Bioceb

5th edition of the Bioceb Summer school in Estonia, June 16th – June 20th 2025

2025-07-15T12:42:42Z

Chapeau : For the 5th year in a row, the Summer School took place in Estonia, where the 5th Bioceb cohort gathered at the end of their first year of Masters.

For the 5th year in a row, the Summer School took place in Estonia, where the 5th Bioceb cohort gathered at the end of their first year of Masters. Once again, the organisation team from Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) had put together a unique program fitting perfectly with the training objectives of this pillar joint event. The programme combined opening conferences on societal interest, visits of labs and industrial sites, communication by the students on their Green Line Projects, meeting with alumni, as well as the unmissable cultural and entertaining activities. Thorough the week, the students had the opportunity to share their views with the Bioceb consortium participants (Yevgen Karpichev and Triinu Poltimäe from TalTech; Jeanne Beyrand, Stéphanie Baumberger and Ana-Karen Sánchez-Castañeda from AgroParisTech). Albina Mikhraliieva, a post-doc in Yevgen Karpichev's group, was also on board for the adventure, as well as Rangsimatiti Binda Saichompoo from cohort 4.

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Programme_Summer_school_2025 192.7 KiB

Day 1. After a warm welcome, the programme started with a set of lectures illustrating the diversity of topics addressed at TalTech: Evolution of Sustainable Carbon (Nano)Materials, Food Science, Circularity in Textile and Clothing Field. It continued with the traditional visit of labs. The lab tour focused this year on 3 major sectors related to biomass transformations: food, textile, and wood.

Presentations and labs

The group had the opportunity to discover the modern facilities for precision fermentation at TFTAK, for wood mechanical testing at the Department of Civil engineering, and for textiles processing at the Department of Materials and Environmental Technology. It ended with the guided tour in Tallinn old town.

Tallinn City Center tour

Day 2. A trip to central Estonia started with an early morning bus departure and a visit of Combimill Sakala OÜ, where the participants discovered the inner workings of a modern sawmill at the forefront for logistic and traceability.

visit of Combimill Sakala OÜ

Then, they enjoyed a lunch in the beautiful setting of Olustvere manor, following by a team-building creative activity: a ribbon weaving workshop.

Olustvere manor

In the afternoon, a tour and tasting took place at Tori Cidery, a family-run cidery. The owner explained how cider is made and fermented, using the “Méthode Champenoise”, which reminded the students of their semester in Reims! The group finally reached the seaside town of Pärnu for the evening, and some were even brave enough to take a swim in the Baltic Sea despite the chilly temperatures!

Tori Cidery

Day 3. morning session at the hotel was dedicated to lectures: Timo Kikas „Biomass Valorization with a Focus on Lignin: Challenges and Opportunities in Advanced Biorefineries”; Kait Kaarel Puss, Application Development Manager, Fibenol ; Janis Rižikovs „Sustainable valorization of birch bark in the biorefinery context”. In the afternoon, the group visited - unfortunately under the rain - the town of Pärnu, discovering the architecture of some of the spa and resort buildings, the seafront and the town centre. The afternoon ended with a tour of the Pernova Nature House. A guided tour revealed the activities set up for the town's children, to develop an interest in science and nature from an early age. Estonian flora and fauna were also presented. Two presentations concluded the day: Prof Richard Gross presented online the research activities conducted in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (USA) which is a Bioceb associated partner. Rangsimatiti Binda Saichompoo gave a peek of her master's thesis defence.

Moments of Day 3

Day 4. gave the group more time to relax and enjoy the local scenery. The programme began with a boat trip along the Pärnu river, followed by a visit to the Jaanihanso Cidery, located on a beautiful estate in the Estonian countryside, where the group also had lunch. This cidery was larger than the one visited earlier in the week, and provided an opportunity to compare the different scales and manufacturing processes, although the “méthode Champenoise” is also used in both cideries. Then it was time to head back to Tallinn.

