BRAIN founder Dr. Holger Zinke presented with the Greifswald Research Award 2015
Dr. Holger Zinke is the first entrepreneur to be given the Greifswald Senior Research Award. The founder of BRAIN AG and winner of the German Environmental Prize was honoured by the jury of Greifswald University Club (GUC) for his achievements in the field of biotechnological research and development.
The first prize winner, Prof. Dr. Hecker, as well as further academic and industrial partners, has been working since 2013 as part of the NatLifE 2020 strategic alliance, which is coordinated by BRAIN. Another long-standing research partnership is the Biocatalysis Working Group, led by Prof. Dr. Uwe Bornscheuer from the University of Greifswald. BRAIN is also involved in the start-up technology company Enzymicals AG, a subsidiary of the University of Greifswald, which specialises in the synthesis of fine chemicals using modern biocatalysts.
“This kind of interaction is precisely the aim of the Greifswald University Club - to make Greifswald research visible both nationally and internationally and to increase the interregional cooperation potential. As a scientifically successful and innovative entrepreneur, Dr. Zinke is a particularly suitable candidate to highlight the commitment of the GUC to application-based research and economic-science cooperation”, says Dr. Friedrich-Wilhelm Hagemeyer, President of GUC.
In his speech honouring the winner of the Senior Prize, the longstanding Director of DG Research for the European Commission, Dr. Dr. h.c. Christian Patermann hailed Dr. Holger Zinke as the spiritual father of the European initiatives for a Knowledge-based Bioeconomy. “Holger Zinke was among the first to recognise the potential use of biological resources in major new developments, such as environmental friendliness, carbon neutrality, renewability, sustainability, multiple use in cascade form, resource efficiency, and circular economy in the development of new value chains and intellectual and strategic innovations. The fact that we speak today so naturally of a “biologisation of the economy” is his achievement.”
Dr. Holger Zinke was pleased with this recognition: “To receive the Greifswald Research Award is a great honour and an encouragement for the whole team of BRAIN, and I accept the award on behalf of the company, purely as its representative. The 120 scientists, engineers and technicians of BRAIN have engaged in a variety of academic and industrial research programmes for the development of industrial biotechnology for many years, especially with the excellent experts at the University of Greifswald, who will be honoured in the same way: Network relationships are always reciprocal. We see the award as a motivation for further “unusual” academic and industrial alliances in the field of sustainable economy. The “N” in the acronym BRAIN stands for network, and it is precisely this idea that the University of Greifswald recognises with this award. I am personally delighted with this award, especially because it is presented by one of the oldest and most prestigious, while small and fine, German universities.”
The Greifswald Research Award
The Greifswald Research Award has been presented annually by Greifswald University Club (GUC) since 2013. The award recognises outstanding achievements in applied research by experienced researchers, synergetic entrepreneurs, and young scientists. Since 2014 the utilisation of innovative research results by direct subsidiary companies has also been explicitly supported by the Greifswald Business Award. President of the Greifswald University Clubs is Dr. Friedrich-Wilhelm Hagemeyer. The award ceremony was held on 18th May 2015 at 4 o’ clock in the auditorium of the University of Greifswald.
http://www.greifswald-uc.de
Press Image 1
