Registration for second Biobased Innovation Student Challenge Europe opens 8 January!

The first edition took place last year in the Netherlands, organised by the Topconsortium for Knowledge and Innovation BBE (TKI-BBE, www.tki-bbe.nl). This year, a national competition will be organised in multiple European countries, in addition to the Netherlands. It is not yet clear how many countries will be participating. If more than three, the national contest will be followed by a European final for the winners.
In the Netherlands, the competition is open to 4th year students of university of applied sciences (HBO) and university students (BSc and MSc). They work together in teams consisting of 3-6 members on the development of a biobased innovation (product or process).
According to the regulations of the competition, a bio-based product is: “A product composed in whole, or for a significant part, of biological material derived from renewable biological sources, including plant, animal or marine materials. Where product is defined as: substance, mixture of substances, material or object resulting from a production process, this can be an intermediate, material, semi-finished or final product”.
And a bio-based process is: “A process using only, or for a significant part, bio-based feedstock. Bio-based as defined above. The process may yield intermediate products or energy or have another economic value”.
The innovation may, but does not have to, replace a fossil derived product / fossil based process.

The ideas are presented to a jury of experts from industry and science.. Each team will have the chance to present their bio-based innovation and prototype product / process animation to the jury. The oral presentation, supported by slides and accompanied by an extensive dossier explaining the sustainability, technical feasibility and economic viability of the innovation, lasts 15 minutes followed by a 5-minute period for the jury to ask questions. The presentation is judged on content and presentation skills together with the quality of the answers offered to the jury's questions.

The following prizes are to be won:
1st prize: € 1000
2nd prize: € 500
3rd prize: € 250

Indicative competition timeline

30 March 2018 Registration deadline
10 April 2018 Kick-off with all participants
22 June 2018 Presentation and Dutch final
12 October 2018 EU final (to be decided)

http://www.bisc-e.eu.