Parnü River and Jaanihanso Cidery

Day 5. The morning was dedicated to inspiring lectures: Mariliis Mia Topp "Reclaiming food: how fermentation and science can fix what's broken”; Dr. Laura Buglioni "Opening the Editor's Black Box: Tips for Successful Submissions and Insights into the Peer Review Process”; René Jõeleht "Technology Transfer - from science to business".

Mariliis Mia Topp, René Jõeleht, Tommaso Tagliani, Gabriel Voisin-Moncho

During the afternoon, Green Line Projects were in the spotlights through a convivial poster session and the oral presentations moderated by Yevgen Karpichev. As last year, the group was delighted to welcome the university cooperation attaché of the Institut Français d'Estonie, Mr. Gabriel Voisin-Moncho. The prizes of the best poster and best oral presentation were awarded to GLP2 and GLP4&5, respectively.

Winning GLP teams

The summer school ended with a session with alumni chaired by Tommaso Tagliani (cohort 1), where the alumni presented their career path and their current position, including Muhammad Khizar Naeem, Assaf Nour and Caoi Nunes (cohort 3) who came from Finland, as well as online testimonial from Pranita Dasi (cohort 1) and Mohammad Salikandi (cohort 2).

Bioceb alumni

As a conclusion, this 5th edition of the Bioceb summer school was as successful and enriching as the previous ones, with as innovation the discovery of the famous Estonian “Apple belt” and its “Summer capital” Pärnu. In the spotlight this year: fermented food, textiles, wood … and cider! A warm thank you to all the participants and to TalTech staff, especially Triinu Poltimäe, for the amazing organization.

4th edition of the Bioceb Summer school in Estonia, June 17th – June 21st 2024

2024-07-16T17:35:23Z

Following in their predecessors' footsteps, the Bioceb students from the 4th cohort gathered at the end of Semester 2 for the summer school in Estonia. Once again, the organisation team from Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) had put together a unique program fitting perfectly with the training objectives of this pillar joint event.

Group picture after a boat excursion

The programme combined opening conferences on societal interest, visits of labs and industrial sites, communication by the students on their Green Line Projects, meeting with alumni, as well as the unmissable cultural and entertaining activities.

PDF

Bioceb Summer School programme 2024 355.3 KiB

Two highlights marked this 4th edition: a trip to the Estonia Eastern region Virumaa and the participation of the scientific and university cooperation attaché of the Institut Français d'Estonie (Mr. Gabriel Voisin-Moncho). All week long, the students were able to share their views with the Bioceb consortium participants (Prof. Jaan Kers from TalTech, Jeanne Beyrand and Prof. Stéphanie Baumberger from AgroParisTech, Marie-Charlotte Belhomme and Prof. Caroline Rémond-Zilliox from URCA). Tommaso Tagliani from the 1st cohort, who is now working in Tallinn, was also on board for the adventure.

1st cohort alumnus Tommaso Tagliani sharing his experience at the summer school

Day 1

After a warm welcoming from the TalTech Vice-Rector for Research, Prof. Tiit Lukk, and from Prof. Jaan Kers, the programme started with a set of lectures illustrating the diversity of topics addressed at TalTech: research on cellulose-based biopolymers, development of healthy food through biotechnologies, start-up creation, climate change and jobs. It continued with the traditional visit of labs and the guided tour in Tallinn old town.

Tour of Tallinn old town – Cohort 4 students with the TalTech teacher Triinu Poltimäe (on the right) in charge of the organisation of the summer school

Day 2

The trip to the Virumaa region started with an early morning bus departure allowing to make several stops on the road: the TalTech Virumaa College, the VKG OIL company, the Estonian mining museum, and finally … a boat safari on a former shale quarry! After this intensive exciting day devoted to fuel and electricity production in Estonia, the group enjoyed the blue waters and red evening light of the Baltic sea in Narva.

Pictures illustrating the transition from fossil-based to renewable energies. From left to right: shale oil refinery, wind mill, solar panel and biomass.

