Bio-based Innovation Student Challenge Europe (BISC-E)

Do you want to design a creative bio-based solution in a multidisciplinary student team? The Bio-based Innovation Student Challenge Europe (BISC-E) encourages students to explore the emerging bio-based work field while developing a new bio-based product or process. The competition is run in two stages. First the Italian National Competition and then the European one between the national winners. You can see the counties involved at https://bisc-e.eu/.

The National Coordinator for Italy in 2024 is Prof. Maria Beatrice Coltelli of the University of Pisa – Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Industriale.

The Challenge

All teams develop an innovative bio-based product or process to help resolve technological, environmental, or societal challenges that could become part of the bio-based industry and the bioeconomy. Build your business case in a multidisciplinary student team. Present its benefits and your entrepreneurship to experts from industry and academia. The experts will judge your business case on technological excellence, economic feasibility and environmental performance. You don’t need to produce your product yet, but you and your team should make it plausible that it could work.

Who Can Apply?

BISC-E is open to graduating students at universities of Applied Sciences and research universities. First and second-year PhD students can be part of a student team provided their current level is comparable/identical to others within the European Qualification Framework Level 7 (EQF 7), and the overarching framework of qualifications of the European Higher Education Area (QF-EHEA). The Teams should include students from different STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, mathematics).
Students from and SH Science and Humanities disciplines are more than welcome. A Team must consist of minimum of 3 students and a maximum of 6, which may be enrolled at different universities.
Consider that each Student Team must be supported by a supervisor (employed by the reference University, eg a Postdoc, a Professor, a Researcher …).
A limit applies to the number of PhD students in the teams! Please consult the Regulation in annex Art. 4.4.

Everybody wins!

Participating in BISC-E makes you a winner thanks to the valuable experience you gain through collectively, in a multidisciplinary team, creating solutions for a sustainable future. If your team becomes the national
BISC-E winner, you will be invited to represent your country in the European final.

The jury that will evaluate the projects consists of:

Italbiotec Srl Società Benefit (Maurizio Bettiga)
Cargill (Massimo Bregola)
BioSphere (Beatrice Mongili)
Planet Bioplastics (Andrea Lazzeri)
Novamont (Cecilia Giardi)

Prizes are set for the 3 best Italian projects:
FIRST CLASSIFIED: €1000 (offered by Italbiotec Srl Società Benefit)
SECOND CLASSIFIED: €500 (offered by University of Pisa, Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering)
THIRD CLASSIFIED: €250 (offered by University of Pisa, Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering)

The BISC-E deadlines

5 February 2024
Deadline for the registration of Student Teams willing to participate to the BISC-E 2024. The registration has to be done via the Google Form available here https://forms.gle/9hSHB3SrtcQYqaj66

9 February 2024
Kick-off with all participants

15 April 2024
Deadline for submission of the project dossier to the National Coordinator. See below for the template to be used.

10 May 2024
National BISC-E round to determine the national winner.
For participating as an attendee at the on-line event of 10 may at 9.00 am, register here : https://forms.gle/TViE8yrkiiY89AFb8

6 September 2024
First round of European BISC-E: all national winners remotely compete for accessing the second round.

27 September 2024
Second and final round: the top-5 student teams from the first round compete for winning the BISC-E.

All deadlines has to be intended as 23:59 CET of the day.

Prizes are set for the 3 best EU-level projects by the Bio-based Industry Consortium.

More Info

Would you like to know more about our national competition? Please feel free to contact the IT National Coordinator: Maria Beatrice Coltelli maria.beatrice.coltelli@unipi.it Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Industriale - Università di Pisa
https://bisc-e.eu/