Partners from 7 European countries gathered in June 2021 to kick-off PROMICON

On 17 and 18 June 2021, leading experts in the field of biotechnology and project partners from ten institutions from seven European countries gathered for the PROMICON official kick-off meeting. Due to the present COVID-19 restrictions the event was held in an entirely online environment. However, despite the pressuring situation, the meeting was marked by insightful presentations, vivid discussions and an overview of the project’s future objectives.

The deliberate control of complex microbiomes is notoriously difficult and current approaches are often guided by simple trial-and-error. The new Horizon 2020 project PROMICON - Harnessing the power of nature through PROductive MIcrobial CONsortia in biotechnology - measure, model, master (http://www.promicon.eu) will not only inspire completely new production pathways and a paradigm shift from monocultures to mixed cultures in biotechnology, but also has the potential to inspire novel treatment options in biomedicine beyond biotechnology.

Being led by the PROMICON coordinator Jens O. Kromer (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, Germany), the meeting has been focused on discussing and outlining the upcoming milestones, challenges and further updates on the project, in order to ensure the fruitful development and achievement of PROMICON’s goals.

The project receives funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 101000733 and will have a transformational character for the bio-economy sector. A dedicated policy user corner will be made available on the project's website, ensuring latest updates to policy. PROMICON will further demonstrate exploitation efforts to facilitate early and active engagement throughout the project with relevant broad stakeholders.

After two days of insightful discussions, PROMICON successfully kick-offed the hard work towards the development of an efficient biotechnological production platform that harnesses the power of nature through productive microbial consortia.

Photo: Group photo of PROMICON's online kick-off meeting.