Visit at TalTech Virumaa College – Picture showing in the forefront oil shale and plastic waste as raw material for fuel production through thermochemical conversion

Cohort 4 students at the Baltic sea in Narva

Day 3

Morning session at the hotel was dedicated to presentations including Bioceb associated partner Erik Larnøy from NIBIO and the tips from Tommaso Tagliani as a Research engineer in the Estonian start-up AÏO. In the afternoon, the group travelled back in time with the visit of a disused textile industrial complex considered as a former “textile giant”, the Krenholm factory. During no less than 1 hour and a half, the participants discovered the unique architecture of the buildings and learned about the history of the company linked to that of the cotton industry in the former Russia. After that, the group still found energy to climb all the steps of another “giant”, the Auvere steam turbine power plant which produced electricity from oil-shale and biomass.

Visit at the Krenholm Textile mills (left) and the Auvere power plant (right)

Day 4

It was time to leave Narva and travel back to Tallinn, but the students were far from the end of their surprises since Estonian Cell - a pulp and paper mill, a biogas production plant Bioforce Ebavere and Moe Distillery were still waiting for them.

Visit at (up) the Estonian Cell pulp and paper mill, (from left to right) Bioforce Ebavere OÜ methanisation unit, and the Moe distillery

Day 5

Green Line Projects were in the spotlights through a convivial poster session and the oral presentations moderated by the TalTech semester 2 teacher Yevgen Karpichev. This year, the prizes of the best poster and best oral presentation were awarded to GLP 3 and GLP 5, respectively. The summer school ended with a lecture on wood pulping from Prof. Juha Fiskari (Mid Sweden University) and a session with alumni including Elijah Mark Garcia (Bioceb cohort 2) who came especially from Finland for the event.

Discover the GLP posters

As a conclusion,

This 4th edition of the Bioceb summer school was as successful and enriching as the previous ones. A warm thank you to all the participants and to TalTech staff, especially Triinu Poltimäe, for the amazing organization.

3rd edition of the Bioceb Summer school in Estonia, June 26th – June 30th 2023

2023-06-26T15:09:00Z

The third edition of the Bioceb Summer school took place in Estonia from June 26th to June 30th.

Organised by Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) in collaboration with the Bioceb Consortium, the Summer school gathered the 23 students of the 3rd intake, together with teachers and staff from TalTech, AgroParisTech, and URCA. Rafal Lukasik, invited scholar from National Laboratory of Energy and Geology (LNEG) in Portugal, and Tommaso Tagliani, alumnus from the 1st intake were also joining the Summer School.

TalTech

During these five days, the participants enjoyed various activities, among which lectures, site visits, cultural events and a session (poster and presentation) dedicated to the Green Line Projects.

The Bioceb summer school is a key event in the programme since it allows the students to meet again after their second semester spent at two different locations, and before leaving for summer break or optional internship.

The students had the opportunity to visit various labs and experimental facilities in TalTech, such as the Laboratory of Wood Technology and the Center of Food and Fermentation Technology (TFTAK), which is a Bioceb associated partner.

Center of Food and Fermentation Technology (TFTAK)

Laboratory of Wood Technology TalTech

A 2-day trip was organised in Haapsalu, with visits of four companies settled nearby:

Chemi-Pharm, which develops, produces and sells allergen-free disinfection agents, cleansing and skincare products and detergents;
Cipax, specialist in plastic rotational moulding;
Lumi, a spin-off company from the University of Tartu which develops, produces and sells skincare products;
Eesti Seenefarm, an Estonian mushroom farm.

Chemi-Pharm

Several lecturers, invited professors and associated partners from different countries intervened during the Summer school to share their experience and visions with the students and inspire them for their future career. Particular focus was put on entrepreneurship and innovation. They warmly invited the students to apply for internships or possible future Ph.D. thesis in their respective institutions. Moreover, several alumni from the first intake delivered inspiring and insightful lessons of life, in-person and online.

Prof. Callum Hill

Rafal Lukasik, Ph.D.

Social events were not forgotten during this week. On Monday, the participants visited the old town of Tallinn through a “Ghost tour”! Then, they took part in a hike and dinner in the forest organised by Roslep Brewery in Noarootsi. The students also organised a friendly gala which included some artistic performances from the students themselves, such as dance and music.

