Association of Biotechnology Centres in the Netherlands (ABON)

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The board of ABON is chaired by
Prof.dr. H.O. Voorma (Utrecht University)

Members are
Prof.dr.ir. J de Bont (VLAG),
Prof.dr.ir. E. Jacobson (EPS),
Prof.ir. K.Ch.A.M. Luyben (BSDL, vice-chairman),
Prof.dr. H.J.J. Nijkamp (BCA) and
Prof.dr. G.T. Robillard (GBB).

Secretary is
Dr.ir. P. Bos (Delft University of Technology)

Five Biotechnology schools in the Netherlands have an association called Association of Biotechnology Centres in the Netherlands

ABON aims

  • to provide a national and international point of contact for the industrially relevant biotechnological research and education
  • to align and co-ordinate biotechnological research and postgraduate education at Dutch Universities
  • to co-ordinate the execution of a strategic, industrially relevant research programme (period 1994-1999, budget 44 million guilders with 50% contribution of various ministries of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fishery and Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.)

ABON RESEARCH PROGRAMME 1994-1999

The ABON Research Programme 1994 - 1999 is being carried out principally by the ABON graduate schools. The financial investment from the government (22 Mf) is matched in terms of manpower. The industrial research themes of the programme, selected by the Netherlands Industrial and Agricultural Biotechnology Association (NIABA), are listed below.

  1. Structure-Function relationships of proteins (co-ordination by GBB, participation by GBB, BCA and BSDL research groups).
    Sub-themes: (a) Membrane Proteins and Industrial Biocatalysts.
  2. Structure-Function relationships of Food-Grade Polysaccharides (co-ordination by VLAG, participation by VLAG research groups).
  3. Resistance of Plants (co-ordination by EPS, participation by EPS,BCA and BSDL research groups).
    Sub-themes: (a) Fungal Resistance and (b) Viral Resistance.
  4. Metabolic Pathway Engineering (co-ordination by GBB, participation by BCA,BSDL, EPS, GBB and VLAG research groups).
    Sub-themes : (a) Metabolic Fluxes in Yeasts and Fungy, (b) Genetic and Metabolic Engineering of Lactic Acid Bacteria and Bacilli, and (c) Metabolic Engineering of Plants (co-ordination by BCA, participation by BCA, BSDL and EPS).
  5. Integrated Bioprocess Development (co-ordination by BSDL, participation by BSDL research groups).
    Sub-themes: (a) Integration of Bioconversions and Downstream Processing and (b) Integration of Bio- and Chemo-Catalysis.
The programme (including the matching) comprises almost 100 PhD and Postdoc projects. Implementation of the programme is being supervised by the Scientific and Industrial Advisory Council (WIAR) in which the national and international academia and the Netherlands Biotechnology Industry are represented. The WIAR is chaired by Prof.dr. G.M.A. van Beynum (NIABA). The Delft University of Technology and in particular the Faculty of Chemical Technology and Material Science as commissioner of ABON is in charge of the management of the programme.

It should be noted that this research programme is only a part (less than 10%) of the total research capacity of the ABON graduate schools.

The five Biotechnology graduate schools associated in ABON are:

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