The next course in the long line of highly successful courses since the mid-1980s on Bioprocess Engineering will take place from 14th – 19th September 2008. Like the last one in 2006, it will be held on the beautiful Island of Brac, Croatia in the Adriatic Sea. It is organised under the auspices of The European Federation of Biotechnology by the Working Group on Bioreactor Performance, in collaboration with other Working Groups (Working Group on Modelling, Monitoring, Measurement & Control and Working Group on Downstream Processing and Recovery of Bioproducts) of the EFB Section on Biochemical Engineering Science. All of the lectures will be given by internationally distinguished university teachers or by leading experts from multinational companies. The course covers the full spectrum of bioprocess engineering, starting from genetic concepts for micro-organisms used to produce pharmaceutical and other products via microbial physiology, bioreaction kinetics to bioreactor design and scale-up. The organisms considered range from simple bacteria to highly specialised animal cell cultures. There is also a strong coverage of measurement, control and optimisation and how they interact with each other and with the specific bioreaction of interest. Finally, there is a broad-brush coverage of downstream processing. The lectures are supplemented by computer-based (MATLAB) exercises (no previous experience of MATLAB is required), discussions and a Case Study and participants are also encouraged to bring posters of their work. Selected candidates will be invited to make short oral presentations (of approximately 5 minutes duration), at a ‘Speakers’ Corner’, to be held during the course. Finally, there is a strong social programme, specifically designed to ensure that there are many opportunities to discuss the course with the lecturers.
The course is directed specifically at Ph.D. students and experienced biotechnologists from research institutes, universities and industry. Participants are expected to have a background in chemical/biochemical engineering, biotechnology, a biological science or a related discipline. The lecturers are all acknowledged specialists in their fields, so that the course also provides a forum for highlighting recent research in relevant areas.