Roslep Brewery in Noarootsi

Gala in TalTech

Friday afternoon was dedicated to the Green Line Projects presentations and poster session. Each group prepared with high professionalism a flash talk and a poster summarizing the major advances brought during the finishing academic year and the perspectives for the semester to come. Then, each group made a 10-minute presentation of their project.

2 prizes were awarded:

The prize for the best poster and flash presentation was awarded to GLP Group 2: 3D printing of starch, PLA and Lignin (Jose BOLANOS ZEAS, Gabriel DAUCHOT, Pedro NAVARRO PLAZA, Shery Rose QUIENG, Sudip SHARMA).

GLP Group 2

The prize for the best presentation was awarded to GLP Group 1.2: Biobased building blocks from yeast and microalgae (Emiliano BARBERO, Adiel FLORES NESTOR, Rastislav JONIS, Khizar NAEEM).

GLP Group 1.2

Green Line projects posters

A warm thank-you to all the participants and organisers of the Summer school and to TalTech, especially Kärt Kängsepp, Jaan Kers and Yevgen Karpichev for the amazing organization.

Find the detailed programme of the 2023 Summer school:

PDF

Summer school 2023 programme 242.8 KiB

More pictures of the Summer School on Facebook and LinkedIn.

2nd edition of the Bioceb Summer school in Estonia, June 27th – July 1st 2022

2022-10-14T14:56:00Z

The Second edition of the Bioceb Summer school took place in Estonia from June 27th to July 1st 2022.

Organised by Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) in coordination with the Bioceb Consortium, the Summer school gathered the 23 students of the 2nd intake, together with teachers from TalTech, the Bioceb's coordinator and project manager from AgroParisTech, and a special guest from The National University of Columbia, Professor Carlos Ariel Cardona Alzate. During these five days, the participants enjoyed various activities, among which lectures, site visits, cultural events and a poster session dedicated to the Green Line Projects. The Bioceb summer school is a key event in the programme since it allows the students to meet again after their second semester spent at two different locations, and before leaving for summer break or optional internship.

The programme of the 2022 edition was marked by a 3-day trip organised on the Estonian island of Saaremaa, with the visit of two companies settled on the island: a Gin distillery which recycles Christmas trees to produced aromatic extracts (Lahhentagge Gin distillery), and the only producer of the furcellarans texturizing agent worldwide (Est-Agar).

All along the week, the students had also the opportunity to visit various labs and experimental facilities in the sectors of wood chemistry (TalTech labs), food technology (TFTAK company) and even marine science. Indeed, for the first time, a visit of a marine technology and hydrodynamics R&D unit of TalTech and an algae growth test facility and field station of the University of Tartu was offered.

No less than 13 lecturers and invited professors from different countries (Estonia, Norway, United-Kingdom, Brazil, Columbia, and Switzerland) intervened during the Summer school to share their experience and visions with the students and inspire them for their future career. Particular focus was put on ecology, entrepreneurship and innovation. Five of them represented some Bioceb associated partners: Dr. V. K.G. Kumar Gupta and Prof. V. Kumar Thakur (Scotland's Rural College, Edinburgh), Prof. E. Ximenes (Universidad de Brasilia), Prof. C. A. Cardona Alzate (Universidad Nacional de Columbia), and Erik Larnøy, PhD (Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy). They warmly invited the students to apply for internships or possible future PhD theses in their respective institutions.

Among the most memorable social events: the visit of the Tallinn's old town and a diner at Kuresaare castle on Saaremaa island. At the end of the diner, all the participants were trained to traditional Estonian dances by professional dancers!

Friday afternoon was dedicated to the Green Line Projects presentation through a poster session. Each group prepared with high professionalism a flash talk and a poster summarizing the major advances brought during the finishing academic year and the perspectives for the semester to come. Special thanks to Professor Alzate and all the TalTech scientists who joined the poster session and actively discussed with the students on their GLP work. After long and difficult deliberation of the jury, the price of the best poster was awarded to the group working on the combined production of lignin and hydrogen from lignocellulose (GLP 3).

