No poverty
By developing novel biotechnological production processes, e.g. to develop affordable medicines, produce alternative proteins or microorganisms for more sustainable and high-yield agriculture, acib supports inclusive economic growth and advocates for the basic provision of affordable medicines and food.
Zero hunger
By developing high quality alternative foods such as proteins for animal and human nutrition from sources such as CO2, acib supports sustainable food production and security. In addition, acib promotes sustainable agriculture by conserving primary resources, arable land and energy, and developing technologies that keep crops healthy and maximize yields.
Good health and well-being
From advanced biopharmaceuticals such as painkillers, antihypertensives and cancer drugs to improving vaccines or developing novel therapies for spinal cord injuries, for example, acib’s various research activities aim to help people improve their well-being and live healthier lives.
Quality education
As a leading international science and research centre, acib successfully connects basic and applied scientific research to provide industry partners with the latest results, enabling innovation and sustainable economic growth.
By organizing science events such as the European Researchers Night or participation in the Long Night of Science, acib promotes and raises awareness of the importance of the MINT subjects. Tailor-made, high-quality education and training programs as well as school lectures or interactive laboratory tours are designed to encourage schoolchildren, students and young scientists to choose a career in the life sciences.
Gender equality
With more than 60% of its employees being women and a high percentage of women in leadership positions, acib offers women and men in science equal opportunities for their professional development. To ensure gender equality, a COFED – Committee for Fairness, Diversity and Equality – has been established to ensure equal career opportunities, equal pay and the elimination of gender biases”.
Clean water and sanitation
acib is working on enzymes that can remove pollutants from wastewater that previously could not be removed by wastewater treatment plants, including laccases for hormones (e.g., from birth control pills) or plastic-degrading enzymes to remove microplastics. At the same time, acib has collaborated on the development of wastewater analytics to detect pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater at an early stage. acib is also working in agriculture on methods (e.g. zeolites or hydrogels) to keep fertilizers on the fields for a long time and prevent them from leaching into water bodies.
Affordable and clean energy
Renewable energy sources are increasingly in demand, especially against the backdrop of the current gas shortage, energy price levies and dwindling, climate-damaging petroleum-based resources. acib is developing technologies that enable a sustainable, CO2-neutral carbon cycle, such as the CO2-neutral production of methane, the environmentally friendly storage of wind and solar energy in natural gas storage facilities to ensure a continuous energy supply.
Decent work and economic growth
acib is one of the most family-friendly companies in Austria. The reason for this is the philosophy that employees are at the center of sustainable corporate success. That is why the satisfaction of acibs employees comes first: equality and family friendliness are lived at acib. This is reflected in a share of women of over 60%, the establishment of a gender committee, family-friendly, flexible working time and parental leave models as well as comprehensive social benefits, further training and targeted qualification measures. The aim is to provide employees with the best possible support in balancing family and career.
Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Innovation is anchored in acib’s DNA and is at the heart of our motto: “Innovation inspired by nature”. In order to not only support but also encourage innovation and inspire the best minds to think innovatively, acib has established an Open Innovation platform: The goal of this OI approach is to generate new ideas, products, services or business models. To this end, acib uses ideas from inside and outside the company to collect new impulses, ideas and business models and transform them into concrete, new services, products or even start-ups.
Less inequality
acib is committed to inclusion and barrier-free access to all acib service locations. acib has a very high proportion of international employees and also supports language courses. In projects with students, acib has in the past targeted schools with a high proportion of migrants to counteract the fact that students are statistically less likely to get a high-quality job in academia. At the same time, acib has set up its own fund to support employees in need and offers acib employees days off with full pay for social activities.
Sustainable cities and communities
In interdisciplinary projects, acib explores how cities and urban spaces can be rethought and what urban planning can learn from the research field of biotechnology. For example, the cell as the smallest living unit in nature is contrasted with the plot, the smallest structural element of the city. The aim is to gain insights into how to make urban spaces more sustainable and resilient against the backdrop of current influencing factors such as climate change, resource scarcity, demographics or population growth. In addition, acib ensures that business trips are carried out using sustainable, environmentally friendly means of transport such as rail wherever possible.
Responsible consumption and production
Various EU projects run by acib aim, on the one hand, to develop sustainable strategies and solutions for the production, recycling and reuse of materials such as bio-based plastics in order to ensure that these materials are safe for the environment and society. To this end, acib actively supports the EU’ plastics strategy and makes an important contribution to promoting the circular economy: awareness campaigns, broad-based information dissemination and product life cycle analyzes are intended to trigger a new awareness of bio-based plastics among the population so that consumers can make their consumption more sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Climate action
Climate change is advancing, and at the same time the world’s population is growing and with it food production. By 2050, the demand for high-quality proteins will double. That’s why acib has developed alternative, sustainable sources of food production that also make an important contribution to climate protection. For example, a new, biotechnological carbon capture process converts the harmful greenhouse gas CO2 into high-quality protein without polluting oceans and land areas. Another application of the technology could be the production of environmentally friendly bioplastics.
Another method that could counteract climate change and ensure food for the world’s population in the future is the development of alternative meat produced in a bioreactor in a climate-friendly and animal-free way. In vitro meat could be an ethical alternative in the future.
Oceans, seas and marine resources
acib is developing methods to sustainably degrade (micro)plastics using microorganisms and enzymes. In addition, acib uses only cloth carrier bags and recyclable materials at conferences, for example, and tries to avoid plastic where possible. At events and conferences, acib only offers fish species that are not threatened by overfishing and also works on the sustainable use of microalgae for environmentally friendly products.
Life on land
acib uses tools and methods from nature to make numerous industrial processes more sustainable and environmentally friendly. These include i) recycling plastics and producing environmentally friendly biodegradable plastics to protect terrestrial ecosystems and oceans and prevent microplastics, ii) environmentally friendly methods for bark beetle control and developing pesticide-free fertilizers and sprays for agriculture, (iii) the development of an agrobiogel that provides a continuous supply of water to agricultural land and drought areas over long periods of time and keeps soils and plants healthy; and (iii) biodiversity conservation measures, such as the production in the laboratory of important fragrances and flavors that previously had to be extracted from animals. e.g., the production in the laboratory of important fragrances and flavors that previously had to be extracted from animals.
Peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development
acib provides additional funding to make scientific results ‘open access’, i.e. available to all. acib has its own anti-corruption policy, which is mandatory for all employees, to focus on sustainable development. In contracts with partners, acib uses mediation to resolve disputes. acib has completely withdrawn from projects involving countries (such as Russia) that stand in the way of peaceful human development. acib enters into global partnerships with scientific institutions from around the world.
Partnerships for the realization of goals
acib is embedded in an international network of scientific university partners and industry partners. In its function as a “hub”, acib sees itself as a network for sustainable partnerships in the field of industrial biotechnology, which have been established and consolidated over the past 25 years. Major international companies from the pharmaceutical industry (Boehringer Ingelheim, 3M, Novartis, Takeda, etc.) as well as renowned players from the chemical and biotechnology sectors (Clariant, BASF, DSM, Evonik, Givaudan, etc.) have been part of the acib partner network for many years and work together on a sustainable circular economy.