program STARK of the BMWK.

The program supports various projects with the aim of strengthening innovative transformation processes in the former lignite mining regions. With the help of the program’s structural aid, the coal regions are to be given a chance to be better off after the coal phase-out than before. Knowledge and technology transfer projects such as the b-ACT matter research and transfer center for bioactive matter are part of the future-oriented initiatives for structural change in the region.

After the opening of the event by the Saxon State Minister for Regional Development Thomas Schmidt, b-ACT matter presented the aufbauACT project to establish an interfaculty center for bioactive matter at the University of Leipzig in the first lecture block. The transfer center project is developing innovative, adaptive, regenerable biohybrid materials with “intelligent” optical, electrical and mechanical properties. Technologies for “living hybrid materials” and new biofilm bioreactors for the microbial production of hydrogen, bio-nylon and feed proteins using greenhouse gases are currently being researched and prepared for transfer with industrial partners.
The mission of b-ACTmatter is to promote the transfer of technology from research to industry with the aim of contributing to regional development and solving the major social challenges of structural change in the region and global climate change.

The event then offered the opportunity to get to know other STARK program projects, to exchange ideas and to initiate synergies for further joint initiatives.

Prof. Tilo Pompe presents the aufbauACT project of the STARK program in Böhlen. Photo: André Wirsig

b-ACT^matter– scientist to take part in the Exist-Women start-up initiative from mid-January

Biotechnologist Subhashini Singh will be funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK ) from mid-January via the EXIST-Women start-up programme.

The young scientist completed her Master’s degree in “Development of point-of-care devices for the detection of carbapenem-resistant bacteria” in Mumbai, India, and has been working in Dr Henri Franquelim’s Biomimetic Nanotechnology junior research group at the Research and Transfer Centre for Bioactive Matter b-ACT^matter since 2022. Her research focus is in the field of Membrane-active DNA origami for biosensing and antimicrobial applications. As the demand for DNA-origami nanostructures has been surging a lot due to their easy chemical modification and self-assembly properties, she would like to utilize her knowledge to develop a groundbreaking platform for targeting membrane-active pathogens by developing origami sensors.

With the EXIST funding programme, the BMWK supports start-up networks, universities and non-university research institutions in their start-up projects. The aim is to improve the start-up climate at universities and non-university research institutions and to increase the number of technology-orientated and knowledge-based spin-offs from research institutions. The EXIST-Women programme is part of the initiative and specifically promotes start-up projects by female university graduates, scientists and students and is implemented at Leipzig University by the SMILE start-up initiative.

The programme enables Singh to familiarise herself with the topics of start-ups and self-employment and to network and exchange ideas with other prospective female founders. The funding includes a 3-month scholarship and a programme of events, advice and support for one year.