Students's Green Line Projects poster presentations.

A warm thank-you to all the participants of the Summer school and to TalTech, especially Kärt Kängsepp, Jaan Kers and Yevgen Karpichev for the amazing organization.

Find the detailed program of the 2022 Summer school:

PDF

Summer School program 2022 229.9 KiB

More pictures of the Summer School on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Bioceb Summer school in Estonia, June 28th – July 2nd 2021

2021-06-26T14:54:00Z

The First Bioceb Summer school took place in Estonia from June 28th to July 2nd 2021. Organized by Tallinn University of Technology in coordination with the Bioceb Consortium, the Summer school marked the end of the academic year for the 24 Bioceb students. The programme consisted in lectures and workshops, site visits, presentation of the Green Line Projects as well as cultural events. It was also the opportunity for the students to meet again after their Second semester at TalTech or AgroParisTech.

No less than 10 lecturers and invited professors from different countries (Estonia, United-Kingdom, India, Germany, Thailand, …) intervened during the Summer school, thus reflecting the international dimension of the Bioceb programme. They brought complementary highlights on different aspects of the Bioeconomy with a focus on sustainable and green chemistry. Key messages were delivered such as the need to talk about “greener chemistry” rather than “green chemistry”, to use organic waste but also to exploit plant physiologic mechanisms (metal accumulation, defense against insects, etc...) and diversity of marine resources. These topics led to stimulated discussions between the students and the speakers. A particular emphasis was also made on the economic aspects of the Bioeconomy in order to give the students the keys to carry out their professional plans. They were encouraged to stop thinking about traditional value chains but to favour synergies between different sectors. They learned that “breakthroughs are a result of fundamental understanding” and that “future managers need to have the potential to learn”.

The students visited different industrial sites and companies such as CombiWood and Estonian Cell (a Bioceb associated partner) as well as Tartu University Institute of Technology's laboratories and TalTech's Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Technology. On Thursday, the students enjoyed a nice traditional Estonian meal at the Viking village next Saula and then visited the Rakvere Castle. A good way to know more about Estonian History and traditions!

Another high point of the event was the meeting with Bioceb associated partners connected online from all over the world. Dr. Andrew John Hunt from Khon Kaen University moderated a workshop entitled “Elemental sustainability” and three other partners (Arterra Bioscience, Suez Canal University and INRAE) presented their activities during a dedicated session. Their presentations exemplified the value brought by associated partners in the Bioceb programme. Indeed, the 19 Bioceb associated partners are core actors of the training through the lectures they provide to the students, their involvement in the Green Line Projects, and all the opportunities they offer to help the students achieve their future career plans (internship, PhD thesis, entrepreneurship).

Friday afternoon was dedicated to the Green Line Projects presentation through a poster session. Each group prepared a poster summarizing the major advances brought during the academic year and the perspectives for the semester to come. Thanks to flash presentations they made online, the students could have real expert discussions with some GLP supervisors and invited Professors. A special thank to Professor Nicholas Gathergood from University of Lincoln who actively took part in the discussions all along the afternoon and trained the students to critical scientific analysis.

At the end of the presentations, a price was awarded to the best poster by a jury of Green Line Projects supervisors. The winner this year was GLP group 3 working on the combined selection of biomass and pretreatment for the sustainable production of fermentable sugars.

A warm thank you to all the participants of the Summer school and to Tallinn University of Technology for its organization. The students will now take some holidays and some of them will perform an internship during the Summer. In September, they will all continue their study track, either at AgroParisTech, Aalto University or University of Liège.

Find the detailed program of the 2021 Summer school:

PDF

548.3 KiB

Students's Green Line Projects poster presentations are available here.

Bioceb students in front of Tallinn University of Technology

Visiting the company CombiWood at Helme

Hybrid lectures online and onsite

Associated partners session (presentation of Arterra Bioscience by F. Apone)

Lunch at the Viking village

Visiting Rakvere Castle

Canoo trip in Viikingite küla