BIO Issues Call for Papers for 2014 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology

Washington, D.C. (October 07, 2013) – The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) invites leaders from the biotechnology, chemical and agricultural industries to submit proposals and individual papers for the 2014 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology.  The conference will be held May 12-15, 2014, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. 

“We are excited to bring this conference to Philadelphia to highlight the industry's growth, the importance of this industrial and environmental biotechnology for generating green jobs, making greener products and cleaner processes all aimed at building a biobased economy,” said Brent Erickson, executive vice president of BIO’s Industrial & Environmental Section. “The BIO World Congress will cover the latest research and partnerships in renewable chemicals, advanced biofuels, synthetic biology, food ingredients and much more.”

The Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PCVB) will co-organize this unique conference, which is the world's largest industrial biotechnology event for business leaders, investors and policy makers in biofuels, biobased products and renewable chemicals. 

 “The Philadelphia region is home to a plethora of chemical, biotechnology, higher education, research and venture capital entities that can provide access to a deep pool of talent and partners for life sciences meetings and conventions, so we are pleased to partner with BIO to bring the 2014 BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology to this city,” said Jack Ferguson, president and CEO, Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau. “One out of every six jobs in Greater Philadelphia can be traced back to the life sciences, and more than 50 percent of all meetings held in Philadelphia each year are life sciences-related conventions. We are excited for the opportunity to showcase why this is the case at the 2014 World Congress while building enthusiasm for the 2015 BIO International Convention, also slated to take place in Philadelphia.”

The 2013 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology, held in Montreal, set a record attendance of 1,200 individuals representing 600 companies from 35 countries.  The event hosted 56 breakout sessions and six workshops.  The 2013 World Congress also hosted 600 business partnering meetings scheduled through BIO’s One-on-One system, which provides a web-based solution to arrange meetings between companies and potential investors or partners. 

The call for papers is now open and the deadline to submit is Thursday, November 21, 2013.  Leaders from the biotechnology industry, academia, and science community are invited to submit an abstract or a proposal for a 15 minute presentation in any of the program tracks, which include Advanced Biofuels and Biorefinery Platforms; Algae, Specialty Crops, and Biomass Supply; Renewable Chemical Platforms and Biobased Materials; Specialty Chemicals, Pharma Intermediates, Food Ingredients; and Synthetic Biology and Genomics Research.

Proposed papers should address any in a range of topics, including renewable chemicals, algae fuels and chemicals, natural gas as feedstock, cellulosic biofuels, dedicated energy crops, enzyme development, green plastics, metabolic engineering, aviation biofuels, feedstock sustainability, synthetic biology, marine biotechnology and new chemical pathways. 

For more information on the conference or to submit a proposal, please visit http://www.bio.org/worldcongress.  For assistance, please contact worldcongress@bio.org.

About BIO
BIO represents more than 1,100 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world. BIO produces BIOtechNOW, an online portal and monthly newsletter chronicling “innovations transforming our world.” Subscribe to BIOtechNOW.