The German Research Foundation (DFG) is establishing eleven new Priority Programmes (SPP), which will initially be funded for three years from 2025 with a total of around 72 million euros. One of these projects is based at the Hamburg University of Technology: "Productive Biofilm Systems" with Prof Johannes Gescher from the Institute of Technical Microbiology as Priority Programme Coordinator.

The project aims to develop biological and process engineering principles in order to be able to produce more sustainably in the future, for example in the chemical industry. Continuous biofilm-operated processes should help to produce basic and fine chemicals with low energy consumption and in continuous long-term operation. Carbon dioxide will also play a role here as a substrate so that_CO2-negative processes can also be developed.

Prof Johannes Gescher from the Institute of Technical Microbiology comments: "Biofilms are the natural growth form of microorganisms on our planet and yet only play a subordinate role in bioprocess engineering. The reason for this is that they are less well understood in application and biofilm reactor concepts for biotechnology are not well established. The priority programme aims to close this knowledge gap." To this end, a Germany-wide interdisciplinary network of working groups organised by the TU Hamburg will conduct research on the topic in future.

About Priority Programme funding

According to the DFG, Priority Programmes should deal with topics that are expected to have a formative effect on a scientific field.

The eleven new collaborations were selected from 43 submitted initiatives and will receive a programme allowance of 22 percent for indirect project expenditure in addition to the funding.

In the coming months, the priority programmes will be advertised individually by the DFG in order to invite interested researchers to participate in the consortia. Priority Programmes will be funded for a total of six years.