On 1–2 October, the SusChem Conference took place, organised every two years by the GDCh’s Sustainable Chemistry Division. It brings together national and international scientists to discuss current research and jointly develop perspectives for a sustainable future for the chemical industry.
The programme covered a broad spectrum of topics, ranging from biomass as a source of raw materials and biotechnology, through catalysis and electrochemistry, to the circular economy and life cycle assessment.
Many of these topics are directly linked to our research at the IBOC. With two presentations – “From Potato Waste to Crop Protection: Valorisation into Value-Added Agrochemicals” by Nina Stadler and an overview of her PhD thesis entitled “Application of C3-methyltransferases for natural product synthesis” by Mona Haase – as well as a poster on the topic “Towards Sustainable Halogenation Using Single-Step Immobilised Tryptophan Halogenases” by Catharina Gronkowsky, we were actively involved in the scientific exchange and were able to represent HHU with distinction.
A particularly moving moment of the conference for us was the presentation of the GDCh Prize for Biocatalysis to Mona. We had previously reported on this award. Congratulations once again, dear Mona!
Another highlight of the lecture programme was the presentation by Richard R. Schrock, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2005. In his lecture “My Unlikely Journey to the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Beyond”, he provided insights into his scientific career and his path to the Nobel Prize.
SusChem thus provided a valuable opportunity to learn about the latest developments in sustainable chemistry, to present our own research, and to exchange ideas with scientists from Germany and abroad. We are delighted to have been part of this important discussion through our contributions!